Don't Shoot!

Yeah, here is a true boy story. About two weeks ago we had a mission farewell in sacrament meeting. The kids had the wiggles so to help them pay attention, I told them that I would quiz them after each speaker. They were intrigued and so the challenge began. The soon-to-be-Elder gave a nice talk about some of the silly things he and his friends had done, and how he avoided serious trouble in his life because they were good influences on him. Among those silly things were driving through a drive-thru backwards and shooting the lights off of Christmas trees. He then went on to talk about great missionaries in the scriptures, including Ammon. He went into the hole chopping off of the arms of robbers thing (which I assumed was captivating to young boy). At the end of the talk, as promised, I asked the kids what they had learned. Madison told me that Ammon was a faithful man who was a great missionary because he was humble and faithful. What a great listener! Then I asked the Maggot. I asked him what the missionary has talked about. He looked really thoughtful for a second or two. Then his eyes lit up, he got very animated and he responded "Oh! I learned that you can shoot the lights on a Christmas tree out with a BB gun!!" Yeah. Definitely NOT the take home message!

Barnes & Noble Singers

On Saturday, the kids school held a fundraiser at Barnes & Noble. Clifford the Big Red Dog was in attendance, which was kind of exciting for the kids. The elementary class sang three lovely songs. Two were about the wind and fall weather, and the third was Johnny Appleseed. It was so fun to see them share their talents! They also got to display their fall artwork in the store windows. Madison and Jace's were together right at the store entrance!

Waiting for Pain!

Well, now that H1N1 has peeked and appears to be on the down slide, the government has made the vaccine available. Sounds about right..... Due to Jace's IgA deficiency, we felt it important to have him vaccinated. He fit the criteria to be among the first in Idaho Falls, but because it was first come first served, we (my friend Amberly and her cutie Abby came with us) decided to be there PLENTY early. The clinic opened at 2 pm, so we planned to be there at noon. Luckily Amberly had watched the news the night before. She called me at 9 am to tell me to be ready in an hour! Pocatello had done their shot clinic the night before and 3000 people showed up! Long story short, we grabbed blankets, snacks and chairs and joined the line about 10 am. We were 4 hours early and there were already 50 people or so in front of us. It was a line like I have never seen (especially considering it was for shots!) There were over 2600 people in that line and I am so grateful we weren't at the end! They had mostly flu mist and Jace cannot have live virus (due to his lack of antibodies). If we had been farther back in line, we may have wasted our time waiting.

Jace and Abby had a great time together and were amazingly patient! I never heard either one of them complain, whine or comment that they were bored. What great little troupers! The kids have to have another shot in 21 days and Jace is counting down the days until he can "call Abby to get shot" with him.

GROSS!

I came home a couple of days ago, pulled in the drive way, exited my car and when I passed the garbage can, my kids popped out! I screamed; not because they scared me, but because it was do disgusting!! Sick! Will we ever get all the germs off of them?!?

Any Word Will Do

Okay, okay. I know it has been forever and I have a lot of catching up to do, but this struck me as so funny that I had to post it.

Yesterday afternoon I took my kids to the theater to see the Toy Story double feature in 3D. (Which they loved by the way). At one point in the second movie, Buzz was acting strangely, (it escapes me what exactly), and Madison, in that matter-of-fact, grown up way that she has, leaned over to me and said, "Yup, clearly he has lost his balls!".

U-hem, I believe that's 'marbles'!

Whizbang Chicken Plucker

Well, time has marched steadily and rapidly onward since my last blog. The time finally came to "process" the chickens. I am told that the world slaughter is no longer politically correct. Far be it for me to mislabel the process of beheading and bloodletting chickens. Anyhow..... the night before we processed our chickens (who were probably 4 weeks past due, eating nearly 100 pounds of food per day, and so fat they could barely waddle to the grub), Joe built a tub style chicken plucker to speed up the "processing" process. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I thought a video would be worth million or so. Sit back and watch the feathers fly!!

The Chicken Farm takes Flight

Well, it has begun. The first steps in our family becoming more self-sufficient have been taken.. Wednesday we bought 100 chicks; 90 for poultry, 10 for laying. The yellow chicks should be ready to butcher in about 10-12 weeks. The hens will be producing by the end of the summer (hopefully). If anyone needs eggs, let me know. Our hens should produce roughly 3000 eggs per year. (That's 250 dozen for those of you trying to do the math.) So far, so good. We have had no chicken deaths! Not bad for a girl who has no clue what she is doing!! Next project........ building a chicken coop!

Cabin Views

We spend this past weekend at our cabin! Yeah! We haven't been able to do much of that lately. Hopefully that will all change for us now. Anyway, it was lovely and peaceful and oh, so relaxing! There is still about 2 1/2 feet of snow left! Jace was so eager to get there and get it shoveled. He matched shovel-fulls with his Daddy! He is a snow-moving-machine!

Ahhhh, Cute!

We went to the movies for family home evening a while ago. Joe and I were bringing up the rear. We had a wonderful view as we watched our little darlings walking to the show!

Finally Christmas!

Jace got this thing for Christmas and he has waited so patiently for Daddy to build it for him. It was quite a project and I was worried because Jaxon Keller has one just like it. Roudy warned us that it was a real nightmare to put together. Well, handyman Joe managed to do it in just over 3 hours. (I think the key to his success was the guy reading the instructions!!) It's a good thing too, I think Jace might have burst if he had to wait any longer! Thanks Daddy!!

Talent Show Practice.... Ammon 10th Ward Young Women

New Beginnings

Mom, this one's for you! Here are some pictures of the decorations from this years New Beginnings. I turned out rather nicely, I think. I made the lighthouses out of terra cotta pots and the value flowers out of 4-inch ribbon, flowers and a hot glue gun. I was rather proud of myself! For dessert we had jell-o cake (which Sister Harris made) and I made chocolate lighthouses complete with red stripes to top the cake. I sure am glad that this is a once a year event!

Funny Farm

Today when we came home from church, we pulled into our long driveway. From a distance, we could see Penny, the healer dog, laying in the driveway. As we got closer, she held her ground, casting us a wary glance, never moving, intently licking what she held in front of her. As we drove around her, we could see that she was eagerly lapping up a can of Dr. Pepper. Once we got to the house, we noticed our boxer near the back door eating an orange. I promise, they have an endless supply of dog food and plenty of fresh, unfrozen water in their kennel! To top it all off, each dog gets their own chile verde burrito for lunch, compliments of Joe (he is cleaning out the fridge). How's that for the funny farm?!?

Fairy Power

Dress Up Time

We invited the Keller Clan to come to the cabin with us this weekend. The girls started playing dress up and giggling. I guess the boys thought they were really missing out on the fun. So they joined in! I warned them that the pictures were going on the internet! They did it anyway! It takes a big man to pull off those get-ups! You go boys! By the way, nice boxers Jaxon!