Tara and Tater's Egg-cellent Adventure!

Well, Aidan and I had quite the adventure today! It actually started last night when Evan found the first chicken egg near our hen house. He put it in the fridge. Today Aidan and I found a second one. Just before snack time!!! Here are the two eggs we've found so far:

Aidan got to crack his first eggs:

Here's Aidan scrambling the eggs: And frying them up:
And here's the final product! Scrambled eggs fresh from the farm with cheese. What a treat!

Trouble with the kids

Goat kids that is. We came home from grocery shopping to find all three goats in Jim's garage. Leaving three of the kids (children, not goats) in the van, I started to corral the kids (goats, not children) back into the pasture. They'd escaped from a 10 inch high opening under the gate. So, I wrangled the kids (children, not goats) into the house, put Avery down for a nap and plugged the boys in to a movie. Then I headed back outside and worked for about an hour adding some wire fencing to the bottom of the fence that exists. While I was doing that, Aidan decided to help Toby with a box of fruit snacks. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, while I was building a fence for the kids (goats) the kids (children) were inside eating an entire box of fruit snacks (remember, I'd just gotten back from the grocery store). And, being the resourceful child that he is, Aidan was using a scissors to open each package! And, yes, they ate the entire box. And while no children or goats were hurt in this endeavor, I was. I'm full of scratches from the ends of the wire fencing I used. And the fence had to be built in a patch of stinging nettles. And less good ol' Mrs. B (my dear third grade teacher) is reading this and having a heart attack from all the sentences starting with the word "and" I shall now go clean up wrappers from 10 packages of fruit snacks. The end. :)

Edited to add: And when children eat almost an entire box of fruit snacks it does intersting things to their insides...I'll leave the coloring of the contents of the diaper of the youngest boy up to your imagination...

New Kids On The Block

No, this post does not have the intention of bringing back memories like NKOTB, acid washed jeans, leggings or even of big hair!! And I had pictures of all these things, but the links weren't to good things, so just pretend here. I am merely announcing that we are the proud "renters" of these little guys! These three goats (get it, kids, baby goats, kids??? I crack me up!) are on loan to us to clear out our WAY overgrown pasture. Then, next spring when things thaw out we are going to get a few sheep to help keep it down (and provide the boys with valuable learning experiences and stuff).















Oh, and we also got four big black chickens. Pretty soon they'll be providing brown eggs for us! Provided of course that we keep them provided with food and water!



And that is the excitement for our day! :)

News Flash

Vacuum cleaners do not like to suck up little green plastic army men.

Thought you'd like to know.

America's Got Evan

Evan and I have been watching America's Got Talent this summer. He definitely has an opinion on styles of music and various acts he likes and doesn't like! He figured out pretty quickly that Sharon would like just about anyone and that Piers wouldn't. He commented on song and singing styles, on dances, and even on people who weren't being modest in their costume choices (YEAH!). We cheered when good acts got sent through and we cheered when bad acts got sent on. This Tuesday was the finale. We enjoyed all the entertainment and the suspense of who would walk away with a million dollars. The suspense was a little higher than I think the NBC producers intended in our neck of the world because several times the show was interrupted by severe weather warnings! The most fun part for me was realizing that my little boy was growing up. One of the final four contestants was Julienne Irwin. She's 14 and an up and coming country music singer. Evan's comment as she was singing in the finale? "She's so cute, I could watch her all night." :) I guess my little boy is growing up!

Dinner!

Sweet Potatoes:

Sweeter Pota-toes:

Business Idea

I was wandering through downtown yesterday, just getting a feel for my new town. I stopped in several little "touristy gift" sort of shops and came to a conclusion. I could possibly have a little side business here! I have enjoyed beading, making baby shoes and could also make some other little baby items to sell at some of these shops. I'm in the "thinking seriously about it" phase of the idea. What sort of name do you think I should use in my business? I'm thinking something like "Avery's Acres" "Country Kids" "Country Crafts" or something cutsy like that. Well, what do you think? How do I know how to price things? What if I get too many orders and end up not being able to keep up with the rest of my life??? :)

And for your viewing pleasure this morning, here's a fresh shot of the three lil'uns. Evan didn't want his picture taken because he doesn't "smile very well". Notice that they are wearing long sleeves and long pants. In the middle of August. Weird! And yes, I do believe that Aidan's feet are really as big as they are appearing! That kid has grown like a little weed this summer!

