Merry Christmas!

Well the big day is almost here. Amazingly, I feel somewhat prepared. Knock on wood. I have some appetizers to kick out today and of course some cleaning. Very little wrapping and I will be done and able to enjoy the rest of the weekend. Max and Barry are going to go hunting this afternoon which will be great for Lucy. She really needs some excercise. What kind of dog chews glass ornaments?!!!!! Mom and Niki will be here this afternoon. Niki has been working this last month as a UPS driver helper and is looking forward to a hot tub to soothe her aching body. Poor gal is really beat up! She worked hard and got a letter of recommendation from her driver. We are all hoping and praying for a better year for her. So we have a full line up on the menu. We are going to try a baked potato bar for Christmas Eve. All kinds of toppings and I am going to cook the potatoes in the crockpot! I know half of my potato is going to to have chili!!!
Breakfast casserole in the morning with fresh eggs from our very happy hens! We are back to getting 4 - 5 eggs a day. Lots of appetizers to get us through the day and then dinner will be my Mom's yummy meat lasagne and I made a seafood lasagne in a white sauce . Should be epic! Our holiday beverage will be a pointsettia. Prosseco, splash of vodka with cranberry juice!
Garry and Susan will be here on Christmas day so we will have a full house. I am sure we will have a fire in the firepit and lots of hot chocolate to keep the boys warm!
I got mmy Christmas present early this year. Barry got us a laptop. I am cuddled up on the couch with my Cooper instead of isolated in the computer room.
So I hope you all have a fabulous Christmas holiday! Ours is looking pretty good so far!

Mom....How many more days???

All Cooper and Wyatt can think about is Christmas. All I can think about is am I going to get it all done in time? Will they be happy? Will it feel special for them? I don't remember ever having a disappointing Christmas growing up. Some how my family pulled it off. Whether I was a young kid playing or a teenager laying around watching football it was all great. It was simple. Those were the days. I didn't have to cook or clean up. My Grandma, Mom and Aunt always did. The kitchen was so small. I don't know how they did it! We had all kinds of snacks and cookies and a full dinner and different pies for dessert!!! One big picture perfect christmas! In my head I try to duplicate that, but it is a lot of work. If the boys could just settle down a bit and stop teasing and fighting and if the dog would just stop chewing up remote controls and toys. Maybe I could keep my head from exploding and finish this seasonal project!!!! Can you say "Spa day in January!"

Saved from the dumpster from my Grandma's house were these Christmas candles. She always had them on the kitchen window sill. I've got them on a cake plate with some epsom salt snow. I cover them with the cake dome but I am going to search for a cloche for next year. They are in the hallway and they make me smile when I walk by.

Max has his Christmas concert tonight. He is very excited. Working in Wyatt's class tomorrow. Christmas tree this weekend and keeping my fingers crossed to get a good pic of this family so that I can get my holiday cards out. We didn't send any last year so it really needs to happen this year.

R

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

I want you to know that I have tried my best this year. For Christmas I would really like a lap top. It doesn't need to be brand new just something I can update my blog and check my emails and Facebook.

