a tale of 2 chickens

I do not know what has come over my speckled hens, but this new form of chicken insanity is starting to really bug me. Thursday night I rode along so Ashley (with her new permit) could drop Connor off at school to get ready for his basketball game. I waited in the car all alone while Ashley found out what time we needed to get to the school for Connor and Nicoles' games, when I heard this noise(braaagh), oh no I didn't hear that, I sat very still, and once again(braaaagh).



It could not be, not again, who let the stupid chicken in the van. Sure enough, as I was climbing out of the van, out hopped the stupid speckled hens. 2 stupid hens . I don't believe this. Now we have to guard the doors of the van when we are loading up to avoid hitchhikers.

I told Fr. Matthew about the behaviour of my hens, and he suggested I turn them into Sunday dinner. I told him no way. these speckled hens are small, scrawny things, and once I got the feathers off of them there would be nothing left. Sunday morning , they tried to hitchhike to church, but Connor chased them out. I could just picture us piling out of the van at church, It is quite a sight to see rows of children racing to get out first, followed by speckled hens.

chickens

I have very strange chickens, I am convinced these chickens are not the least bit normal whatever that is. I had an appointment in Ada at 10:15 , so I was planning to leave the house at 9:45. Ben decided to go with us, and you would think 2 adults and 2 children could get out of the house on time.

Thinking was my first mistake. As we loaded the 2 little ones into their car seats we left the drivers door open, and the side passenger door open. Ben was in row 2 hooking up Christian, and I was in row 1 hooking up Alexandra when I looked down and saw a chicken running through the van. In our 15 passenger van, the area under the seats is open all the way to the back of the van. I start to yell at the stupid chicken, when I notice a 2nd chicken in the van.

What in the heck is going on here? 2 stupid chickens in the van. Ben is shooing chickens one way, and I am shooing them the other. They run to the front door, and in jumps Otto the really bizarre weiner dog, and he proceeds to chase the chickens through the van.

I looked at my dear husband of 24 years, and I said , Honey, I don't think other peoples' lives are like this. Who else do you know would have to chase chickens, and a dog out of the van just to go to town? I don't know of anyone.

I was 20 minutes late to my appointment, and as I explained the circumstances, the receptionist looked at me as though she had never encountered chickens running through her van being chased by a weiner dog. Imagine that. Some peoples lives must be so boring.

Benjamin

My husband is so crazy, he is not one of those mildly eccentric men, he is way over the top. Take tuesday night for instance, he decided his hair was getting too long and a little messy. He rigged up his beard trimmer with an extension cord to the shower, and cut his own hair, in the shower so he wouldn't make a mess.

I was in bed asleep when he emerged quite some time later, and said honey, can you help me? I sat up in bed, and looked at his hair, and asked what were you thinking. Honey said, hey I saved 20.00 bucks cutting my own hair, I just need you to straighten it out, thin the back, and sides, and just fix it in general.

He looked like Dorothy Hamill with a beard, and I told him that style was not very flattering to him, and had not been popular in 30 years.

He kept telling me babe I saved 20.00 bucks, and I said no you didn't, you get to take me out to lunch next week.

It took me over an hour with scissors, comb, and clippers, to straighten out his hair. On a positive note, he no longer looks like Dorothy Hamill, and can go out in public without a hat on. I threatened to take pictures of his hair and post them, but he said that wasn't very nice. We laughed so hard as I tried to straighten out his hair, and I made him promise to never, ever cut his own hair again.

jonny blue eyes

Today is Jonathans' tenth birthday. Andrew and Tiffiany came over for supper, and cake and ice cream. Kyle is coming over tomorrow for supper, and to give Jonathan his present. Next week , all the children are going to the movie. Jonathan didn't want a party(yeah).

I will gladly pay for all of my 500 children plus 2 friends to go to the movie instead of throwing another birthday party right now. I am kind of partied out.

Time has gone by so fast. It is hard to believe it has been 10 years since the midwife handed me a very plump 9lb blonde haired, blue eyed baby boy. He is a very ornery, and very loving boy.

