Picnics and Eggs and Everything - Oh My!

What an overwhelming weekend and week! Whew....

Some of what is going on here:

My house is completely destroyed and I am trying to take it back in small steps. I have told my family that it MUST be completely clean by the time I am 22 weeks along and that I am hiring a professional cleaning service to come out and do a "spring clean" [which will be $140 !!! but I just can't STAND the thought of bringing a newborn into this pig sty!]

I did 12 loads of laundry over the weekend [along with working all day Sunday and cooking 3 meals for 20 people to take to my brother and his family and a lady from our homeschool group that just had a baby who is still in the hospital - it is her 9th baby!]. And, believe it or not, I am *still* not completely caught up on laundry - I have 3 more loads to go!!!!

This past weekend was my last big "hurrah" - I am going into hibernation mode from here on out. No more volunteering, no more cooking for other families, etc, until this baby is here safe and sound. I had a significant BP spike last week [at 16 weeks - NOT good]. We had to double my meds, and now my BP is controlled again - but it is not a good sign for me to have to be doubling my meds already this early. I don't usually have any trouble till 30-32 weeks and I was expecting the same this time. Earlier problems are, obviously, more dangerous for the baby and for me. So, I'm done helping and volunteering until after baby is born!

I have 2 dozen eggs in an incubator on my dresser that should hatch some time Fri or Sat! That has been very exciting - we candled the eggs to see the chicks and it has been really thrilling for the kids. [and me LOL!] This has been the best homeschool project ever! We had 4 eggs that weren't fertile, but the other 24 are fertile and *growing*! I do hope at least a couple of the chicks hatch and survive. Now that our hens are actually laying eggs for us, it is even more exciting to have chickens! :) [Oh, and Monkey1 has finally decided that we CAN eat the boys that hatch LOL!]




Speaking of which - we got FOUR eggs yesterday - in one day! Our "Araucana" chicken, the one who lays green or blue eggs, laid her first egg yesterday - a really pretty greenish/turqoise one! It was very exciting. And fresh eggs *definitely* taste better than those yucky store bought ones - even the expensive organic ones I was buying!

We are loving the chickens!

The most fun we had all week was last Saturday at our Parish picnic! It was awesome with food, games, jumpy jumps for the kids, etc - it was a blast! You can see that below in these pics!

AND THERE WAS GREAT REJOICING!!!!

We have EGGS! TWO eggs in fact - two of our chickens finally started laying today!




We were so stinkin excited, I can't even convey it in words! LOL! There was much shrieking and laughing and happy Snoopy dancing all around!

We had truly started to wonder if these hens were eeeeevvvvveeeeerrrrr gonna lay some eggs, and now we have at least two hens that are laying. Thank goodness because at this point we have so much money and sweat equity invested in these crazy chickens that it would have been a profound tragedy never to get a single egg. :)

Ahhhh.... we will be having fresh cheese eggs for breakfast... the kids can hardly wait!

Television

So, a few weeks ago, Monkey3 destroyed our TV on purpose. Well, I don't think she knew she would destroy it, but she was definitely doing something she knew she should NOT do and it destroyed the TV. She got a spanking and she got grounded for a week [which is a long time when you are 4...]

But really, I think she did us all a favor. I had wanted to get rid of the TV for years [I never owned a TV in my adult life until I got married - the TV moved in with the husband ;) ]. My husband was a bit resistant to the idea [though at certain intervals he agreed with me...LOL!]. My children were completely resistant to the idea. Now, lest you get me wrong, we tightly controlled what the kids watched and the TV was only allowed on at certain times [like when I was getting the baby to sleep]. So, the kids weren't sitting around all day long watching TV or anything, but they WERE addicted to TV.

Now, since we've had no TV, several things have happened. First, I discovered that my 2yo/now 3yo will play quietly down stairs for half an hour while I get the baby to sleep for the price of a mere 3 M&Ms. [Yeah, go ahead and email me about how I'm giving her an eating disorder using food as a reward....] I have also discovered that when there is no TV, my son spends more time building with legos and more time designing space craft and weapons of mass destruction. [When asked recently what he wanted to be when he grows up he said he wants to design new weapons for the Army... sigh. WHERE did I go wrong? The real crux of the matter is that he'd be *excellent* at it too....] I have watched my oldest go from reading 2 books every day to often reading 3 or 4. She's read everything we have in the house [that she's allowed to read] several times at this point - and that is saying something. We are book nuts and I've been buying kids books for my children since before I HAD children LOL! More art work is being done [what on earth am I going to do with all that paper?!].

