Farm Friday - Justifiable Roostercide?

As you may know if you follow along here regularly, I have a rooster named Big Daddy.
















And he is evil incarnate.


And it is quite possible that I have killed him.


See, I was working in the barn, feeding and making some repairs to the gate and fixing up Annabelle's dog house and whatnot.

The rooster and hens were all behind me
you'd think by now I'd know better than to turn my back on him...
as I was getting ready to lift the 50lb sack of chicken feed to pour into the hopper, when alls a sudden I felt a ripping pain along my butt and backs of my legs.

Well, quick as a cat, I turned and kicked.

If your backside is getting assaulted, kick first and ask questions later, I always say. You know what I'm saying, ladies. Can I get an amen?

Well I guess I kicked pretty darn hard.
Bullseye.

Down went Big Daddy before he knew what hit kicked him.
Not just down, but down flopping and rolling around upside down and squawking like he was dying.

Well. Maybe he was actually dying, but my lord in heaven, I never saw such carryings on.

And I was so mad at him for mauling me that I stormed out and stomped to the house to get some more tools that I needed. But by the time I got back to the barn I started feeling bad. I mean, I guess I should have thought what I was doing before kicking like that. And then I saw him lying there, still mostly upside down and not moving.

OHMYGODIVEKILLEDMYROOSTER!

But when I got closer, he cocked his head and fixed his evil eye on me.

Definitely not dead. And when I took a step closer, he rolled himself over and started flopping away like that chick that claims to have dystonia from a flu vaccination gone awry.



He got himself all the way across the coop to a quiet corner and just sat there looking very morose.

"You deserve it!" I shouted to him. "Attack me. Attack ME???!!! I have half a mind to kick you again."

But then a couple of the hens walked over to this semi-dead creature and started pecking at him on his bald places.

"Nooo! Get away from him! Shooo! Can't you see he's hurt? Leave the poor man alone you traitorous bi***es!"

And I ran at them to shoo them away, but Big Daddy got scared I was comin' for him, so he started trying to run away, too.




He looked so pathetic.

"You're an idiot! Can't you see I'm just trying to help you, you twisted bas***d? Oh, I wish you were DEAD!"

He came to a lopsided rest and started getting henpecked again immediately.

"Have you no MERCY?" I screamed at the hens while waving my arms like a lunatic. "Leave him be, leave him be, man down!"

I was starting to see a pattern. This would not do.

So I took Annabelle's old dog house that I had just disassembled, and placed the top portion over him to make a cozy little house.

I made a cozy little house for the damnable beast that nearly took my life!

Since it's all open in the front, I had to move it over so the opening would be up against the chicken wire wall that separates the Hen House from the Rabbit Shack. I wasn't about to pick him up. He'd eat my fingers soon as look at me. So I kind of slowly slid the dog house to where I needed it to be, with him inside it. But the melodramatic son of a b acted like he couldn't use his legs and he just kind of rolled along in the straw like a piece of flotsam.

"You don't fool me!" I screamed at him. "You'll get no pity. You brought this on yourself!" And I continued to slide the contraption along, with him flapping and rolling inside, silently pleading with me to free him from his prison. "No chance, mister."

I finally got it over to the wall, and I made sure he had good ventilation, access to food and water, comfortable bedding, and a safe place to recuperate where the hens wouldn't peck him to death. Of course, he immediately abandoned his pretense that he was nothing but a sack of bones and feathers, and he got up and started strutting around his new digs, plotting his escape, no doubt.

I need to do a Google search to see if I can get him a straight jacket and mask a la Hannibal Lechter. You know, one that's made just for roosters. Anyone know of a good source?

So although what I should have done with this demonic foul was wring his neck and put him in a soup pot, instead I made him a cozy little house.

I made him a nice little rooster rehab so he can recover and get his strength back and make another attempt at my life!

I am an enabler.

I am a rooster enabler.

And I need help.






Image courtesy: squidoo.com

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Don't forget, I will love you forever if you throw me a vote on Top Mommy Blogs. You know the drill by now, don't you? Just click the juggling chick and you've voted. You can vote every day till like, forever.



Thanks!


***************

In case you didn't know it, I'm like the queen of blog-hoppin' lately. It's kind of like square dancing but without the dated outfits, smelly gym, and elderly caller.

Here's the schedule I keep:
Monday: Homestead Revival's Barn Hop
Tuesday: Heavenly Homemaker's Gratituesday
and Wrinkled Mommy's Tuesday Archive Link-Up
Wednesday: My Life and Kids Finding the Funny
Thursday: A Rural Journal's Rural Thursday Blog Hop
Friday: Deborah Jean's Dandelion House's Farmgirl Friday
Saturday: Camera Critter's Life With Dogs Pet Blogger Hop and Country Momma Cooks Saturday Link-Up

Since today is Friday, that means I'm linking today's post with The Chicken Chick's Clever Chicks, Deborah Jean's Dandelion House's Farmgirl Friday, but I'll also be linking this same post up with some of the hops listed above in the coming week. Come join the fun!