Thank you for listening

Rocky

Where did the time go II

We went this morning and picked up our fair stuff! It was a great experience for our family. Since we are not part of a 4H group we did everything "open class". So it was all new for me but I weeded my way through the online registry and we were in :) So Max got a white (he really didn't apply himself for his age group) and Cooper and Wyatt got red ribbons. Which made them very happy. I put in 2 cucumbers, summer squash and zuchinni and much to my surprise had 3 little blue ribbons. Now I think everything at the fair gets some kind of ribbon which is a relief because the boys were so excited to get a ribbon at the fair. Especially Wyatt. Every time he made a Lego thing this summer he would ask if it was good enough for a ribbon. So we are inspired to do more next year and find a 4H group this fall.
Next week is BACK TO SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As much as I love my boys they need to go back. They have spent way too much time together this summer. We didn't go on any trips for fun. They did check out the new water park in Prosser and Max has made little trips out to shoot for the day. Cooper learned how to ride a bike without training wheels and throw a frisbee!
Wyatt spent big time with Legos and resented his brothers' birthdays in July and is beside himself with all the waiting he has to do before his birthday. Just a couple weeks now. He really gets himself worked up. We have been talking about school so hopefully he is going to be ready. I can not believe that all three of them are going to be in school 5 days a week!!! Wyatt will be coming home around 11:30 then Max at 2:30 and Coop at 3:30. So the afternoons will be a little choppy but the mornings are looking pretty darned good :) I remember when I would be up ever 2 - 3 hours through the night with each one and sometimes with more that one and I would be so tired and fearful that I was never going to get any sleep. Then there was Barry snoring and not waking for a thing! I would just tell myself that I could catch up when they were all in school. So I am going to sleep or read or watch a movie or garden or ride or got to the gym. I suppose there will be housework in there and volunteering in the kids classes. But dammit I am going to get some sleep!!!
Barry is going to his Front Line Supervisor meeting this week. But Niki is coming this week!!!! Looking forward to some time with her.
Lucy completed her first heat cycle. That was a very, very long 21 days! So she needs to get to the vet. She is still waking up around 5 a.m. Get this...the kids are sleeping in until around 7 sometimes 8 but Good Old Mom is up with the dog. Because just like there Dad they sleep through the dog whining/baby crying once they are asleep. Ugh! O.K. enough of my pity party.
Looking forward to all of the excitement of the first week of school!

Wow, where did the time go?

Cheese Louise

We got a new chicken! She is a good layer so far. The previous owner had a pair of these Silver Laced Wynoedett hens. This one got a little too noisy for city living so she had to find her a new home. So her and her sister were called Macaroni and Cheese. We have Cheese so I call her Cheese Louis! She is Cooper's new chicken. Whatever that means. Does it mean that he takes care of all her needs? I wish. She has settled right

in and is a great addition to our flock!

Wyatt had his hair cut at Great Clips....finally! He has been so frightened to have his hair cut but he finally did it with a little bribe and there was no crying or whining involved! Some things they just have to work out for themselves in their own time. Hard for us adults to put up with. But he did it!!! He looks so different to me now. I liked his long hair. Except when I had to comb it :) So for now Barry is one happy Dad having all 3 of his boys with short hair.

We are enjoying some nice summer weather. Fun times in our backyard. Max and Coop made some bb shooter things out of pvc pipe and duct tape and my dish glove. Barry had a "barrel of bb's" somewhere in the garage of his (of course he did. Will I ever know what he truly has stashed everywhere?). So the boys have been shooting at a target for the last few days. Leaving me feeling somewhat unsettled. But they are very careful.

Wyatt went to a birthday party yesterday! Star Wars theme. Cooper tagged along. Great fun. This family has about 60 chickens!!!! It was really interesting to me to see their set up for them. And it made me really appreciate our small flock. 60 birds looked like a lot of work!!!!

We had a very nice visit with our neighbors who are back home for a visit. They have been living in Vienna for the last year and will stay one more. I have a link to their blog on this page. They are an amazing family. They are seeing so much of Europe and the kids are learning so much. So nice to see them!

Barry made a quick trip to Spokane yesterday. His Uncle has an extremely aggressive cancer. Our hearts are heavy in this house as we pray for his comfort and for the strength and comfort for the family.

Peace!

