Funny!!

You don't tug on superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off that old lone ranger
And you don't mess around with slim

Mom: Now, kids, why don't we spit into the wind?

Kids: I don't know, why?

Mom: Let me show you.... :)

Can you see the spit marks on his shirt?? soooo gross

Do you think they will ever forget this life lesson? :) hee,hee

I'm pretty sure the kids learned a good life lesson today, with the help of Jim Croce. I added the song to the blog and the kids had a fun "dance out" after our little project. If you haven't heard it before you can take a listen. :)

8 years ago today...

Sibling Fun

Josiah & Alanah enjoy a tea party together! Up until today day Alanah was just pretending with her tea set, Josiah has shown Alanah that you can actually fill the cups and pots with water!!
See Alanah, you do it like this...

The boots are a nice touch, dontcha think?! No skirt, jewels & tea set are complete without rubber boots!

April Birthdays in May

On Mother's Day we celebrated Alanah's 3rd birthday and my Mom's 53rd (she's going to kill me for that) birthday. This was the first chance we had to all get together and in the words of Alanah sing "Happy U U"
Alanah got some jewels...

and a tea set

Here's Grandma Fitzpatrick & Austin

The kids all wrote her notes and gave her random stuff from around the house. After they collected their "gifts" all of the kids wrapped 'em up. (I had nothing to do with this, all the kids idea)

Noah was especially proud of the Christmas stickers he gave Grandma. After Grandma open all of the kids gifts we moved on to the other gifts. :)

And cake or course.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL OF THE LADIES IN APRIL!

Happy Birthday to Aunt Diana, Kari AKA Chewy, Kathy & Amanda

Rookie of the Year

Dusty has been gone for less than 24 hours and we end up with a trip to the E.R.

It was a rookie move all the way...
We were at Costco, 5 kids in tow. Kaianah, who was sitting in the appropriate child sitting area of the cart started getting fussy, in an attempt to quiet her and continue on with the shopping, I placed her in the big part of the cart, AKA the inappropriate part of the shopping cart.

I put Josiah in the cart with her thinking that the two of them would happily play while we shopped. We stopped to give the kids a food sample, I turned my back for approx. 6 seconds and she was out! She flipped out of the cart and landed back and head down on the hard, concrete Costco floor.
The panic filled my entire body, I picked her up and tried to assess her body & head. By this time we have a full crowd of people are standing around and watching. It was horribly scary. I saw Kaianah go from red, hot and sweaty to pale and cold in 10 seconds. I could feel the goose egg in the palm of my hand as I held her head. Next step was a trip to the E.R.

The employees at the E.R. got Kaianah seen within just a few minutes. Everything was fine and the doctor didn't feel we needed X-rays.
The doctor asked me if this was my first child....I sheepishly said, no it was my fifth. He looked surprised. I wanted to say, I know, I know. It was a stupid rookie move, one that a first time mom might make.
Lesson learned.

I can sum up in one word the reason for my out of date blog...SPRING

I hope to get some pictures up, along with a little update.

Coming soon....

VICTORY!!! ~at last

WE FINALLY HAVE A CHICK!! After all my failed attempts, victory at last. This little chick might look pretty pathetic but it's only an hour old, it's suppose to look like that.

It will dry out and get cute and fuzzy in a couple days. 3 other eggs are showing signs that a possible hatching might be coming next...

It's only a miracle that I hadn't throw the eggs out yet, they are all 4 days "overdue" and according to my research that's not typical. Honestly I was waiting until I could stomach the process of going though and opening up the eggs. It's heart breaking to see fully developed eggs not hatching.

Hopefully I'm not counting my chicks before the eggs are hatched! :) I had already called this third attempt a failure so I am ecstatic to have even 1 chick hatch.

Out of the mouths of babes...

Some of the funny things the kids have said recently...

Noah & Josiah are walking towards the compost pile, Josiah wants to play in it.
Noah says: I don't want to play in it, it's poop!

Josiah: Laughing at the idea that Noah thinks compost is poop..."Hey Mom! Is compost poop?"

Mom: doesn't answer right away, she is thinking on how to respond.

Dad: Steps in an answers before mom. Dad says: "Yes, compost has some poop in it"

Noah: Feeling victory that he was right.

Josiah: Completely grossed out that we are putting poop in the garden!

A couple minutes pass and Josiah walks up to me in the garden and says "Mom, why are we putting poop in the garden, we eat the food from the garden?"
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Last night we had a beautiful day and decided to eat dinner outside on the back patio. We are eating dinner and Noah decides to tell us the birth order of all the kids, he says Austin was born first, then me, then Siah, then Alanah, then Kaianah.

Noah: Did we really all come out of your tummy Mom?

Mom: Yes, you all really came out of my tummy! (mom thinking, I have the stretch marks to prove it)

Josiah: You ate all of us?!?

Noah: We are all so big, how did we fit?

Dad: You were much smaller than you are now, you've grown since you were in mom's tummy.

Mom & Dad: We turned Josiah's comment into a joke and said that Mom was reallllly hungry and that's why she ate all of the kids. We have explained since that Mom didn't eat the kids.
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Josiah & Mom are gathering chicken eggs a couple days ago. We are walking and talking and having a nice time just the two of us. I open the chicken box and hand the eggs to Josiah to put the eggs in the basket.

Josiah: Mom, do the chickens poop the eggs out of there bottoms? How do the eggs get in the chicken?

Mom: Great question Josiah, let's ask dad when he gets home! :)

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Mom is getting ready for the day, I'm in the bathroom brushing my hair, & putting on makeup. Alanah comes in and wants to do what I'm doing.