Mind-Bloggling

I'm having a serious identity crisis. It's bad enough I don't know what kind of Mom to be from one moment to the next, I don't even know what kind of blogger to be, either.

When I joined up with Top Mommy Blogs, I had to choose a category for my blog.
This was not easy, my friend. Not easy at all.


I have an adoption blog.
No, a family life blog.
Maybe I'm more of a humor blog.
No, not quite.
Special needs?
Pets, perhaps.
Stay at home? House and garden? Hobby?

I don't know, I don't KNOW, I tell you!

When I be-bop around the blogs I follow, I get confused and jealous. Everyone seems to be secure in their identities but me.

I read Nicole from Ninja Mom and I think, she's a humor writer. She has such a clever sense of humor and she's relatable and funny. I want to be like her.

But then next I read Jen from People I Want To Punch in the Throat or Kim from Let Me Start By Saying and I say to myself, I want to be irreverantly snarky and pee-your-pants funny like them. Just call it like it is and make no apologies.

Or like Allison from Motherhood, WTF? who, when she writes about the frustrations of raising her tykes, leaves me wiping a tear or two from my eyes (and perhaps my legs), and saying, yeah, I know, I KNOW!

After drying my tears of laughter, I'm on down the list to Lori from Five of My Own. She crystallizes what I feel about adoption. She moves mountains to help the orphans in this world, and I am left feeling like I want to do more. I need to do more. I WILL do more, by God!

But the second I get down off my bloggy soapbox, I read Alphamamma from Kate's Wish or Denise from Fostering a Blessing and I think, that's who I want to be. Just write about the good times and the bad, the ups and the downs, of life in a crazy family with older adopted kids, dealing with RAD and PTSD, helping others to become aware....

Then once I start feeling all introspective and home/family-centered, I read Laura from Heavenly Homemakers and think, that's it. Simple. Homemaking. Family. Spiritual. Keep it grounded, keep it soothing.

Homemaking? Home cooked meals? How about
Ree Drummond from Confessions of a Pioneer Woman? She blogs about her family, her ranch, great recipes for yummy comfort food. And she does it all while managing to be laugh-out-loud funny in a G-rated way. I want to be able to do that. You don't need to drop the F-bomb every third word to be funny! And she's got a relatively big family and lots of animals, just like me!





For that matter, so does Sam from My Barefoot Farm! And she keeps a clean blog, too! She's the consummate homemaker, she raises seven kids and milks a cow and she keeps bees and she quilts and homeschools! I want to be like HER, dammit!

But I feel like I don't always have enough going on to keep that kind of a blog full and interesting. I don't have a cow. I don't have bees. I don't homeschool. My life is so dull.

So maybe I'll be more like Roosterinn from What to Blog About and make it a mix of what's going on now, plus quaint stories of days-gone-by, and throw in a little good cookin' to boot.

But what about the humor stuff and the adoption stuff and the large family and special needs and grounded-spiritual-homemaking stuff!!???

Like a middle school girl, I don't know who I want to be. I asked this identity question once at a blog conference, and was told in a placating way, "just be yourself". But if being myself means I closely resemble Sybil in a mental line-up, I don't really know how that helps me.

Guess I'll just have to be OK with who I am, and what my blog is. It won't be all things to all people, but that's alright. I'm not all things to all people either.

I can live with it.


********


All that being said, give me a shout and let me know what it is you like to read about on my blog! I would love to know....



****************************


Don't forget, I will love you forever if you throw me a vote on Top Mommy Blogs. You know the drill by now, don't you? Just click the juggling chick and you've voted. You can vote every day till like, forever.



Thanks!

***************

In case you didn't know it, I'm like the queen of blog-hoppin' lately. It's kind of like square dancing but without the dated outfits, smelly gym, and elderly caller.

Here's the schedule I keep:
Monday: Homestead Revival's Barn Hop and A Cat-Like Curiosity's Monday Mantras.
Tuesday: Heavenly Homemaker's Gratituesday
and Wrinkled Mommy's Tuesday Archive Link-Up
Wednesday: My Life and Kids Finding the Funny
Thursday: A Rural Journal's Rural Thursday Blog Hop
Friday: Deborah Jean's Dandelion House's Farmgirl Friday
Saturday: Camera Critter's Life With Dogs Pet Blogger Hop and Country Momma Cooks Saturday Link-Up

Since today is Thursday, that means I'm linking my post "What the....?" with A Rural Journal's Rural Thursday Blog Hop.


Come join the fun!

Wordless Wednesday

First Day of School!

Monday for oldest five, Wednesday for the youngest.


Patrick, high school senior.

James, high school junior.

Rosie, high school freshman.

Bella, middle school 8th grader.

Julie, middle school 8th grader.

The motley crew.

Here comes the bus....

Have a nice day, my dears....

Bwahaha!





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Daniel, weird private school mix of 8th and 9th grade.

Yes.
That is an Amish hat he's wearing.


************

Hello? Is this thing on? For some reason, my ratings on the Top Mommy Blog thing have been slipping lately, though my blog views are way up (thanks to all my awesome followers, new and old!). Can you take a sec to vote so I can get back on the first page? I hate not being in the top 25. Just click on this brown button with the juggling chick. You can vote every day till like, forever.



