Spring Chickens!

Lily feeding the chicks when we brought them home

Here are the chicks in their new home in the garage!

It's so much fun to get baby chicks.  We are down to two old hens who don't lay anymore, so we thought it was time for some new ones.  The first time we got chicks, we got all the same kind.  This time, we were a little more adventurous.  We have six babies - the two with the brown feathers are Golden Comets, the same breed we had last time.  The white ones with the orange legs and beaks are Tetra Tints, which I hadn't heard of until we saw them at Tractor Supply, but they're supposed to be white chickens and lay cream-colored eggs.  The ones with the black feet are Rory's pick - they are Silkies.  I can't wait to watch them grow up!  They are small chickens, and lay small eggs, so that should be interesting, but they have fuzzy feathers that look like fur all over the place!  The interesting thing about them is that their skin is black, like their feet and beaks, but these are apparently going to have white feathers.

I forgot how quickly they grow!  The first picture shows them in a galvanized tub in Rory's room.  Well, they soon grew out of that and into a larger plastic bin.  But then they figured out how to get out of there.  One of them even decided to sleep perched on the edge of the bin.  So we decided that it was time for them to move out to the garage.  They're still too little to go outside, but Rory was going to be sleeping with chickens in his bed soon if we didn't do something!  So they're in a wooden pen in the garage with two heat lamps.  It's going to be interesting to figure out how to introduce them to the two older birds, but I guess they will all just have to get along somehow!  We also didn't have a dog last time, as we got Honey about a year after we got the chickens.  So we're trying to convince her that they are feathery puppies.  So far, she's snuffed at them a bit but that's all.  She may make a good chicken dog yet!

Our New Baby!

Meet Honey!  

This is our new puppy.  We have been wanting to get a dog for a while, but were waiting until after the holidays.  Well, January 10 was our final "Christmas."  We celebrated here with Mike's family.  So, I spent the next week getting the Christmas decorations put away, and on Monday, January 17 we made the trip to Pancake Hollow Farm, where we were able to visit with the dogs and puppies.  Honey was Mike's favorite, so here she is!  So far, we've found that she is great motivation to pick up the floor, as she is chewing everything, and watching where you walk, as she is not housetrained yet.  So, now I'm trying to potty train 2 babies!  But, just like all babies, she's so sweet and fun that she makes up for the inconvenience!  As you can see, she is also already a Yankee fan, and is giving Mike competition for his couch!

The Fox and the Chicken - Part 2

Hello, everyone.  Robin, here.  Rory wanted to make sure that everyone knew that his story was a real event!  It happened yesterday, so we are now down to five chickens instead of six (sniff).  Also, the picture at the top of the post was drawn by Rory in his Nature Journal.  We're now worried that the fox will come back, looking for more chicken dinners.  We're keeping the chickens fenced in, so hopefully it won't get any more.  It was just surprising and a bit disturbing that the fox came into our yard in the middle of the day.  We knew there were foxes around, but the houses where we live are relatively close together.  Our lot is only 1/2 acre.  So, anybody know of a good chicken-and-kid guarding dog?

The Fox and the Chicken - by Rory

Today, the chickens were outside, and I was doing my schoolwork.  Mom and Lily were doing the bread.  Everything was going alright.  And then, I saw a fox running away with a chicken in its mouth!  I don't know if the chicken was dead, but it wasn't moving.  I went inside, and ran around the house saying, "Fox ran away with a chicken!  Fox ran away with a chicken!  Fox ran away with a chicken!"  When I got back outside, the fox and the chicken were gone.  I gave Mom all the information I could give her.  I figured that it ran across the road with a chicken in its mouth.  It went down our neighbor's slope.  I think it went into the woods.  We got it settled over.  I got back to my schoolwork.  Mom and Lily got back to the bread, and I told Mom that if that fox ever came around anymore, I would throw rocks at him until he dropped the chicken and ran away.

Come on, Fall!

