Chickens Here and There

These past few weeks have been pretty eventful for us. My parents came out for a "working visit" and then Ryan and I flew home with them for a 9 day visit to Washington. As a result, I am actually quite muddled in my thoughts. It's been a whirlwind of work and people - and as wonderful as it is, it's difficult to write as if I am on an Iowan farm while in the middle of suburban Washington.

None the less, there are exciting things to mention, as I wrote in my last post. For example, the chickens are now outside...and my dad and Phil spent some time working on Chicken Palace. The chickens certainly like the grass and sunshine, and I certainly like having them out of the garage! Although its still in progress, the fence is up and fortified with electric wire and it's warm enough for the little birdies to thrive out there.

My dad spent the rest of the week in the scary parts of the house (the attic and downstairs) ADDING OUTLETS to the upstairs! Two of the four bedrooms in our house have never had electrical outlets. The bathroom had two outlets- one unusable, scary outlet, and one that was part of the light fixture over the bathroom mirror- two pronged only- which you had to do some fancy reaching to use.



While it has not been the biggest challenge we have faced, the lack of electricity upstairs was a bit of a nuisance. That is why this picture of the GFCI outlet in the bathroom is SO very exciting to me. (Contrast old, scary outlet that didn't work to new, pretty, reachable outlet) Also? I can now put a baby monitor IN the baby's room instead of stringing an extension cord across the hallway from my room. Maybe the little Winnie the Pooh lamp could move from the master bedroom back into a kid's room! Oh the luxury!



The other really neat part of the whole expedition into the attic was that he found a way to remove all of the old wiring to the lights and existing outlets and update them to new, safe wires. That part of the process will have to be next trip- but it's possible!

While my dad was fishing wire and grounding outlets, my mom was repairing and painting the final untouched room upstairs. This will turn into my sewing room/office. This room has two walls of windows and a beautiful view, and up until now has been crammed full of boxes. To have it a usable part of my home will be amazing. No pictures yet, but soon!



Spring is finally here (Phil said I would be coming home to 80 degree weather next week!) and I feel like our whole family is stretching our arms and legs, coming out of a winter slumber (although I don't really remember much hibernating...). I am excited to start planting my garden and spending time outside in the sun, breathing in the sweet warm air.



Back in Washington, we have had a couple of really full days- a dinner with family, a dinner with some close friends, Thai food, Starbucks, and a day at the park being just a few highlights. I have met my new nephew (so little and perfect!) and played with his older brother whom you see pictured. He is about 9 months older than Ryan, and they had so much fun playing together.


Through it all, Ryan has had a blast, even if it is different from his usual surroundings. For example, while feeding the ducks at the park, he had to be reminded a couple of times that they were not swimming "chickens." And Grandma and Grandpa have a black and white dog next door - not a small cow. Also, the loud cars we hear driving past the house outside are not tractors (which of course, we realize after running to the front door to peek).