Two Yummies

Rachel made yummy homemade doughnuts...



...and doesn't Naomi look yummy in her new hairstyle? I told her she was getting two ponytails today because she is two!

The Backyard

Saturday, the kids finished the tunnel they were digging between two holes - their big one, and a smaller one. Somewhere in between the two, they ran into a tunnel the rabbit dug out of the chicken coop.

Sunday afternoon, Stan noticed a Cooper's Hawk (also called a chicken hawk) in the back yard, looking appraisingly at...THE CHICKENS...who were all huddled in the coop, until I stepped out to take a picture.

I don't know WHY (Did they think I would protect them? Was it just a coincidence? Did they feel the strength of their numbers?)...

...but then they all came out in a clump and stared back at the hawk.

I guess they must be scary chickens, because at that point, the hawk turned all it's attention to the family of lizards that have been reproducing in the woodpile.

Shooting Guns and Pictures with the Young Women

The Young Women and their leaders (me included) went shooting. Here is a picture of the place we went to. Can you guess what it is called?

The Rock Pile!

The YW had fun climbing...

...and I had fun taking pictures while I climbed after them. I love using the macro setting on my camera and taking pictures of flowers.

This is the first range we shot at - a twenty five foot range. We shot (correct me if I am wrong any of you who went) six shooters, 12 gauge rifles, a semi-automatic, and a forty-four, my personal favorite.

We had two brethren that were the brains behind the gun safety classes and brought most of the guns and ammo. They were great - thanks John and Rod!


After a while, we went to the shotgun range and shot at clay pigeons. The Beehives had a complex plan in place so that they all got to fire off an equal number of targets.

The Mia Maids disappeared to chit chat in the back of a car.

This past week...

Naomi turned two!

Happy Birthday Mo!!!

Heather sang with the fifth grade chorus at a school function. The microphone was turned up all the way when her principal started talking, which was a bit of a shock to the kids sitting up near the speakers. I love the look on her face. If you look closely, and if you can tell past all the greenness, she has one eyebrow up and one down :)

I got a newish, not too different haircut.

I had fun messing with the colors on these - which do you like the best?

At the Park

Now that I've finished the camera manual...here are some pictures :)

The four younger kids and I went to the park while the older ones were at their piano lessons.

Here are some of my favorites.

Gwen pushing Mo on the baby swing.

Michael living it up on the slide.

Kelly climbing and looking cute.

Gwen on the monkey bars!

Mishmash

Here are a few things from the last while.

First, some art work of Kelly's.

We check out so many books from our local library that, the other day, the head librarian thanked me personally for keeping their circulation numbers up.


For more on this, go here.

Speaking of my birthday, one of the things Stan gave me was some time alone to read the camera manual. I got myself some lunch from Rubio's, sat in a parking lot and ate, read and practiced, until it got too dark...

Michael got a couple of magnifying glasses for Christmas and here he is using one as a dress-up accessory.

Saturday most of us went with Stan to get some fresh air and sample puddles for fairy shrimp.


Finally, here is a video of Naomi getting her diaper changed. Don't worry, it is G rated. We start our bathroom readers out young.

I think it is appropriate...

...that on Valentine's Day Stan's romance website made it to the top.


If you type the words "romance marriage" into Google, he comes up first, out of the entire planet.

Congratulations, Handsome!

Surprise!

Today, Summer's Sunday School class took a field trip out to the church parking lot in the rain to put magnetic flames on our van. Robert is not behind Anthony because he is shy, but because their teacher/photographer asked him to move over so that the flames showed up in the picture.

Wasn't it nice of them and their intrepid leader to help us feel more at home in our new, unadorned vehicle?

Thanks again Bill!

Snack Time

I sent the three youngest outside for a while today while I cleaned the kitchen so that any mess they made was out there and didn't demoralize me. Michael wandered in after a while chewing on something.

Here's how the conversation went -

Me - What are you eating?

Michael - I think it is a rotten nut.

Me - Where did you get it?

Michael - Off the chicken food.

Me - WHAT?!?

Michael - I mean off the top of the chicken food bucket...

It turns out it was a pecan from off our tree that had cracked open. Who knows how or why it was on top of the chicken feed container, but it came in handy for a banished-to-the-backyard, hungry boy.