Sorry about the short post yesterday.  It was all I had to say!  This is the problem.  For some reason, at this time of year, all of the bugs in the world come to our house.  We have bugs in our garden, bugs on our cat, bugs in the flour, bugs dive-bombing me in my own house.  Now, I know that bugs can be fascinating creatures, they were created by God, and some can be very beneficial.  However, there is definitely a limit to my admiration.  Especially when they bite me.  Or the kids.  Or make homes in my grains.  Or my cat.  Or eat my tomato plants.  Or my flowers.  One even got in our science experiment, so that instead of making salt crystals, we are apparently making bug crystals.  EEEWWW!  So, while summer can be a nice season, I am not too happy with it at the moment.  Bring on the Fall!

Ones and Twos

Today was Rory's official first day of second grade!  Yes, we started our curriculum.  I think it's going to be a good fit.  It will take a bit of getting used to, as we worked off of our own curriculum last year, but it seems very well put together, and is easy to follow.  Today was also the first day the chickens laid eggs - Two, to be exact!  I was so excited!  Actually, Rory, Lily and I were all excited, and in our excitement we managed to let the chickens loose, but they came back.  When I tucked the kids in tonight, I told Rory I'd see him for his second day of second grade, and Lily that I would see her for the second day of...whatever.  Rory informed me that she is in second grade, also.  I guess she would graduate at age 12, then?  She did listen to "Dr. Seuss's ABC's" and put together her number puzzle, which I thought was quite scholarly of her.  She also got all the games out of the game drawers and mixed up the pieces all over the floor, but maybe she was showing creativity?  Yesterday, we visited my in-laws at their house on the lake.  Rory was so excited, because he has a rowboat that is kept at their house.  Grandpa took him out and taught him to row, and he rowed that boat all over the lake and back again!  I would have had sore arms after that, but it didn't seem to phase him a bit.  (I also would have rowed in circles, as per prior experience, but we won't talk about that!)  He also caught his first fish all by himself - he put the worm on the hook, cast out, and pulled it in all by himself.  He was so proud!  Lily sat on the end of the dock and splashed her feet and hands in the water and got soaked, and then ate 2 1/2 hot dogs.  Yep.  She's gifted.  Definitely ready for second grade.

Good Morning!

Good Morning, everyone!  Yes, I actually managed to get up BEFORE the kids!  Don't ask me how, as I was actually up pretty late last night.  I did have some motivation, because I realized that Mike was not up yet when I first woke up, and this is his early day for work.  So, I got up and started his coffee, realizing in the process that I had forgotten to start the dishwasher last night before bed like I intended.  It is a portable one that has to be plugged in to the kitchen sink, so I will now have to wait until after breakfast to run it.  At least I don't have any laundry that needs to be done immediately!

Yesterday was absolutely beautiful!  It was (finally) warm outside, and sunny, and the kids and I got to go out and get some fresh air!  Lily seems to be feeling much better, though she woke up coughing yesterday morning.  Our push lawn mower broke a few weeks ago, so I asked Mike if we could get a reel mower (non-motorized) to replace it, as he mows most of the lawn with a lawn tractor, anyway.  So, when he and Rory went to get the plywood for the chicken coop (he has the frame finished) the other day, they checked at Home Depot, and there was actually a reel mower.  They got it, so I'm trying to teach Rory how to mow the lawn.  It really needs to be "hayed" with the tractor before we get too far, because some of it is just too high for the reel mower to handle, but we got a little of it done, and Rory got some practice.  He feels very proud of himself for being able to do a "man's job."

I went into the garage to get the chickens and take them outside, and they were really all over the place!  I actually had a hard time catching them to bring them out, because they kept flying over things I had to go around to get to them.  One stayed in the garage quite a while before Rory managed to chase it out so we could catch it and get it into the fence!  The good thing is, since Mike at least got the frame done on the coop, I decided that I could put a tarp over it so they would have some shelter, so I don't have to try to transport them back and forth anymore!  It is probably just as warm outside as in our unheated garage at this point, and
probably safer for them, too.  The garage is full of bunches of stuff that chickens really shouldn't get into.

