RoyalMom

All five chickens? I snapped this while jason was working on the balcony demolition. Five chickens starting with the black one by the fence.

The sixth chicken has gone "broody" and longs to be a mom. She has been sitting on an eggless nest for an entire week, night and day.

We decided to make her happy and I purchased eight fertile eggs today to slide under her. She's keeping them all nice and toasty.

I am so proud of these girls and their parents for pulling out of a bad schooling situation when it was recognized as such. They could have suffered through the last two weeks, feeling the pressure to finish what they started but they decided to stand up for themselves and walk away.

Coincidently I was just saying how I wished we had more opportunities for the kids to spend some time with kids older then they are. Isn't it amazing how things work out!

Two fun nine year old's Morgan and Megan...

Our curriculum today involved:

Making pancakes
Movie: Iron Giant
Alien making 101
vintage Little people
sandwich making
Chicken chasing
Park play (twice)
Spongebob
dog grooming
Dinner
Whew! School is hard!

Isaac and Xander were right up close for a garbage pick up and the shrieks of excitement! As of now, we have two aspiring garbage men:)

What I learned about 9 year olds:

They are so self sufficient with serving and cutting their own food.
I don't have a clue about their bathroom needs throughout the day (nice!)
They are still kids who need to play...
....but society expects them to act grown up.*

*I learned this when the gleam of pure joy came over Megan's face when she saw the huge spread of Little People loot. It was quickly followed with composure and an explanation that they don't normally "play" like this, in an apologetic tone. Sort of asking permission to sprawl out and play with toys like a little kid.

It got me thinking how unfair it is that kids are expected to be so grown up, polite and sensitive to adults needs but adults are allowed to be goofy and have fun when they choose it for themselves.

It was such a relief to see them playing with toys and talking to themselves loudly in imagination play. This means my little Isaac will still be sweet and innocent in two years!

You better let me take your pictures on Friday!!!

Another fun day with Megan and Morgan! and they let me take some pics...and took some great pic themselves:)

(My fav!!!!!!)

What a sweet capture! My boys really are the sweetest, most loving kids a mom could ask for:)

Mr Moody Pants this week.

My lens is "hung!" hehe!

"Don't fall in kids. I don't want you to die today."

Shortly after, we had a flood of grade schoolers and two teachers take over the park and tell my kids they were not allowed to climb up the slide or on the outside of the tube slide. I had to agree with not climbing up when there is a flood of kids trying to slide down...but the other climbing rule? (cough cough..piss off...cough cough)

Remember when I got the new ladies?

They were getting so aggressive and mean with the other ladies. When the motherly Buff Orpington decided she wanted to be a mom and sit on some eggs...the aggressive hens wanted to kick her off the nest. I found a new, wonderful home for them in Oregon city. They'll have a lot more room to roam and a rooster to beat up on.

Since she's so hard to wrangle up, I put her in the empty yard debris bin before she was to be picked up. A great opportunity to win a bet with Isaac...

Hey Isaac, the chicken is in the garbage!
No she isn't!
Yes she is...wanna bet?

And now he has to buckle Xander's seat belt for him the next two outings. I'm rich!!!!

That was mean wasn't it?

Jason took the entire week off to get some work done on the new deck project. Unfortunately it's taking forever to get the permit but the demolition, mapping out the post holes and digging them should keep him busy enough for now.

The kids are having fun using some tools on the discarded wood.

Eeeeek! Scary!

The city is trying to mess with my plans for a fabulous hot tubbing life. Our deck permit went through without the hot tub. We have to hire an engineer to make the plans official for the weight of the hot tub in our "seismic zone D" neighborhood. Geesh.

Its all cleaned out and ready for post holes! Our dog keeps running for the stairs that are no longer there. Hilarious!

My little hen mama is sitting on the eggs still with 11 days to go. I know a lot of them are no good but hopefully one or two babies will hatch.

Jason rented a two man auger and brother-in-law Aaron helped out. It was a lot harder than expected and his arms are in a world of hurt right now. There is some tough ground under there!