Thanks!


***************

In case you didn't know it, I'm like the queen of blog-hoppin' lately. It's kind of like square dancing but without the dated outfits, smelly gym, and elderly caller.

Here's the schedule I keep:
Monday: Homestead Revival's Barn Hop
Tuesday: Heavenly Homemaker's Gratituesday
and Wrinkled Mommy's Tuesday Archive Link-Up
Wednesday: My Life and Kids Finding the Funny
Thursday: A Rural Journal's Rural Thursday Blog Hop
Friday: Deborah Jean's Dandelion House's Farmgirl Friday
Saturday: Camera Critter's Life With Dogs Pet Blogger Hop and Country Momma Cooks Saturday Link-Up

Since today is Wednesday, that means I'm linking up my post "Comin' Atya Live" with My Life and Kids Finding the Funny. Come join the fun!

A Tip for Tuesday

OK, for all you Moms of school aged kids out there, I'ma gonna lay a tip on ya'.

And I'm even going to play off my recent post "I Hate Frugality."

All those leftover notebooks of your kids from last year? You're going to repurpose one of them to be used as a
Sh** I Have To Sign For School Notebook.

I've just taken a run-of-the-mill comp book, ripped all the used pages out (recycled them, of course), and if I sign something for school? I write it down in the notebook.



[I have not yet gotten crafty with my notebook. This is the sad state I found it in.]

Now, I just keep a simple running tab. New date, new sh** to sign, new page.

I write down the date I received it, what the form was (like a permission slip, the parent/teacher contract, syllabus, whatever), and when it was sent back in with the kid.



Then later, when I get one of those e-mails from a teacher that says,

"Thanks to all the parents who sent in the blah-blah-blah. Your cooperation is appreciated. For those schmucks who haven't sent it in yet, get your act together. We all know who you are and we laugh about your ineptitude in carline."





I can confidently pull out my trusty
Sh** I Have To Sign For School Notebook.
and see at a glance if indeed I did send in the blah-blah-blah or if it is truly time to panic.

Now, you can go ahead and get all fancy with it if you want. Three kids? How about a 3-subject notebook? Whatever floats your boat. Point is, write it down. Because if you're anything like me, no WAY you can keep it all straight up in your noggin.

And there you have....

My Tip For Tuesday!

You're welcome.





*********************

Don't forget to vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs! Just click on this brown button with the juggling chick. You can vote every day till like, forever.



Thanks!


***************

In case you didn't know it, I'm like the queen of blog-hoppin' lately. It's kind of like square dancing but without the dated outfits, smelly gym, and elderly caller.

Here's the schedule I keep:
Monday: Homestead Revival's Barn Hop
Tuesday: Heavenly Homemaker's Gratituesday
and Wrinkled Mommy's Tuesday Archive Link-Up
Wednesday: My Life and Kids Finding the Funny
Thursday: A Rural Journal's Rural Thursday Blog Hop
Friday: Deborah Jean's Dandelion House's Farmgirl Friday
Saturday: Camera Critter's Life With Dogs Pet Blogger Hop and Country Momma Cooks Saturday Link-Up

Since today is Tuesday, that means I'm linking my post "Comin' Atya Live" with Wrinkled Mommy's Tuesday Archive Link-Up, and "It's Good to be Home" with Heavenly Homemaker's Gratituesday.


Come join the fun!

Mirth Monday: Comin' Atya Live

Five of the six started school today.

Posted this on my old blog last year. It's my comical view of the goings-on of the first day of school.

What would the commentators say at YOUR house?


*****************



Thank you for joining us live at the farmhouse on this beautiful morning. I'm Earl E. Rizer ....

And I'm Dewey Riley Kaire ....

And we'll be covering the Annual First Day of School event for you all morning.

That's right Earl. This much anticipated event pits two formidable enemies against each other: Mommankidz vs The Bus. We've got a bird's eye view of the Mommankidz team, who should be appearing on the scene any moment now, as well as audio feed that will give us live updates on The Bus as things unfold.

Although Mommankidz has a pretty strong track record, there are those that wonder how they'll fare in this event. My sources tell me that instead of using the summer to train, they've been undisciplined in their sleep habits and have only worked together as a cohesive team on a handful of occassions all summer long.

That's right Earl. In contrast, The Bus is fully prepared. It's been washed, fueled, tuned-up, and had a strong performance in the Bus Rodeo over the summer.

This will be an interesting competition to say the least ....

And here they come now, onto the field. It's just Mom at the moment but she's giving a strong first impression as she appears to be showered and dressed.

She's heading straight to the coffee pot, no surprise there, and then over to the stove. She seems to be doing something .... Dewey, it looks like she's making breakfast.

Well, Earl, that's an impressive start as they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I don't think anyone was expecting that.

Maybe they have a stronger shot at this than we thought. Do you think ....

Hold that thought, Earl, I believe another player is arriving on the scene. Yes, it's #1, in the position of high school freshman. Will he be a help or a hindrance to this team, do you think, Earl?

Hard to say, Dewey, hard to say. He's walking over to Mom .... he gives her a hug!

