Words Found.

I have been finding little notes written by Ivy around the house. This one I found this morning on the kitchen counter. I needed to see it just then because I was tired and grumpy, having been up most of the night with her as she had the stomach flu...again. The note I found before this one was an apology note she had made for Savannah, making amends for having hit her. These physical expressions of her love and regret are precious artifacts. Sweetness.

What's Up.

Yesterday was the best mail day ever. My seeds are here! The future of The Honey Hut's garden has never been so bright, so much hope wrapped in these paper envelopes. I've started the tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, rhubarb, kale, radishes and cabbage. The rest need a few more weeks or will be directly sown into the soil.
We've been working hard on the acre by clearing, burning, pruning and weeding. The Littles are right there with us, playing in a rough fort we cleared for them. When the fort got boring, I put up this tent under the walnuts and a whole new series of pretend make-believe came to life. I love hearing the dialogue The Little Girls come up with while deeply entranced in another world.

In "chick" news, I placed a small perch in the brooder for my Little Lovelies to practice and relax on. So far, only one Buff Orpington is excited about this. The other chicks just peck at it and lay across from this one, shocked at her audacity.

The Daddy Daughter Dance.

On Friday night Tim took The Little Girls to The Daddy Daughter Dance. For months we watched the bulletin board and looked for a handout for sign up information and a date. The night of The Daddy Daughter Dance is highly anticipated here at The Honey Hut.  

The highlights were; The Hokie Pokie, The Chicken Dance, The Cha Cha Slide and of course any Taylor Swift songs.

Afterwards Tim took Savannah and Ivy to frozen yogurt with friends Olive (Ivy's class) and her dad Jeremy. The Little Girls came home late, happy and even more in love with their Daddy.

Marking Time.

There is so much change and growth happening with The Littles. Savannah is reading all the time and very interested in history, specifically the Titanic and early 1900's. She has been writing her own books and taking great pains with the illustrations. Ivy is asking on a regular basis for alone time with me, sharing secrets about her day, worrying about her big teeth coming in before her little teeth have left her mouth type of big problems a 6 year-old has and trying to grasp ideas like how life is created and how fragile it is. Goo is talking so much these days. He pretends he is off to work for the day, gives me a kiss and tells me what his job is for the day. Usually he goes to work with Grandpa Dan on the tractor. Today he was on his way to the doctor for work. He had a play date today with his buddy Luxon. It was a lot of parallel play but sweet to see him hold his own without his big sisters as a buffer.

I feel like these days are slipping through my fingers. The Littles seem ridiculously bigger each morning they awake and in the busyness of life I have to stop myself and make an effort to remember these precious fleeting moments.

Room With A View.

The Little Girls have a reward coming to them if they can keep their bedroom clean for an entire month. They have been so diligent the last few days to maintain tidiness. Our friend Jenni stayed with us for the weekend and they worked hard to impress her with a spotless space however, they were less likely to play with their toys because they didn't want to have to re-tidy afterwards.

They set up two little bedrooms for their new Valentine's dollies, I just love their housing choices. Ivy's doll lives in an old jewelry box and Savannah's a tin lunchbox.

I am pleased to see order whenever I walk past their bedroom but I am also a bit bummed they aren't playing with their little dollies. I do love to hear the storylines they come up with when they think I'm not listening.

Pug Love.

Most days Ivy and I have an hour together while Goo is napping and Savannah is still at school. As soon as we sit and have our chat about the day, Izzie-Pug settles in for a snuggle. Pug loves that Little Red. While Ivy is away at school, Pug finds her blanket wherever Ivy last left it, and curls up on top for a snuggle.

Early Morning Revelation.

6:18am. I look out my bedroom window to see the sky turning on, illuminating the silhouettes of trees in the foreground from the depths of the brighter background. The house still quiet, I lay silently and run through my 'to do' list for the day. After hitting the snooze twice, Tim reaches under my pillow and takes my hand whispering, "We've been together longer than we haven't."

And it's true. We started dating in 1994 and have been together ever since. 20 years. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather spend over half of my life with and beyond.

Baby Lovelies.

Back in December, The Little Girls begged me to bring home a few more chicks. I had been looking and hoped to raise our flock of Lovelies from 8 to 12. I kept putting them off knowing I could handle baby chicks after the new year. With the unexpected death of Wrenna last week, The Little Girls begged me for a few babies to heal the hurt. On Friday morning, we picked out 3 Americanas and 2 Buff Orpingtons.

They are so fuzzy and cute!

Meet Chica (the favorite of two giddy Little Girls)

Addie (she is independent, brave and fast)

Tiny (the most easy-going as well as the runt)

Ivory (I have no idea about this one, can't tell her apart from the other buff)

and Taylor (the other buff, named after a favorite friend of The Little Girls).

They snuggle together so sweetly, already a little flock of their own.

Another of Tiny, so darling.

Round The Bend.

 

I believe we are headed towards health in The Hut. The Goo just threw up an hour ago so I'm thinking he isn't quite there yet but the rest seem to have rallied. Since my last post Tim, Savannah, Ivy and Goo all had an 8 hour nasty stomach flu followed by 24 hours of complete lethargy. When Tim is sick, he sleeps and sleeps...a lot. Savannah needs her back scratched and lots of snuggling and then apologizes profusely for me having to clean her up while vomiting. Ivy is always a fighter. She fights being sick, screams while being sick and wallows after she was sick. She is pissed off throughout the whole process and everyone here knows it. She reacts the way we all want to react but don't have the balls to do so. Goo walks up to me, says his "tumbie" hurts, reaches up for a snuggle, pulls his pacifier out of his mouth and vomits then looks at me stunned. No tears, no screams. If he weren't a total mess of sick each time, he'd go back to playing with his toys. So this is what my week has looked like. Their flu has kept be away from digging fence post holes and burning leaves. Taking care of the three Littles while they are this sick can be overwhelming but I haven't minded one bit the constant cuddling, staying in pjs all day and making a huge sick bed on the living room floor. It will be sweet to see their smiling faces and hear them pretend play when they are all well again. 

Arg.

I was hoping to post something a little more jolly than yesterday's sadness but I've got nothing but tales of woe coming from The Honey Hut. Tim, Goo and Savannah's cough-with-headcold-eye-infections have morphed into the stomach flu. It's bad and I'm scared after watching their decline and knowing how contagious this shit is. Ivy and I keep making eyes at one another and shaking our heads. It's gonna be a rough night. Earlier in the evening when The Little Girls were playing "bigs" (lalaloopsy girls) and before Savannah's stomach cramped up, they each put a heart next to their boys while they slept by the fire. So darling.

-1.

Every morning I get out of bed and head outside to let out the chickens. This morning was no different except for the sadness which welcomed me. Wrenna Chicken lay stiff on the soft pine shavings, with no signs of life. I have no idea how she died, there was no wound or sign of struggle. The Littles were awake when I went back into the house, I found a box and asked if they wanted to say goodbye. They followed me out to the coop with heavy hearts and big rolling tears. Ivy held the box as I scooped Wrenna Chicken up and gently set her inside. The Little Girls gave her one last stroke and a little love, then Goo and I headed down to the bottom of the acre. While I dug a hole, Goo alternated between playing trucks/tinkering with his lawn mower and petting Wrenna Chicken while asking questions.
"Owie?" 
"Bock Bock?"
"Nna?"
"Kissy?"
And when I turned to answer he gave her a little kiss and said "bye bye, Bock Bock."
He helped me carry the box to the hole and watched me place her inside. Then went back to playing trucks and mowing the dirt.
It's been a glum day at The Honey Hut. Our hearts are a bit shredded from our loss of this Lovely.