Isaac was pretty ticked when he found out the auger was too big for him to help with. Jason will have to be more careful with statements like "you can help me dig the holes later." oops!

We finally got a mammoth sofa to fit us all. Wouldn't it figure the kids would still be sitting on top of one another?...ha!

We have an engineer coming on Monday to look at our deck plans and draft out something for our seismic zone D neighborhood. Its going to cost a chunk of change but I will have my hot tub damnit!

In the meantime the deck work is on hold so Jason gets to chill back on the new beast of a couch.

I was thinking I could cast on 10 stitches and show Isaac how to knit. I learned in the third grade and it was fun for all us kids to knit pot holders in class (boys included!).

Isaac fumbles through one stitch with me and says...

"Are there people who never learn to knit?"

yes

"Well then I want to be one of those people."

<sigh>

The kids discovered a bed in the sofa.

They were very excited with the find and want to sleep in it tonight.

It was one feature I did not want but it was several months of looking for the perfect new-to-us sofa and this one came close enough.

It's not too bad!

Still...if I had to choose, I'd just sleep on the comfy sofa.

...when I have to work. Simon just tucked himself into the boppy for a nap. We've had this nursing pillow since Isaac was born and the kids ripped it in half last night with their rough play. It's in the garbage now.

I heard a dad of older boys make a comment about the property damage they cause. After this last week I am starting to understand what he was talking about. A ripped pillow, a thrown toy shattered the glass of a large frame in our bedroom and they had a good time breaking the glass in our recycling bin.

woohoo! what next?

There was too much red tape for the hot tub plans so we decided to set it on a slab underneath the deck. It will be better for moving it and replacing it if we need to. Jason can get started on those posts now:)

A getting to know homschoolers is going around the blog world, starting here maybe? stemming from comment: "a lot of people would rather believe stereotypes than actually get to know someone as an individual.

Hmmm, true. But who knows, maybe we fit right into that stereotype nicely! hahaha!

Why do you homeschool?

Isaac absolutely hated the idea of going to school. He would love to experience a school bus ride but the actual school part? forget it!

I have a problem with authority. I don't like anyone telling us what to do or how to color.

I am able to work part time. I don't need to send my kids off to be parented by the state.

I want my kids home with me. I would miss them too much.

What technique or curriculum do you use?

Unschooling...aka learning doesn't fit into a nicely packaged box of curriculum.

Do your kids work above or below grade level (or both!)?

They don't really work. They play, they cook, they go on adventures, they read some, they write less. They are 7,4 and 1. I imagine they might be considered "below" in some areas and way "above" in others.

What is your educational level?

Jason and I are both college grads.

Do you feel this has an effect on your teaching (both limits and abilities)?

Neither of us "teach" really. We parent just as we have done from day one. They ask, we answer or we look it up or try it together.

What does your daily schedule look like?

Sleep in late, get dressed maybe, play, go somewhere maybe, stay up late. Have fun!

Are your kids always polite and ready to learn?

Not always "polite" depending on the frustration level within a sibling conflict. Usually polite to mom and dad and friends. They are always eager to learn because they direct their own learning.

Do the kids (or you!) get frustrated?

Of course! Not related to learning but sometimes we can't have everything Right Now.

How has this affected your parenting?

It hasn't.

How much free time do they have?

All the time is free time.

What do they do during their free time?

Play in many different forms.

What hobbies do they have?

Nintendo DS, Transformers, play in many forms, fighting;)

What difficulties and challenges do you have with homeschooling?

None! It's awesome!

What makes homeschooling enjoyable?

Living this life is wonderful. We enjoy each other so much and know each other so well!

How do you get involved in the community?

We join in on some of the homeschooling activities. We will be participating in the unschooling conference every year (with great joy and expectation!).

When do you have opportunities to interact with public or privately schooled children?

We see them at the park, they have a few friends in school. Since Isaac wanted to quit ballet class we haven't been around school kids much. We love the school plays! Isaac wants to do baseball so there will be opportunity there.

Would you like more of these opportunties? How can they be created?