Wow, great move. But let's see how he handles breakfast. He looks into the pot ....and he smiles! He helps himself to a bowl of the steaming oatmeal as the crowd goes wild. This is a very strong start for Team Mommankidz.

And here come #2 and #3, both in the position of middle schoolers. On their heels is player #5. Anything could happen now, and the crowd seems to be holding its collective breath.

Earl, they've ALL taken bowls of oatmeal and have sat down to eat! Is there no stopping this team?

Yes, things are looking incredibly good for this team, but let's not forget it is early in the game, and not all the players have joined us yet.

Well, but here comes #6, the youngest player on the team. These rookies can be a handful and it takes a strong coach to keep their energies in check. Let's watch what happens ....

Dewey, it looks like he's walking over to the pot .....he looks in..... and he makes a face. Now he's whining! Oh, this is bad news for Mom. They argue for a bit .... and now he is heading to the freezer for frozen waffles. Disaster averted for the moment.

Earl, I have to wonder where player #4 is. She seems to be the only one missing at this point.

Perhaps the alarm clock fairy didn't call on her this morning, Dewey. Let's see if Mom is aware of this. She's watching the other players eat breakfast.... she sips her coffee .....she sneaks a look at the clock and by golly there she goes, up the stairs like a jackrabbit. She's a pretty, er, seasoned member of this team, but she's got speed when she needs it.

And here she comes back down the stairs with a confused and sleepy looking player #4. Mom has a bowl of oatmeal in front of her before you can say "what's for breakfast".

Dewey, I've just gotten word that the Busdriver is in the Bus. I repeat, the Busdriver is IN the Bus. The engines are revved and the wheels are rolling.

This makes things interesting, Earl. Mommankidz has had a pretty smooth start to this competition, but there's a long way to go and anything could happen.

Back at the Farmhouse, the dishes are cleared and they're moving on to teeth and hair. Mom is directing her players left and right and there's lots of movement. Oooh, player #4 seems to have a knot in her hair. Mom rushes to the scene and applies tangle spray and goes to work getting the tangle out. The player winces. That's gotta hurt.

Earl, it looks like there's trouble in the bathroom. The players are fighting over who was at the sink first and whose toothpaste is whose for crying out loud.

Dewey, Mom's no newcomer to multitasking, but let's see how she handles this. It looks like she's got #4 by the hair and is sidestepping her over to where she has line of sight to the bathroom. She's still working on that tangle, and now she is calling out to the players in the bathroom.

Earl, it's times like these that I'm glad we can't actually hear what they're saying out on the field, because it doesn't look pretty, my friend.

Well, whatever it is, it seems to have had some effect. The players in the bathroom are brushing their teeth like nobody's business.

And the last of the tangle seems to have been conquered as well, Earl. Looks like this team is back on track.

Dewey, this just in from the feed on the opponent. The bus is IN town at this point and scooping up kids like a giant hungry python.

It's as if Mom has psychic powers because she seems to sense this too. She's kicking things into high gear and there's lots of action on that field right now, things are moving in a blur:
Sandwiches seem to have magically appeared and I see players shoving them into lunchboxes. I see others running to the pantry for snacks and some heading to the refrigerator for drinks. It's a miracle they don't trip over each other in this madness.
Players are now running every which way and it seems they are donning shoes. The rookie stands in the middle of the frey, one shoe in hand, the solitary still figure among a blur of arms and legs dashing about. He seems to be in trouble. I can only guess at this point that he can't find his other shoe, Earl.

This could spell defeat for Mommankidz, Dewey, because if he sets foot on that Bus in his barefeet, it's game over for Mommankidz.

And speaking of The Bus, I'm receiving word right now that it has left town and is headed for the Farmhouse. Looks like it's now or never for Mommankidz, Earl.

Player #5 has just spotted The Bus out of the window. She leans her head back and yells "Buuuuuussssssss" at the top of her lungs. Oh my God, now everyone on the team is running. The team mascot begins barking his fool head off. Everyone is grabbing backpacks and lunchboxes. Mom's on her hands and knees peering under the sofa and .... what's this? She HAS FOUND THE SHOE! She stands up, reaches her arm back and throws a Hail Mary across two rooms. THE ROOKIE CATCHES THE SHOE!

Oh my GOD, I think they're gonna make it. Mom races to the door and all the players file past her. Kisses and fond words are exchanged as they walk out the door and down the walk.

The bus pulls up to the house ... the doors open .... and all the players begin to step in! But what about the rookie?

Earl, he's hopping down the walk, still putting his shoe on even as he approaches The Bus. The last of his teammates has vanished from sight. Will he make it and secure victory for this team?

HE DOES! His shoe is on and he is ON The Bus, I repeat, he is ON The Bus! The crowd is on its feet and going wild! This is a HUGE upset for The Bus and an incredible victory for Team Mommankidz.

That's right Earl, they'll be talking about this one for some time. I guess Mom still has a few moves left in her after all ......




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Image courtesy: blog.educaedu.com

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Don't forget, I will love you forever if you throw me a vote on Top Mommy Blogs. You know the drill by now, don't you? Just click the juggling chick and you've voted. You can vote every day till like, forever.