Monkey3, the little culpret in this tale, actually has not appeared to miss the TV at all...

ALL the kids behave better now that the TV is gone. They have a more positive attitude and they obey faster when there is no idiot box on.

So, from Mom's perspective, this has been a total win.

However, certain other people are really having a hard time with this.

My husband goes back and forth from "Yeah, not having TV has been really great" [he also sees the positive difference] to "But, how soon can we buy a new TV? You know prices are coming down in the Fall, we can buy one then...." He is also very concerned about what to do with the kids when/if I'm on bedrest with the pregnancy for weeks and weeks [which is our usual scenario, though I hold out hope for a miracle....] My answer is that they can do the same things they are doing right now.... this does not seem to satisfy him though. He feels it will be absolutely necessary to have TV if I go on bedrest....

My father however is the one who is having the hardest time with this. He seems to feel that I am withholding something as vital as food and affection from my children. Every time I see him he asks if we've bought a new TV yet. Now he is saying HE wants to buy the kids a TV and we keep telling him not too. [He is a wonderful, doting grandfather - so don't get me wrong!]. Last week he said to me "It is time to forgive Monkey3 and move on - it is time to replace that TV and stop holding it against her!" Which, of course, has nothing to do with why we haven't bought a new TV - we are just flat better off without it and Monkey3 understands this I believe - we are certainly not using it as an ongoing punishment or guilt trip for her!

So, I don't know how long we will be TV free nor how long I will manage to stem the tide of the men in my life who feel that TV is vital to our survival.... but for now, I am really, really enjoying being without it!

Why I Don't Read Elizabeth's Blog....

Elizabeth Foss is a very nice lady. I bought her book. I read it cover to cover.

Everyone I know - at least every Catholic mother I know - reads Elizabeth's blog. They have her on their blog roles. They rave about her brilliant posts. This week, many of my friends were excited about her wonderful post on linens - how to keep your linens 'just so' and neat tricks she has on folding and storing them and ... I don't know what all.

I didn't read the post. In fact, I avoid Elizabeth's blog pretty much no matter what. Not because I don't like her - I do. I think she's a really great lady and a fantastic mom. But because... I really can't relate to her. I read her book, and I didn't find it useful, for the same reason. People I love rave about her book and say it is the best homeschooling book ever. Maybe it is.

But you see, Elizabeth and I live on separate planets. Our realities are so far apart that I really can't relate to her plane of existence.

I mean really. Elizabeth Foss is perfect. I bet if you went to her house and knocked on her front door at 4pm on a Friday afternoon - totally unannounced - she would open the door and invite you in. She'd probably even offer you tea. Her beautiful, immaculate children would all have on clean, nice clothes [even her 3 year old]. There would be no dirty dishes in her sink and you would have a good idea that you would feel comfortable eating off her floor if the need truly arose [which it wouldn't because I bet Elizabeth would offer you some beautiful china to eat off of].

If you knock on my door at 4pm on a Friday afternoon, I probably will not answer. I will gag the children and make them be silent and pretend we aren't home. If the 3yo actually gets to the door before I catch her and answers it, then don't count on me inviting you in. Of course, you will forget why you came in your shock over the fact that the 3yo that just answered the door is stark naked and has a belly that is covered with purple marker. And, if you peer in behind her, you will probably see her 5yo sister, who is covered in mud, colored chalk, and grass stains. You won't know that I actually bathed both children that morning. You wouldn't guess that they started out in clean, lovely clothes and that this is the 5yo's THIRD outfit that she's stained up and ruined for the day.

If the 3yo makes a break for it, you might get a glimpse into my home while I run down the street chasing her naked booty. You will catch your breath at the toys strewn around, the dishes in the sink, and the sticky, muddy foot printed floor. [You would definitely, not in your worst nightmares, want to eat off that floor....]

Once I return, breathless, pregnant and embarrassed, dragging the protesting naked 3yo behind me, I will be further humiliated to realize you have glimpsed my pig sty. I will think to myself "Well, at least they didn't see UPSTAIRS" where you would have probably exclaimed out loud at the mounds of laundry everywhere - you would wonder how one woman could possibly get THAT behind on her laundry. You would not feel the least little urge to check my linen closet to see what cool and nifty ideas I had for storing all my lovely, perfectly folded linens.... because really, in our family we are just happy if there ARE clean linens around when we need them....

Probably nobody critical to Elizabeth's happiness and well being goes crazy on a periodic basis. I bet she never has to worry if her kids would have a place to live or food to eat. I don't think she has to work outside the home other than her writing around her children's schedule. Most likely she doesn't have to worry too much about what would become of them if she dies in the next..oh, 6 months or so. Probably she isn't responsible for the care of anyone that she loves dearly who has chronic health problems... Probably she hasn't suffered from debilitating kidney stones and surgery and single parenthood and betrayal and reconciliation and an unexpected scary pregnancy attendant with killer "morning" sickness all in the last six months..... Does she get debilitating morning sickness [all day sickness] with each baby? Somehow I can't imagine her throwing up all day while screaming at her children to please, please, for the sake of their mother's sanity, PLEASE let her sleep on the couch for just 10 minutes or she will die....

And, on my better days, I take comfort in that fact. I am happy if she has not had to deal with these things, and I sincerely hope that none of those things ever touch her beautiful life. The world is a better place because there are lovely people like her - with lives unmarred for the most part by tragedy and .... messiness.

On my worse days though, I find myself absolutely depressed to read about her life. Her life seems so wonderful in every way... and part of me thinks "Well, even if she DID have all these other things on her plate, I bet she'd handle it with such Grace you'd never know it. Why can't I do that?"

And then I just want to cry.

Because I can't do that. What I can do, at least for right here and right now, is provide good, healthy, nutritious food for my children. A good education, provided with love if not always with perfect patience. A roof over their heads and clean clothes to wear [they start clean anyway...]. I can promise them a home filled with strong Catholic faith and a sincere and powerful love of the Lord. And I can promise them that I will do my dead level best to hold things together as best I can, to give them the best home I can provide for them under the circumstances that we have.... I can promise to keep loving their father till death do us part, no matter what, and I can promise to love them like they were the most precious thing in the universe... because they are.

I can't read Elizabeth's blog. It is just too much of a glimpse into an alien universe for me, and I find myself falling into despair and the sin of outright covetousness.

But hey, for those out there who live in *my* universe - where nothing is EVER perfect and children are often naked - at least I hope you can take comfort in coming here to my "place" and reading about the good, and the bad, and the really, really messy.

Happy Birthday Monkey3!!!

Today Monkey3 turned 5!!!

I think she had a really good day. She picked Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast!

Then things really started this morning with us bringing cupcakes for her to share with her preschool class:



Later on there were presents! Again, her Granny and Grumpy gave her a $100 gift certificate to Amazon.com too, and she also had a blast shopping! She got everything she wanted and all the packages came in yesterday and today, so the timing couldn't have been better.




Our family got one big gift as a combined gift for both Monkey4 and Monkey3 - a HUGE Sandbox. That came in the mail today too, but they decided it made a better coffin... LOL!



Her choice for dinner was Chinese food [yummy!].



The day ended with cake and prayers. [yeah, I know, we have tons of cake and leftover cupcakes going into the trash tonight, but it didn't seem fair not to let her have her own cake too!]



Monkey3 is a *FORCE* of personality! She is full of fire and sweetness - an odd mix that DOES sometimes burn those around her! LOL! She is extremely energetic, but LOVES to help, so if you harness that energy for good, you are set. If she decides to use that energy for evil...well, watch out world!

She's a little work horse though - she will carry her own body weight, patiently fold clothes, unload and load a dishwasher... I mean, she's a hard working little thing!

She's very, very smart and she gets frustrated when people don't let her help or assume she can't do something [betcha she CAN!]. She is a tiny little thing - she weighs less than any of the kids except the baby! She always has been a teeny little girl, but she's got such a HUGE personality that you might not even notice. She is also strong as a little Ox.

She has a contageous positive attitude most of the time and she's just so full of spunk that you have to just laugh and adore her. And she's so stinkin tough - gosh, she amazes me. If SHE cries about something, you KNOW there is something wrong - she can take the hardest knocks and not even blink. And she's brave [you may remember the bull riding post from a month or so ago.... LOL!].

Happy Birthday Monkey3! I just adore you and you have made the world a better place since the moment you arrived! I love watching you grow and learn and I know there is NOTHING in this world you can't do if you set your mind to it! Praise God for you little one!

Happy Birthday Monkey4!!!!

Today was Monkey4's third birthday! I think she had a fabulous day! She wanted McDonald's for breakfast and Domino's pizza for dinner... She also got a BUNCH of presents from the mail man today. Her Granny and Grumpy gave her a $100 gift certificate to Amazon.com and she ordered everything her little heart desired - and it all came today in the mail! It was SO fun!






I can't believe she's already 3! She was our little "preemie" baby, the one we weren't sure would survive because I started having problems and complications at *22* weeks gestation! But God is so good, and our little preemie has grown up to be such a big, strong girl!

She is truly a delight - *Delightful* is JUST the right word for her. She is sweet and funny, but definitely stands up for herself. She is interesting, intensely curious, and just amazing to watch. She has a scientist's mind and a loving mother's heart. She has the funniest faces - she can make 100 different expressions with her little face and she just cracks us up. You never have to wonder how she's feeling!

She still says "Mo!" when she means "No!" [If we ever meet Mo, he's getting his rear end kicked LOL!]. We introduced Monkey5 to her as "her baby" and still today, 15 months later, Monkey5 is *her* baby [she'll tell you so emphatically if you ask!]. She is very gentle and kind with the baby and really cares for her. There has never been any sibling rivalry between those two - Monkey4 has *always* adored her baby and taken good care of her! [Even if her baby has a certain BITING problem right now...]

Happy Birthday Monkey4! I'm so happy to be your Mama and so glad the Good Lord sent you to us all! What a gift you are - there is no other person on earth like you! :)

I Need a Spiritual Kick in the Rear!

Anybody feel like giving me a spiritual kick in the behind?

I am SO off track. I am feeling a strong call these last few days to get my spiritual life back on track, I can *feel* Jesus calling me to straighten up! But I feel sort of powerless to get back in line.

What do you guys do spiritually each day?

I guess we sort of "pray" frequently, but it is becoming rote. I do a short morning prayer and offering on my own privately, and before school the kids and I pray together and do a litany of our Saints. We [obviously] pray before meals, and we pray any time we pass a cemetary for the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for ambulance drivers, fire fighters and the people they are helping any time we see or hear them go by. We have family prayers in the evening where each child has their own prayer to say [we say the "Our Father" together and then each child who is verbal starts one of these and we all join in: Hail Mary, Oh My Jesus, St. Michael the Archangel, and "May the Souls of the Faithful Departed..."]. I offer up prayers for those who have asked for us to pray - it ends up being mostly prayers for healing. I also offer up prayers of thanksgiving for the blessings in our life.

And that's it. It feels all very "habitual" and rote.

I used to read the Bible every single day, and I keep trying to get back in the habit and can't seem to. I used to pray the Rosary every day and now I almost never pray it. I used to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy daily, and I *really* want to continue that but I keep forgetting [I consider that my main "extra" devotion - the Divine Mercy]. I used to go to Eucharistic Adoration at least once a week - and now I seldom make it. I am finding it impossible to commit to an hour like I used to because of all the weirdness and chaos with our family and lack of childcare ... but I miss it terribly.

I want to get to daily Mass at least a few times a week, and I just rarely manage it.

I'm *very* upset with myself because I messed up my Divine Mercy Novena this year - after day 3 I just totally forgot to do it until it was almost over. I am so frustrated! I really REALLY wanted to complete it this year [an indulgence would be so welcome just in case things go badly with the birth]. And I totally threw away my chance and all the Grace that comes with it. I could strangle my own stupid self. :(

I have a good and holy priest who is willing to give me spiritual direction, but he is some distance from me and, again, child care is an issue. I can't seem to get to him... and I *need* his guidance.

I want to spend more time in "personal" prayer with Jesus - just talking to Him and trying to listen.

I also am very interested in developing a devotion towards the Souls in Purgatory and learning how to pray for them frequently and offer up things for their benefit. I don't even know how to begin...

Do you guys have any suggestions for me? Have any of you overcome really crazy, chaotic lives to develop a deep spirituality? Any tips or suggestions?

Thank you!

Little Spotty!!!

Well, mystery solved! Monkey5 has Roseola. Her fever broke last night and she broke out in terrible spots all over her body. Last night she couldn't sleep for frantically scratching - they must itch like the Devil!

We suspected Roseola [all the kids have had this as babies/toddlers] but I am relieved to know what caused the fever and that it is relatively harmless [even if really miserable and uncomfortable!].

So hopefully in a day or two the spots will be gone and we will have our normal, sweet Monkey5 back!

Thank you all for the prayers!



[Monkey5 says "Arghhhh! My head itches mama!"]

Day Four for Fever Baby....

Well, poor Monkey5 is still running a fever between 103-104.2 non stop. Another trip to the Ped yesterday and they still have no idea what is wrong with her. She's completely miserable though, poor thing! This is all she wants to do today:



The other kids got to go to a really fun birthday party today - a "come as your favorite space creature" party. We have a variety of aliens pictured below, and a robot on the end even though her silver face make up didn't show in the picture:



Sick baby and I are marooned at home while they are off having fun!

In other news, I have 28 potential baby chickens on my dresser in an incubator right now:



I ordered 12 maran [chocolate egg layers] & Ameraucana [green egg layers]hatching eggs off ebay, and 10 black australorps too [temporary insanity maybe? LOL!]. They arrived this week - ALL of them are perfect, and both sellers sent extras so I have *28* eggs to hatch!!! I was expecting half of them to not even make it through the mail....[that's what everyone said to expect when ordering off eBay...!]

Guess I'll be giving some chickens away if I get more than half of these things to hatch... of course, this is our first time trying, so we may not even get one... we will see!

How exciting though!

Prayer Request for Monkey5

Monkey5 [15 mos old] is really sick right now. If you guys have a prayer to spare, please send one up for her. I feel silly asking, because I'm sure it isn't something serious, but she is soooo miserable.

She started with a runny nose and just being really, really fussy last Friday. Silly me, I thought it was the pollen [our pollen count is INSANE right now, but the Ped told me yesterday that babies don't get problems with pollen until they are about 3]. Well, she kept going with the miserable runny nose and no other symptoms until yesterday when she spiked a pretty high fever.

I took her to the Ped yesterday when the fever appeared, but there is nothing wrong - no bad ears, no strep throat, no cough to indicate pneumonia or anything at all. The doc said she thinks its just viral, but wants me to bring her back in tomorrow if she's still got a fever.

The poor thing has not slept since mid week last week and it is getting worse instead of better -which also means I haven't slept either. I don't think I've slept one entire hour at a time since last Thursday... and last night I didn't sleep one entire 10 minutes at a time all night. :(

She wants to be held 24/7 and nursed - and that's what she's *requiring* of me [and I do understand]. At this point I'm having a hard time though, because I'm just so *worn down*. [Nothing like being pregnant and not allowed to sleep for a week]. And I'm worried about my other kids at this point because she is taking up literally 110% of my time and the other poor kiddos are basically on their own right now. :(

I'm getting that panicky "at the end of my rope" feeling at this point and I'm also getting really worried about what is causing the fever. Her snotty nose is practically gone this morning - yet the fever is still very high. What is going on with my poor baby?!

So, if you have a prayer to spare, could you send one up for Monkey5 and her family?

NFP

WARNING: If you are not Catholic, you can probably skip this post. It will seem bizarre and confusing to you. :)

...OK, maybe I have time for one little rant today. LOL!

Recently I was kicked off a Catholic mother's list I had participated in for years because I dared to disagree with CCLI - I feel that their claims of 99% accuracy with correct use of their methods are not..um...right. [To date, I have found NO clinical trial of any sort that backs up this anecdotal claim...anyone got one to share with me?]. I also disagreed with the WAY they promote NFP - as "Catholic birth control", not as something to be used according to Church teaching - only for serious and grave reasons. My disagreement with CCL's statistics and methods was equated with *disagreeing with Church teaching* on this email list [by the list owner] and I was kicked off. Wow.

I've been kicked out of a Catholic Bible study before for being "too Catholic" [and daring to defend Confession as necessary and artificial contraception as wrong....] but nobody, ever, anywhere, has ever accused me of disagreeing with Church teaching.

I was amazed.

Then, this week, our Archdiocesan Newspaper ran a two page spread on NFP. The article they ran frankly made my stomach turn.

