goodbye our sweet girl Lu

this past week started out hard & got even harder.

thursday we said goodbye to our sweet 12 year old chocolate lab Kahlua.
we got her when she was an lazy 8 weeks old pup & she matured to be the best dog in the world. her health had been declining for years, but she was still happy & wanted to keep on trying. 
(that's my Lu!!!)
thursday...she just couldn't anymore.
we said our goodbyes in love & miss our sweet old friend Lu terribly but it brings peace knowing that she lived a good life & relief that she is no longer suffering.
we gave her the final rest the best dog in the world deserves & said goodbye to our old girl Lu in love.

feeling too SLUGGISH to do laundry



the laundry will just have to wait(again).

 

this morning Miss A informed me that she has a new pet slug & that he has been living in a teeny little container since Tuesday. so i suggested that maybe it was time to make him a more comfortable home (instead of doing chores...of course).we did a little slug research & headed outside to get to work on his new habitat.

we both agree that he looks much happier in his new place munching on that fresh green leaf. (can you spot him?)

*our fave slug fact: they love one our fave foods...KALE!

learn how to make your own comfie slug home here.

farm notes{a cute happy girl & a rooster that lays eggs}

haha! love this pic for so many reasons!

a cute happy girl with a chicken under each arm.

can't help but smile...oh & then there are the glasses.

*oh yeah...remember a while back when i talked about how uncharacteristically super sweet, cuddly, quiet etc... Hot Chocolate (on the right) was for being a rooster?

well a few months ago, he started laying eggs.

(reread it & think about it for a minute...got it?)

even though there are conditions & theories that may explain it, i really cannot figure it out. especially since i heard shim

cock-a-doodle-do & everything.

either way i need to stop calling her a he .but i cant. 

weekending. saturday & {unplugged sunday}

saturday

[beginning]

[middle]

[end]

{unplugged sunday}

saturday

[beginning]

we were instructed to lounge around in bed & not to come into the kitchen.

my smallest brownsugar A & i caught up on some reading while

my middle brownsugar M pulled off a fantastic fam breakfast surprise she planned with her Daddy only there to follow her instructions.

to my surprise she made 2 loaves of the most moist & delish gluten free chocolate chip pumpkin bread i've ever had.

i cannot bake to save my life

so for her to get the correct texture & moisture content in her loaves is quite an accomplishment

(not to mention a hands on life lesson such as measuring, fractions, following directions, meal planning, etc...)

 on  

along with turkey bacon & fresh slices of watermelon it was a fantastic meal.

[middle] 

while i got caught up on paperwork (BOO!!!),

my biggest brownsugar K practiced her guitar.

she is such a quick study

& is making such beautiful progress.

 it is so lovely listen to.

[end]

since He was home all day Saturday we decided to hit the 

Oceanside Harbor & grab some ice cream on the beach after dinner.

so glad we did, it was a nice (chilly!) way to end our Saturday. 

{unplugged sunday}

[beginning]

ok it wasn't a completely unplugged because i'm in the middle of wrapping up work samples & the end of this school year check out with our charters (YAAAY) so i had to go online for a bit to check some dates & messages etc... 

we also sampled an audio sparkle stories story 

(love!subscribing!)

but after that, being online was over...

[middle]

our congregation meeting,

which of course, was all about none other than freely forgiving one another, since that is the exact place i'm in.

James 3:2 is a great humbling reminder that "we ALL stumble many times..." & our imperfect human being selves need to be forgiven constantly & consistently.

 *super guilty*

Ephesians 4:32 is a another great reminder (command even) to

"...become kind to one another, tenderly compassionate, freely forgiving one another just as God by Christ freely forgave you." 

(& keeping on forgiving & keeping on forgiving...etc...).

this talk was obviously *lovingly* specifically designed just for moi...good thing i did not miss it :)

[end]

afterwards i came home had lunch & put up on my snuggly pjs & Ugg boots,

 i poured a cup of hot tea & snuggled up with my new snuggle buddy, the stuffed kitty my little A gave me to use when she is too busy to snuggle & my newly washed no longer stinky brown dog & caught up on some reading.

a pen pal letter from a friend in England, some new mag issues & 7th grade chemistry to round it all out.

gardening & free ranging chicks [spring]

               marshmallow our skittish newly laying hen.   hot chocolate is THE snuggliest rooster ever!

               she's coming around slowly with lots of         he follows us around & squawks, squirms &

               in hand treats & patient lovin'.                    squats down so you can hold him.

a few weekends ago we had a really nice break in the weather.

we decided it was the perfect time for our chickens 1st day free ranging

& also to clean up our

[severely neglected & horribly over grown] garden beds for spring.

that way we could stay close & keep an eye on them.

