Two year old + spaghetti = bath time!
(and she didn’t even get any in her hair tonight!)
She must be related!
On Thursday I took Hannah to the hospital to have a checkup for her arm. As we were waiting for her appointment, I told her she could look at one of the magazines they had on display. Immediately, she made a beeline for one in particular – Field and Stream!
Apparently she shares some genes with her uncle! 
G for God’s Glory
Last night we watched “V for Vendetta” and the one thing that really struck me was “This is what people think of Christianity!” It depicted a violent dictator state (whose flag featured a doubled cross) led by “christian” fundamentalists (meaning militant, not orthodox) who made homosexuality and Islam illegal and performed concentration-camp-like experiments on those that they caught.
What has become of the church that this is what people think of us??? They certainly don’t know us by our love! And we are most certainly not glorifying God!
I suppose the record of the visible church isn’t so great – any time we mix into politics, bad things happen (remember the crusades? the religious wars following the reformation – Lutherans and Calvinists having Anabaptists executed? the Spanish Inquisition?) But still, it seems each new generation has to try it again . . .
And the winner is . . .
Rhubarb Muffins! (www.rhubarbinfo.com/recipe-muffin.html) (I love the internet! It’s so great for finding exactly the recipe you want!)
Sam picked one up out of the container and said, “They feel good!”
Um, Sam, that’s not exactly the point of muffins . . .
The Latest in Parenting Equipment
I want one for at home!!!
Today was our homeschool group’s field trip to the Pioneer Village Museum here in Cameron (http://www.barroncountymuseum.com/) Most of the buildings and equipment were from around 1900, which apparently was when the population up here “boomed” with the lumber business. There were volunteers there to explain the exhibits, which was very cool, and even a man working the blacksmith forge. The kids had a great time, and Sam was even asking when we could go back again! We had to leave early, since we needed to get back in time for Jessica to leave for work (perhaps that’s the key – leave them wanting more!) So hopefully we can talk Peter into making a family outing there this summer during one of their annual events.
As we were leaving, I was wishing my Dad could come there with us sometime. Although he’s not quite as old as most of the stuff there 
I bet he’d be really good at explaining things to the kids.
Bop-Bop-a-Ree-Bop-a Rhubarb Pie!
Only five points for that quote; it’s an easy one
I harvested my first ever rhubarb today! I am so excited! For those of you who haven’t heard my sad rhubarb story, I have been trying to grow rhubarb for about 5 years, and this is the first year I’ve ever gotten any. The first two plantings died, and we moved before I could see the outcome of the third. Those were all root stock I bought through mail-order nurseries. Last year I finally just gave in and bought a started plant from Walmart – and that’s the one that survived! I had always thought that rhubarb was one of those plants that you just couldn’t kill – I must have a gift
Anyway, now I am debating what to make with it – muffins? sweet bread? crisp? jam? So many yummy ideas, and not all that much rhubarb to make them with (I only have one plant, after all – and they didn’t have any more when I looked at Walmart this morning)
I’ll let you know what I decide . . .
Happy Birthday Peter (and Natalie!)
Peter’s (and his twin sister Natalie’s) 31st birthday was on Saturday, and you know how he loves to live it up! When I asked him that morning how he’d like to spend the day, he told me he planned to mow the lawn. That’s my wild and crazy guy! So, he spent a good three hours mowing the lawn (realize we have about 5 acres to mow). About a half an hour into it, Trevor called and brought his lawn tractor over, so they merrily mowed away in blissful man-with-engine style. I tried to get a picture once when they were near each other (it was such a funny sight – but then again, I am amused by odd things); but it was not to be.
I made homemade pizza for lunch, just for Peter – but unfortunately I could not serve it to him at the peak of its warm, melted-cheezy perfection, because he wouldn’t come in from mowing the lawn to eat it! He’s very dedicated
He did have some before it was cold (and of course went right back outside when he was done). He spent the rest of the afternoon puttering around (working in a motorcycle ride with Trev – more man-with-engine fun) until 5:00, when super-babysitter Jessica came over and we went out to dinner.
After dinner went to see Prince Caspian, which just came to theaters this week (Natalie had called earlier in the day and said that’s what she and Paul would be doing, too, so we had a double date, 300 miles apart! ). I’d been looking forward to it, and Sam had been playing our audio tapes of the book all week (which was probably a mistake, in retrospect) It was, like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, a beautiful movie and very well made, but, in my opinion, strayed too far from the book. It had the same basic plotline and characters (although Caspian was much too old, and Reepicheep was too short) but the details of the story and the feel of the movie was much different than the book. They added story lines that never would have been in the book, apparently just for a “modern audience” (never mind that the audience included people who liked the book just how it was, thank you very much!) This just made it worse when they did take dialog verbatim from the book, because it seemed out of place and even silly (the part about Reep’s tail, near the end, comes to mind).