Even with the beautiful weather, I had a hard time keeping on schedule and getting anything accomplished.  Mike's younger brother had a pretty serious surgery, so even though I was at home with the kids, my mind was at the hospital, hoping everything was alright. Praise God the surgery went well, and by supper time he was up and able to eat!

Well, today is supposed to be another beautiful day.  I found a different way to print a schedule with Google Calendar.  I read about using it for family scheduling on an internet site.  I have used it for a general calendar for myself, but didn't realize that you can include calendars for different people and display them all together.  It's even color-coded!  Cool!  So, I was able to schedule myself, Lily, Rory, and Mike, and print them out all on one page.  I put this in the clear front of my house notebook (something I'm trying to develop), so I can see at a glance what everyone is supposed to be doing.  I also printed Rory his own schedule, and then wrote in specifics, such as what his school assignments were for the different blocks of time.  I had previously been making color-coded schedules with Microsoft Word, but then I would have to go back in and change them all the time, or disregard them if a particular day had something else thrown in (like a doctor's appointment, for example).  This way, it can be specific for each day, and I can do them ahead of time and just print them up if I want to.  Or, I can keep it up on the computer to refer to.  So many options!

As I look at my colorful schedule, I realize that I am now supposed to be getting dressed and making breakfast, so I think I'd better get to it.

"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint."  Isaiah 40:31

Some Progress

Hello.  I'm back (even if you didn't know I was gone!)  We have had a few "technical difficulties" around here.  First, our electricity was out for two days, and then our phone was out for one.  Hence, no internet.  The time in between these events was used trying to get ourselves back in order.  "Camping" in the house is not all it's cracked up to be.  It did get me out of cooking any meals on Mother's Day, however!  The frigid weather (and frigid house) also gave us the excuse to go shopping and get our vacuum cleaner head fixed.

Just so you know...current chicken count is still 6 (as of noon today).

Rory has actually been coming when called most of the time!  Lily comes when she sees Rory coming.  Basically, Lily does everything Rory does.  Rory even came the other night when he was in the middle of reading a comic book with Dad!  I wanted him to set the table, so I called him.  He said "Yes, Ma'am" and came right away.  I told him it was time to set the table, and he asked if he could finish the comic book first.  I said yes, so he went back in and finished the book, then came and finished the table.  No crying!  Yay!  We're still doing our schedule part of the time (of course it didn't work particularly well during our power outage).  It also didn't work very well yesterday, because Lily was sick.  She's still sick, today, but is a little better and hasn't needed to be held all day at least.  I am really annoyed about the doctor.  It's not her fault, but Lily is hardly ever sick.  Every time I take her for a "well-child" visit, however, she ceases being a "well-child," and ends up with a cold or flu or something.  Maybe that's why she cries so much at the doctor's office.  She knows what is coming.

I'm still trying to follow Flylady.  Of course, it is an internet-based thing, so I missed a few days with the whole non-internet period.  It's probably just as well, because I'm still trying to get used to doing the little bit that I have started already.   The hardest part is wearing SHOES all the time!  I can see her point to a degree, as it keeps you from lounging around instead of working, but I'm pretty used to doing everything without shoes, so wearing them doesn't really motivate me to work any harder.  The only good thing is that I don't have to find shoes when I want to go outside for some reason, but then if it's raining or I'm gardening or feeding the chickens, I come in with dirty shoes and need to change them anyway.  I think I'm going back to my usual slippers or bare feet.  Sorry, Flylady!  At least I've been mostly keeping my sink clean - I even got all my kitchen counters cleaned off!  Now for the desk...............

