day of the dead

i love picmonkey...

i was so sad when picnik went away in april and SO relieved

when they came back even better.

♥

i was getting impatient for the halloween goodies...

and then yesterday they showed up...

so, we've been playing.

& munki did this one of herself...

anywho...

munki & i are off to the apple festival...

have a beautiful saturday!

xox

one week

i've been sick for about 2 weeks now...

the last week being the worst

& i absolutely forgot about my blog for the last week.

shame on me.

moving on...

look at my beautiful bijou...

she's really quite amazing.

she turns almost totally green on mossy & lichen covered bark

& then turns almost completely grey

(shy of a couple of green bits around her eyes)

when she's hanging out on the rocks by her little "pond"...

and she also changes between several shades of green and grey.

mother nature never ceases to amaze me.

i picked two more pumpkins this morning, 

which you can see in my instagram feed over there --->

(if you're reading this close to my posting date)

we've had 1/2 a dozen eggs a day for the last few days!

the chickens are awesome!

all of our felines are doing well...

the pugs are...well, the pugs...=]

(but doing well)

and little miss munkipants is awesome as ever.

though she's been quite a handful lately, to be honest.

4th graders are weird.

i love her to death...but she's been kinda wonky lately.

(i don't even want to discuss that further)

she'll be 10 in just over a week.

i don't even know how that happened.

remember this kid?

damn, where does the time go?

i think once you have a living milestone, 

you just view time differently.

yesterday, munki received a surprise in the mail...

and look at the joy it put on her face...

the gift was from bethany...a friend from maine.

(whom we love and adore immensely)

she wasn't even aware that munki's birthday was coming up...

which made this even more special to her.

the ring belonged to bethany and she had worn it since she was 15.

she wrote in the card that it just really didn't fit her right anymore

and she wanted munki to have it.

♥

bethany is awesome...

& munki adores her...she has since she was 3 years old.

so yay, bethany for making the munki's day!

 have a wonderful weekend, friends & family...

xox.

pumpkins!

i picked our first 3 pumpkins!

i LOVE pumpkins.

how can one not like pumpkins?

they're so pretty.

 fynche & frank like pumpkins too...

also...fynche & frank got new pull charms...

and what started out as pumpkins turned into blythes.

sorry about that...

well, sorry to those of you that could not possibly care less about blythes.

have a wonderful friday & a fantastic weekend.

xox.

love notes

remember dylan?

well...yesterday, munki says she wants to show me something...

the above love note is what she shared.

then she says...

"i know i can't have a real boyfriend until i'm 30 or so...

(glad she's still clear on that)

but his note made me happy with tears of joy...

(have i mentioned lately that she's a drama queen in all extremes?)

but i'm really bothered that he's in 4th grade and can't spell friend...

(you and me both, kid)

but thankfully he wrote you are, because a lot of the time

on homework he writes your when it should be you're

or the other way around...

(she's definitely turning into me)

and he kind of scribbled the heart...

but his gesture was sweet, don't you think?"

(dear god, what is happening?)

i bit my tongue and smiled and said i was glad it made her happy.

she had already covered everything else .

i have to admit, with much pride, 

that what pleased me the most 

was that she noticed the grammatical errors...
(including that he capitalized Boyfriend)

and the fact that she decided to share it at all.

at 9 years old...

(yes, 10 in just over 2 weeks...eeek!)

i don't think i would have shared something like that with my mom. 

(mom, i love you...but...wow, i would have hidden that. )

i am still not okay with her growing up...

or her possessing the key to some kid's heart.

and yes, i am aware that me sharing this would be mortifying to her...

so let's not tell her, okay?

xox.

finally!

maggie finally laid an egg.

monday afternoon, i heard a ruckus in the coop
and went to check on the girls.

i was not prepared for what i found.

not only had maggie laid her first egg...

but it was HUGE!

all the girls have laid smaller eggs for the first few days

and then they have just gradually gotten bigger

and are now medium to large/xl eggs.

maggie's was twice the size of any of the largest eggs

that the other girls had laid.

i think she felt she needed to step it up since she was last...

and did she ever.

i took pictures, and they just don't do the size justice.

but maybe you can get an idea.

i held the largest brown egg we had 

(which is the size of an average store bought large)

and then put maggie's next to it...

i guess maybe we can forgive the poor girl for being late...

i would have waited too.

here's another shot with all of the eggs...

you can spy maggie's toward the back, on the right...

you know...the one that looks like a brown goose egg.

so...all of our girls are laying now...

just in time for the days to get shorter 

& eggs to become less frequent.

i honestly think i'll go without eggs 

before i'll buy them from the store again though.

we're all very spoiled now.

hope you are having a happy wednesday, wherever you are.

xox.

