Coyote Hunting

This past year we have had a terrible coyote problem.  They killed all of our chickens and one of our pigs.  We had no idea what to do about them until someone at church told us about the hobby of a mutual friend.  Who knew that people were actual coyote hunters?  I asked the mutual friend about his hobby, and he got very excited to have a new place to hunt.  On Friday, he and his brother, an aspiring hunter, came to the farm.  Despite the 10 degree weather, they came with their gear and set up in our back field.  They had told me not to worry about tying up the dogs, so I didn't.  I decided that was a mistake when I saw the dogs go flying past the front window.  Apparantly, they are also drawn by the horrible sound of a screeching, injured animal call that coyote hunters use this time of year.  (Different seasons have different calls.  In the winter, coyotes are hungry.)  Fortunately, the dogs have finally learned to listen and came to a halt when I whistled. 
Unfortunately, the coyotes weren't falling for that trick that day.  There were lots of tracks in the snow, which had only fallen two days prior, so my hunter friends will be out to try again another day. 
Oh, and in case you're wondering what they do with the dead coyotes, I asked.  He keeps the pelts in his garage, and is threating his wife with the idea of making them into a quilt.  Next time I see his wife, I'll suggest a nice warm coyote coat to wear while he hunts!

Good days

Despite the rain, the little ones and I are having a lovely morning.  First, they slept in until 8:00, which allowed me to get the big kids off to school, take a shower, eat breakfast, watch a bit of news, and get some laundry started.  My fibromyalgia seems to be taking a day off, as I haven't felt much pain or soreness in all of my trips up and down the steps this morning.  After the boys woke and had breakfast, we were looking out the window to find the dogs when I was thrilled to see robins all over the yard.  That is one of my favorite sights in the world, as it means these freezing cold, snowy days will come to an end in the not too distant future.  I figure, if it's nice enough for the birds, it's nice enough for us.  We got our boots on, grabbed the umbrellas, and went to stomp in puddles and slush and whatever else we could find.  It was glorious to be outside again.  Once we got back in, the boys happily played by themselves while I finished the last 20 pages of my book.  And to top it off, the two year old has done a great job telling me when he has to go to the bathroom.  They are now napping/resting peacefully in their beds, preparing for the onslaught of activity once we have to go get the big kids.
Count all of your little blessings, and you can't help but be joyful.

Odd injuries

I do believe every family has one.  That one person who is always the one to get hurt.  You may call him a klutz, accident-prone, or clumsy.  We just look at ours and say, "Huh?"  He has been like this for his entire life.  Sitting at dinner, he will simply disappear, having fallen from his chair for no reason.  He has three scars across his forhead from odd mishaps, including one monster scar from the 16 stitches he received after falling off of a swing and landing on the one rock in proximity.  We thought we were immune to it, but this week he managed t osurprise us again.  He was simply walking up the steps to go to his room.  Granted, they are a peril to anyone coming down them in socks.  He was going up.  He tripped, and was crying rather hard.  Husband checks on him, sits him on the couch and declares that he will be fine.  Thirty seconds later, my dear boy comes in with blood all over his hands and simply states, "I'm bleeding."  He was not fine.  He managed to cut open the inside upper fold of  his ear.  He had a gash that almost went through his ear.  Blood was everywhere, and it took forever to stop.  It would have been big enough for stitches, if you could actually stitch in such a place.  I applied some liquid Band-Aid, gave him some ice, and cuddled for a bit.  It already started to bruise.  The next morning, there was dried blood all through the fold of his ear.  I had to clean it all out, which made him holler, the poor guy.  It is bruised and swollen and terribly scabbed.  When he got home from school, I asked if anyone noticed it.  He said three kids did, and only one was totally grossed out.  He's hoping it gets better before gym day.  Him and me both.

Fibromyalgia and Me

After months and months of testing, we have a diagnosis.  I have fibromyalgia. 

I'm so torn about this.  I'm glad to finally have a name for the pain and fatigue I've experienced for the last year.  I'm so very sad that it is something that I will be living with for the rest of my life.  I've only known for 5 days, I've started taking medicine 2 days ago.  I'm in shock and denial.  I'll discuss it more later, but for now, I have things to do.  Thanksgiving was wonderful.  The moment we got back in town, we hit the ground running to get ready for the Christmas party we host every year the weekend after Thanksgiving.  I'm off to do laundry and decorate some more!

Vacations from the Farm

Our family loves to vacation.  We don't care where, we don't care for how long.  We just love to go.
Buying a hobby farm was a threat to that love of ours.   We can't put chickens and pigs in a kennel like we would the dogs.  It became quite a problem.
The first time we went on a trip, we hired our dentist's son to come down once a day to feed and water everyone.  He did it once, then something came up.  When we got back, we found out that our dentist actually took care of everyone.  Not exactly what we were going for, nor was it his dream for a second job.