Thanks!



***************

In case you didn't know it, I'm like the queen of blog-hoppin' lately. It's kind of like square dancing but without the dated outfits, smelly gym, and elderly caller.

Here's the schedule I keep:
Monday: Homestead Revival's Barn Hop and A Cat-Like Curiosity's Monday Mantras Link-Up
Tuesday: Heavenly Homemaker's Gratituesday
and Wrinkled Mommy's Tuesday Archive Link-Up
Wednesday: My Life and Kids Finding the Funny
Thursday: A Rural Journal's Rural Thursday Blog Hop
Friday: Deborah Jean's Dandelion House's Farmgirl Friday
Saturday: Camera Critter's Life With Dogs Pet Blogger Hop and Country Momma Cooks Saturday Link-Up

Since today is Monday, that means I'm linking my post "What the....?" with Homestead Revival's Barn Hop, and yesterday's post "Inspiration Sunday" with A Cat-Like Curiosity's Monday Mantras. Come join the fun!

Image courtesy: aueagles.com

Inspiration Sunday

Image courtesy: Kaitlin Sara
via Pinterest



*************************

Don't forget, I will love you forever if you throw me a vote on Top Mommy Blogs. You know the drill by now, don't you? Just click the juggling chick and you've voted. You can vote every day till like, forever.



Thanks!

It's Good to be Home

Got home either very late Thurs or very early Fri, depending on whether you're a glass half-full or half-empty kinda person.

At this point I'm more of a give-me-that-%#@*-glass-and-let-me-drain-it kinda person.

We drove home from New Hampshire earlier than our planned check-out time b/c all of a sudden I had one of those out of calendar experiences when I remembered two of the girls had their BFF's BD party coming up.

Was it Fri night or Sat night?

Like responsible Moms everywhere, I solved the problem by asking one of my scatterbrained teens to check it out. SO she texted her friend and then the friend texted her back and then the scatterbrained teen confirmed my fear: the party was indeed on Friday.

Shoot.

So we broke the news to the kids that we would be leaving early, and we packed up clothes and food and wet towels and bathing suits and we cleaned and did laundry and washed dishes and stripped beds and loaded down Beulah till she creaked and groaned in protest and we cried our goodbyes to our friends and we stuffed six petulant children in very tightly with their pillows and snacks and DVDs and books and sweatshirts and cellphones.

And we drove and we drove and we drove through the wee hours of the night and morning from New Hampshire to Massacheussets to Connecticut to New York to New Jersey to Pennsylvania.

Me: Kids I think you did a really good job cleaning out the house today...

Kids: Why do we have to clean, isn't there like a person who does that?

Me: Did you enjoy your vacation?

Kids: It's so dumb that we had to leave early.

Me: What was your favorite part?

Kids: I don't know.

Me: What did you do today?

Kids: I don't know.

Me: What will be the best part about being home?

Kids: I don't know.

Me: Oh look, we're making such good time. We're already almost out of New Hampshire!

Kids: I can't feel my foot.
How come I have to sit in the back middle? I want to sit in the middle side.
Are we almost there?
Did you bring any chips?
Ah-choo!
Can we watch a movie?
I don't want to watch a movie.
Ah-choo!
How come we didn't pack any good movies?
I think I left my laptop in the parking lot.
Are we almost there?
Ah-choo!
Can you tell him to stop sneezing? It's so annoying.
Miss Dee said we shouldn't walk back after dark because the teddy bears come out.
Ah-choo!
I can't feel my whole leg.
He always gets the best seat, it's no fair!
Are we almost there?
What's that smell?
I'm freezing!
It's so hotttttt in here!
Ah-choo!
He flicked me.
He made a face at me.
She's squishing me.
I can't hear the movie.
Who chose this movie? It's dumb.
The movie is too loud.
Are we almost there?
What's that smell?
I'm hungry.
I'm thirsty.
I have to go to the bathroom.
How much longer?
It's too cold in here.
It's too hot in here.
I have no feeling below my waist.
Are we almost there?



Repeat on a loop for nine hours, through six states, from evening to night to 3 in the morning.



So we finally made it home, and we brought most of the stuff in, and we got bowled over by our dogs that honest-to-God thought they'd never see us again, and we thought to ourselves,
does our house always smell this bad?
and we crashed into our beds at near 4 in the morning and slept till 11.

And Friday morning, I'm sitting at my computer and I'm going through emails and getting caught up with things, when I glance up at the calendar to see if I'd already written in a soccer practice time, and I notice that Friday is all blank. Like completely blank.
That's odd
I thought to myself.
Why didn't I write in the time for the BD party?
And then I plucked the invitation off the bulletin board, and I opened it up, and I read
Saturday, August 25th, 5pm.

Saturday, August 25th, 5pm.

And the mother gods are laughing down at me, the calendar-challenged.

Ah well. One more nice relaxing day at home before school starts on Monday.

I can just sit back and relax.

