We did it again!

I can't believe it but we added more chick(en)s. As if the 7 we already have weren't enough, I've been suckered into more little fuzzy ones. When I took the girls to the hardware store Sat.,I had secretly planned to get one or two for the kids. You see, since we ate Lester the Rooster about 6 weeks ago, we realize we won't be hatching any chicks this year "naturally". Imagine my surprise when the clerk informed me that you had to buy a minimum of SIX chicks (some state law? I doubt it). I was ready to say nevermind BUT...

you see these eyes down below? I had two desperate girls pleading with me and I fell for it. I consider myself tougher than that but now we have these fuzz balls cheaping through the night in our basement (oh, how nice a garage would be) for about the next 5 weeks. My man thinks I'm crazy, go figure.

Well, one benefit for now is that these 4 kids are spending so much time in the laundry room loving on these critters, I haven't seen much of them the past weekend. Oh and just to show you how I got suckered, someone at church today told me they heard the same "6 chick minimum" and went to the next hardware store where they bought only ONE!

He is Risen.... Indeed

We pray you had a significant Easter and a renewed sense of gratitude for what Christ has done for us. We attended a local Easter "pageant" and the church did a wonderful job presenting a musical production of Christ's ministry and ending with his death and resurrection. It was powerful to remember what a great sacrifice was made on my behalf, just to give me a place in my "forever family". The kids were also moved and Spiderman had tears streaming down his face. When the lights went out after the crucifixion, both kids asked anxiously "that's not the end is it?" The truth of the Gospel would be empty if it did end there but when Jesus conquered death, there was victory for you and me.

Today after church, we had lunch with some friends where we had our annual egg hunt. As the kids get older, it goes much more quickly. :) Here they are below as we set off for church.

Spring is here

You gotta love Spring in the midwest, or at least you gotta live with it. A week after Goose's party, we had a few inches of snow on the ground. The kids had their first soccer game cancelled and we waited for the sun to shine again. It did come back but today we had more snow. I'm ready for a real April.

Well Friday we went to the "farm" and planted 150 small trees. I've been asked if he had some special equipment for that but it was really just a big shovel and a lot of muscle. My man (who loves projects like these) calls this quality family time. While that is not what I would have picked for family time, we did have a good day in some high 50's sunshine and the kids were thrilled to get out of "school" for the day. Since there were plenty of us, the kids worked in shifts and those "off duty" got to scour the creek bed looking for arrowheads and cool rocks.


Here is our noble looking Frisbee, who loves the farm more than anything and she ran herself past exhaustion. You have to notice with the boys here below that the tall rubber boots become pointless when you wade in water past your knees! The kids were soaked and filthy but they found some cool fossils and rocks and begged to stay there longer exploring.

Even my prima donna got into the rock collecting and playing in the dirt. Boo did give us a scare once as we were planting trees and she had been walking along the creek bed. We heard her scream and my man bolted over there as fast as his size 16's could carry him. It turned out that she "heard something squeak at her" and she panicked. Must be those bed time stories about man-eating squirrels....

So all in all, we did have a fun afternoon and despite the sore muscles and the loads of muddy laundry, we did have some good quality time.