The farm is growing again

Yes right now the chicks are on my kitchen counter! They will be moved soon. The kids won't leave them alone!

Yes Dan is always bringing home something for the kids. Right now we have 150+ cows, 3 horses, 10 ducks, 1 turkey, 1 cat, one dog, 1 guinea pig and now 11 chicks. (there were 12...we've lost 1), a pond full of frogs and at the moment swarms of dragonflies that are travelling by.

It's been afew years since we've had chicks. Other years the kids have loved going out and collecting eggs. Right now it's all I can do to keep the kids from holding them too much. They just love them.

I have to remind myself how lucky we are for the kids to be able to experience things like this. I can't imagine raising kids in an apartment in the city. People wonder why some city people don't appreciate nature and take it for granted. Really if they never get a chance to experience it they don't know what they are missing. It's funny, I couldn't dream of walking around and not noticing the beauty of nature. It's amazing, so it's hard for me to understand how people can abuse it. I really want my kids to have an appreciation of all nature and hopefully help to preserve it. I don't even like when they stomp on bugs. Yes they're gross but if it outside we leave it alone. There's only a couple exceptions - earwigs are one of them!

I know everyone isn't able to experience outside as easily as us so I am truly thankful for our farm.

An everyday treasure in our backyard we forget is so special.

Michelle

A new name for nameless

Well the puppy officially has a name. It's been nameless for a while now because we all couldn't agree on a name. Dan wanted it to be Crystal (which I hated). We have now all agreed on the name Dixie.

So far Dixie hasn't caused too much trouble. She stays around the house and hasn't chewed up too much. Our last puppy chewed everything. Hopefully Dixie won't become that bad. She id a digger though. She loves to play in the sandbox with the kids and dig. Anyone have ideas about stopping her fr om digging in the flower beds? I have to work on that one. The dog that is Dan's is slowly becoming my problem to deal with. This summer should be interesting......7 kids and a puppy.

Michelle

A busy week

Sorry these turned out dark on the screen.

It's was a busy week. Dan has started the cleanup of the barn and we're still waiting to finalize the insurance. Between the mess and plowing, cultivating, fertilizing, rolling and tomorrow planting we haven't seen much of Dan around.

We've had two concerts last week. First the school one then Kaitlin's ballet one. Both were really good. Kailtin's was held at the Blyth theater was that was really neat. She was so excited and happy about it. We couldn't take pictures during but I was able to buy a CD of it.

Nothing really else to new with us. Just a quick note with some pictures!

Michelle

Tuesday night

The hay shed used to be here.

Holy Shit!!

Well while the kids and I were looking out the windows this evening watching the hail and rain then looking for a rainbow, our barn and hay shed on the other side of our property got trashed.

A neighbour phoned to tell be our hay shed is gone and there's a hole in our barn. When I went to check it out I soon realized that wasn't all the damage, two of the tractors and a seed planter are also messed up. I have to say my heart is in my stomach right now. Just when money is so tight and Dan is sooo busy this happens. I'm really hoping insurance will pay for most of it but we'll have wait and see.....it's just not what we need right now. Dan's too funny thought. I'm freaking out and he's there looking and saying there's nothing we can do now and at least nobody got hurt - true but what a mess. He always amazes me how he takes things in stride and never over reacts. Definitely the opposite of me.

So I guess we have to wait and see what comes about from this. I'm really stressed but seeing Dan will balance me out like he always does.

Michelle

The Weekend

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms!!

Our weekend has been great. Friday night we went to pick out our new puppy. It's from someone Dan knows who had Blue Healer pups. We've had two of these kinds before. They're cattle herding dogs who love to work. Our first one was Blue. He was a wonderful dog that we had for 3 years. Unfortunately it got hit on the road 8 years ago. After him we got another puppy TJ which was a great dog who we also took to obedience classes. TJ was great with us but if a stranger came to the house we couldn't trust that he wouldn't bite. When Dawson was 2 he snapped at him and I told Dan we just couldn't have a dog we couldn't trust. He now lives at Dan's brothers house.

Last spring I brought home a little hound dog puppy (the cutest little thing) We had him for a couple of months and it got hit on the hyway. So now Dan has decided to try another Blue Healer. This is "his dog", although the kids don't agree. The puppy is our first girl dog and is yet to be named. Dan seems to have the say this time and wants to name it Crystal. (after the kind of beer) The rest of us don't like the name but we're having a hard time swaying him away from it.

Today for mother's day my mom, Carl and my great grandma came for the day. Mom also brought a man who is from England who is here for 5 weeks staying with them. The day was great. First the weather was perfect which meant we spent most of it outside. The kids had to show everyone the puppy, our pet turkey, the ducks and the horses. After we took a walk back to our pond which is always nice.

We also celebrated 3 of the kids birthday's today. They all have spring birthdays. The kids had a blast playing and visiting with everyone. It was the perfect day. One that makes you realize how lucky our family is to be able to spend it together.

Michelle

Wow!

Yes that says 56/58!

Travis got this test back two days ago and just decided to show me today. It's funny because when I tried to get him to study he refused and said it was too much to remember and he couldn't do it. It was a big deal to get him to study and I only got him to go over it two nights.

He's really surprised me this year. This isn't the first science test he's gotten an A+ on. The others have been B+ or A's. I have always known Travis is smart and he loves science but to see him do this good in school is amazing. So yes I am a very proud mommy tonight and had to share.

Michelle

Still in Shock

First of all I have to say I'm too tired to try to find an appropriate picture for this blog.

Yes I'm still in shock over this weekend. A close friend of mine's husband had an awful accident at work Sat night. I'm not exactly sure what his job all is but he works at Westcast. Sat night he was on a platform and doing something with molten metal, something reacted and he caught on fire. He had to get off the platform and go into another room to find help. His coworkers couldn't tell who it was for the flames.
The good news is he's going to eventually be ok. He was badly burned but was luckily that his face isn't too bad. As of yesterday he will be in the hospital for four weeks. I can't even imagine....Him and his wife have two young girls. I went to the house last night to make sure my friend is ok and to offer whatever help she needs. I'm going to have the girls some since they're used to being here.
I just feel awful thought. You know when you hear something and it just stays with you - An awful feeling that's hard to shake. My first instinct is what can I do to help. I can't imagine what this next couple months will be like for this family and I just hope I can do enough to help.

Life is sooo scary that I don't even want to think about it. I'm just so glad that he is going to be ok. Changed forever yes, but alive.