We went to a skydiving simulator!

The big surprise from Grandpa and Grandma was a flight in the skydiving simulator in Perris!! Oh wow! The kids just about freaked out when we pulled up. I have to admit right now, I did not go. I took pictures. But everyone else did! Even Dan. I thought for sure that Tom would chicken out but he ended up being so excited about it thsat he wants to go skydiving for real. :( When we got there they all had a training session and then suited up. They go in the wind tunnel with a helper. The fan goes on and they try to balance on the wind. It was amazing to watch. The kids loved it. The guides were awesome. They went in and did tricks. They looked like they were flying.

Afterwards, we went to Grandpa and Grandma's house and had lunch and played for a while. It was a great day and a Christmas we will all never forget. I'll have more pictures soon. My camera died and I was using my phone for a while. Then I used Melissa's camera.

Is it odd?

I don't remember writing my last post? Must have been before the second cup of coffee! Well, I grumbled all day about having to find clothes to wear and then went and found something decent and I actually like the shoes. Dan found a nice black suit at Penney's and it was on sale. It was a blessing because we were just about to head down to the city but decided to stop just in case. I didn't see anything there yesterday, but I guess I missed it. So we are all set. But I'm still not happy about having to go.

I made cookies today and we ate them all! Ha! We had left over Mexican food that my Mom had brought this past weekend, for dinner. Yay! And my dog is whining at me to throw her ball but won't bring it to me.

I played Halo with Tom and Jake and they kept killing me. I had two kills and they got 15 each! I hate that game. I can't even move around or aim, dammit! If we were playing Tetris or Boomblox I would so kick their butts!

I wanna go to bed!

What happened?!

My son told me yesterday that it was only 10 days until Christmas. Crap! So we put up the tree. I guess I should start some Christmas shopping. I was praying that Santa would arrive, but I have a feeling that he relies on us parents.

Tomorrow is Dan's company Christmas party. We dread this every year, but this year is worse. His boss said it was "formal". So I've been searching all week for something to wear but to no avail. Suckage. I'm thinking I'll just wear the jeans and shirt I've been painting in for the last week, and my ratty camo converse. What do you think? ;) Maybe next year they won't make us come?

Back to the Blog!

You see, I have a problem with silly games on Facebook and things like it. I tend to play them to death and I can't stop. I forsake all other things that aren't completely necessary and play. So I have to quit. I'm in the process of selling all my stuff on Farmville and I'm putting it away. Maybe I'll pick it up again later.

Well, it SNOWed today! Wow! Is that cool or what? How could we know that moving to the desert would bring us snow our first winter here?! Actually, we did know that it does snow out here from time to time, so we have been waiting for it. I didn't think we would get any this year since last year there was tons of snow just before we moved here. I was sitting at the table (actually) getting something done and some big raindrops caught my eye. I stopped and watched and sure enough SNOW! I yelled and everyone came running out. It was big fat wet snow at first and it melted the second it hit the wet sand. It was kinda like we were imagining it because we couldn't look at it directly. Then it got heavier and heavier. It built up on the cars first and the kids were making snow balls and throwing them at me! About an hour later the ground was covered with white. Snow is much quieter than rain. :))

What else is going on? We spent the whole weekend working on getting the new house painted inside. We didn't get nearly done, so we will be over there working later this week. Jake got sick on Friday and is still not up to snuff, but at least he isn't throwing up. We picked out colors for the kids' rooms today and brought home a little potted Christmas tree, a "pinus penea". We love the scientific names for plants! Especially the "pinus" variety. Hilarity abounds at the mention of the name.

Here are some pictures of the snow!

So much to do...

And I'm knitting, so I can't do it! Ha!! I'm obsessing with the sock knitting right now. :)) I did put it down long enough to attend a talk given by Dr. Shannon Brooks yesterday. Wow. I'm so inspired. I heard Oliver DeMille speak about 6 years ago and really dove into the Thomas Jefferson Education Model. I got discouraged though and fell away until recently. I didn't drop the idea completely, I just relaxed a bit on educating myself for awhile. The reason was that I felt overwhelmed with what is going on around me. Not just my family, but out in the world. What could I do that would affect anything out there? It was pointless. But I felt compelled to hear Dr. Brooks speak and I forced myself to go.