That said, I may see it again, knowing that I need to take it for itself and not as a good adaptation of the book. Although I’ve noticed that what you see in a movie tends to overshadow what you’ve read in a book, even if you liked the book better (multi-sensory presentation aids retention, as any good homeschooler knows!) so maybe I won’t . . .
It’s done!
Here it is, as promised, a picture of the new chicken tractor (aint it pretty?). Sam got to help me put the red paint on yesterday morning, and I finished with the white paint before the kids got up today (after Peter woke me up at 6 when he left for work). The chickens seem very happy with their new run, contentedly pecking at the grass and paying no attention to me and the kids. They are just the picture of homestead happiness!
Technically, this sort of set-up is called “pastured poultry” meaning they get to scratch around and eat bugs and weeds and things, all of which makes them and their eggs healthier. This coop is really tiny (roughly 2′x3′), barely big enough for the two nest boxes, roost, and food, but since they should pretty much only be sleeping in there (and laying eggs, of course!) it shouldn’t be a problem. Their winter coop is about twice as big (but they sure had “coop fever” this spring!)
The plan now is to clean out their old coop and let it air out for a month until, God willing, we either hatch our own eggs in the incubator Kirsten (The Instigator, Captain Poultry) got for me – or – buy some chicks when we go tour a hatchery (field trip!) with said sister-in-law. Then it will become a home for gangly adolescent chickens until fall, when we’ll hopefully get someone to come and butcher them for us (Although just for fun I may wait until Peter gets so desperate he threatens to do it himself – he’s not particularly fond of waking up to roosters crowing at the crack of dawn :) )
Bet you never took me for a biker babe!
For a combination Peter’s birthday/Mother’s day present, we decided to get a helmet and bike jacket for me, so that I could ride with Peter (more of a gift for Peter than for me!) I am personally of the opinion that I would much rather be in my van; the fact that the motorcycle is more dangerous, more uncomfortable, and can’t even carry groceries makes it far inferior. But Peter likes it, and likes me to ride with him, so it’s growing on me.
Oh, and Peter made sure we had a side-view picture, so you can see the bike (“Make sure to get a good view of the pipes!”) It’s good to know he still enjoys his birthday present from last year!
Fun with Captain Poultry
Yes, Kirsten, I decided that since you were corny enough to come up with that, you get stuck with it for your nickname J
On Saturday we got to go to my brother Joel’s house, where we surprised the kids with the Zoellners’ new pony (well, he’s still new to us; they’ve had him for a couple months now). Hannah was ecstatic – although of course now she’s asking when she can get one! J They also have a new puppy (again, new to us, but about the same vintage as the pony). She’s a golden retriever (just like Shaggy!) named Shiloh. So cute, and so very much a puppy! She was jumping up on everyone, wriggling all over with excitement over everything, and of course chewing on everyone’s shoes (when Josiah and Logan let her have a turn J)
We also got to go to Lauren and Evin’s dance recital Saturday afternoon. I don’t think my kids have ever been to anything like that, so it was interesting to see their reactions. They both loved it, and I’m sure they would sign up for dance lessons in a heartbeat! I was surprised, though, at how immodest the outfits were. I suppose I shouldn’t be, and perhaps I’m just a lot more sensitive to it because I have little girls now, but they just weren’t nice. I should clarify that my nieces’ outfits were fine and quite cute, it was a different class that had the racy clothes (we only stayed for two dances, so I can only go by that sampling). And they didn’t even look good; they were too tight for some of the chubbier girls (I was so embarrassed for them, having been a chubby little girl once!)
Anyway, I will get off my soapbox now . . .
Joel is now my favorite brother – he gave me free wood so I could make a chicken tractor (check out http://home.centurytel.net/thecitychicken/tractors.html if you don’t know what that is). He brings home some of the castoff pallets from the mill, so he’s got plenty to spare, and he was kind enough to share some with me. Plus he had just gotten a new garage door, so we scrapped out the old one and I got to bring home some free hinges and a handle! Woo-hoo! So you can guess how I spent my Mothers Day afternoon J – I’ll share pictures when I have it finished, I promise!
Yesterday (Monday) I took Sam, Hannah, and Naomi to the hospital to get Hannah’s cast taken off (Sam really wanted to see it). She has a splint on now, so that we can take it off and let her move her arm occasionally so that it’s more flexible as it heals. Sam was very impressed by the x-rays and the saw that took the cast off, as well as by the cool medical posters in the different rooms we were in. That’s my future scientist – or chicken farmer, or Walmart employee – we’ll have wait and see J
