A Rolling Stone

Where to start?

We went to Tyler, Texas last weekend to enjoy a Day Out with Thomas at the Texas State Railroad. The Day Out was actually quite fun - perfectly geared to younger kiddos. It wasn't overcrowded and there was plenty to keep the kids busy. Unfortunately, Moose did not sleep the night before and was melting down about two hours into it. I also had a crazy headache. Our Day Out was more like a Morning Out. Oh well. We still felt like we got our money's worth.

The hotel we stayed in was disappointing - the pool was outside, the tub didn't drain. But I have no complaints about the mattresses. The dog was also awful in the hotel room - she whined A LOT and barked every time a door closed or a person walked by. Ugh, we cut the trip early and were back in Shreveport by 12 noon on Sunday.

I went to Urgent Care upon arriving home. The headache was just awful and wouldn't go away - it was like a stabbing pain that made me gringe so badly I couldn't drive. I was diagnosed with a suspect-case of shingles. My scalp has a red rash, but no blisters. I'm on an antibiotic and pain killer, and the pain stopped completely yesterday afternoon. So, maybe we got to it early enough? Maybe it's not shingles? I don't know, but it sucked.

Oh, and Saturday morning ... my mom had a FIRE IN HER HOUSE. It started in the basement and traveled through the window and torched a chunk of her deck. Amazingly, the damage was minimal and she made it out safely. Her insurance has been very responsive, and she has new floors to pick out now :) She's living in a hotel till Wednesday, but she sounds amazingly NOT STRESSED despite the circumstances. So, thank goodness for all that. I can't believe it wasn't worse. She, of course, waited till Sunday evening to tell us because she didn't want to ruin our Thomas trip.

I started a j-o-b today. I'm tutoring at under performing schools. I had NO students show up today, so I'm off to an awesome start. Since participation is so low at this school, they're moving me to a different school ... so maybe I'll actually w-o-r-k on Thursday. It's just two days a week for about three hours each day. It pays well and Husband's schedule is pretty flexible right now, so we don't even have to pay for child care.

Bean tested for a stripe on his high white belt today and did well at the testing, but then he was called out four times afterward for fidgeting. The ONLY kid called out, according to Husband.

Oh, also, my husband has tossed my sweet kittens outside. Somehow, on Sunday, between when we arrived home and about six hours later, they tracked pooped all over the bathroom and the bedroom carpet and had smeared it around the lid of the litter box and flung a sticky combination of poop and litter onto the door. I tell you, they defy both reason and gravity with their litter box antics. They seem to be doing OK out there - they stick close to the house and are eating well, and I haven't found out where they're pooping yet ... so that could be a good or bad thing. So, now it's two outdoor kittens, a dog, and three chickens.

Chickens are laying an egg a day lately. The white one is certainly in the throws of molting.

Moose continues his reign of the Terrible Twos. You just never know with that kid. I'm getting a little discouraged with his speech ... he's still hardly saying a thing, and we've been going twice a week for MONTHS now. He likes going, though, so I hate to just stop. It's certainly not hurting anything.

So, that's that.

Kids First, Right?

KIDS

On Friday, Bean stayed home from school. He yacked for a good chunk of the day but was "all's well" Saturday morning. Moose also puked in the evening (but just once). After spending the day cooped up in the house (I was under the weather as well - so Husband got to wait on everyone and get puked on), I took the boys to the park Saturday for lunch while Husband volunteered at our church "clean up" day - a nice break from (a) the house and (b) puke.

Moose shot right up this slide, which is pretty tall for a shorty like him:

Oh, the static-electric hair and that smile. Doesn't he just melt you?

Bean wanted to try out the "see saw," which was pretty darn lousy. It just bounces a metal seat against your rump. What happened to REAL see saws? We couldn't make sense of it but took a picture anyway.

On September 30, Bean tested for his high white belt. He was victorious and we celebrated with a root beer float at Smash Burger.

CHICKENS

After two weeks, we got our first dozen eggs!


Here are their offerings after Day 1.

Production is very slow lately. I'm not sure if it's the weather or what. They seem happy enough, but they are not laying. Now, maybe it IS the weather, maybe they ARE unhappy. I don't know and haven't cared enough to look into seriously, but it is a little annoying. We've never gotten more than two eggs a day ... so one may turn out to be a rooster (hard to tell when they're juveniles, even to the trained eye sometimes). They don't make much noise, though. We'll see.

HOUSE

Ever had a sewer back up?

Gross. Our neighbors recommended some great plumbers, but they're not a clean up crew. We've never used so much bleach in our lives.

