Thanksgiving

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house again this year and we even talked Jessie and Nate into driving down from North Carolina to join us!  

I hardly got any pictures but I did capture this, 

Jed and his meat tornado! 

 We smoked 4 different types/cuts of meat!  Delicious! 

The night was kind of a blur, there were a ton of people in our tiny upstairs living room/dining room area and most of them were under the age of 10!  

 Jon texted me these.  

I'm glad he and Isla had a good time! :) Currently he's in the number one cousin spot, she let him hold her and even smiled for him, unprecedented behavior right there! 

The rest of the weekend looked a lot like this, 

 Children frolicking in our yard, delightful! 

Hanging out by the pond and fire pit, although we did that more in the evenings than during the day. 

Nate spent Friday morning sculpting his beard into something more fitting for our country location.   

We managed to squeeze in some black Friday shopping, where my husband purchased a pair of these beauties.  

Jessie talked me into doing my nails with Jamberry strips!  

I baked lots o' cookies.  

And these two solidified their best friend status, with chest bumping, snack sharing and mischief plotting. 

It was a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend!  

Naughty

We put up a gate at first for her own safety but as it turns out she's actually quite adept at climbing the stairs.

So we took down the gate and began the "don't go downstairs without mommy" training.  

She's been, resistant.  :)  

Blatantly so at times. 

More deceptive at others.  She thinks if she's low enough to the ground, where the stairs cover her eyes and she can't see me then I can't see her. Not so sweet girl, not so.  

  

Wish us luck on this venture. 

We Bought A Tractor

Jed spent most of the afternoon Sunday cutting down weeds that were taller than me.  He is one happy man!  

Freak Accident

One week ago today, we returned home from the store, Evan jumped out of the van to open the gate to our property and while pushing it open the lock swung around and clocked him in the head.  

At first as I watched the horror unfold I thought my son had simply given himself a nice goose egg until I saw the crimson streak running down his face. 

He took off running to the house while Jed pulled the van into the driveway, I hopped out following Evan, heading to the bathroom to fulfill one of my many rolls as a mom, nurse.  

Grisly.  I cleaned it and tried to bandage it but even a butterfly wouldn't hold it together.  After conferring with Jamie and Joy, I headed off to Centra-Care with my two eldest.  

 We didn't wait as long I expected but every moment was another minute he had to think about the dreaded stitches he though he'd get.  

When the doc said, he'd glue it instead, Evan was delighted!  However I didn't think about the fact that that meant when they washed it and scrubbed the clots away that there wouldn't be any pain relief.  It was brutal but Evan handled it like a champ.  

Afterwards we went out for treats, he requested, candy and a powerade.  

Since We Bought This House

We've had a few snafus and I wanted to be sure to chronicle them so we can have a good laugh... one day.:) 

The pump for our well sprung a leak. A call to a repair man and a few hundred dollars later, we were back in business.  

One of the toilets ran continuously when the power was turned on and also leaked which caused damage to the ceiling below it. 

The microwave has only one button that works, the "add 30 seconds" button which is fortunate.  

The washer and dryer, which are kept right next to our kitchen without a door, were so loud we had to yell to hear each other over them.  We bought front loaders off craigslist but realized that by himself Jed couldn't get the washer up the stairs.  So we had to keep it down in the garage, with the hose in an old trash can so we could do laundry and someone had to babysit it so it wouldn't flood everywhere. 

The faucet on the kitchen sink, had extremely low pressure for some unexplained reason.   

A part to the dish washer fell off during a cycle. Jed was able to repair it until we're ready to buy a new one.  

The garbage disposal began flooding water under the sink, whenever the dishwasher runs.

None of the outdoor electrical sockets work.  

This one has nothing to do with the house just a bonus, I was at Aldi with the kids, one of them left a light on and when we left the van wouldn't start.  I got a jump from a kind stranger which got us home but since my van won't turn over.  

Oh and last but not least, we haven't been able to get the county to set up our trash pick up so we still have to shuttle all our trash to the old house and one of our neighbors stole our garbage can. Brilliant.

Thankfully, Jay and Joe came over to help move in the rest of the big stuff and the washer upstairs.  

We went from this, 

 To this,

They're gloriously quiet and use the tiniest amount of water which is awesome for our septic tank! 

Eventually we're going to move them over to one side and use the rest of the space as a pantry/closet. 

Jed also switched out the faucets on the kitchen sink so now I can fill the teapot in under 15 minutes! Plus he changed the garbage disposal, my van battery and the leaky toilet!  

Responsibility

Seth: "Having our own chicks is so much fun!"

Evan: "I know we finally have our very own responsibilities to take care of!" 

Seth: "I like to play with mine."  

Meet Our Flock

Our new property isn't fully fenced but about 1 1/2 acres around the house are. Within that are are two dilapidated pens.  One was definitely a chicken run with a few nesting boxes.  The other we're not sure.  

I decided to clear it, so we could use the posts and make a new chicken run in it. 

Under the weeds was a rusty old fence that needs to be removed.  Then we have to put up new fencing and put in a new coop.  We've got a ways to go but its a start. 

For the time being though, we have a brooding box and a run big enough for a few chickens so of course I picked up some chicks!  

These came from a local farm.  The owner said that he hatched eggs from a successful mating of his Araucanas.  He had a ton of chickens, many different breeds of hens and roosters and while he was talking told me that they do sometimes cross breed so who knows!  They do look like the pictures I've seen online though!  These guys are supposed to lay blue or greenish eggs.  Here's hoping!  

I believe this is a rooster.  We named him Crete and he techinically belongs to Ford. The other we named Thera, and she belongs to Kane.  I helped name them and we chose locations we're studying in history.  We learned that the Cretan civilization was destroyed when a volcano on an island 70 miles north, named Thera, erupted, causing a tidal wave and ash to destroy Crete.  Here's hoping that the boys remember something we learned this year! 

After we got Thera and Crete we went to our local feed store to buy food.  We had been to a few different feed stores recently that were all sold out of chicks for the winter so we were surprised to find them there.  

Even though I hadn't planned to buy anymore chickens when the kids were begging for them, I offered to let them buy one themselves.  Evan and Seth were the only ones with enough money so they each picked out their own.  

This is Evan's chick, Wisconsin, he's a Packer's fan, I just barely talked him out of naming her Green Bay.   She's a Rhode Island Red, which might make her given name confusing.    

And this is Peeps, Seth's chick.  She's a Black Sex Link.   It's not the prettiest bird but I've read that they are friendly and are consistent layers! 

The beginning of our flock!  

They're adjusting well.  The boys are learning lots, like that chickens can sort of fly!  So cool!  

And at last our dogs have something to herd, much to the chicks chagrin. :)

I can't wait to start getting some eggs!  Just a few months to go!