There I was, surrounded by strangers without even my children to protect me! The meeting was filled with retired people and a few families. The discussion was wonderful. Of course I bought a few new books. But the one thing that really lit my fire was this. He was talking about the cycle of civilisations and when you look at it, we are obviously on the track from complacency to bondage. You can't go backwards, which I have heard over and over again. That is what bothered me. Well, then why bother trying to make things better? BUT, if we educate ourselves and our children in the principles of liberty and encourage others to do the same, we can speed up and lesson the effects of the bondage stage. We can have enough people in our country that understand history, economics, humanity, enough to get the cycle through bondage and on to liberty and abundance quickly and then stay there for a longer amount of time. It was very good to hear.

We are in the middle of history right here folks. These will be times that we tell our grandchildren about. But what will be the circumstances that we will be telling them in? Will it be under tyranny? How will we explain to them what happened? Or will it be on our way to abundance? Filled with spiritual strength and courage to fight for liberty.

READ! Study! Learn for yourself what our history is and find out how you can become a greater person so that your children will be inspired to do the same.

George Wythe University
Face to Face with Greatness
Thomas Jefferson Education Consortium

Back to Old Dale!

Ahh...it was finally cool enough to spend the day at our favorite camping spot. This is the first time we have camped out there since we moved to Yucca Valley. It was kinda weird only having to drive an hour to get there instead of three or four. :))

We got there after dark on Friday, played with fire awhile, ate dinner, and went to bed. We are early risers out there and no one sleeps in when you are all in the same room.

Saturday was filled with adventure. After spending a good hour teasing Tom about eating all the donuts before he got out of bed, Dan and Jake decided to go for a hunt. Tom got out of bed quickly then and they were off. A cup of coffee later, I went for a look see up to our "family monument" at the top of the hill. No one has been there, but I expected that. It has been too hot to be walking around the lower desert like that. Nikki stayed behind and gathered her thoughts. While I was on the hill I met up with the boys and we worked our way back to camp.

Snacks! Or what we call "Second Breakfast". The boys fought and played with the rockets a while. I started reading "The Lonesome Gods" to the whole family and they were riveted. I ready four chapters!

After lunch we went on a long walk to try and get to the base of the hills in the west. We found a baby horned toad! Jake said his new boots were hurting, so Nikki went back with him. Dan and Tom and I made it! We found the camp where we saw some campfires the night before. There was junk everywhere. Dan and Tom had a shooting contest. Tom is an awesome shot with the pellet gun. He nailed both shots.

That night we made a big fire after dinner and read by the fire some more. Lots of fun was had singing disgusting songs and cracking rude jokes until Dan could take it no more. The boys played with lighting things on fire for a long time and then we hit the hay.

Sunday I searched and searched for our rabbit grave but still couldn't find it. I was very disappointed. I was telling Dan that next time we do that I will have to make a better grave marker with something "unnatural" so I can find it easier. Then I went for another walk and found it! I did make a better grave last time! I had totally forgotten about it. Last time we dug it up, I had a hard time finding the pile of rocks, so I made a bigger pile when we covered it up and put a piece of cut wood in the middle of it so that I would be sure when I saw it.

Digging that grave up was SO fun. We kept finding all these bones and bits of fur. Tom found one piece of the skull a few feet away from the grave on the ground, so something must have gotten to some of last time. It was white from the sun. We kept trying to figure out what things were and how they went together. I kept thinking out loud, "Can you imagine trying to figure out how these bones went together if you didn't know what kind of animal it was?" "What if we just found this pile of bones and it was a thousand years old instead of a year?" It was fun playing archaeologist for the morning. We kept the bones and this week we are going to look it up online and see if we can't identify some of the pieces. :)

We came home around noon on Sunday. It was a nice trip and we look forward to going out again. I don't know why I love it out there, but I do. Something about the solitude I guess. You would think that living out here would diminish the effect of camping out there, but it doesn't. It is still a special place. I just love it.

