The chickens have arrived

We have moved out to the barn since I last posted.  We live outside of town on 40 acres in a pole barn.  Yup!  Flippo's are classy that way.  It's a lot of work, but we all love it.  Dan and the boys built a chicken coop.  It is so cute and matches the house/barn.  Mostly it matches because he used left over tin from the barn construction.  We brought home 10 chickens who are about ready to lay.  Actually one laid an egg on the way home.  When we pulled up to the hatchery, there was a line of people and pick ups and chicken crates.  We got in line with our cardboard moving boxes.  The boys used my keys to punch air holes in the boxes.  Judah and Zeke helped the girl pack five chicken in each box and we taped them shut.  Moving as been a part of life for us for the past 10 years... we know how to pack boxes.  Well they are home and are scared to come out of the coop when we open the door.  Hmmmm....

Bats in the Belfry

Deck the halls with boughs of... bats. This creepy little guy was in our living room. I promptly locked the boys and I in the back room until I could make a plan which turned out to be... run out the front door and jump in the van and sit in it in the drive way until I could come up with a plan. Bat man came from the pest control place and took him out of our living room. Apparently there is a bat back up in Manhattan so they can't make it back to check the attic and remove any possible addition bats until January. I don't think that is something anyone should say to a woman who has spent the last hour of her life locked in a mini van with two boys in the drive way.  January!

My Spring Theme Table Center Pieces

I have mason jar on my dining room table filled with 30 tadpoles, one with a garden snake named Squiggles that Judah just caught last night with the salad tongs, and two toads (both named Toady). Can any one who has raised boys to men tell me if this is what I am to expect for a center piece every spring? 
We found Squiggles under a rusty old bucket in the flower bed.  We actually were on a snake hunt.  It wasn't an accident.  Dan (who was safely in the garage during the snake hunt) said that I kept yelling, "Don't drop it!  Don't touch it!  Don't drop it!  Don't squeeze him to hard!  Don't touch it!"  I don't remember a lot of this. !  

Good friends visit from Kansas

We had an eventful visit with our sweet friends Heidi, Dave, Vance and Holly Mitchell this past week. They arrived on an incredibly windy Monday afternoon. As they were getting out of the car Judah got his thumb SMASHED in the front door in the wind. It is black and blue and looks awful. Poor boys. He was a tough little trooper and didn't let it slow him down too much. We make hobo dinners on the campfire for supper that night. Most of them turned out too black to eat and we ended up ordering pizza. After putting the kids to bed the four grown up got to have some wonderful visiting time! So refreshing. I wish we could be part of their new church Westridge Community Church in Wichita, KS. Tuesday morning Heidi and I spent about an hour on the porch drinking coffee and talking. That truly was the highlight of their visit for me. Heidi is a heart friend who knows me and loves me just the same. It lifts my spirits just to sit with her. Our new chicks arrived Tuesday also so the kids had fun naming and playing with them. One little weakling was named Floppy. No one had much hope for Floppy and we did end up losing that little one the next day. But as we all discussed Floppy and her probably demise, Vance, Heidi's youngest said, "Oh I wish Floppy didn't have to die. I am going to miss her." Sweet boy. As we headed up to the house we realized that our lab Snickers had killed one of my Barred Rock Hens. Grrrrr... We locked her in the garage and threw the hen in the burn pit. After a picnic lunch at the creek Snickers killed a second hen. The men cleaned the hen and I put it in the crock pot. These are just the highlights. I am so thankful for the time we got to spend with these dear friends! Thanks for visiting!

Our dog and the flu

We got our dog and the flu yesterday. Apparently we brought a stomach bug back from Kansas. Yuck. It sure has made the adjustment to the dog more difficult. She really wants to go outside and eat the chickens and cats. I have very little energy today as I spent most of it being really sick last night. She is strong and jerks me around quite well when she hits the end of her leash. She pulled my youngest off his feel once already. She pulled out of her harness and took off after the chicken. It was smart enough to flap, fly and fuss into the barn where it lost Snickers. Snickers is a good natured girl. As I was throwing up last night she would nose into the bathroom to check on me. She is a golden lab with sad brown eyes that she uses in much the same way my kids use their sweet eyes. Well that is about all for now. When I get enough energy I will post some pictures of Snickers and the boys.

Quick Trip to Kansas

We left Iowa at 5:30 pm on Wednesday night. Arrived in Olathe at 10:30ish. Had a fun visit with the Warners and ate a fabulous burger with the boy cousins at midnight. Up and at 'em the next morning and on to Douglas, KS for Thanksgiving with the Flippo Family. We met Uncle Russel's new dog, played in the hot tub and made a decomposition column of the dinner scraps with the twin cousins. Dan and I did some Black Friday shopping at Menards and Barnes and Noble. Fun date time together. We owe a BIG thank you to Brad, Kathy and Jac for keeping the boys. I enjoyed some girl time with Kathy and Jacqueline at some girly shops in Wichita before we headed to McPherson, KS for Rocco Thanksgiving. It was good to see my sisters, nieces, nephews, aunts and cousins. We used Thor's hammer and smashed the great pumpkins from this year's Grammy's Pumpkin Patch's contest! One hunderd twenty two pounds of splat. We picked up our generator from Papa and now are on the way home to Iowa. Full weekend... full of food, family and God's incredible blessings!