Tick Tock Tick Tock

I haven't posted any updates on our cabin in awhile and I'm sure everyone is just dying to know what is going on with it. :)  I will say that this has been a very educational process for us and our builder.  I will also say that our opinion of government efficiency has not changed.

Without boring you with all the details,  it has taken us months to go through multiple government agencies to get a septic system designed and approved.  I think their motto is "the slower the better."

We could not apply for a building permit until the septic was done.  So, most of the summer was spent waiting.   We finally were able to submit for a building permit towards the end of July.  And then we waited again for the government to approve the permit.  3 1/2 weeks later they did.  At this point we knew that our cabin would not be finished this fall.  There is only so much time before the snow falls up there and we were running out fast. Our new expectation was to have the exterior done, before the snow falls and to finish the cabin in the spring when the snow melts.

We got all excited and started to think that now we could start building.  And we did.  Our builder moved mountains and got the hole dug and the footings poured pronto.   And then we got stopped again.

Rain.  And more rain.

We can't complain about rain because we need the moisture desperately, but it does slow down construction.  The workers were up there setting up forms in the pouring rain so the basement could be poured the following day.

The cement trucks came, the pumper truck came and guess what happened?  They couldn't make it up to the cabin because of the mud.  Stuck.  Down the mountain they went. 

Now our builder is trying to get some gravel up there so the cement trucks can come back up.  So really the next 2 weeks are critical.  If the cement trucks can get up there soon we can continue on as planned until the snow flies.  If not, we will probably finish with most of the concrete work, backfill etc. and then wait until spring to frame and finish it.

Although this next setback was especially disappointing since we finally thought we were in the clear, Scott and I are just taking it as it comes.  It is what it is and there is nothing anyone can really do about it.  Whatever gets done, great!  Whatever doesn't, we will finish in the spring and enjoy our cabin next summer.

Chaos to Quiet

It has been quiet around here.  Eerily quiet.  Unnervingly quiet.  My baby started first grade last week.  Which means from 7:45 until 2:30 there is very little noise in the house.   

This is very strange for me.  Like many of you, I've had a child by my side for many, many years.  14 1/2 years to be exact, with the longest stretch of alone time last school year being about 3 hours.  And even when I have a few hours of quiet time, Scott works at home so I am rarely truly alone.  Contrast that with this past summer of non-stop door bell ringing and friends coming in and out and it is like night and day over here.

I've known this day has been coming and have wondered how I would feel when it did come.  I have also been asked by many people how it feels now to have all my kids in school.  It has also been interesting to talk to different moms in my situation to see how they feel.  I have heard everything from elation, to sadness to guilt for being happy about it.

And you know what?  Even though, there is a little bit of sadness and happiness mixed in, I'm ok with it.  Is it going to be different and it is going to take some getting used to, that is for sure.  And to be honest, I think it will take awhile for me to adjust and figure out my schedule and my role while the kids are in school.  Right now I feel a little lost.  But, I am also looking forward to some uninterrupted quiet time.  It has been a long time since I have had that.  I have projects that I have put off that I am excited to start on.

Ever since Chasey was born, Scott and I knew he was our last baby.   Maybe because of this or maybe for another reason, I have always thoroughly enjoyed every stage that he has been in.  I have never wished away the hard parts or the sick and snotty parts.   Sure, there was some sadness when I took down the crib and he lost his baby smell, and grew out of newborn clothes.  But as he has passed onto later stages I have been ok moving on.

I'm not quite sure what I'm trying to say here.  I guess I feel the same way when I blogged about Chasey graduating from K last spring.
I am doing my best to enjoy and be grateful for every stage of life that I am in.

Demolition Derby

We look forward to the Demolition Derby every year.  It is one of the highlights of the summer.

No rollovers this year.  What a shame!

Dalin, Emily and Crew enjoying the show

What a handsome kid!

Bennett and his selfie addiction

Chase and friends posing for the camera.

School Lunch

My boys have always been on the later school schedule.  That means that they don't leave in the morning until 9:00.  That has always given me plenty of time to fix lunches and for the boys to take their time getting up, finish homework, clean their rooms and argue.  It also allows me to not be so rigid on bedtimes.  Because of this,  I have always enjoyed the later school schedule and have requested it each year.

Last year, Owen begged and begged me to change to the early schedule.  He is one of my kids that has no problem getting up in the morning and did not like to see half of his class get to leave in the afternoon an hour before he did.

I debated for awhile and sat down and talked to my kids about the changes that would be made.  They all agreed (more or less) that they wanted to change to the early bird schedule.

There were two things I knew I would need to do in order for it to work.

1) Get the boys to bed on time.  Period.  No one will do well if they are tired and cranky and have a hard time getting up in the morning.  I tackled that problem early summer when we swapped rooms so everyone could be asleep at the appropriate time.  It is up to me to enforce the bedtimes now that school has started.

2) Do all the prep work (lunches, homework, showers etc.) the evening before. All that they would need to do in the morning is wake up, dress, eat and go.

Simple right?  Well, that is the plan, but it is always easier said than done.  But ultimately I know it is up to me to make sure these 2 things happen.

The past month I have been evaluating how to make lunches easier.  I also know that whatever I do, it needs to be simple.  If it is not simple, I will not keep it up.

