Rocket

It was windy, as per always here, and during the first launch the rocket blew and got stuck in a tree but Taylor climbed up and got it down so we could shoot it one more time. Lots of fun! (this was in like April, not today)

Harvey Farm

It's official...one year in the making and we finally have our chickens!
















I could write a totally separate blog just about our chickens. If I had an extra 30 minutes every day, which is turns out I'm usually a couple hours short. So I will spare all the details and give a brief synopsis.

Taylor built an awesome coup. Because we're like that and tend to go over the top. He designed it, bought wood and built it. The boys and I stained it, at 1 pm in 95+ degree weather. It was lovely. And Taylor was finishing the roof and hardware cloth the day the hens came...he was up until 1 am out there working. He does a lot of projects in the dark...building the tramp, planting a pear tree, mowing the lawn.

4 hens came 2 weeks ago from our neighbors. The kids love them, named them very original names Chick (Matthias'), Feather (James'), Hannah (Hannah's), Molly (ours). I'm not kidding, Hannah named her chicken Hannah and we call her that.

Feather found a hole in the fence 2 days later, pecked into our only neighbors yard, got chased and mauled by a giant dog, rescued by me and Matthias. I gave her a shot. In the leg. Me, a shot. To a chicken. This is blogged in great detail in my journal. It was traumatizing and very dramatic.

Bought 3 baby chicks from our neighbors. The kids marched over $3 in each little hand and picked out their little ones. Which we are hoping all turn out to be hens. They are all very cute and pretty. These ones are named Riley (James'), Luke (Matthias'), and Cocoa (Hannah's). These are the boys best friends and Hannah picked that name out like a month ago and stuck with it. The kids LOVE the little chicks and will play with them for hours. Once I asked James if he wanted to read with me and he said "No, I want to play with the chicks." He then laid under the swing set for like 20 minutes with Cocoa (she's the favorite).

Matthias is the little chicken man and can catch and hold the chickens like you wouldn't believe. He has no timidness or fear of them and just loves to be with them, hens or chicks. He makes up all kinds of games and just follows them around. He had Cooca sitting on his shoulder the other day when I went out, little pirate Matt. He's hilarious.

Yesterday I got a little Welsummer chick. When we decided to get chickens I started looking and decided I had to have one of these, they are beautiful and lay really dark brown eggs. She is super cute and very needy. The other chickens haven't accepted her into the flock yet so she gets pecked at a lot. The 3 little chicks got a lot of pecking done to them last weekend, but are pretty much left alone now except by Feather who is the meanest (probably because of her injuries).

And that's the short story.

Big Girl

We decided if we start treating her like a big girl maybe she will stop acting like a baby...ie crying in sacrament mtg, throwing food, general whining. We are very optimistic. So I whipped her up those awesome sheets from some fabric I had laying around and she was ready to go. And she is a great little sleeper in her big girl bed. Stayed in all night and didn't get up until after 7. She even claimed this morning that she fell out, bonked her head, and got back in. Love this little girl!

James Kindergarten Graduation

James did it, he completed kindergarten. In Texas they make a big deal with graduating from kindergarten and what not. We were happy to go to the ceremony and see our little guy with all his friends. Each grade only has 30 students, 15 morning and 15 afternoon so it was a small group.

We really loved Star Charter and are excited to see him go there next year. His best friend, Riley, will be going to another school so hopefully we will be able to stay in touch. He has a 4 year old brother, Luke, and I love his mom. We've been getting together weekly for the last several months so we hope to continue that with them. James and Riley are in a picture together above and you can see Luke in the background.

James did great and is really taking off reading. We're so proud of our big kid! He was super hilarious when he walked across the stage and then just hung out at the end behind the plant and hung on the stair rail while all the other kids walked. Taylor and I were laughing!

Father and Sons' Campout 2011

The boys went with Taylor to camp out and had a blast! They were the only ones to catch fish...because they ran around catching crickets for bait. That night it rained a ton and their tent blew over and got rained in so all the sleeping bags and gear got soaked. Then Taylor got soaked saving it and Matthias got soaked too so they packed up and got home at 9:30. They had a lot fun fishing though. The boys were really disappointed. And so was I...my quiet night of reading was shattered. But it was okay and the next morning we all went out to breakfast so it was okay.

Hannah and I also had a great night together, playing games, doing puzzles, yummy dinner and ice cream, and watching a "Cary movie!" at Hannah's request. (*scary)

Racket Guitars & Haunted Houses

What my boys do for fun and entertainment. James is obsessed with tennis right now. They made the haunted house from all my sewing scraps. Love these kids!

Houston Temple

Went out for a baby blessing and stopped at the temple along the way.