Hatching, school, life...

Not a lot going on. Three kids are finishing up their school year today. MJ is totally done. He is bugging me to upload his next school. I am going to let him upload next years in a bit. The others have various test to finish, but T is already wanting her next years uploaded.

The duck eggs I sat almost 4 weeks ago are hatching. I had one pip on Wed. night it died in the shell. One was pipped yesterday morning, but still not out this morning. I broke around and allowed him to push on out. Kids say he is now waving his head around. I thought the temps were just a tiny bit low. With them hatching early it may be a tiny bit hot. They "should" hatch on Sat. I wonder if any will since they started early. IF I get stuck with ONE duck does anyone want a duck? :) I will probably order some over the weekend or Monday and get them ASAP.

Yesterday was therapy. Therapist gave a wonderful testimony on the two new ones. She said they are doing better than she ever dreamed they would be at this point. Better than she dreamed possible. God gets the glory! He is doing a work in them.

We are working toward camping next weekend. I need to get granola made, maybe today. I will start filling the camper as I get stuff this week. I need to send the paper goods to the camper today. Swim shoes and bathing suits need to go too.

I bought MN a new swimsuit yesterday. She liked it! We did a mix and match. We found a spandex type nylon shirt like swimsuits are made out of in the boys section that will dry fast. She found a running bra made out of the same stuff. Bottomed it off with a pair of boys swim shorts she liked. We started looking at shirts made to cover women's swim suits. Most of them had pink in them. She does NOT like pink. She also wanted her bottom more covered than the suits cover. So we migrated over to the boy's dept. I was proud of her for LOOKING at the girl stuff first.

I am starting a new project today. I want to build me a tomato plant holder. I have been studying on the topsy turvy tomato planters. They are way $$$$. Yes, I am cheap. I have an idea for a tall multi layered tomato planter. I will take pictures today as I put it together. This provided I can find dad's drill or some other way of cutting holes in PVC.

I am off to eat breakfast and play! All have a blessed day!

Funny for the day...

D8 has a shirt that I totally dislike. It says, "I have decided to put myself in charge." I believe strongly in the power of our words. He struggles with control issues any way. I refuse to let him wear the shirt. He knows this, and why. He again dug it out this morning. I stripped it off of him and took permanent marker marked out the word "myself" and wrote in "MOM". I then gave it back to him. :) MAD!!!! He was giving me his "mad look". All the kids love the shirt now. The other kids didn't see the humor in it before either. Now D8 doesn't like it but we all do. I wonder how often it will be worn now.

Odds and Ends of pictures......

Grand daughter was learning to ride a bike. Well, doing more talking while T pushed than peddling.

Son got 2 really nice bottle or nurse baby calves yesterday.
This is the cows third round of babies. When I bought her she had just lost her calf. They put a holstein bull calf on her. At about 3 months I changed that and put 5 goats on her. I lost one so she only raised 4.

Then I decided to put the jersey heifers on her and milk the mamas to them. Then I DS brought 3 bottle baby calves home. We stuck them on her and one of the jerseys. This is the bigger of the three, along with one of her goats.

Today I kept her separated from everything, which is no small feat since she also has a lamb that adopted her besides all you see here. She isn't quite sure about the two new ones yet. She really wants "her" babies back which are the 4, 50 lb goats. She bawled, the bleated off and on all day on opposite sides of a fence.

Friday we went to the closest zoo. Two new boys had never been to a zoo. All the kids loved this bear working the crackers into his cage.

Last week T had to get up early for dishes she didn't do the night before. When I got up she was holding down my chair. I had to take pictures....

Pretty bad she chose to get up at 5 to do dishes rather than do them after supper. Oh well, she has become my morning person.

Puppy Pictures...........

These are 2 weeks old.

Kid tested!

Mom and puppies


Now for the babies! They were born Thursday.

This one give you an idea of size.... see mom's foot at the bottom of the pic.

Do you like solids are spots? We have both!

Saturday Morning ....

