Flip Flop Failure!

Let me start by saying that I LOVE flip flops.  I seriously wear them almost every day in the summer.  They keep my feet cool.  They are easy to take off (because shoes really just aren't my thing for long periods of time).  And they are easy to slide back on when I need them. 

I used to always struggle with flip flops breaking.  The middle piece would pull out and I wouldn't be able to wear them.  Then I found a great tip online that you can use a bread tab to hold them in.  Now I never travel anywhere without a couple of those in my purse. 

But...bread tabs can't fix everything!  I had a little mishap while pushing Owen's wheelchair and the huge cart at Costco.  I kind of ran over my own foot with the cart.  And managed to slice my flip flop horizontally.  

I managed to finish shopping and checkout, but of course I didn't bring an extra pair of shoes into Spokane.  So after loading the car up with groceries and kids, we went to Wal-Mart.  While getting out of the car there, my last bread tab broke.  On the shoe that wasn't broken.  

So now I'm pushing two carts at Wal-Mart with all the kids, trying to get to the shoe section (all the way in the back of course!) and trying to keep my shoes on my feet.  I must have looked like a sight!  

I've never been so happy to buy a new pair of flip flops in all my life!  That was a crazy few moments!  But Praise the Lord, I made it!  If it weren't for that whole, "No shoes..." rule, I totally would have just run in barefoot.  (Smile). 

Ever have a complete flip flop failure in public?

Celebrating a Maggie Milestone!

Wow!  I had to take a picture because I couldn't quite believe it myself.  After nine months of daily milkings, Maggie FINALLY stood still and let me milk her all the way out into my milk pan. 

Her mama, Epi, has been standing still for milkings for the past two years.  But not Maggie.  She thinks it's much more fun to kick.  And dodge.  And try and put her foot into things. 

After losing too much milk to a misplaced foot or kick at the beginning of her milking career, I began always milking her into a smaller container.  She still danced around and kicked, but when I had to dump the milk and start with a new container, it wasn't ALL the milk.

Once the pigs arrived at the farm, I began milking her into a five gallon bucket.  She can't get her foot up that high to get inside, and she started to calm down.  We also switched to a locally ground grain that is super fine, but really nutritious with peas and other local crops.  It takes a long time to eat a little bit.  Which helps to keep her still. 

Since we lost water all day Friday and half a day Saturday (pump went out), I had enough milk for the pigs, and wanted to keep all of the milk on Sunday.  However, I forgot to bring the smaller container out to the barn with me, so I decided to give it a try.

And Maggie stood there and let me milk her.  No kicks.  No dancing.  Just a good girl eating her nummies.  It was a huge blessing! 

I'm not sure if it'll continue or not, but at least now I know she CAN do it.

Just wanted to share this Maggie milestone. 

Another Saturday....Pic Round Up Time!

Whew--can you believe it's already July?  This year is officially half over and we're on the downward swing.  It'll be Christmas before we know it, and then we'll be ringing in a new year.  Wow! 

Sunday, June 29

Read a blog post this morning and heard about a fancy Italian dessert that was supposed to be super simple to make.  Had never done it before, but had all the ingredients for the non-dairy free version, so I threw it together.  Went super quick and sat up in the little custard dishes while we were at church.

 Not everyone loved their Panna Cotta, but I will make it occasionally. I enjoyed it and so did Owen and Simon (though his didn't have the delicious honey on top...) It looked really pretty.  

Monday, June 30

 Talk about giving Mommy a heart attack!  I walked into the kitchen (which had the gate left open...) and discovered this little guy cruising around on big brother's wheelchair.  Our house isn't really square (one of the "perks" of living in such an old place!) and he was naturally just rolling along the floor. 

Check out that grin!

Tuesday, July 1

Hmmm...I really need to figure out how to take better pictures when bright sunlight is streaming in from the windows...

Anyways, Sydney feeding Simon and the dog.  It's Simon's turn! (And yes...the spoon is backwards.  She was putting food on the handle for some reason.  Maybe because it was a bigger spoon than Simon usually uses...who knows!)

Wednesday, July 2

My thirsty baby!  I was giving him a bath in the sink, and he figured this neat trick out! His diaper was nice and full a few hours later...

Thursday, July 3

We camped in our yard for the first time ever.  It was fun.  We played football, roasted some homemade marshmallows, and just relaxed by the fire burning nicely in the fire pit.  Ellie wanted to show off her cute sleeping bag (that I believe used to belong to her Aunt Katie and then big sister Jayme...).

Next time...we'll bring out Simon's playpen.  He doesn't like snuggling when he's trying to sleep! He and Owen and I ended up going inside at 3:30 or so to finish out the night so we wouldn't wake everyone else up.  Still a fun night, and looking forward to trying it again soon!

Friday, July 4

No pictures--just a lot of fun with the family and friends.

Saturday, July 5

Another picture of Simon.  Apparently he was a camera hog this week!  He climbed in the dog crate.  Isn't he cute?

I hope you had a great 4th of July!  "See" you next week!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Independence Day everyone!

I hope you have a fabulous one. 

We are going to enjoy a relaxing day, and then head over to a BBQ/Potluck at the house of a family from church.  We're looking forward to it! 

Whatever your plans are, please remember to spend a moment thanking the Lord for the USA. 

Happy 4th!

One for You...and One for You!

Sometimes I don't always listen closely to what my children are saying when they're playing around me.  Tuesday was one of those days.  We were eating yogurt, and Sydney had gotten down.  I was feeding Owen and not really paying attention to much except keeping his hands out of the yogurt. 

