excuses

The boys are off to school. ITBS is wrapping up this week for my 3rd grader. My preschooler tried to convince us he needed to stay home from school today. First he tried flattery..."I would get so much smarter if I went to school at home with you Mom, you can just read me home school books." When that failed he tried a medical approach..."Uh oh I have the hiccups, you can't go to school with hiccups!" Then somewhere during the morning rush he had a change of heart and suddenly announced, "I am ready to go to school today!" Hmmm...don't know what is up with all of this as he loves to go to school without hesitation, and normally gets upset on the 2 days a week he doesn't have school. Maybe his little brother has been filling him in on how super cool Mom is and how much fun we have everyday at home? So we don't home school but my youngest tells everyone he goes to Mom school and his brothers tell everyone that he goes to school at home. So there in lies the confusion.

My 8 year old is turning 9 soon, and we are having a few friends over for a sleepover Friday. I suppose I need to get some work done. Laundry, the supper dishes from last night that I somehow neglected to get done...the boys did a great job of cleaning their bedroom last night, so that is done. I also need to decide if I am going to bake or buy a cake. Thursday's are allergy shot days, so I will be picking the boys up from school and driving 40 min's to the dr.

thanks

Thinking of all who have fought to give us our freedom, on this Veteran's Day. Called my brother who served in the Army and thanked him for just being him.

Someone mentioned to me that they didn't think we should have a special day to thank our military. I thought that was crazy until they explained that we should be thankful everyday not just once a year. That hit me...yep we definitely need to keep our troops, past and present, in our thoughts, hearts and prayers everyday. But I still think that we need, no they need, one day a year that as one a nation can come together and honor those who have given us our freedom.

The boys attended an assembly at school today for Veteran's day. That was cool, because it opened a dialogue about why we should be thankful and what the day is all about.

one sunny day

Company...company...company. Had a nice visit with Mom today. She came this morning to hang out with my youngest and I. My brother is also visiting but he went to hang out with Dad today, this was due to the normal level of confusion that occurs in our family. My in-laws were also suppose to be dropping by this afternoon, but unfortunately they were not able to make it.

We had a nice relaxing day catching up on work, friends and family. We were blessed with a beautiful fall day, so we spent some time out watching the ducks and chickies. Later my 3 yr old, entertained us by laying in the rectangle of sunshine on the kitchen floor. First it was his bed, then his swimming pool. Kids are so resourceful they really do not need all the fancy gadgets we buy them, give them a cardboard box and some sunlight and they are good. Ironically he wanted waffles for lunch and my 4 yr old woke up asking for a hot dog and cookie crisp. A breakfast surly made for champions. My 6 yr old came home with a note indicating he is reindeer #4 for his Christmas concert and he has a short line to learn. I asked him if he was Vixen, but he assures me he is reindeer #4. Cool.

Not to leave out my 8 yr old, who is taking ITBS this week and is pretty excited about it. I was concerned about # 2 pencils but he just looked at me, with his "Oh Mom" look and said the teacher has them. He was stressed tonight because his birthday is soon and he doesn't know what he wants. This led to tears prior to bed, and led me to be thankful that I have boys. I can only assume that this scenario would have been worse if he was a she. I am probably being naive and if I had been blessed with 4 girls would be taking the opposite side. But for now I choose to believe.

Oh I almost forgot... at supper, grace was led by my 4 year old, who pretty much gave the standard verbage, then my 3 yr old said "me next" and folded his little hands, closed his eyes, bowed his head and said "thanks for the chocolate milk".

and a partridge in a pear tree

So last April we decided we wanted to get our first farm animal. So we bought 12 one-day old chickies. My mom then thought the boys should have ducks too, so she brought over 8 ducklings the next day. We did put the cart before the horse and bought the birds before we built their home. They stayed in the dining room for three weeks. Flash forward 7 months. We now have 8 of our original spring chickens and 7 ducks. (After butchering 3 and losing one to Koda, our Wheaten Terrier). We adopted 9 more chickens, a rooster and 4 more ducks in September. Now they have a nice chicken house with an attached outside enclosure. They have been very productive laying delicious eggs. We have had so much fun with them. The older kids ask us to get them up early enough to do chores before the bus comes. I free range them during the days and that is always entertaining. The original gang of hens love to come onto the porch and peek in the windows, teasing the dogs. There is nothing like looking out the window to see a flock of ducks crossing the driveway or the chickens running through the yard. It just looks so natural, like hey I'm a duck and here I am walking in my yard.

We have a new cow, named Strawberry. The flock don't understand their new boundaries due to the new fence for Strawberry and often wander into her pasture. But they can't always figure out how to get back out. Strawberry would prefer they stayed out of her space. I think she is only trying to protect her baby boy, Buddy.

All of this was fresh on my mind as I sat down to write my blog, because my mother and I just came in from a rescue mission. My rooster and 3 of his girls were trapped on the wrong side of the fence. Chickens are blind in the dark. So even though they should have been able to get to the house they were scared and roosting on the fence a foot from their gate. Silly chickens.

I suppose I have babbled on enough about the animals. Everyday is something new and exciting.

chocolate cake

Hello. I have spent entirely too much time setting up my blog. A blog that, in which, I hope to catch the everyday ups and downs of my days. My days spent learning that while parenting you really must go with the flow, roll with the punches...pick your cliche'. Bringing us all back to me spending too much time deciding how I was going to put it all on paper thus agreeing to chocolate cake for bedtime snack. Not a good way to start my blogging career. Ahhh...but I do love chocolate cake and maybe I will give them two healthy snacks tomorrow night. The boys honed in on my distracted state and pulled a quick one. But now we are back on track, somewhat, with 3 of the 4 tucked snugly in bed.