Its not a necessity I feel we need to seek out specifically. Kids gravitate into friendships eventually all on their own. Whether they are schooled kids or not matters little.

What is your least favorite homeschool stereotype? :-)

The whole debate over whether parents are qualified to teach their kids, that "I could never do that" or "I leave that to the professionals."

Guess what? I don't need to be a teacher. Kids know best how they learn for themselves, just like we adults do. We know when something is best learned by reading, trying or consulting an expert (mentor) and so do kids.

What is Simon doing?

He's trying to see what his brothers are up to behind him.

And whatr could this new project be?? This is the progress of one evening.

check out our "Little Deuce Coop" ha!

(already a hen sitting inside!) they wasted no time getting in there and making it their own.

Hen house village...

Jason making more progress on the deck today. Can you believe he's out there doing this by himself? and took a detour to build me a coop in two evenings. What can I say? If we ever get a divorce, it sure as heck isn't going to be because of him. He's perfection...a modern day jesus, minus the healing powers, keeping just the carpentry part. anyway, rambling...

We call the nature area across the street "nutria area" for a reason;) It is teaming with babies right now and we love watching them huddle together on a log or swimming in the pond.

*gotta give a shout out to the VR (vibration reduction) sweetness in the nikkor 70-200mm lens! It let me get the shots with simon jostling me around in the carrier on my back. The huge lens was visibly shaking in my hands and still got decent shots!

clicky clicky...nice! oooh aaaaaah!

can't pin this one down!

I found a little peeper! We'll see if we get anymore from the remaining four eggs.

It looks like nature corrected itself in our back yard. We gave away a barred rock and a black star to make room for baby chicks and what did we get? A baby barred rock and a black star! haha!

Yesterday I was using the binoculars to see if any new chicks were popping out and Isaac wanted to try them out too...in stealth mode. It's too cold to leave the coop door open today.

Plus, I have the chick food and water sitting on the ground by mama. I don't want the other hens swooping in and eating it all!

And mama finally abandoned the last two eggs. She's foraging around the coop with her three little apprentices in tow.

The kids and I, of course, were eager to check out the remains of the unhatched eggs...

One tried to hatch but lost the battle for some reason. The other stopped developing earlier on.

The one that stopped developing early still had its huge yolk attached at the belly. So that's how they get the nutrients they need to grow! Just like a placenta but it get smaller and smaller until its completely gone and time to hatch.

The one that almost hatched had just a trace amount of the yolk left...

After our little biology lesson Xander says, I want to cook up an egg to eat! HAHAHA! I love that kid. Do you think he takes after his mom?

Holy smokes we've been missing out on the best parts of our nature park! My sister and I ran over without the kids and it was my first time to move freely without a baby. I was finally able to jump over the little stream and check out the other side...

The trail keeps going and opens up to another bigger pond! Frogs, ducks, dragonflies...bigger nutria. I want a kayak to slip into that pond! seriously! I don't care if it's only two inches deep.

crappy point and shoot camera! grrrr! can you make out a frog and a dragonfly? I was hoping to catch a kill. hehe! Yes, I am one penis away from being a dude.

Lesson learned here: Don't leave a bale of straw out, even for a few hours. The chickens will make a big mess!

Those candy bars, sodas and packs of gum have no power over me but when simon and I saw this huge Spongebob balloon we had to have it!

Happy graduation! ;)

All my chooks in one pic! They get along splendidly (scarfing up all the chick food)

Wish I could keep working on this session but it is late and I have to work my no fun job this weekend;)

Thought I'd check on the chickens while Zoe is at work and caught some adventure from the new little ones.

These things covered in dust...our bikes? I barely remembered how to shift gears it's been so long.

Since I knew I was heading to my TOPS meeting (weight loss support group) with a gain (1.25 pounds) again and again it seems, I thought I'd at least ride my bike to the meeting. I made a goal to ride each day this week.

Simon pulled off his helmet immediately. But it was a fun ride! I just need to do some shopping for a tractor style seat so it doesn't feel like an elephant booted me in the butt by the end of the week. Do they make those?