I love my little country family!

A friend recently called the garden hose in her front yard their white trash swimmin' pool. This is even better - I threw down a tarp first so we'd have puddles to play in (and to keep the fire ants off the baby) while the chickens stood in the shade watching!

Oh yeah, it was well received and once again I earned the title of "Best Mom!" And that's all that matters.
Now their cool little bodies are inside. One is at the dining table, buck necked, playing with his Legos. The next one is in her undies having a tea party on the couch. And the last one is in her diaper eating puffs off the floor. And I put them there.

Oh yeah, I love my life. : )

My Big Boy is 6!

Yesterday, May 27, my first born turned six years old! It's hard to believe it's been 6 years!

I am very proud of the chocolate Lego brick cake! I usually make cupcakes and as I was trying to smooth the icing I was thinking, "This is why I make cupcakes!" But I was very happy with the results. David informed me that this dimension of brick would require 8 buttons rather than the 6 which I was going to use. Of course, he was right!

The batteries on my camera died just as David was blowing out the candle... actually as Elizabeth was blowing out the candle. Then we had to light it again to let David blow it out. He was not happy with her and she was not happy when Dad removed her from the area so she wouldn't do it again!

Dad was able to get the camera running & got some good pictures of David opening his presents! He got some clothes first...

Once we got the clothes out of the way, then he got 4 different Lego Star Wars sets!

and some books




He also got a telescope! I am very excited about this one, because next year we're using Apologia's Exploring Creation with Astronomy curriculum for science!

That's his friend, Robert, from our home school co-op admiring the telescope with him. Also got some cash & gift cards, so of course, opening gifts turned into a teaching moment with reading names on cards and counting dollar bills!

We had a bounce house and the kids loved it! And somehow, I never even took a picture of it! I am appalled at myself for that one! Aunt Laurie was taking photos, so I'm really hoping that she got some pictures of it and/or kids in it!

Uncle Phillip wasn't able to come to the party, so earlier in the week, he brought David a MegaBloks Halo Warthog set. It was really cool, but it won't stay together!

As David was eating his bedtime snack, staring at his new Lego sets, he declared, "This was the best birthday ever!" So it was a success!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Elizabeth needed a boost last night and said, "Mom, I need a caboose."

Garden Report

By far, the most exciting thing going on in the garden right now is Elizabeth's gourd vines! The leaves are bigger than her head!

When I gave the kids the chance to choose whatever they wanted out of the seed catalog, Elizabeth choose birdhouses... gourds, that is. This particular catalog only had a mix of seeds that included birdhouse gourds, so I don't know if this is one or not. There are 2 more coming up on the other end of the trellis that are not so large leafed, so I'm guessing they're something else. David selected loofa sponges. The rolly polly bugs ate his first sprouts and so far we haven't gotten any more to sprout. : (

Yummy cherry tomatoes are starting to fill in!!! I can hardly wait to gobble down their sweet yumminess!!! I think we'll have to get some fresh mozzarella and make caprice again.

The Swiss chard is beautiful... and huge! Any idea what to do with it? I planted it for my husband the last 2 years because he said he'd eat it...

Don't know what bug that it, but it's not good. I killed it. I saw some on other stems where it looked like it had cut the stem off. Any idea what it is? I also squished 5 caterpillars this evening on the peppermint plant. I'm glad it lured them away from the tomatoes!

We are quickly on our way to a tomato jungle again this year!

Anaheims also growing for hubby. They may be ready to pick soon.

My beautiful hollyhock & larkspur. Can you see the cat in there?

Meet the Flock

It appears that there was too much going on back in January when my chicks arrived. I apparently never blogged their arrival. This is how cute they were then (above).

This is how they've grown! This was a couple of weeks ago, because all the roosters are there:

I have estimated the hens may start laying June-July. I thought I'd introduce you to them.

Alan named this one Blue Beard. She's an Easter Egger - supposed to lay green & blue tinted eggs. Her legs are green.

David named one of the hens Ginger and one Rosie. He can't remember which is which, and neither can I.

This is Julia - Orange Julia.

This is Pecker. I don't think he's mean, he just pecks at stuff - the hand that feeds him, the leg that's standing beside him. Well, that doesn't really matter now. He's in the freezer. That was another story... but I don't think my pregnant stomach can tolerate repeating the story again. It was awful and they did it right in front of us (me & Elizabeth).

