our new coop!!

I am so very excited to finally be posting pictures of our new coop! It's still not completely finished, there's little things here and there that need to be tweaked or painted, but it's totally functional and the girls have been moved in and are loving it!

I'll start at the beginning. When I found the chicken breeds I wanted on Craigslist, Steve hadn't been working Saturdays, so I figured he'd be able to whip together a new coop asap. Of course (of course) he came home literally the day I picked them up and said they were working Saturday. Lovely. So our hardy girls have been living in the doghouse that I haphazardly adjusted to accommodate their needs (nesting area and roosts) and to be somewhat safe from predators.

Then Steve finally had a Saturday off, and instead of just laying around and relaxing like I'm sure he wanted to do, he went out and worked on the coop for me. I knew he was a keeper! ;)

my hero

Steve completely designed it based on what I wanted

here he is 'figuring it out' [his words haha] and getting started building it

quality control

Riggs testing out the new floor

the peanut gallery

the girls were fascinated by what was going on outside their home

little helper

Riggs loved watching daddy work and

tried to be just like him. that's a pretty heavy

sledgehammer for such a little guy!

rain or shine

of course it would be rainy the second weekend Steve had to work on it

but still he went out and worked all day in the drizzle

did I mention how much I love this man?

details

this nesting box is my favorite

with a lightweight lid and at the perfect

height for me to collect the eggs in the morning

more details

once the coop was built, it was my turn to get to work

I cut out vinyl flooring I picked up from Lowes to line nearly

every surface with for easier cleaning (chicken poop + rough wood = sticky mess)

all ready

after the flooring was in I stained the walls

then added the roosting bar

then hung the curtains for extra privacy in the nests

I also added some relaxing and pest-resistant dried herbs

in the nesting boxes for my pampered chickens...makes

the whole coop smell marvelous!

all done!

I sewed a little banner for decoration

also painted the little 'fresh eggs' sign and hung it up

I'm so happy with out it turned out, such a cute little coop!

Alot of work went into getting the coop ready for the girls to move in. But it was really fun to have a project to work on everyday and to be able to visually see the fruits of my labor.

It took one whole day to paint the outside of the coop. Our house is white with blue trim (that I hate) and so I used to the coop as a test to see if I'd like the colors I had picked in my head for painting our house. I love the gray trim and black door, definitely going to go ahead and update our house in the spring!

I also had to put up the fence for the new enclosure. Took forever since I had to dig for the posts and for the entire perimeter so that the fencing would be buried to prevent predators from digging their way in. I'm hoping it will work for winter. I'd eventually like to increase the height to 6ft so that the chickens can't fly over the top. But since we've had them it's only happened twice, and it's the same chicken who tends to get a little 'flighty' when she gets scared. She just stands outside the fence by the coop waiting to be put back in, so it would only be a problem if I wasn't home and a predator found her before I did.

Here's some pictures of the girls enjoying their new home:

first egg!

laid it right next to the ceramic egg

I planted there so they'd know where to lay

a weeks worth of toddler lunch ideas

I don't know about you, but coming up with something nutritious and interesting for lunch every day can seem pretty overwhelming. I hate to feed Riggs the same thing day after day, and he can sometimes be a picky eater. What he likes one day may not appeal to him the next, and how frustrating is it to make an entire meal only to have a teeny tiny nose turn up at the sight of it?

When I remembered to, I snapped pictures of some of Riggs' favorite lunches from the last couple of weeks so that I could share them here. There's nothing too crazy or magical, but they're all pretty dang good. In addition to the items listed below, we eat a lot of soup. But I didn't think it'd be very interesting to show you five pictures all of different soups.

day 1 | waffle dippers with cinnamon and maple syrup

We have a belgian waffle iron that we received for a wedding gift and never really used. I pulled it out one weekend when I was craving waffles and it turned out they were really easy and yummy for Riggs to eat. When he was younger, I'd just sprinkle some cinnamon on them and give him half a waffle to gnaw on. 