When I close my eyes I see weeds

We have been super busy around here. The weed population got way out of control very quickly with the nice weather we have been having. So I feel like that is all I have been doing. Barry has been busy with projects. Yesterday he widened the gravel driveway and added new gravel. It looks nice. Now I see I need to trim the bushes in front. That's the way it is. One project leads to another.
We have a broody hen. She keeps laying on the other hens eggs. Sometimes breaking them. We have been trying to break her of the intuition. They say to dunk her in cold water or isolate her. We have tried both and neither has worked so far. So we have to check the nest boxes often and retrieve the eggs as soon as they are layed.
Cooper and Wyatt got their haircuts! This was Wyatts first time having in cut by a professional. Much to my relief. I loved his long hair but now he looks like a little boy. I need to get a pic to post.
With the new chicken pen we will be getting more chickens. Cooper is very excited. I just need to decide what age would be good for us. Now that one of ours is broody and not laying, I may need to get one or two of laying age and then 2 that are teenagers.
I have a riding lesson this afternoon. Looking forward to that. Barry is back to work on the night shift tomorrow. We have enjoyed a staycation this last week.

Max's Day

12 years ago today Max was born! It is so fun remembering the events of that day. Scary because he was so early. But as you can see everything turned out just wonderful!

Happy Birthday Son! We love you!!!!

My little guy!

Wyatt is done with preschool! It was his class picnic yesterday. The sun was shining but it was very windy and cold. He had a great time despite his shyness. He is going through another phase . It is hard for me to watch him struggle with his emotions. I think the only reason he went to the picnic was to drink the root beer that they had made in class. He had two full bottles! Anyway, he settled in and played with his school friends. So he is off to Kindergarten next year!!!!! All three of the boys will officially be in school 5 days a week. Wyatt for a half day but....Yea! The preschool has been so very good to us. Very kind and understanding. A good foundation for the boys I think. Co-op preschool is hard work!!!! But as I look back it really was the best for our boys. There were many times I considered switching to more of a drop off school. Especially when Coop started going and Wyatt was a baby. Things would have been easier. But I am glad I stuck it out. Many friendships have been formed for all of us through our participation there. So a little bittersweet. But I am very excited for our next step :)

I have been battling the crud since May 3rd!!!!!!!! Finally, went to the doctor last Friday and found out I had a sinus infection and bronchitis. I had a fever of 101 and didn't even know it. How whacked is that?!?! I just kept plugging along telling myself that I would get better. So what I did in the end is make it difficult to shake even with antibiotics but I think they are starting to finally work.

The weather....Ugh! I really need some heat!!! Usually by now it is strictly shorts and sandals weather. But not this year :(

Big weekend. Barry's birthday on Saturday. His present is all wrapped! My Mom is taking a break from cleaning Grandmas house to come spend some time over here. The boys have a 4 day weekend. I have a riding lesson and hoping to spend some time working on some projects inside and out. Hope everyone has a safe Memorial weekend!!!!!

Art by Cooper

The above is a picture of my birthday card! My Cooper loves to draw. Every time I walk by this it makes me smile.
My Grandma passed away on April 16th. Peacefully in her sleep. It all got pretty bad for her in the end. I miss her deeply. She was never the same after Gramps passed away. So in a way I have been preparing for it since then. I cherish my memories and will honor her every way that I can. I need to learn how to bake berry pies before the Fourth of July.
We have been really busy. We had to find some place to board the dogs before the funeral which required some quick vaccines for the both of them. They still managed to get kennel cough and Lucy has conjunctivitis and now the neighbor dog is coughing. So some meds for Lucy and I think we are done spending money on them for awhile. There is a good side in that now I know we have some place to take them so we can go somewhere for a couple of days.
Cooper's bunny has some kind of fur mite that we are treating! Yikes! I am so glad we saw it early because Coop couldn't handle another animal loss.
The chickens are enjoying the spring weather. Recently, the wasps have started trying to build nests. One was really close to the nests box prompting them to find someplace else to lay. I think we got it figured out so that they can relax again.
Cooper's swimming is done. Wyatt has just a few more days of school and he will be a kindergartner! The other two are officially done with this year on June 10th! No official plans for the summer. It always seems to work out.
Baseball is going really well for Max. First base and outfield are the positions he plays. He has great reach at first and is quick to cover home plate when needed too! His team the Angels are in second place! He has been so fortunate to be on two winning teams and that he has had a great coaching staff both seasons. There has been more volunteering on our part. I have learned to do the score book. It is fun participating but when you have two other kids with you it is hard to follow the game. I hired a sitter which worked out great for learning how to fill out the official book.
Barry and I went to Coeur d'alene for a supervisor meeting. My sister came and took care of everything around here. A huge job but she made it through. Barry and I had a great time. Despite the terrible head cold I had! It had been 13 years since we had a couple of days together and I had to catch a cold. If you drink enough you can't even tell you have a sore throat. :)