Playing Catch Up

Do you know this game of "Catch Up"? It goes like this. Sit around and do nothing for days complaining that you don't want to. Have a holiday. Sleep a day. And then wake up on a Monday morning and realize all the things that HAVE to be done now. :)) That is what I did yesterday. What fun! Actually, it was fun to be done with all my chores, but I was tired when I went to bed. I still have a pretty long list to get done today, but it is getting shorter.

Halloween was a blast here! We ended up going to Poppy's house for the evening. We were going to go to the little fair in town, but Jake was just too sad about not trick or treating. I called my Grandpa and he was happy to have us over. We stopped at a "most sincere" pumpkin patch on the way down and got some love pumpkins to carve. When we arrived at Poppy's house he was decorating the front porch with spooky lights. We made pizza and carved pumpkins and then the kids went out to the neighborhood with Dad. Poppy and I manned the front porch and gave out candy to the kids. It was great. We didn't get home until after 10 and Jake informed me that it was the best Halloween ever.

Sunday wasn't so fun. I think we were all suffering from sugar withdrawal. Jake said he hates the day after the holiday. "The day sneaks up on you, it's the big day, and then by the time you are ready for it, it is over." I totally understand. We did nothing all day.

And now it is Tuesday! Yay! What to do?

Public Option

Ok, I'm going to talk politics AND education tonight, so get ready. I have this going around in my head and I want to write it down so that I can expand on it and maybe get your thoughts.

Public Schools are the "public option" for education, just like this "public option" thing for health care. How do you think they are doing? Does anyone think that the public schools are doing a great job for the amount of money they are getting from you? A private school education runs about $4000 a year here in California, more or less depending on the school district. How many people can afford that? Not many as you can see by the attendance at those schools. Only the very rich or those that make serious sacrafices can send their kids to private schools. The rest have to go to that "public option". It isn't free though, contrary to popular belief. We pay for it in taxes and about $5000 to $7000 a year goes to each child that attends there. Now, if I were paying $7000 for my child to attend a school, you bet I would be very attentive and making sure that I was getting my money's worth. If I wasn't, I would be taking my money elsewhere. But the "public option" makes it look like it doesn't cost me anything and I can't take my money elsewhere since I have to attend the public school where I live.

What is my point? Do you really want the government to do to healthcare what everyone agrees they have done to the public school system? Do we really think that the government (as it stands today) can do a better/more efficient job of ANYTHING? The only thing it will do is create a public school type healthcare. Over priced, we won't care since we aren't paying for it. We can't go to another doctor or hospital because this is the one we are assigned to where we live and all doctors are good just like all the schools are good, right? No sense in you leaving your district to get better services elsewhere. And the real good doctors, well only the very rich and those that make serious sacrifices are going to be able to afford that. Just like the government officials don't send their kids to the local public school, they won't be using the public hospital either.

Let's think about this seriously and rationally before we run off and sign up for something that can't possibly work. I know healthcare isn't what it could be, but I don't think the government can make it any better than it is.

The Goats

The night before last I was up all night (as was most of the neighborhood) listening to the goats yell. I have no idea what their problem was. I tried feeding them but they didn't want to eat. I sat out there with them and petted them. I couldn't get them to be quiet. This was not typical. Typical is hearing them yell a couple times a night. Maybe a dog is walking through the yard or they hear something that wakes them up. And then they get up very early, like just at the first rays of sunlight. I would feed them and they quiet down while they eat, but then they start up again. As soon as the sun is fully up, they stop. Crazy animals.

Anyway, I've been considering giving up on them and this was the last straw. I put an add on Craigslist to see what would happen and someone answered within the hour. She had 20 acres over near Banning and a couple does and a whethered male. They keep the brush back from the house for fire safety. They wanted to increase the herd and saw my ad. I talked to the kids (mine, not the goats) and they said they didn't mind. They don't play with them at all, except to show friends, and the money they would get for them helped ease the pain. :))

So she came and got them. That was fun! Trying to get them in the back of the pickup was funny. We should have video taped it and sent it into America's Funniest. We got one on a leash and dragged him to the truck, but then had to lift him in because he would not go up the ramp. Then the other one went under the truck to escape! Dan grabbed him and put him in the truck though. That was much easier than dragging. They were happy when they got in though. She had some hay in the cage and they immediately started munching away. Crazy things.