On the house front, we're very casually looking at homes. We went to an open house today - BEAUTIFUL home, nice lot size and neighborhood, close to a huge park. However, it's a little close to a busy road. No rush on our part.

CRAFTING

I've been working on lots of things. These are for a Disney-themed swap. A few of your lucky people will be receiving complete A to Z Disney Dessert Recipe Books for Christmas :)

Robin Hood's English Bread Pudding:

The Jungle Book: King Louie's Banana Cookies (incomplete, but I had the camera handy):

Finding Nemo - Dessert Sushi Rolls (Nemo is watermarked behind the recipe):

A cute card made for a caffeine-themed swap:

Some happy penguins done outside of my usual style (I think), so I'm pretty proud of it:

The folded card is and tied in front of the open card (this is for a wing-themed swap, same as the penguins):

Number Dos

I saw a woman walking two pug puppies last night. There is something about a pug, especially in puppy-form, that just melts me. Despite the fact that I am up to my elbows in poop, if a pug puppy happened upon me, I would just drop everything and love it to pieces.

Up to my elbows in poop? Well, there is the cat with the runs AGAIN. I switched to clay litter, since it does a nicer job of masking the smell and the cats actually make an effort to COVER their poo (not so with the pine stuff). Note that the pine stuff was GREAT with the cat, but these kittens were just lazy about it. Maybe we'll switch back in the future ... because I really hate the stray pieces of litter that not "litter" my bathroom and into the bedroom. Gross.

Also with poop, our waste water backed up ... into the bathtub and the shower. Super-gross. Thankfully, the plumbers came out yesterday and cleared the line, and we can once again flush and shower. On the plus side, my husband and I got the bathrooms super-clean since, well, there's nothing like raw sewage to warrant a deep cleaning.

ALSO, it's time to clean out the chicken coop ... I think. I am awaiting my copy of Raising Chickens For Dummies, but I'm thinking weekly is probably the way to go with a light cleaning of the place. I need to go back to TSC and get more bedding. I should probably buy a few bags, so I don't have to run to the opposite side of town every week.

So, I'm pooped out.

Oh, I just remembered that I have two poo-filled cloth diapers festering from when we were unable to flush the toilets. Super-gross.

Ugh.

Out, Damn Spot

I'm not sure why they sell white school uniform shirts. I mean, really? Bean has been in school all of one month and three of his shirts are pretty darn close to unusable thanks to stains. Thankfully, he has a healthy collection of red shirts now. Still, though, what a waste.

Moose and I were working in the yard. My grand idea to mulch around our big oak tree in the back was a bust. I should have put a lining down BEFORE mulching, but I figured with the drought-like conditions, low sunlight, and a healthy 3-inches of mulch, the grass would just die. Wrong. I moved some of it up to front yard to mulch some of the lesser-noticeable parts of the beds up there, and then I raked it out back there and mowed it down. We'll see what it turns into. So far, it is a grave yard for a dead pigeon that I wasn't about to pick up (I raked mulch over it and did NOT mow over it).

The chickens are an epic fail for egg-laying today. Maybe they're not impressed with the cooler weather we're having, maybe they're saving three eggs up for me tonight. Who knows. Have you ever investigated a coop of sleeping chickens? Pretty sweet stuff. They're so fidgety all day and want nothing to do with humans, but when they're tired and/or asleep, they just sit in their coops like lumps - not caring at all if you touch them.

*I wrote this two days ago (on the 28th) but the internet was having a hiccup when I went to publish it, so that's why it's being published now.

Half Dozen

We are the proud owners of six eggs. These eggs are valued at almost $57 each. Hilarious, right? At this rate, we'll need about 1700 eggs to break even compared to store-bought eggs. Assuming two eggs a day, it'll take 2.5 years. Hey, but it's all money in the bank after that! Assuming I never buy anymore food or bedding for them. We never said we got chickens for economical reasons :) How do you put a price on your firstborn going outside first thing in the morning and coming back in to announce: "No eggs, Mama, just sticky chicken poop." Oh, true urban homesteading love right there.

The weather has FINALLY chilled the freak out. It's 77 today. (We called this SUMMER in Indiana, but I've learned to compromise.) People were wearing jackets today! Myself included :)

The boys are outside enjoying the weather and ::hopefully:: burning off energy. Oh, they really played our last nerve this weekend. Of course, I spent most of yesterday sleeping, so I shouldn't complain too much. I spend one day almost completely healthy and then am wiped out the next day. I think I could sleep for a couple days straight, if these people and animals would allow such a thing. I'm pretty good today, though. Up at 6:15, everyone on time to everything with everything they needed. It's 3:47 p.m. I'm calling it a success and going to bed as soon as the husband gets home.

Chicken Pictures