Some Blooms, a Barn, and a "Burban"

Although spring doesn't come until March 20, I'm excited about colors popping up around our house. Right beside our front steps is a batch of crocuses. Levi particularly likes these "Zebra Crocus" as he calls them.

Christmas Eve Ashley began construction on our chicken coop...which has now turned into a chicken barn (or house). It's a great building and he's using mostly salvaged wood and other parts (windows, door, and roof). We will have chickens sometime this spring once their swanky place is open for residents. As you can tell from this picture, the chickens will be living near the garden. 

Up-close view of Ashley's handiwork. If the summer afternoon sun gets to be too hot, we'll put up shutters over the windows (which are from our old house). The hole above the door will be a screened door to allow airflow in our sweltering South Carolina summers. 

And the other B in this list...a Suburban...or as Levi calls it, a Burban. Although I really hate to give up my 4Runner (we bought it new the week before we got married--over 7 years ago), we need something with more space. Ashley really wants a Suburban and I really want a Honda Odyssey mini-van. This is first true disagreement we've had in our relationship (having agreed on renovating 2 houses, 2 children's names, and building a house) so we're working on a compromise. Right now, the compromise is I'm giving the Suburban a shot for a month or so.  I haven't fallen in love yet...but it is a nice vehicle.

My favorite spring bloom is the daffodil. I loved daffodils so much as a kid that I named a puppy I got in the spring Daffy. And if I had had a spring wedding, I would have carried daffodils in my bouquet. I planted over 50 (or maybe it was close to 100) bulbs in the fall. They've been slow to flower but I'm relishing each yellow bloom!

A view from the back of our yard...you can see the chicken barn in the distance. 

The boys have been playing together pretty well lately. There are still plenty of shrieks and screams from both parties but life is getting slightly easier. 

I don't think I ever shared the three chairs that I painted for the fort...in Carolina Blue, Clemson Orange and John Deere Green. Suits our family perfectly (unless I had a fourth to paint Caterpillar Yellow). 

A Visit from Japan

In my pre-Mason days, I was a conversation partner to visiting international students who were learning English at USC. I've kept in touch with Natsumi, who was from Japan. When she told me a few months ago she was going to return to the US for a visit, I quickly offered her a place to stay--and she took me up on it! Prior to the SC leg of her trip, Natsumi visited friends in Las Vegas, New Jersey and Philadelphia. Although her time with us was fairly short (she arrived late Monday and left early Friday), she got to experience some of our favorite things.

On Tuesday, we went to the Biltmore House with my friends Susan and Buffy. Thanks to my parents for our free tickets (saved us $45 each!). We had a great time eating lunch at the Stable Cafe, touring the house, smelling the flowers in the greenhouses, and enjoying a sweet treat at Antler Farm. It was a COLD day but we enjoyed it all. 

On Wednesday, Natsumi joined us at the local primary school for our morning preschool program. We followed that with a picnic in the adjacent park. The boys had a great time running around and Natsumi and I got to talk. 

Here's Levi after jumping off the bench (he kept saying "Mama, watch this!" and then asking me to take his picture). 

Levi and Natsumi. The last time Natsumi saw Levi, he was younger than Mason. 

Levi made friends with another little boy at the park and Mason tagged along. It was so fun watching them play!

Wednesday night we had planned to take Natsumi to one of the best BBQ buffets around, Shealy's in Batesburg, but found out before we went that they're not open on Wednesday nights. So we took her to try another favorite cuisine of South Carolinians, Mexican food! She really enjoyed her grilled chicken, rice, and salsa...and we all got a kick out of the mariachi band singing "It's a Small World" for the boys. We concluded the evening with a trip to Krispy Kreme.

Thursday after we dropped Levi off at preschool, we went to the zoo. It was special to go to the zoo with only Mason--and I learned that he LOVES the aquarium exhibits. Usually when I take the boys, we skip the aquarium because we've made the big loop and I'm worn out...but I'm glad we added it back in for this visit. 

Thursday night I cooked one of Natsumi's favorite "American" foods--lasagna. It was yummy! After the boys went to bed, we introduced her to playing the Wii. She was such a sweet houseguest and we all look forward to her visiting again. 

Friday for lunch we met my parents at one of the Cracker Barrel's in Columbia. They were on their way to Hilton Head and stopped halfway to see us and the boys. There was a horrible rainstorm while we were there so it was nice to visit with them instead of being on the interstate. 

Mason developed a new game of putting the pegs in the cornbread muffin. I'm not sure of the rules but it seemed to involve mashing the cornbread into as many pieces as possible. 

On another positive note, Mason did take a few naps this week. It took more coaxing on my part but it was worth it. My sanity was somewhat restored and we all were more rested. 

Crunch Black Bean Cakes...Yum!

I haven't been blogging as much in 2012. I don't really know why but part of this is due to Mason giving up his nap. This is REALLY hard for me, especially since he doesn't even turn 2 until April (Levi napped consistently every afternoon until he turned 3). For some reason Mason has started screaming bloody murder every time I put him down for a nap...so strange because up until last week, I could take him upstairs after lunch, change his diaper, close his curtains, and lay him in his crib. And he would sleep for close to 3 hours most days. Then BAM. That is over. Ah...mamahood, it's rarely the easiest job and this is just another reminder.

All that said, I don't have much free time during the day anymore. But I have been cooking at least one good meal every week (I cook almost every night but it's not always shareworthy). Tonight's meal was a winner!

Crunch Black Bean Cakes, with homemade fries, avocado and a salad. Pretty easy and super tasty.

The bean cake recipe is based on one I found online at Food&Wine. I changed it a little bit by adding cilantro and red wine vinegar to the mix. And we probably ended up with more cumin than called for because Levi dumped a bunch in. Regardless, half a recipe fed us (the boys weren't that into them but that's OK...sometimes I need to cook something that I really enjoy). 

A crazy sidebar to this story is yesterday I bought a bunch of cilantro at Publix to use in this recipe. Then today I found FIVE clumps laying on the highway beside our driveway. One of the big  farming operations here has a packing house relatively close and the trucks fly by, loaded with all sorts of goodies. And occasionally, the truck loses a couple right near our house. I have no problem with picking it up, washing it off and using it. Kale and cilantro have been our freebies so far. Levi loves it!