Progress

Remember the chickens? Well, we are down to a total of EIGHT. One rooster (yes, it did turn out that Drumstick is a rooster and he is the ONE that.... survived.... The rest were..... tasty.) Out of all those sweet, fluffy little chicks, SEVEN were hens. *sigh* The other day we finally got one egg per hen.


Aren't they pretty?? Now if they will keep up the good work!

New Additions

We've learned a few things in the last month:

Number one, bunnies that are still rather small CAN and WILL get pregnant. Oops.

Number two, male bunnies will eat little tiny baby bunnies. BIG oops. Maybe that lesson should have been in the "number one" section, and the "number one" lesson should be moved to "number two." I am not really sure, there, since both lessons happened simultaneously.

Those two lessons learned, we promptly examined the other bunnies in our possession and discovered a second pregnant female. We immediately removed her from the pen with the others and brought her inside, where she remained for a few weeks in her own private cage in the pantry. During those first two weeks, I began to second guess myself. Perhaps this beautiful gray bunny was not pregnant, just obese. It is possible for a bunny to get fat, isn't it? Day after day passed, and still no babies. Then one night, this beautiful gray bunny began to act so strange. She was losing her downy "under-fur" and every time we would peek in on her, she had strips of newspaper sticking out of both sides of her mouth. What on earth was she doing? Not only is she fat, but she's losing her mind, too? Great. A psychotic rabbit. Just what I need. The next morning we peeked in on her and discovered that this nest-like mound in the corner of her cage was... squirming... BABIES! I was so grateful... She was not fat, and she was not crazy.


The babies are now a couple weeks old and have made the move back outside. Batman revamped the pen, creating five little cubbyholes, one for each bunny, with the middle cubby housing mommy and babies.


This was their last morning indoors. They looked quite comfortable lounging on the love seat, and I was greatly tempted to go buy a litter box, pick my favorite baby, and keep it indoors. Batman swiftly told me NO. Spoilsport. Ah well.... The babies and "grownups" can be visited outside, I suppose.

Have you ever seen a grown man cry?

I've heard it said that every XBox 360 owner's greatest fear is to hear the words "Halo" and "canceled" in the same sentence. But the thing that will give them the worst nightmare of their life is to see this:



The Ring of Death.

What does the Ring of Death mean? It means that a grown 35 year old man and an almost eleven year old boy whine and cry. Literally. It means that this grown man and this sweet boy will be without their beloved XBox for at least two weeks while the XBox makes it way to Texas to undergo repairs. Both the man and the boy wondered what they would do for those two weeks. The mommy suggested that the man and the boy go outside to play.

In the Quiet

J has just left for work, the littles are out with Aunt B for lunch. I was writting a "long lost cousin" about how we all grow up, get busy with life and lose contact. The thought of all that busyness made me pause and I took a moment to stop and listen... Quiet. There is a gentle rain pattering the roof, but other than that, there is no noise. It struck me: how often are our lives filled with so much noise that we don't have the time or we don't take the time to just stop and listen to the quiet? In the quiet, I found myself singing this song:

In the quiet, in the stillness
I know that You are God
In the secret of Your presence
I know there I am restored
When You call I won't refuse
Each new day again I'll choose

There is no one else for me
None but Jesus
Crucified to set me free
Now I live to bring Him praise

In the chaos and confusion
I know You're sovereign still
In the moment of my weakness
You give me grace to do Your will
When You call I won't delay
This my song through all my day

There is no one else for me
None but Jesus
Crucified to set me free
Now I live to bring Him praise

All my delight in You Lord
All of my hope
All of my strength
All my delight is in You Lord
Forevermore

(None But Jesus, Hillsong United)

Take the time to be quiet today, to find God in the stillness, to be refreshed and restored.

It Takes All Kinds

This evening I sat down to do my weekly mani/pedi (yes, I was pampering myself. I figured that every homeschooling mom needs one vice. This is mine. Salon quality, Walmart prices. DIY, baby.)and the tones went off. No surprise. It is pretty standard. Nail polish goes on, tones go off. So anyway, I was just starting my mani/pedi when our tones went off for the ambulance. I sighed, rolled my eyes, I am sure, and set aside my "Preppy in Pink" nail polish. I grabbed a light coat (remember yesterday's post?), put on my striped barn boots (rubber boots, Wellingtons, whatever), and headed out the door. I arrived at the fire hall, parked, grabbed my bag and ran to the ambulance. We were off.