The Prodigal Chicken

Okay, this is weird.  When hubby got home from work, we all went out to get an apple tree ( my early mother's day gift - thanks, honey!)  When we all got home, hubby went to check on the chickens, and there were....SIX! Yes, six.  How did this happen?  We have no idea.  Our first theory is that the chicken was running around in the garage the whole time.  This is not likely, as you would think she would have gone back to her roost at some time before now, but if you have seen our garage, you would realize that there are umpteen places for a half-grown chicken to hide, so it is possible.  The other theory, which is a little disturbing, is that someone actually took her for two days and finally brought her back while we were gone.  We may never know what happened, but at least all of our Lucy's are safe again.  Now, Rory has to add to his picture of his family, and write "Lucy 8."

I tried a suggestion from the blog I wrote about last night, today.  I told Rory and Lily that they are privates in boot camp, and their first assignment is to learn to come as soon as I call them.  So, we played a "game," and I called them from different rooms in the house.  They had to say "Yes, Ma'am," and come to me as soon as they heard me.  They did great!  They were actually upset when we had to stop playing and get on to something else.  I told them that I would keep doing it periodically throughout the day.  They still did very well.  They missed it once, but that was the time I was planning on giving them candy when they got to me.  I showed them that I had candy in my hand, and they had missed it.  I called them again a few minutes later, and they both came quickly.  I plan to keep this up until it stops becoming a game and becomes a habit.  Please pray for me!  I just hope that if I can get Rory to realize he can do something even if he doesn't want to, he may be able to apply the concept to other things (like cleaning his room and getting his school work done).  Hopefully, we can work on the habit of doing everything he's told right away.

We stayed on schedule much better, today.  Rory got all of his work done except for his handwriting page before school was over.  He's really enjoying his newfound reading ability, and is reading everything in sight.  He was reading "Sam The Minuteman" for school today.  It's a pretty long book for him, so when he was about halfway through I told him he could stop there and read the rest on Monday.  He said, "NO!  I want to find out what happens!" and continued reading until he finished the book!  He also picked out a library book to read..  He asked if he could read it for reading time in school.  I reminded him that he was finished with reading for the day, so he read the book to himself during quiet time.

We got to the farm market today.  The market we go to is right on a vegetable farm a couple towns north of us.  They sell all of their own plants and vegetables, and also some local items like milk, cheese, eggs, and baked goods.  They have been closed for the summer, and just reopened last weekend.  I have been there enough over the years, that the owner recognized me, and welcomed me with a big smile on her face, asking how my winter had been.  I told her that I'd missed them, and she said she had missed all the people, too.  I've been waiting for them to open for at least a month now!  The grocery store produce from California and South America starts to get old after a while.  I've really started to appreciate the ability to be personally connected to the people who produce my food.

Both kids actually went to bed decently tonight, so I am going to start soaking some beans, soak myself, and get to bed.  Tomorrow is Rory's first baseball game if it doesn't rain too much, and I want to can the beans and some rhubarb that I got from the market.  I also peeked ahead at the "Flylady" babysteps, and found that I am supposed to spend two minutes putting out a "hot spot" tomorrow.  Now, I just have to decide which spot is most likely to erupt first!

Updates

Sadly, we lost one of our "Lucy's".  I left the garage door open for a little while yesterday while I weeded the garden.  The next thing I know, Rory is running out the door after the cat, who is after one of the chickens.  We got that chicken rescued, but then realized that there were only four left in the garage.  We searched for the lost one off and on for the rest of the day, but we never found her.  So, we are down to...5 chickens, 7 Lucy's, 8 pets.  Rory had to draw a picture of his family in his handwriting book today, and then practice writing their names.  He wrote:  Lily, Rory, Mom, Dad, Teddy, Lucy 1, Lucy 2, Lucy 3, Lucy 4, Lucy 5, Lucy 6, Lucy 7.  He shouldn't forget how to write Lucy any time soon.