A little background here, my husband and I taught Pre-Cana classes for the Archdiocese for 7 years, and we were both frustrated that we were basically only *allowed* to teach NFP as "catholic birth control" and we were not allowed to mention things like being open to life and the fact that the Church teaches that using NFP is only OK when there are "serious and grave reasons" to avoid a pregnancy.... we couldn't even really talk about Children always being a gift from God. While we *adored* the women who ran the program, we felt frustrated because the fullness of Church teaching was not being covered...

In addition, my husband and I also went through the teacher training for CCLI to become NFP instructors for our Archdiocese - and finally quit working on our "certification" in disgust at the "closed to life" attitude we encountered with CCLI, among other problems with the organization. So, I DO know that of which I speak....

Here is the article that ran this week:

"With NFP, Couples Discover Deeper Partnership"

Boy, did this article bother me. I can't decide if I should send in a letter or not, because of our personal connection with this Archdiocesan ministry - I would not like to hurt the feelings of the women who run this program.

BUT...

I am really irritated right now.

In this article, they interviewed 3 different couples who teach NFP around the Archdiocese. They made a *big* deal about how 2 of the 3 couples only had 2 children - and one couple has 4 but they made a HUGE deal of the fact that they were all "planned". One of the couples was actually quoted as saying "We used NFP to postpone childbearing when we were first married. We wanted to travel, get financially secure, and just spend time enjoying each other before we had children" - and then it says "They have been married for 9 years and have 2 children".

Also there were comments like "While 'some couples are called' to have a large family, she said, it is not a correct assumption about couples using NFP".

NO WHERE in this entire article - huge 2 page spread - did it even *mention* Church teaching on being open to life. Or the fact that NFP should only be used for "serious or grave" reasons. NO WHERE. Nor did it mention what a blessing children are, or what a gift.

Oh, but they did go on and on about how it was 99% effective. [**cough cough**]

In addition, one of the teaching husbands is quoted as saying "'Like everything else in life, you have to have self-discipline,' he said. 'Many times we’re not talking about a huge window—just a couple of days.'"

REALLY? What the heck method are they using? Since a woman's body can harbor sperm for up to 5 days before she ovulates and she can STILL conceive from relations 5 days earlier - I don't see how that is remotely possible using *any* method. The most accurate method in the world [using that new ovulation predictor thingy] is still going to require a week or so of abstinence. And that ONLY applies to people with those text book perfect 28 day cycles with extremely clear signs of ovulation. For *most* women who have some variation, the required abstinence is more than a week.... at least that has been my experience with myself and the women I know who have used it.

[Of course, among the women I know personally who have used it, almost all of us have at least one "oops" baby who was conceived while using NFP... so that also makes me doubt the 99% accurate claims].

I'm trying not to totally froth at the mouth about this - I am trying to tell myself that they are trying to reach the contraceptors and that NFP, even used incorrectly, is certainly better than artificial birth control. But I just feel so annoyed about this article. NFP is definitely being taught as "Catholic birth control" with this kind of junk, and Church teaching is being completely lost.

Couples are NOT being called to view children as a gift from God or to be open to God's Will or open to life. Not once in the whole spread do they mention *praying* or *discerning* God's will regarding another child - it is just presented as something the couple does when THEY see it as convenient for whatever stupid reason [they are done traveling for the time being I guess... ugh].

And I won't even get started on the implication in the article that babies who *weren't* planned by their parents are somehow lesser or unwelcome, or the implication that if you use NFP correctly you won't *have* any unplanned babies... Some of God's greatest gifts are things WE don't plan for.

How about an article about couples who actually *trust God* and actually follow Church teaching and leave their fertility totally in God's hands [if they have no grave reasons to avoid pregnancy]? After all, God is a whole lot smarter than we are ... and He DOES provide.... why can't we provide some role models like that in our Paper?!!

Anyway, I am so sorry for the vent... but gosh. This just drives me nuts.

[Re-reading this, I realize I need to temper this - I DO understand that God and the Church are not calling us to churn out endless babies one after another regardless of anyone's health or ability to care for them, like some cosmic puppy mill. There are *many* reasons that are "serious" reasons to avoid another pregnancy, and those reasons are perfectly licit and good reasons to avoid another baby. So, please don't misunderstand me there. But true Church teaching on this matter was not covered at all in this article IMO....]

Ketchup?!!!

Ugh - I'm behind on everything right now!

