Final days of 2014...

...and we are going out with a bang (literally)!

Jason is making a ruckus in the bathroom as demolition is officially underway.  There's no turning back now!  Alida is already complaining about how noisy daddy is being and wondered if he would finish the whole project today. Wishful thinking!  We'll try to keep the blog balanced with a variety of life's happenings over the next few months but likely the stages of this project will take somewhat of a front seat, as it will clearly be the major focal point of our time and attention.  I'm sure we'll all have our moments, but right now it's exciting to embark on something we have dreamed of doing for years now.  And it has been quite some time since we have done an inside construction project, so I think we are up for the challenge!  The original completion date was around Alida's birthday but with the delayed start, we are probably looking more at end of April or sometime in May (colliding unfortunately with spring planting and one of my two crazy months at work!).

It was nice to have a few days away, enjoying time with family at the Benner homestead before plowing ahead (it seemed that Grandma wasn't at all disappointed at being surrounded by grandchildren!).  Gratefully, we now have a week here at home together with a few fun social gatherings interspersed throughout the work days.  I imagine my most helpful contribution will be keeping the rest of us out of Jason's hair, keeping everyone fed and as happy as possible.  If I can also get my hands dirty here and there and make a tangible contribution to the remodel project that'll be a bonus!  I just took Jason a shot of wheat grass juice to give him a boost for the work ahead, noting how weird we are as we both slugged it down making horrible faces in the process.

While we work inside, there are exciting things happening outside too (in the composting chicken coop, that is).  It seems that all of a sudden we've got hens wanting to go broody left and right. It's not exactly the ideal time of year for this to happen but, as we often try to do, we are taking advantage of the opportunity to try something new and hopefully learn a lot in the process.  Right now there are two mama hens sitting on eggs and the first brood are set to hatch anytime now - we are calling them our "new year's chicks."  Jason has heard peeping but the mama is sitting tight so we haven't seen proof of fuzz balls yet.  There's another one or two hens contemplating broodiness so we may get a few more rounds started.  We are all pretty excited to see how raising chicks in the composting coop goes, and having them free range with their mama (who will hopefully be able to teach them the ropes of safe free ranging early on).  Stay tuned!

Time to head out in the mist to get some exercise and hopefully encourage an afternoon nap for Alida.  I've done more sitting around, eating and napping the last few days than I'm accustomed to so I'm eager for some movement.  In closing, here's Kali and Alida with their gingerbread house creations that they made while with the Benners: