Curious F Goes to the Hospital

Yesterday F conducted a very interesting experiment in physics.  She wanted to see what would happen when she turned the potential energy of her pulling when I held her hand to the kinetic energy of me letting go of that hand.  She found out that when she collided with the floor in Home Depot, she created an inelastic collision and all that energy had to be broken up into different places.  Some of that energy sprained her wrist with a possible growth plate fracture!

My healthy-as-a-horse two year old, who has never had a pain killer or antibiotic, never been sick enough to see a doctor, or even seen a hospital due to the homebirths, got to go to the ER!  Why do these things always happen on weekends? 

Newton's First Law of Motion: An object at rest tends to stay at rest; an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same direction and speed.

You know, it is really hard to get a good picture of a kid that doesn't stay still and smile.  Especially when the sun starts going down and there isn't much light.

Newton's Second Law of Motion: Force is equal to mass times acceleration.  If you want that bike to move faster, pedal harder!  And equally with both feet!

Even a splinted arm doesn't slow this girl down.  As soon as we got home, she was back to riding bikes, running around outside, and I even caught her balancing tightrope-style across a 2x4 board!

Newton's Third Law of Motion: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

She has adjusted so quickly to having the splint.  Instead of holding her bag of carrots with her fingers, she holds it against her body.  She has figured out how to hold a cup.  She even learned she has a wicked weapon to defend herself with.   She has to wear the splint until she feels better and then we will follow up with her doctor in a few days.  And that's it!

Chickens

I'm sorry about all my chicken posts.  But I love these chickens.  I love their eggs, their antics, and I bet I'll love eating them someday too...chicken pot pie...yummmm!

He's No Chicken!

I'm sorry I called Kenny a chicken a few days ago when we got Chief and Mate.  He's no chicken.  He's a Macho Man!  We let Chief and Mate out of their solitary confinement and started integrating them into our flock.  Kenny made sure he was always between the hens and coop and the new guys.

"Stay away from my women!"

We haven't had any serious fighting, but we have had some scuffling and dominance shows.  I've parked my chair next to the coop to watch the boys get used to each other and be on hand if anything serious breaks out.  But they stay away from each other for the most part.

Crowing his Conquest

One funny thing that keeps happening is the escape of one Rhode Island Red:

"Let me out!"

We've caught her in the rooster's solitary confinement pen, free-ranging in the pasture, and this morning she was bedded down at the base of a fruit tree.  I've started calling her Ginger, in honor of the main character in Chicken Run.  Does that make me Mrs. Tweedy?

Ode to Mrs. Stone

Mrs. Stone was my first grade teacher.  She was my absolute favorite teacher ever.  I'm sad that my kids are going to miss out on having a teacher like her, but I'm pretty sure her style of teaching is now illegal.  We sang a  "prayer" before lunch in the form of the Johnny Appleseed song.  She made us brush our teeth after lunch.  Each student had their own numbered toothbrush.  All the toothbrushes hung on nails that were driven into a yardstick above the sink.  When we posed for our class picture, I got to stand by her!  It was the best day of my life!

But best of all, she was also my Sunday School teacher.  I was thrilled to have her as a teacher six days a week!  At the end of first grade, the church gave us all Bibles; mine was dedicated to me by her.

As the years passed, anytime I saw her at church I gave her a big hug.  I always told her she was still my favorite teacher.  I remember hugging her around her waist and snuggling into her arms, then getting taller and taller until she was hugging me around my waist!  I could see the tears in her eyes when I said she was still my favorite.

When M and I got married, she gave us a very practical gift of corning ware...which is still very much used!

And when I had my first baby, she knit him a sweater that I treasure.  Sure, it's acrylic and bright red, but Mrs. Stone made it!  And being a knitter myself, I know how long it takes to knit a baby sweater and matching hat!  I remember she said to me, "I thought I was knitting a baby sweater.  But it got bigger and bigger...I hope it will fit!"  I took pictures of IJ when the sweater fit him, but our hard drive crashed when he was six months old and we lost nearly every baby picture of him (which is why M is obsessed with backing up our data).

So here is Riley, all bundled up in Mrs. Stone's sweater, waiting for me to finish the mornin' chicken chores:

When Mrs. Stone died a few years ago, I was very sad.  She had been suffering from Alzheimer's for awhile, which explained why she didn't seem to know why I was hugging her the last time I saw her (sometime after S was born).  I was sad then too.  But I'm happy today, knowing that she is looking down from Heaven and seeing her #1 fan dress her fifth baby in a sweater knit with love in every stitch.