That is when God intervened.  The family with whom we carpooled mentioned their neighbor who watches dogs left at home to make extra money.  I called her and found out that she used to live on a farm.  Not only does she know how to take care of chickens and pigs, but she could milk a cow for us if we ever decided to go that route. 

The set-up has been perfect.  She and her husband will come over with their grandchildren and stay for hours, playing with the dogs, collecting mail, feeding and watering everyone, and taking any veggies that ripen in the garden while we're gone.  They are thrilled to take the eggs the chickens lay and just spend time on the property.

We don't have to worry one bit about how everything is doing.  To be truthful, they are better at taking care of the animals than we are.  She talked about holding the chickens that first trip of ours, and I about passed out.  How exactly did she catch them?

Another blessing is that she is always available on the holidays, which is when we travel every year.  I don't know what we would do without this family.  Which reminds me, I need to call her to let her know when we're leaving.

Have a wonderful, fun-filled, great-tasting, safe Thanksgiving!

Viking, shmiking

I tried milk jugs.  I bought buckets.  I looked at paper mache, paper folding, and paper crumbling.  Duct tape had looked promising.  In the end, plain old boring cardstock was chosen.

A month and a half ago, I offered to help my eight year old's teacher to come up with an activity to go with the book How to Train Your Dragon that they read in class.  Silly me.  I thought it would be easy.  Let me just say that finding a cheap, easy way to make Viking helmets does not exist.  Oh, and they aren't cheap to purchase, either.  There are plenty of ways to make them, but none of them are good for a room full of 8 year olds to do in 15 minutes.  So, I went the simple, boring route and cut out the helmet and horns from cardstock for the kids to decorate and glue together before I stapled them to bands around their heads.

I then went through something similar to make dragons for them.  Stuffed paper dragons, foam cut-outs, or even purchasing cheap ones.  Decorate with feathers, crepe paper?  In the end, I went with photocopies of coloring pages.

It doesn't matter what I chose.  The kids will have fun as long as I sell it.  I planned to have everyone give himself a Viking name, put their individual touches on the helmets, then go on a dragon hunt.  I'd take them on a hike through and around school to the dragon den.  Each child would find his own dragon, and we'd head back.  The dragons would of course then wake up, and we'd have to run for our lives, just like the book.  We'd end up back in the classroom, where the kids would then decorate the dragons and name them.  To wrap up, any child that chose could intro himself and his dragon to the class.

Great plan.  I am excited to do it.  Then, at 5:00 am, 9 year old vomits in his bed.  Plans are shaken.  Maybe if I let him sleep, he'll feel better.  He can just stay with the younger boys with my friend who was going to watch them.  Great idea, until said friend called to say he had a child vomit in the car in the drop-off lane at school.

So, after almost two months of preparations, I had to send the supplies into school with the eight year old.  His teacher was going to carry on without me.  So much for my Viking name.

Eating on the Go

Two or three times each season, we have a night like we will tonight.  This is what we will be doing today:
2:45 pick kids up at school
3:00-4:00 8yo and 10yo piano
4:30-6:00 12yo basketball practice
6:00-7:30 9yo basketball practice
6:45-7:45 8yo basketball practice
7:30-9:00 12yo Boy Scout meeting

You might wonder, when and where will the children eat, change clothes, and do homework?  It's going to have to be the van, as it is supposed to rain this afternoon and evening. 
I made the choice years ago, when my oldest became a toddler, to avoid fast food like the plague.  It was just a matter of how.  I went to a Tupperware party and saw a lunch box that would be perfect.

 I bought three (and a fourth when the fourth child was born).  For 9 years we have used these boxes.  We've taken them on every picnic we've been on.  We've used them in the car when on road trips, so we didn't have to stop for dinner.  Every single day for an entire school year, my kids ate breakfast out of them on the way to school.  (eggs, french toast, cereal, and all)  These boxes have lived through it all.  I love them.  They are the best things I have ever purchased to help my family eat well and cheaply on the go.  Some reasons I like them so much:

1.  I can clean them in the dishwasher.
2.  I save money by not buying sandwich bags.
3.  A juice box, sandwich, cheese stick, and two sides fit in it.
4.  I don't have to worry about dirty picnic tables.  The kids eat right out of them.
5.  They save space.  All four can easily fit in our cooler, with room for my lunch and ice packs.

If you would like some, they are called Lunch-n-Things Containers.  I have no affiliation with Tupperware, and I never have.  I just want to help you out.

I'm on my way to fill them now.  So much to do, so little time.