Birthday Boys

Well, after a short break we once again have a teenager in the house. Wesley turned 13 this year! For his birthday dinner he chose a trip to Old Country Buffet, but we made him go a day early on kids eat free night. :) On his real birthday, March 20, we had pizza and cupcakes.

Wesley is a great kid. He is an awesome big brother and my ever present helper. I can count on him to help with just about any task, usually with a good attitude. He doesn't have to yet, but he could run the house if I needed him to. He has a big heart, especially for little ones, and will be a wonderful husband and father some day. I am not even worried about his teen years!

We had planned to have a combined birthday party for Wesley, Eli, and Justus in February, but it just didn't work out. We ended up having one March 28th, which wasn't too late for Wesley, but was very late for the twins. Oh well, better late than never, right?

Here are the birthday boys...

Wesley

Eli

Justus

The AZ extended family came to celebrate with us. We went swimming which was a nice perk of having it a delayed party. There would not have been any swimming at a February party.

We will now have a teenager in the house until 2031 when Annabeth turns 20 and leaves the teen years of the Shown Family behind!

Growing Family

Our family will be growing in a new way in 2016! 

Roz and Trevor are engaged! 

Week in Review 3/16 - 3/22

3/16/15 - Started our spring break. I plan on doing some spring cleaning while the kids are off school this week. Started by cleaning Annabeth's room and the two hallway closets. The kids played with friends. (The neighbor kids are off this week too. They were off last week while we were still trying to do school. I ended up hanging a sign on the door to keep the doorbell from ringing every 10 minutes.)

3/17/15 - St. Patrick's Day. Didn't do much as far as festivities except wear green and eat corned beef for dinner. It was delicious!

3/18/15 - Ran to Walmart to get a few things - including paint for the chicken coop - then met Jerry for lunch at McDonald's. That was a fun mid-week treat! Painted the coop in the afternoon. It actually started to sprinkle while I was out there. What are the chances!?

3/19/15 - Still working on spring cleaning. Went out to Old Country Buffet for Wesley's birthday. His birthday isn't until tomorrow, but they have kids night on Thursdays so we told him if that's where he wants to go then we'd go a day early.

3/20/15 - Wesley's 13th Birthday! Finished spring cleaning the kitchen. Every cabinet and drawer was emptied and wiped. It looks great! I also finished painting the coop (except for the door). Had pizza and cupcakes for Wesley's birthday dinner a bit early because some church friends came over for a bonfire. Had a great time visiting and roasting marshmallows. We are looking forward to hosting a few church swim nights this summer!

3/21/15 - We were finally able to burn our big brush pile this morning. We weren't able to do it last Saturday because it was too windy. Put the new pool cover on the pool - we will trim it tomorrow after it relaxes a little bit. The Keepers Club came here and we all walked over to the Boretsky's for an archery lesson.

3/22/15 - Church this morning and the first swim of 2015 in the afternoon! That new pool cover really helped heat up the pool quick!

First Swim of 2015

All winter long we told the kids we would swim "around St. Patrick's Day". Well, we were a little late. Mostly because we had to buy a new pool cover. The solar rings we have been using the past few years are not usable any longer.

The new solar blanket helped heat up the pool quickly though, so today was the big day! Our first swim of the season!

Archery Lesson

Our Keepers and Contenders church club got together for an archery lesson at our neighbor's house. He is a champion archer and teaches lessons. It was quite a lesson! A friend of his, who also teaches lessons, brought several targets and bows. Each child got to shoot with a special sized bow. It was a great experience for all the kids!

Around the Farm

Spring and nice weather means getting a few things done around the "farm"...

The goats are settled in nicely. The weekend we got them we tossed together this little pallet shelter. It took us a few tries to find a good placement for it, but now it's their favorite spot. They can often be found napping on the roof or underneath in the shade. In the afternoons when I feed them, I pour a little bit of treat up on the roof for them. It keeps them out of my way while I fill the chicken feeders.

We cut the grape vines way back this year. They were getting out of control. The extensive pruning didn't seem to bother them too much, they were sprouting new growth just a few days later.

We cleaned out the shed as best we could so it was more useable for farm storage. Eventually we will have to either tear the shed down or jack it up to put a cement slab under it. The floor is rotting through. I would like to have a little chat with the person who thought a wood floor on an irrigated lot was a good idea.

