1. This fall we raised and slaughtered our own chickens. The boys were present for this affair however were not very involved. Caleb couldn't handle the smell and therefore stayed far away except when John de-feathered the chickens (John is an engineer, a practical one and he built a chicken plucker that you put the chicken in like a washing machine and all the feathers come off, of course after it's dead.) The boys were pretty intrigued in this so they always came around to watch the chicken in the "washing machine". Since we homeschool, I figured might as well add some biology to the mix so Ethan got a couple lessons on anatomy that day. Example: Ethan was using a very long plastic baseball bat hitting the "guts" of the chickens.
Me: Ethan, please don't hit the intestines with the baseball bat.
Ethan: Intestines? What's the intestines?
Me: It's this long stringy part that you are hitting. It absorbs the nutrients in the chicken and makes it into waste: poop.
Ethan: This makes the poop?
Me: Yes, please don't hit it with the bat.
That was an interesting day.
2. We castrated our bull calf the other day.
Ethan: What does castrate mean?
John: We have to get rid of his balls.
Ethan: Why?
Me: Your meat won't taste very good later on when we eat him.
Ethan: Is it going to hurt?
Me: It's not going to feel good.
Ethan: So, it's going to hurt?
Me: Well, kind of.
Ethan and Caleb: What are the balls?
John explains the location. We are now inside the barn. Caleb then grabs his man-parts and stays far away from everything going on. Oh, bless it.
3. We are expecting Baby #4. The kids are more than excited. Caleb wants to call the baby Pooter. No, Caleb, we can't call the baby Pooter.
4. We went on vacation to Gatlinburg a few weeks ago. A couple interesting happenings:
-We went to Dixie Stampede. While John was buying the tickets Caleb and LC both fell asleep. Ethan had an emergency and really needed to go to the bathroom. I can't wake everyone up, or leave the sleeping two, or let him go by himself: he has to wait. Something goes on in the back: Let's just say, a man parks directly beside our van, gets out, sees what is going on in the van, looks at me, shakes his head and laughs. I didn't turn around and watch the entire scene.
- At Dixie Stampede you do not use utensils. My children, even though they get dirty very often, are perfectionists. And getting their hands dirty on the food was not their idea of a fun time. Ethan eventually talked our waitress into bringing him a plastic set because he couldn't eat his corn on the cob because he is missing his two front teeth. Seriously?
-We thought it would be great to go and visit a wonderful pancake house John and I went to a long time ago. We should have just thrown everyone into a freezing shower and given them a bath. It would have been less painful. Linley Claire was in such a bad mood at that point that one lady made the observation to me in the bathroom: Poor thing, she's just not happy this morning is she?
YOU THINK? WHAT EVER GAVE YOU THAT IMPRESSION?
Was it:
A: the throwing of the silverware.
B: The throwing of one of my blueberry pancakes? or
C: The constant screaming? My answer:
D- ALL OF THE ABOVE.
Oh, and that was just LC. Caleb had a meltdown that he wanted OJ instead of apple juice. We get him oj, he doesn't like it and then meltdown because he doesn't have apple juice. Oh for the love. Caleb rips his napkin: He tells me I have to put it back together. In what world?
-We all slept in one room, which actually worked quite well. Except that Caleb is an early riser...and wants everyone else to be as well. He would get out of his bed (next to the bathroom), walk all the way over to my side of the opposite bed (next to LC) and inform me had had to go to the bathroom. At 6:30 in the morning. Yes, I am very thankful he didn't pee in the bed.
5. Christmas was an awesome time this year. We had Jesus' birthday party. Opened presents, and went to many family get-togethers. We are so blessed.
Note: I usually only blog about the craziness and sometimes negative things in our life. It's not always like this. Yes, these crazy times are what make us laugh, and remind us that we are so blessed that we have a loving, healthy family. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
