Some days are like that....

Don't ya love it?
Today had high points and low points.  I enjoyed teaching English at Spanish church, and I even learned the word for toilet, which I had never actually heard before: taza del bano.  Literally, it means bathroom cup.  Fun to know. 
On the low side, we had a chicken run.  It turns out that our chickens can (and did) fly out of the 8-foot fence in the second chicken yard.  Although the book I read assured me that I really didn't need to clip their wings so they can't fly, I'm going to have to tomorrow, or we'll just keep losing chickens.  We're down to only 6!  Of course, the neighbor cat that keeps stalking them may have encouraged them to fly the coop, but I actually saw one chicken on top of said fence and about to fly out with no predator in sight.  I got that chicken back in, but the others are long gone.  6 left.  Sigh.  So now I have to take scissors and clip the long feather on one wing of each pullet, so they can't fly out.  This does not sound like fun.

My plants are actually growing!

Aren't they beautiful?  Lydia and I planted these pumpkin seeds just a few days ago, and they are already up and growing.  Things are looking up in the garden after a rough May.  The tomatoes are finally growing again, although they are still small.  The zucchini is trying to hang in there.  I have buds on the raspberry plant.  Strawberries are healthy.  And look:

Broccoli!  We actually ate a little broccoli the other day.  The kids were so excited about it.  I hope that we can harvest some more soon.  And while we're talking about growing things, check out the chickens:

They get bigger everyday.  We have 9 now, and they seem active and happy.  Chickens really are fun to watch.  It's funny to see them chase moths around the yard.  (Moths must be pretty dumb, because they don't fly UP, just straight ahead until they're eaten!)

And it's June...

So now it's June already.  The boys are out of school and ready for zoo camp tomorrow.  (They asked if Daddy has to work on summer break...oh how I wish he didn't!)  It's been busy here, and pretty fun.  My inlaws came down for a couple of days, so we took them to the Renaissance Festival.  Huzzah!  At the very first show we went to (Nuttin But Mud), my father-in-law raised his hand when they asked who had never been to a Ren Fair.  (For those of you who haven't realized yet, that's a dead giveaway to the sucker in the audience!)  Anyway, he ended up part of the show:

 The "P" stands for Prince, but also sets him up for the (corny) joke, "You have a little p on you."  Nathaniel also ended up onstage later:

Now, for those of you that haven't been to a renfaire, don't let these pictures discourage you.  We've been twice before and never ended up on stage.  It's usually quite easy to avoid volunteering, if you never raise your hand!  (In Nathaniel's case, though, they used every ambulatory guy in the audience.  He probably could have avoided it, but what the hey.)  One sure way to avoid being "volunteered": hold a small child.  But really, mostly the volunteers don't have to do too much.

The kids had a fabulous time.  We stayed way past nap time, and eventually, Lydia gave up:

Crafts

This is the doll I gave away in the White Sugar Brown Sugar Blog giveaway.   I think she turned out adorable.  It was actually a bit of a challenge, because I usually make these with real wool stuffing, which is where shaping the head comes into play, but she asked for polyfil so it could be machine washed.  It was a little more difficult to sew her head on, but I think she turned out great.  I've also been busy sewing to add to my etsy shop inventory.

Vacation Bible School is coming up, too, and I'm in charge of crafts for that.  I've been tracing pattern pieces on foam for magnets and getting supplies figured out.  The kids always enjoy VBS, and so do I.

Memorial Day weekend is almost here, and soon after will be the last day of school.  It has flown!  I'm also trying to get things together for summer.  I really want to focus on teaching more Spanish to the kids this year. 

The chickens get a friend

A few days ago, we were inside the chicken yard when I noticed something unexpected.  An orange box turtle is living in the chicken yard!  We had never noticed before, but since Nathaniel went and killed the poison ivy, (and by default, a lot of the other vegetation, too) we saw him for the first time.  He's got very orange head and legs.  He's also not too shy; when I picked him up, he kept his head and legs out.  The kids were very excited about him. Apparently, he's been living in the yard for some time, since there's no way a turtle could get in or out of it.  Since I have the door open to the third yard, he may wander that way, but I think he's pretty well stuck in the chicken complex.  Neither he nor the chickens seem to mind, though. 
I'll try to get a picture of him a little later, if it's not still rainy. 

Almost Feathered Out

The chicks seem to get more feathers every day.  They enjoy the outdoors very much.  We open the two yards that connect directly to the coop every day.  I haven't let them in the large adjoining yard yet; maybe when the weather's better.  They are about a month old now!

This is in the coop, where they all cluster in the corner when Lydia comes running and saying, "I want to pet a chick!"

Lydia wanted a mommy and me shot, so here it is, the kind where I hold the camera in front of us and snap!

Horsing Around

A lady Nathaniel works with invited us over to the farm to see her horses.  She even let them ride Midnight, her new Gypsy vanner horse from Scotland. 

Lydia didn't want to ride, but we did get her to sit for a moment.

Check out the horse's hairy feet. 

We all had a good time.  Lydia cheered on the boys as they rode (Go Malachi!  Go Elijah!)  It was funny.  We also got to see Joan's race horse (Royal Start)  and her old horse (Thunder Cloud), who really enjoyed carrots and mints.