The Babies are out in the pen...

Big day today - I let the baby chickens out into the cage. They have never been out of the chicken house since I got them. But I closed the little gate so the big chickens couldn't get in with them. 

(I have put chicks in with the big chickens before, with disastrous results.) 

Bella, Alice, Rosalie and D. Biddy weren't too thrilled that I did that.

I took this video of them right after I shut them out. 

It cracked me up how they acted.

 Sorry about the bad parts, that is me not knowing that I was still recording...

Then I went into the house for a second and when I stepped out the back door this is the scene that greeted me. They all were running over to me clucking like crazy. I believe they were saying, "There are baby chicks in our cage. What do we do, how will we eat, where is our water, worry, worry, worry." 

Then they realized that I had a pan of food for them and they calmed down. It's all about the food and water.

And in baby chick news...

I think this is a rooster...so he won't be around too long. 

The reason I say that is because his comb and wattle are much more red than the others already and that usually means a rooster. 

Time will tell but, Sorry, Reddy.

Memorial Day -

Happy Memorial Day

Jayme and Bobbi came out and spent the night last night. 

We cooked up a big breakfast.

 I made pancakes, eggs and bacon.

Jayme made a wonderful fruit salad.

Bobbi and Jayme showed me funny videos of people making fun of old music videos.

After breakfast Bryan headed out to the shed to work on the VW.

And since it is still before lunch, we decided to call Ashley and it is always nice to chat with her about everything.

Flowers...finally...

It has been too cold, too wet, too something this past month. Today, finally, on the way home from town I stopped in Hickman at a roadside flower sale and bought some. 

 Oh, those are my fancy tools that Jayme gave me last Mother's Day.

 Funny story about this planter - It sits right outside the back door across the sidewalk from the steps and it has been there since we moved here. 10 years. Keep that in mind. It used to have a fence post in it with a dinner bell on the post. Well, one day Bryan lost his wedding ring and we searched everywhere for it. I was so frustrated. It had been sitting on the table when we went to bed and the next morning it was gone. So several days go by and I am digging in the drawer that has all the hair ties and bobby pins and brushes and combs, etc. in it and there is Bryan's wedding ring. So I went running out the back door to the shed to tell Bryan and completely forgot that the planter and post were there and ran  full speed into it. It knocked me over backward, bruised my shin, cut my leg, hit my shoulder on the dinner bell and set it clanging, and hit my face on the post. So I jump up continue to the shed but by the time I get there I was in significant pain and crying. Bryan is trying to understand all that I am saying and also trying not to laugh at me (fighting a losing battle and gave in to it) so I hobble painfully back to the house with his help and Bobbi, Jayme and Kellen all hear the story and look at Bryan, who is trying to keep a straight face and failing, and then they all die laughing. Mainly because the thing is huge and always there how did I not see it? After I was done bleeding and aching I laughed at myself and we had Bryan's ring back.

 And now we come to the part you all were wondering about - 

the rain barrel - does it work?

 and...yes, there it is.

It's no Niagara Falls but it gets the job done.

So I feel much more in the mood of spring and summer since I got rid of the dead plants of last year and put in these.

These Two!

Montana and Dakota, for some reason, boredom probably, just start to pester each other and then they get to running around all over. I love to watch them. I had to film this from inside the house because if I go out to watch them they stop and come over to see what I am doing. So sorry about the windows and the stops and starts but they are fun to watch.

Popcorn...clouds...and no Jane...

I found Ashley's popper while looking for something else in the pantry. Andrea and I had just talked about her Kettle corn so...I made some. It was a cool, cloudy day but something was missing...oh right...Ashley and a Jane Austen movie.
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Water, Water, everywhere you're gonna get wet...

