Three Clues

1. Do you remember this Sesame Street classic?
2. Now, watch this one (or just buy the funniest documentary you will EVER see).
3. Finally, have you ever read this?

What do these three things all have in common??

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Chickens!!
We bought chickens!!!
Eric has been talking about getting a pet since the day we got married. As working students, it was never reasonable for us to do (admittedly, plus, the fact that I don't really like animals too much). We had a list of more important things to get first--a bed, a house, kids, a trampoline, and then maybe, someday, but, in my opinion, hopefully not, a pet. We finished reading "Chickens in the Headlights" together and I think Eric was re-inspired to push the whole "Let's get an animal" idea. If we had a dollar for every hour Eric spent researching on the Internet and reading up on chickens, we'd have a lot of dollars! Nearly every time I saw him on the computer, he was finding great chicken coop ideas or figuring out the best chickens to raise on great websites like Backyardchickens.com. After some discussion, we decided that maybe getting a couple of chickens wouldn't be so bad. We would get lots of eggs and then have a chicken fry at the end of the summer! Plus, the boys would be so into it (which they really are).
So Eric drew up plans for a coop and even made a model of it.
We anticipated the day the chicks would arrive at IFA Country Store.
On Wednesday, we went down and bought four little chicks!

Two Rhode Island Reds and two Buff Orpingtons.
We're still working on names--both of the boys want to name theirs "Eric" because that's "what they used to call daddy". Stay tuned for updates on the growth and times of our 4
chickens!

Note: Do not let Eric convince you it's OK to to let the chicks come in the house instead of the garage for a day. Chickens do not leave the best odor around. Thank goodness for melon scented candles!

Our Adoption Profile!

We have now updated our profile, to include Ky and Kacin, to adopt through LDS Family Services! Plus, the LDSFS website has been updated so it is so much better to search and view profiles. To check it out go to beta.itsaboutlove.org! Then you can "View Adopting Family Profiles" and search by couples first names or any other criteria. Check it out and spread the word!

One of our pictures showed up all blurry so that should be changing soon . . .

Farm Country

I got back from an overnight YW's retreat to Midway Saturday morning and my "To-do" list for the day went out the window. Staying up until 2 am Friday night sitting in the natural springs hot tub (with feet of snow all around us!) and playing games was probably the culprit. Saturday was an awesome day of relaxing and hanging out. We were glad when Pattie invited us to go to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point with her and her kids so we could get out in the nice weather. Pattie describes the day perfectly in her blog. I wish I could just copy and paste! But here's a few shots from the day.

We rode the horses . . . Kyler was pretty disappointed that he forgot to wear all of his cowboy clothes. He only had his boots on.

Pattie and Owen . . .

Ella and Kacin looking at the ducks . . .

All 4 kids hanging out . . . and running back and forth, up and down the ramp . . .

It was kind of embarrassing that our kids were all scrounging around for corn to feed the animals. We were lame--no one had quarters. They picked handfuls off the sidewalk and grass near every corn machine.

In the almost 2 hours we were there, the kids did sit for a few minutes . . . just long enough to munch on a snack . . .

We joined Pattie, Ella, and Owen at Cafe Rio for dinner. You gotta love the salads.

We went to Target later to get a few things and found these barns and farm animals in the $1 section. It was the perfect ending to our day at the farm. And hopefully now Kacin will learn that a pig is not a cow (Yes, I just found out that he doesn't know all of his animals quite yet . . . he'll get it soon though . . .)

TV

Most who know me know that I am NOT a fan of the TV. I will go as far as saying I am strongly against TV watching. It is rarely on at our house (why we pay for cable then is beyond me, but I guess when we do watch it's nice to have some quality shows and channels). However, it is a given that Saved by the Bell, the news or ESPN will be on at 5:30am while Eric works out in the basement. And it is a given that the volume will be blaring when Eric gets in the shower and uses the bathroom down there.

I have not changed my opinion on the TV in general. However, tonight, thanks to Kyler, I decided that a few good things do come from TV.

We came home from the Dinosaur Museum this morning and I had 15 minutes to eat lunch and be out the door for work. The boys eat lunch at preschool and I was not in the mood for Kacin to be staring at me eating and drooling over my food and to avoid a mess that we wouldn't have time to clean up, I asked if they wanted to watch TV. Kyler asked, "Can we watch Caillou?" "What's Caillou?" Kacin wondered out loud. Kyler replied, "A show that teaches us how to work things out and be good." Deep. I didn't know my son was recognizing the morals and deeper meaning of a TV show. Impressive.