You'll have to look carefully at the next farm "improvement". It's just two staggered lines of string on some fence posts. It doesn't look like much but we are hoping it keeps the chickens from jumping the fence on the side of the unfriendly neighbor dog. Unfortunately, we have lost several chickens that way.

I saw the idea in a chicken magazine. I liked this solution because it was easy, cheap, and not too ugly.  If you look at the photo below you can barely see the string. The idea is if the chickens are under the string and try to jump on the fence they will get caught in the string and fall back down. If they try to land on it they will quickly find it isn't sturdy enough to support them. I haven't seen any of the chickens try to land on it or get caught in it. I guess we won't know if it's a success until it isn't, but we haven't had any chickens go over the fence that way since we put it up. We have found one in our part of the yard a few times though; so, hopefully, it is making a difference.

We added a small double trough to the goat shelter so we could put out goat minerals and baking soda for them.

Since we cut the little door in the coop a couple years ago this little ramp was just resting on a cinder block. The chickens never moved it even once. The goats, on the other hand, knocked it over about 20 times a day so we finally used a couple small hinges to keep it in place. One of those why-did-I-wait-so-long-to-do-that type of things.

You'll also notice the piece of scrap wood across the chicken door. This allows the chickens access while keeping the goats out. The goats would love to get in there and eat all the chicken food if we'd let them.

Have you ever watched a goat drink? It's pretty cool. They don't drink like a dog. They suck the water in. Elf has a long neck and you can actually see the water going down as he drinks. I once read goats like fresh, clean water (who doesn't?!) and these guys really do. I dump and refill the water every day and as soon as it's full they run right over to get a drink.

I made a small compost bin out of some of the old fencing. Hopefully some day we can use the compost in a garden.

This little tool (a 10 inch taping knife) has changed my chicken keeping methods. We installed a poop board about a month ago and it has been working great! I use this taping knife as a scraper and clean up the poop daily in about 10 seconds. It keeps the coop so much cleaner and helps save on bedding costs since we don't have to replace it nearly as often. The poop goes right into the compost bin (see above).

The "farm" from the back corner; the big coop, little coop, and goat shelter. I am hoping to paint them "barn red" soon.

Everyone's favorite chicken: Loosey. Looking pretty good for being one of the two oldest gals in the bunch. She's still as friendly as ever.

There are still a million things to do and when we finish those they'll be a million more, but it's always nice to make improvements, especially if they are relatively cheap and easy like these!

Sacrificing a Limb in Love

Back in October of 2013, Eli adopted an aloe vera plant from Ikea. He loves this plant. He named it "Baby Junior". B.J. lives on the windowsill above the kitchen sink. Eli checks on him often, although I usually water for him when I think of it. B.J. is very robust and healthy. In fact, he's done so well that last week we bought him a new pot and some extra soil. Jerry got after me for not letting Eli re-pot the plant himself. I guess I probably should have taken everything outside and let him help instead of doing it myself to avoid a mess. 

We have been fortunate in that we have not yet had an injury requiring B.J.'s services. Until today. And today it wasn't even really an injury, it was just a bit of a sunburn. The three older boys went hiking with some friends this morning and I noticed Eli got a bit sunburned. So, after evening showers I cut a small slice off of B.J. and called Eli over. 

He was NOT happy I cut a limb off his favorite plant! Tears were shed. As I was rubbing the aloe gel over his sunburned face I tried to explain that B.J. was happy to be of service. That's what his purpose is! I rationalized... B.J. would be fine, maybe even be healthier after the little trimming. Eli was having none of it; cutting off Baby Junior's limb was a terrible injustice. When I was done he cried again when he saw the pieces in the garbage.

You know what? His face looked less red (and felt super soft) within a hour! Perhaps it was the aloe? Or maybe it was the combination of aloe and salty tears? Either way, I pointed it out to Eli. He glared at me and went to bed.

Week in Review 3/2 - 3/8

3/2/15 - Ran some errands and did a light day of school.

3/3/15 - Met with friends for a mid-day birthday party at Peter Piper. Just one of the many benefits of homeschooling! Left the birthday party and headed right to the dentist. All six kids had check-ups. No cavities!