We've been busy putting windows in our chicken house [those hens better start laying soon or I'm gonna have me some YUMMY chicken and dumplings - I have a great recipe LOL!].



We have purchased 24 eggs and an incubator. Yes, maybe I am insane after all. ;) I had this $50 gift certificate left from my birthday [does anyone else ever do that? Like, get cool gift certificates for special occasions and then never have the time to spend them? I've actually had them expire I'm so bad about this....]. The kids wanted to hatch eggs. I thought "wow, that would be so fun. It even counts as homeschool". So, off we went to the feed store to buy a little incubator and there I went to eBay to buy some eggs. We shall see if nary an egg actually hatches...but we'll have fun trying!



We had quite the argument about what to do with any roosters that hatch from our eggs. [Cause you know, with eggs, you don't know what you are getting....]. I made the innocent comment that we could actually, um, eat them. My son was all on board with that "yeah mommy, I bet our own home grown chickens would taste GREAT! And with the way grocery prices keep going up, I think that's a really good idea!". [Yes, this is my son, no doubt about it LOL!] At that point, Monkey1 began *screeching* [yep, screeching!] that we were NOT going to eat the chickens we raised, that if we tried to eat one she would never touch chicken meat again in her life... etc etc etc. Peta would have been really proud of her. Maybe I should buy her a membership. LOL!

So, no idea what we will do with the extra roosters. [Can we stealth eat them? LOL!]

My email provider is being insane and I can receive email, I can read email, but I cannot SEND email half the time. I can post from the web to Yahoo groups - but answering private email is becoming quite the challenge. And I have so much else going on I don't even have time to call them to complain!

My work has become interesting as well - I teach Lamaze at a local hospital, a job I've loved since I started 9 years ago. But recently an "executive decision" was made that we would move to using "Powerpoint" presentations for the childbirth class [ I know, I know... how weird is that?!]. But hey, these people pay me good money to do what they say and my kids need me to have this job, so I am giving it my best shot. And Powerpoint isn't so bad... except that we are *plagued* with technical difficulties. I haven't taught a class yet [in 3 months now!] that hasn't been interrupted by some stupid techinical problem. It is NOT professional, and not how I like to present... so, my job is becoming actually amazingly stressful now, which is just so weird...

I have so many posts I want to post - so many things I'm thinking about right now... but I never seem to have time. Maybe I'll get a rant or two up this week regardless!

Hope you all are doing well and having a great week!

Our New Hens

Well, last Sunday my sister and husband took the kids to exchange their roosters while I was working. The kids [and my sister and my husband!] all had a blast. They picked 3 new hens.

Here is Monkey3 with her hen, "Midnight", who is a black australorp. She doesn't look very pretty in this picture, but in real life she's very shiny black with purple and green highlights - very lovely bird!



Here is Monkey4 with her hen, "Orange" [or maybe Yellow, Ducky, or Purple, it keeps changing LOL!]. This hen is actually a "rescue" hen from a factory farm. She is half white Leghorn and half Rhode Island Red I believe.... she spent the first 9 months in a 12in by 12in cage laying eggs furiously. For the past 3 months she's lived with our farmer friend. [They usually kill the hens at 9 months when they pass peak laying time, but they allowed him to adopt her instead of killing her]. She is a very sweet, very friendly chicken and a very good layer. I was surprised how sweet she is - you'd think she'd be mean having to live like that, but she's really people friendly. Like she's so grateful to be out of the cage she just adores you! She's about a year old so this will probably be her last year laying much.



Here is Monkey2, "The Boy", with his chicken. He fell in love with this little bantam chicken named "Little Mama" [she came with the name but he liked it and kept it]. She's kind of a strange looking little bird [she is full grown - this is as big as she will get], but she's friendly and fun to watch. He *adores* her. She lays tiny little eggs!



Of course, none of the hens are laying now. We have some sort of problem, because all 3 of the new hens have been laying fine at the farm, and now they aren't laying for us. We expected a few days of not laying since they had the stress of the move, but now its almost a week later...somebody should have laid an egg by now!

We think we may have one of two problems - not enough light in the hen house, or else our crazy lab mix dog is stressing the hens out because he is constantly at the hen house looking for a way in to get another chicken... the rascal. We are looking in to fencing or something to keep him away from the hens... wish us luck.

We are enjoying the chickens like crazy, but truly - I'd love to have AN EGG after all this work LOL!