Signing Time with Lula!

We watch more TV than the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends, but we try to stick to educational DVDs and movies.  When we need Lula to stay in one place and not get in trouble, we put on Signing Time! movies from the library.  We've gone through several sign language phases over the last nine years, starting when Shane was two years old and not talking.

I tested Lula to see how many signs she knew.  Any guesses?

Lula signs "dirty."  Hmmm, I wonder why?

She knows over 125 signs!  I couldn't remember any more myself, but I find myself adding more to my list each day!

Just now, she signed "slide" "hot" and "sit" to me, while also saying the words for hot and sit, when she tried to go down her play side with a bare behind.  Then she signed "water" so I would turn the sprinkler on the slide for her.  I know her spoken words would develop faster without that binky in her mouth, but as long as Heidi is needing one, I don't think a weaning is going to happen...

Heidi-again!

Since I don't have a baby book for Heidi (yet), I have to use this blog to keep track of important things.

Yesterday she started crawling, just one little crawl at a time, but she can also flip on to her tummy and push herself back into a sitting position...which means I never find her where I left her.  Then, also yesterday, she pulled herself to standing on Fiona.  Today, she was standing while holding on to my legs.  Then she let go and balanced.  Three times.  I see her walking early and I won't be surprised when she does.

Free Range Fail

We have this perfect scenario of letting the chickens free range for greens and bugs until 10:00 AM, then locking them in their yard until they are done laying for day, and releasing them to free range after 4:00 PM.  That schedule only works in our heads.

Shelf in the carport

We like the chickens free ranging because they will eat healthy natural foods.  And we don't have to buy pellets.

The base of the quince tree-you can tell one hen laid all those eggs

We don't like free ranging because the chickens will just feel the urge to lay an egg and lay it in any convenient place.

Behind the "papaya" tree, which isn't actually a papaya tree.  We've just called it that for so long.

If they like the convenient place, they return day after day...

Another carport shelf- How can that have been comfortable?

...and the worst thing? They move into the carport and forget all about the chicken coop.  And where a chicken lives, a chicken...well...I don't want to be gross or anything, but eggs aren't the only thing that comes out of a chicken's behind...

Another junk shelf in the carport.  Again, how can that be comfortable?

...and the carport is looking pretty bad.  Mina never let the chickens hang out in the carport.  Finding eggs in strange places was fun for the first year we had chickens, but now? I want my eggs!

Heidi [Eight Months Old]

My crazy little Heidi turns eight months old today!  I'm so thankful she was my seventh instead of my first...or second...or third.  Since I've seen my older kid's personalities develop, I know that Heidi is always going to be a spunky ball of fire.

She doesn't sit still very long, so most of my pictures of her are slightly blurry or show her getting ready to launch.  Her hair sticks straight up on top and is very fuzzy, which adds a little something to her look.  Last night, she kicked and wiggled, and I'm talking full on giant both-legs-at-one-time kicks, until she crashed to sleep around 10:30.  She immediately went into REM, so she was laughing and twitching in her sleep, but her eyes were wide open!  She has also discovered that the baby in the mirror does what she does.  Now that is entertaining! She even scared herself when the baby in the mirror screeched at her.  She is my first baby to be on a scheduled eating routine at eight months.  She loves her meats and veggies and cries if I don't have a loaded spoon waiting for her when she swallows.  She doesn't like to be away from me. Ever. So I better go get her off the porch now...

Chickens!

After four years, chickens have gotten a little old for us.  The kids are tired doing chicken chores and eating eggs.  I'm tired of free-ranging chickens pooping on my porch and laying their eggs in the bushes.  The kids will sometimes leave the eggs in the coop for a week and of course I don't notice because the eggs from the week before are still sitting around.  That's how we got:

Three black chicks and three gray chicks! 