Silly String Windows

Today we got our new windows for the downstairs!

We were so excited.  The old windows were single paned and the condensation was terrible in the winter.  The heat is terrible in the summer.  We've been looking forward to this day for a year!

You know that practical joke when you offer someone a jar of peanuts and when they take the lid off a bunch of silly string flies out?

Breaking the Windows Out

Well first they couldn't get the windows out without breaking them first.  This is when M and I decided that I should pack the five kids up and get some soccer shopping accomplished.  Broken glass and kids are not a good combo.

Then when the got the windows out, they found a whole new project!  We can't have our windows put in until the wall is rebuilt, thanks to years of condensation running down the windows.  And the soonest they can come out is in two weeks.  That leaves us with five large open holes in our wall, all covered with plastic.  For an unknown amount of time.

And now that is it afternoon and the sun is shining on the plastic, the whole living room smells like plastic fumes and I feel like my nose is burning!

Completing Him Challenge

Last week's challenge was:  R-E-S-P-E-C-T! No complaining, criticizing, rolling your eyes, nagging, or giving him any friction this week. Enjoy a week of peace in your home!  Well, that was easy!  M wasn't even home half of last week!  But when he got home from his overnight excursions and rock concerts, I tried very hard to not complain about how Riley prevents me from getting anything done.  And how his dad makes messes in the kitchen and leaves them for me to clean up.  And how his dog wakes me up.  I saved it all for this week.

This week's challenge is:   Kiss Him Like You Mean It (and be sure the door is locked)

And guess what?  That's it!  That's the end of the Completing Him Challenge!  I did it!  And I do feel like I'm doing a 100% better job of being his other half.  We've recaptured our team spirit and are working together to get the job done (gotta love Bob the Builder-and Wendy too).

Now on to our next adventure...new windows in the downstairs and the start of soccer season!

Chief and Mate

What is M doing?

"Hmmm...this fence wasn't here yesterday!"

And what is that strange box with holes?

Rush? Isn't that a band?

 Surprise!

Introducing Chief and Mate, the latest addition to our flock!  They are Cuckoo Marans roosters that needed a new home.  They were raised from the egg by a fellow Cub Scout, who couldn't bear the thought of eating them. We offered them a home, with plenty of hens!  We will only eat them if things don't work out.

"I'm the boss of the yard!"

As soon as our other rooster, Kenny, heard the first crow, he scuttled to the farthest corner of the yard!  Chicken!  But this little lady had no problem telling the new boys who was the real boss!

The first rule with animals you might eat is never name them!  But S did anyway.  He says girls get all the luck because they get to stay alive and lay eggs.  But Chief and Mate are great names, especially considering the conversations we've been having with IJ about chicken...behavior (ahem).  So Chief and Mate they are.

"Why hello ladies!"

Of course the absolute best part about having chickens is...

BREAKFAST! or LUNCH! or DINNER!

(Check out the peanut shaped egg on the left!)

Miracle Ranch

The boys spent the week at Miracle Ranch this last week.  They went swimming, rode horses, played games, etc. etc. and had so much fun!  And thanks to technology, we were able to enjoy pictures of our kids enjoying camp!

IJ Flips for Swimming!

I remember going to camp and taking my own camera.  There was always the risk of losing my camera, the cost of developing the film, and the resulting awful pictures of people, horses, and scenery that I could never remember years later. 

Copper Ball

Now the staff takes digital pictures, uploads everything to Facebook, and I download only the pictures of my kids.  I love it!

S playing Drip, Drip, Drop

I also find out what they played during the week.  Like most kids, you ask them what they did and they say, "Rode horses.  Went swimming.  Had fun."  And that's it!

But now since I have these pictures, I find out they played Drip, Drip, Drop which is a game like Duck, Duck, Goose.  Only with water!  How fun!

IJ gets "Dropped"

I did miss the boys and didn't really like waking up early and driving an hour round trip to drop them off and another hour to pick them up.  But absence makes the heart grow fonder.  My boys gave me so much love when they got home!  And the break refreshed my spirit and recharged my energy for homeschooling.  I also enjoyed how the boys and girls reconnected after being apart so much:

Three weeks left of summer vacation!