Today I am cleaning frig. I have carrots cooking and two pans of squash. Two HUGE pans. This was produce Friday. I am cleaning out the "old" that didn't get ate any other way. I see I still have cauliflower that needs eating. I may do it some way for church tomorrow.

The squash we will eat just as it is for a day or two. Then I will toss some cooked chicken, green chilies and onions in it, add a little corn starch and bring it to a boil. After that I will layer it into a casserole dish with corn tortillas and cheese. Kids loved it last time I made it. It is like chicken enchiladas. The kids kept looking at me as I made it last time asking me if I had ever made it before. I assured them I had. They were willing to try it.

The carrots we are just going to have buttered carrots. There aren't near as many of them as the squash. Most of us like them. The few that don't can try one or two. I may take what is left and make some copper pennies. I love those.

I also have a pot of beans cooking. Beans always seem to go well here. I add onions and peppers, garlic if I have it, the power if I don't, I didn't today. I then add some dried red chili power from the green chili's I dried last summer. They never seem to go to waste.

As soon as kitchen is clean from breakfast and cooking all these things we are going to make a couple of cobblers. I have a bunch of strawberries so one may be a strawberry cobbler. I may make a peach cobbler also. I will freeze one for later. Maybe for our camping trip in two weeks.

Our house smells wonderful with all of the smells mixed together. I'm not sure what part of this will be lunch and what supper.

I am down one child today as TJ is off to the auction with dad. She knew what she was getting into as this isn't her first all day auction. She loves going. New boys wanted to go until they started understanding that there is no playing or no running around, but LOTS of standing. DH is hoping to find a double disc and several other things. I hope for the double disc so I can "farm" part of our field that the weeds, grass and mesquite are taking over.

Today we are just hanging out. Maybe next weekend we will all go to an auction a lot closer to home. DH told the kids they could go next week for a small taste of an auction. I can go rescue them if they are to bored. Down side is I may just stay and watch the auction too!

Off to accomplish something while dishes are being done. Everyone have a blessed day!

Rain, Thunder, Tornadoes and Hail

Didn't happen!! Last night it was marching our way. They were using words like super cells, 70 mph winds and large hail. DH called son and gave him the heads up. They were all in town. Then we parked cars near buildings and under sheds. After that we did what we should, prayed and went to sleep. I sorta knew when my living room filled up with bodies. DS hand his wife, their 2 kids and her 4 brothers. Scanner was filled with chatter as the weather spotters were excited to have the first storms of the season. About 12:30 two counties away it began to die out. By the time it got to us there wasn't even any thunder. Earlier the lightening could be saw 3 counties away. The rain did drip off the house a bit.

By the time the rain got here our gusty wind that was beating my plants up had even died. I haven't looked to see how beaten up they are. They were so tender from being inside all winter I'm sure they don't look very pretty today. Once it started raining I opened the window put the fan back in it. I had taken it out as it was blowing out and blowing the covers off the bed.

CPS worker has already called to see how the road is. It is fine. :( So she will be here in about an hour.

Oh, we have MORE puppies. Anyone want to buy a Great Pyrenees puppy? We have a few............OK maybe more than a few........... OK maybe way more than a few.............12!!!!!! They are small. I don't know if she will raise them all. She isn't in great shape as she got rattle snake bit while she was pg. We are feeding her extra. They aren't all the "normal" white. Our male has spots. Some of these have spots and a few look more like a St. Bernard than a Pyr. They are brown with white trim.

Off to get ready for CPS visit. Please keep it in prayer as I like the lady, just not the CPS part.

Where did the week go?

Talk about a blur! I'm not sure where Monday went at all. I know I battled a headache but beyond that who knows. I sure don't remember it.

Then came Tue. It was such a beautiful day. I took grandson to the garden weeded a bed and planted 16 New Mexico green chili pepper plants. I am hoping they will produce well. We are OUT of green chili's in the freezer. They are SO expensive to buy in the can. They also don't taste near as well. Grand son was lots of help. He only pulled up one plant. I thought that was pretty good. I also started working on getting plants out of the house and onto the porch. Each plant that came out I took the time to place and add a dripper to water it.