This is an article I read on another blog.  Help! My Child Does Not See Me As An Authority  I think I'm going to try some of the suggestions.  Rory still doesn't want to come, or do anything else, when told.  Maybe he would learn easier if it was a "practice."

Our schedule is working moderately well.  The one day that we managed to follow it almost perfectly was a pretty good day.  We didn't stay on too well today, because I realized that we had put going to the Library when Lily is supposed to take her nap.  So, I decided to go this morning instead.  Of course, Lily didn't take a nap, anyway.  She fell asleep at 7:00 after almost falling asleep in her soup.  Then, she got up at 9:00 and is still up, now, at 11:00.  To Be Continued...

I've decided to try Flylady.  It is a web-based group that helps you step by step to get control over your home.  They will hopefully help me to stay on track.  At least they seem to be real enough to realize that it won't all be done in one day.  That's comforting.

My canned chicken stock seems to have worked - I used some, and it was good!  So, I got some more jars, and am going to try black beans, and maybe asparagus and rhubarb, depending on their price at the farm stand tomorrow.  If I ever get to bed tonight.  11:53, and Lily is still going strong.  So much for schedules.





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Odds & Ends

I finally used the canner I got for my birthday!  I canned chicken stock, and I think it even worked!  I had to start over, because I didn't have the gauge on tight enough to begin with, and it was leaking steam, but I figured it out!  So, I have eight almost pints of chicken broth to use whenever I want.  Right now they are on top of my cupboards.  They are almost pints, because the instructions said to leave an inch of space.  I might have left a little too much space, but anyway, they are canned!  I'm also trying to make ginger ale, from the Nourishing Traditions cookbook.  We'll see how it turns out.  It calls for Rapurda for a sweetener, which I don't have, so I used sugar, and it called for lime juice, which I don't have, so I used lemon juice.  It could be ginger ale when I'm done, I guess!

The chicks went to the garage about a week after we got them, because they started jumping out of their pan.  I didn't really want chickens in my bed!  The chick with the sore wing has fully recovered.  They have about half of their feathers, now.  We installed a 10 X 10 dog run behind the garage, and Mike started putting the chicken wire around it yesterday.  We need to put some sort of wire over the top, and build the house to go inside next.

Rory entered a baking contest at our homeschool support group last Tuesday.  He made peanut butter cookies.  He didn't win, but the cookies turned out really good!  He had to make them all by himself.  The only thing I could do was put them in and out of the oven.  Boy, was that hard to watch!  I wanted to help so much!  But he did it!  I was also very proud of him, because although he was sad when he didn't win, he did not get visibly upset, and he went right back to playing with his friends.  That is a big thing for him - he tends to get upset over everything.  So, it was a good contest even though he didn't win.  Plus, we got to eat peanut butter cookies!

If you're wondering where my second curriculum review went, I decided not to do it.  We actually did try the curriculum, which was about firefighters.  However, neither of the curricula that were sent were really something I would have picked for myself, and using them took time away from our regular studies.  From what I understand, I could receive up to 70 different things to review in a year, which is more than 1 a week.  It took me most of a morning to write the review for the one I did, (especially since I always have so much "help" around here), so I decided it wasn't really worth my time to get involved in it.

I am currently looking for a new math curriculum for Rory for next year.  He has done okay with the one we used this year (Singapore Math), but it seems to be moving very fast for him.  I actually skipped a little of it, because it seems to go in a different sequence than most curricula.  I am considering using Math Mammoth for next year.  Any math people out there, please take a look at it and let me know what you think!  I did order one of their single-subject e-books on place value, because that seems to be something Rory has continually had trouble understanding.  He has done a few of the pages, and said he liked it.  One thing I like about it for him, is that it has very basic illustrations, instead of the colorful ones in his current book.  He gets distracted easily with too many pictures, even when reading books, so I think this may be easier for him to concentrate on.  I also like that it is only one book, instead of three different ones for each level like the current curriculum we have.

