Ridiculously Random

Last Thursday, the phone rang. I answered and was greeted by 'Megan? Hi, how are you?' The voice was unfamiliar and I was trying to figure out who the heck it was when she introduced herself. It took me a second, but I realized she goes by an actual letter of the alphabet, instead of a name. As it turns out, this woman had ridden in a car with my Mom to Kensington on Wednesday. My Mom was going to speak to a women's Bible study group down there, and this lady was also along for the ride. Confused yet? I was. So she tells me that she met my mom, found out I had chickens, got my number, and before the ink had even dried, she called me. She wants chickens, and she wants them now! So I told her about the chickens and she asked if she could come over to see them. "Sure," I said. "When?" To which she replied, "how about tomorrow?" Um, OK. That was fine with me. We kept talking and it turns out that she is also interested in canning, sewing, gardening, and other freak ventures. She even wants me to teach her how to make cheese! After 45 minutes of talking to a complete stranger, I finally just invited her and her husband over for dinner. It was all so random and ridiculous. At that point I had no idea if she was going to turn out to be an ax murderer or what. Although, come to think of it, I don't think many of those types also frequent Women's Bible studies in the rough part of Philly. So, anyway, crazy chicken lady and her husband accepted my crazy invitation and over they came. They turned out to be super cool people. The husband is a mechanical engineer also so the men-folk had that in common. It was all so crazy, but really fun, and she ended up riding to the farm with me today. I have her sold! I am pretty sure I need some sort of referral bonus. I keep getting people to join the farm! :) Now I have a new chicken/gardening/sewing/fellow freak to chat with. This could be fun, or dangerous, depending on your perspective.

P.S. Not that I have been blogging terribly regularly lately, but I won't be posting for a bit. I am going to Florida, by myself, to see my Grandma! Yes, Jeffrey the Great is watching the kids for most of it, and my Mom will take them for a day also. I am so excited!

More Tyler Park Pictures

And a bonus picture for you...even the littlest one brings a book to the WC. :)

Fun Pictures

My friend Michelle and I attempted to photograph our children yesterday. I saw attempted because, well, if you have kids you know what I mean. Getting three circus midgets to smile at the same time is nigh onto impossible. To top it off, yesterday was the day from H-E-double hockey sticks. The kids fought constantly and I was about ready to apply for early retirement. It was one of those days where your kids act like you never, ever discipline them and you expect Super Nanny to swoop in at any minute and tell you how much you stink as a parent. Today was much better though, and I have removed my ad for 'free children' on craigslist. Just kidding! No such ad was ever posted. Fortunately such rough days don't come around often. I was surprised we even got them to smile and act civilized, but we did manage to get a few nice pictures. Michelle and I decided to go back another day and try again. Her kids weren't terribly cooperative either. Next time there will be much bribery involved....

Don't you just want to pinch his little cheeks?! This is his 'say cheese' face.

Ben was doing a jig behind the camera, which of course the kids thought was hysterical. I love James' toothy grin.

I think this one is my favorite. I love it so much. 

See, look! You CAN get along! 

And here's my little sunshine :)

P.S. I edited these in PicMonkey, and while I generally eschew photo editing, it was kinda fun to play around. :)

The Truck

Our fancy-schmancy vehicle is working out quite nicely. I am very slowly learning the features and have hopes that someday I will not be scared to drive it. We had planned for Jeff to replace the brake line on ye olde Explorer and then sell it. Alas, the brake line that went bad was in the frame and borderline impossible to replace. The truck is not in stellar condition to begin with, leaving us with a pile of junk we'd almost have to pay someone to take. Seriously. Can't even drive it to the junkyard. So, it shall will be going off to the fine folks at Habit for Humanity, who will no doubt auction it off for enough profit to buy a light switch or perhaps even a door knob. I think the scrapyard is the Explorer's very near future.

The Tree

We have a Japanese Maple in our front yard. I love Japanese Maples. Their leaves turn such a brilliant red in spring and fall. Our tree isn't huge, but apparently this kind of tree is very slow growing. The trees on our property are at least 40 years old, according to our neighbor. Every time someone comes or goes from the house, basically anytime the front door opens, the kids run for the tree and climb it. They each have their own particular branch they like to climb. Tyler has recently decided that he wants to climb higher. Should I be surprised? In the photo, he is trying to climb into the little notch he likes to sit in. I am not quite sure of his tree climbing prowess yet, but he is. Aside from the chickens, the tree the other attraction when kids come over. The other day there were four kids up there at once, looking like so many monkeys hanging from the branches. 

Photo Dump

Mud Bath

Tyler and his newest chicken buddy

She sat there so long he actually asked if I could get her down. She didn't want to leave.

Farmer James and the corn he grew himself: Painted Mountain to be exact. 

Isn't it pretty? And check out my cool pint and half jar...which probably only interests me.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar balloons, which served as decor both for the baby shower and the birthday party

The Princess Castle Cake, which I hand carved myself...not! I have gotten a lot of mileage out of this pan.

