Ol' Roughneck

Dear Gage and Gabe,

We started "farming" chickens about a year ago. When I say farm, I really mean take care of 10 chickens on a daily basis. We feed and water them, let them free range occasionally and collect their eggs. We do not have a rooster, so no possibility of any baby chickens. We don't plan to eat our chickens either. They're strictly laying hens.

We started out with 6 white chickens and 5 brown ones. We bought the white ones from a man up the road and we acquired the brown ones elsewhere. Last summer while the girls were free ranging around the yard, a dog from the neighborhood came over into our yard and ran off with one of our brown girls. We saw the dog run off with it in his mouth so your Dada went after it. He was able to rescue the chicken from the dog, but she didn't look very good. He called the man we got it from and he said she probably wouldn't live because there could have been some serious internal damage. We didn't just want to kill her, so we gave her to someone who would be able to nurse her back to health. Low and behold, she survived and is doing well!

About a month ago, your Dada went down to the coop to lock it up for the night and he noticed one of the brown ones was missing. He searched in all the nearby trees (sometimes they roost in the tall branches) but she was nowhere to be seen. She didn't come back the next day or the day after. We noticed there were a bunch of feathers in different places in the yard, so we were certain she had been attacked by a dog.

On the second night, your Dada was checking on the girls and he heard a rustling in the woods. Guess who came stumbling up out of the leaves? Our missing girl. She had been attacked and looked terrible. Nearly all the feathers around the back of her neck were plucked clean and she had some gnarly bite wounds. She was missing a large quantity of tail and chest feathers as well. We decided to try to treat her wounds, so we cleaned her up with some water and then rinsed out the wounds with peroxide. We kept her in her own special "pen" under our house for a few days to monitor how she was doing. The other chickens were very mean to her when she came back and they constantly attacked her. We wanted to make sure she was on the mend before putting her back out with the others.

By the third day, she seemed to be doing OK and it looked like the wounds were starting to heal. She was put back in the coop and everyone, with the exception of Ms Fatty B, left her alone. She's still alive and kicking. The wounds on her neck are healed but she's still missing a lot of feathers. Hence her nickname Ol' Roughneck. She still gets picked on my Ms. Fatty B, but she's starting to defend herself. We're happy that she survived the attack and we're always keeping a close eye on them when they're out free ranging in the yard.

Ol' Roughneck

I love you,
Mommy

Climbing Baby Boy

Dear Gage and Gabe,

Since you've become a proficient walker Gabe, you have decided to move on to bigger and better things - climbing on everything in sight! You climb up and down off the couch numerous times a day with no true purpose other than to just climb. You have watched Gage drag the clothes basket into the kitchen to climb up on to get things off the counter, so you've started to do that as well. The other day I noticed lights flickering in the foyer and there you were, standing on the table, playing with the light switches. You have climbed on top of both picnic tables (the kiddie table and the full sized one) and mastered the play set. You climb the stairs independently and then slide all on your own. You have become such a brave little boy! It keeps up on our toes, that's for sure.

Playing with the magnets on the refrigerator

Playing with the light switches

On top of the kiddie picnic table

Forget the kiddie table - I can climb the big table

I love you,
Mommy

The Daffy Bloom Valley

Dear Gage and Gabe,

I love spring. I love seeing and smelling the new grass and fresh flowers. The air has a crispness to it that isn't like any of the other seasons. Springtime also means the daffodils are in full bloom which means the Daffy Bloom Valley is alive with the beautiful yellow flowers. Every year for the first few weeks of spring, the hillside is covered in yellow. It is quite majestic to say the least. Gage, you like to go out and pick some flowers for me. I woke up one afternoon during my work week to a beautiful bouquet of daffodils. You were so excited to show them to me!

Daffy Bloom Valley

"Look Mom, we cut you some beautiful flowers!"

I love you,
Mommy

Total Fitness Connection Half Marathon (3/22/14)

Dear Gage and Gabe,

On Saturday March 22, I ran the Total Fitness Half Marathon in Bowling Green. I love this race. It's a local small race that has us run through the back roads of Warren County. I have participated in this race several times and this makes the third year in a row (I wasn't able to run it in 2011 since I had just had you, Gage, that January). This year I decided that I wanted to try for a PR. My best half marathon time was in September 2011 at the Women's Half Marathon in Nashville. My running pal Therisa kept me going that race and I finished with a time of 1:58:40. The past few races that I ran were completed with times around 2:02 or so, so I had a hefty goal in mind.

I felt really good the morning of the race. I didn't have any pre-race jitters, which was very unusual for me. It was a little overcast and around 50 degrees. I started the race, weaving in and out of runners until I got some space. My RunKeeper app said I was running an 8 minute mile at the half mile mark. By the time I got to the mile mark, I was at an 8:10 pace. This was a lot faster than I had anticipated, and a lot faster than I was used to. By the time I got to the two mile mark, I was running at an 8:27 pace and still feeling really good. I decided to keep on at that pace for as long as I was able.