I've looked on Pinterest and other websites for healthy ideas on what to pack and how to pack.  Along with the laughable ideas, (cold aspargaus and salmon for lunch?  Sandwiches cut to look like bunnies?)  there were several healthy food ideas that I am working on adding to the lunch menu.  But the big change  is to pre-package all my lunch food for the week.  Sandwiches go in the freezer and fruit and veggies are cut up and stored in the fridge.  I have allotted 2 drawers next to the fridge for all the dry food.

I have no idea why I have never thought to do this before.  Maybe because I have had plenty of time to make lunches in the morning and it hasn't been an issue.  Who knows.  But this is what we are going to try out.  Sunday night will be prep night.  The boys can help me and we can chop, make and bag everything for the week.

Here's to a new school year!

Hen Pecked

When you have chickens, you realize pretty quickly that a lot of the idioms that you hear about chickens are true and they came about because somebody watched their behavior.  These are just a few that we have observed from our ladies.

"Feathering her nest"  - Seen it
"Mad as a wet hen"   - Seen it.  They don't like being held and getting their backside scrubbed down.  That's another story.
"All cooped up" - Yep  
"Don't lay an egg" - Have you heard them when they lay?
"Pecking order"  - Definitely a social order with them.

This past month, we have added another one to our list.

"Hen pecked"

No feathers around her neck

About a month ago as I was out in the coop taking care of them I noticed that one of the ladies was missing her feathers around her neck.  I thought that was strange and tried to figure out what was wrong with her.  Mites?  Maybe, but none of the other chickens were having problems.  Molting?  No, they don't molt like that.  Sick? Maybe, but she was acting fine and other than seeing gaping wounds or broken legs, I'm not sure what to look for.

I couldn't quite figure it out.  As I kept thinking about it, it dawned on me that every time I go out to gather eggs, this same chicken is always in the coop, often sitting on the shelf, looking out the window.   That is strange.  They love their run.  I mentioned it to Scott and he wasn't sure what was wrong either.  He did mention that he threw the balding chicken out into the run recently and it freaked out and ran into a corner.  Red flag.

A few days later I was watching the rest of the ladies in the coop and I noticed another chicken that had bald patches.  All of a sudden, for no reason all of the other chickens started attacking it and yes, pecking and pulling out its feathers.  How mean!  That lady for some reason takes the abuse and still comes out into the run, even though these attacks happen often.  The one in the coop has just decided that it is not worth it any more.

So I did a little research and there aren't many options out there. 

1)Remove the bullies for awhile and then slowly add them back to the brood to hopefully disrupt their pecking order.  I can't tell which ones are the bullies and even if I did single them out where would I put them?
2)Find new homes for the bullied ones.   I'm pretty confident they would just start to pick on the next lowest one on the totem pole.
3) Provide more stimulation for them.  Really?  I have to entertain my chickens? That's a joke right?

There is a good chance that my chickens are bored.  Bored.  I guess that makes sense, because we don't let them out into the yard anymore because they are so destructive to the landscaping.  Their accommodations are quite luxurious for chickens though, but I guess it isn't enough for them.  It must be that my chickens are just gifted and need something more than just your average layer out there. :)

So, lately I have been taking a lot of greenery from the garden into the run for them to peck at, as well as throwing scratch in there daily.  Short of that I'm not sure what else one does to entertain a chicken.  Here's hoping they start to leave these 2 ladies alone.  If not, I'm not sure what my next step is.


 

Bennett Loves the Selfie

It is not uncommon for me to find numerous pictures of Bennett on my phone.  I think it is his favorite past time.  The weirder the facial expressions, the better.  Here are the latest ones.
Silly Ben Ben.

Pittsburg Lake

Last Friday night, after the boys went to bed, Scott and I made a last minute hiking trip.  We decided to wake up the boys the next morning and hike to Pittsburg Lake up American Fork Canyon.  Last spring Scott had expressed interest in going on this hike so we decided now was as good of a time as ever.  We had also talked to a few people recently about this hike and knew a few things.  It is short, about 1.5 miles.  It is steep.  The trail head is a little hard to find.  Once you get to the top it is worth it.

The next morning we pulled the boys out of bed, ate breakfast at Kneaders and with our water backpacks and some jelly bellies and apples we were off.  We confirmed everything we had heard about the hike.

The trail head is a little hard to find
After traveling on a very bumpy, dusty road for 30 minutes, we thought we had found the trail head, but it wasn't marked.  According to the map, it looked like we were in the right spot though.  We got out of the truck and started hiking on an obvious, but unmarked trail.  About 20 minutes into the hike we looked across the river and saw a trail going straight up the side of the mountain.  We knew we were on the wrong trail.  So down we went.  We hopped back in the truck, crossed the river and found the trail head that was clearly marked.

The trail is steep.
Holy smokes!  This trail was steep.  It didn't let up the entire time.  After the hike, Scott figured out that the elevation change in a mile and a half was 1,500 ft.  About an 18% grade.  It pretty much went straight up the side of the mountain with only a couple switch backs.  And to top that off, the trail was covered in rocks that were just the size to twist ankles.  I told the boys to take 25 steps and then rest for a minute.  There was a lot of resting going on.  We had some tears, but we all made it to the top.

Once you get to the top it is worth it.
That much is true.  The lake was pretty, the view of the entire mountain range was gorgeous and the temperature was perfect.  The boys splashed around in the lake and we all rested from that very long mile and a half.