Wed. DS called and said he had filled out the proper paper work to keep his son. :) So we didn't have grand son. After milking we were off to get the grill guard on the bus. It looks really good. I will post pictures later. DH wants to get it washed first. After that I indulged myself in a nap. I spent the rest of the afternoon pulling plants out. I think I have them all out, and watered. I do have two plants I just bought to put out. I have to decide what to pot them in. It was one of those nights when we didn't come in from outside until almost dark.

Today we have a 30% chance of thunderstorms then a 50% chance tonight. They say this is our first chance of server weather. I am sure we will get some rain. Enough to make the road muddy again. The boy's CPS worker is scheduled to come out in the morning. :) I already told her I would meet her at the road and bring her in. I do need to get our flower mess cleaned up as where the plants were always seems to be a mess.

I made tortillas on Tue. They were gone on Wed. I may try to make some more today after milking and breakfast. They really aren't hard. It is just making me do them. Then they go so fast! I did get a good roll out on them. They were thin and big. In fact I couldn't cook but one at a time on my grill.

Friday will bring the CPS worker, which is always uncomfortable. I really like her, it is just the CPS thing. We also have produce. I'm not sure if DIL will go get it or if I will have to since I know she has plans happening. Either way someone will be going to get it on Friday.

Weekend brings DH off to a local farm auction. I don't know if kids will go with him or not. I have a couple that like going. I am hoping my SIL and nephew will come out. I don't have a lot of plans. If I stay home I spend less money. There is Amazon so I can't say I don't spend any money. I just spend less.

Time to start my day! All have a blessed day and a wonderfully blessed rest of week.

Random Pictures..............

Odds and ends from the past few days....
Playing outside!

Don't you love that tongue!?


Dad's new fountain.

More concentration.........

Cat with kittens in the trash can. The downside is these kittens do NOT belong to this cat. She lost her, as is normal. Then she whips other cats off their kittens. Don't you love her color? How many red/brown cats have you ever saw?

See any relationship with these three?

Before........



After..........

That's all!

Other chatter...

We have puppies..... anyone want one? They really should be awesome guardian/kid dogs. They are 1/2 pyr 1/2 mountain cur. Both breeds are known for their bonding and protection abilities. How many you ask? Good question! Don't know, she is under a pile of tin. She dug a nest. I just pray it doesn't rain to much and drown them all. They are pretty secure unless we get a down pour! MN said she thinks 5 I saw 3 light colored ones and some dark shapes so ????



DH got my bus dirty today! :( Can you believe the nerve of him!? It wasn't MY fault that they said the best bluebonnets were down a dirt road. It wasn't MY fault we decided to keep going the next 20 miles of dirt road crossing streams 5+ times. It was a wonderful drive!



Once we got home Dh couldn't stand it any longer he had to hook the RV up to the bus and see how it pulls. DH came home saying, "SWEET"! He said you don't even feel it back there! He is well pleased.



MN wanted to fatten us all up I think. On Friday she made a double batch of her double batch of oatmeal, chocolate chip, peanut butter cookies. She came out with 8 zip locks of cookies. We shared some with BIL and SIL, not enough. We still have way to many. They really are way to sweet to eat many.

Off to bed! All be blessed!

Bluebonnets 2010!!!!

If you can go see the bluebonnets this year!!! We had a wonderful day! I decided to post the pictures on a Shutterfly blog instead of trying to upload all of them here. I couldn't do them justice here. Most of these are taken on the James River Road out of Mason. This is the road the the bat cave. That by far had the most, but many of the other roads we drove today were breath taking also! I didn't stop and get pictures of the bluebonnets and red flowers on the way home. It was a busy hwy and not many good places to pull over for photo shoots when you drive a bus. I have heard that this is one of the best years EVER for the bluebonnets. I really believe it. The sides of the hills look like flowing rivers of blue/purplish water.

