Pig Shopping with my MaeMae....

For Christmas, some of you know, I got MaeMae a pig. It made me the coolest auntie ever. And since I got to spend some amazing time with AmberMae and Grace today along with my own two children MaeMae and I decided that we should start thinking about to get ready for when the pig gets to come home.

Sir Bacon Bottom and Delicious are going to be the most well loved, and spoiled pigs ever in existence. Hopefully the extra love and attention that they will be getting will make them taste that much better.

In my family, I have always been the farm girl. Evelyn was never one for farm animals or farm work. In her opinion the smell was always nauseating. Which for some people it is. It is just a matter if personal preference I guess. I have always been most comfortable around a farm. There is nothing like the smell of warm corn silage or fresh hay. These are comforting smells.

It did not surprise me when Aeryn turned into a little farm girl. But the fact that MaeMae is turning out to be a farm girl in hiding really surprises me. It is something that I did not expect. Of course  MaeMae is always throwing us a little off balance anyway because that is just the way she is. She calls it her "Awesomeness". More people should have half the self confidence that this amazing young girl has. Think of the things that could get done in the world...

So MaeMae and I strolled around Tractor Supply today taking inventory of the things that we would need and the prices that they would cost. She enjoyed the trip as much as I did. Who knew that strolling through the tractor store would be such bonding experience. She also put in an order for a Carhartt jacket. I may have to work on that as a Christmas present for next year.

I guess throughout the Summer I will have to keep everyone updated on our adventures in pig farming. For now, MaeMae is telling me we have more research to do before she has to leave.

Don't Count Your Chickens.....

Many of you reading the title of this post will think that I am about to write about an experience where I got my hopes up about something and then had them crushed. Well fortunately you would be wrong. I am actually going to talk about  chickens. And counting them. It kind of makes the title self explanatory.

During the summer I got to house sit for a friend. We moved into the house at the beginning of July and lived there for a month. Aeryn was very excited about doing this because my friend had chickens that she was going to be able to take care of. Aeryn, a little girl who loves animals beyond belief, could not wait to learn about chickens. Unfortunately my friend had to break the news to us when we got there that some predator had gotten a hold of his chickens and they would not need to be taken care of. Aeryn was devastated. So devastated in fact that my friend told her that she could buy some chickens to put into his chicken coop.Thanks Friend! (Please not my sarcasm)

Guess where I was the following morning....At Cheshire Horse purchasing six of the cutest little chickens that you could ever see. They were Golden Comet chicken. Apparently a hybrid between a Rhode Island Red and a Rhode Island white. Good laying hens. Or so I was told.

 My darling farmer girl went from cattle farmer to chicken farmer immediately. She loved those cute little chicks and marveled at the changes that occurred in them every day. She even loved them during what she called their "ugly" stage where they were half feathery and half fuzzy and you could just not tell what was going to happen.

My friend came home, and we moved back to our apartment but our chickens stayed in their coop. Every time Aeryn would go to visit them I would be surprised at how quickly they came to the sound of her voice. Something which made her eyes light up every time. Her chickens remembered her. (Smart birds!)

Unfortunately in the fall something hot one of the chickens, and then this morning I found out that it had now taken  three more. So I get to go home and tell Aeryn that she is down to two remaining chickens. Hopefully once she hears the plan that I am starting to set into motion she will not be nearly as depressed as I think she is going to be upon hearing the news.

As a bit of back ground, I have a feeling that my child is going to end up in some sort of animal science profession. She is most at home with animals and has a smooth, natural, calm nature about her when she is with them. It just fits. Lately she has been asking more and more about breeding, and cross breeding and genetics. Of course she does not know the technical terms yet for what she is asking. But her questions show a thinking beyond that of an average nine year old. She is already talking about breeding different types of cows for different qualities and has lately started to ask about chickens as well. She realizes that somehow she would be able to get an ideal breed that will be able to both lay good eggs, and produce a good quality meat.

So today, while on my free block, I have been researching chickens. I have found a local (well somewhat local) hatchery that sells fertilized eggs and think that it might be a good idea for Aeryn to incubate her own. This way she can keep a journal about the chickens. We can tag them and she can weight and measure them and keep track of their growth rate and egg production. She would like to be able to cross breed the chickens for ideal traits. Silly girl and her scientific thinking.

I guess we will see how things turn out.

Online dating.....

Okay so before I delve too far into this post I would like to reassure some of my readers that I have not transcended into the world of online dating. At least not fully. I have a friend, who shall remain nameless, who recently signed up for a site called OK Cupid. It is a completely free site (to reassure those of you who think that I have sunk to the depths of paying an obscene amount of money to find a date.) and it is a bit unconventional compared to the other dating sites out there.

The part that attracted me, that my friend knew would attract me, were the funny questions that you get asked and then paired up with your match over. Some examples include but are not limited to: Which of the two would be your preference: A lifetime supply of your favorite snack food or a 30-minute orgasm?? or Would you date someone who was currently in a relationship, knowing that you would "be a secret?".

Seriously folks, you should have seen the matches that they were sending me to. Many of you know that over the years I have switched back and forth on the stance of online dating. And I will admit that it has worked for some. But I do not believe that it will work for me. Granted. I have someone who I am interested in at the moment who I did NOT meet online and that could be a big influence on my oppinion.

