Get dressed!

Ginger would run around in her und!es all day, if I let her! It's not so much of a problem when the house is 80, and it's 100 outside. But when it's barely 61 in the house, and more like 50 outside, then it does become a problem. The thing is, she is convinced that she does not want to wear any kind of sweater or socks.  

This morning was no exception, and when she came out of bed in her shorts/t-shirt pyjamas, I insisted on getting SOME clothes on her. I somehow convinced her to wear socks, but just 30 minutes later she had taken them off again. Here's our exchange: (remember, she is only wearing shorts and a t-shirt, while I am still cold with a sweater, long pants, and socks)

Me: "Put you socks back on!"

Ginger: "But my feet are not cold anymore"

Me: "Put your socks back on, or I'll get a sweater that you have to put on."

Ginger: "But they are not cold anymore."

Me: "I'll get a sweater!!"

Ginger: "Oookaaayyy...."

Sigh, maybe one day she'll come to her senses, and WANT to wear enough clothes to keep warm

Skies

Texas may not have the most exciting landscape, but it sure does have amazing skies! This afternoon I ran out my back door, and took this picture (okay, it's acually like 8 photos that I photoshopped together)

Joe has taken a few vacation days, and we have been working hard on the wood floor. It has gone painstakingly slow! All the nooks and crannies  just eat up time like no other. The good thing is,

 most of the hard corners are done, and tomorrow we hope to whip out most of the kitchen and nook.

Because Joe was home, I was able to go to the kids' school for a few hours this morning. Winter and Sterling were so excited that I was there, as well as all their classmates. I brought my camera, and the classmates were so excited that I was taking pictures. When one of Winter's

 friend excitedly told her I was taking a picture, Winter turned to her and said: "So what?". I guess she is getting used to me snapping away, which is good, because then I get better pictures.

My hat is off to any elementary school teachers! I was in the classrooms for less than 2 hours, and was very happy to go back home. There's just so much noise, all the time. Teachers have a special talent of patience!

 Sterling's Teacher, Ms Watson, is the greatest! She spends one on one time with each child, even though her class is pretty big

 At PE the kids have to make a "bubble"  in their mouth, to be quiet.

After I spent a while with Sterling, I joined Winter in her classroom. It's interesting to see the big difference between a kindergarten classroom, and a 1st grade classroom. Kindergarten still has many more toys, and visually stimulating things, while 1st grade seems to really focus on the academics.

Such good concentration!

I wasn't even making any noise!

Order in a house

This house is a magnet for dis-order. I don't know if it's the layout, or my lacking housekeeping skills, but I often feel like I'm drowning. There are always more dishes, laundry, crumbs on the floor, and dustbunnies. I guess in my last house, we had it on the market for a good period that we lived there, so it HAD to be clean. 

Today I feel like I'm treading water again, instead of drowning. The kitchen counter is clear for the first time in 2 weeks. The (clean) laundry is all put away. The dishwasher is peacefully humming. Our tummies are filled with a homemade meal. My kids are clean behind the ears (thanks Joe). My pantry is stocked, and the night is still young.

It's amazing to me how a clean house has such a great effect on my mental well-being. It make me calmer, more peaceful, and nicer. Our home truly is a house of God, when we take care of it that way. After all the hard work, I am ready to put my feet up, and just relax!

Cricket Cemetary

We had our first real good fall rain last night. When I woke up this morning to get the kids ready, there were about 50 crickets in my front hallway. I don't know if the rain wakes them up, or if they are just trying to find a dry spot. Crickets don't freak me out or anything, but they are mostly annoying, especially when they start singing at night.

Right away, I thought of my chickens. My chickens love live bugs. I went and got a chicken, plopped it down in my hall, and waited. It only ate one! So, figuring this chicken was defective, and grabbed a different one. This one wouldn't even think about eating one. Frustrated, I concluded I had to do it the hard way, and pick up each individual cricket, put them in a jar, and took them out to the chicken coop.

One of my hens showed especially a lot of interest, so when all the jar crickets were gone, I grabbed her. See; outside of my front door there were another 50 crickets (and I am not exaggerating). She went right to work, and in about 3 minutes cleared most of them out. 

The last 2 months or so, we haven't been getting any eggs. We finally found some after we got rid of the roosters, but then it stopped again. I figured that they were hiding them, so I started looking around in the bushes all along the house. At first I couldn't find any, but a few days later, I heard one of my hens making a ruccas by my air conditioner. She had made a little nest out of leafs, and was laying right there. The good thing: I know where she is laying. The bad thing: I have no clue how to get her to lay in the hen house. Actually, there is one solution, build a new fence. The one I have right now is pretty pathetic. Half the chickens just fly over it (and that's the half that actually lays eggs)

Also, 2 of my newer hens disappeared a few days ago. I thought for sure Justin or a coyote had gotten to them. But alas, there they were this morning, as if they had never left. I'll probably find a stack of 30 eggs in the woods some day.....

Pictures uploaded

My sister sent me some pictures from when we were in LA, for my mom's surgery. The posts that have pics are:

• I Saw Stars
• Quick Update

Bonfire

We had ourselves a grand bonfire yesterday, and Josh came to experience it too. The weather has been cool enough to where a bonfire is perfect. When Joe asked me if I would come outside to join them, my answer was: "As long as it's big". See, I'm somewhat of a pyro. I love playing with fire, and make them bigger. I think the fire was a good size. 

There is a spot in the middle of one of our pastures that is our designated fire pit. Grass hasn't grown there since we moved, and fire remnants are always present. Joe piled a bunch of trash wood that has been laying around in our yard, in the fire. One of the things that made it in there was our old mailbox post.

On a seperate note. When we got our kittens back, I treated them for fleas. They were eating inside so the chickens wouldn't steal their food, and I like to cuddle with them anyways. Well, I hadn't accounted for the flea eggs that they might be spreading, and now a few weeks later, we are paying for my mistake. We might have to call a pest control company or something, because fleas in my house is just not acceptable. (Plus I itch all over, every time I think about it)

Today I went out with my friend Anja. I went to Sam Moon's for the first time. That place is crazy, amazing, overwhelming etc. There were hords of women there, and gazzilions of purses, earrings, and other jewelry. I came out with 2 necklace and earring sets, a new wallet, and some hair clippies for under $26! I will have to restrain myself from getting addicted to that place!  Then we made a quick stop at Ikea, where I am proud to say I didn't buy anything (except some food, but that doesn't count right?)

Wittle Blankie

Ever since Ginger was a toddler, she's had her own special blanket. As the blankets got dingy, I would replace it with a new one. For a while, her favorite was a hideous green/yellow blanket with bears. It was also big, and got dragged all over. It got stained and gross.

As a replacement, Joe's mom made a new, smaller blanket. So the green blanket was Ginger's big blankie, and the new one became her "wittle blankie". She's had the wittle blankie for about 2 years, and it desperately needs replacing. Luckily, Liz still has some of the same fabric that the wittle blankie was made of, so I'll make a duplicate. Except, the blankie with be even smaller. Maybe this can be her tiny blankie. (I almost feel bad about that, because Ginger still "tries" to lay under her wittle blankie to stay warm) Plus, I'm making 2 of them, so Ginger won't freak out if I need to wash it.