We are halfway through July already...time is flying ever faster.
Jubilee is in a bright pink cast. She broke her arm jumping off the couch while I was at Bible Study last Tuesday.Holding her arm for x-rays and feeling the bone shift was terrible.She didn't cry at all, never needed any pain meds. Just like Christian when he broke his leg.It is uncanny how stoic they are, and I see that they get it from me, but I am not sure I like that. If they hurt I want them to express it, and not feeling pain when your body is broken is not really a good thing.
We have been floating on the Illinois river twice so far, and will no doubt go again. It is a thrill to me, even with being stage 1(no rapids). The kids love it. Brian and I will likely be the old couple going every day after we are empty nesters lol.
Bella is doing good since the colic incident. Hans is recovering from a recluse bite.All the other animals are doing well. It is super hot, so chores are doubled, but it is peaceful.
I put dreads in for Emily and Anthony. They both look great, but I am not sure either will keep them. There is alot of maintenance the first year with dreads. Mine are still coming on well. Not pretty yet, but I am able to see that they will be!
I am printing out our first months worksheets. We are going to do a new schedule, and I am excited about it. This is shaping up to be our best year yet!
Sooo tired lately. I am waiting until Wednesday to take a pregnancy test. I am very hopeful that we will be further blessed. The children have been requesting from us and praying to God for a new baby. It makes my heart sing to know that they see babies as a blessing, and do not feel burdened by our large family.

We are chugging away at Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. The kids love it...always begging for a few more chapters. We are also doing a unit study on the 12 Olympians as we go. We have done a paper mache Mt. Olympus with little figures to put on it as we study each one.We are building a lapbook based on it.I am pleased with the improvement in handwriting as we do worksheets to go with the studies. We are also working multiplication tables like mad. It is clicking better with Trinity and Christian than it is with Gavin and Logan, but we are getting there.Schoolhouse Rocks has some great songs to help, so we did that this morning too.
It is HOT today. Getting to 90. I am thinking of heading to the beach, maybe after the library.We found a book that forgot to get returned...oops.

The chickens caught a snake, the kids chased the chickens to try to save it. Chickens won. Kids cried. Thank goodness for chocolate chip cookies at the picnic table to bring some cheer back. I was laughing the whole time. If it had been in black and white it would have been perfect old time humor.

Catch up

Neglect of blog...not the first time, surely won't be the last. I have added to other blogs I read and I really do want to update at least every few days. There is a much greater sense of connectedness.
Today was busy. Lol, what's new though,right? We are up to 32 chickens and have 2 guinea keets now too.That breaks down to 19 adult hens, 3 adult roosters, 7 teenage hens and 1 teenage rooster(who was banded as a pullet), 2 chicks(both banded as pullets, we will see.) The teenagers are otside now, in a special coop/run. The young ones(including the keets) are in the parrot cage in the playroom. We also got Bella. She is a 19 year old buckskin quarterhorse. Trinity and Christian got her as a joint birthday gift. She is sweet and perfect for these beginners! We also aqquired Zelda, a rose island boa. She is almost a foot longer than Copper and makes me very nervous. I have not held her yet, and am not entirely sure that I will. The kids do though, and Brian really likes her. She is beautiful. Maybe I will warm to her.
Haircut day for the boys, they look so clean and ready for summer. We went to the playground in town for homeschool pe day and everyone got filthy on the equipment. It was a fun dirty...the kind where they are all grimy and tired and satisfied. Then we dropped some dressers off at a church friends house, came home and started decluttering . I have reduced our "stuff" by at least 300 items this year. None of it is missed. It blows my mind how easy it is to end up cluttered and overwhelmed. I also have not been replacing it, so the house looks huge and empty and I LOVE it. The closets used to be overflowing...they are now half empty, but everyone still wears the same clothes. I got rid of the extras I always felt the need to have.
The broken down house next to us sold. The lady(I think her name is Donna) came by to tell me they moved in. We do not drive that way, so I had no idea anyone had bought it. She had her 9 year old son in the car...he did not get out but seemed really interested in all my boys :D . The boys were very excited at the prospect of a neighbor with a kid...we have never had anyone who could drop by, or walk over. I definately need to find out more, will be bringing some kind of baked yummy over soon. I hope this can be a friend for the kids.
The sun is going down...time to finish chores and get some more clothes sorted to donate.

We went hiking at Mohawk Park today after church. I was wearing Pip in the sling and fell down a flight of wooden trail stairs. My ankle cracked, I am 75% that I fractured it. The sling was our saving grace, Pip was fine. I will go to the VA tomorrow to get an xray...the guy on the nurseline was really rude which discouraged me alot.We could have driven to Muskogee but I would rather wait a day and go to Tulsa for kinder people. I think it is stupid to have to wait to find out if you have a broken bone, but that is the system. :P
The kids (and Brian and I) had a great time on our walk other than the fall. Trinity found the prettiest reddish orange mushroom, Logan spotted some animal holes, and we just had a peaceful day.

Another beautiful springy day...that is kicking my butt due to allergies. It isn't going to prevent me from rejoicing though...this weather is magnificiant and I will spend my day outdoors enjoying it.
I made Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast, haven't decided on lunch yet. I should hurry up and decide since it is pretty much lunch time ;) .
The wee chicks are growing wonderfully, and are feathered nicely now. I can't get over how big they got. I don't know why but the chicken dust is not nearly so bad this time around.That is nice. I need to gather eggs from the outside chickens...every time I go out there is a layer in the box. I can see the mound of eggs under her, but I hate to disturb them. I think I will get 30 eggs when I get them.
It is almost piglet time too. I have the pen set up, though Brian is talking about switching the setup a bit. I don't care, as long as we get them soon. I love piglets!

I found a second nest in the horse trailor. There were 20 eggs there, plus the 8 I got from the coop. The ones from the trailor were exceptionally clean already too.Bonus!
Yesterday we went to the statuary and got two birdbaths. One is tall and thin, with a celtic base and square celtic bowl. I am going to paint it green. The second is an ocean scene, with boats in the bowl. It is shorter, one piece and very sturdy. I will paint the base brown and leave the top natural. They are beautiful, and we look forward to birds, butterflies and bees having water.
Brian got to try some homemade mead this weekend and it seems to have clinched the desire to start with bees. We may be ordering our first hive kit today! We are very much enamoured by the top bar hives, but are going to start with a Langstroth this time. I am beyond thrilled that we are undertaking this!
Last night was rough, as my fever spiked and I hurt all over. It is carrying into today, but there is no rest for the mama lol. I hope my kids grow up strong and resiliant, but I also hope they have someone to love them through it. Brian was sweet, turning up the heat and covering me with extra blankets in the wee hours of the morn.
I got a cast iron sauce pan at the thrift store yesterday. I reseasoned it as soon as we got homne and am thrilled to have picked it up for a mere 5 dollars! Bargain hunting is such a thrill!