Laudable Lessons

1. I do not have the coordination to drink anything while rocking Fynn in his chair.  Eventually I'll learn to pause the rocking, take sip, resume rocking.
2.  It's the things that aren't toys that make the best ones.
3. I wonder how many times God has heard the prayer, "Oh, Lord!  Please just help him sleep!"
4. Puppy kisses on the face and eating rocks really aren't the end of the world.
5. Not proud of my falls, but it's true what they say: babies bounce.
6. Josh and I have become infinitely more goofy this past year.  It's worth every giggle!
7. Food items are better discovered with your hands, but non-food items should be immediately popped into your mouth.
8. Crackers are for smashing!
9. When trying new finger foods, the dog becomes an invaluable vacuum cleaner!
10. This too shall pass.  And then you'll kinda miss it.

Another fairly foul fiasco

This is what I thought raising chickens was going to be like: 

Sometimes, I wonder what people would think if they would just drop in on random moments of life.  Picture this: me walking through the woods, one barefoot with the baby in one arm and a soggy chicken under the other, trying to keep the two apart.  The dog and cat trail behind and all of us are filthy.  Ok, now here's the back up:


We're out feeding the chickens as usual and one escapes.  No biggie, it's happened before and we just play a nice game of ring around the coop until I catch her (always the same bird).  Well, she got a little braver this time and strayed into the woods.  Meanwhile, Fynn crawls off the blanket I had him set on onto a patch of ground where I had spread fertilizer from the coop over the winter!  


Aagh! No!!!
(Plop Fynn back on blanket)
Clancey stay!!  Do not chase the chicken!
(Resume hunt)
(Fynn crawls after bird)
(Bird runs at Fynn)
Repeat, this time add cat chasing chicken
Repeat...


Eventually Clancy decided he was done obeying and I hear squawking and thrashing trailing back into the woods.   So I pick up my dirty boy and we track them, expecting the worst.  Finally, I caught up with them at the pond a ways back.  The chicken, undoubtedly with help from the dog and cat, had broken through the remaining ice in the pond, but was quite alive.  Oh boy.  I set Fynn down on a lump of tundra moss, took off one shoe and sock, and was able to reach her after only one chilly wade in.  


And here we arrive at the aforementioned scenario.   She's not looking too good, and I don't know if she'll make it, but I got her fairly dried and turned on the heat lamp for her.  I took Fynn in and we both had a bath with lots of soap.  And he stuck his face in it, giving himself the most adorable little baby bubble beard!  And again, I had no camera.  It makes me wish we just had one built in our memories that we could print out photos of anything we saw.


(Note: painting by Robert Duncan)

Discovery

I just love this season of discovery we are living right now with Fynn!  It makes everything new for me, too!  Most of the snow is gone now and new treasures are being revealed daily.  Since we've returned from our trip, here are a few of the things that have caught Fynn's eye.  Or hands.   Or mouth.

The geese, ducks and swans at Creamer's field where we go to walk sometimes.  He calls them all ducks, or at least that's what it sounds like he's saying.

The dirt and rocks in our driveway.  On our walks from the house this week he's noticed the pussy willows, a butterfly, and running water in the ditch.

The chickens out in the run.  He says ccccchhhhhhhhh...ken.

Snow and rain

And then there's the opening and closing of cupboard doors...so much fun!

What will today be?

Kauai

Wow, it's been awhile.  A long while!  So much has happened since I last posted, it seems!  I'm not too ambitious today, but here's aquick run down of our Hawaii trip.  The nutshell: awesome!  The heat did us good.  Fynn and I were recovering from a nasty bug (I got a temp of 105 and he had had trouble breathing...yikes!)  And Fynn did just awesome with the actual travel!  Something about take off just put him right to sleep and he wouldn't wake up until we landed.  Made a 17 hour, 3 legged trip much more tolerable.

It was great to spend some time with Josh's family and for Fynn to meet his Uncle Kevin, all of whom he loves!  I loved watching him as he discovered an unfrozen world!


