Gardens, Dogs, Homeschool Conferences and Dead Chicks

Wow, we've had an eventful few days! I'm tired just thinking about it!

My awesome hubby built us two "Square Foot Gardening" raised beds. My friend Megan gave me the idea, and we are really excited about it. So, we took the big trip to Home Depot and got tomato plants, squash plants, pepper plants and seeds for carrots, green beans, and cucumbers. We spent a few hours planting the garden and getting it all ready - the kids were *so* excited. It looked very nice too when we were done:





We let the dogs out in the back yard while we were still out there so we could watch them - they sniffed the new beds, but then went about their business. We thought we were "good". Within an hour of us going back inside though, Tyr, the boy dog [the one I like - or liked LOL!], dug up the entire bed - each little square he completely destroyed. EXCEPT for the tomatoes because we had tomato cages over those that made it hard for him to dig. So, he and I had the "NO! Bad dog!" conversation and I thought he got the idea. [He is allowed to dig *anywhere* else in the back yard and he does so it isn't like we are being mean here....]. The next morning the kids and I cleaned up the bed and Monkey3 replanted it very carefully. A few hours later, the dog had dug the entire thing up and I caught him at it and gave him a VERY stern reprimand.... only to have him dig the whole thing up again a few hours later. We've given up at this point [guess we'll just have tomatoes this year] but the kids are so sad and so am I - not to mention how much money in plants and seeds he just wasted for us AND the hours my husband spent building these beds for him to "dig up". *sigh*

On Saturday DH and I got the chance to go to a local Catholic Homeschool Conference and it was AWESOME! It was really inspiring and really helpful and just FUN! My parents came to babysit all day and it was so nice - we had a blast and so did my parents and the kids. :) It was *really* nice to have some time alone with DH too!

Then we came home to find one of our new chicks dead. One of the blue andalusian chicks had died, but I felt really it was a blessing because it was messed up from the start and couldn't walk. I really felt like the chick saved me the trouble of having to put it down myself [which I appreciated :) ]. The kids were very upset about it, but they are going to have to learn to deal with stuff like this if we are going to raise chickens. [They did insist on a proper funeral though LOL!]

The other 11 chicks are doing just great and growing strong. The brown leghorn chicks are just adorable. Here is Monkey1 holding one:



Yesterday I got to *receive the Eucharist*! Which sounds so silly, but for months now my 3 youngest children have been so awful in Mass that I ended up taking them out to the van and making them sit strapped into their carseats until their dad and older bro and sister were finished with Mass. This week they all behaved *beautifully* and it was SUCH a blessing - a wonderful Mass!

Then we came home and helped DH get ready for his trip. He's going out of state this week to Microsoft's Tech Ed for work. He will be back late Friday night - so gone for almost 5 nights. It is a great opportunity for him [his work is sending him there - the first actual training they've given him in the almost 4 years he's worked there!]. But we will miss him a lot. The kids are really upset about it. I think partially just because this is the first time we've been away from him since he left last fall - I think they know that daddy is coming home and this is just a work thing, but part of them is still anxious about it. Which I totally understand - I'm not really happy to have him gone either, even though I know he is very stable and doing great now.

So, say a prayer for me to get through the week with my 5 depressed children all on my own! LOL!

Hope you had a great weekend too!

Kelly