Easter Eggs

I cannot believe Easter is around the corner! Since our chickens lay brown eggs, we decided to go on a limb and buy these plastic eggs I saw at Walmart. We weren't sure how they would turn out however we were willing to give it a try. We dyed them like regular eggs and decorated them all fancy. I think they turned out eggscellent! 

 

CRAZY Chickens

I had to post these pictures because they make me laugh.... The other day I was throwing stuff away in the compost bin and I left the back sliding back door open so I could run in and wash my hands. Well, by the time I turned around to shut the door a few of the ladies had sneaked in the house. They are a riot, instead of shooing them outside, I yelled for Shelli so she could see them – ha! People must think we are nut jobs..boy do we love our animals.. I see a farm in our future!

 

Surprise

Shelli and I ran to the grocery store this afternoon to pick up a few things. Zoe wanted to stay home and finish getting her chores done because she was going to a friends house for a sleep over tonight. The grocery store is maybe 3 miles up the road and we call, facetime, and text Zoe the entire time we are gone – even though we know she is 100% fine. We were gone maybe an hour and when we got home..... We couldn't believe our eyes! We saw a laundry basket full of clean AND folded towels sitting by the stairs with a note that said, “Zoe did this”. As is that wasn't enough of a wow factor, Shelli and I walked into our room and found two piles of our clothes folded with another note that read, “Zoe did this”. I couldn't believe it!! We didn't ask her to do it and we beyond surprised. She even had her room cleaned.

One of my biggest complaints when Shelli is out of town for work is that Zoe doesn't want to help me. I am constantly at her to get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, feed the dogs, do homework, brush teeth, make her lunch, and so on and so forth. 3 out of 5 days I'm running to school trying to beat the bell ringing because I'm chasing Zoe around until the second I walk out the door.

Today was a wonderful change. Shelli and I were so proud of her! 

 

 

High School Basketball

My High School girls basketball team made it to the state tournament!  It's been a very exciting time at school and for the girls. The championship game was Friday @ 6pm in Hershey, which is about 2 hours away. All week at school, they were selling tickets for $15 which included the bus ride and your ticket to the game. The only two problems for us were, the weather, and that Shelli was out of town and not due in until 6pm.  I decided to do the next best thing and tape the game, which was LIVE on TV, and wait for Shelli to get home so we could all watch the game together. I'm sure glad I did we ended up getting 4 or 5 inches of snow that night.  When Shelli got home, we all put on our pj's and watched the game from the comfort of our couch, by a roaring fire. It was a good game, but unfortunately my girls lost 35-40. Better luck next year Lady Bucks! 

Spring?

First Day of Spring???? Sure doesn't feel like it!

 Spring... Summer... Where are you?

Grease

Shelli was out of town this week for work so I took Zoe to work with me to see Grease. The play was not only amazing but Zoe loves hanging out with all the high school kids. It was a fantastic night!!!!!

We missed you, Mimi!

Mommy/Daughter

No school today..... 

Mimi had to work....

Mommy and Zoe went for a mani/pedi.

 So much fun.
(I love those cute feet!!!)

Snow Storm

We haven’t had too badly of a winter in terms of snow this year until Thursday! We got almost 10 inches of fluffy white snow that has kept us out of school for 2 days. This has not been a great week for weather. We had a 2-hour delay Monday and Wednesday, home Thursday and Friday.  Crazy week!

The worst part was that Shelli was in Texas working and her flight home was cancelled.  She managed to get a flight into Atlanta and stay with her dad overnight catching the first flight out the following morning, but that wasn't much better.  Shelli landed safe and sound and insisted on driving home (which I was DEAD against). It took her 2 ½ hours to get home in the storm. Needless to say, I was a wreck the entire time. Hours earlier, Zoe and I were watching the news and we see a report on a flight leaving NY that had skidded off the runway. These amounts of snow are nothing to fool around with. Shelli made it home safe and sound and we were able to just sit around and relax when she got home.

Zoe and I did extremely well holding down the fort. I was pretty proud of us out there shoveling 10 inches of snow, taking care of our cold chickens, of course playing in the snow!  The highlight of our day was making breakfast and having not one but two double yoke eggs. Zoe considers that prize eggs and since it doesn’t happen that often, we were pretty excited we both got one. If I haven’t mentioned it lately, I sure love our chickens! 

 

 

 

Snow Bunny

Zoe bought Noah a harness and now can enjoy walks outside. As strange as it looks, Noah loves it!

Bio-mom

For the past couple weeks Zoe has brought up the topic of her bio-mom. This was a very raw and real conversation with her on this topic. For years, I wondered why Zoe never asked anything about her biological parents but never pushed it. Today, we broke ground and it felt good. We had an open discussion and Shelli and I told her all we knew (age appropriate) to tell her. Her biggest concern was wanting to know what her mom looked like.  We asked Zoe if she could ask her bio-mother anything, what would it be? Her response was, “Nothing for now, I just want to see her picture!”.

Shelli and I have had millions of conversations about this topic. We knew it would happen one day and it seems like that day has finally come.  We have never held any information from Zoe about her adoption process. We feel very strongly about being honest and open with her. I don't think we could put into words the expression on Zoe's face when she saw the picture. She sat in front of the picture in awe saying, “WOW!” over and over. I can't even begin to imagine what was going through her little head as she saw her birth mom for the first time.  Zoe studied the picture and pointed out all the features they both shared. Zoe couldn't believe how much they looked alike. I couldn't believe it when Zoe turned to Shelli and I and said, “Thank you for finding a picture for me BUT, you're my mom's and I love you!”. I could of fallen out of the chair. My heart skipped several beats and it's a moment I will never forget.

That night after Zoe went to bed, I heard her moving around in her room as I was getting ready for bed so I went in to lay with her.  Zoe had her lava lamp on in her room and was laying in her bed counting the stars on her ceiling. I asked her if she wanted to chat, and she said, “Yes”. Zoe scooted over to make room for me, and I crawled into bed with her.  Zoe told me she was just thinking about things....

 

Do you think my mom runs as fast as me?

Do I have siblings?

Where is my dad?

Do you think my mom will want to meet me one day?

I wonder if she still lives in FL?

How old was she when she had me?

Do you think she is as funny as me?

We of course don't have these answers for her but, I let her ask away. We have a very close relationship and I value it. It was a moment that I didn't dread, nor was I scared to have that conversation, I embraced it fully. I feel very secure in my relationship with my daughter to be able to talk to her about one of the biggest conversations of her life. Since that night, the topic has been quiet. Zoe hasn't said much more about it but, when she does have more questions or concerns, we will be right by her side. I'm sure it'll take some time for Zoe to digest it all, but for now, I think she feels pretty content. We are a strong family and we stick together and have each other's back. There isn't anything I can dream of that could come between us. We are solid, we are tight, we are a family!