I set Rory up with his own computer account this morning.  He also has his own version of Google Chrome, which at this point has Webrangers and Lego.com on it. He doesn't have e-mail or anything, and I didn't show him how to search for things, but this way he can start to learn how to navigate things by himself, without my having to find his programs for him.  It gave him something to do this morning, since his baseball game was cancelled because of rain.

Mike has been having severe stomach problems for the past few weeks.  He went to the doctor Monday, and was found to have H. Pylori, which is a bacterial infection in the stomach.  He is now on two different antibiotics, as well as Prevacid, twice a day.  Please pray that this will work, and that the antibiotics will not mess his digestive system up worse than it already is!  If anyone knows of a natural way to deal with this infection, let me know.  The doctors only want to prescribe pills.  They didn't even mention that he should be eating yogurt (which he hates anyway), or taking acidophillus (sp?) pills along with the antibiotics, which I only know from having to have antibiotics for Lyme Disease years ago.  They also told him that ginger would not help with the nausea.  I guess they have never been pregnant!  Of course, teething doesn't cause babies to get sick, either.  Hah!

I guess that's all the news that's fit to print, right now!  Off to the rest of my day.  Happy Saturday!

Down on the Farm

So we did it... we got chickens!  We went through all sorts of ideas, and were just about ready to buy a few laying hens (8 months old) from a nearby farm, when we had to go to Tractor Supply for something else.  Boy, the chickies are cute!  So, we went with the babies for the fun factor.  I understand they tend to be easier to get along with if you've had them from chicks, also, so hopefully that will be true.

I thought I was about done with babies in the bedroom, since Lily is almost two and usually sleeps through the night now, but now I have six fluffy babies in a bin in my room.  We couldn't figure out anywhere else to put them to keep them away from the cat until they can go outside.  Right now, they have to have a heat lamp all the time.  So, not only is my room noisy (peep, peep, peep), but it has a red glow 24 hours a day.  Oh, well.  This too will pass.  The kids love them, and even Mike said he had to go check on "his peeps"  the other day.

We also had our first chick injury scare.  I was checking on them, and noticed that one seemed to be pecking under her wing.  When I picked her up, it was all bare and bloody there.  So, I looked on line and found not very much of use, but I tried washing it with a saline solution.  After that, she started preening more than picking, and it looks much better today.  Hopefully that will be the end of that.

I can't believe how fast they are changing - and I thought human babies grew fast!  They were a few days old when we got them, so they had a few feathers on their wings, but now some of them have almost all of their wings feathered, and they are starting to get tail feathers, too.  That looks pretty funny, with all the fuzz!

The bunny has a new fence.  We only let her out of her hutch when we are outside, but at least it gives her a little mobility.  She doesn't like going back in her hutch at the end of the day, though!

The kids and I planted some seeds in pots last Monday.  Lily has sunflowers up, Rory has a morning glory and some zucchini, and I have cucumbers and tomatoes.  The onions are also coming up in the garden, and today we have asparagus!  We only planted them last year, though, so we won't be able to eat them until at least next year.  (sigh).

We've been having sump pump problems (again).  The pump is working, but the float switch broke.  Therefore, we have been having to go downstairs every hour or two around the clock to turn it on and off.  PAIN!  I had to order a new switch, because the store we got the pump from does not carry replacement parts for it.  It finally came today, and wouldn't you know it, I couldn't get the old one off to put the new one on.  I'll wait for Mike to get home to do that, so I don't strip the screw (one of my talents).  The depressing thing was that I had the part, but still had to run up and down the stairs all day.  Well, I thought of using WD-40, since "if it doesn't move and it should..."  but then I decided to plug the thing in and try it unattached.  It works by turning the pump on and off at the plug, and it has its own cord, so I reasoned that it didn't really have to be attached to the pump to work.  Well, I was right!  Then I had to figure out how to make it tip up when the water got too high.  Well, everyone knows that "if it moves and it shouldn't..." use duct tape!  So, I duct taped it to the side of the sump pump hole (with a whole lot of tape, because it's wet in there and doesn't stick real well).  So, it looks strange, but it's actually working!  Hallelujah!  Now I just have to convince Mike that it really should be put in the right way, as I don't know how long the duct tape will hold.