3/4/15 - Regular school day except JD complained of a tummy ache so he skipped school. We all watched a few Drive Thru History episodes during the afternoon instead.

3/5/15 - JD ended up with a stomach bug and took it easy today while the rest of us did school.

3/6/15 -

3/7/15 - Did some chores around the yard this morning. Let the little chicks out of the coop for the first time. Had our traditional prime rib dinner with Gram and Pa.

Prime Rib Night

It has become an annual tradition to have prime rib with my parents the Saturday before they leave the guest house. My dad procures the meat a day or two ahead of time so we are ready to go Saturday morning.

I think we have tried a new recipe every year they have been here. No one wants to ruin an expensive piece of meat and we've had pretty good results. However, this year we tried something really different. We baked it at 500º for a short time and then turned off the oven and left it for two hours. We were all a little worried it wouldn't work, but it did!

The end pieces were well done which is what my mom and the kids prefer. The inside was nice and pink which is how the rest of us like it.

I made some Monti's La Casa Vieja roman bread to go with it and my mom made a couple side dishes. It was better than a restaurant!

We even had plenty of leftovers to eat the next day. Delicious! Already looking forward to next year!

And They're Off!

The new batch of chickens were released into the big wide world today. They did just fine. They stuck close to the coop at first. As you can see, the goats took advantage of the open door and went in to munch on leftovers.

The big girls weren't too bothered by the new. There was a little pecking, but nothing too bad. They have gotten used to each other slowly over the past few weeks. I know some people have trouble integrating new chicks into an existing flock, but we have been fortunate and not had much trouble. We did the same slow introduction last year and it worked great.

By evening the chicks were all back in the mini-coop so I just went out and shut the door for the night. I'll let them out in the afternoons for a few days before letting them out for good. Next I have teach them the big coop is their new home.

Mending Fences (Again)

Another spring, another fence to mend. Is that a saying? Maybe it should be. Two years ago, we fixed the fence along the road and had a gate installed across the guest house driveway. We left some of the fence on the inside of the yard un-fixed. It was good enough to keep the chickens in and that's all we needed it for.

Now we have goats. There is a saying "if a fence can hold water, it can hold a goat". Well, our fence wasn't even trying. Unfortunately, the fence guy we used two years ago is moving out of state and couldn't help us. I asked around on Facebook and got the name of another guy. The fence is fixed. (That is about as good of a recommendation as you're going to get from me. I liked the other guy a lot better.)

But like I said the job is done and it holds the goats so what more can I ask for?! We even got three additional gates for a decent price. Two new man gates and a bigger driveway style gate just in case we need to get back there with a truck at some point.

The new fence guys used an old horse shoe for the handle on the gate.

This back section of the fence (by the shed) was completely blocked off before. I'm still not used to being able to get out of this corner and have actually walked all the way to the middle gate once or twice because I forgot I can use it. This gate will come in really handy during the summer months when I fill a second water tub for the animals. Last year we ran the hose through the fence but I had to holler at a kid to turn the hose off and on for me, now I'll be able to step through easily.

We still have one more section of fence that isn't really the way we want it, but we haven't decided if we want wire fence or block. We're leaning towards block. I'd really love it if we could talk the owner of the lot behind us into paying for half of it. Fencing is not cheap!

Sick Day Friend

JD was feeling a little under the weather today. He spent most of the day resting on my bed. I let Libby join him as a special treat for both of them. 

Week in Review 2/23 - 3/1

2/24/15 - The fence guys finally finished!

2/25/15 - Went out to Ned's for dinner and then brought Libby to the Shown's. They will be keeping an eye on her while we are out of town.

2/26/15 - Drove down to Bisbee and toured the mine. Checked into the Grand Hotel in Tombstone for the night.

2/27/15 - Rode all over the mountains and areas surrounding Tombstone on a jeep tour. Drove home. Picked up Libby after we ate dinner.

2/28/15 - Moved the goat shelter to behind the chicken coop where they seem to want to sleep because we are expecting some rain. Got caught up on laundry and grocery shopping. Gram Linda babysat while we went out to dinner and to a concert (Alan Jackson) on a whim with the Carlsons.