***edited to add...
not only was it her first egg...
not only was her first egg huge...
it was our first double yolker!!!

sharing

munki came home sick from school last thursday...

then she stayed home friday 

& finally started feeling better sunday morning.

at about noon on sunday...

i started feeling like crap.

munki is so good at sharing.

on a happier note...

look at my pumpkins!

this is somewhat of a progression collage of all of the pumpkins.

two of them should be ready to pick at the end of this week...

SO awesome!

the coolest thing about this, is that these are from the seeds of the pumpkin

that munki got in california last october 

when we went on our road trip with my mom & dad...

xox.

frogs

or frog, rather.

look how cute she is.

she kind of just showed up last night.

perfectly timed?

perhaps.

i was recently thinking about how much i missed sushi may...

my maine green frog that matt rescued & brought home to me several years ago...

she passed away in may of 2007.

i've been without a frog since...

& have truly missed having a frog around.

(before sushi may, there was phloyd...my ornate horned frog)

so...we'll see what the next couple of days bring...

but i think this little girl will be staying with us.

& yes, i'm already considering names...

xox.

more eggs

i can't help it...

look how beautiful they are!!!

olive...mint...blue...brown...


xox.

magic, indeed...

two brown eggs.

this happened yesterday.

the second happened just after my previous blog post.

i believe that they are henry & ruby's...

just from watching them yesterday...

but i'm not 100% sure.

i do believe, however, that maggie is our only slacker chicken now.

they're beautiful eggs.

yes, beautiful.

i have been checking on the girls every hour or so today...

trying to see which egg belongs to which girl.

i'll not be on the internet much today...

and my television probably won't be on either.

i'll never forget what today is...

but my heart can't take watching it all over the place.

have a lovely tuesday.

tell those you love that they are cherished.

xox.

magic

fynche is made of magic & sunshine.

this morning when i woke up, it was 51 degrees.

hallelujah!

i think (crossing my fingers) that perhaps our heat & humidity

may be behind us for this year...

i sat outside drinking my morning coffee & it was heaven.

i also took this little picture of fynche.

it was a wonderful start to my morning.

and while i was dropping munki off at school...

a small miracle happened...

either maggie, henry or ruby laid an egg.

finally!

& it was speckled like fred's olive eggs...

matt & i were just telling them that needed to start earning their keep.

i need to keep a closer eye on them again

so i can figure out who it was.

yay for more eggs!

have a lovely monday.

instead of thinking of it as just monday...

think of it as the beginning of a brand new week

& do something wonderful with it.

xox.

thankful...

robbie.

my baby brother...

pain in the arse...

annoying...

stubborn...

crybaby...

pain in the arse...

tough...

goofy...

smart...

pain in the arse...

sweet...

caring...

brilliant...

pain in the arse...

talented...

patient...

great dad...

pain in the arse...

awesome.

he's my little baby brother...
(he was cute when he was little, i kinda liked him then) 

nowadays, he may have about 6 inches on me in height ...

but there was a day when that was not the case.

the days when i took advantage of being the big sister...

the days when i would beat him up just because i could.

he was SO annoying.
(don't think he didn't hit back, because he did...
he probably started it most of the time too =])

i ignored the comments from my parents...

"some day, he'll be taller than you...bigger than you...

& he'll remember these things."

it didn't stop me.

i didn't much care for him as a kid.

i loved him, but i didn't often tell him so.

it took several years.

& i do mean several.

then one day...we were just damn near inseparable.

daily visits & talking...

i don't know what i'd do without him.

there was a (too long) period of time

when i was basically without him...

i missed him everyday, but we didn't talk for about 4 years.

& that sucked.

BAD.

my heart ached all the time 

& the lack of his presence in my life affected my daily living.

okay, so we're both stubborn.

incredibly so.

but last october, 

i got to see my brother for the first time in 4 years...

it was almost like no time had passed.

the biggest difference being that he was now a dad to two.

i hadn't seen my nephew since he was weeks old...

& i got to meet my niece for the first time.

my heart exploded with love & joy & comfort.

it was at this exact moment that i realized

just how damn much i had missed him.

i knew i had missed him...

but it hit home just how badly i had missed him

when i hugged him.

i ADORE my baby brother...

& i love him more than i can find words to express.

(though he's still a pain in the arse...)

yesterday he had surgery...

 (heller myotomy)

i won't go into details, as that's a huge 17 year story in itself...

but, i was a mess ALL damn day.

the time difference between here & california didn't help.

(i was up and worrying before he ever got out of bed to leave for the hospital)

after a couple of hours longer than was originally thought,

the surgery was done and the doctor said things looked good.

(thank goodness for my mom's phone call)

i can't wait for him to heal & experience life

in a way that people take advantage of everyday 

without thinking twice about it. 

like i said, i don't know what i'd do without him.

i love the hell out of him.

he's my baby brother.

xox.

favorite things

munki's hands & acorns...

she brought these home from school.

they are the tiniest acorns i have ever seen.

she said she thought of me when she found them...

so, she started collecting them.

she melts my heart with her sweet gestures.

xox.