This is Penny... Henny Penny.

This is Rocky, the lead rooster. He's the one that's been crowing, the largest bird with the reddest comb and waddle. I tried really hard to get a good picture of him. Made me mad when I loaded it on the computer that this gray thing happened.

This one's Scraggle. He's the runt. Very picked on.

The friendliest rooster is Spot. He was feeling camera shy this morning, but you can see the tiny white spot on the back of his head this way. He is always underfoot and is just as happy being held as down walking around. He, too, is now in the freezer.

I think the next two may be called Buffalo and ChickenFry, respectively. Yep, they're in the freezer.

We've named several of the hens, but it's just hard to photograph chickens - their heads are always moving! There's a total of 5 birds in the freezer, and I haven't the stomach to do anything with them for a while! 15 birds continue to free-range, along with the 4 guineas. 20 guinea eggs in the incubator, although I've basically done everything wrong with these eggs. If any of them hatch, it's only because of God's loving hand on them!

Please excuse me while I have another pity party...

I have been a spoiled baby of the family. I can hear my siblings nodding in agreement already. So Family - y'all can stop reading now. Seriously, y'all stop reading. You're not gonna like it anyway.

Life goes on, day by day, and almost every day I am reminded of how spoiled I have been. A birthday passes, and I miss the card from Momma. Greedy as I may sound, I miss the birthday check from her, too. I'm hungry for a certain restaurant and I know I could have called Momma and we'd have most likely gone that day.

She'd have already bought new shorts & a t-shirt for David & Elizabeth this summer. And I bet she would have bought the little butterfly romper I saw the last time I was at Walmart. I could have called her to go to Goodwill with me and she would have taken Elizabeth & David with her around the store so I'd have room in my basket for Rebekah & the clothes we found.

I'd schedule my doctor's appointments, making sure not do schedule them on Monday, because that's Quilt Club. Then I'd call Momma and let her know. She'd write it on her calendar and go with me, taking the kids to look at the bunnies or the birds in the hospital lobby while I went to the appointment. She'd buy them fresh popcorn from the volunteers. She'd help them make friends with the other kids waiting in the lobby. She'd be proud to introduce them to the other grandparents waiting in the lobby. She'd be excited to hear what the doctor had to say, then we'd go to Rosa's for lunch... almost every time throughout the entire pregnancy.

This is going to be a long 9 months. My first doctor's appointment is Monday morning.

Tiny Talk Tuesday

I had this on my facebook status last night, but I wanted to recap it again for Tiny Talk Tuesday. David added to his bedtime prayers night before last, "and please help me to find the gray crayon tomorrow."

I had forgotten all about it until we were cleaning Legos off the table for supper, and there was the gray crayon. I showed it to David & reminded him of his prayer. He replied, "And He heard me!"

Yes, He did! Already, his faith is growing and his behavior is improving!

My Mother's Day in Pictures (and words)

The other day at Walmart, I stopped by the cards to get cards for the moms in our family. As I stopped in front of the display, I said to myself (yes, to myself), "OK, Mother's Day cards..." David, who had previously not been paying attention, perked up & started looking. He picked this up, asked me what it said (that curly font was throwing him off), then went around & put it in the basket.

About bedtime last night, he brought me the card and asked, "When should I give you your Mother's Day card?" "How about tomorrow, on Mother's Day," I said. "Did you sign your name on the card?" oops... I thought it was going to be an easy task, but at 11pm, I finally told him I was going to bed. He was working to get it perfect. This is what I found in my chair this morning:

In case you can't read it, it says,
"I (heart) my Mom
From David
I'm from Texas"

Then Dad presented me with
this certificate this morning:

My boy eating eggs for breakfast this morning:

My girls playing happily together:

My rose, Maggie, was covered with beautiful, fragrant blooms today!

My official Mother's Day picture. Wouldn't be right if at least one kid wasn't crying! : )

Dad took these next two...
The wildflowers were beautiful today, but the overcast day made it hard to photograph them. My favorite, Indian Blankets, are starting to pop up everywhere! I love these!

And here's where we ended up this afternoon! And guess what will be hanging up in my chicken coop tomorrow... HEE HEE!!!! (birthday money in action!)

My hollyhock's first bloom!!! I've been waiting years for this!!!

No, it's not Black Hollyhock, Blue Larkspur... but they sure are pretty together nonetheless.