I’m sitting on my couch with Grace next to me. Caleb and Seth are watching Max and Ruby and Sarah is toddling around with a little ball…she is a chatterbox and I love hearing her baby-talk.
It’s just after 7. I’ve been up since 6. Rich left for work at 6:30. He had all last week off and I never thought I would say this but I’m sort of glad he’s going to work today. He’s exhausting! Constantly on the go with things to do……he wore me out. LOL In a good way, but honestly I am tired and looking forward to a normal (please?) day home with the children.
The weather has been gorgeous here. The sun is shining now and it promises to be another beautiful summer day.
We had a (comparatively small) heartbreak on Friday. We were gone all day, in Boston. While we were gone, the neighbor’s dog nosed up the the chicken’s little door and our poor girls had to face the monster. Molly the dog killed two in the coop; Jacob found them. (One of our roosters, Romeo, and one of our little hens, Pepper.) The dog also ate (!!!) four of our other hens. We have 10 hens left and two roosters. After all that work on the fence, we wonder if we are creating a food bin for dogs and fox. Rich nailed the chicken door shut and they now walk a plank up to their open window to lay eggs and roost at night.
Ethan had accidently let some chickens out that morning, before we left. We were so relieved on Saturday morning, when three hens came back home, drenched (it had rained a lot). Then, later on, Ethan thought he heard a chicken and found Margaret on the other side of the stream, sitting and making forlorn sounds. The poor hen must have been terrified out of her mind to go across the stream. They never go over there.
Feathers were everywhere. When I come across a clump, I pick them up and throw them into the bushes out of sight. As I told Rich, “They are only chickens and I know this is just part of the experience but IT STILL HURTS.” Especially because the children have loved and enjoyed them so much. Jacob’s favorite, Red, the one who hatched out chicks last fall and was such a good mother, was one of the hens consumed by the dog and it hurt Jacob so much. He refused to believe it was true and truly believed she would show up, until one last attempt was made to find her at the end of the day, Saturday. He came back to the house in tears, “I didn’t find any.” Rich talked to him for a while and promised we would order more chicks as soon as we could.
The neighbors were gone this whole time (all weekend). When they came home last night Rich went to talk to the man of the house, and it went really well. He promised to keep the dog in the fence and he said if it ever happens again (please, no!) he will get rid of the dog. It was amazing to know that he would choose keeping the peace with neighbors over his pet. I am so touched by that.
So anyway. Caleb’s birthday was Saturday. It was a very happy day, with my sister and her family here, and also my brother Isaac. Happy, that is, unless we let our minds wander to the sad destruction of six of our hens. So I tried very hard to block out those bad thoughts! Thanks, to those who saw my “pulse” here on xanga, and prayed for me. It truly helped, as always. So glad we can go to the Lord, with everything!
This is Sarah, the way I saw her, when I was mixing together Caleb’s birthday cake Saturday morning. She was at/under my feet as I stood at the mixer. She had a little cracker and was putting it in and out of the muffin tin (in the open cupboard). She had a scraper and was stirring. She was cooking, too! I didn’t even know it, until I said OOPS as I accidently flung a handful of flour out of the bowl and ON HER HEAD! LOL
Flour in the hair = just one of the many hazards of hanging around Mama, as she bakes.
I doubled the yellow cake recipe and wondered if I needed a bigger mixing bowl.
There was activity everywhere around me, and Caleb was enjoying some of his new toys.
As the sheet cake and 24 cupcakes baked, we watched Caleb open his gifts. (Although, they were actually in gift bags, as I have temporarily sworn off wrapping. It’s just too much of a hassle in this stage of life.)
The rest of the family got at our house at 10-10:30.
Sweet Naomi (she’s 5) adores baby Sarah. She brought a little book to show her.
This is my brother, Isaac.
There was a total of 15.
I’m holding Seth, and Amanda is holding her son Weston. They are a year apart in age.
We spent lots of time outside in the sun. The boys played frisbee and football.
After playing around outside, we had lunch together; make your own sandwiches, potato salad, chips, fresh strawberries, pickles.
Then, it was time for cake!
Caleb’s cake is a homemade yellow cake. As it cooled, Isaac and I thinly sliced 2 pounds of strawberries, which I sprinkled sugar on and let sit on the counter. When the cake was cool, I poked holes in it and dumped the strawberries and juice on top, and arranged them evenly. Then, (this is the fun part), I beat a pint of heavy cream (sweetened with a touch of sugar) until it was nice and thick, which I spread over the cake like frosting. I decorated the top with leftover strawberry slices. Basically, a strawberry shortcake. Yum! It’s the perfect cake for a July 9th birthday.
After serving cake and ice cream to 15 people (with help from Rich), it was finally time for me to sit down with a big piece of cake. As I ate, I started to laugh. It was such a typical Mama-moment……..
The Mama, sitting alone, with the dirty table and a nursing baby, while eating her cake and ice cream.
Rich and Jason were cleaning the kitchen and Rich took the picture.
Happy Monday!