And oversee the kids finishing up the last of their summer math and reading assignments, and clean the house, and buy milk and coffee creamer, and find my missing bedside lamp, amd rearrange the refrigerator the way I'm used to it, and unpack, and do laundry, and get the kids to clean the pool and cut the grass and clean out my car, and get an earful of what they think of having to clean the pool and cut the grass and clean out my car in their last three days of summer vacation.


I would say I need a vaction, but I'd just have to go through all of the above once again.

Perhaps what I really need is a nice stay at a rest home for the feeble-minded.






But it's good to be home.....









Image courtesy: simplyforties.com
(in other words, not my actual car)

*************


Don't forget, I will love you forever if you throw me a vote on Top Mommy Blogs. You know the drill by now, don't you? Just click the juggling chick and you've voted. You can vote every day till like, forever.



Thanks!


***************

In case you didn't know it, I'm like the queen of blog-hoppin' lately. It's kind of like square dancing but without the dated outfits, smelly gym, and elderly caller.

Here's the schedule I keep:
Monday: Homestead Revival's Barn Hop and A Cat-Like Curiosity's Monday Mantras.
Tuesday: Heavenly Homemaker's Gratituesday
and Wrinkled Mommy's Tuesday Archive Link-Up
Wednesday: My Life and Kids Finding the Funny
Thursday: A Rural Journal's Rural Thursday Blog Hop
Friday: Deborah Jean's Dandelion House's Farmgirl Friday
Saturday: Camera Critter's Life With Dogs Pet Blogger Hop and Country Momma Cooks Saturday Link-Up

Since today is Saturday, that means I'm linking my post "Farm Friday - What the....?" with Country Momma Cooks Saturday Link-Up, and with Camera Critter's Life With Dogs Pet Blogger Hop.
Come join the fun!

Farm Friday - A Re-Post

Since I will be suffering in silence agitated misery during my 10 hours on the road with my six sweet darlings dozen and a half minions from hell today, I thought I'd give myself a little break and post something to my blog that has already seen the light of the screen once before.

Please don't judge....


**********************



What the....


Fred: (peering down at a small quantity of brown something-or-other on the floor by the kitchen door) What is that?
Bella: (squatting down and looking real close) I don't know.
Fred: Is it poop?
Bella: (zooming in real close. Picks it up, smells it, puts it back down) Yep. It's poop. (Walks away)



Only in my family.



PS: To clarify, it was a piece of muck from the barn that I tracked in earlier without realizing. Poop definitely high on the list of ingredients, but it makes me feel slightly better to qualify it in this way.

PPS: Yes, Bella did wash her hands.
Yes, it did get cleaned up.





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Don't forget, I will love you forever if you throw me a vote on Top Mommy Blogs. You know the drill by now, don't you? Just click the juggling chick and you've voted. You can vote every day till like, forever.



Thanks!


***************

In case you didn't know it, I'm like the queen of blog-hoppin' lately. It's kind of like square dancing but without the dated outfits, smelly gym, and elderly caller.

Here's the schedule I keep:
Monday: Homestead Revival's Barn Hop
Tuesday: Heavenly Homemaker's Gratituesday
and Wrinkled Mommy's Tuesday Archive Link-Up
Wednesday: My Life and Kids Finding the Funny
Thursday: A Rural Journal's Rural Thursday Blog Hop
Friday: Deborah Jean's Dandelion House's Farmgirl Friday
Saturday: Camera Critter's Life With Dogs Pet Blogger Hop and Country Momma Cooks Saturday Link-Up

Since today is Friday, that means I'm linking today's post with Deborah Jean's Dandelion House's Farmgirl Friday, but I'll also be linking this same post up with some of the hops listed above in the coming week. Come join the fun!

5 Things Children Learn From Their Pets - A Guest Post

Today I am happy to welcome Roxanne Porter as a guest poster. She has written a great post on what kids learn from their pets. Be sure to check out her bio and link at the end of the post.

Thanks, Roxanne, take it away!



5 Things Children Learn From Their Pets


We’ve all seen pictures of children with their pets, and it’s not unusual for those pictures to conjure up feelings of nostalgia of times spent with your own first pet as a child, or to invoke a certain wistfulness of how much you longed for a pet growing up. This is largely because the relationship that a child has with his first pet is one that is unparalleled; the devotion that a pet will show to its owner and the lessons that children learn from their pets are ones that have the power to stick with them for a lifetime. Here are five things that children learn from their pets:
1. Unconditional love. Pets are notorious for offering unconditional love to their owners, and have no problem lavishing affection on those that take care of them, cuddling up to them to let them know they want to be near. This friendliness teaches children to operate with the same unconditional love and acceptance of their family members, friends, and peers.

2. Responsibility. Taking care of a pet is no small feat, and kids learn this quickly when they are forced to take their dog for a daily walk or that they have to clean out the cat litter box every morning. This sense of responsibility will spill over into other aspects of their lives, and will also give them a sense of accomplishment and pride in a job well done.

3. Patience. It takes time to train a pet to behave a certain way, especially when they are young, and pets will make mistakes from time to time. Children learn to have patience during these instances because they realize that their pet is just like a human and will falter on occasion.

4. Approach life with fervor. You rarely see a pet that is well taken care of having a bad day, and they often approach life with unconditional happiness and fervor. Seeing this joy for life is something that kids can then embody in their everyday life, living with a positive outlook instead of a negative one.

5. How to listen. Pets often act as silent confidants for children, and have acted as the holder of secrets, private information, and dreams and aspirations for kids all over the world. This character trait is one that children can pick up and apply in their own lives, listening unwaveringly to friends and family in times of need.
The lessons that children learn from their pets are lessons that they are able to take with them into the many different stages of their lives. Seeing a child with his pet is one of the most joyful things you can see, and each depends on the other to guide and to learn.






Author Bio:

Roxanne Porter is a freelancer & a regular contributor for nannyjobs.org. She helps in providing knowledge about nanny services & love writing on nanny related articles. She helps in giving a fair knowledge about nanny Jobs to the community. You can be in touch with her at “r.poter08ATgmail.com”.






Thanks, Roxanne!

****************************


Don't forget, I will love you forever if you throw me a vote on Top Mommy Blogs. You know the drill by now, don't you? Just click the juggling chick and you've voted. You can vote every day till like, forever.



Thanks!

***************

In case you didn't know it, I'm like the queen of blog-hoppin' lately. It's kind of like square dancing but without the dated outfits, smelly gym, and elderly caller.

Here's the schedule I keep:
Monday: Homestead Revival's Barn Hop and A Cat-Like Curiosity's Monday Mantras.
Tuesday: Heavenly Homemaker's Gratituesday
and Wrinkled Mommy's Tuesday Archive Link-Up
Wednesday: My Life and Kids Finding the Funny
Thursday: A Rural Journal's Rural Thursday Blog Hop
Friday: Deborah Jean's Dandelion House's Farmgirl Friday
Saturday: Camera Critter's Life With Dogs Pet Blogger Hop and Country Momma Cooks Saturday Link-Up

Since today is Thursday, that means I'm linking my post "Farm Friday - Good Help is Hard to Find"
with A Rural Journal's Rural Thursday Blog Hop.


Come join the fun!

Wordless Wednesday

Fun times on vay-cay...

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Hello? Is this thing on? For some reason, my ratings on the Top Mommy Blog thing have been slipping lately, though my blog views are way up (thanks to all my awesome followers, new and old!). Can you take a sec to vote so I can get back on the first page? I hate not being in the top 25. Just click on this brown button with the juggling chick. You can vote every day till like, forever.



Thanks!


***************

In case you didn't know it, I'm like the queen of blog-hoppin' lately. It's kind of like square dancing but without the dated outfits, smelly gym, and elderly caller.

Here's the schedule I keep:
Monday: Homestead Revival's Barn Hop
Tuesday: Heavenly Homemaker's Gratituesday
and Wrinkled Mommy's Tuesday Archive Link-Up
Wednesday: My Life and Kids Finding the Funny
Thursday: A Rural Journal's Rural Thursday Blog Hop
Friday: Deborah Jean's Dandelion House's Farmgirl Friday
Saturday: Camera Critter's Life With Dogs Pet Blogger Hop and Country Momma Cooks Saturday Link-Up

Since today is Wednesday, that means I'm linking up my post "Family of Eight Says What?" with My Life and Kids Finding the Funny. Come join the fun!

A Tip for Tuesday - Chore Boards

When our kids keep up with their chores and responsibilities, they earn privileges such as later bedtime, an extra soda, a pack of gum, extra screen time, that kind of thing.

Trouble is, with eleventybillion kids in this family, and about three brain cells left, I lose track pretty quickly of who's earned what, and who has what chores, and who woke up late and who's taking this Friday's soda next Tuesday.

So we use chore boards.

Each kid has a small dry erase board on the fridge. Down the left-hand column are all their daily responsibilities, and a place for their weekly rotating chores (on a magnet that I can move from one board to the next each week).

Lets me keep track of things like getting up on time, getting themselves ready for school (including remembering to pack their lunch, sneakers if it's gym day, homework, etc), treating others respectfully, doing their homework, doing their chores, you know, kid work.

Marks are tallied, privileges are earned, negotiations are made.

In our house, we have five major rotating chores:
dishwasher (empty once or twice a day)
pets and trash (feeding pets, taking out trash and recycling)
barn (taking Annabelle to the barn every night, letting her out in morning)
dinner helper (helps make dinner)
table helper (sets and clears table, puts away leftovers, washes non-d/w items)

We also have a million other chores that are assigned at random, and are not included in the weekly rotating chores. Things like cutting the grass, pulling weeds, running the vacuum, straightening up as needed. We just count those as "extras".

Since we have six kids, that means one of them gets a "star of the week" free pass. Much coveted.



So I like chore boards. Helps shape them up, makes clear my expectations, and lets them earn rewards for a job well done.

Of course, if you have some old dry erase boards that need repurposing, you can use my trick I posted here last week.

Have fun creating your own!






*********************

Don't forget to vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs! Just click on this brown button with the juggling chick. You can vote every day till like, forever.



Thanks!


***************

In case you didn't know it, I'm like the queen of blog-hoppin' lately. It's kind of like square dancing but without the dated outfits, smelly gym, and elderly caller.