Alanah: Mama, I need stick-stick. (stick-stick is chapstick or lipstick)

Mom: No, not right now.

Alanah: "Mama, I princess, I need stick-stick! I pretty."

Mom thinking: Oh, wow...she is such a girly girl. What's this going to be like in 10 years?? I'm scared. :)

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Easter Sunday

We started our Easter Sunday by attending church. After church we had some food prep to prepare for some family coming over. In an effort to cut down on the cost of a traditional Easter dinner we tried something new this year, our Easter dinner was a Mexican theme. We had beans, spanish rice, homemade corn tortillas, chile relleno, pork with chile verde sauce, enchiladas etc.
My Aunt Alice made this cake for Easter. The kids just LOVED it.

Alanah with one of her Easter Baskets. (With a few extra items that we didn't expect, THANK YOU Aunt Diana & Uncle John.)

Grandpa & Grandma Fitzpatrick left Easter baskets for the kids....we hid the baskets and the kids had to find them.

Kaianah enjoyed her 1 egg that doubled as a rattle.

Here's the kids Easter baskets. They are about 30 seconds behind me and I snapped this picture before they came running up to get 'em.

Uncle Rob and Uncle Mike are watching the kids hunt for eggs. (Uncle Rob had recent neck surgery thus the neck brace)

Alanah found some!

Aunt Barbara & Aunt Alice helped the kids dye Easter eggs.

Another step in our journey...

The learning never stops...as of today we are officially BEEKEEPERS. Another step in our journey to being less reliant and more sustainable.
"Dummies" pretty much says it all. Oh wow, we have SOOOO much to learn.

Okay, I just have to tell you, I'm totally scared of bees. I had to put on my big girl pants today and work through the fear. The bees were flying all around me, landing on my hat & clothes. It was a little scary but I did it!!

This is our "NUC". (yeah, I had to google the definition)

I'll save you the work: Nucs, or Nucleus Colonies, are small honey bee colonies created from larger colonies. The term refers both to the smaller size box and the colony of honeybees within it. The name is derived from the fact that a nuc hive is centered around a queen - the nucleus of the honey bee colony.

Here's our Nuc in it's proper location.

Here's Dusty smoking the bees. The smoke calms them down. (It does much more than that but I'll spare you the details)

Here's Dusty coming back after opening the hatch to release the bees. We had Alanah out with us so her and I stood back so she wouldn't be in the way or get stung. (Burger & Tri-Tip are pictured to the left, they want to see what all the buzz was about.)

Happy Birthday Miss Alanah

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALANAH NOEL DAVIS

It was 3 years ago today that Alanah came into this world...

She is such a joy in our lives and we are blessed to have her as a daughter.

We LOVE you!!!

~CLASSY~~

She ain't purdy but she'll work.

We needed something for hauling wood, materials etc. Cash being our short crop we turned our sights towards Craigslist.
Our criteria=working, registered, durable & CHEAP. We found this "beauty" for $170 and it's working out GREAT so far!!!

Greener pastures...

We wanted to plant pasture grass for the cows this year...
All this was done with a small rototiller, hand seed spreader & 3 rakes!! phew, glad that's done. :) Austin really helped with this project, he rototilled about 80% of that pasture. He's really growing up. :(

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

We love you!!

And the March birthdays continue...

It must have been a moment of insanity but my darling hubby told the kids we would take them to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate the March birthdays!
Here's Josiah with Chuck E Cheese...

Alanah was all about the hugs for the big mouse.

The kids discovered that the tickets earned from the games bought "prizes" at the Chuck E Cheese store. From that moment on it was all about earning tickets!

Grandpa & Grandma Fitzpatrick joined in the craziness.

Austin & Siah

Kaianah was scared by Chuck E Cheese but she found the delight in the statue version.

He's ready for lift off...

Chuck E Cheese is new for Alanah, she's never been. She was like a caged animal that had been let loose in the wild for the first time! She never stopped running from game to game...

All in all everyone had a BLAST. We arrived early and left just as it was starting to get packed!!

On my mind...

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

(Heb. 10:24)

Bee ready

Our new project...The BEEginners kit to raising honey bees. It arrived this week and I'm sooo excited!!
You might bee asking why?
Reasons Why:

1. We want to know where the honey comes from.
2. We want the most organic source.
3. Another step towards being less reliant on "big business".
4. Health benefits
5. Eventually cost savings (not in the 1st year)
6. Improving our garden
7. Being able to make chapstick, candles and other household products.

Here's some things you might not have read before, but very interesting.

Have you ever wondered why honey rarely spoils or molds?

The reason is because honey has potent antiseptic and antibacterial qualities which produce the following incredible results.

Research shows that honey improves:

• chronic bronchitis, bronchial asthma, sinus problems, and allergies.
  Honey has been used to combat depression, fatigue, insomnia, nervous disorders, urine retention, cramps, headaches, and high blood pressure.
  Honey soothes and beautifies the skin plus clears many skin disorders.
  Honey hastens the healing of wounds - especially burns.
  Honey aids the digestion and assimilation of other foods.
  Honey has sedative, antitoxic, laxative, and antiseptic effects.
  Honey is effective in countering anemia.
  Honey is the only food that doesn't spoil. Archaeologists found honey in the tombs of Egyptian Pharaohs. It was taste tested and found to be edible. Now, that's a long shelf life!

Well, that should give you a little insight to why we want to do this~keep us in your prayers! :)