Thursday, April 26

Homeschool Videos

While most of these interesting videos can be found on our own on YouTube, this site is extracting them for us.

Check it out, (especially the sand castle one).

Tuesday, April 24

Elvis who?

The girls & I have been enjoying loud volumes of Elvis, Presley not Costello, on our jaunts to gymnastics or other errands. Tonight was no exception. Allow me to share what I overheard from the back seat:

{Stuck On You, playing in the background}

Mudge: Who dis?

Sis: It's Elvis.

Mudge: Alice?

Sis: Nooooo, Elvis!

Mudge: Alice?

Sis (becoming exasperrated): Nooooo! Elvis!

Mudge (knowingly): Oh...... Alice!

Sis: Arrrgh! (slapping her forehead with open hand).

I couldn't help but laugh from the front seat. My girls can argue about ANYTHING!

Even Elvis!

Monday, April 23

Thankful I haven't managed this one yet...

Here's a great post, dear friends. I'm so glad other moms are willing to share their flub-ups. We really do need to laugh at the insanity of motherhood, or else we'd simply go mad.

Monday, April 16

Step away from the wine glass....

Today was one of those days that makes me want to run away and join the circus. Or really, just run away, 'cuz the circus sounds like too much work.

There really wasn't anything in particular, except maybe Mudge yelling, "NO MOMMA!" about 10 times, on the drive to Eau Claire today.

Or maybe it was trying to shop at Target, which I don't normally do & don't know where anything is at, with Mudge running off & hiding on me.

Or maybe it was Mudge standing up in the shopping cart the mili-second I stepped away to get something out of the freezer case. I could visualize her falling in slow motion, out of the cart, and having to take another helicopter ride, with another daughter, to the big city hospital.

Or maybe it was that I didn't have my coffee this morning. Eureka! That's it! I had semi-considered cutting back on coffee, but if today is any indication as to what a coffee-free day is.... I do believe I'll switch to espresso, thankyouverymuch.

At least 'til she grows out of this terrible 2's. sigh.

Saturday, April 14

Good News - Bad News

I'm not going to ask which you want first.

This morning we lost one of our little chicks. They all seemed to be doing great as of bedtime last night, but this morning Bud woke me at 6 to tell me that 'Fireball' was having a bad dream.

Fireball was the one & only chick that Bud seemed to be interested in. Yeah, he laughs at Big Mama, and takes notice of the cute things that the others do, but Fireball was his.

Sure enough, Fireball was not doing well when I made it into the kitchen. She did appear to be sleeping & dreaming, but I knew better. So I held her until the end. I am thankful for the life lesson that the Lord provided there. It gave Steve & I a chance to talk to Bud about a topic that doesn't happen to us everyday.

Fireball will be joining our past pets (Peanut the guinea pig, Gus & Sam the dogs, and Squirt my cat) in a burial ceremony later this morning. So please keep my kids in your thoughts this morning, as this is hard for them.

On a much lighter note.....
The barn swallows are home! Every year we keep our eyes peeled to notice their return. They arrived this morning, within 1/2 hour of me telling hubby that it wouldn't be long before the swallows would be swooping down on the cats as they strutted across the yard. Robins, barn swallows... Now we eagerly await the hummingbirds.

Thursday, April 12

Cheep-Cheep, scratch-scratch


For those of you who don't know, this is how baby chicks come. They were born yesterday! Then they were marked boy/girl, and boxed up to ship out to their new homes.


A friend of mine, who split the order with me, picked them up at 7 am and had them here right away. We divided them up, hoping I didn't get any boys!


I want to draw your attention to the chick on the far left. Do you notice her size compared to the others?


She has already been dubbed "Big Mama"
Doesn't she look like she'll rule the roost?

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On a different note.....
We had the local power company here to estimate our needs for our new building. It sounds like it's going to cost us 1/2 of what we originally budgeted for the power to be run out to the new site! Praise God! That is good news!

Wednesday, April 11

shocking

Dear Self,

You know that switch that hangs on the side of the machine shed? Yeah, the one that turns the electric fence on/off. Next time you go out to do horse chores? Turn.it.off.

Don't assume it's off, just because you don't recall turning it back ON after morning horse chores. Don't assume it, ever again.

I do not like the idea of stepping over a "hot" fence that I believe to be "cold", and then finding myself on my backside in the compost pile, with a tingling left side and mud-slopped pants.

Please remind Bud to leave the switch alone, as I believe he may have monkeyed with it.

Thanks.

Love,
me

Sunday, April 8

New Word

Sis received a Disney Princess hopscotch set this morning in her Easter basket. Other than the 2 hours at church today, she's been hopscotching all day. Ask her what she's doing though, and she'll tell you she's "jumpscatching". You gotta love her vocabulary!

Friday, April 6

Weekend Plans - take 2

We are finally getting together with a family for supper & games tomorrow night. Not sure why we haven't done it before, but no matter, we're doing it now! Our kids are all roughly the same ages, us moms are Divas together, and the dads are our support team who are finally getting to meet each other. It should make for a fun evening!

Sunday, of course, being Easter, we will be celebrating the resurrection of our Savior! I look forward to worship service & pastor's message.

Sunday evening will find me tagging along with my brother-in-law Chuck to Minneapolis. We're going to see Chris Cornell in concert at 1st Avenue. This is really a treat, as I have always enjoyed this man's music, no matter what band he was in. Very, very excited here!

