One is the loneliest number . . .

This is what I've managed to accomplish since the kids are camping with their grandparents this week. (This is mainly for my own personal sense of accomplishment---except for #5. I guess that goes towards my ME time.) :o)

1. A little bit of laundry---I say a little because, well, there just aren't that many dirty clothes to wash when the kids aren't here.

2. Scrubbed the boys' bathroom---it wasn't in terrible shape, but you know how boys can be. Sometimes I think it would be better to just have a completely tiled or cement room with a hole in the floor so we can hose it down every once in a while.

3. Put the girl's room back together. It was bad. And I mean BAD. I think she had some help . . . someone named Matthew . . . and there might have been a Zackery involved, too.

4. Hoed the garden. Not all of it because it's pretty daunting when you're standing in the middle of it but a little goes a long way. We're making progress. Maybe the grass and weeds would slow down if it would stop raining.

5. Watched a LOT of decorating and design shows with a little Food Network in there, too. Hey, when you don't have to compete with the kids for the TV. . . . It's nice to be able to watch some grown-up TV every once in a while.

6. Decluttered some of Zack's and Matt's clothes. They're gonna come home and wonder where all their clothes disappeared to. It seriously needed to be done though. I'll work on Todd's next.

7. Dusted the entertainment center. That's a big chore. Only happens once every 3 months or so.


I guess that's about it so far. I have plans for other things but I'm not sure what else will get done before Friday. Tomorrow is bill day. Oh, the joy! Not. It cuts into my ME time.

Zack finally lost his 1st tooth!

Zack finally lost his 1st tooth this morning with a little help from dad. It has been loose for a while now but just didn't want to come out. The permanent tooth is already coming in behind it so it really needed to get out of there. He and dad have been giving the tooth a good wiggle session every day for the last week or so.

I guess the tooth fairy will be busy tonight . . . as long as she doesn't forget to stop here. That's been known to happen a couple of times. :o)

New Giveaway!

LDS author, Anne Bradshaw, has a new giveaway going on. Go check it out!

ABC's of Me!

A - Age: 33
B - Bed size: Queen Sleep Number (love it!!!)
C - Chore you hate: Laundry
D - Dog's name: Jack and Ace (anyone want a dog?)
E - Essential start your day item: Shower (& Dr. Pepper)
F - Favorite color: Lavender
G - Gold or Silver: Silver
H - Height: 5'6
I - Instruments you play: Clarinet and a tiny bit of piano
J - Job title: Mom
K - Kids: 3 boys, 1 girl
L - Living arrangements: In the middle of nowhere with hubby, 4 kids, 2 dogs, 4 ducks, 14 chickens, and who knows how many cats (and the occasional rabbit or deer).
M - Mom's name: Elaine
N - Nicknames: Ranna, Randa, Rannachelle, and one more that I don't care to mention.
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: When I fell out of a moving car at age 2 (carseats were optional back then), and one for each of my kids.
P - Pet Peeve: Snobby people, incompetent people, and those who take advantage of others.
Q - Quotation from a movie: "Sammy's so confused he doesn't know whether to scratch his watch or wind his butt." ---Steel Magnolias
R - Right or left handed: Right
S - Siblings: 3 sisters, 1 brother
T - Time you wake up: 6 am
U - Unique thing(s) about you: I don't think there's anything unique about me except that maybe I tend to stray from the 'norm' (make my own laundry soap, dish soap, homeschool my kids, etc.) Pretty soon I'll be living on a mountain away from society with no indoor toilet or running water. ;o)
V - Vegetable you dislike: Brussel Sprouts
W - Ways you run late: Kids---nuff said.
X - X-rays you've had: Wrist, dental
Y - Yummy food you make: Blondies, brownies, cookies, and slap-ya-mama-good red beans & rice.
Z - Zoo Favorite: Elephants, giraffes, birds, monkeys---all of it, except snakes.

Before and After

Remember this?

Before

After

I was going for a light blue but it turned out about 2 shades darker than I wanted. I can deal with it though. It is just a chicken/duck house after all. I don't think they have a preference. Besides, it'll be covered in poop by the end of the day. We worked hard to finish the fence last night so we could get them all moved in before it was too dark to see anything.

I took this first thing this morning after I fed them. Looks like they're adjusting to their new surroundings just fine. I was a little worried they'd be in shock from the move plus, we were supposed to have some thunderstorms last night. We didn't know until after we had them all settled in. But all are accounted for and doing fine.


The hens love their new porch and have requested a couple of rocking chairs and maybe a swing. (They were actually chasing bugs. It was so funny watching them zoom in and out of the house.)


The ducks have made this back corner their home. They haven't quite figured out the ramp that leads into the house. They will eventually, I hope. See the brown one in the back with the poof on it's head? When we got him(or her), he had just a tiny little sprig sticking up on top. Now it looks like an afro. ;o)

I'm so glad to have this finished for now. We borrowed the dog kennel as the fencing for the pen while the girls(and possibly guys) are still small but we will need to make the yard big enough for the ducks to have a pool. At least they have some room to move around now. I think they are much happier with the new place. I know I am. :o)

I'll have to remember to take some pictures of the bantams and show them off too. They are very cute.

A funny thing happened . . .

. . . one afternoon(ok, really it was different afternoons plus one morning). I was busy doing whatever moms do and I turned around to find Todd passed out on the floor cuddled up with one of Lauren's baby dolls. I haven't shown him this picture, btw. He doesn't even know I took it. (hee hee hee)

This is how Lauren went out to help Ian feed the chickens one morning. I cracked up. At least she had shoes on. Maybe she thought she was going somewhere else because she put on the backpack and, you can't see it from this view, but she has a teddy bear too.

This is what happens when we try to water the garden. We usually have to keep Matt and Lauren out of sprinkler, but we decided to let them have fun last night.

There was a lot of 'monkey see, monkey do' going on.

At least they stayed on the edge of the garden.

Who's having the most fun?