Farms, Eggs, and Field Trips

Libby's class went on a field trip to a local farm the other day. (We took this same farm field trip with Kyndall when she was in Kindergarten.)  Libby is such a girly-girl, and I wasn't sure how she would like it.  Animals, insects... mud!  She completely surprised me and loved it!

 Our first stop was the henhouse.  Everyone got to gather an egg and then pet the baby chicks.

Then we went to the petting zoo.  Libby's favorite was the miniature pot-bellied pig.  It's name was Sweet Pea and it was precious.  She even enjoyed riding the ponies.

MY favorite part was when she milked the cow.  I wish I had recorded it--her face was priceless.  She didn't want to do it, and then she asked if she could wear gloves, but in the end she just did it.  When I asked her about it, she said the cow's udder felt like a baby's bottom.  (When she has felt a baby's bottom, I haven't a clue.)

Fishing happened.  I had to bait her hook and pull the algae off for her, but she enjoyed herself.  She didn't catch a fish (no one in her class did) but she tried really hard!

After lunch, we took a hayride to the playground back behind the farm.  They had a HUGE slide made out of pipe, a horse-drawn buggy ride, and a playground with tire swings.  Libby and I raced down the slides--she cheated and won.

After all the farm excitement was over, the farmhands hid eggs for ALL of Kindergarten to hunt.  Each student found 6 eggs and brought them back with them.  

I have been to this farm several times in the fall, but it was SO neat to go in the spring and see all the new babies.  Definitely a fun place to field trip!

Surprise Visitor

We had an unexpected and univited guest show up in our henhouse today.  That crazy hubby of mine came to the door holding a 5 foot long chicken snake, with what appeared to be one of our chicken eggs in its throat.  Can I just say that I am OVERJOYED he was the one who found it and not me and the girls?  I mean, can you imagine?

Want to know something funny?  The snake is still alive in these photos.

Want to know something even funnier?  Justin put the snake down in the yard to kill it and as soon as he let go, the snake spit up a golf ball!  That's right--we have golf balls in the henhouse to encourage the chickens to lay and apparently, those golf balls fooled the snake too.  Poor thing-he didn't even get a last meal. :)

Busy, Busy Bee

That's what I've been today.  Completely.  We spent about 2 hours at the pool this morning, and then I came back and got down to work.  I finished about 7 pages in our Disney 2010 album (I'll show you those later).

My wall went from this:

to this:

and finally, to this:

I still need to get frames for the 5x7 photos and come up with some words to put above the big print.  Not sure what needs to go there, so if you have suggestions, let me know! :)

Sometime in the middle of scrapbooking, I had to look for my little hammer.  I couldn't find it, so that led to cleaning out my scrapbook supply closet.  I realized I didn't have enough room where my supplies currently are, so I moved to cleaning out the pantry. 

The pantry went from this:

To this: 

And now, I have this:

That, ladies and gentlemen, is 2 whole shelves of scrapbook space.  And until our house is finished and I have a scrapbook room (insert dreamy sigh here), this is wonderful.

The girls also have this neat game space within their reach:

And a little craft space too.  I started work on a table I'm refinishing, so I'll share before and after photos of that tomorrow, along with a little Disney scrapbook peak.

In other news, Justin had to make a Dollar General run at 8:30 tonight to pick up Children's Benadryl.  Am I the only one whose children are highly allergic to mosquitos?  You know, those pesky little bugs that we have EVERYWHERE around here?  A bite from one of those bloodsuckers makes my girls swell like you've never seen before.  It's unreal. Laters!



Just for Fun

Today was spent swimming, eating, and visiting with some of our dearest friends. It was wonderful. Kyndall did get stung on the finger by a wasp.  War was declared.  Mommies with flyswatters and two types of buspray vs. all wasps in the pool area.  We left the little wasp bodies where they fell.  We wanted to send a message.

Me? I got attacked with water guns a few times...

The girls?  They had a blast!  Swimming with their best friends for most of the day and then catching lightening bugs at night.

I'm thinking that last photo will be a great one for the wedding video one day. 

There were some dance moves thrown in for good measure.

I'm pretty sure she's droppin' it like it's hot in this photo.... I mean, seriously.

