~Griz~

Well, we have had Griz for a week now!  It is neat to see how he already has changed.  He does much better going up and down the steps and running without tripping over his own big feet.  He likes to be where ever we are, but it seems like he is not a lap dog.  He really enjoys being outside.

He found this chair cushion on the floor and made himself at home.  I chuckled to think that only his head will fit on here soon!

His favorite toy is a ribbon.  He loves to tug on it.  He likes to chew on fingers, hair and clothes... but we are trying to not allow that ☺  He hasn't figured out how to play catch yet.  He will chase a ball, but doesn't think it too fun and never brings it back.

He has started grabbing his blanket out of his pen to play with it.

He has a good schedule for the day... three long naps in his pen for us to get things done without keeping an eye on him.  He also does very well at night now.  He gets up a little early, but the boys are taking turns watching him in the early am so I can keep my morning routine in tact.

~Puppy Love~

Didn't see this coming...  This soon anyway.

All Eric wanted for his birthday was a dog.  I love our two cockapoos but the guys all want a big dog... all the guys includes Gregg.  Eric has been looking in the newspaper just about every week for months now.  This week he found an add for golden doodles.  I had been wanting one of those... my weakness I guess☺  He caught both Gregg and I at a weak moment.

We went to meet the puppies on Saturday.  They are eight weeks old were ready to leave home.  We met the mom first and boy was she a sweet dog.  I don't want a dog that sheds or I would have wanted a golden!  Then all the puppies came frolicking out.  Be still my heart, what an adorable sight it was! Somehow, the golden and the white poodle managed to have 4 black puppies.  My guys wanted a black dog... and they are not as desirable for those on the market for a golden doodle so we got a good deal.

The puppies thought Kiersten was one of them

We thought we wanted a boy and we wanted one that looked big.  This guy was the only black male... and his feet and body are beefy (he is already 18 lbs).  He also seemed lovable♥  

We don't have a name picked out for him yet, but that is always the hard part.

We stopped at the store to get him a collar.  The rest of the family had him out playing in the snow while we shopped.  He loves to be outside!

He road well too.

Bullet and River seemed scared of him at first.  Now they are a little annoyed.  I don't think they know what to think right now.

He is doing ok with some steps... it won't be long until he bounds up them without a thought.

Bullet and River don't normally find refuge with Gregg... but he was the closest thing to safety they could find.

Our first night wasn't too bad... poor guy was lonely and I heard him a lot.  We didn't deal with that much with our other dogs because they had each other.  

He is doing very well with being house trained... well, either he is or I am. He is a smart little guy and should catch on quickly.

UPDATE:  We have a name!  Meet Griz!  (short for Grizwald or Grizzly Bear)  the boys are sure hoping he is as big as his name sounds.

~A Visitor~

I have been hearing the distinct sound of a carnal for a few days.  I finally saw my feathered friend this morning!  Isn't she lovely!

Lest you think I am well learned in the sounds and sights of birds... The cardinal and the woodpecker are the only birds I know the sound of ☺  I only know a few more by sight.  Regardless, I find myself amazed with Gods creativity.  All for us to enjoy!

For the beauty of the earth For the glory of the skies, For the love which from our birth Over and around us lies. Refrain Lord of all, to Thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise. For the beauty of each hour, Of the day and of the night, Hill and vale, and tree and flower, Sun and moon, and stars of light.

~Birds of Prey~

What a neat field trip!  The men that spoke at our sportsman's dinner (from Seeing Truth Ministries) have been doing teacher training classes this week as well!  I heard them out in Ohio at the teaching conference and really enjoyed them.  I'm glad so many others from church are able to enjoy their teaching as well.  They teach with puppets, visuals, chalk drawings... they run VBS programs and camps... and Sportmans Dinners.

They also agreed to do a Birds of Prey show for our homeschool kids yesterday. (They have taken their Birds of Prey to the Smithsonian!)

They brought seven birds with them. Five were owls. I REALLY want an owl now ☺

Some fun facts...

• Birds of prey hunt and eat their fresh meal (they don't eat dead decaying animals)
• Owls are extremely quiet
• Owls with black eyes hunt at night, owls with yellow eyes hunt at dawn and dusk
• Hunting with Birds of Prey goes back to the ancient times
• Owls are really soft... the other birds of prey are not... this makes a difference in their flight noise
• If they have feathers on their feet they can live in cold climates
• Owls turn their heads so much to help follow sounds.  One ear is far up on his head and the other ear is low.
• Owls eyes are on the front of there head... a good sign they are predators not prey
• Owls have to turn their heads because they can't move their eyes like we can... but their heads can't turn all the way around.
• One kind of owl really likes to eat skunk... therefore they smell like skunks!

There was so much more I learned (and relearned) but here are the picts...

I forget what this guy is...but he doesn't live around here... he likes warm places

Screech Owls - both had been injured and could not be released back into the wild.  They don't hunt with these two, but they are great for educational trips.

Barred Owl 

Great Horned Owl

Red Tailed Hawk

Barn Owl

Close ups of the Screech owls

 

I love animals, so this was obviously a cool thing for me.  They were within reach, but they are still wild so we had to keep our distance.  Fascinating... truly!

~Butterflies~

I asked for butterflies... I can't remember now if I got them for my birthday or Christmas, but my guys got me a net and a mail in coupon for 5 caterpillars.

I finally remembered to order them a few weeks ago.  They arrived on Thursday.  I wasn't sure if they were dead or alive!  They don't move very much! 

Friday

I can tell they are eating though! The food at the bottom is certainly being eaten.  Within three days you could tell they had grown too!  I can't wait to watch them!!!

