Spring's work

The garden is in, the yard is mowed, the chicken coop is built (mostly), and yet there is still a ton of work to do.  The front beds need attention, the paths need to be built, the back beds need lots of work.............it just never ends! 
There is school planning for summer term and fall, not to mention housework and organizing that needs, well, help. 
And the scrapbooks!  E was crying the other day because she wanted to look at her  baby book and she doens't have one.  :(
I need 36 hours each day just to think about getting it all done.

On another note, mom is getting settled (if you want to call it that); hospice has been out and gotten her a hospital bed and her medications, meals on wheels is coming, and Chuck is taking a walkie-talkie out to the garden with him when he goes. 
He finally allowed us to go and visit her last week.  It has been nearly a year since we were allowed in "his" house. 

Here are some pics that were taken this last month.  Some are of my birthday, some are my attempts at photography.  Keep in mind I did say attempts.

These were some of my attempts to capture W at 7 mos old; now it is time to have his 8 mo pics made!
He is pulling up on everything now, and his greatest desire is to stand unhindered by a helper.  He would climb everything if he could!  He is trying to cruise around the furniture, but hasn't quite mastered the art as of yet.  Diaper changes are an acrobatic event- maybe it will be in the olympics!

Update on Mom

Well, it has been a while now since I was able to sit down and blog a bit.  I have to admit it is quite therapeutic.  My mom is not doing well; she fell this past Tuesday and broke her hip and ankle.  They did a partial hip replacement and put pins in her ankle. She is still in the hospital; she might go home in a few days.  They did another couple of scans (MRI and CAT I think) and they show that her tumors are growing.  The Dr that spoke with her mentioned radiation and chemo again, and he specifically mentioned the cyber knife.  They mentioned that at the very first of her diagnosis, and the radiation Dr had said she was a good candidate- I am not clear on why they didn't do it back then.  When I asked that Dr why they weren't using it she was very evasive.  Most likely it was due to the fact that she had no insurance, and has recieved all of her care up to this point for nothing. The old adage "beggers can't be choosers" stings a bit here.  And don't think that this at all makes me lean towards ObamaCare; on the contrary- we will all be beggers under his plans.

We have been keeping very busy building our chicken coop; Lance has it nearly finished.  We just need to build a door and put up the welded wire and it will be finished.  Painting it will be a blast for the kids!  We also got the garden in these last two weeks- it has been very busy around here!  Plus AWANA is coming to an end--- L finished three books this year (this was her first year in Sparks, and her last- I can't believe she will be in T&T next year!) M is done with her book and K finished hers back in January to be eligeble for the Kansas City trip.  Next year K will attend regionals in Branson, and M & L will go to Stillwater for their competition.  We are already gearing up for next year, with homeschool convention season looming in the next few weeks; planning for next year is exciting and overwhelming, but a nice change of pace anyway.

All the kids are doing well, and W is out of the woods so to speak on his weight gain (or previous lack thereof).  E can still often be heard refusing to be "unbuckied" (unbuckled) by anyone but papa, and frequently walks around saying "papa coming see me" and "papa swing me". 

The kids enjoyed Easter with Mema & Papa Pink, even if they forgot their candy.  A is still talking about riding "his" tractor, and when we go back what he is going to do with "his" tractor.

I will post pictures of the coop and chicks soon, and the garden when it starts coming in good.

Kansas City was a blast

K really did well competing in KC this last weekend-- we had a lot of fun! We are also exhausted!  It was a fast and furious trip up and back, but it was very enjoyable. We stayed at a nice hotel in Overland Park, and the school where the volleyball tournament was held was not very far (in Olathe).  We were also close to the church where Bible Quiz and Trek Games were held.  It was an awesome site to behold to see all of those 7th & 8th graders reciting verses (the easy part of quiz).  Not to mention the high schoolers!  We also got to listen to one of the missionaries that was detained in Haiti for 20 some-odd days.  (that was a little long)
What really struck Lance and I about KC was how NEW everything was!  There seemed to hardly be any building that was over five years old!  I am guessing that Overland Park and Olathe are growing areas.

K and I are looking into taking a sewing class together.  It is something I have always wanted to know how to do, and she would love to know how also! Some of the competitors from our church really take Bible Quiz seriously and wanted to match each other, so they would sew (or have their mom) skirts or dresses to match.  Even the boy teams would color coordinate!  And not just our church kids matched;  there were churches from all over (this was regionals) whose kids teams matched! SO we thought a sewing class might be just the ticket for us! And very fun.  OK, with daylight savings in effect and 606 miles traveled in two days, we are all pooped!

New pic of W and A

My friend Rebecca took these- there are more but this is a sneak peek! 

Check out her website at http://www.olivetreeportraits.com/

 

W has for all intents and purposes "caught up" with A- he is weighing in just under what A was at six months, but not by much!

Chicken Bliss in Full Swing

Well, Chicken Bliss is officially in full swing!  We travelled down to Wewoka (lots farther than we thought) to pick up our chicks last week.  As it happened, an earthquake was going on in Prague; I was driving and kept telling Lance that I was having trouble keeping the van on the road- I just chalked it up to I-40 :)
Then we decided to eat in Shawnee since we were SO close.  And it was a LOT closer to dinner than we had planned.  Like almost 8pm.  That is sort of close to dinner time, just the wrong side of close.  We were going to eat at the Hamburger King, but it was closing, so we had to go somewhere else.  From the screaming that ensued you would think we were torturing some of the kids: Chicken Bliss quickly turned into Chicken Hell in a Handbasket.  But we made it home all in one piece and with full bellies.   Since then it has been quite a chore keeping everyone on task, especially since E killed one chick.  Now everyone is on guard duty. 

They are now getting big enough that we are worried they are going to be able to jump out of the brooder-- Lance is building a lid tonight!

8 days til chickens!

Here are some drawings of the types of chickens we will have in eight (countdown already in full swing) days:

The all black ones are called black Australorps, the golden ones are buff Orpingtons, the black and white one is a barred Plymouth Rock, the reds are Rhode Island Reds, and the multicolored ones are called Ameraucanas.  They are super cool because they lay multi-colored eggs in shades of pink, blue and yellow. 
The kids are on super chicken overload.  I took them to Atwoods the other morning on a "chicken field trip".  I thought they might explode with their chicken delight!  The names that are being bantied about are the funniest thing: fat louie, Asoka, Anikan, and even Sateen.  Yes, we have a bunch of clone wars fans.  And a princess.

W had his first cereal today and did very well; hopefully the rice will help keep his milk down!  He is on the verge of crawling away-- he is army crawling everywhere in just the last few days, and he is on all fours some of the time now!  And if he can't get where he wants to go that way, he just rolls!  Nothing and no one are safe any longer! (can you hear the Star Wars theme song in the background?  I can- I have three or four kiddos humming it at any given time!)

Why I would vote Ron Paul for President

Three words: TAXES TAXES TAXES! How we can have six children and a mortgage and still owe taxes blows my mind!  Google Ron Paul- he is for small government and pro business.  http://www.ronpaul.com/