School Field Trips

I like to volunteer at school, it is a great opportunity for parents to be involved in their kids education. It also makes your children feel special for you to be on their turf, so to speak. This time volunteers were needed for a trip to the Museum. I was excited, as it has been a while since we have been to the museum.

We visited the Magic Wings Butterfly House, where I tried to show 2 of our very excited boys how to catch a butterfly on your finger. It was not working out great, Avery and Gavin chased those butterflies all over the place running with their hands flying in the air........this was not going to work......

I gently walked up to one perched on a leaf and offered a finger to coach him along....

I passed it to Gavin

Gavin passed it to Avery

Gavin found the species on the map

We held a tarantula 

Okay, not WE HELD........THEY HELD a tarantula...

we rode a train

We played on the playground

We dug for dinosaur bones and visited some dinosaurs

Then we sat in Papa Bears chair

and we sat in Baby Bears chair

We visited Snakes, gators and fish

and finally we built a tunnel out of plumbing pipes

and then it was time to go.....Jenn

Soccer

It appears as though this week we will be wrapping up this soccer season. It has proven to be fun, exhausting and a juggling experience. 7 of the 8 children played this season, they have all learned new skills and had fun doing it. Most of the kids want to give it a go in the fall, Others want to try something else. Brian and I are glad to have the summer off to rest and re-coop before the next season begins.

Some warm ups

some games

some games in the rain

looking forward to the next season.....Jenn

Busy Beavers

I now understand the term "busy beavers" I thought we were busy before, I had no idea what busy was until we threw in building a new chicken coop. Glad we are almost done with our big project. It has been a rewarding experience for us and the children. We have mastered "team work", teaching safe handling of power tools, and shown the children that even when building something math is important.

Grand-daddy drove the big tractor down to dig holes for the posts. Here we have the cedar posts set and tamped.

Building the nesting boxes

The hen house......

We are almost done and looking forward to getting our new hens.

Socks

It seems as though I just can not get any time to sit and just write anymore. I find myself asking what happened? where did all of my time go? After today, I think I spend it with socks. Picking them up, playing hide and seek with them, washing them, drying them, and trying to find their mate!

This morning began with a lovely breakfast in bed thanks to my wonderful husband. We got moving and as I began my day it quickly was consumed with socks. As I walk to the kitchen to take my dishes I see socks....in the hallway, in the chair, under the end table, over there in the corner, on the fireplace.....let me put it this way, the only place free of socks was the ceiling fan! I put my dishes in the sink and as I pick up socks I am noticing socks on the shelf under the end table and in the couch cushions and under the recliner and I am thinking back to a fiend's post on Facebook and knowing that I am not the only one I decide why not.....next blog.....SOCKS!

This is Tiffany's mismatched sock pile she has 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls.......

This is our mismatched sock bucket......our bucket was made up from 4 boys and 4 girls......

I appreciate the fact that "its trendy" to wear mismatched socks these days and that would probably save some people a lot of money but it creates chaos in a person with OCD.

When my mom comes to visit she wants so much to "help out" how ever she can. I came home from work one day and there was my empty sock bucket in the laundry room. Mom was so proud she managed to match every single sock. I had no idea how she did it until I pulled a pair of socks from my dresser the next day, I should have known better......

Although these socks are black one of them is mine and the other my daughters which means my circulation was being cut off.

Mom is no longer allowed near my sock bucket, I hide it every year and faithfully, she asks for it every year, I very politely tell her they have all been matched. So she moves onto ironing all of our underwear in perfect squares because they fit better in the drawers that way.

I spend much of my day starting one task and as I am working on that task I switch gears and begin another task, the end of the day I am exhausted and looking around I'm wondering what I did all day. Now I know, I am picking up socks as the sock bunny hides them. One day I will find all the matches and until then my family has taught me that it's not the fault of the dryer that all of our socks are mismatched, not the dryers fault at all, its the kids fault!

Until next time.......Jenn