When Mark discovered how long the eggs had been brooded, he decided to go ahead and let the hen hatch them.  That hen, by the way, is the lone remaining survivor from our first batch of chicks.  She hid in the woods the day the rest met the stew pot.  She isn't even laying eggs anymore, but she is a great brooder.
 

You can see how she has her wings spread out over the remaining eggs.

Today when I checked on them, the hen was still sitting on her unhatched eggs while keeping her little chicks close.  The food and water were far enough away that I knew she wouldn't let her chicks get to it.  After I brought the food within pecking distance, she started pecking out bits of food and dropping them right in front of her.  She started making a clucking sound I've never heard before and the little chicks started pecking away!  A few got confused and pecked her comb and wattles.  They were so cute!

VBS Week

Vacation Bible School is one activity my kids really look forward to every summer.  This is our fourth year attending at Waypoint Church.  I can't believe we've been here long enough for four straight years of attendance! 

"I want that card!"

The hardest part about VBS is getting the kids up and out the door by 8:15 every morning.  People say to me, "I don't know how you stay home with all those kids all day!  I just couldn't do it!"  Well people, I'm like I don't know how you get yourself and your kids up and fed and dressed in clean matching clothes and out the door every morning for 180 days a year! By Friday, all the homeschooling moms at VBS had this look about them.  I actually took a nap in the nursery Friday morning.

"I'm getting that card!"

Our area has experienced a huge outbreak of a noro-like virus which has been traced back to a local lake.  Over 200 people have been admitted to the hospital to treat their intestinal upset.  Norovirus is very contagious and spreads quickly, especially through cruise ships, nursing homes, daycare centers...and VBS.  I was super worried that a kid exposed to the lake came to VBS and didn't wash their hands before they went through the snack line.  I pulled the giant hand sanitizers out of the nursery and put them in the snack line.  Only two kids threw up by Friday, and that could be blamed on a bowl of ice cream followed by jumping around in the bouncy house. 

"Got the card!"

By the time we would get home after lunch, I was exhausted.  The heat wasn't kind to my disposition either.  My home was trashed by Wednesday and unbearable by Friday.  Today we are catching up. 

One of our favorite faces!

Heidi spent the week practicing her crawling skills.  She is getting so close!  She goes from sitting to launching herself by her feet into a belly flop on the floor.  She is also pulling herself up to standing!

Off With the Old...

...and on with the green and gold!

Camp Fife

My boys are back!

Shane's Tent, First Day

It goes without saying they had a wonderful time.  Mark took all the boys who are working on the hiking merit badge on a really tough hike.

It was almost 11 miles roundtrip and gained 4000 feet of elevation.  For those who don't speak hiking language, it was really steep.

The boys took a break to swim in a snow melt lake.   I think the boys have realized that any hike with Mark is going to end in some body of water, no matter what the temperature!

The clear patch in the middle is Camp Fife

Summit of Mount Baldy 7000 ft elevation

But there was more to camp than just this one hike.  Shane earned two merit badges: geology and archery.  He also swam and worked on Trail to First Class requirements.

 The camp food left them hungry all the time...

 ...so Mark resorted to foraging for crickets...

(just kidding-they were another scout's edible crickets-but Mark really ate it!)

Ian earned FOUR merit badges.  That is a LOT.  He earned First Aid and Swimming, both of which are Eagle required, and Pioneering and Archery.  He also worked on Hiking and Cooking!

Ian and Gary, the Weather Rock

Gary was built by Ian and adopted by the troop as their "pet."  Gary now has a permanent home here at Twin Firs and I will never have to use National Weather Service again.  I'm mad at NWS for telling me it is going to be hot for the next week, so Gary is a welcome addition to our home.  Plus stuff made from rocks, sticks, and lashing is cool.

Shane's Tent, Last Day

 Our troop received The Director's Award for Best Overall Troop in Spirit and Service!

