Acrosic Poem by Paislee

P lay's the piano
A wesome
I s very funny
S ometimes she's shy
L ove acts like her middle name
E xtremly cute
E xpert at making babies laugh

J ane is her middle name
A lways looking for a friend
N ever gets the bad grades
E xcellent at singing

S mells like nothing (I think this one is hilarious)
M akes pictures of friends
I t's hard to get her to stop talking (her and her 3 siblings)
T ithing is easy for her (love, LOVE, this)
H as a good responsibility for her chickens

age ten: fourth grade!

I found this sitting on my desk one afternoon, it was something she had put together. I love the confidence she displays, the truth she speaks, and how well she knows herself. I'm so proud of her and all she does!

A Chicken or Four

Our children love animals. They have always wanted more pets, and we haven't allowed it. I feel like we have enough "animals" in our house already and didn't want another cat or dog in the mix. I've always thought that chickens would be a fun outdoor, contributing pet to have. After much deliberation between Jake and I and many, many pleadings by Paislee we decided to get some chicks. This little lady is Grant's. Her name is Tobasco Sauce, we call her Basco for short. Grant is convinced that it is a he chicken, Roosters are illegal in the City of Meridian, so no boys, or fertilized eggs for us.
So far they are a success, even without them laying eggs yet! The kids love to check on their chicks, if they disappear for any amount of time I always finding them hanging out by the brooder in the garage. Before we get in the van to go anywhere, they check on the chicks first. Paislee makes sure they have food, water, and clean bedding to sleep in.

They are finally old enough to go into a coop (you have to wait until they have all of their feathers, or are about 6 weeks old). So we took them outside, one by one, to see how they liked the outdoors. It was a success. Trying to catch them in the brooder is fun, but tricky. Put them outside on the grass and they go so quiet and still.

They don't peck at the kids. They let them pet them, I think they may actually have enjoyed it. The yellow hens are Orpingtons and the colored ones are Ameraucanas.

Parker's chicken is named Butterscotch.

As you can see they are very protective of their chicks, below is Ella's, Caramel.

They are finally sturdy enough to allow the kids to hold them. I worried for the first few weeks that Grant would squeeze them to death, he didn't, but I still worried.

Grant is "kissing" Paislee's chicken, Vanilla, below. I never thought chickens were a kissable type of animal, apparently Grant does.

So in a few more months we will be collecting fresh, organic, blue, green, and brown eggs from our sweet little hens!

That is what happens when a chicken isn't so sure a 3 year old boy should be trusted with it's life!

Under My Feet

Last summer at a yard sale I picked up that black stool. It's purpose was to sit in the guest bathroom to help the kids wash their hands rather than standing on the toilet seat to do so. It now can consistently be found in random places in the kitchen, usually right where I am walking so I can trip over it. Parker pushes it around like it's a walking aid and then randomly stops and climbs on top of it.

If I'm in the kitchen cooking, Grant places it right next to me, so he can "help". This is where he had strategically placed it the other night. Parker thought it made an excellent seat and just sat there happily, swinging her feet, watching me cook.

Grant realized the wisdom in this and joined her, it was too sweet not to capture.

Love these two, even under my feet.

Bountiful Baskets

Last year, on Facebook, I saw a lot of my Eastern Idaho and Utah family and friends talking about Bountiful Baskets. Then after wondering much about it my Mom gave me the low-down. For a $15 contribution you received 6 different types of fruit and 6 different types of vegetables. And they were in abundance. Tricky part was, we could only have Bountiful Baskets in the Treasure Valley if someone volunteered in an area that already had it and brought it here. And I assumed it would be a blessing we wouldn't have here, ever. Then in August I saw a friend post that a Bountiful Basket site had opened in Middleton. I made my contribution the next Monday and participated the next Saturday and was hooked. On Saturday mornings I would get up at 5am, get ready for the day, drive 20 mintues to Middleton, volunteer for an hour to help the site coordinator there, and drive 20 minutes home with my box of produce. I was a happy girl, and in the first month alone lost 9 lbs! Then a friend suggested we start a site in Meridian. I thought about it, debated about it, talked to Jake about it, and then decided, I was already spending 1 1/2 hours every Saturday morning doing it, why not. I knew a lot of people who would LOVE to participate as well.

