#27 — Please Stop Snowing
Janie,
We attempted to get our chickens last Saturday, but they had a very sickly inventory.. so we’re going to order an Egyptian breed through the mail in a few weeks instead. Mail order chickens is a new concept to me but I really hope it works out! As I write to you now, it’s snowing once again. It feels so very wrong. The weather has been exceptionally pleasant this past week and even tomorrow the high is in the 50s. It has felt so much like spring! Until right now.. Soon enough we’ll have a perpetual soundtrack of chirping in the house so I don’t think I could bare another cold snap after this peculiar snow day. So here’s to hoping things stay mild from here on out.
Everything feels a little lighter these days. The girls have been playing so well together, I’m getting more work done around the house. Things are looking up. A few days ago, Silouan and I were up and about at 5:30 allowing us some time to sit and sip coffee together before he left for work. Uninterrupted by little people. It was so nice to watch the sunrise from the top of our little hill that we live on. Sunny’s language has developed drastically in the past week. She doesn’t seem so much like a toddler anymore. Olga took her first couple of steps yesterday! And I just started incorporating a version of circle time in our morning routine and I’m getting more organized in planning “lessons” for the month. “Lessons” meaning acknowledging the changes in the season through crafts, baking, along with reading about the saint of the day. It’s helped me so much have a little more structure during the week and having activities pre-planned. I felt that I needed to get all my ducks in a row for when Silouan leaves next week… but his trip has been cancelled. Which I, amazingly, have mixed feelings about. As nervous as I was for him leaving, I also wanted him to have some much needed alone time. I guess I’m not too worried about it. Lent started this week so he’ll be gone most evenings anyway serving at church. So he still gets a little break from not having to deal with bedtime.. which has been tricky to say the least. Olga is going through another transition because we took her pacifier away in hopes she would start sleeping through the night. She would knock it out or her crib while she was asleep and wake up crying until I would find it and give it back to her. And obviously, trying to find a lost Binky in the dark is the worst. But so far the transition hasn’t made much of a difference in night wakings.. which is very disappointing.
Right now, my next project is meal planning and prepping. which I sort of have been doing but I would like to take it to the next level. I’m trying to have bread, pizza dough, scones, and biscuits prepped in the freezer ready to be chucked in the oven at a moments noticed. It’s going okay. Since we buy locally milled whole grain flour, the recipes are a little wonky.. so when I get the kinks worked out I can send you the recipes in case you ever plan on milling your own grain or if you find a mill close to you up there! Aside from that I’m trying to get really good at packing Silouan’s lunch for work and also having a quick breakfast ready for him before he leaves around 6am. But these meals need to be Lent friendly.. something I really struggle with because all of my meals are planned around tons of meat.
Oh and here’s an update on my workouts! I’ve dropped down one or two pant sizes! It’s hard to tell exactly how many because pants never fit me right now matter what size I am. Either way, it feels good to see some progress being made.
-Lydia