I can't really say much more on the camping subject because I wasn't there, but Mark and the boys had such a wonderful time and got to know their fellow scouts even better than they knew them before.  Shane made friends with a boy that was in his Cub Scout den last year.  Ian "buried the hatchet" with his long-standing rival and bonded over talk of Zelda video games.  Mark was dad and leader to any boy who needed one (and plenty did).  I'm just happy they are home again.

Lula is Two

Watch out, world.  Lula woke up on her second birthday with her very own sound track.  Seriously.  I heard her wake up and the very first thing out of her mouth was:

Click me!

After an early nap, she went on to throw fits at dance rehersal, break a canning jar in the sink, pour rice milk all over the counter, and try to drink out of the gallon-sized milk jug.  Starting the terrible twos in style!

Surprise Miracle

Guess what Evie found when she went out to feed the chickens this morning?

Fight or flight? Fight or flight? I can't make up my mind!

If you guessed a guinea with 17 chicks waiting at the gate, you guessed right!  What a surprise!  Especially since we thought all three of our guinea were female.

Fight!  See how her back feathers are all puffed up?  She is also hissing at me.

Evie caught all the chicks (keets, actually) while the mother was eating and we got them all settled into the brooding side of the coop.  We have never had a bird go off in the woods and successfully hatch out a nest of chicks.  Mark has three nests brooding under hens right now, something that I wasn't happy about.  We already have too many chickens.  But I can't be mad about a guinea hatching her own nest in the woods. Evie has named the mama guinea "Miracle" and is completely smitten with the keets.  Now we just need to clean up the brooding side and make a proper space for them.  (Thank goodness the weather is warm; the snake is using the warming light)

Daily Daniel

Glowing red from the blanket tent he and girls constructed

Daniel amazes me with his thought processes.  The other day, he crawled into my lap and asked if "gavity" worked on planes and birds.  Lucky for him, I've gone through the flying sciences with his brothers before, so I know all the answers to his questions.  He is a natural scientist, so I've been sneaking asking a question and forming a hypothesis into his play.  "What will happen if I throw this diaper in the air? Will gravity work on it?"  That made him laugh like crazy.  When I actually threw the diaper in the air, I thought he would fall over from laughing so hard.  And yes, gravity works on diapers.

Yesterday, while I was hanging laundry, he said, "Fat people are fat because they don't exercise.  I'm not fat because I exercise.  See?" and he starts doing some weird four year old version of exercise.  Then he looked at me and said, "You don't exercise."  What are you trying to say, Daniel?

And lastly, we are on another sign language kick.  Lula refuses to give up the binkie and talk (although she is speaking more and more each day), so we are watching a lot of Signing Time! movies and learning a lot of signs.  Daniel, while getting his morning snuggle, said, "This is the sign for I hate you.  First, you sign mad.  Then you sign hurt.  And then you sign more."  Wow.  Think about that for a minute.  He's four years old and can communicate what the phrase I hate you means to him.

Off to Camp!

Ian and Shane headed off to Boy Scout camp yesterday.  They will be gone for a whole week!  Ian was gone for a week last year, but this is Shane's first time being away from home for so long.

Backpack? Check. Hiking boots? Check. Purple Purse? WHAT?

Before every camping trip, the Boy Scout troop conducts a pack inspection.  However, this year the pack inspection was overlooked.  Ian and Shane still had their packs packed from their last trip the weekend before, so anytime we asked them, "Is your pack ready?" they said, "Yes."   I'm glad that little voice inside my head said, "Do not trust those boys of yours," because when I conducted the Mom Pack Inspection, many things were missing...or belonged to someone else in the family.  Plus, the supplies needed for a one night camp out are not the same for a seven day summer camp.

Of course I miss them, but I have to say I really missed them last night when I faced a sink full of dirty dishes after a long 90 degree day of Heidi Handling.  And the silence! Ian and Shane are involved in several scuffles a day and they both crack jokes and make me laugh until my sides hurt.  Ian doesn't hug me anymore, but Shane does and I miss that too!  Saturday can't come soon enough!