My Grandma

I made a trip to see my dear Grandma and family. My brave sister is her primary caregiver and keeps me in the loop as to her condition. Recently she has lost her will to live so there has been a quick decline. I timed it for Barry's days off and he stayed home with the boys so that I could have some quality one on one with Grandma and my sister. I had a nice relaxing drive over and the weather was nice and gave me no troubles. When I got there Niki had managed to get Grandma up and at the table for a bite to eat. Nik and I had cocktails. What I didn't know was that hospice was on their way over. A little awkward I suppose at 3:00 to be sitting there having happy hour :) The gals were so very nice and were very reassuring. Hospice is a very emotional transition. So much help is needed and welcome at this point but in your heart you know that your loved one will not be with you much longer.
On this trip I didn't have my boys preoccupying my mind. I noticed from the moment I walked in to the house how comforted I felt. I was the little girl sitting at the kitchen table drinking tea and reading magazines. Or coming down for lunch. Spending the night in the yellow bedroom reading my uncles old MAD magazines. I was always so close to my Grandparents. I slept in that yellow bedroom this trip and had a very restful sleep.
Such wonderful memories. I am truly blessed to have so much from them. So many of my core values come from Grandma. It came time for me to leave and I woke her up to give her a kiss good bye. She gave be a big smile. It was hard to leave this time. Usually, I am anxious to get home and get back in to my routine here. Hard because I guess there is a possiblity that I won't see her again. You just don't know. It truly felt like there was a rubberband attached to my heart pulling on me as I drove farther away. Needless to say tears have been dripping down my face off and on. So do I hope she keeps on so that I can make it back over? I don't know. I just want her to be at peace.
I stopped at North Bend on my way home to go through the Starbucks for a latte. A very nice thing happened to me there. I noticed the car ahead of me was talking to the speaker and laughing and I thought to myself what a very happy person. I pulled up to the window and went to hand the "barista" my money and he said "your drink has been paid for" I said "no, I haven't paid yet" and he said " the gal in the car ahead of you paid for it" and I said "you mean like an act of random kindness" and he said "I guess so". Just when you think there isn't much kindness left in the world. I am hoping I can pass it along some day soon.
So today I am going to start some seeds indoors. Still haven't done that. Hopefully, I can rally a couple of kids to help. I saw on a web site that our area should have its last frost sometime in the middle of April.
Baseball has officially started. Max is loving it. I am trying to remember how I actually did have fun last year. We have some conflicts of schedules with Coop's swimming and Max's baseball. It will be interesting to see us pull it off.

Bench

We are a house full of sickies!!!! Temps and runny noses and hacking coughs. Thats us :) All except Barry. Lucky guy. But we were able to do a project despite of it all. We had two of these benches with the rattan seats. The one that Wyatt sat on had started to break up and one side of the bench had no rattan anymore. So we replaced both sides with wood and upholstered the little wood seats. What is also great is that I have always wondered how long the benches were going to last and now we have a great solution. And we can easily replace the cusions as needed!!!

Had to throw in a new pic of Lucy and Max.

All for now.

50 degrees!

