There's a animal in trouble

Kaden woke up this morning to check on Ming-Ming and "accidently" let him out in my kitchen. Oh, and he is fully awake and out of his coma this morning. So, it was exciting times first thing this morning. Tim caught the bird and he was released back outside.

Now, to convince them the turtle will be better off back in the wild.

Linny, Tuck, and Ming-Ming too

We have had a very exciting 24 hours with lots of encounters with wildlife. If you don't live in the country you have no idea what you are missing - some of which I wish I could miss.

Last night we went on a drive/hike in the pasture which has actually become kind of an after dinner routine. The pastures are BEAUTIFUL this time of year and it isn't too hot yet so it is fun. Well, last night we found this little guy...

Tuck - Of course, he got to come home with us.

Okay, then this morning there was a big snake on my back porch who then moved to my front porch. So, we got to enjoy seeing him for awhile. I HATE snakes. I would have killed him if I had the guts to be that close to him. But, the boys enjoyed watching him from the safety of our house.

About noon someone brought over a dead snake for the boys to see. I wish it was the same snake that had been at my house earlier in the day but it wasn't big enough to be.

Then as we were going inside from viewing the dead snake. There were two birds sitting by our back door. One was dead and one stunned. Birds can see through the door out the window on the other side of the house so they fly into it all the time. So, Kaden wants to save the stunned bird, the dead bird and the dead snake to show his dad.
Our pet cemetary - all waiting to show daddy.


He even decided the stunned bird could be Ming - Ming. How do you "save" a bird until daddy comes home -especially, one that you know will eventually come out of his little coma? Well, I took a bucket and stretched panty hose over the top.


Which, was only partly a good idea. It crawled up the leg of the hose. So if you are ever in need of a temporary house for a bird. Make sure you cut off the legs and tie them in a knot.

We never came across a Linny (small furry hamster like critter) today.... although the day isn't over yet. And if you know about the Wonder Pets you will now be singing their theme song the rest of the day.

Just an example of the crazy fun days I have with my boys!

Our New Babies

A couple weeks ago we got our first cows. Okay, I am not a farm girl to me if it looks like a cow and says moo it is a cow, but technically they are steers. They are adorable!

Meet Alvin, Simon, and Theodore



Oh, and we gave them middle names to remind the boys of their future.
Alvin Hamburger (brown)
Simon Steak (black)
Theodore Roast (light brown)
I hope to eventually get better pictures.

A funny story. When we first got the cows, um, steers the horses chased them across the creek, which has become their side of the pasture and now we don't think they are smart enough or brave enough to cross back over. So, we are trying to "encourage" them to cross the creek which is where the majority of the grass is.

Gone Fishin

Two days ago my mom was here fishing with some friends, which is kinda weird but whatever. Anyway, the boys were really interested in what they were doing and wanted to fish too. Kaden ended up fishing for over 3 hours! He also caught 4 fish! I guess we might have to go fishing more often.




The only way I can stand my non-swimmers to be on the dock is for them to have their life jackets on. I wish I could just send them out to play in their life jackets so I could stay inside!


We put some of the small ones in this tub for observation/torture.

Sit Training

Since I posted yesterday about the sit training we have been doing I have gotten lots of questions so I thought I would post about it. I first started thinking about it when I read about how Michelle Duggar started doing blanket training(which if googled has many different approaches - I don't think she uses the spanking method on her babies). She starts when her kids are babies and trains them to stay on a blanket with one toy. She talks about how nice it is to be able to take her kids to appointments or to visit people and get out the blanket and have her babies/toddlers stay on it and play with one thing. Then I saw on one of their shows as she pushed a chair up beside the piano so one of her little boys could watch one of their siblings piano lesson. He was just supposed to sit there and watch. This is probably one of the things the family gets the most critisim on- you know other then having 19 kids. But, it makes so much sense to me. What parent wouldn't want to take their kids somewhere and have them not act like wild animals?

