Three Boys and Rakes

I had a brainstorm. I was looking at all the pits from last year under the trees in the peach orchard and I thought, "What I need is some boys with rakes! They are old enough to learn how to work and feel they accomplished something." So I went to Lowe's and bought three little rakes and the next time they came over I offered them the job. They would get 1 candy of choice per tree raked. If they completed one whole row they could choose a new DVD movie, out to lunch with Grandma to the place of their choosing, or a toy of their choice.

The RESULTS:

Nathan raked 5 trees.

Jared raked 2 trees.

Spencer said," No way!" but wanted to play with the rake.

Fresh Baked Bread

Since we learned how to bottle butter,

I decided we needed something on

which it could be sampled properly.

Happy Birthday Jessie!

Sweet little Jessie is ONE today! She is a joy to have in the family and is always so happy. Her smile is a treat. She is super fassssst at crawling, and I bet it won't be long before she's running around with big kids. The little curls behind her ears are so cute .We love her bunches!We celebrated yesterday. Jessie's favorite food is french fries, so I was happy to accommodate her taste buds. We added another of her favorites, hamburgers, along with some chicken, jello, and fruit salad. All the kids cleaned their plates and everyone asked why I don't serve that for Sunday dinner more often. After dinner all the kids helped me decorate her butterfly cake.

She's had quite a crowd trying to help her, but managed to open her presents with just a little help from her mom. I found it very difficult to get in to take any pictures.

Jocelyn made her a little dress and matching hair clip, then decided at the last minute to sew one for Kacy too.

The Chicken-Coop has a Roof

In our effort to be self-sufficient, David decided we needed some chickens, so here's the fruition of his plan. I guess it should really be called an aviary, since one section will also hold Oscar's lovebirds. Anyway, progress has been made and it should be done by the end of the month. The chicks have been ordered and will arrive the first part of April (in time for Easter). As well as providing some eggs, we hope the chickens will be fun for the grand kids and do away with some pesky summertime bugs. Ryan thinks they are going to eat up all their neighbors, the bees, who reside next door to the coop. We'll see. Those who want eggs, come over in September.