I slept good last night thinking about not being woken up my bleating at 5AM. Dan was working late and when he came to bed he woke me up making goat noises. Oh he thinks he is so funny! I loved the chance to have them. They were fun to watch play. Maybe at the new place we can make a cool pen big enough to make some goats happy. I'm sure we will get chickens though!

OH! Below are some pictures of the rock climbing we did at Indian Cove on Thursday. We met some friends there and had a great time. I even did some scrambling as well. The boys were adorable helping me. They went ahead and found a path they thought I could use. I started to get offended, but then realized they were just being nice. I did show them a thing or two though! I'm not that old and feeble. I'm sure we will go there again. I had fun and I'm still sore from all the jumping.

STEP 10 Science Fair

Wow what a great day we had yesterday! I woke up with a miserable headache (as I did this morning as well, ouch) and I had to cancel our bird walk that we had planned on going to. Nikki and I were going to go, not the boys. It involves being quiet and getting up early and that combo was not going to happen. I was going through my email and saw my reminder for the STEP science fair thing. I totally forgot about it! It wasn't until one so I hoped my headache would go away before that and it did.

We jumped in the truck around 10:30am because I wanted to stop at Michael's on the way down. I broke my candy thermometer! And we got El Pollo Loco for lunch (since we don't have one here in town). It was such a gorgeous sight driving over the little pass to the 10 freeway. The sky was a gorgeous blue and it was really windy. Big puffy clouds attempting to make their way over the mountains and into our desert. I had to take pictures!

When we got there, they had us all sit in an auditorium to wait for a show. We were early, but as the room filled it got louder and louder. And then the MC came in to entertain until show time. It got really loud then. Nothing like a room full of 10 year old kids screaming. Jake looked like he was going to cry. Nikki was not amused. And Tom was laying on the floor with his ears covered. He said he did that so that the people around him might think he was hurting and stop the screaming, but it didn't work. They didn't notice. He was disgusted. He said if he were shot in the head and laying there bleeding, they would still be screaming for a frisbee to be thrown at them! Then he was mad because the guy didn't call on him to talk on the microphone (and he had a great answer) or ask him a question at the end. Funny, he said it reminded him of Kindergarten, "They never called on me either, maybe because I was holding his hand up quietly and actually had an answer and wasn't standing up trying to knock everyone down to get the teachers attention". The show was interesting and the kids all found it very cool. Then we went to the exhibits!

On the way in we saw our friend James! Crazy! He was with his school. Jake was mad because they wouldn't let him come and talk to him. They were in line to get in and schools have to keep all their kids together. I tried to explain. Nikki was not as enthusiastic about the event. She got bored after a bit. But there was one guy there that had an electric guitar, a Gibson, oooo. She played with it a bit and then he showed her how they make the knobs that change the pitch and volume. It was pretty neat, to me anyway.

The boys had fun checking out the exhibits. They collected only the swag that they found interesting. They played with magnets, and flight simulators, goo, and paper airplanes. We spent some time talking to a man who showed the boys a small airplane that can actually fly. He was a Vietnam Vet so we had a very interesting conversation there. We also found an astronomy group that meets out here in Landers. We're going to go check it out this weekend. We all got to look at the sun through a telescope. Cool.

Afterwards, we went to find a pay phone, since my phone was at home as usual. It is always either dead or at home. I need to buy a car charger! We finally did and called Grandpa and Grandma and surprised them by coming to visit. We had pizza and talked for awhile and the kids attempted to drive them crazy. And then we headed home.

It was a wonderful day. One of the kind that reminds me why we don't do school in so many ways. I love my kids! I love having them around all the time and exploring and finding all the cool stuff there is in this world. I love being there and learning right along side of them. They make me brave enough to ask the questions I never would have if I were alone.

A story by Jake

PANCAKE
From PANCAKE studios.

Thats right, Happy Happy Teddy bear is back. And with more terrorists.

