Turkey Anyone?

I got a new toy for my birthday this week. It is a trail cam which I mounted in the back corner of our lot last night. In the first day I snapped 100+ photos of about 2 dozen turkeys. They were in our yard for about 30 minutes feeding. I am eager to see if they return to feed again. Maybe Thanksgiving will be at our house this year.

Gobble Gobble!

Congrats to Emma

Congrats to Emma on being casted in the Waterville Playshop's presentation of Seussical. All the main roles were taken by adults but, Emma was picked to be one of the Who children. She will be in the first 2 shows so book your tickets soon!

We got Eggs!

About a week after we moved in we got 2 roosters with hopes of getting a dozen hens or so. I found someone on craigslist getting rid of 2 young pullets a few weeks later so we introduced them to our roost. As you can imagine the roosters started to fight as soon as we introduces the females. We put up with it for about a week until we ended up eating one for dinner. The whole process was quite an experience. Since then, we have been eagerly awaiting all winter for eggs. This evening I went into the coop to take some measurements for hen boxes and to my surprise we had 3 eggs. They were nearly frozen and I was lucky to get them before they cracked. We look forward to many more... By the way, does anyone know anyone getting rid of any hens?

2/24/12 Update: It has been just under 2 weeks and we have harvested our first dozen eggs and we finally found out what hen was laying. Infact, we are no longer certain we have 2 hens. The 2nd one is acting alot like our rooster. Only time will tell.

It's been a while...

Well, I know I am way behind on posts. It has been a very busy and challenging year so far. We moved in November and sold our in a day. What a blessing. We are all SLOWLY adjusting to the new home. Some more than others. The house is technically bigger than our last one but, it has a very open floor plan so we are always near each other. With hard wood floors everywhere it can get quite loud. Especially with our aspiring singer in the house. By the way, Emma was asked to perform with the National Wizard of Oz show when they were in town in January. It was a great honor and she was so exited. She was one of ten kids selected from the Toledo Area. We were very proud of her. (2nd from the right in the front row)Jamey began homeschooling the older 3 kids right after we moved. Therefore, Jamey and the kids are ALWAYS together. Most days are a challenge but, it seems like they are all starting to settle into a routine. Each of the three are being challenged and are doing well.
Last week we begin building 3 rooms in the garage. One for each of the older girls and a play/craft room in the middle. With help from our Dad's and a friend, we got the framing and rough wiring completed in under a week. Every is eager for the rooms to be finished so that the kids can get a little space of there own.
Hannah just finished her second concert with the Toledo Youth Symphony Orchestra. This session she was moved up to a more advanced group that better fit her abilities. They sounded great and it is so hard to believe they are all HS students. The next concert in March is with the TSO and she can't wait.
Both girls have applied to the Toledo School for the Arts for the Fall. This year there is a lottery just to be interviewed. We are praying that they make it.
Grace is happy to have Caleb home all the time. They play very well together. Nearly every weekend Caleb visits a friend and she always crys when he leaves.

Getting Settled

We have been in our new house for just over 2 weeks. Since then, Jamey has started homeschooling 2 of the 3 kids. There has been many challenges and a whole new set of routines to establish. It has definitely been a struggle and trying all of their patience's. We have also welcomed 2 roosters to our homestead and are planning on picking up a few pullets, young hens, this week. We also discovered we have TOO MUCH STUFF! It is hard to imagine that we will ever get through it all. Luckily we have space in the garage to sort through what we want to keep, sell and donate. Hopefully we can make a successful dent into the piles by Christmas. There are so many projects to start but, so little time. I am lucky if I am home at all during day light this time of year and the weekends are never long enough. I guess we will have to continue to work on little bits at a time.

Hannah at the Peristyle

Today Hannah had her Toledo Youth Symphony Orchestra (TYSO) debut. They play there concerts at the Peristyle at the Toledo Art Museum. It is amazing to hear all the young talent. She has been playing for 5 years with Perrysburg and this is her first time branching out from school. She was also asked to play with the Youth Band at church. We are so blessed to have such talented kids. We have no idea where they get it...

Happy Labor Day

This weekend we were able to get some work done around the house. We also had a nice time a my mom and dad's with Brian, Mary and all the in-laws. It was a lot of fun. We took the kids out in the evening and played 4 holes. We each chose 1 club and played until dark. This morning Hannah, Ampa, Mema and myself went to the Sandusky County Sportsman's Club which I joined this summer. We shot 22s and a few hand guns in the cool, fall like weather. It was fun and we hope to go out again soon. Finally we spent the afternoon laying around, mentally preparing ourselves for the week ahead.