July 4th

The 4th of July is more than just Independence Day for us.  We also celebrate our anniversary of moving here.  Can you believe we've been here five years?

Lighting "kids" fireworks

 My sister's family came over for the day.  We had food and fireworks.

The chickens were free ranging and came alarmingly close to our party.  They were eating broken chip pieces right next to the table.  Mina would have never let that happen.

The kids loved the parachute guys and the giant sparklers and the tanks and snakes and the marshmallows and the chocolate and graham crackers... But this was the first time in many years that Mark and I were sound asleep by 10:30? 11:00? and didn't even hear when the neighbor's fireworks ended.  We are still feeling a bit like zombies.

Grief

Some grief cannot be put into words.  Some grief can.  When we lost Taz in 2005, our neighbor across the street sent over a condolences card and chocolates.  She lost her dog several years before and remembered how hard it was to lose a much-loved companion.  A month later our neighbor died from cancer.  When Evie was born a month later, we gave her our neighbor's middle name to honor that caring, thoughtful act.  There she was, just weeks from passing herself, offering comfort to a family to lost their dog.

The day Mina came home: March 2006

People have asked how the kids are taking Mina's passing.  Anyone four years old and younger has not been affected.  Fiona is in between awareness and emotion.  She is sad, but not overly.

By one year of age, Mina was well-socialized with her "litter mates." (Ian, Shane, Evie: March 2007)

The boys are "manning up" and keeping a tight reign on their emotions.  No male tween here wants to be accused of being a cry baby and there is no way to change their minds.  They must have read that in a book somewhere, because that is not what they were taught.

Evie (7mo) pulling up on Mina.  July 2007

Evie has been the most affected outwardly.  She spent almost as much time as I did lovingly petting Mina and remembering all sorts of things.  She told me she used to pretend that Mina was her mom and she was a puppy.  Considering how much time she spent in Mina's bed as a baby and toddler, I'm not surprised.  Evie was with me when Mina started to go; I was able to send her into the house so she wouldn't have to be there at that moment. No child should have to watch their dog mama die.

Daniel and Mina: March 2014

I've taken literally tens of thousands of pictures over the last ten years.  Mina with various kids was the subject of hundreds of pictures each year! I just can't choose the best or my favorite.  I have gone through the pictures from 2006, 2007, and 2014.  I shouldn't be surprised that she shows up in most of our around the house pictures.  Just click the "dogs" subject tab on the side and you can see some of them.  Mother's Day 2007 was spent at the beach.  We took an impromptu family photo using the timer.  One picture turned out perfectly and was framed and hung on the wall.  But this one is better for today:

Mina was a member of our family and wanted to be where we were, doing whatever we were doing.  She managed to squeeze her way into our lives and hearts in ways I never knew were possible.  The grieving process continues...

In Loving, Loyal Memory

Yesterday I took Mina to the vet.  She was put on a medicine that would bring her heart rate down.  They wanted it down from 240-280 beats per minute to 120 beats per minute by Thursday (tomorrow).  Before our appointment, we went down to the pond.  It was 90 degrees outside!

Mina waits for me to catch up

Guarding to the end

These are the last four photos I took of Mina.  She barked to go outside at midnight.  And just like they normally do, Jack and Mina raced out the door to be first to chase off the cats.  After she came back in, she spent the rest of the night sleeping at the end of the hall outside our bedroom doors.  Mark and I started our morning routine of letting dogs out, brewing coffee, and heading out to the porch.  When Mina was finished with her morning trip to the pond, she lay down.  She knew she was dying.  She knew she didn't want to die inside.  And somehow, or was it just a strange coincidence?-she died five feet from where Mark planned to bury her.  She was never alone this morning; there was always someone right next to her, petting her and telling her what a good dog she was and how much she was loved.

Because really, although she drove me crazy, crazy enough to be both the title and address of this blog, she was the best dog. Mark may be my other half (he completes me), but Mina was my shadow and I'm feeling lost without her.