Occasionally, we will all sit down as a family and watch John and Kate +8. Kacin and Kyler will laugh when they see the kids throwing tantrums (for some reason they don't think it is quite so funny watching their own tantrums though. . .). Eric and I just feel better about the way our lives have changed since having children. Plus, Kyler informed me that "Sometimes watching TV gets the grumpies out" (I'm pretty sure he was talking about me . . .)!

Eric and I often watch The Biggest Loser. It usually goes something like this.
"Wow. I'm so inspired and amazed that these people are changing their lives. How great is that!"
"Will you pass the cheez-its over?"
"Can you get me a Reeses PB cup, too?"

We Love Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! This is my most favorite holiday ever! I mean, you've got your pink, your glitter, your hearts, your treats (especially if you're a teacher!), your flowers, and LOVE. You get to make cheezy cards, attempt poetry, and try to be thoughtful. It's just the greatest. And today topped the charts.

Eric got me flowers. :) The single, dying rose is because Eric drove to my school yesterday at lunch and left it in my car! How romantic!

We woke up (early, mind you. The boys were so excited they couldn't sleep anymore.) and made a yummy breakfast of HEART-shaped biscuits, strawberry jam, turkey bacon, eggs, pineapple juice, and strawberries. We let the boys go at it today--I am still in shock of how much Kacin crammed into his mouth and tummy. He had 4 biscuits + everything else in abundance! And we still LOVE him even though he's going to eat us out of house and home. It was a LOVEly breakfast.

The LOVE of my life then had Church basketball. That's all I can say because I don't want E to be sad that they lost.

Eric was so much more LOVEable after he showered, so that's when the festivities began! The boys had to hide in Kyler's room while I set up the HEART trail through the house. First, the HEARTs led us to mine and Eric's room where the camera was ready to take a picture of us on our 1st Valentine's together (and all wearing red and pink, thank you). We followed the HEART trail through the bathroom and down the stairs for station #2. A bag of cinnamon candies and 4 buckets were waiting for us. We filled up each other's buckets by saying nice things about each other and dropping a handful of cinnamon candies. We learned that our family is very cute, funny, and smart--basically the best ever. Can you feel the LOVE?

The HEART trail continued to the kitchen table. We bit off the ends of Red Vines and used them as straws to blow HEART-cupcake holders across the table.

We hurried to the next room and found the coolest IPOD candy Valentine's. But before we could eat them we had to dance to a LOVE song. We chose "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash.

The HEART trail led us to the basement, our final destination, in which we found the LOVE basket filled with the Allen family traditional candy bar cookies. YUMMY.

Then we ate junk until lunch. But we can do that because it's Valentine's day.

The rest of the day consisted of driving up to Layton to visit with our wonderful friends, Kiri and Aaron (and cute Adalyn and sweet Jacob). It was great seeing their new house, talking and feeling glad that we don't have near as much snow in AF as they do in Layton! The boys played in the snow, made cars out of cardboard boxes and had a fabulous time while Eric and I went to the Bountiful Temple and to Jason's Deli to eat (we had a fabulous time, too). Thank you, Kiri and Aaron!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We Dream of a World . . .

. . . in which Eric is Vice-President.
At least, Cheryl dreams of it! My dear friend, Cheryl, called me this morning and had to share with me a dream she had last night. Since it wasn't my dream, I can't recall all of the details (so forgive me, Cheryl) , but the gist of it was that Eric became VP working with Pres. Obama. Everyone was excited because he was young and new. However, Pres. Obama didn't want to live in the White House (he wanted to live in some fancy mansion somewhere else). So Cheryl and the elders quorum were helping to move our little family in to live in the White House! At the inauguration, I was wearing a white, gauze dress and had braids in my hair. I believe somewhere between this point and seeing pictures of Elinor Roosevelt she woke up. Her dream made us all laugh a lot--but maybe it was just a vision of what is to come . . .
Vote Eric Allred--Vice President!

2 Days, No Pay, but We Got to Play

My title rhymes. I think it's clever. Eric thinks I'm a nerd.

This week Eric's company mandated 2 days of vacation without pay (2 more coming in a few weeks). It could've been worse . . . at least he still has a job, and we are so grateful for that! In reality, it was actually really fun to have him home. The boys were so excited to have daddy around to take them to school, feed them lunch, and play with them.

And I know that Eric was excited to be home with us and share some adventures. For example, he got to clean up Kacin when he had an accident at school. He learned how to speak preschooler so he could figure out the meaning of eating "crumbly chicken" for lunch. (Any ideas? . . . It's sloppy joes). He rediscovered the joys of big boxes and all of their uses as cars, work offices, bedrooms, Dr. offices, sleds down the stairs, and, for Kacin, a place to take a comfy and relaxing nap.

Good times!