The sand...

 The ocean...

Hiking in the rain forest...

On a boat...


 Meeting new friends...

Trying new foods...

Finding new plants with green leaves...

 Oh the discovery!

Laughter

It's the best medicine...

Oh yeah!  Break up is coming!  The last few days have got above freezing and it looks like we might be nearing the end!  Fynn has been positively fascinated by the drips of liquid water falling off the tips of the icicles this last week.  When I drove into town today, there was water on the roads and the banks of snow were beginning to wither!  I love it!  No more coat for me!  I was even able to force a couple willow boughs to put on the table.

Our venture into town included a stop by the library.  Why don't I do this more often?

The glorious sun shone enough yesterday to bring the temperature up into the 50s!  I took Fynn out to feed the chickens without his snowsuit and it was so nice we decided to stay out a bit.  I plopped him down on the porch where all the snow had melted.   At first he wasn't so sure, then he got really excited, discovered a pile of hay and then some pine cones.  What joy!   A walk followed, and both Fynn and Clancey were just ecstatic!  This time of year is so much fun!

The winters here are undeniably long and many get cabin fever, especially stay at home moms.  Although I found myself plenty busy and am a bit of a home body anyway, I made it my goal to learn something new this winter.  So now, I can proudly say I have acquired a very modest ability to crochet!  All thanks to the patient guidance of my dear friend Willow.  It is so addictive, I just want to crochet all the time, but as it is warming up, I think I'll soon have to put away my needle and yarn and break out my gardening tools.  Speaking of witch, I also started planting my indoor seeds this week!  Have I mentioned I love this time of year.

Technically Spring and Turkish Kebabs

Happy spring!  Well, officially I guess.  It was still 12 below zero when I got up this morning, but it is bright and sunshiny out!  I am so ready for break up (Fairbanks version of spring.  Not very pretty, but it means summer is on its way!)  I got my seeds in the mail this week and I am so excited to get them started!  There were a couple drops of melting ice from our roof yesterday that Clancey started barking at incessantly.  I could tell that Fynn could feel the heat from the sun on his back because he kept reaching back to try to touch it.  Oh, promises of spring!

We had a pretty mellow St. Patrick's day.  I pinned a felt four leafed clover I hastily made on to Fynn's cap and we went into town for the trapper's fur auction and to see the dogs before the race.  After that we came home and made Guinness brownies for Josh's poker night.  I think they turned out great (really dark and rich).  You can find the recipe here.) 

Here's our trek into town and a little people watching: 

My weekdays have been a lovely blend of trying to keep the house in some semblance of order, playing with Fynn, errands in town, quick spurts of working on any of the gazillion projects I have going on right now, and visiting with friends.  Fynn has transitioned to only needs one long nap a day rather than two, and is adjusting quite nicely.  He also has learned to climb on top of things: boxes, the dishwasher door, the dog, and all the way up the stairs!  Crazy boy!

Last night, Josh requested one of his latest favorite dinners:  Turkish Kebabs.   So I thought all kebabs were little bits of meat and veggies and what-have-you skewered on a little stick, right?  Well apparently not.  I've been working off this slow cooker recipe for a bit, but since I'm not often one to plan my meals ahead of time (though I'd like to improve on that), I've tweaked the recipe a bit for our life.  It goes a little like this:

1/2 lb. moose steak, cut into thin slices
1/2 onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 pinch curry powder

1 teaspoon salt

4 pita loaves

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until onions are translucent.  Then add meat, lemon juice, and spices and cook until meat is done. 

Tzatziki Sauce:

1.5 c. sour cream

3/4 c. plain yogurt

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

3 cloves garlic, crushed

Mix all ingredients in medium bowl.  It makes a lot, but don't fret!  We just finish up ours the next couple days as a chip/cracker dip!

Heat pita for 15 seconds to soften.  Top with meat, tzatziki, lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, and feta or goats cheese and enjoy!