Good to be Home 
that IS such a typical mom moment! so true. happy birthday to caleb! looks like a great time. and yummy too!happy monday!
:). Looks yummy. “typical mommy moment”…loved that. It is so true. I had a friend tell me she didn’t actually know that some food was supposed to be hot. (said SHE never ate it that way). Hope you have a relaxing week!
Looked like a fun birthday party.
Looks like a great day. Happy birthday to your son! I’m also really sorry about the chicken incident!
The pig with the green ball in his nose cracked me up!! I’m sorry to hear about your chickens Shanda. It’s always tough to loose animals but particularly hard when there are children in the house that have become attached too. I remember having to tell the boys that our faithful old dog had gotten hit by a car… one of the hardest things I’ve had to do as a mom.The birthday looked like tons of fun, and the cake sounds delicious. I like the idea of pouring the strawberry juice over the cake… yum!! Love the last picture! Enjoy your “normal” day at home (I know exactly how you feel)
loved it! looks like everyone had a wonderful time. 🙂 I am so happy to see that. I am still praying for you all. yes.. your mommy moment is cute… i remember those days. 🙂
hi shanda…….what a fun birthday! i love the idea of putting the candles right through the strawberries on top of the cake. my younger son LOVES strawberries and always requests some kind of strawberry cake for this birthday. i’m going to use your idea next time – thanks!! and so sorry to hear about your dear chickens…
Oh Shanda, so sorry to hear about your loss–>I would be devastated too. That is great that your neighbor is being so understanding, which I would expect but isn’t always the case. 🙂 Happy Birthday to Caleb! That cake looks amazing, I have tried many yellow cake recipes and they always end up tastig like a bland version of cornbread?? If yours is yummy I would love it if you could share the recipe here whenever you have time! 😉
So sorry about your chickens. 😦 The birthday cake sounds delicious!
Love the last picture! it looks all too familiar!!have a lovely week Shanda!
Sounds like a great birthday. The cake sounds very good.
Oh, I’m so sorry about your chickens. What a nice party for Caleb — it’s so nice to share special days with family.
wow i was exhausted just reading that. my heart aches for you guys with the loss of your chickens. they had all become quite dear to me through your posts and i know how attached the kids are. I am hoping that you are able to get some lovely new ones…and that they will be kept safe with the new quarters rich has made for them. what a fantastic birthday…lots of loving people, a huge cake and something that shoots green goo….love that little sarah was cooking ‘with’ you! so much fun.
I’ll have to send you my butter cream frosting recipe. Remind me if I forget. It’s a lot like whipped cream. Only problem with it is that the frosted cake has to be refrigerated. Looks like a great time was had by all. I love that your table can take a lickin’ and still look so nice when cleaned up. The finish is peeling off of my table. I noticed how long your hair is and wanted to tell you I like it! (Well, I certainly had a lot of random thoughts!)
Oh so sorry about your chickens. I did pray for you several times as I knew how loved they were. So glad the neighbor is cooperative. The picture of you,Sarah,and Rich is so nice. You look beautiful, and your little girl with the big smile is adorable!Looks like a great birthday. That cake has my mouth watering. Good thing Bob just brought home lots of berries from the garden! I giggled with you over the “mommy moment”…I am glad Rich took that picture!
So sorry to hear about the chickens!!!! I can understand how that would be so so sad and hard to deal with. I am glad to hear the neighbor was on your side about it, that helps a little.The cake looks yummy! So fun that you had family there with you to help celebrate I bet that made it more special for Caleb!You need the explain the pig thing..what in the world?Sarah with the flour in her hair is hilarious!!! That and you eating alone is SUCH a busy mom image!!! LOL
It must have been a bad week for chickens. My Mom lost ALL of her chickens last week! They suspected raccoons. So the next night my dad, one of my younger brothers and a brother in law waited patiently for the raccoons to come. Sure enough, they showed up. 10 Big raccoons! They were opening up the little door with their hands, reaching up and killing the chickens! How nice that your sister and brother were able to come and celebrate! Your cake looks wonderful….I think I might have to bake one of those. =) Love the last shot of you at the table nursing Sarah. How sweet and yes, a mama moment.Happy Tuesday to you.
@doesntcostathingtosmile – Are you comparing the homemade to the box mix? That’s what I used to do….but they are totally diffferent. Homemade yellow cake is more dense and tastes of sweet and vanilla. Very humble and basic…that’s why I like to eat mine with berries and cream! I used the recipe from “Better Homes and Gardens” cookbook. Do you still want it? I will send you a copy if you message me your address! 🙂
I probably am. I have this delicious recipe for chocolate buttercream frosting and it is my husbands absolute favorite on top of yellow cake mix. I just hate putting a yummy from scratch frosting on top of a box mix. Don’t get me wrong, I always have some boxed cake mix on hand 🙂 Buuuut, I would love to find a Homemade yellow that tastes similar. I suppose you are right though, it just won’t taste the same regardless! You don’t have to send it, there is one recipe that stands above the rest that I have and it may actually be out of an old better homes and gardens cake cookbook that I bought at the antique shop years ago. Thanks S!