Happy Happy Teddy Bear was in his lair when he thought he should go murder some Humans. But then he remembered that there were bounty hunters after him. But he thought,what the heck? He got outside and found out that there were people outside. Two had an egg shaped head and two others had rabies, but didn't really look like it. Happy was out numbered but NOT out matched. But then he found out they were not after him. They wanted too join him!! He soon found out their names. They were Uncle Huevos, the egg; Aunt Rancheros, the other egg; Uncle Rabies, the one who had rabies; and Aunt Malaria, the other one who had rabies. They all got their weapons and they went to the town hall and threatened the mayor that they would destroy all the pancake factories within 421,452,643,473 miles of this area or give them all his gaurd's weapons.

“Whatever,” the mayor said. “Destroy them. I don’t care. I’m allergic to pancakes anyway.” “Instead we'll nuke the hole planet!! MUHAHAHAHAHA *coughs* I'm getting too old for that.” Happy got in his space ship and nuked the hole planet and flew away with Uncle Huevos and every body else to the planet of PANCAKE studios.

THE END.

Brought to you by PANCAKE studios.

49 Palms Oasis Hike

We rock!! We are trying to make it a Monday habit to go on a hike and today we went to 49 Palms. We've been there before, but it was hot then so I thought it would be easier now since it was cloudy and cool. But it was hard because we are in such bad shape. It is 350 feet up one side and 300 down the other, 3 miles round trip. It was worth it though. I promised the kids Burger King and shakes if we made it to the oasis and back. I almost died getting back. Seriously. Nikki kept making weird jokes about everything being Jon Bonham all the way back and then pulled way ahead of all of us. She was in the "just keep swimming" mode. Jake and I lagged way behind. It took us three hours to complete with plenty of rests. Next time I'll bring snacks!

Good Weekend

Friday didn't turn out so well. Tom woke up with a nasty sounding cough and said his guts hurt, so I called my friend and cancelled our zoo trip. So sad. We'll try again to go this week. He felt much better by the afternoon and on Saturday he was fine. Weird.

Saturday my Dad and Step-Mom came out to visit. We showed them the new house we are going to buy. Yes, I said "we ARE going to buy"! They accepted our offer. Yay! Now we have some inspections to get and a loan and we are moving...again. This will be our permanant home, I think. I love it. The next time we go out there, I'll take pictures and post them.

Sunday we went to my cousin's baby's first birthday party. She is so cute! It was in Yucaipa and Google Maps took me the long way through Glen Oaks to get there. I swear between the GPS and Google Maps, I'd be better off guessing where things are lately!

Today, I woke up to the smell of rain. It is cloudy, so I slept in. My room faces East, so usually the bright sun will wake me up first light, but the clouds hid it today and I got a bit extra! The goats did too. They didn't start making all their racket until after 7 this morning.

I have to go to the grocery store and things like that today, but I'm hoping on going for a hike too. Maybe 49 Palms Oasis?

We're going to the zoo today...

We're going to the zoo! There's a song from one of the kids' CD when they were little that goes like that and we still sing it every time anyone says anything about a zoo. I'm up early to get ready to go by 7:45. I know! But I want to see the animals moving around and not all sleeping, so we have to get there early. We are going to The Living Desert with some friends today. I love the place. :)

Yesterday, we went to look at a house that we have put an offer on. We've seen it before DAD!! but we took the kids this time and we took our time, checking everything out. The place is awesome. Big porches, nice living room with a wood burning fireplace, 5 acres, gardens, two houses, lots of trees, plants, and cactus. It is perfect! We talked to some of the neighbors and the area seems so nice. Very cool people. I'm excited. I hope we hear from them soon! Anna, Jim, and the kids came out to show the house for us and then we all went out to lunch. Life is good.

Well, I'm off. I have to get into the shower and then start getting these kids to move. Nikki will not be happy to be moving before 8am. Sorry, but we have to get their early or it won't be any fun!! Maybe I can bribe them all with candy?

7AM and all is well!!

We went to the library to return our books on time! Yay! We aren't done with "Rifles for Watie" and I was hoping they would let me renew it if they saw the boys and the bookmark, but they wouldn't. We'll have to check it out again in a few weeks. Jake wanted another book about the Civil War. "Not a book about it, but a story with real stuff in it." he says. We found a book called "Bull Run". He ran off with it and looked through it. He came back and told me that it must be from the Confederate point of view because the first pages are talking about Jefferson Davis as a good guy. Now seriously, what 7 year old would know that, other than a homeschooler?!