Here's the schedule I keep:
Monday: Homestead Revival's Barn Hop
Tuesday: Heavenly Homemaker's Gratituesday
and Wrinkled Mommy's Tuesday Archive Link-Up
Wednesday: My Life and Kids Finding the Funny
Thursday: A Rural Journal's Rural Thursday Blog Hop
Friday: Deborah Jean's Dandelion House's Farmgirl Friday
Saturday: Camera Critter's Life With Dogs Pet Blogger Hop and Country Momma Cooks Saturday Link-Up

Since today is Tuesday, that means I'm linking my post "Beulah as Biographer" with Wrinkled Mommy's Tuesday Archive Link-Up, and my post "Mother of the Year Award" with Heavenly Homemaker's Gratituesday


Come join the fun!

Mirth Monday

************

Don't forget, I will love you forever if you throw me a vote on Top Mommy Blogs. You know the drill by now, don't you? Just click the juggling chick and you've voted. You can vote every day till like, forever.



Thanks!



***************

In case you didn't know it, I'm like the queen of blog-hoppin' lately. It's kind of like square dancing but without the dated outfits, smelly gym, and elderly caller.

Here's the schedule I keep:
Monday: Homestead Revival's Barn Hop and A Cat-Like Curiosity's Monday Mantras Link-Up
Tuesday: Heavenly Homemaker's Gratituesday
and Wrinkled Mommy's Tuesday Archive Link-Up
Wednesday: My Life and Kids Finding the Funny
Thursday: A Rural Journal's Rural Thursday Blog Hop
Friday: Deborah Jean's Dandelion House's Farmgirl Friday
Saturday: Camera Critter's Life With Dogs Pet Blogger Hop and Country Momma Cooks Saturday Link-Up

Since today is Monday, that means I'm linking my post "Good Help is Hard to Find" with Homestead Revival's Barn Hop, and yesterday's post "Inspiration Sunday" with A Cat-Like Curiosity's Monday Mantras. Come join the fun!

Inspiration Sunday

Image courtesy: Torie Prichett
via Pinterest


*************************

Don't forget, I will love you forever if you throw me a vote on Top Mommy Blogs. You know the drill by now, don't you? Just click the juggling chick and you've voted. You can vote every day till like, forever.



Thanks!

Outa Town, Outa Touch

As my GPS would say, I have arrived at my destination.

We're on vacation in New Hampshire, arrived last night. And it is a lovely condo in a lovely mountain lake resort, and we are here with our lovely friends.

Fresh mountain air; clear, cool creek babbling just outside our window; plenty of things for the kids, the family, to do; good friends, wine....

Only two problems...

1) No A/C. It should be cool for sleeping, but it's kinda hot and sticky for our spoiled family (myself included).

2) No internet at the unit we're staying at. There's internet at the rec center, but that means we'll have to leave the creature comforts of our home away from home every time we want to log in. Boo. I may just go into withdrawal. Wah.

I am strong. I will survive this.

Anyway, if I'm off my bloggy game over the next week, there is a good reason.




Now. As to us "going Amish" like I wrote a couple days ago. In case you haven't already figured it out from yesterday's post, my sister Mary Birdsong is involved in a show (Spirit Seeker) that is being filmed at my house.

Six of the cast and crew arrived Tues night, another the next day, and several more the afternoon we left for New Hampshire.

Can you say full house?

On Wednesday, they shot the scenes my kids were involved in, where they play spooky Amish kids. Well, the character that plays my sister's teenaged son believes them to be spooky, anyway. I think the DP and the director/writer/producer did a heck of a job of getting them to look the part, don't you?

So like I said, now we're away, and they have the house to themselves (including Romy Rosemont sleeping in my bed), so I can stop stressing about whether there's coffee in the pot and clean sheets on the bed for a few days.


Well. At least not at our house in PA. I guess I still have all that to think about here in NH. But only for the 8 of us, not for 20+.

Yay!






*************


Don't forget, I will love you forever if you throw me a vote on Top Mommy Blogs. You know the drill by now, don't you? Just click the juggling chick and you've voted. You can vote every day till like, forever.



Thanks!


***************

In case you didn't know it, I'm like the queen of blog-hoppin' lately. It's kind of like square dancing but without the dated outfits, smelly gym, and elderly caller.

Here's the schedule I keep:
Monday: Homestead Revival's Barn Hop and A Cat-Like Curiosity's Monday Mantras.
Tuesday: Heavenly Homemaker's Gratituesday
and Wrinkled Mommy's Tuesday Archive Link-Up
Wednesday: My Life and Kids Finding the Funny
Thursday: A Rural Journal's Rural Thursday Blog Hop
Friday: Deborah Jean's Dandelion House's Farmgirl Friday
Saturday: Camera Critter's Life With Dogs Pet Blogger Hop and Country Momma Cooks Saturday Link-Up

Since today is Saturday, that means I'm linking my post "Good Help Is Hard To Find" with Country Momma Cooks Saturday Link-Up, and with Camera Critter's Life With Dogs Pet Blogger Hop.
Come join the fun!