Is it over yet?

I love living in the Northeast and having four seasons every year. By the time one is ending, I am usually ready for the next. It has been wonderful having Jamie home for the Summer, especially since the birth of Leif, but we are all ready for some routine here with the coming of the new school year and the Fall.

Jamie went back to school yesterday, and while we had planned to start our kids too, we decided to start easy this week and work up to the routine I hope we can establish for the year.

I have learned that even without routine home schooling is "Learning 24/7", and the triplets are making sure Leif is learning! He loves to watch them play, and they love to entertain him. It is really cute how they have each become attached to him, and want to help out. He always rewards them with a sweet smile.



Summer vacation is over, and in a few months I will have to remind myself that I was wanting to get this school year going. All three teens are high schoolers now, and I am using a first grade curriculum for the triplets. Dante is in pre-school full days this year, with plenty of physical, occupational, speech, and ABA therapies. He even has a walker now, another thing to get used to and hopefully get him walking. Tomorrow is his first day, and Monday everyone else starts in earnest.

Micah is Mr. Smartypants

School starts soon! I have been cleaning and organizing to get ready. Yesterday I came across a small 9 piece puzzle from a bag of prizes that we had never used. I was about to toss it, but instead gave it to Micah since he was at the table. Without ever seeing it before, Micah spread it out and pieced it together- without a picture of the complete one to go by.

I know it was just a simple small puzzle, but I'm proud of Micah for being able to take a stack of pieces and put them together. The poor guy is in for it now-- time for some more puzzles in the house!

Vacation!

We just spent our annual week at Rumney Bible Conference on family vacation- our 11th year! It was wonderful and relaxing, except for the kayaks capsizing with Alexander, Zachary, and Micah. (Actually, that event did finally succeed in teaching Micah some safety awareness-- "no boats, all done boats" and he didn't take off for the pond without asking again.)

Amelia does love to kayak and is careful. She is able to go in her own when attached to someone in front of her. She and Micah also enjoyed hiking in the woods looking for pinecones, and everyone loved swimming. The teens were able to go tubing on the river with Jamie, while I convinced the 5 youngest they all needed a nice nap. Every day was a good day, and we are thankful for the time together as a family without the busyness there always seems to be at home.

We look forward already to vacation next year!!

" Bugs on a Leif "

The Reality of Being a Mother Hen

Have you ever felt henpecked and want to fly the coop? Not feeling high enough in the pecking order? Too many old biddies clucking at you? But you feel a little chicken?

There are so many sayings related to being a chicken. Since Zachary has been keeping chickens it is obvious how a lot of the sayings came to be. One new experience for all of us has been watching his hen Gizzie "go broody", set on her eggs for three weeks, and tend to her babies for the last five weeks in the lean to and yard. She was super protective and would barely even tolerate Zachary coming near her.

Until now, all of our chicks had either been incubated and hatched by us, or bought as day old chicks. So it was a learning experience to see just how protective a mother hen is when allowed to raise her babies.

Then in one shocking moment, it was all over. Some maternal instinct told Gizzie she was done, and they did not need her anymore.

So she left them and returned to the coop. Just like that. They were on their own, and not too happy about it. Zachary said they cried (cheeped pitifully) as darkness approached and they did not know what to do.

However, they found their way to shelter, and are just fine today.

I wonder if this is something I should try?