Six years before we moved out here our washer and dryer that we had died. No telling how old it was because we got it from Rod's grandma. So we bought a new washer and dryer. We have lived in this house 10 and 1/2 years now. On Saturday there was water all over the laundry room floor while I was doing a load of wash. My very talented husband took apart the machine to see if it was just a hose that needed to be replaced. No, the tub was split. So 16 years later (wow, seriously, that was weird to type because that means when we got that machine Ashley was 10, Bobbi was 7 and Jayme was 4) Hudson and I went to Lowes and picked out a new machine. Bryan came into town picked it up, took it home and installed it. When I told Hudson I needed to pick out a new washer, he looked at me with a horrified expression and said "YOU BWROKE IT? Why you do that? Did you cry?" But he loved looking in all of them (cause he is a washer expert, apparently) and telling me "That nice, you will like it." Not helpful when he says it on all of them. But cute and the sales clerk got a huge kick out of it. So here is what we picked out and Bryan, bless him, installed for me.

 Then I came home to this yesterday after going to town for a hair appointment with Bobbi.

Nope, not the washers fault. MINE. I left all the south facing windows open and a huge thunderstorm came through and there was water everywhere.

Bonus. I got to do a load of towels in my new washer, which plays a little tune when you turn it on, so cheery.

Other bonus, Bobbi hadn't gotten the clothes washed that she wanted to wash on Sunday (broken washer) so I brought them home and got to use it again. Someday it won't be a novelty.

He's in a better place...

Tiger, that is. This is Noah holding him. Noah once said to someone at church, "Are you talking about Patti Clark? I know her. We're pretty close." 

He is my best friend now, because he took Tiger to live with him. 

Almost...

Yesterday I almost wrote a blog post about the 3 and 1/2 miles of dirt road that I have to travel each time I drive into town. I almost said how much I like it when the road gets packed down really hard and it is almost like driving on pavement. I almost wrote about the fact that since it was like that driving into town at 6:30 a.m., I was sure that today the road grader would have gone over it and scraped all the loose gravel back onto it and roughed it all back up and made it hard to drive on. I almost said all that but I didn't. Now I don't look like the genius that I am because I am telling you after the fact that I was right. But I almost told you all that yesterday.

I just have to show this...

Tuesday I was feeling creative so I decided to make a cookie bouquet for Ashley's friend, Amber, who just bought a house. Then I came across my spool cookie cutter and decided to make a bouquet for my mom.

Oh Playmate...

Say, say, oh playmate, 

Come out and play with me

And bring your dollies three

Climb up my apple tree

Shout down  my rain barrel

Slide down my cellar door

And we'll be jolly friends

Forever more.

Yes, I got a rain barrel and we got the rain to go with it.

We put it out Wednesday evening, (and by that "we" I mean - I put it where I wanted it and Bryan put the rock in, secured it to the wall and set the down spout just right) and by last night it was full and as you can tell from the picture it is overflowing and has been since yesterday afternoon. Now I want one at each down spout. If this weather would get nice I would buy flowers to put in so I can use it to water them. I feel so "Green".

Board Game Rap (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

This is my nephew, Evan and his sister, Lauren and brother, Kellen. They made me laugh so hard yesterday with this video that I thought I would share it with the rest of the people who may not get a chance to see it. I love it.

New Toys put to good use...

Bryan's niece and nephew, Alicia and Jon, produce a TV show called "Footnote". If you have never heard of or seen this, check it out. www.fntv.com It airs on WGN and you can also watch it online. Anyway...Episode 4: Lost and Found just aired and after watching it I was inspired to make Jon and Alicia some cookie pops with a Footnote TV theme. So here is  the process. (As I have said before, any excuse to make and decorate cookies...)

 Their logo is the five pointed * so I dug through my cookie cutters and couldn't find one like that but had this one that is supposed to be a present with a bow on top. LIGHTBULB. I could make it look like an old TV with their logo on top. First I drew the design on paper to make sure it worked. Then outlined in black royal icing. 

 Flooded the logo with dark yellow flood icing and added pearls for the buttons.

 Let the yellow set up, then added the fn. 

 Mixed up a brown flood icing and went around the outside of the wood on the TV. Made the grid on the speaker.