Can I get an Amen!!????? I am so done with the frigid weather! I feel it in my bones that things should be turning around.
Coop started swimming lessons last night. He is going T/Th at 4:30! The other two didn't want to. Max is all signed up for little league. Try outs are this Saturday so he has been throwing the ball around. Our neighbor Joe who helped Max with the hunter safety course offered to practice baseball with Max. That is going to be so nice for Max to have an extra "glove" to practice with. I am no longer an option as he throws it way to hard for me :) Wyatt is giving me trouble. He doesn't want to go to school. It is almost embarrassing when I take him and he is mouthing off about how boring it is. But when I pick him up he has so many things to tell me. I am really starting to sweat about next year. I picked up his registration paperwork for kindergarten and I realized he still needs one more vaccine!!!! He hates shots. I am literally going to have to drag him in there screaming his head off. I am not above bribing him either. Why can't all the shots be those nose spray kind????
Barry has been very busy at work, gathering our tax info up and making a fabulous little shelter/shade for the chickens in the chicken yard. It turned out great and a lot how I imagined for them. I told Barry we are going to have to post our chicken set up on the Backyard Chickens boards. Next if the weather clears up we are going to somewhat duplicate the chicken yard fence around the gardens. It will provide the chickens with a safe area in the fall to clean up our garden. They are amazing at clearing out the beds.
With the weather the way it has been I have not been able to see Nicster. I was so spoiled with my friend Charlie's place in Olympia with the covered arena. I have scheduled a riding lesson for this Friday with a very nice young gal to polish up my skills. It is very exciting . She actually will give me a lesson on her horse or come down and give me a lesson on Nicci. It feels nice to expand a little bit more with my hobby.
My seeds came in the mail. I am hoping to start some indoors although I really don't know where. Maybe in the dining room/playroom/greenhouse :)
Foot Saga Update!!!!
It still sucks! Did I mention that while making a bed I kicked the metal frame while barefoot. It turned black and blue and hurt like a hell!!! Although it doesn't hurt any worse then it did. But it is still not getting better. I am considering going back to the doctor.
I have been making it to the pool. We even went as a family on Sunday. I really hate putting a swimsuit on but swimming seems to really help my joints.
And I have a question today. Why is everyone always yelling at me? Mom!!!!!!!

New fence

We are trying to cope with having a puppy. The other day she got into the chicken run and chased a chicken over the fence and into the neighbors yard where the poor chicken didn't make it back over before their dog got a hold of her. Poor Cooper was very sad because it was his chicken. We knew that if a chicken got out of our yard it didn't stand a very good chance. So......we had to move up our goal of a new chicken yard. After alot of painting, 2 coats Barry was able to get it all up except for the gate which he will put up some other time. For now a temporary gate is working just fine. After focusing so much time on it we need a break. So it is doing great for keeping dogs out. But today I saw a chicken on the top board :( I am going to try and clip more feathers from their wings. After spring we will get a few more chickens but not until I do some reading on the breed that is least likely to be able to fly. These little ones get air way to easy!

Lucy has been chewing a few things. She got a hold of one of Barry's favorite hats. Then my big down coat that always keeps me warm. Finally, Max's favorite hat and there is usually a few legos. Yikes!

Hunter safety

Max is a little over half way through with his hunter safety course. The last two nights Barry has been able to go to the class with him and today the class goes to the shooting range in the morning and then class from 1 - 5 this afternoon. Yikes!!!!! During the break they are going to go sign Max up for baseball. Poor Max is getting pretty warn out. School all day and then 4 nights this week hunter safety class from 6 - 9:30 ish. He will have lots of studying to do tomorrow. His test is on Tuesday night.
So its me and the young ones today. Some errands and then we will go out for lunch!!!!
So our Boxer dog Hailey went to the vet because she has been limping after rough housing with Lucy (we think but don't really know). She still runs like crazy on it so we didn't think it was a huge problem. It is really tough to keep her down. Turns out she has a torn ligament in her back knee. The bill for repairing it will be.........
around.......$3,000.00!!!!!!! after all the x-rays and surgery are done. Plus, we would have to travel to Spokane for 24 hours or so. We have her on some medicine. I really don't know what to do. My Mom's dog has the same issue and has had it for years. She has had a surgery and it is back again. It so sucks to see her favor that leg because she is such an athletic and active dog.
Cooper has been busy playing Webkinz. It is nice that he is playing something that doesn't have guns it it. He just bought a Mazin Hamster which came in the mail.
Wyatt is busy all the time with Legos. We are trying to encourage him to write his name and he is having very little interest in that. He may be a tough one :)
I went for a ride this week and it went really well. The sun came out for awhile making it even nicer. Looking forward to getting out and doing that more. Kindra found a gal who is offers riding lessons and I am going to call her and see if she will take me on as a student. I just need to make the call which for some reason I keep putting off.
Barry is working Sunday night, Monday night and Tuesday night.
Tomorrow is the SAG awards RED CARPET time! So fun for me to watch!