Rory is back to school today, after having a week off for Easter break.  He's trying to figure out how he can be a fireman, a policeman, and a builder of some sort all at the same time.  I told him he doesn't have to decide on a career quite yet.  He's very concerned about wanting to get a job.  A couple of weeks ago he wanted to be a lawyer, and he's also spent time wanting to be a doctor and a teacher.  Now he's thinking he'll sell eggs.  Maybe we will have enough to sell - who knows?  I guess we'll find out when the hens start laying.  

Getting It Together

I'm trying to get organized.  Again.  This is a never-ending struggle in my life.  Just when I think I have a system that will work, well......it doesn't.  Part of it is a notion that I don't want to be controlled by a schedule, but I am realizing that that is exactly what my family and I need.  Living without a plan actually exhausts me, because I have to constantly make decisions, from what to have for breakfast to what subject to teach next.  I'm not helping my children to learn how to organize themselves by being so unorganized, myself.  So, yesterday I made up a schedule for Rory which includes his school, chores, meals, outings, and free time throughout the week.  I am going back to making a weekly menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I have set wake-up times for myself and Rory.  I have also eliminated Lily's naps for the most part - last time she had a nap during the day, she was up and running until midnight.  AAAAAAHHGH!  So, "no naps for you!"  She's had a few rough spots during the day, but it seems that if she just has a little snuggle time, she revives pretty well.  


Lily is probably the most scheduled of all of us.  If she doesn't have a nap, she goes to sleep right around 8:30 every night.  Lily's big job is unloading the dishwasher, which she usually does in the morning while Rory is working on his schoolwork.  The funny thing is that she gets rather perturbed if there are no dishes in it!  Sometimes I wash them by hand, or run the dishwasher at different times of the day depending on how full it is.  Lily will still go to the dishwasher in the morning and inform me that it is time to do dishes!  I have to show her that it is empty, or dirty, or whatever, before she will get over the idea, and then she looks at me as if to say "You messed up my system!"  It's pretty bad when a toddler is more organized than her mom!


Lucy is trying to earn her keep.  Last night, I woke up to hear squeak, squeak, squeak!  I thought it was a mouse, but when I got up this morning, I saw no sign of one.  One of the bathtub toys was on the floor in the bathroom, so I figured she had been playing with that.  Well, the next thing I know, she is batting around a tailless(?!) mouse.  She seems to think it is a playmate, as the mouse startled Mike tonight while we were watching a movie.  Lucy picked up the mouse and took it in the other room to play with it, until it came back and ran under the piano.  This could be interesting.  


Okay - this is the end of this post.  I think I am going to have to make myself a schedule, including when I am allowed to spend time on the computer!  Maybe tomorrow.

Whew...Friday!

It's almost over!  Another busy day, today, but in more of a good way.  We finally had our homeschool co-op for the first time since before Christmas.  Sickness and other conflicts had kept our group from meeting for that long.  We are only three families, so if one family is absent, it is hard to continue lessons.  Poor Rory got momentarily upset because he was unable to learn "If You're Happy And You Know It" in Spanish the first time he sang it.  He really expects to be able to do everything right the first time.  I don't know how to help him understand that some things take practice.  I've told him this, but he doesn't seem to believe me.  I suppose he'll figure it out, eventually.  He did very well on his first recorder lesson, however.  Now, to get him to practice...

Rory has laughed more in the last few days than I've heard him in a while.  Lucy is certainly earning her keep as a form of entertainment!  The first thing everybody wants to know when they get up is "Where's Lucy?"  Many times, she is sitting on the windowsill in the living room, trying to figure out how to get to the birds outside.  We went yesterday and got her a few things from the store, including a stuffed mouse on an elastic string.  Rory has spent most of his free time playing with her!  Lily keeps trying to play with Lucy, but also spends time playing with Lucy's toys on her own.  Maybe she's part cat?

