I Shouldn't Have To Write This

I really shouldn't.  They should know by now.  They have cleaned their room and other parts of the house hundreds of times.  I have told them and shown them how it is done.  And yet often when I go down to check, the room is not clean and they want to argue about what "clean" really means. Or worse.  Accuse me of adding more jobs onto their already inhumane number that I have already given them to do.

Toys pushed into a pile slightly under the bed instead of put away - Since when is that o.k.?

A bed that is supposedly made but instead looks like there are dead bodies hiding under the lumpy blankets - You know you need to pull up the sheets right?

So I did it.  And it is now hanging next to the job list.

You don't know what I expect?  Read the list.

Thank you

Annual Gross Halloween Dinner!

Skeleton meatloaf.  Gross yes?

This should go on pintrosity.  My earth worms didn't turn out as planned.

This year was slightly more edible than last!

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

Remember the post where I talked about my mean chickens?  Well it hasn't gotten better.  In fact it has gotten worse.  About half of my chickens have bald spots from being picked on and bullied.  And it is not just the ladies with beautiful plumage that are the ones inflicting the damage.  Some of the picked on ones are doing the same thing to some of the others.  I feel like they are reenacting Lord of the Flies in there.  They are so mean and it must stop!

I trolled around on some chicken forums and I found something that is supposed to solve this problem.  They are called Pinless Peepers.  Great name right?  They are pretty much blinders for the chickens that attach onto the nostrils.  The idea is that if they can't see what is directly in front of them, they will be less likely to pick on the others and pull out feathers.  In some respects since they can't see as well they lose their confidence to be the bully.

So this was the operation.  Scott took one of the bullied hens and put it in the run and made sure it wouldn't run back into the coop to hide.  I stood and watched to see who was the instigator in the attacks.  As soon as they started attacking I pulled them out of the run, wrapped her in a towel to keep her still, held her neck and Scott put on a peeper. So far we have four hens with peepers on.

According to everything I read, they are supposed to work really well.  However, as soon as Scott attached their new accessory and I put them back in the run,  they continued to harass some of the other chickens.  Today, I went out to check on them and not only did they continue to bully, they drew blood this time around. 

Look at that evil eye!

I really hope this works.  I feel bad putting these things on them, but this is getting out of hand.  If it doesn't work, we may have to thin our flock.

Chasey and the Ladies

 According to Chase's teacher, he is quite popular with the ladies in his class.  About a week after school started he came home with this little piece of paper with the phone number of a girl in his class named Merced.  I stuck it on our whiteboard and for several days after he came home from school he would beg and plead with me to call her and see if she could come over and play.  And the good mother that I am put it off and told him to just play with her at recess.  Can't you just play with the 8 kids that are your age around here?

That infatuation passed fairly quickly only to be replaced by another.  Several days ago I noticed that he was crafting by the fireplace.  He started to ask me our address and phone number as he was writing and cutting.  Once he was finished I went over to look at what he had done.  This is what I found.

The 2 little pieces of paper has bits of our address and phone number on them, all to be given to Masey, his new crush.

But seriously, can you blame the ladies?  He is pretty cute.

A Very Wet Saturday

Today, each boy had a soccer/football game to play.  It was a very wet Saturday.  Utah county doesn't believe in re-scheduling games.  Unless there is lightning, you play in whatever mother nature throws at you.

Chasey was the luckiest.  At his game, it just sprinkled on and off.  He came home mostly dry.  The other boys were not so lucky.  All three of them played in a steady rainfall for their entire game.  Scott snapped this picture of Owen after he was finished.

Bennett came home from his game sopping wet, took a shower and announced he had never felt so grateful for a hot shower before.

A few weeks ago Taylor was playing his soccer game and it dumped and dumped and dumped rain on them.  Then it started to hail - hard.  They referee and team all took shelter for about 15 minutes.  As soon as it stopped hailing they finished the game.  I didn't get a pix of Taylor, but one of my boys took a pix of the hail.  It was nuts that day! 

Happy Birthday Big O!

Our Owen turned 9 yesterday and with that came an entire day celebrating!

It started out with bacon and cinnamon streusal muffins for breakfast.  It was a muffin recipe I had not made before. Owen said they were "weird, but good."  I'm not sure what that means.

Breakfast was followed by lunch with Mom and Dad at Pizza Pie Cafe, which was then followed that afternoon by a party with yelling and active boys.

Pizza, cake, presents and candy later, all the boys were satisfied and happy as they went on their way home!

Owen 
- Loves sports
- Does not love taking piano
- Loves the early bird schedule
- Does not love wearing pants
- Loves playing with friends
- Does not love taking practice spelling tests with mom
- Loves being crafty
- Does not love tomatoes and mushrooms (he's no son of mine!)
- Loves knowing exactly what/when things are going to happen
- Does not love uncertainty
- Loves Legos
- Does not love his eczema and allergies
- Loves asking a lot of questions, especially "What if" ones
- Does not love vague answers to his questions
- Loves wearing sports apparel and his Nike shoes
- Does not love reading out loud
- Loves meat, meat and more meat
- Does not love putting on lotion after his shower
- Loves stonewalling when he doesn't want to do something
- Does not love putting his shoes and backpack away in his cubby
- Loves being very active

Pictures & Words

Yesterday, Owen opened up iphoto and was looking at old videos of himself.  After he had gone to bed,  I sat down at my computer and continued the trip down memory lane and looked through some of my old photos.  A lot of them made me laugh, some made me tear up and others made me shudder (Think Owen and his naughty toddler years.)  I stumbled upon these pictures taken in April of 2009.

I remember taking them, but I do not remember the story behind them.  Did they all just pile in my bed or did I put them there?  Were they singing a song?  What are they laughing about? What are they doing with their arms?

I don't remember.

I checked my blog to see if I had written about it.  Nope.  I even asked Taylor who has an amazing memory if he remembered.  Nope.

Even though it is impossible to record everything that happens in my family,  it just reminded me about the importance of 2 simple things.

Memories fade.  Quicker than we oftentimes think.

A simple picture and a few words are priceless.

The pictures don't have to be fantastic and perfectly edited (case in point).  The words don't have to be funny, eloquent or witty to be of great worth. 

I must remember.  Simplicity is very effective in getting things done that are important.

Oh, those curls he used to have.  How I loved them.

Ben Ben and his silliness.  It can't be beat.

I can't think about it too long.  This boy is a man now!

What can I say about my Chasey love? Keep it simple. Love. Love. Love.

The memory trip was fun, but now its time to get back to the present.  There is a fight I need to break up downstairs. :)