Dada brought you all to the intersection of Matlock Rd and Hwy 242 so you all could watch me pass through. I got to see you all when I was coming back from the turn around point. It was so great to see my little cheerleaders!

Hey guys!

Giving kisses to my cheerleaders

By the time I got to 10 miles, I was starting to get tired. I only had a 5K to go, so I kept on. I crossed the finish line with a time of 1:51:37 a full 7 minutes under my previous PR. I had knocked that PR out of the park! I finished 46th overall (out of 189) and 4th in my age group. What a great race!

Finished!

Thanks for cheering me on!

I love you,
Mommy

A boy and his (stuffed) dog

Dear Gage and Gabe,

Gabe, since you were quite small, you have been sleeping with a little stuffed puppy dog. Your Granny Clarice got this for Gage when he was little and you have really taken a liking to it. So much so, that you have to have it when you fall asleep at home. When we're out and about in the car, you don't have a problem falling asleep, but at home you are very particular. You want to be in your bed with your dog. Period. End of story. Very rarely do I get the chance to cuddle you as you fall asleep, and if it ever does happen, your dog has to be there. It is so cute to watch you pet his little ears as you fall asleep.

I love you,
Mommy

Girl Scout Cookies 2014

Dear Gage and Gabe,

When I was a little girl I was a member of the Girl Scouts. Every year our big fundraiser and most well known activity, was the sale of Girl Scout Cookies. The Tagalongs and Do'Si'Does were always my favorite. I would get so excited about this time of year, and it that hasn't changed much. We usually buy some boxes of cookies from the troops who set up a stand in front of one of the grocery stores. Your Dada loves Samoas, and as my tastes have changed over the years, my favorite are Thin Mints. There's just something about chocolate and mint. This year I was suckered in to buying five boxes ("If you buy 5 boxes, you'll be entered into a drawing to win 2 cases"). I got 3 boxes of Samoas, 1 box of Thin Mints and 1 box of Do'Si'Does (old habits are hard to break). After lunch that day I let you all have a small taste of heaven. The Thin Mints and Samoas were wonderful as always and you both seemed to agree :)

Num num Thin Mints

Samoas are wonderful

I love you,
Mommy

Front porch

Dear Gage and Gabe,

Our house doesn't have a front porch, but instead a small, uncovered cement stoop. Since buying the house in 2010, we have wanted to build an addition. Things happened (you boys aren't cheap) so the porch had to wait.  This year we decided it was time. We called several companies in town for bids on the porch addition, but we weren't very successful. The big companies didn't seem interested in such a small job. We were a little discouraged. One afternoon while driving down one of the back roads, we saw a home with a freshly built porch. Your Dada stopped by and talked to the owner and got the contact information for the builder. One phone call and a visit later, we had a bid. It was within our budget so we gave him the green light.

Dada went right to work getting everything ready for the new addition. While moving some of the plants around the front of the house, he made quite the discovery. Apparently one of our chickens had found a safe place to lay her eggs. We usually let the girls free range for a few hours each afternoon, but we leave the door to the coop open. One of the chickens decided she didn't like the nesting boxes and made her own place behind one of the azeleas. 

Three of the four hidden eggs 

Dada called up some friends down the road to help move out the old stoop. Johnny drove a tractor over and you boys watched so intently while the stoop was moved.

The original stoop 

The following week, we had the huge snow storm. In anticipation of the footer and block, your Dada moved a lot of the ice out the way so the ground would have chance to dry.

Our "make shift stoop" while we waited for the porch to be built

The pile of ice Dada cleared out

Removing the ice turned out to be such a big help. Mr. Overhault was able to dig out and pour the footer without any problems.

The footer and block

The block and cement

After the cement had a chance to dry, it was time to frame in the porch. Mr Miller and three of his men came out and knocked this out in a day. We were starting to get so excited about our new porch.

The framework of the porch

The next day, they came back out and roofed the porch. The siding was put in place, as was the trimming. There were a few small details that were left incomplete, so on Friday, Mr Miller came back out to put on the finishing touches. The porch was complete! There's still some (quite a bit, actually) landscaping to do and the step needs a little work, but the building is complete.

The finished product (minus some landscaping and step repairs)

We are very excited about the new addition. It has totally transformed our house. It's hard to believe we went so long without it!

Enjoying our new porch :)

I love you,

Mommy

Gabe's 15 Month Appointment

Dear Gage and Gabe,

On March 5, Gabe you turned 15 months old. On Friday the 7th, we took you to see Dr. Chris for your 15 month check up. The nurse got you weighed and measured. You tipped the scales at 23 lbs, 10 ounces (60th percentile) and measured 32 inches tall (80th percentile). The nurse had originally measured you at 34 inches tall and I thought that was quite a jump from last visit. She decided to recheck and then found she had measured you in error. Dr Chris came in and gave you a check up. He was very pleased with how well you're growing and developing. You seem to be right on track with most things. I am a little worried about your speech. You say a few words, but not much. You understand more than you say. I can ask you to grab a book and you go straight to the book box and grab one. You know where the trash can is and you put your dirty clothes in the laundry basket. You know where we keep the juice and you know where you sleep. You just don't say a whole lot. Dr Chris said we shouldn't worry too much, and just keep an eye on you. We continue to work with you every day and little by little you're saying more. You make us so proud.