Alan Jackson Concert

My friend Cindy sent me a text out of the blue on Saturday asking if Jerry and I would like to join her and her husband for the Alan Jackson concert. My first reaction, for no good reason - other than being tired from our little Bisbee/Tombstone adventure - was to say no. I asked Jerry what he thought and he said we should do spontaneous stuff more often! Normally, spontaneity is difficult when you have six kids at home who need a sitter, but on this particular day my parents were available in the guest house and my mom was nice enough to say yes when I asked her to sit with the kids.

So we went! Well, first, we got some dinner at a little bar called Skippy's by our house. Our old favorite, Native New Yorker, closed not too long ago. (We'll sure miss their wings!) After a, surprisingly, good dinner we drove over to Cindy and Doug's house to ride with them. The ride across town even ended up being fun because we talked the whole way!

Us 40 year olds are still working on our "selfie" skills

There was a chance of rain and the concert was outside so we packed ponchos just in case. It ended up our seats were covered and it didn't rain anyway. In fact, the weather was perfect. I took off my sweatshirt and had on short sleeves and I was perfectly comfortable.

We weren't really too interested in the opening acts so we got there pretty much just in time to see Alan. He did a great job. Like most of the country, I knew most of his songs. Some of them brought back memories of listening to country music while camping when we lived here in the 90's. Jerry said one song reminded him of working at TRW. It was my kind of concert - not too loud or crazy and I got to sit the whole time. ;)

Now I've got Little Bitty stuck in my head...

Into the West Jeep Tour

Day two of our wild west getaway with Gram and Pa was spent riding around the desert in jeeps! Two jeeps, each with a guide, picked us up at the hotel on Friday morning. Gram, Pa, Wesley, Eli, and Justus rode in one jeep.

Jerry, Hayden, JD, Annabeth, and I rode in the other. I have to say it was a little nerve wracking at first because we weren't wearing seat belts. I don't think any of our kids have ever ridden in vehicle without them on. I kept one hand on Annabeth the whole ride!

We rode from Tombstone out into the Dragoon Mountains. As we drove the guides told us about what we were seeing - the landscape and the history. The ride up the mountain was pretty rough. We leaned left and right as we climbed the rocky sides. Annabeth loved it! I'm sure there were a few times Grandma was hanging on for dear life in the other jeep!

We made a few stops along the way to check out abandoned mines and old buildings.

The scenery up in the mountains was beautiful! It was actually a little chilly, especially in the open air jeeps as we were speeding along.

We came out one mountain range and headed towards another. Just as we were approaching the second range, our jeep was lucky enough to see a herd of deer. We pulled over and watched them for a minute. That's a sight we don't see by our house! Unfortunately, the rest of the gang in the jeep ahead missed seeing them.

The big stop of the tour was Johnny Ringo's grave. He was a bad guy (or "pizza guy" as Annabeth likes to call them)  in Wyatt Earp's day who was found dead by a tree. His death was ruled a suicide, but I think the general consensus is that he was murdered.

The grave is actually on private land, but they allow visitors. The same family owns the land now that did back in 1882! We ate a quick picnic lunch by the grave. It was a little windy and the ants found us right away so we didn't linger long with the food.

Here you can see the view of the mountains out the back of the Jeep. Notice you can't see Hayden and JD sitting back there. They were laying down on the seat and the floor to try to stay out of the wind because they were freezing.

One of the old buildings we saw was this general store in Pearce. It closed up shop in the 1950's and they left everything inside just as it was the day it closed. Last fall, the new owner opened it up and sold some of the items inside. I sure wish I could have been there for that! I guess there is still a bunch of stuff in there and they plan to have another sale. We weren't able to go inside, unfortunately.

We were able to go inside the Gleeson Jail. The first Gleeson jail was a big tree in a wash. If you committed a crime they cuffed you to the tree and you stayed out there rain or shine. They eventually built a building, but supposedly it wasn't very secure and some prisoners were able to escape. The jail there now, built in 1910 was more secure and obviously well built since it still standing in pretty good shape.

The inside of the building is full of photos and artifacts collected by the current owners. The guide locked us in the cell for the full jail experience!

The rest of the ride was mostly highway heading back to Tombstone. We were dropped off at the hotel and then we had to get back in the van for the ride home. I will say the van was a lot more comfortable than the jeeps! No one was freezing and it was much less windy and noisy.