However I know that there are relationships out there who started out as long distance, online relationships and ended working out really well. To these people, congratulations. I don't know how you did it but I am glad that you are happy. 

And that, my friends, is  my rant this morning about online dating. Not a rant really. Just a few thoughts. I may have to continue these later. When it is not quite so early in the morning. 

My poor lonely blog...

My poor lonely blog. I have let life get the best of me lately and have been neglecting it a bit. January is such a busy month for us. We have "The Week of Perpetual Cake". This would be the third week in January, where we celebrate my birthday, Paul. Jr's birthday, AmberMae's birthday and mom's birthday. And last year I added Alex's birthday right into the middle of the week.

Yes, that is right, this past Wednesday my amazing little man turned 1! I sit here and ask myself "Where did the year go?". It seems like only yesterday that Evelyn and I were crying together as we admired my precious little man. Having a son has been so much different than having a daughter. Aeryn at this age was calm and cute and sweet. Alex is like a firecracker. As soon as you light that fuse he is off and booming from the moment he wakes up until the moment he falls asleep. I certainly am one blessed mommy to have both of these wonderful children.

 I am also blessed to have these two, though they are no longer children. Beautiful, spirited AmberMae has just turned 12 and Handsome, precocious Paul is now 14. It seems like just yesterday that Evelyn was bringing THEM into the world. I am not sure what I would do without them in my life. They make the world  very interesting.

This past weekend we enjoyed a Manchester Monarchs hockey game. It was a lot of fun. Paul, as a birthday party, got to take five of his friends. Mom, Aeryn, and I tagged along as my birthday gift from Evelyn and Paul. And what an amazing gift it was. I can just say that driving a car from Walpole to Manchester with Aeryn, Amber and Grace in the back seat is VERY eventful. Especially since AmberMae made me think that the boys who were in the van got to have a whole bunch of candy and the girls did not get any. Silly Auntie Chelle stopped at the store and got some, only to find out later that Amber may have "embelished" the ammount of  candy that the boys actually had.

 Aeryn and Grace have not really been represented yet so I figured I would as these shots that they took on our way to the hockey game. The two of them together is usually a comical event. They seem to bounce of each others personality and compliment the other. That is of course when they are not going for each other's throats. The latter is usually a rarity however and I love the times we all get to spend together.

No rest for the weary...

So unfortunately I have been under the weather all week this week. It has really put a kibosh to my blogging for a few days. But now I am back, feeling a bit better and thanking my stars that I really do have wonderful children and a wonderful family.

Being sick is never a fun thing. Being sick and being a single parent is even worse. There may be sick days from my job but there are no sick days from parenting. I stayed home from work Friday. As luck would have it Aeryn was also sick. And because the baby sitter was not feeling well I kept Alex with me as well. There unfortunately, is no resting on the couch when you have an almost one year old saying "eat! eat!". That would be Alex's new favorite saying. Today he saw my mother in her kitchen doing dishes and started to yell "eat! eat!". Apparently he thinks that any time Grammy goes to the kitchen she is supposed to come back with something for him to snack on. Silly little boy.

Now that we are all feeling better it is time to tackle the month of January. We have a bazillion (6) birthdays to celebrate all in the course of a couple of weeks. The one that is most prevailing in my mind is that of Alex. My adorable little man is going to be a year old this month. I can hardly believe it. Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday I was looking into those warm brown eyes for the first time. It just shows how quickly time goes by and how much we have to cherish what we have. We have to find every little ray of sunshine and hold on to it with a force that could move the world. I know that I cherish mine. And even on the days when I am sick and still trying to juggle life, I would not trade it for anything in the world.

The above song is one of my favorites at the moment. Not for the song itself. But for what it has come to mean to my family. I first heard this song when I was pregnant with Alex. I played it over and over in the car. Then all of a sudden I realized that Aeryn was singing along just as much as I was. Now it has become the song for her and Alex. 

She sang this song to my belly every chance she got. And now whenever we are singing to Alex at bed time this is the first song she chooses. It makes me smile when I think of the love that she has for her "Baby Bro" as she likes to call him.

I only hope that she still feels this way when they are older. For now I will just enjoy the moment. And listen to my girlie sing. 

Bring it on 2012.....

Happy New Year everyone! I am so excited for my first blog post of 2012. 

2012 is going to be the best year ever for my children and me. I am not going to leave it any other choice. In talking to my BFF (Who sadly is on the West Coast) we both decided that this is the year that we are going to take what we want and live life to the fullest. If people want to be a part of my story, they are more than welcome. If not...it is there loss. 

I had a wonderful day with my kids. An amazing dinner with my mom and look forward to a peaceful  night. 

2011 is behind us. I leave no regrets. A few sad memories, but the happy ones by far outweigh them. I started and ended the year a single woman. Only this year, it does not bother me nearly as much as it did last year. I am more sure of myself this year. I know now that I CAN do this on my own. (Well not completely on my own. Fortunately I have amazing friends and family surrounding me.)

My children are happy and healthy. I am happy and healthy. We are surrounded by the positive influences of the people we love, who love us in return for being who we are. This year I am going to teach my daughter that she does not need to change herself for anyone. It took me a long time to realize this and I hope that by learning from my trials and tribulations it will not take her nearly as long. 

So here I am, ready to plunge forward into whatever adventure awaits me....Look out 2012. Here I come!