Gabe - 15 months old (3/5/14)

Gage - 15 months old (4/28/12)

26 lbs 8 ounces and 33 inches tall

I love you,

Mommy

Fun in the Snow (3/3/14 & 3/4/14)

Dear Gage and Gabe,

We had quite a snow storm a few weeks ago. The storm came overnight Sunday and continued through the day on Monday. When it was all said and done, we had a couple inches of ice covered with a couple inches of snow. It was brutally cold on Monday and we tried to go outside and play. We sledded down the hills a few times, but the wind was fierce so we called it a day.

Just chillin'

Masked men ready to sled

Gabe sledding with Daddy

Gage sledding with Mommy

On Tuesday, it was still below freezing but there wasn't a negative degree windchill. We were able to get outside to play. We sledded, built a snowman and threw snowballs.

Throwing snowballs at Mommy

Helping Mommy build a snowman

Our little snowman

Gage and our cute little snowman

Sledding with Mommy

After we were done playing, we made a big bowl of snow cream. Eating the snow cream brought back so many wonderful memories of my childhood. When I was little, we would spend hours playing out in the snow and top off a wonderful day with snow cream. We always liked to color ours with food coloring and make a rainbow of colors.

Enjoying snow cream

Yummy snow cream

I had so much fun playing out in the snow with you boys and you all seemed to enjoy it too. It was a great day!!

I love you,
Mommy

Snow Storm 3/3/14 - Mommy's Commute Home

Dear Gage and Gabe,

On Sunday night, some bad weather made its way to Bowling Green. There was talk and forecasts of a severe winter storm, but since we've heard it before and not seen results, we were a little skeptical. I had to work that night and I went in at 7pm. When I left the house, it was raining quite heavily. By the time I got to Scottsville Road in front of the mall (8 miles later), the rain had turned to ice and the roads were already a slushy mess. I made it to work safely and by 9 or so, our parking lot was a solid sheet of ice and there was a steady fall of sleet. The sleet converted to snow later that night and by the next morning, there was at least an inch of ice covering every surface and then coated in about 2 inches of snow. I remote started the Explorer (thanks again Daddy for the awesome Valentine's gift), but the heater was no match for the ice. I spent nearly 20 minutes scraping the ice off of the windshield, with a few breaks in between. As I was scraping the vehicle, I saw several cars get hung up in the intersection and have to be helped out. I was a little worried about getting out of the parking lot, but made it out without trouble.

Ice covered Explorer - scraping one patch of ice away at a time

The roads were completely covered in snow and ice. All schools were out of session and several businesses were closed, so there was minimal traffic. Each side of Scottsville Road was reduced to one lane and no one was going over 15 miles per hour. I got to Plano Road and traffic was stalled. A large truck pulling a trailer with some sort of load couldn't get up the hill onto Scottsville Road. A police officer had cross traffic stopped while the truck made his attempts, but after three tries, they decided to throw in the towel. I'm not sure what happened with that truck, but I'd say he had to turn around.

I made it home without incident.  At the bridge close to the house, there was an electric pole completely broken in half. The electric company had just gotten there to replace the pole. I'm not sure how that happened, but they had it fixed within an hour. Our electricity went out for close to 20 minutes during the repair, but that was the only time we were without electricity. My normal commute of 18 to 20 minutes took nearly 45. I was so relieved to pull into our driveway and even more relieved to cuddle up with my boys.

Scottsville Road

Intersection of Scottsville Road and Cave Mill

Plano Road - before Plano Elementary

Plano Road - after Plano Store

Electric pole broken in half at the bridge on Hwy 240 - How did that happen?

Hwy 240 in front of our house

At home, safe and sound, cuddling with baby boy and his crazy bed head :)

I love you very much,
Mommy

Eins, Zwei, Drei

Dear Gage and Gabe,

When I was in High School, there were only two foreign languages offered. Because I have substantial German heritage, it only seemed right to learn the language of my ancestors. I developed a love for German that continued through college. I thoroughly enjoyed learning the language and the culture and ended up graduating with a minor in German. As much as I loved (and still do) the language, I haven't held a conversation auf Deutsch since graduation (I wasn't a strong speaker, but enjoyed it all the same). I want to pass this love along to you boys, so Gage we've started counting. I am so proud of how well you've picked it up! It took a while before you stopped laughing after each number (mostly fünf and acht), but you're doing very well! Sehr gut Gage, sehr gut!

Ich liebe dich,
Mommy