THE BABIES ARE GROWING UP!!

A COUPLE MORE KID PICS!

Grandma and Grandpa got the kids new beds last weekend! Well, actually the boys got new beds and Taylor got a new mattress that she really needed. Mason and Brody have been sleeping together in the same twin bed since they were toddlers and they have recently been asking for their own beds. They were very excited about having their "own" blanket that they got to pick out...Mason chose Thomas and Brody chose Spiderman. This picture was taken just an hour or two after we set the beds up. They crawled in them to "try them out" and they fell asleep!! You might be able to see in the picture, Brody also has Buzz and Woody on each shoulder. They sure are funny.
This is the morning of the first day of school which for us was August 21st. They were SO excited to get back to school. They played "school" for a few days after they got all their supplies. The newness has sort of warn off now...they are sick of getting up early!! They are still having a good time though and they have Great teachers!!

The Boys

A couple weeks ago I let all the kids invite a friend over for the day. This is a picture of the 4 boys playing trains in the great room. They had a great time playing spiderman and Thomas. You'll notice 3 of them have spiderman costumes on. Mason and Brody have a drawer full of costumes....spiderman, superman, mr.incredible, buzz, etc. and they tried them ALL on!! Mason and his friend Tyler wanted me to build this Thomas track and they spent alot of time doing this. Brody and his friend Benton spent most of their time playing spiderman but they did take a break to play trains now and then. Taylor had Rachel over but they did what girls do...spent most of their time in Taylors room playing school...so I didnt include a picture of them!
My kids now know what video games are...there is no turning back!!! I broke down and rented a playstation the other day and they have been hilarious to watch!! They are SO into it the way they move their whole body all over the place trying to make spiderman do what they want!! While one is playing the other is coaching...it gets pretty intense!! We rented it for 5 days and I am kind of looking forward to taking it back!! They are getting a little obsessed! At least I now have some leverage....we can only rent that again if you (fill in the blank)!! They boys arent the only ones that have enjoyed it though...the big kid Eric has spent some time on it "helping the kids"....and Taylor has enjoyed playing "Ratatouille"

They all start back to school on tuesday the 21st and are very excited!! We checked the teacher list last week and I am very happy with the teachers they got. Taylor will be going into a new building this year so she is a little nervous about that, but they have a "meet the teacher" night this thursday so that will make it a little easier Im sure. Our schools are all on the same property but they are broke down in many different buildings....K-2nd, 3rd & 4th, 5th & 6th, 7th & 8th, and 9th-12th...5 different buildings! We have a brand new high school this year also! Hope everyone has had a great summer!!

duckling update

Just in case there is any of you out there wondering about the baby ducks....
I ended up bringing them inside. After the first two hatched, one of them ended up disappearing...literally. We could not find it anywhere. Then there was another one starting to hatch . After it hatched I went out to observe for a while and noticed that the two female ducks and the hen would all consentrate on one of the ducks. They were getting old enough to wander out into the yard part of their area instead of staying in the coop. One of the babies would be out walking around and all 3 mommas would be inside watching the other one. Meanwhile the one outside would get pecked by all the other chickens. So I decided I needed to take them away and bring them inside. It sure was not easy to pick them up with 3 mommas trying to attack me and then a rooster on top of that!!
So here is their new home....and we had another hatch out. No new ones for a couple days, so maybe we are done now?! These three are in a box in the shower stall of our bedroom!! Eric is thrilled of course to have more barnyard animals in the house!! It really isnt that big of deal though, they arent as noisy as the 15 baby chicks this spring!!

State Fair!

We went to the Missouri State Fair today...it sure was hot!!! We tried to get there early...by 10:30am, but it was still 95 degrees. By the middle of the day it was over 100 heat index. We still had a good time though. This is the boys going on a little roller coaster. I think it is the only ride Brody did...he is a little more cautious. Thats OK, I needed someone to hang out with!!
Even though you really only see Eric and Mason...Taylor is in there too!! It was hard to get a good picture...they were so high up!! Brody and I watched from below and it made him a little nervous seeing them up there!

This is one of those "tornado" type rides that spins you around faster and faster. This was Mason's idea actually and when he got off he said "that was the best one yet!" I sure hope Eric has a few more years of these kinds of rides in him cause I am not going to be any help!!

We also saw the animals of course...horses, cows, pigs, chickens, etc. Almost like being at home!! We enjoyed all the great "Fair Food"...hot dogs, snow cones, funnel cakes, fresh lemonade. It was a long, hot day but it isnt summer without a trip to the State Fair!!

WE HAVE BABIES!!!

This morning I went to feed the chickens and I got the COOLEST surprise!! I know there are two in this picture, but at first there was just one. When we got home this afternoon there was the second!! And just in case you are confused...yes that is a chicken and those are baby DUCKS!! This hen has been diligent about sitting on eggs for a few weeks now.
I think it was kind of a "group effort" on getting these two little ones hatched. There are two female Welsh Harlequin ducks and this hen that have been spending all their time working on this batch of eggs. Im not sure if there will be more babies in the next few days or it might be another week or so....if we get anymore at all. Its hard to know which eggs have been there how long. The ducks dont mind too much if I come in to take a look, although they do talk to me alot. This hen is a completely different story...she is now an attack chicken. I had to really zoom to get this shot and I still was a little worried about her going for me. I thought our rooster was mean!! Dont mess with this hen and what she thinks to be "her babies"!!

You can tell the one on the right is the newest...still a little damp. The other one looks to have a little bit of black spots...so it will probably be black and white. The one on the right seems to be all yellow right now and white later of course. Nothing cuter than babies is there?

Hillbilly Shower!!

A couple nights ago Eric was trying to power wash the drive and front patio. The kids kept running in front of the sprayer....so he decided to just start spraying them!! They were having so much fun!! I thought maybe the force of the spray would hurt a little, but I guess not...they kept coming back for more!

It has been so hot lately also. Over 100 degree heat index.

Any chance to cool off!!