After about 90 seconds on the road, I began to second guess who my driver was. We were careening around corners and bouncing over every bump. Quite unusual for the driver I had tonight. Arriving on scene in record time, I jumped out of the ambulance with my hands covered in a gorgeous blue latex free glove, my jump bag over one shoulder and clipboard in the other hand. I walked over to the little car at the side of the road, introduced myself, and began asking the pertinent questions. Only to find out this:

Driver A and Passenger B were driving down the road when Little Dog C needed to... potty..... Driver A slowly pulled off the road onto a patch of what appeared to be dead grass and Passenger B proceeded to take Little Dog C out to.... potty. Little Dog C finished its business and Passenger B and Little Dog C returned to the car. Driver A put the car in gear and applied the gas only to find that all three of them were stuck in the mud.... The little car would just not go anywhere. Passenger B called her husband who met them at the side of the road and Mr. Passenger B then called for a tow truck. Somewhere along the line, a Good Samaritan who was passing by decided to do their Good Samaritanly duty and call 911 to report the .... accident... that they had just driven by. At that time, 911 did their job and toned us out for the MVA. Hence the interruption to my mani/pedi and our manic drive down the bumpy road. Now, let me tell you: one of the things that we are strongly encouraged to do (after we establish SAFETY) is this - remain professional AT. ALL. TIMES.

Yeah. About that. I slipped today. When Driver A finally stated (and by finally, I do mean FINALLY. This was not the first piece of information that was given to me. If the shoe had been on the other foot, that would have been the FIRST piece of information I would have gotten across. But that is just me.) that there had been no accident, I broke. I admit it. I snickered. What else was I to do? I quickly pulled myself together, got my information for my paperwork, and returned to the ambulance so we could go home. Here is my plea to you. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you have the opportunity to play Good Samaritan, could you pull over and find out if there was an actual accident first? That would be really helpful. This type of thing happens relatively frequently. It just isn't always this amusing. Ah well. Back to my mani/pedi.

It's Been Awhile

Today I woke up to see the sun shining brightly and to feel "warm" air! It's been so cold lately that 42° feels like a tropical heat wave... almost. The Spring-like weather has even prompted me to start the process of Spring cleaning. Yay! Spring cleaning means organizing things that don't ordinarily get organized. It also means putting away the snowmen. You see, I LOVE my snowmen. They come out the day after Thanksgiving, along with most of the other Christmas decorations, and they stay until Spring comes. I know we aren't quite into March yet, but I am ready. If the birds started singing, the grass turned green, and the flowers started blooming tomorrow, that would be ok! I am ready to plant the garden. Thoughts of fresh, homegrown vegetables causes my mouth to water. Yep, it is definitely time for the snowmen to be put away....

AHA!

Yes, it's been ages, I know... Batman keeps mentioning this to me every time he gets on the computer. So, here's proof I AM, after all, still alive and well.

I thought I'd share an "Aha! moment" I had this Sunday. In the sermon, the statement was made, "faith is our opportunity to shut up, believe, and do." He then went on to say that God is NOT interested in our "but's..." I sat thinking, and realized that Bud is the PERFECT example of this for me. In fact, this is the very thing that we have been working on with our firstborn child. That desperate need to have our own opinion or reason heard, no matter what mommy or daddy (or GOD) has said. Hmm.......

"But, MOM, I an not cold!" (when it is -5° F outside and he has been told to put on a coat), or "but, MOM, I don't eat breakfast!!" (when told to eat so he could take his vitamins before getting involved with anything else so we could leave on time).

God: "Go, (do)."
Me: "But, GOD, I don't have enough time/resources/talent, I'm too tired, I'm not brave enough, etc."

Sound familiar? I am sure that every one of us could put any number of excuses there. Meanwhile, God sits there patiently waiting for me to shut up, believe and do. Someday (hopefully bery soon) I will learn to stop having a desperate need to have the last word and I will do just that - shut up, believe, and DO.