My pictures don't do them justice. What an awesome way to worship God today! It was cloudy so the pictures may not be as bright as they would have been if it had been sunny. It was nice and cool today. The humidity was high and at times the smell of the bluebonnets was overwhelming. Think honeysuckle overload as we drove slowly along the dirt roads. Here is the shutterfly link: http://bluebonnets2010.shutterfly.com/ I think from there click pictures and slide show for the best viewing. I may find out different and change it.

This may do just the slide show: http://cmd.shutterfly.com/commands/pictures/slideshow?site=bluebonnets2010&page=bluebonnets2010/pictures&album=8 Wish I could go back! I would love to make another trip and see more!

Changing Plans...

I "thought" I had my weekend planned. I don't know why I plan, it seems that is when change happens. I had planned to go look at wildflowers/bluebonnets today. I hear it is the best year in YEARS. As I was looking at maps and reading where they say the best flowers are my DH called.

He has gotten the blue excursion sold..............In Weatherford, 3 hours from here. Since Sat. the only time he can do it we are going to Weatherford tomorrow. I did add a bit of a curve to it. I will be taking the bus while he drives the excursion. I told him I would get there eventually. I plan on taking my camera, taking pictures and stopping by the flea market along the way.

DH did suggest we take our wildflower trip on Sunday instead of me going today. I like that! I am bummed as my SIL and nephew were going to try to come out tomorrow. Guess they can come tomorrow night, spend the night and go wildflower looking on Sunday with us.

Our spring is filling up so fast. Between what I want to do and what DH wants to do and what is "normal" We have full weekends for the next month and 1/2. That is so unusual for us. I don't like feeling so "booked".

Guess I better get my life started here.

Lubbock and back ..........

We left about 5:30 yesterday morning to go see B8's dr. He came on seizure meds for seizures that happened before he was in foster care. The dr. said being seizure free for 2 full years it is time to wean him off the meds IF his brain scan is "normal".

He had an "extended" brain scan, a full hour of laying still. This child does not do still well. I did laugh as they offered the TV ~ cartoons no less. I declined, no I ask that they cut that off. I do feel man behaviours I deal with right down to speech come from the TV babysitter.

I talked and held his hands as she put the electrodes on his head. He struggled with them marking his head and scrubbing spots for the electrodes. Sensory issues! We talked our way through. Then she cut the lights down and ask him to shut his eyes. I wonder how this works if they have the TV on? I had "borrowed" T's book she had brought. So I read the story quietly. Soon the Tech saw I was not going to let him mess with his head and he would be laying pretty still. She left us to monitor from the desk. In a very few minutes D was sound asleep. So for him the hour went fast. :) I found time to pray and just sit and rest.

We ran and got a bite to eat then back to the Dr. for the results. Test showed normal brain activity. We will start weaning him off his meds. :) God is good! He answers prayers!

We were on the road back by 2 pm. made it home in time for coffee! Well it was a LATE coffee. I was very thankful that DH went with me. I was SOO tired and he did most of the driving. I didn't nap going up and did nap a little coming home. I woke up with a kink in my back and a headache that I battled until some time in the night. We had decided with just 3 kids going to take the excursion instead of the bus. They were expecting 45+ mph winds also. It was very windy and sandy coming home. The bus wouldn't have been fun driving, and the kids weren't crowded with just three in there.

DIL and the other 2 survived and baby sit grand son. They got their piano done, chores done and even school! Top that off with baking bread and sounds like they had a good full day. DIL did say she was glad she had the two big kids to help with the three littles.

Today I have made biscuits and sausage to freeze for quick breakfast. I made enough to have sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast this morning.

I want to work in my flower beds some today. I would like to get my porch ready for my upstairs plants. Maybe this weekend we can bring them down.

I have to take the bus in Monday to get it measured for the grill-guard. They will keep it until maybe Wed. Then I will get it back for a week while they paint the grill guard. I am wanting to take it to the hill country for a bluebonnet trip. I can't decide when to do it. I was thinking this Friday, but we have produce. So unless I can get someone to pick up for me I will need to go do that. I can't decide if I want to ask or just put it off for late the next week. I thought about tomorrow but need to be back for DIL to get grandson by about 4. I doubt I could manage that. I'm sure it will work out.

