Porkchop the Pig

GOTCHA....You saw that title and thought oh lawd now they went and got themselves a pig!!! 

No pig, but let me just say if I could get a little teacup pig like Porkchop I totally would(a little out of the budget) This product shoot is for my college roommate Michelle(Auntie M) who has a beautiful clothing line on etsy(EmmiLee Designs) and of course our most favorite YLK Photography shot the pictures.  The other little girls name is Hayden too!!  My Hayden LOVED that pig!!!

 

How is this for a gaggle of girls??  Does this just scream spring and Easter?? 

Michelle makes beautiful clothing and you will never find a piece of clothing better made.  LOVE how this turned out. 

Wish I had more.....we are SO busy around here, but have nothing anyone would be interested in besides pictures of Bossy and her posse. 

The end of April we start our travel season and let me just say when I look at the calendar and what is planned from the end of April til September I feel tired and question my sanity(which may be gone by Sept) LOL It is going to be quite a summer!!!

Hope everyone is good and will check back soon.

The Chicken Wrangler

Hayden and Judy Moody(New Hampshire Red)

We are just moving along and enjoying the very warm and early spring(we didn't actually have winter)  Really happy it is warm, but concerned that the summer is going to be another beast.  Just keep reminding myself we will be gone for so much of the summer that I shouldn't worry, but man  if it is like last summer......Holy Batman HOT!!!!

Hayden is "the chicken wrangler" she let's them out each day so that they can forage and be free range.  She is an expert in feeding them bread and even better at wrestling them up to get them back in the coop.  She chases each one and picks them up and puts them away.  She feeds them, she makes sure they have water, she checks for eggs 17 times a day and she knows all the different breeds of all 7(yes you heard me right....we now have 7; don't ask)

She hangs with them in the coop, she talks to them.....she is an excellent chicken owner.  I couldn't be more proud. 

Hayden has 3 alter egos now....Judy Moody, Gloria who Rocks and Mary Seriously.  I have no really clue where they came from other than Judy Moody(she loves the movie) But she let's you know which one she is and she prefers and will remind you to call her the appropriate name:)

Spring break was quiet and we actually stayed home.  We have so much travel planned starting in April that is was decided that we needed to stay put pretty much until the 5 months straight of travel begins. 

Some pretty big stuff going on here in the next week or so that is going to have us pretty occupied, but we will be back shortly.

Back to school this week which makes Hayden so HAPPY!!!! 

Hoping every ones spring is off with some beautiful tulips....mine have already bloomed and fallen:(

Showering our friends

This past weekend was a weekend of fun and friends and long awaited blessings coming true for our friends.  I have a small adoption group that I have been friends with since we started our paperwork to China back in 06'  We have shrunk as a group and now I think we have 27 families that our part of our group.    Most of us have come home with our kiddo's....many from different countries than we started, and journeys and joys have been different but no less exciting and happy for our WHOLE group.  We are finally getting to the end of everyone having their cuties home, but we still have 3-4 families to go that have held strong and waited the long line to China(5-6 years thank you very much) So to get to shower one of them who is about to travel to pick up her beautiful little one named Caitlyn Elizabeth was amazing and such a happy experience.

So off to Austin we drove and had a packed 24 hours planned.  Hayden has been SO excited about Caitlyn's party for months.  Every time we walked into a store she would find the cutest outfit and state we MUST get this for baby Caitlyn.  So all I can say is we showed up at the shower with a crazy amount of clothes for this beautiful girl!!  The shower was amazing....the  hostess' really outdid themselves and planned an amazing afternoon for this family.  Plus; us with 2 other families from our group were together and had a wonderful playdate and dinner together afterwards!!!  Hayden loves our friends and had SO much fun seeing and playing with everyone. 

We wouldn't have missed this for anything!!!

night before when I said we needed to get ready for our trip....this is what Hayden came out of her room dressed in and ready to go!!  Check out those mittens!!

Hayden picked this dress weeks ago for the shower....she said it needed to be pink since it was a party for a girl!!!

The mama who will travel soon in the middle with her mom and MIL and sweet friend C and us!!

Caitlyn's mama and Hayden ready to open gifts!!

Our group....Miss C's boys were at home,

Caitlyn's mama, auntie and grandmother as we enjoyed the delicious food.

The hostess' gave all of the kid's the sweetest softest panda bear.  Hayden has slept with it since!!  What a sweet gift.

One of the cakes(both were delish) and you can see a pic of Caitlyn waiting in China for her mama and daddy to come pick her up!!!

Dinner at C's with M and sweet Drew(who has been home since July and has a big sister from China too)

Drew reminds me so much of Hayden at this age.  Drew would like to become one with her mama!!  I can see the glimpses of her personality and know once she feels secure and adjusted she will be a social butterfly.

Hayden piggyback riding with one of C's twins.

Hayden with her new boy BFF's O and T! They are twins and from China and are super sweet and such nice manners.

Look at how cute!!  Hayden told me today that she missed the warriors!!  LOL

cockadoodle doooooo

First let me explain that we do not have a rooster.....hens only and so no worries needed for our neighbors as the hens are actually quieter than our dogs!! 