(I think he was shaking it a little too hard--that's why his photo is blurry.)

And on a random note, have you ever used any of the ELF products.  Target sells them.  They have awesome mascara's, makeup brushes, and the like for very cheap.  The other day, I ran across this lip color and I have to say, it's awesome.  And it was $3.  That's right folks, $3.  I'm in love.  With a lipstick.

Fun Friday

After one last day of VBS fun, and then a little pool time, I joined some friends at a jewelry party.  The jewelry was Initial Outfitters.  They have tons of gorgeous stuff.  Like this amazing bangle bracelet:

 

And these super cute charm necklaces:

If you haven't heard of them before, check them out at www.initialoutfitters.com.  (I, unfortunately, am not connected to this company in any way and am not paid to promote them, I just really love their stuff.  And their mission, which helps feed children in poverty.)

While Mama was shopping, the girls and Daddy had a big ol' dirty time.  We've been draining one of the five ponds on the farm.  Long story short, it wasn't holding water and we are draining it to find out why, and then fill it up again.  But back to the point:  the pond has fish, and if the water drains much more the fish will all die.  Justin, my daddy, my granddaddy, and my girls all went out to the pond with big nets to try to scoop up the fish.

Now, just a side note, there is an official way of removing fish from a pond called "saining".  This process involves using one very large net that stretches to both sides of the pond and removes all the fish.  That is not the way we choose to do things around here.  Apparently, it's more fun to wade out into the pond and see how many fish you can scoop up.  The answer?? Very few!

And apparently, you have to wear gloves before you can touch the fish.  Cause that's just common sense.



Yes, this is the muddy, cow-poop-filled mess they were wading in while attempting to catch fish.  Just another fun day on the farm!

And before I leave, I just have to share this video from the pool today.  It has both my girls talking about their big plans for the future. 

Blackberry Jelly...... Success!

We did it! With our 10 cups of blackberries picked yesterday, we made 4 whole jars of blackberry jelly!  (We'll try not to eat it all in one morning!) It took us about 2 hours to make, and that includes picking the blackberries.  Main lesson learned:  We need LOTS more blackberries!! The secret was the fruit juicer my grandmother had purchased a few years ago.  Within 5 minutes, we had washed, drained, and crushed the berries, removing all the seeds.  If you ever plan on making jelly, one of these babies is a must-have!

This isn't the exact brand we used, but it's a little cuter!

I'm sending Justin back out to pick more blackberries tonight and tomorrow, and gathering several cups from friends who want jelly, so we'll be making more in the next few days.  I'm putting these girls to work this summer!

Oh, and if you happen to be interested in our recipe, it's here:

10 cups fresh blackberries
1 (1 3/4 ounce) packet dry pectin
5 cups granulated sugar

Wash, drain, and crush berries.  For jelly, drip through a cheesecloth to remove the juice from the berries.  (Or use a super awesome juicer.)  Add dry pectin and sugar.  Stir to mix well.  Stirring constantly, bring to a rolling boil and boil 1 complete minute.  Remove from heat and pour into hot, steralized jars.  Seal.  Let set 24 hours.

Summer Manifesto

Tonight, we checked one thing off our "Summer Manifesto" and are well on our way to checking off another one.  We rode all around the farm and picked blackberries.  Kyndall loved it.  Libby was too hot, and just wanted to ride the 4-wheeler!

K with a hanful of blackberries that she picked all by herself!

L with a handful of blackberries that her daddy and I picked!

L took this surprise picture of K and me adding blueberries to the bucket. Love it!

Blackberry hands

This cute little guy kept trying to help us--he was full of energy and so fun to watch!

 I realized I hadn't officially posted our Summer Manifesto, so here it is.  A list of things the girls and I want to do for fun this summer.  Sorry for the blurry photo--we typed it together in Word, printed it out, and I snapped a photo with my iphone.

Rodeo Street Dance

This is what we do for fun on the Thursday night before a big rodeo. The county blocks off the street and we have an old-fashioned ho-down. OK, it's not quite as redneck as that. They do block off the street and one of the local bands played while everyone danced. There were some country line dances going on, as well as a little of the cha-cha slide. The girls LOVED it and can't wait to go out to the rodeo tomorrow night!