That is, I wasn't paying much attention until some of the words Sydney was saying started to come into focus in my mind.  And then I twirled around and caught her like this:

She was saying, "Bite for Simon" and giving him a bite of her leftover yogurt.  Then she said, "Bite for Cinders" and proceeded to feed the dog (through the baby gate!) a bite. With the same spoon. Yuck! 

Of course neither the baby nor the dog complained much.  And I know that Simon has chewed on dog toys before.  But it still hit my gross nerve!

Then Simon realized he could get the yogurt to his mouth a lot faster if he didn't wait for the spoon.  His hands worked just as well, thank you very much.  So he proceeded to get a  bath.  Which he didn't mind too much either.

Kids and dogs...you never quite know what's going to happen next! 

Broody Baldy

Okay.  I'm normally a total procrastinator when it comes to getting eggs in the fridge.  We gather them after quiet time, and it just seems like the rest of the afternoon and evening rush by.  With my eggs sitting patiently on the counter, waiting until morning.

Not yesterday.  Yesterday I was really on top of things.  I cleaned the eggs and put them in the fridge right after I got them.  And I wish I hadn't.

You see.  I discovered this morning that one of my Black Australorps has decided to get broody.

Baldy, sitting on her eggs.

 And if my eggs had still been sitting on my counter, I could have picked out my brown and green eggs (from the Australorps, Partridge Rocks and the Americana) to place under her.  Instead, they were in the fridge.  Rats!

But I was able to place 6 eggs under her today, and I'm hoping to get three more tomorrow.  Right now she is on 2 brown, 1 green and 3 white. 

The white eggs come from my Blue Andalusians.  They are beautiful, hardy birds.  They forage really well.  But I don't like them.  They are a light breed, really flighty and hide their eggs all over.  I want more of my heavy birds.  So hopefully I'll get another green and two more brown eggs tomorrow.  

Either way, I'll leave her on the six she's on at the minimum.  In 21 days (give or take) I should have some more chickens in the coop.  Which is such a blessing.  I'm down to 12 right now (11 hens and a rooster).  Well, 12 hens if you count the one that makes her home in a lilac tree instead of the coop.  No matter how many times we catch her and throw her in the coop at night, she sticks to the tree.  So I let her stay there now.  Some things just aren't worth fighting!

And in case you're wondering about her name...

We had a hawk attack the flock last year, and even though we scared it off before it dined, we thought this bird was a goner.  Her head feathers were all plucked out.  And she was...BALD!  The kids named her Baldy at that point. 

You'll notice that her feathers have grown in quite nicely.  And to be completely honest...I'm not even sure which of these birds is the true Baldy.  But she is the one who went broody last year (when we didn't have a rooster around, so she couldn't hatch any), so I'm guessing.  And we pretty much call all of our  Black Australorps Baldy anyways now.  So it works!

I'm really looking forward to keeping track of Baldy's progress over the next few weeks.  I'll let you know how it turns out! 

Weekly Round Up, Weekly Round Up, Here are Some Pictures for Yo-u!

Thanks to my three girls, I've had a My Little Pony song stuck in my head all day.  Hence the title of this post.  Just imagine cute little ponies running around singing, "Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up, Let's finish our holiday cheer."  And just in case you can't imagine it, the link will take you to a You Tube video.  Be warned...it easily becomes stuck. 

Enough about ponies.  Let's talk pictures. This week was kind of hit and miss for taking them.  Hopefully next week I'll be more on track. And remember to bring my iPod with me.

Sunday, June  22nd

Another generation of barn cats being tamed by Jayme.  Three kittens in this batch.  The kids are enjoying playing with them, and most mornings they scramble into the barn for milking time in hopes of getting a squirt or two.  Now I just need to teach them to catch it...

Monday, June 23rd

No picture.

Tuesday, June 24th

The tent...it was sure fun to play in!  Bryan helped to get it fixed up--the middle is supposed to be higher than the front and back!  The tent is now moved from this location, to a smoother spot in the yard.  It's also further away from our "lightning rod" flag pole! 

Wednesday, June 25th

Just a crockpot.  A picture taken specifically for a blog post.  Nothing fancy.

Thursday, June 26th

Exciting day for us!  The Parent Partnership Program where I used to work had a surplus sale.  $10 for a bag full of homeschooling materials.  Look at all the things I got for $30.  Some highlights:  Dave Ramsey's Foundations for Personal Finance course for homeschoolers (all complete!), Institute for Excellence in Writing's Student Intensive Writing Course B (for Jayme in 8th grade), Ruby Bridge's Through My Eyes, and a complete Sing, Spell, Read & Write K-1 set.  Wow!  Lots of other things too!

Friday, June 27th

No pic.


Saturday, June 28th

This is a really blurry picture.  It worked a whole lot better in my mind than in actuality.  It was too dark in our house when I took it, but if I had turned on a light, I would have woken them all up. This shows our living room, with five of the six kids (all but Simon) asleep on either the couch or the floor, all snuggled close and piled under blankets.  It was sweet. 

Memo to self...check the weather forecast BEFORE you tell the kids we'll all be sleeping in the tent that night.  Thunder, lightning and rain.  Not a pretty picture for a tent.  They were so disappointed, especially since Jayme, Jeffrey and Ellie worked so hard prepping the tent with blankets, sleeping bags and pillows. 

To make it up to them (kind of), we brought all of them inside and camped in the living room.  They crashed after popcorn and a movie.  And we all stayed warm and dry. 

We're hoping to really camp next week--when the weather is better.

I hope your week was just as good as ours, and perhaps your weather a little better!  (I KNOW we need the rain, but I prefer the sun in June!)