Lucky Goose

This picture was taken quite some time ago. It is a picture of Silly and you can see the tail feathers of the much missed Lucy. Silly is still very depressed and generally pissed of about his loss. We have come to a point where something needs to be done. Being the mom in the family and therefore the doer I called around this week looking for a nice home for our beloved goose. Silly me, I thought everyone would be thrilled when I found an actual bird sanctuary full of african geese for him to go live at. When I gleefully announced to my children that I had in fact found him a home they collapsed into little puddles of jello. I was accused of all sorts of terrible acts and labeled a bad mother. I just don't think I had realized how attached my kids were to those geese. I knew they had cried long and hard over Lucy, but she had actually died, not just gone to live a happy life with a flock. After much abuse I gave in and called the loving goose flock back. I have now arranged to buy a goose from them so at least Silly won't be alone any longer. There is one hitch to this. We have to bring Silly with us and let him pick out his mate. Yes, they insisted. I am thinking that should be great fun. Loading a goose in the truck to go to a farm and select his new mate. I can see all sorts of reasons for you to check this blog tomorrow.

Just in case you are wondering I love having geese so this really is not that big a stretch for me. And in case you are wondering how they feel about eating some of our chickens. I have been told ( by them) that they don't care. " Dinner is evil" they say and run off. I guess there is something to be said for being half way nice. It could really save your neck some day.

Saved by the ..... Book?

This picture has very little to do with my post, but I thought is was adorable. Sorry, I am a parent.

Now to the meat of the story, pardon the pun. Mr. Tweedy and I have been going through all our books and trying to scratch up the nerve to get out there and kill ourselves some Dinner. Pardon the pun again. Then I came across the most brilliant writing that has ever been put on a page. Yes, one of the books suggested that we call a meat processing company and have them do the dirty work. What smart people they were, no wonder they wrote a book. I have been on and off the phone all day trying to find a place to handle my meat ( sounds dirty doesn't it). I am having a hard time reaching anyone and I think it has something to do with the holiday. I am sure I will have better luck next week.

Oh, and Happy New Year

Mrs. Tweedy

Those of you with older kids will know who that is. For those of you who don't she is the wife on the movie Chicken Run who has a check list of who is laying and who is not. Those not laying are turned into dinner, and those laying get to live another day.

Well, I have become Mrs. Tweedy.

We have an obnoxious rooster and a bunch of nonproductive hens out back. I love our chickens but it seems that we are going broke feeding animals that do not do us a lot of good. I spent the morning at the library digging up every book on how to kill and clean a chicken for food. The question now is can we do it? Can we really look into the eyes of our little pets and turn them into soup? Can we clean them with out making a mess of it and have to end up throwing out the meat? I guess you can tune in to see how it turns out.

See you next year.

Christmas Eve Fun

This is how my day started..... at 5:45 in the morning. Do you think they might have been excited? I will say that as a mom I am pleased with their use of safety equipment.





This is my living room before Dad got home from work this morning.









This is my living room with in 10 min of Dad getting home this morning !





We decided to take the boys sledding this afternoon for a little Christmas fun. Notice how both of my feet are safely on the ground.


Both boys wanted to ride with Dad, and some how they all fit on one sled.




They loved going really fast down the hill. I just didn't look!

Merry Christmas To Me

Let's start with ....

How cute is that Santa cake. It is actually made of cupcakes !

I love to order them for school parties. Yes, I am one of those awful moms that bring in all sorts of sugary crap for the kids. I am sure all the teachers and parents love me for it.

Now let me start with the fun morning I am having. I got up today and got everyone out the door and on their way. Even kiddo's to school with adorable Santa cakes intact. Then I discovered 1 inch of water in my main bathroom, and big rat holes where some thing wanted to come in out of the cold. What fun! I know, it could be so much worse. At least with a little clean up I can leave it all for my husband to fix when he gets home. Today is my last day of peace and quite as Christmas break starts this afternoon. I am looking forward to having everyone home and enjoying the family, but I am also trying to fit all my personal time into today. My fireman husband is off this Christmas FOR 3 DAYS straight. We are so excited because we get to spend Christmas like normal people this year. I can't tell you the last time that happened. I guess it could be argued that one would have to be a normal family to have a normal Christmas, but that is a topic for another day.

The Christmas Concert

Sorry the pictures are so dark, but I had to take them from a distance.


Our oldest had his Christmas concert tonight and yes, that is the entire elementary school on the stage. I thought our little one was behaving so well during the concert only to look over and discover him making faces at all the kids on stage. That kid is going to give us a run for our money when he is in high school. I guess it is just pay back ! Santa showed up and handed out treats for the kids. Our big guy, being a pro at this by now, meet Santa with a list of what he wanted but refused to sit in his lap. He just flat out told the man in red that he was to old and big for that sort of thing. We all breathed a sigh of relief when his list matched what the elves have already purchased. Our little one was terrified of Santa. One would have thought we were insane to even suggest something as crazy as sitting on some strange mans lap.

The Amazing New Chicken Tractor

Well, here it is the new and improved chicken tractor complete with 4 pissed off chickens and a very happy rooster. There is still a little work to be done. We plan on painting it and adding a door to let the little guys out every now and then but this is it for the most part. I don't think they did such a bad job considering all they had was one dad, 2 boys, a pile of wood, and some ideas off the internet. Now that we have a basic working design we plan on building a few more for the rest of the flock. We can then move them up and down the rows out in the orchard. Hopefully then we will have happy chickens, no bugs, and a fertilized orchard. I am sure I am asking to much.