Thank you Lord for bringing this very special person into my life. Each child comes with their own gifts and lessons, Jonathan is certainly an individual, and marches to the beat of his own drum.

new traditions

We have always given the children 2 gifts on Christmas Eve. New pajamas, and a christmas ornament. This year, I waited to give them their ornament until the Feast of the Holy Family, and then they all hung their ornaments up while we enjoyed cookies and hot chocolate.

I think we all enjoyed it, as the chaos of gift opening was over, but it was a way of emphasizing that Christmas is more than 1 day. Next year, I am going to try to have a small gift for them to open on Epiphany also. I really want them to understand the whole season of celebrating the birth of our Lord.

We had an Epiphany party at church this year, and I really enjoyed it much more than the Christmas parties we have had in the past. It was nice to be able to celebrate when the pressure of having everything done was over.

Christmas celebrations

On December 22, we loaded up the 15 passenger van and headed to the huge town of Ada for the childrens' annual shopping trip at the Dollar Tree. It was a wild night to say the least. Everyone divided up the children, and the older children helped the little ones, the look on the clerks face was priceless when she saw the line of little children and their gifts.

I had done a lot of collecting of gifts from the salvation army, yard sales, and consignment stores over the past few months, so the children had done some of their shopping at home so to speak.

I cut back on my baking, and limited myself to a few cookies, and then some bar cookies, homemade hot chocolate, and cakes or cupcakes as gifts. I spent less time on my feet which is very important lately.

Christmas Eve we cleaned the house, and I enlisted help in cooking dinner. Tony came by with a gift for Ashley, and stayed to eat with us. The children all opened their gifts from each other, and Grammy later that evening, and before you knew it, it was time to head out for midnight mass.

It was a wonderful gift having all my family at Mass together. Alexandra was so tired, we ended up in the hall half-way through church, as she was voicing her displeasure.

It was 2:00 a.m. when we returned home, and got everyone into bed. Andrew, Kyle, and Tiffiany stayed up to help me get everything ready for Christmas morning, and we got to bed about 4:30. Thank goodness, the children slept 'til 10:00 a.m. They all opened their Stockings, and then from youngest to oldest, opened their Santa gifts. The girls helped me prepare breakfast, and then we all began opening the family gifts, and of course the childrens' gifts from us.

Ben had to go into work for a few hours, so I cooked Christmas Dinner with Andrew and Tiffianys' help. It was pretty simple, I wanted to make it easy for me.

We decorated the tables, and broke out the china, it was a very enjoyable holiday for us.

Alexandra truly celebrated the 12 days of Christmas, as she opened her presents one at a time through the Feast of the Epiphany. She enjoyed the boxes, and ribbons, and wrapping paper. I think opening her gifts over several days allowed her to really enjoy each gift, and didn't overwhelm her.

I truly love the whole season of christmas. The decorations, the fun, the baking, the eating, spending time together, it was so much fun watching the childrens' excitement.

Thank you Lord for the gift of Christmas as seen through the eyes of a child.

baby girl

I have been a bit out of touch lately, and I am just going to have to clear my brain and catch up. The childrens' Christmas break began on Dec. 18, and the chaos began in full force. The shopping and wrapping, and changing some of the decorations to reflect the theme of Nicoles' birthday party the winter wonderland. I was so busy.

I found silver and blue christmas bulbs at the salvation army along with clear glass canisters, silver snow flake lanterns and the clear plastic miniature christmas trees that lit up with white lights, it all turned out lovely. She had a 3 layer red velvet cake with cream cheese icing and blue snowflakes scattered on it.

We had a large crowd, and I have to say , I was very happy to be done with birthdays for 3 whole weeks. I can't believe Nicole is 13 now ,and turning into a very lovely and sweet young woman.

Thank you Lord for the gift of my baby girl Nicole, she has always been such a joy and a blessing in my life, and as she continues to remind me, she is still my baby girl.