The Stupid Tax

This week I've been paying the "stupid tax". This is a random amount of money paid to various people or organizations as a result of a stupid decision. Jim and I coined the phrase after he unknowingly tripped a safety valve on a furnace, causing it to go out in the middle of January. Stupid tax: $74. Lesson learned: don't try to save money on gas by turning down the pilot light on the heater.

Last Friday I bought a blow-up pool for the boys. I figured it was $18 and would buy me lots of kid entertainment. Plus, hey, I could always dry it and put it away and use it next year! First installment of stupid tax: $18 on a blow-up pool plus 3 hours of work in blowing the dang thing up. A moment of panic when I noticed the cats eying the pool...nope. They have not managed to pop it yet. Toby bit a hole in one of the three sections, so it doesn't go quite as deep, but that isn't the point here. We got a second installment of the stupid tax last night when I paid a doctor $45 to diagnose Aidan with swimmers' ear. Then another stupid tax bill arrived at the pharmacy when I had to pay $35 for ear drops for said swimmers' ear. So, I'm up to $98 on a blow up pool, 3 hours to blow the dang thing up, 2 hours at the doctor's office with four kids thank-you-very-much and 2 wakings up in the night to administer ibuprofen before I relented and took Aidan in to the doc. All for a couple of days of them splashing around and causing me extra laundry in clothes (not just swimming trunks, but entire sets of clothes) and towels. Next time, I'm spending $5 on a sprinkler and telling them to run through it in their unders!

Oh, and just so you feel more sorry for me, I've smashed at least a dozen crickets in my house today. And they're just the brave ones who are venturing out, that doesn't include the several I hear hiding in the walls. Weenies. They make a crunchy sound when you squish them, but it's better than their "crick-ey" sound when they crick!

Monday night

I really wish I could say that I have some phenomenal blogging material, but at this time, I'm not sure what that would be! The kids are doing well. Evan and Jim are gearing up to go back to school. We're having a "farm consultation" tomorrow with a friend of mine to see what we need to do or buy to have goats on the farm. Aidan and Toby are three and two and good at it! Avery has figured out how to roll over onto her tummy, but not back onto her back. Since she won't sleep on her tummy I have taken to buckling her into her car seat to sleep. She can't flip over that way! She has gone from sleeping 10-12 hours a night to waking up 2-3 times for Mommy Milk. Yikes! So, maybe that's why I'm living in a fog!
I made 4 pair of the little baby booties Friday night for a baby shower on Saturday morning. Since I bought cheap pinking shears, my wrist is still killing me from all the cutting I had to do. Hummmm....Nothin' much! Oh, in the interest of full disclosure, I have installed a stat counter. So, I do know that people are reading my blog! I appreciate all the readers I have!

Good Kid Award!

One quick off topic note before I start with the awards for the day. We did not know any of the victims of the Minneapolis bridge collapse. I was a little nervous for a few friends, but all of our friends and family in the Minneapolis area are well. Praise God for that and His blessings on the families of those lost and still missing.



I would like to give the Good Kid Award to Evan, Aidan, Toby and Avery! Monday we had a full day of errands. We left our house at 8:30 and didn't get back until 2:00. We hit the grocery store, a friend's house for lunch (while I ran a quick errand to K-mart) and then we all went to Walmart. There was no fussing, no fighting and no yelling on anyone's part (myself included!). We ended up with a week's worth of groceries for a family of six, prescriptions for the month, and school supplies for second grade. Evan even commented that night that I was being really patient with them (yeah for Mommy!) As a result, the kids were rewarded with a trip to Oxbow Park yesterday including a picnic lunch. Yet again they were superbly well behaved. I've always told the kids that if they're good at a certain place it makes me want to take them back there again. As I was complimenting them on their behavior in the van on the way home Aidan asked, "do you want to take us back there again, Mom?" I do, Aidan. I do.