Adalyn

Adalyn is quite the stinker. She is into and onto everything. Some of her favorite things to do are empty all the contents from drawers and cupboards and climbing onto the table. I had to take off my centerpiece since she kept knocking it onto the floor. A few days ago I sat the ladder up to hang a sign over my pantry. I went to get the rest of my supplies and I came back and found this. I was totally freaked and shocked, so I did what any mother would do. I made Devon run and get my camera. Hey, I want to have proof to show her when she gets older. Another of Adalyn's favorite things to do is unload the dishwasher. I am sure this will be nice someday; but frustrating when you are trying to load it. If the dishwasher is left even slightly ajar, she can get it open. This is from a couple of days ago. She is so proud of herself! Today Devon caught her in my craft room. She had climbed onto the chair and then pulled herself onto my desk; then she started dumping all the contents on my shelf. Good thing Devon found her when he did. It could have been a lot bigger mess!
All of my kids have been climber's but Amber and Adalyn are definitely the worst. I guess my boys are a little more cautious (but not much).

I made Addie a few new dresses this weekend. I really liked how they turned out. I love this pattern. You just use your old t-shirts. I have used a couple of her other patterns and love them as well.

Videos of Our Piano in Action

Piano

Devon has been wanting us to get a piano for a long time. He has been searching craigslist for about a year and every now and then he will find one he wants us to look at. I have wanted a piano also, but I haven't been actively pursuing it like he has. A few weeks ago he placed an add on craigslist that said he was looking for a player piano. We got several calls about it, but only one that seemed too good to be true. It is a beautiful piano, and was a great price. We couldn't pass it up. Devon has been playing it non-stop. Devon took all these pictures of the piano. I think he did a great job!!!

Adalyn turns one

Addie turned one on Saturday. I can't believe how fast this year went! We had a mini birthday celebration. Most of our family is out of town so we are going to have and official birthday party later.

Addie totally enjoyed her cupcake!

Grandma Tripp, Garryn and Warren get in on the action.

It all ended like this! In the tub!

Yellow Chandelier

I can't find my before photo of this chandelier. It was black. I was planning on painting it for a long time but I just got to it last week. I decided it would be easiest to paint if I took it all apart. It worked out well. I just made sure I finished it quickly while I still remembered how to put it together.

Here is a picture Devon took of me putting the chandelier back together.

It cracks me up how intense my eyes look here. I guess I was really concentrating.

Devon took this picture of Adalyn watching me. Most of the time she was trying to take off with pieces of the chandelier. Devon had to take her in the other room so I could finish. She was not happy about it!!

Here is the finished product. I think it turned out really good. I have been loving this color of yellow lately. I guess if I get tired of it I can paint it again.

Meet the girls

Here are our chickens. We got bantam chickens so they are about 1/2 the size of normal chickens. We think they are pretty cute. They each have their own personality.

We call this one Jasmine since she is a sultan chicken. I guess Devon was thinking of Aladin. She is pretty scared of everyone. It could be because Garryn goes out there and picks them up and throws them. He is soooo naughty!

We haven't named this one yet. We usually call her Blackie because of her color. She is our smallest chicken. She is quite spunky though. She will lay green eggs when she starts laying.

This one we call Big Mama. She is a Buff Brahma. I guess it rhymes well with Big Mama. She is our biggest chicken. She is cautious yet friendly. She will let Devon hold her for quite a while.

This is Fluffy (Brennon was determined to name one Fluffy, and this one fits that description best). She is supper friendly. Except after Garryn has been around. Then she is supper freaked out. It could because she is the one Garryn captures the most.
Here they are frolicking around in our back yard. You can see all the weeds that have popped up. I can't wait to get them taken care of.

Devon's Project

We decided we wanted to get chickens when we were visiting in Utah. Devon and Amber immediately started dreaming up chicken coops. Devon sketched up a couple designs. One was a castle coop. Devon ended up deciding to build a 1950's inspired coop. He got the idea after visiting Ripples hamburger joint in Provo Utah (YUMMY burgers by the way!). Devon actually took a picture of it with his Polaroid camera. That is quite an honor. He doesn't have much film left.I was thinking it would be a while till we actually did it, but we found a local family that raises chickens and we fell in love. We bought four before we even had a coop for them. Devon finalized his plans and we went off to Home Depot for the supplies. Devon worked straight for about a week till he finished the coop. I did help a bit with the wire part. That was not fun. Good thing we had gloves.

Don't look too much at our grass (or lack of it). Jayson scalped it and then our sprinklers went out. Not a good combination. We have a landscaping friend who is supposed to come help us fix it. He is on vacation now, so it will have to wait a bit longer. It was really pretty before it all died. Now it is just dry little needles and weeds everywhere.

I decided I wanted to paint it a fun blue color. I was a little shocked at how bright it turned out. It looked more ghetto blue than charming cottage blue. I tried to have them change the color, but they said there wasn't much they could do since there was already too much pigment in the color. Oh well, I guess it will grow on me. Devon said it reminds him of the beach. I guess I will just have to imagine Greece when I see it.

Here is the finished coop. I think it turned out really good! Devon did a great job!!

Next post we will introduce you to our girls. They have been so fun to watch!! Who knew I would love having chickens so much.