Tom got "Bridge to Terebithia" because he remembered that Nikki read it and liked it. He said he didn't like the movie much but maybe the book will be better.

Nikki got two books, a biography about John Lennon and some beatnik book. She wants to know more about these beatnik types. And she is already halfway through the John Lennon book. Too bad she has to start her online school again next week. I have been impressed with how much she has accomplished in music since she was on a break. She has started private lessons to go along with her group ones this week. It is fun to listen to them talk about music and show off what they know (and don't). :)

The Day of 2s.

I slept in a bit today, only about 30 minutes, but still! The goat house is still standing. The morning routine has gone as usual, so far. I put the flannel sheets on the beds yesterday. That is the earliest I have ever done that. Man, I love living out here.

Yesterday I took all the kids on a hike at Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. Nikki said she couldn't stop imagining cutting up Big Morongo Canyon and putting it in a jar. Jake didn't want to go but I made him anyway. Bad Mommy! He doesn't want to go anywhere lately. He isn't doing anything and if we all go out he is bored stiff alone here with Grandma, but he still doesn't want to go. And the stranger part is that he always has a good time when we do go. It isn't like he is dragging around not having any fun. There were tons of bees everywhere and it was 65 degrees out. Warm in the sun and really cool in the shade. Perfect.

We made cookies and played a game called "Buy It Right". The neighbor boys came over and played with us. If I ever wonder if I'm doing something wrong by not teaching math from a textbook, smack me. This boy is 12 and doesn't even see the difference between a one and twenty dollar bill. And he can't roll the dice and make up the smallest or largest amount. Crazy. Part of it is attitude. I think he plays dumber than he is because of school, but still. If that were completely it, you would think he would want to play just a bit smarter than the 9 and 7 year old in the room. My boys felt sorry for him and were at least nice about it. Tom let him win. ;)

Tom wanted to have a fire last night, so we spent half an hour trying to light it with his tinder box. To be fair, he is very short on char cloth, so it didn't end well. We made a valiant effort though and it was fun. We ended up using out last match. It was a nice fire and we all sat in the front yard watching the boys roast twinkies. Yes, I said twinkies. Life is good.

I'm off to get the goats their breakfast!

OMG It's 41 degrees!!

I guess Fall has started. ;) It isn't windy this morning, yay! I had the worst dream about trying to escape terrorists. They killed my daughter and then I was forced to marry him. I felt like I was on the edge of death for a year. Just crazy. I guess quacamole, wheat thins, coke, and cinnamon bread is not a good dinner.

I fixed the goat house yesterday! I made some modifications and used deck screws, so I thought it might hold up better. They were standing on it last night and this morning it is still standing.

The dogs got in a huge fight yesterday evening while I was feeding the goats and I had to pour a bucket of water on them to separate them. Of course, that means that I had to bathe them afterwards since they were wet and covered with dirt. And it was cold! Whiskey is still a little sore after that one. Kiara is such a spaz! She has always been a nervous dog and quick to get upset, bark, and nip if people are yelling and running (especially the adults). When we play with the kids or chase after them and wrestle, she gets upset. But now that we have Whiskey, it is her fault and she gets it full force. Kiara goes nuts and the only way to get her to let go of Whiskey is to squirt her with the spray bottle (she hates any amount of wet). We were outside near the goat pen, so the only water I had was the goats bucket. They got soaked, but Kiara was still trying to get at her. Poor puppy. Mean old lady dog.

We found a really neat house that we are going to put an offer for. Be sure to pray that we are doing the right thing. It is an awesome house. Ann (MIL) would have her own house on the same property! Thanks for an awesome friend for helping us with this place.

Well, off to get some breakfast and start this day. I hoping to do something fun. Maybe go for a hike or something.

Good Morning World!

The only bummer about writing here early in the morning is that I can't type worth a hill of beans! Yikes!

Tom said his birthday party was the best birthday ever and gave me several big hugs last night. So I guess it was a success. ;) I had fun too. I love having people over. It is rather sick really. If I could get all my friends and family to come out every weekend, I would. That is why I used to host the playgroup at my house when the boys were little. It was a blast.