One of the things that I didn't realize going into parenthood was all the stuff you have to teach kids. I mean I knew I would have to teach them a lot but I just thought they would "get" how to sit still and entertain themselves. I was wrong. This is truly something they need to train themselves to do and I need to provide the chance for them to do this. By the way, this goes against most of society that has decided kids need to be entertained every second of everyday, which is a mentality I was falling for.

I started by having my kids sit at the table for 10 minutes with one activity and the rules were they couldn't get up or talk and I wasn't going to entertain them. I told them if they made it they would get a treat. We have now progressed to sit training for 25ish minutes. Now, I add time if they talk or get up and we don't have a treat as a reward. Kaden is great at it and almost never gets in trouble during this time. Jack...well he is still getting it...but usually does really well. Occasionally, we include Kyler and he sits in his booster but I have found the best time is right after lunch when Kyler takes his nap. After all, he is just 1 so I am not as concerned about him sitting still and quiet for long periods of time - yet.

I have found the boys REALLY enjoy this time - most days. They really like it when we sit outside and they look at books like in the above picture. They have learned to really look at and study the books instead of flipping through them and being done. (For 25-30 minutes I do let them have 3-5 books each.)

So, now when we go to church or whatever, I tell them this is like sit training and if they do a good job they won't have to have anymore that day but if they don't we will have to practice when we get home.

I try really hard to also sit and be still during this time and either work on a bible study or read a book. It is hard to not fill this time with other stuff, though, and I am not always successful. I think it is a great example for the boys and is a much needed stress reducer for me. I also LOVE the days we get to sit outside in the warm sunshine. A book, iced tea, sunshine, and quiet kids = one happy momma!

Oh, and if you see my kids not being "perfect" during church - we are still working on it. I know there will be times they aren't as still or quiet as I would like but they have come a long way.

Boy Randomness

My blog has been neglected lately but not because I haven't had anything to write about. We have been spending a lot of time outside so there just isn't much time to blog! But, anyway here are a few things from the last month.

Peeing -
In my boy's world there isn't much that is more entertaining then to pee on stuff (outside of course). I don't get it, probably never will and although I hope my boys eventually learn the appropriate and inappropriate times to pee outside I know they will never fully outgrow this thrill.

So, we are at church on Wednesday and the boys go out to play with the other kids. Some girls come in to tell me Jack is peeing outside. I go out to talk to Jack.

Me: Jack, did you pee outside?
Jack with his huge brown eyes: Yes
Me: We don't pee outside the church. You need to come inside to do that. All these kids saw you.
Jack: No,I went behind a tree and Megan was the only one with me and I told her to close her eyes.
Me: Next time come inside to pee.
I had keep myself from laughing. He never considered that all those other kids saw him or that there would be anything wrong if Megan closed her eyes.

The other day at the mall we had been there longer then I planned. I was tired the kids were tired and we were headed out to the car when Jack says, " I have to go potty." So I stop and think "Do I truck back through the mall with my double stroller to the elevator to go back down to the bathroom, then back up and through the mall? I really don't want to spend an extra 20 minutes." So I just tell him to "hold it". He says "I can just pee in the parking lot". I tell him "No". I then decide to drive just out of town and pull off on the first side road and let him pee on the side of the road. It probably saved us 15minutes and I don't think there is anything wrong with that.

Sit Training-
Michelle Duggar knows a thing or two about raising kids. We have started doing our own version of her blanket training. We call it sit training. Basically, the boys have to sit still and work on one activity (coloring, books, etc.- whatever I pick) for 25ish minutes without talking. Basically, what I would expect them to do during church or at a restaurant. And it has been GREAT! Here was how our practice has paid off for 30min. on the above mall trip so I could do some much needed shopping for Tim.


The only bad part - we were in this store for an hour...They were still good just not this good.

Leap up day-
Kaden got to go to a half day of kindergarten last week. He loved it especially PE and recess! He did not love his mom taking his picture though.


The garden -
As I type my biggest boy (Hubby) is outside with a flashlight looking for the skunk that attacked his garden last night. Seriously. The garden needs to become a post sometime soon.

Hopefully, I will be back soon.