 

they were both pretty hesitant at 1st.

but came around eventually & were soon running & flapping their wings with joy .

surprisingly Hot Chocolate the rooster had a little seperation anxiety if M left his side.

he would search for her, squawk out a nervous squawk & panic a little.

totally un-rooster meanie like, but super cute!

`

spring must have really been in the air

because even grumpus bun bun Carmello joined us.

He helped nibble away at the clover while the chickens discovered insect delicacies.

which really is one of Carmello's favie bun bun things to do, he just really hates the leaving his hutch & being touched & carried over to the beds part.

country girl brownsugars

there were lots of other garden critters helping us too.

snail girl - "poking him in the eyeballs is fun, but i really want to lick him!!!" *sigh*

blue belly lizard girl - "what a beautiful creation!"

* yesterday we spent the day at our favie garden nurseries...stay tuned!

In celebration...

Ok so we are still super excited about our 1st cute little egg from this morning.
it's still in the fridge.
we keep taking it out & looking at it...
& doing little happy dances :)

The beginning...

YAAAAAY!!! FINALLY! FINALLY! FINALLY! After about nine months we were coming to the conclusion that Marshmallow was just never ever going to lay...ever. It's THE cutest little pink egg we've ever seen.
She's a x between a few breeds, so who knows the variety of shell colors we will have. But for now...WE ARE LOVING PINK!
SPRING & HOPE ARE IN THE AIR Y'ALL!!!
*we are currently down to only one hen & one rooster. We've been going gaga over all the new baby chicks in the feed stores & trying to wait patiently until after our long spring break trip. Ahhh!

{5 around our house}

my neighbors have one of the most amazing sunny views

overlooking groves of trees & mountains.

the entire back of their house maximizes this view.

 our plentiful SoCal sunshine pours generous amounts of light into their home.

i edited this pic to make the contrast between light & dark more dramatic.

the girls & i  are working on descriptive writing combined with technology.

 the prompt assigned was light.

here is 1's (rough unedited)  & 2's (final) light prompt blog posts.

(BTW-they are fun to follow too...hint...hint)

{5 around our house}

1.currently loving::on PANDORA Zee Avi, Ernie Halter, Norah

                     Jones, BoyzIIMen, Esperanza Spaulding, Joss

                     Stone, Adele, Veggie Tales...sooo many!

                     

                     *hot peppermint mochas {new fave}&

                     honeycrisp apple season

                     {MY ABS FAVE OBSESSION}

                     

                     *warm fires(that i built by moi's self

                      mind you)snuggles under a blanket

                      & a shaggy little stinky brown dog

                      curled up at my feet. it's actually been

                      cold here (ok really cool). 

                      i miss the cold living in 

                      SoCal so i am thoroughly enjoying this!

2.currently reading ::[of the many]

                      *me-FINALLY finished The Dry Grass of

                      August & now reading Water for

                      Elephants. so far so good.

                      

                      *1-is obsessively devouring The Hunger

                      Games. can't wait until i get a chance to 

                      read it & see what everyone is raving 

                      about! 

3.currently happy :: He & I got to go on a date! we don't

                      have childcare here, so on our vacation

                      last week we took full advantage & FINALLY

                      celebrated our anniversary (which

                      was actually in August). we had

                      a fun night of tailgating, football & tons 

                      of fun with friends & each other.  

                      i have super cute pic of us but i

                      promised Him i wouldn't share because

                      He was having an allergic reaction to

                      something unknown & one eye

                      was completely swollen shut. Poor Baby :(

4.currently relieved: that a certain shaggy little stinky 

                       brown dog AKA Prince Oliver Coco, after 5

                       long years is finally showing signs of

                       possible willingness to at least partially

                       loosely comply with the concept of     

                       potty training. maybe.

                      

                       we're hoping ::

                       1.he's finally realizing that he would be  

                         THE abs perfect pooch if he would only
                         refrain from relieving himself in my
                         room...usually on my freshly cleaned
                         laundry! Grrr!
                       2.he realizes he will no longer have to
                         wear his grody indoor diapers among  
                         other grody things that come with!
                         win win for all involved...BELIEVE ME!
                       3.he realizes i would gladly stop
                         threatening DAILY to put his cute
                         NASTY SHAGGY STINKY LITTLE BROWN DOG
                         BOOTY OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!

5.current soup from my new a soup a week pinboard 
click on link for recipe 





Source: href='http://skinnychef.com/recipes/potato-leek-soup'>skinnychef.com via href='http://pinterest.com/dtr/' target='_blank'>brownsugarhoney on href='http://pinterest.com' target='_blank'>Pinterest

.dtr.

turning 9 {& back in the saddle}

2 turned 9 this month & FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY her wish came true.

the time was FINALLY right for this horse loving girl to get back to her passion...

getting acquainted with the beautiful ranch...