And so this is where you will find me on Saturday mornings, volunteering with a bunch of fantastic people. Unloading a semi with 6,000 lbs of produce and various other goodies, bread, tortillas, cases of produce, cookies, to name a few. Distributing all of the produce in 192 white plastic baskets. And watching 96 very happy families pick up their produce for the week. It's been such a great experience for my entire family. I have made some fun new friends and run into many old acquaintances. My children have learned how to contribute to their community and the value of hard work.

And our basket is better than Christmas morning. You never know what you are going to get and the possibilities are endless! This weeks basket contained:

1) pineapple

1) cantaloupe

1) lb strawberries

1) pint blueberries

6) bananas

1) head romaine lettuce

8) red potatoes

1) tomato on the vine (3 tomatoes)

3) broccoli crowns

1) lb green beans

2) jicama

2) cucumbers

How About Some Cheese with that Whine?

You wouldn't guess it looking at these pictures, but this little girl has turned into one clingy baby. I can barely put her down, she won't go to anyone else. It's very sweet that she loves her Mommy, but some days I wish she were more independent or I had two more arms!
She's got some personality to boot. She knows what she wants, and has no problem communicating it to us. She also likes to have her picture taken!

These are some of the cheesiest grins I have ever seen. Once she caught on to what I was doing the grins became sillier and sillier.

Fourteen months old, climbing like a monkey, and not walking. She can stand there and dance, bounce, and squat, but refuses to take one step on her own. She walks on her knees, it's the funniest thing. She can also crawl faster than the speed of light! I'm hoping that once she figures out walking, gains some independance, that the whining diminishes. A mother can dream right?

In the mean time, we'll just enjoy every single second we have left of babyhood!

Our Hillbilly Pimp

Our little guy went in for dental surgery Friday morning, and was so brave. When his teeth came in we noticed that the one to the left of his front teeth was split in the middle. Apparently this isn't very common, especially on the top. We were also told that the chances of the permanent tooth coming in that way is very unlikely. However because of the split it was very susceptible to bacteria and cavities and had to be extracted. He also inherited some bad genes from me, my parents and his Grammy that makes him prone to cavities. (I'm explaining this so that you will all know that yes, we do brush this kids teeth, no we do not neglect his hygiene, and his sisters have healthy teeth).
Here he is the night of surgery, he recovered quickly and is back to his mischievious ways!

This is one very relaxed little boy after the "giggling medicine" he was given. He couldn't form a complete sentence at all, had the most dreamy expression on his face, and occasionally would giggle at us with big eyes. "Giggling medicine" would be handy to have in the house on those days that he just won't stop talking!
Happy before the surgery.

Super Grant in his super cape.

His little i.d. band with stickers on it. The nurses were wonderful, they made him feel very comfortable and treated him like a prince.

They allow you to bring special toys/blankets in with you and he brought his well loved Puppy and his favorite green blanket. The turquoise bear he picked out for being so brave, he named him Heart. Heart and Puppy, Grant calls them as he sees them!

They took him back in his bed with wheels and a big smile on his face. An hour and a half later I was taken back and found a very sad, upset, screaming little boy. He wanted his I.V. out, he wanted the heart monitor off of his big toe, and he wanted the nurses to get out of the room. He eventually calmed down after they removed the hoses and we were wheeled out of the hospital by a very old volunteer. Poor guy, I think he ran us into every door jamb between the surgical floor and our car!

Two great things from this, Grant's teeth are fixed, and I ran into my best friend from elementary school. We haven't seen each other since we were sophomores in high school and she switched schools. I've wondered where she was over the years, tried to find her through facebook, and finally found her on the 2nd floor at St. Lukes. It was wonderful to see her face again!