The Phone call...

Sometimes I should just let the phone ring.  Tonight is no exception.  I don't like hearing sad news when I am trying to get everyone ready for bed.

I looked at the caller id, it was my neighbor P.W..   I had no clue where this conversation was going when I answered the phone. Occasionally  Husker goes visiting their yard and causes some issues with their dog Harley.  Harley loves other dogs, just not Husker.  Husker being the lovable lab that he just keeps going back in hopes that Harley will have a change of heart.  I knew P.W. wasn't calling about Husker since he was safe and sound in the front room with the kids. What could P.W. possibly be calling me for?

Apparently Harley had the need to show his need to be the "Big Dog" while on a walk with P.W. and his son tonight.  Why Harley has it out for our animals I just don't understand.

  

Poor Lizette, she never saw him coming. 

P.W. called to say that there was an unfortunate meeting tonight between Lizette and Harley.

P.W. said he saw Lizette walk away and that he didn't think Harley had .... taken her life.  

I grabbed the flashlight and headed back to "the harem's" headquarters. 

Once I got there I counted... "1, 2, 3.... please let there be a number 4... please." 

No such luck.  I looked high and low, no sign of Lizette.

Such a sad way to end the day.  I am hoping when the sun is out tomorrow I will find Lizette happily chatting with Sophie, teasing her about that "Queen" comment.

I have that rock in the stomach feeling that won't be the case though.

Time to surf through some of my favorite blogs, they tend to cheer me up.

Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Thanksgiving is here and the chickens are still not convinced we are having turkey for our dinner.

They have gone into hiding.

I am thankful for many things today, my family, my friends, my knowledge of the gospel, and the love that my Father in Heaven shows me each and every day.  I am thankful to be part of a military family.  I am thankful to have four beautiful and healthy children.  I am thankful for the animals that grace our property each and everyday with their unique and special personalities.

Today I am extra thankful for my husband and the blessing he continues to be in my life.  I am thankful for the hard work he puts in each and every day.  I am thankful that even on this holiday he is working hard to make sure our chickens have a safe place to call home.

The chicken tractor is almost complete.  In this picture he is putting on the wheels so that I can move the tractor with ease.  Now we he just has to hinge the drop down ramp/flooring that will be under the roost and cover the top with wire.  I am such a lucky gal to have a man around like him.  He keeps me happy and feeling loved every minute of every day.  I can only hope I make him as happy.

I hope you are all having a fantastic day!

With a little help from 

Suzanne McMinn 

Our dinner is going to be over the top this year.  I am making the recipe for cornmeal yeast rolls and they are looking as if they will be a hit!  I will fill you in on the outcome of the rolls in my next post.

Our Best Bites: Silhouette Giveaway! {Happy Thanksgiving!}

Our Best Bites: Silhouette Giveaway! {Happy Thanksgiving!}

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Our Best Bites! What a great site. Today they have moved even further up my list of fabulous sites to visit daily. You won't believe the great giveaway going on over there. I encourage you to check it out, and if you are the giveaway winner come back here and let me know. It would make me the happiest blogger ever to know that you were picked. Okay, it would make me even happier if I was picked, but that goes without saying.

Check out the giveaway today!

Good Luck!!!!

Egg-tremely Thankful

We have the best hen squad in the neighborhood!

It took them a while to get the hang of this whole egg-laying thing, but they have it down to a science these days.

All that extra loving from the little farmers must be doing the trick.

There are 4 hens in the "hen squad" and we are blessed with 4 eggs each and every morning.  

The hens are so funny about their egg laying, it is a really big deal.  We know there is a gift for us when we hear the celebratory calls of...

"Look what I just did, come see, come see!"

flowing from the door of the coop.  Once the hen(s) spot us they hop down and continue their little song and dance while we gather the gift(s).  

It really is quite a hoot to watch.

I love my hens!  

I love the gifts they give me, and I never let them go to waste.  

I know I have said this before, but it just can't be said enough, everyone should have chickens!