Now he's older and likes to do things himself, and also likes to eat what I'm eating. So I cut them into strips and pour a little syrup on his plate to dip them in. He loves it! And real maple syrup isn't as sticky as the stuff with HFC, so it's actually not too messy. Win! 

I make them using this recipe from scratch, or this mix. I throw the extras in a bag and freeze them for a day when I'm feeling lazy but want to eat something delicious.

day 2 | simple tortilla pizzas

These are so easy and so yummy. Plus they're great because you can use basically any ingredients you like or have laying around that need to be used up. We had marinara sauce, grated zucchini and mozzarella cheese on ours, but the possibilities are endless!

Here's the official recipe from Cookie and Kate.

day 3 | yogurt, granola and apple slices

Okay, so obviously we're not reinventing the wheel here, I'm sure we've all had some combination of this either for breakfast or for lunch. But it's a classic, easy toddler meal and it's one of Riggs' favorites, so I thought I'd include it.

You can use any kind of fruit, Riggs is usually happy with whatever's in season. He's not the biggest fan of apple slices, so I try to disguise them and make them more interesting by using a cookie-cutter to make them into fun shapes. I collect the scraps left over from the cookie-cutter and throw them in our smoothie. He loves to dip them in the yogurt, lots of fun and so delicious!

I make homemade granola using Ree's recipe (from the Pioneer Woman) and we use it for many different things, including as a topping on our nightly ice-cream.

day 4 | sharp cheddar apple melts

Riggs is a lover of cheese, and so we eat it at lunch at least two or three times a week. These cheddar apple melts are so gooey and satisfying on a chilly fall day, and they're really easy for toddlers to eat too.

There's not really any recipe for them, you just need tortillas, shredded sharp-cheddar cheese, and apple slices (we use gala). Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and pull out your cast iron. Baking sheets also work, although I feel like they only get perfectly crispy on the cast iron. Assemble your layers according to your liking, and pop them in the oven for about 7 minutes, then flip and cook another 7 minutes. So yummy!

day 5 | savory snack platter

Every week we have a snack day where we nibble on an array of snack foods for lunch. Some days it's olives, late july buttery crackers, and cheese slices. Other days it's sweet potato fries, tater tots, and mini-quesadilla slices. These days are always a favorite for both of us.

Hopefully at least one of these is a new idea that you'll be able to try out with your own toddlers. Like I mentioned in the beginning of the post, none of them are anything mind-blowing, but they're not your usual peanut-butter and jelly either. Which isn't to say anything against good old pb&j, except that it's not really a favorite around here and it can definitely get a little monotonous sometimes, like anything.

Please share your go-to, toddler approved lunches in the comments box. I'm always looking for more ideas! Happy Wednesday!

the first of October

I love October. It's such a good month (it's my birthday month!). Some people even consider today to be a holiday, that's how special it is! Right now I'm sitting in my lovely new chair (oops, I was supposed to post about my new furniture and never did) with a wool blanket and the afternoon sun beaming in on my while Riggs sleeps.

You'd think I'd be doing very selfish things during his nap, like showering or sleeping or pinning. Those are the things I usually would be doing. But today, right now, I find myself looking at photo albums of him on my computer and oohing and aahhing over how cute he is and how much I love him. I know, I know, what a weirdo, right?

But he really is just such a joy and I'm so glad I get to spend another October with him. And I love some of the pictures I've found so much, I just had to post them here. And I might be using this as an excuse to postpone getting dishes from getting dishes from lunch and breakfast washed and starting dinner. It just feels very critical that I post these photos, so here I am posting them. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have...

reading with bunny in the very same chair I'm sitting in now

he's learned how to set up tracks by himself

and spends hours in his room playing with his trains.

giving daddy hugs when he's finally home from work.

this picture makes me so happy.

all relaxed after his bath

waiting to get his PJs on and go to bed

that little hand, placed there with no prompting at all

I feel so honored that he loves me so very much

watching daddy and imitating his every move

those little feet!

eating a muffin in daddy's chair

contemplating the meaning of life