And finally flooded the screen with gray 

(which is actually looking more purple in real life. Oh well)

I think they turned out exactly like I saw them in my head,

 so that is great in my book.

My new little bottles worked amazing and made it so much easier to use different colors quickly.

This might also be a good time to mention that the pilot for Bryan's TV show (also produced by Jon and Alicia) went before the board at Back To The Bible this week and they didn't say no...so..."Between Sundays" (working title) may be ready to be promoted to TV stations pretty soon. It is to be the next step for people after they watch Footnote. I probably said that all wrong but...I'm just the preacher's wife so all I really need to do is have big hair and wear lots of makeup...done...on to the next thing.

New toys!

You know cookie decorating has reached a new level when you order little things to make it easier! So excited to use these little guys!
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Bobbi-Haircut...

...is very good at what she does.

She made me look younger.

Best of all I got to spend several hours with her just talking.

Thanks, Bobbi.

They are growing up...

The brave one, closest to the camera, is Reddy. I can tell because of her beak. 

Then to the right is Shorty, aptly named.

After that it is anyone's guess which one is Bucket, Fluffy, Hay Bale or Grapple Fork.

When I got my first chicks (Bella, Emmett and Jasper) I put colored zip ties on their legs to tell them apart as chicks. I never took Bella's off and a couple weeks ago we had to do "surgery" on her and remove it because it had gotten too tight and was causing her to limp. Bad decision on my part to "tag" my chickens. Never again. But good news, she is running around like it never happened so...all is well.

A Full Weekend...

This past Saturday Bryan had to officiate the funeral of a good friend of his, officiate a wedding and preach for church that night. In his words he did everything a pastor does in one day. Then Bobbi called and had blown a tire. So Sunday after church we went to Bobbi's house for lunch and then Bryan changed her tire. What an all around guy.

Thanks to them I am a Mom...

I wouldn't be told "Happy Mother's Day" without these people so... Thanks. I couldn't wish or ask for better children or spouse. I love you all so very much and am so thankful for who you are what you bring to my life.

World's greatest husband and dad.

 World's greatest oldest child.

 World's greatest middle child.

World's greatest youngest child. 

Sorry to the rest of the world but I seem to have cornered the market on the greatest.

And then there are these people that I love, and make me glad that I am a "mom" in some way to them.

The Hamm Girls. These six make up the Clamms.

 Lindsey

 Kitters

 Hudson, Boden and Amiah

Andrea and Barry

I love you all. Thanks for all you bring to my life.

My favorite sign of spring...

Celebrating Jayme...

Finally had a time last night when we could all get together.

 We ate supper (Brisket with Apple Bbq sauce and pasta salad)

Then had Red Velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. 

I think she is making fun of me with Bobbi in this picture. 

Because that was the entertainment of the evening. 

They are soooo funny.

 This is the normal cute picture. Jill, of course was included.

And here they are being excited because Jayme finally turned 15. hahaha 

I can't remember if Bobbi or Jill made that comment. Then they ran with it.

Color...the follow up...

True to form...I colored in the spaces and now look at them and think..."Do I like the color?..."

White TOMS...Pencil...Fabric Markers...

You could say I like my TOMS. And ever since my first pair I have thought, "I could paint on these"...so I finally got a plain white pair and last night and today I drew on them. I am still deciding whether to add a wash of colors to them. I like the black and grey but I also think that coloring would be so fun. So if I do color them I will post a picture. For now this is what I did.

 Oh, that scary first pencil line...

 And then making it permanent with fabric markers...

 Once the designing on the left shoe was done I just redid the same design onto the right shoe. I wasn't sure until I finished the left whether I would do them the same or completely different. 

 Only a few things are different but not much.

Obviously, they can't be exactly the same since they are free hand drawn but I am very pleased so far. 

Part of me wants to just splatter them with really thinned down colors of paint so they look like watercolor over the design and part of me wants to fill in the little spaces neatly...