And then there was one....

That's right folks Ponderosa Academy now has a student body of one.  Of course if you had to have just one she is a pretty good one to have.  Our Carley J has requested that she be able to continue this year at home and return to public school next fall. 

 *I secretly jumped for joy*

I was really only prepared to send KC back, mentally it was all I thought I could handle.  When the younger two heard the news they chimed in with their desires to go to school too.  Ugghhh a mothers heart crumbled in a matter of seconds.  I didn't sleep a wink that night.  I made some calls the next day, made a few appointments and lickity-split just like that the next week the kids were all getting on buses and waving their good-byes for the day.

Carley J and I spend our day in deep conversations about Queen Elizabeth I (her current research project) as we tend to the chickens and other chores.  We both look forward to lunch.  It means we are that much closer to the first round of buses to come our way.

This morning we headed out to the park to fit in some exercise.  I grabbed my camera too, it was a BEAUTIFUL, sunny, fall day.

Our view of Smithfield Station from the park.

With the other kids gone for the day she didn't stand a chance.  Picture after picture, after picture. *Smile*

 She is growing up so fast.  It seems like just yesterday she was two years old.

Now we are home for the day, waiting, talking about Kings and Queens, collecting eggs, studying spelling words, making stew, and waiting for the big yellow bus to bring back the rest of our crew.

An informational gathering of sorts

 Thank you all for joining me on this beautiful day

 Hazel... Do you really think you can just sneak in to the meeting as if you were here the whole time?

 If I could continue....  I have asked you here to day to let you know of some changes that have taken place recently.

Lady McRodi made a decision about two weeks ago that will greatly change life as we know it in Rodiville.  You may have noticed the lil' McRodi's only come out late in the day.  Have you been missing your morning games of hide-and-go-seek with the kids?  The kids are fine I assure you.  They have not been banished from the barnyard.  They still love us all. Lady McRodi has sent three of the four lil' ones to a place they call school.  Only the tall girl will be home during the day.  The others have replaced their barnyard recesses for playground time with other, dare I say it... children.

 SAY WHAT????

That's just crazy talk!

But who will carry me around so I don't wear myself out?  The tiny one treats me like the queen I am. *sniff-sniff*

 A Queen?  Hahahaha that's a good one!

 Hmmph! Jealousy is never a pretty thing Lizette. Not pretty at all.

I think Bogart just lost all control over this meeting.

 I heard that Josie!  And ummmm....I spotted some grasshoppers in the woodpile, meeting dismissed. 

Daily Rodeo Round-up

No, I haven't been missing, nor has Rodi whisked me off to some exotic location.  I have been here, doing my everyday stuff.  It seems like my days have become busier and busier.  In reality I think I am just getting slower.  Slower at getting out of the gate in the morning, slower when it comes to getting the kids going, slower, just slower.

I think Jack has noticed this, and is doing his part to keep me on my toes.

See that twinkle in his eyes?  Okay maybe that was just the camera's doing.  Still he has been hard at work this week keeping me on the go. The picture was taken this morning.  That is my bull.  That is not our field.  This is however the same place that Rodi and I found him at 8:30pm last night as we were returning home.

This is me, sporting my oh so lovely morning look.  Jack doesn't care what I look like, he just wants the tiny bit of sweet feed that is in the bucket.  Of course I will just tease him with it all the way back to the gate.

My plan was working great until we arrived at the gate and were greeted by....

Tonka!

He had that "let me at him" attitude going on.  He was snorting and making all kinds of noises.  One second of eye-contact and our big baby (a.k.a. Jack) took off running.  I didn't know who to be more upset with, Jack or Tonka.  

At this point I became so frustrated I had to call in the big guns.

Mr. Rodeo himself.

It didn't take him long and he had all the animals where they belonged, no sweet feed needed.  He fed them all some hay, gave them a rub or two behind their ears, and reminded them it wasn't nice to play games with his mama like that.  

Thanks, son!