David has long wanted chickens and I have been reluctant to agree.  Call me CRAZY, but the notion of living in a subdivision and having chickens just seemed to be bit beverly hillbilly......I have a phobia of anything outside of "normal" and "the rules" but know that we are actually not breaking any rules or codes, and actually having urban farms is quite the norm now.  We mostly buy organic at our house since Hayden came home.  Dairy is a biggie for me(milk especially) if you have not read much about organic dairy farms(or lack thereof of regulation) I highly suggest you spend some time here then if you search at the top under "reports" you can look at the dairy report and you will be shocked that so many of the popular "organic" milks at your local grocery are just overpriced milk that is not any better for you.  Anyway, we have been buying milk, eggs, a lot of fruits and veggies that are organic and getting chickens would allow us to have true organic fresh eggs and allow us to share with our friends.  We also think it is important for Hayden to understand food sources and how we need to be aware of where our food comes from and how we take care of our food source.  Hayden LOVES animals so much it seemed a win win for everyone. 

So over the weekend after David had spent more than a week working on his prized coop(which seems to be the fort knox of coops) we headed to a town about an hour away equipped with a large dog crate and ready to celebrate "chickenpolooza"  We came home with 4 full grown chickens, and Hayden has named them Smunch, Rosa, Judy Moody and we have yet to hear the 4th and final name.  We have already gathered 5 eggs, and Hayden has officially spent more time in the coop with her chickens than she has spent in the house!!!  OBSESSED is what she is at this point.  She loves sitting there and feeding them bread as well as petting them.  They seem to not mind a bit!!! 

I must say they are quiet, it seems pretty easy at this point, and had I not gone with them to get the chickens.......they would have come home with the week old baby goat with blue eyes(NO I AM NOT KIDDING)  So if I tell you we have a goat in the future don't say I didn't warn you:) 

Who would have thought we would have a chicken coop in our backyard that has real live chickens??  BTW you can't even believe how different and good a fresh egg taste!!! We picked our chickens based on them being good layers.  We should get 3-4 eggs 6 days a week!!  so nearly 2 dozen a week(not too bad)

still needs to be painted the color of our house siding:)  But I think he did an amazing job!!!

first two eggs we got after just 12 hours of the chickens being home!!

Hayden in her jammies and cowgirl boots feeding smunch bread in nesting area of the coop!

Be my Valentine

Hayden loved Valentines Day.  She loved helping me make her valentines.  We basically did two because I am room mother and in her group at school they like to keep the parties to a bare min as to not disrupt the day and schedule too much(doesn't work well with my ridiculous over the top party planning mind) so we did fortune cookie valentines and then then did a cute shovel with m&m's and a I dig you valentine tag.  The greatest part of this holiday is Hayden was asking me about Valentines and I explained it is just another holiday that we celebrate each and every year......just like Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, and Christmas.  All of a sudden her expression changed and her eyes got really big and she said "wait mommy, you mean we have Christmas every single year"?  Yes ma'am we have it EVERY December.  She just about shook with excitement and EXCLAIMED "oh my goodness mommy that is SO exciting"  about an hour later David came home and she ran to tell him the news!!!  It is so easy to forget that while she has had 3 Christmas's she probably mainly remembers this last one.  We take that for granted.  So just know if you see Hayden she will,probably tell you  her new found news of holidays happening EVERY single year. 

There are a few shots with her BFF Ronan....I should explain she says Ronan is her school BFF because she has others too, but they don't go to my school.  She and Ronan have a blast together, they play so silly, and play REALLY hard together.  Ronan is perfect for H as she loves pretend play, she loves to play house and dolls and is fine with Hayden bringing her crew of imaginary friends when they play together.  Ronan is also now in H's gymnastics class.....that makes Hayden a VERY happy little girl. 

I added a few shots of the masquerade charity gala that David and I attended.  We didn't really take any good ones of us....but you know the second Hayden saw that mask she deemed it would be hers as soon as we got home, and just know that she she greeted us at the door!!  LOL

valentine outfit

Ronan, Hannah and Hayden

Hannah and Ronan enjoying their party!                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Presleigh and Hayden at the minimalist party:)

Gangsta rappers??

Ronan you silly girl!

BFF's

Valentines

Super fun charity event!!

ahhhhh there's my mask....she finally came home with it:)

Soul sisters

We have long talked about how many great friends that we have been blessed by through adoption.  Many of these friends are such an important part of our lives and they feel like family.  We have friends that live in our big state that we are fortunate to get to see fairly regularly and that makes us SUPER happy.  We were thrilled to have Debbie and Ellie P come visit us just a few weeks ago for the weekend and all I can say is the girls are soul sisters....total love for one another and play so well together.  Tears were flowing from the little girls as they pulled out of the drive to go back home!  Hayden asks at least once a week when are we going to visit them:) 

Anyway, enjoy the cuties in action.  They had 2 speeds....fast and faster.  2 volumes loud and louder!! 
We enjoyed the food trucks(super yummy food) and the stock show and then celebrated Lunar New Year with Chinese food and the girls wore their silks.  It was a GREAT weekend although it was too short!!!  thank you girls for coming to see us!!

Ellie Brushing the cow

Hayden getting full contact and as close as she could to the cow!!

They held hands pretty much the whole weekend!! 

Look at the full belly laugh on Ellie's face!!  

Two peas in a pod

STUNNING Ellie P

                                                                                   Hayden posing in her silks

Jumping for Joy

moment sponsored by YLK Photography