I'm trying my hand at keeping homeschool records on the computer.  I found a program called Homeschool Tracker that keeps records of everything, and will even print reports and schedules.  So far, so good.  I'm going to try to back-enter things for this grading period.  We'll see how that goes.  I think if I can get it working, it will be simpler than the pen-and-paper method I've been using up until now.  We'll see.

Well, tomorrow is officially Clean The House day.  It's in a bit of disrepair, as usual (see Chaos Theory!)  and is starting to drive me a bit crazy.  One day, I'll get this housekeeping thing under control.  Probably about the time they invent a self-cleaning house.  It took me forever to learn how to roll down a car window while driving, and then they started making cars with push buttons.  Go figure!

Okay, time to get the kiddies in bed, if I can get them away from the cat long enough.

OF HAMSTERS AND CATS

Yesterday was a very busy day.  It was not the kind of busy where you look back at the end and see all that you got accomplished.  It was more the type of busy that I imagine Teddy the hamster feels while running nowhere in his wheel.  In fact, my first misadventure actually involved poor Teddy.  Right after breakfast, I noticed that Teddy was awake in his cage.  This does not always happen during the day, as he is by nature a nocturnal animal, so I decided to take the opportunity to let him run around in his ball, and clean out his cage.  Well, I got it all cleaned out and spiffy, and filled with fresh shavings.  Then, I went to carry it back to its shelf.  OOPS!  I apparently hadn't gotten it put back together securely, because as soon as I picked it up, it fell apart...Shavings everywhere.  Sigh!  At least they were the clean shavings.  Thank you, Lord!  So, I cleaned up my mess, and now we are late starting school.  So, we start.  We got the reading done.  And the math.  Then the writing....oh, the writing.  This is Rory's least favorite thing to do.  He is supposed to be writing a book, called "The Little Red Hen Bakes Bread."  He dictated the story as I wrote it down months ago, and has since been working on copying it into a book and adding illustrations.  I think he got three or so words done, yesterday.  Then, Lily fell asleep, so I decided it was a good time to do the art lesson, as it is difficult to do this with Lily "helping."  So, we start art.  We are supposed to be noticing the shapes that make up pictures.  Then, we work with Tanagrams to make pictures, and then we are supposed to be drawing a still life.  Well, Rory was incredibly excited about the Tanagrams, so he started making a book with all the Tanagram pictures he had created.  Well, at least he's doing some writing.  I guess we'll have to do the still life another day.  This is the good thing about Homeschooling.  You can always catch up later.  Sometimes it works the other way, too.  Monday, he actually got farther on his Science lesson than I thought he would.  It will all even out, someday.  So...only about four more things to do for school.  But, wait!  Part of the difficulty with accomplishing our agenda today, has been that we are waiting to hear back about a cat.  We found out that some people from our homeschool group are moving to a different house, and they can't take their cat with them.  So, since our rather old animals (two cats and one dog) all passed away within the last few years, leaving us with only Teddy the hamster, I was excited to see that we could get another pet.  Dear Hubby has been reluctant to get another pet, as he had gotten so attached to the last ones that he had a hard time saying goodbye, but he finally agreed.  So, we spent the last part of the day looking at a video of the cat online, and then going to get the cat!  So, now our family includes a pretty kitty named Lucy.  Of course, no one wanted to go to sleep last night, because they wanted to know what the cat was doing.  I finally got to bed about 11:00, and Lily didn't wake up until 4:30 A.M., so I got a bit of sleep.  Mike informed me that he had spent most of the night playing with the cat to distract her from "staring at Teddy with bad intent," as he put it.  So, he's off to work, Rory's making cat toys out of everything in the house, and the cat is hiding under Lily's bed.  Time for School!