Chicken Fun or Chicken Run?

This picture was taken two weeks ago and they've all quadrupled in size since then. So far they're the easiest of the 17 animals we have. In about a week or so we'll be putting them out in the bigger chicken house as soon as they've all got feathers on their head.

So as you may or may not be aware I really don't have a mechanical bone in my body or if I'm lucky just one. I get hurt pounding in nails, screwing in light bulbs, and measuring a piece of wood. I don't belong in the world of building things. Which is why it was fun to build this little chicken container..with a wire lid...and with hinges and....it actually works. And the wood shavings and chicken 'goodies' go in the mulch pile for an alternative use as well. In the chicken house I'm in the process of building the nesting boxes and roosting areas. I figure if they don't like my craftsmanship then I'll just chop their heads off and have them for dinner. Sounds morbid, but it's true. I enjoyed Chicken Run the movie, a little more recently. For some reason I could relate a little better to it this time. No eggs in week huh? Off with their heads. (Isn't that a Monty Python movie?) So the kids have named them all, not just one or 5. They named them ALL(13). When we do decide which one to eat we'll have to decide between Picachu or Goldie, or 11 others with similarly cute names. Adam's are mostly named after Pokemon characters. Maybe we'll just keep buying our eatable chickens at Wal-Mart. At least those don't get named between the check out stand and the time they reach our freezer.

Raising a boy, not grass!

Adam wanted to mow and I wanted to eat. Actually he just wanted to mow and if a boy wants to mow, by darn, let him mow. So he missed a few big spots and didn't mow in straight lines, it was more like Z's and K's, but it didn't matter. The next day he said, "I missed some spots, can I mow again?" to which we absolutely let him mow again. Cute kid! I remember all the times I would push the mower with my Dad steering behind me until I was big enough to do it by myself. It's a right of passage really, simple yet important.

Sometimes we all want to be like the dog!

Watermelon and little sisters!

13 miles of pain, .1 mile of exhilaration!

Check out the pictures of our 1/2 marathon at www.penhallegon.blogspot.com

I'm proud of my sister Staci for taking the family challenge and running...and completing her first 1/2 marathon. It wasn't easy, but she did it!! 8 months of training paid off. Now she wants to do another one. Running is kind of a lonely world until race day and then you figure out there's a lot of other crazy people out there too! There was a lady along the race path and at mile 4 her sign said, "Hang in there, you can do it!". At mile 8 she turned her sign around and it said, "What was I thinking?". We got a pretty good laugh out of that. I'm already looking forward to the next race and the thrill of another challenge. Words can't describe what it feels like to cross that finish line. The last 100 yards of the race I told Staci, "Go get that finish line, it's all your's" and she did and it was awesome! Anyone else up for the challenge?

Mother's Day was much better than it looks

Courtney wanted me to post these pictures even though they didn't turn out. We tried, but none of us(especially me) has the patience for pictures. The chaotic picture portrays the life of a mother trying to hold it all together, a branch right in the face, and kids that may or may not want to participate. The sun was too bright for Adam, Lucy wouldn't look at the camera, Londyn is always ready for a camera shot, and the camera man just wanted to be done and go eat. We tried! She will however, attest to a very nice Mother's Day which included a two hour nap and all meals prepared, cooked, and served to her. She didn't lift a finger that day. One day cannot make up for the other 364, but we love and appreciate all that she does. She is an amazing woman to say the least and we're all lucky to have her as a wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, and grand daughter. To the world she's just one person, but to us, she's the whole world!!

Lucy in the Spring

Lucy loves flowers and she has a love for the outdoors and would be outside all day if we would let her. Even though we spend a lot of time outside she never wants to come in unless there is food or a bottle waiting for her. She takes after her mother and can often be seen dragging her blanky through the dirt. She loves the feel of it up against her cheek and won't go to sleep without it. Londyn and Adam take care of her like they are the parents and are often the first one's to console her when the tears start to flow like a river, which is usually no less than 20 times a day. She's our sensitive baby which makes us love her that much more.