Then on Monday, our family is off to Ashland to visit the Northern Great Lakes Center. We have some research to do on Bud's 4th grade Wisconsin project. We've been hoping to get up there since it first opened, and what better time to do it.

Well, that's it in a nutshell. I will post pix of this weekend once the dust settles.

Really..... God bless you all. I hope you sense His presence this weekend.

Weekend Plans

Normally we have so much on our calendar that I don't bother to post about the coming weekend until it's passed. I usually pick out the highlights and then blog. Not this weekend!

First off, today is significant to every soul, whether you admit it or not. Today marks the day that my Lord & Savior went to the cross, suffered upon it, and died a horrible, shameful death. A death that I deserve, that you deserve. He did it in obedience to the Father, as a sacrifice to atone for the sins of man. Everyone, even the ones that would never choose Him, He suffered & died for us.

Do not take this lightly and consider it just another death, important only to those close to Jesus. This is not just another day set aside for us "holy rollers" to celebrate. It is for all humanity, especially significant to you, right now. Before it's too late, won't you take but a moment to think of the love that it took to carry the cross that He would hang from? Think for a moment the complete & utter hopelessness of an eternity without a Savior. He is waiting, eagerly & patiently, for you to come out of the darkness.

He is the Way, the Truth, and the Light. Why are you waiting?


Now, I have to admit, when I sat down to write this post I never even thought to mention the significance of the day. The previous paragraphs, my friends, are the work of the Holy Spirit. Seriously. I only meant to blog about my upcoming weekend, and now, in light of what I've already typed, I'm gong to hold off and post more later.

Thursday, April 5

Herrrrrrrrre, chick, chick, chick........

I just realized that my chickens are one week away from calling my kitchen “home”. I have 15, day-old fuzzballs coming next Thursday, and you can imagine, I’m not ready.

I’ve come to realize that this is how I do things..... Examine options, choose, plan, fret, scramble to prepare, “the big day”, breathe a sigh of relief now that “it” is over. Lather-rinse-repeat.

Well, the chicken coop is semi-finished. Their yard is fenced in, the walls of the coop are up, and the door is hung, but there is so much left to tackle.

I do realize that they won’t even be in the coop for awhile, as they’ll be in the house. So I do have a little time to finish up out there. This week though, I need to get their temporary housing set up. Picture a plastic toddler wading pool, with a wire mesh ceiling. Did I mention we have 2 cats? Should be interesting.

Tuesday, April 3

It's Here!

To make a long story short ('cause, boy do I need a nap), our building is here. We were up at 5 am to meet the trucker, unloaded steel beam after steel beam, stacked them in the yard, and then signed on the bottom line. We now officially own a 50' X 100' building! Yikes!

I want to thank all of you for your prayers this morning! The rain held off until right at the very end. The truck driver was very patient, and helpful, and we had no mishaps with forklifts or skidsteers. I did my best to be helpful, without being in the way. So I visited a lot with the driver and shuffled boards to stack beams on.

Steve unloaded the whole semi truck in the allotted 2 hours, give or take 1/4 hour. I don't think the driver minded though, as I filled him up with pancakes, bacon, & coffee beforehand.

So, now that the adrenaline is wearing off, and I've taught Sis her school for the day, I do believe I'll be taking that nap now. Sorry to all of you that are dreading the approaching storm. I'm really looking forward to a weather event to distract me, even if only momentarily, from thinking about the coming weeks/months of erecting this building.

If you're ever in the neighborhood, and you feel like playing construction worker for awhile, feel free to stop by and don your hard hat!

Pix from this morning:


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For those of you that are thinking, "Where is it?!" Let me tell you, Steve unloaded 28,500 lbs of steel this morning, which included 102 sheets of steel siding that are stacked flat. For my church family reading this... imagine the size of our church gymnasium. That's how big this will be. I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around this..... oh. my.

Happy Birthday to You!




You're HOW old?!?

Monday, April 2

Could I have your attention please.....
This just in.....

BARRON-RUSK-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...RICE LAKE...BARRON...LADYSMITH
912 PM CDT MON APR 2 2007

...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM TUESDAY TO MIDNIGHT
CDT TUESDAY NIGHT...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN HAS ISSUED
A WINTER STORM WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM TUESDAY TO
MIDNIGHT CDT TUESDAY NIGHT. THE SNOW ADVISORY IS NO LONGER IN
EFFECT.

SNOW IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER WEST CENTRAL AREAS OF MINNESOTA
THIS EVENING AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM ORGANIZES OVER NEBRASKA. AS
THE NIGHT PROGRESSES...THE SNOW WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE REST OF
CENTRAL MINNESOTA. THE SNOW MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES OVERNIGHT AND
TUESDAY ACROSS CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND DURING THE LATE MORNING
THROUGH EVENING HOURS ACROSS EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND PARTS OF
WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 INCHES OR MORE
ARE POSSIBLE IN THE WARNING AREAS.

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW...
SLEET...AND ICE ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO
POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.

Yes, you read this right.

So, in lieu of the preceding info
would you please pray that the storm will hold off at least until late morning?

Hubby & I have a semi-truck to unload in the morning. Yes!! Our building has arrived!
We have a very small window of time that the trucking company will allow us before they start charging us
for their downtime, and that could get really expensive. Thanks a bunch!