Dinkey the Donkey (so cute!)

3 & Champ became very fast friends

one of my faves...the stunningly beautiful Gypsy

2 meets her newest best pony buddy Poppet

after an instructional safety lesson, the riding instructor tied Poppy to a golf cart & we rode all through the hills on a tour of the ranch.

along with site seeing, this was a test of 2's balance.

(staying on bareback while ducking under trees, trotting up & down hills, changing terrain, etc...) 

we got to see the ranch grounds & the different parts that they keep the over 52 horses & stallions.

2 & Poppy did very well as a team!

next weeks lesson cannot come fast enough :)

i almost died last weekend{ARACHNOPHOBIA}

i almost died last weekend!

He pulled this guy out of my turtle pond

(right near my backdoor slider...that the kids always leave WIDE open).

i know in my head tarantulas are harmless, gentle, shy creatures but they are also giant hairy spiders with fangs!

ARACHNOPHOBIA IS NO JOKE!

 i instantly went on total freak out!

i even sent all my neighbors text messages that said

"i love you dear neighbors, but it's time for me to move!"

i couldn't take it so immediately we packed up & headed out to the only place i know for sure around here that does have tarantulas...THE BEACH!

*p.s. after the fact seeing a real tarantula up close & personal (if you can bear to look at it...or see it thru your tears & hysterics) is actually PRETTY COOL...in a very creepy-crawly-homeschooling-life-learning-scare-you-half-to-death kinda way!

{Mahogany Monday} learning from leopard geckos

{Mahogany Monday}

learning from leopard geckos

the girls got another interesting & educational pet sitting job

(remember the frogs).

this time we have two leopard geckos of different ages (one is a cute little baby).

these two are waiting to go to their new home (my brother's) & the girls wanted to watch them until then.

problem is we are getting attatched of course.

 "scrawny little wiggly baby.

Hmmm...

it looks like it needs to eat to me.

Girls, what do you think baby leopard geckos are SUPPOSED to look like?

Can someone look up baby leopard geckos for me & find out? 

Wonder if are we feeding it the right stuff?

Wonder what they eat?

WOW! Their bodies are actually soft & squishy, total opposite of the beardy...i wonder why?

Why don't we see them much during the day?

(you get the picture right?) 

{lizards are for boys! ummm...}

2 & her bearded dragon Zoingo say

THINK AGAIN!

*Mahogany Monday is a showcase of mothers of color that are living the natural mahogany lifestyle (homeschooling/unschooling, healthy eating,natural parenting, etc...).  

on twitter #Mahogany Monday.

please visit the Mahogany Way

feel free to join :)

mahogany monday {life learning}

Mahogany Monday

{life learning}

can you see the tadpole in the background?

the girlies got a new job with their pet sitting business.

A frog & a tadpole in the same container.

we LOVE frogs so

how lucky is that!

so neat to be able to observe two of the life cycles right in front of our eyes!

what impressed me the most was that the girls immediately (instinctually???)gathered up all kinds of learning materials & dug right in.

even though we are not full-on unschoolers...child led life learning is definitely the kind of learning we LOVE & prefer!

*Mahogany Monday is a showcase of mothers of color that are living the natural mahogany lifestyle (homeschooling/unschooling, healthy eating,natural parenting, etc...).

on twitter i will be using the hashtag Mahogany Monday.
please visit the Mahogany Way
feel free to join :)

fieldtrip{monarch butterflies pt 2 & tamarack beach}

Monarch Butterflies part 2 & Tamarack Beach

this one of our fave butterfly books.

 this very cute & informative story is all about going to the butterfly conservatory (even the same rules we were given). it even has 3 sisters in it. we found it funny that one of the girls on the trip actually had a butterfly land on her finger & wouldnt leave just like in the story.

the conservatory ed room.

we learned tons of interesting facts:

• boy Monarchs only, have one black dot on each bottom wing
• butterflies only make chrysalis not cocoons
• Monarchs live @ 8 months, most other butterflies only live @ 1 month
• butterflies eat thru a straw like tounge called a proboscis
• butterflies like salty & sweet things

in the butterfly vivarium there were many different types of host plants. it was helpful to see them all in person & get more ideas to add to my own butterfly garden.

this is the  list on their website. 

 after the beautiful butterflies...the beautiful beach.

we thru together a quick lunch: left over fried chicken, carrot sticks, strawberries & some waters & enjoyed the afternoon at Tamarack Beach in Carlsbad.

pretty perfect day.