A before and after pic and updated animal pics

Cooper is getting better AGAIN. He tested positive again for strep. The doc was suggesting Mono until the test came back. Yikes. He is really showing some signs of being sick since the begining of the month! He stayed home again today. I wanted to make sure that he seemed really on the mend. The doc said 24 hours until he wasn't contagious but really 48 until he would be feeling better. Cross you fingers that this high powered antibiotic works this time.

I have caught a little bug. I am fine now. But I need to vent that it is AMAZING how when I am sick it getting rest does not apply to me. Ugh!

We have seen the sun a few times the last couple of days. Oh, it makes me excited for the seasons to change but seeing how it is only January I best not get to hopeful. Although, I did get a seed/plant catalog to go through and start planning.

I have some pics to share. Bunnies got out finally for a little. The poor things have been cooped up in there hutches full of hay to keep them warm and tarps covering them at night and when it is really bad during the day. It looks like a shanty town for rabbits out there. I hope I come up with a better plan next year.

A picture of Lucia (Lucy) who is coming along. I still am on night duty and have spent way too much time sleeping on the couch. Which really bothers my joints. I am sticking it out because I really need this hunting dog to work out for us. Because I am not going to do this again any time soon!

Finally, there is a before and after picture of the end table that I sanded, primed and painted. Got'er done in one day. It felt good to not just throw it away but to repurpose it.

Strep!

Man poor Coop ! Diagnosed with Strep back on the 6th. Took all of his medicine and 2 days after finishing started having symptoms. Of course the Dr. can't just refill a script. You got to go in to do that! They reswabbed his throat to which he has decided that "it sucks". Tested positive again! This Dr. was in disagreement on the previous Dr.'s choice of antibiotic. So he is on a mega version now. Home today because he needs to be on them for 24 hours before going to school. He told me on Saturday his throat was scratchy and that he thought it was back. Of course I thought it was in his head. But by yesterday he couldn't swallow again and I rushed him back to the walk in clinic.
So I am feeling a little puky myself. Hoping I can just ignore it.
Barry and Max took Lucy out hunting yesterday. She did great and did well with the shotgun going off so that is a releif. I would hate that I am loosing all this sleep house training her and then she wouldn't be a good hunting dog. While they were gone I sanded, primed and painted my end table. It was a sunny day so I took advantage of it and got a project done.
Barry is back to the night shift starting this week. Which is always a fun transition for the family :)

quick post

I haven't felt much like posting lately. Sorry! We have become an extremely unorganized family over the holidays. We are all really needing some refocus time. Back to the basics. More exercise. More reading. Try for less video games and t.v. They become my crutch for me getting things done and I really want to try to do that less. I have to say that the boys eventually get bored with them and search out for something else to do. This is when things get crazy around here and they will after time get into some kind of scuffle with each other. Then of course I am mad and stressed out. So my proactive skills are lacking. Need to work on that.

I want to shout out to my Aunts and Uncles in Wisconsin who check on my blog! It is wonderful to know that you are checking in. But on a sad note I want Aunt Nancy to know that I am thinking of her and her family since the loss of Dick. He had a long battle. O.K. I am off to be proactive. After a hot tub :)