OK off to see what else I can accomplish today. Son is playing daddy day care today so I am sorta lost without my little one. Hey maybe I can get a nap! :)

Signs of Spring....

I started taking some pictures of spring around here.

Some are wonderful like my iris blooming. I don't have many and I was disappointed that the one that did bloom was such a washed out color. It is still pretty just not as pretty as it could be.

Some aren't near as pretty. Big white dog with her head swollen from a rattlesnake bite. Or, hearing something and looking down to see a rattlesnake slithering about 10 inches from my foot! He slithered under the sea container before I could shoot him. Kids (big) had fun gassing him out from under there. I was just glad they got him since he was half way between our house and theirs. I did remind all the kids where there is one rattlesnake there are two, ALWAYS. So we have one more near the house at least. Be EXTRA careful. The dog is OK she looked funny for a few days.

Another beautiful sign of spring is male peafowl in full strut. They are beautiful! They will strut for almost anything! I took these pictures the other day. He really didn't want me to see his beautiful front.

I did two full circles with him showing his back to me.

I never did get a great picture of him. I love the colors and love close-ups of the feathers though. Even the not pretty feathers are beautiful close up.

The down side of peafowl is the noise, especially during spring. I usually tell when we have a thunderstorm getting close because the males are trying to scream louder than the thunder. ANY loud noise sets them off. Kid screaming, bell ringing, door slamming all make the peacocks try to out loud them.

Tomorrow we are off to Lubbock for a check up for D8. He came on seizure meds. I am praying that they are ready to take him off of them. My understanding is this is probably what will happen. Please everyone stand in agreement that he will seizure free and med free. Also please pray for a safe trip. It will be a long day. We will leave shortly after 5 AM and not be home until late. Two oldest are staying home. They have piano. DIL will be here too. They can do their chores and school.

Yesterday dh, with very little help from me got my drip line hung. Now I need to put the drops and "T" tape down for the beds. I may work on that today. He also rebuilt the fountain. He isn't totally pleased with the way it is working so wants to "tweak" it some. I will get pictures after the tweaking. We took down our old garden fence. This is taking some getting use to since that fence has been here since we moved here..... 15 years ago or about that. I have some volunteer trees in that area that have to go. I have offered them to my DIL. I "think" we can take the bobcat and a chain and pluck some of them up. Then take them to her house and with the same bobcat dig enough hole to get them in the ground. We will have to stake them until the roots get established. I don't know what kind of trees they are but they are hardy! They would make shade.

OK it took me 1/2 day to get the pictures to upload on here. That with all the life interruptions! All have a blessed day!

This and That

Weeding the garden.......... worse than redneck style!



Kids wanted to have a garden. I needed the weeds down. So I did it the lazy way. I opened the garden gate and shooed the lambs, calves and goats. I shut the gate behind them! They ate and stomped around all day. It is weeded pretty well. They did eat the fennel, (oh darn!) They ate some of the onion tops. That was all there was to eat that we might want to eat also.

On to my accomplishments for the day/week. I transplanted some mint and some Mexican Petuna roots earlier in the week. The mint was already growing. The Mexican Petunia I know is all mixed in with the mint so by digging a shovel of mint and dirt I hope to have gotten the other roots.

The mint didn't even wilt when I transplanted it.

Good news! If you can't tell what you are looking at it is a mesquite budding! With a tiny set of leaves. This isn't a big tree, they aren't there yet.

The reason I am excited is this is the best indicator of spring! Seldom do the big trees get killed back by frost. I am hoping that since this is Easter weekend and we are going to get down into the 30s we are done with freezing until fall.

I ask MJ to put together some stakes using three of them to make a hanger for some flower bed covers. He worked hard at it and did a great job.

Off to do chores! All be blessed!