Monday

~Dog Bandage~

Bullet was outside running around this morning. Jordan noticed her foot was bleeding. I sprayed it off with the hose to see what the problem was. She broke off her nail! Ugh! Just in case that happens to you, you can put flour or corn starch on it to help it clot and add pressure if it doesn't want to stop. Bullet left the bandage on for a few hours. It looks sore but she doesn't seemed bothered by it today.

~Petting Zoo, Ice Cream & 20 Bucks~

It has been a busy week!

• Monday we raked our front hill and spread grass seed and straw (God has done an awesome job watering it for me every day!)



• Tuesday we had our evaluations for the school year



• Wednesday I was busy paying bills and taking care of other paperwork



• Thursday the kids and I cleaned the church

I decided today would be a fun day (I am trying to do one "fun" activity every week along with a few "work jobs"). I took the kids to a free petting zoo that is in town!

We just walked away from the Kangaroos when there was a huge commotion in the crowd. The little joey came out of the moms pouch. We didn't even know he was in there!

We stopped for some ice cream cones on our way home.

The boys were patiently waiting for their cone as I handed them out giving directions to big brothers to watch over little brothers and sending them off in pairs. I did not realize a lady was watching us. She noticed that each boy not only obeyed my instructions but they said thank you. I grabbed my cone last and as I turned to leave she asked if I would be offended if she gave me $20. Then she went on to explain that she is a retired middle school teacher and recognizes well behaved children when she sees them. She wanted to do a little something special for our family. I explained that we really didn't need the money but thanked her for her encouragement. I also told her that any good she saw in us was only because God is working in our lives. She stuck the $20 in my purse (I had no free hands with an ice cream cone and Kiersten in my arms) and said i can see that God is working in your lives. I asked if she would be ok with us using the money to buy Bibles to send to people who have none. She was delighted with the idea. I mentioned it to the boys and they thought that was a good thing to do with it too! Our church puts together John & Romans and we have run out. We are waiting for more funds to come in so we can buy more... and I was praying that God would provide. At 10 to 15 cents each, $20 can buy 130 to 200 John & Romans!

I spent the afternoon/evening catching up on wash, cooking 3 chickens, making two loaves of banana bread, ordering a photo album, finishing my blog book, and making 8 dozen cookies!

Happy Weekend!

~Peeps - 4 Weeks~

They are eating everything in sight right now. We noticed that they put on some weight this week too!

Another week or two and they should have all their feathers!
We put a stick in their pen to roost on... they are not ready to roost but they like to walk on it.

I let them out of their pen last night. It was fun to watch them all run around in a group. They loved a pile of sticks they found. All but one found her way back into the cage for bed. That one couldn't find the door and kept running around the outside peeping like crazy!

~The Ultimate Bad Day~

No, not my bad day... Just something I read in my devotions this morning:-)

I was reading about how Elijah had to run for his life. He obeyed God and got into a sticky situation. He ran a days journey and crashed under a juniper tree... then "he requested for him that he might die."

That would be a really bad day.

My mind went back to a sermon preached last month. It was about Moses (Num 11), Elijah (I Kings 19) and Jonah (Jonah 4).

• All three men were trusting & obeying God.
  
• All three men were trouble by fatigue, fear or frustration.
  
• All three wanted their life taken from them.
  
• All three were totally taken care of by God in their time of need.

Just thought I'd share:0)

I took this photo of our neighbors sheep yesterday.

I am so glad the Lord is my shepherd!

~Peeps - 3 Weeks~

I thought they looked funny last week...
They are so curious! They love being outside now... pecking and scratching in the grass. We have hawks around here so we keep them in the cage. I moved it to fresh grass today and they went crazy happy!

We have been putting them in their house each night and getting them out each morning. Three mornings ago, they jumped out of the house on their own!

Last night they were peeping really loud when it was just about dark. I went to see what the problem was and they were all looking up at the house and couldn't get in! Today, we put a step in there for them and they put themselves to bed tonight!

Look at their wings now! They love jumping and flapping around. We really enjoy watching them too!

~Peeps - 2 Weeks~

I cleaned my living room carpet on Friday and didn't want to bring the peeps back in the house... they were getting stinky! I moved our little chicken coop over by the house and filled it with straw. Our weather has been warm enough for them outside!!! Yay!
They have really been growing and I thought they might like to get out in the sun and grass. They were really scared at first, but they had fun flying around and pecking at new things.

They look so funny right now. Half fuzz and half feather!

And look at those wings! You can see the tail feathers started to grow too.
We have gone through just about 10 lbs of food in two weeks... I can't wait to see how much they change during week 3!

~Peeps - One Week~

One week old! Look at those feathers coming in! Look at the dog in the background! LOL!Aren't they cute!
They are stinky too... hoping to move them outside soon!

~Peeps~

Look what came in the mail yesterday!!!!
We started out with 13 chickens two years ago and have dwindled down to 8. They didn't lay very good over the winter either. I thought it was time to get some new ones. They are a lot cheaper to buy as chicks and I thought it would be fun to raise them!They hatched and shipped on Tuesday. They arrived Wednesday. Everyone was interested... even the dogs! Right now, the chicks are in our living room. I'd like to get them to the garage within the week and then outside a week after that. I am hoping in warms up around here!

Our younger boys don't remember hatching ducks so this is really special for them.

I love hearing their little peep sounds behind me! Too cute! We didn't get much of anything done today... oh well!

The smallest order was 20... we wanted 12 and our neighbors want 4. That leaves 4 extra if anyone is interested:0) Unless, of course, Kiersten loves them a little too much...