Burgers and hot dogs, soda and chips, it doesn't get better than that. It was a full day of kids running around playing and grownups sitting around eating and talking. Tom and Jake loved having their friends visit and Nikki liked having so many people to harass with her stories. The presents were great. My cousin brought his dirt bike and quad over for us and they are now in the garage awaiting a ride today. The boys are beside themselves.

It is windy! It was windy yesterday, but as it started to get dark it really picked up. I actually have all the windows closed. And I had to put on my jacket to go feed the animals this morning, crazy! It was about 75 degrees yesterday and today it is only supposed to get to 60. Desert weather. And it is so dry. I feel like I need to bathe in oil!

AND Anna got Dan and Ann in to see a house Dan was curious about. It looks promising. I hope we get it because they are so nervous about getting into a house soon.

Party Day!

Yesterday I spent cleaning and shopping. This morning will be spent cleaning and cooking. :)

I can't believe that Tom is already 9 years old. Half way to 18! He is so tall now and a real sweetheart when he wants to be. ;) Grandma Ann got him a bow and arrows yesterday for his birthday and he was playing with it all afternoon in the front yard. Jake likes it too. They won't let me have a turn though, except once. I guess I'll have to get one of my own. I caught them trying to shoot a rabbit yesterday and told them that I would make them eat it if they killed anything. They stopped.

I'm looking forward to seeing some of my friends and family today. I should be a good time. I bet you can't wait to see the pictures!

Early Friday Morning

It is 6:20AM, and today I have decided to write on my blog instead of play solitaire! :)) I might as well use this time wisely.

Yesterday, the boys and I built a house for the goats. That was our major accomplishment of the day. I made Jake go to Home Depot with Tom and I. He is addicted to the computer (as am I) and misses out on all the fun. He told me he was happy he came. We were singing crazy in the truck on the way to the feed store and at Home Depot we played on the lumber cart, much to the chagrin of several employees. One tried to help us get lumber on the cart. I know he was trying to be nice, but the boys were doing fine and they were so proud showing how strong they were. And then one woman decided it was her duty to interrupt me telling the boys they could ride but not climb the cart. She was telling them they would break their heads on the concrete because it was a "different kind". Ok... I was trying to check out and they were playing monkey bars. I tried twice to finish my sentence to them and then gave up and waiting, rolling my eyes at the boys. I'm so bad. When she was done and went back to my order, I told them to sit or stand, but do not climb because it makes it very hard to hold the cart still. The stood the rest of the time.

It took us about two hours to build the house. Tom has seriously inherited my stubborn streak. He worked on sawing with an old rusty handsaw that I had said probably wouldn't work well. I just did something else and told him to tell me when he needed help. I suggested moving the wood lower so he could get above it, but he said it was fine at he shoulder height. We did end up moving it but it didn't help. Tom suggested that I use the circular saw. He knew where the one with a blade was and found an extension cord. I asked him to hold the end of the wood, but that wasn't working because he was holding his ears. Jake held the first one but then lost interest in the project and went inside. I had to break down and ask Dad for help with the saw because I couldn't change the blade depth and it kept loosening up on me.

So we got the legs cut! Cut the plywood top to size and started nailing things together. The goats and dogs were curious to know what we were up to. I did have to stop to run and get Whiskey from next door. She ran out to chase a squirrel and was next door trying to intimidate a dog four times her size.

The nailing got to be fun. Jake got one nail in and then gave up on it. Tom worked on three or four. Then his arm was tired. I did the rest. He told me I should use screws. I know! But I like hammering nails! We dragged the pieces out to the goat pen and started putting it all together. It looks so nice. Tom brought me a glass of water. Dan finished the gate so that we could pen them in. It is much sturdier than the house.

It does look nice. This morning I didn't wake up to the goats head butting the back door. I woke up to them head butting their house! They moved it half way across them pen and then were trying to jump up and stand on it. It is sloped and slick so they would slide off. I guess that was fun because they kept doing it. Crazy animals.

Well, it is light out now, so I'm going out to feed them. Bye!