The Discovery Space Shuttle cake, covered in black ants sprinkles

All the boys helping James open his presents

Katie was in a mood. Technically, she's been in a mood for about 3 weeks. But she was being goofy opening her presents so there are no decent pictures of her.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar dress I made for one of the babies

The Very Hungry Caterpillar overalls for the other baby

And now, drum roll please.................hold on to your hats! Secure your false teeth and sit yourself down! We have acquired a vehicle!!!!!!!!!! And as an added bonus, it has brakes AND air conditioning. I am pretty sure it will take me a long while to figure out all the fancy features, but it is ours.

Last Week

Last week:

• James started first grade
• James didn't want to ride the bus
• I was working on three sewing projects for birthday/shower gifts
• My dishwasher died (it's the end of the world around here)
• I was planning a double baby shower for two moms in my Bible study
• I was finishing up baby shower stuff
• Did I mention my dishwasher broke?
• Oh, and I decided I might want to plan a two-for-one birthday party for my kids, because, well...their birthdays are today and tomorrow.
• So I made cakes...three of them to be precise: a Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake, the Discovery Space Shuttle, and a Princess Castle
• We spent too much time driving around looking at cars
• I finished two baby outfits (pictures to come)
• I had a baby shower
• I did dishes, and more dishes (and then my blessed Mother did more dishes, and more dishes)
• I had a double birthday party for James and Katie (Happy Birthday, my loves!) 
• And the brakes on the truck went out which is just swell. But thank God they went out in the driveway when Jeff was driving. 
• And after all that, we managed to make a deal on a vehicle which we will be picking up Tuesday night.

This week better be uneventful. Very uneventful. I will post whatever pictures I managed to take when I charge up my camera batteries, because those went dead too. :)

Miscellaneous Part 945.3a

These photos were found on Jeff's phone. The kids must have been having a lot of fun clowning around. In other news, I present to you....the bullet point list. So original, I know.

• James was less than enthused to ride the bus today, because he was afraid that he wouldn't know what to do/where to go/what bus to ride. He got himself all worked up, despite my best attempts to get him to cheer up. I could get him to giggle momentarily by reminding him of the many times Tyler has come streaking out of the room (literally) in nothing but his birthday suit, shouting 'I naked!' But as soon as the laughs were over, it was back to sobbing. When we got to the bus stop he started to really get scared, then started to cry. The moms there were so nice and encouraging. One lady asked her daughter to take James under her wing and make sure he got to the right place. The girl was awesome. Here's this over-sized first grader bawling his eyes out and she was totally unfazed. She walks up to him and says very matter of factly, 'C'mon James, you're gonna sit with me.' He didn't calm down and she looked at him with a 'Buddy, this ain't my first rodeo' look, and declared in a firm voice 'I've been riding the bus for three years now. It's gonna be fine.' We managed to get him on the bus with this poor girl, and he tried to bolt but the bus driver told him he had to stay on the bus. That's when I turned around and started walking home...and I started crying. There is something so awful about seeing your kid screaming for you and walking away that I just can't take, even if the kid does need to put on his big boy undies and ride the darn bus. Hopefully tomorrow will be much better.
• We are still looking for a car. Annoying, but true. Large non-mini vehicles are not so common apparently. We are going start looking at Nissan Pathfinders too. I want to find a car, and I want to find a car now! No more dealing with creepy used car salesman and shady scam-artists. And I won't even get into the 'Your Credit Guaranteed! As long as you have a pulse, we'll sell you a car!' people. Oi!
• Today is my sister's birthday...Happy Birthday, Rachel!!
• Tyler is in to mustard. He wants it on everything. A piece of cheese? Check. A pancake with blueberry jam? Double check...eew! Today, in fact, for lunch he went rummaging in the fridge for the mustard. He brought it to me and asked 'what can I have on my mustard.' Fine way to plan a lunch, my boy!

That's How He Feels About That

James' first day went well. That is, until his teacher was going to put him on the bus because he is considered a bus-er. He freaked out. Fortunately, his Kindergarten teacher was around and knew what I looked like so he didn't have to get on the bus. Tomorrow, though...he's riding the bus for the first time. Oi! And my, oh my. It is CRAZY at the end of school. I really don't know how they make sure kids go to the right place. It was literally wall to wall parents and kids. We'll see if its like that after the first week. I hope not.

First Day of School/Air and Space Museum

Well, today is the first day of first grade...and if you get that Veggie Tales song stuck in your head, I apologize. It is still stuck in mine. James was barely nervous at all, just excited and ready to be back at school. May it continue! I still don't feel ready for the whole 'full day' thing...seems like a loooong time. I packed his lunch (homemade tomato soup at his request), made sure he had all his supplies and off he went. Off to big, fun first grade.

And in other news (or is this so delayed it counts as past history?), here are our pictures from the Air and Space Museum in Virginia. If you ever get a chance, you should GO! Admission is free, parking is $15 which is quite a deal for a carload of peeps. 

Really cool Blackhawk (I think?)

Space Shuttle

I think this was the first manned space capsule...don't quote me on that. From the 50's

Tail end of the space shuttle

This one was beautiful, wood and cloth

Hello, huge plane! (too big to fit in one single picture)

One of my favorites: Air-phibian (it can fly, then the wheels detach and it drives)

Spirit of Texas helicopter

The Real Space Shuttle: This one was amazing to see in person, and it is made up of small squares of material...it looks like a quilt up close.