Wes and his flock

We have always lovingly referred to Wes as a "Mother Hen".

He is very protective of the kids and likes to keep his "chicks" close to him at all times.

Have you ever seen a mother hen with her baby chicks? She will lovingly tuck them up under her wings so a predator is unable to see them. It looks like she is sitting on them and smothering them to death but she's not. They are happy and protected up under those wings.

Ok ~ Well that is Wes. After we had Madison, he worried about her all the time. He had no problems asking other people to wash their hands before touching her. When we moved to Georgia his mom took care of Madison for us while I worked and he went to college. He drove his mother crazy telling her how to take care of her (like she hadn't already raised 3 kids). He would even hide her toys so other kids couldn't touch them and make her sick. Friends used to tease us that he would put her in a bubble if he could.

After Jake was born... it got worse. He would lay a blanket over his infant seat when we went in public. He would unashamedly say NO when someone wanted to peek at him or hold him.

Then add the girls to the mix and he became certifiably CRAZY. He was really embarrassing sometimes!

When the girls got about 3, he finally started letting them go into the Chick-fil-a playground like "normal" children. He would stay in there with them and tell all the other children to stay away from his kids! He (mother hen) would follow them around the playground keeping the other children (predators) a safe distance away. I would just sit looking through the window, eating my lunch and trying to decide how I could get out of there without the other parents knowing he belonged to me!

Our chickens must recognize this quality about him.

They seem to really like Wes. When he goes outside, he will call "Cheep, cheep" and they all come running like he is the Pied Piper!

Last Saturday, while he was up on the scaffolding working, they followed him up there.

This is Reese. (as in the peanut butter cup). She climbed up and started watching him work.

He just couldn't help himself. He had to stop and pet her. Maybe that is why they like him so much. Snickers must have gotten jealous because she started climbing up the scaffolding too. See her over to the left?

There she is still climbing. Wes has gone back to work like it is perfectly normal for chickens to be climbing scaffolding. I think we are beginning to lose all perception of normal out here.

Finally, Snickers makes it to the top. Maybe we should considering putting little packs on their backs and they could start carrying nails and tools up to him. Then I could go inside and take care of some important responsibilities like filing my nails or watching Real Housewives.

Maybe this is why it is taking us so long to get this house done. Wes, get back to work and quit playing with your flock of chickens. Makes me think of a Beyonce song...

"All the single ladies, all the single ladies

Now put your hands up

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh"

NASA Space Experiment

Today is Saturday.

Saturdays are for resting, relaxing, and grilling out with friends. ~ Well, that is what normal people do anyway.

But, not us... Nope, we are NOT normal.

At our house on Saturdays, we work on our house. Lucky us...

Today we are working on the freakishly large space experiment that is currently taking up the entire back of our house.

I still can't help but laugh every time I see it. It is quite ugly. and large. and shiny. But I love it. (I actually look skinny next to it.) We live in Texas so I NEED it. It just might be my BFF.

It is our Air conditioning unit and I loveeeee me some air conditioning!

I know what you are thinking? "HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?" Well, I have one word for you...

WES!

Wes is what happened. This was his bright idea. He wanted an outside AC unit and he sold me on the idea. His pitch went something like this:

Reason # 1~ It wouldn't take up any room in the house.

Reason #2 ~ We could use the space upstairs to build a closet for the kids.

Reason #3 ~ We will never have to worry about it leaking in the attic and dealing with the after effects of that whole mess! ( Um... we don't have an attic but that was a good selling point honey.)

Reason #4 ~ The ac tubes will only be about 12 inches in diameter and they will run along the inside wall which we will be able to hide with window seats.

Reason #5 ~ His dreamy baby blue eyes. He just COMPELLED me to agree with him.

I reluctantly agreed. Don't judge me... I vowed to OBEY 18 years ago.

Let me just tell you, I forgot the love and honor part of those vows the day the AC people pulled out of our driveway. I excitedly ran to the back of the house to see our new unit and was hit in the face with a HUGE space experiment (I am talking NASA worthy) attached to the back of our house. It was shocking to say the least. SHOCKING! I screamed in fear.

Don't worry ~ we can hide it! Wes said.

I think that is starting to become our mantra around here... Don't worry, we can hide it!

No, that is not a "little person" up on that scaffolding. Can you understand how massive this is? Look how small his head looks in comparison to that bright, shiny, silver tubing. (Doesn't he have a perfectly round shaped head?)

Well that was 1 1/2 years ago and we are finally going to hide it. I think it took Wes this long to figure out a way to fix it.

So hopefully... in the next few days... I will have new pictures. And hopefully, in the next few months, I will forgive Wes for this, this... problem.

AND better yet, hopefully, in the next few years, I will learn to stop listening to Wes when he has a new bright idea! Hopefully...

I will have to get some vervain to protect me from those baby blues!

Broken Refrigerator~Round 2

We have a broken refrigerator.

No, let me rephrase that...

We have 2 broken refrigerators! Yes...2

Let me start at the beginning.

We bought this beautiful stainless steel Samsung French Door Refrigerator when we moved into our "under construction" house. I really loved this fridge. Freezer on the bottom, lots of room on the top AND millions of fingerprints on the front. (OK, maybe I didn't LOVE it but I liked it a lot).

(Please do not judge the walls. Like I said~ we are still "under construction"!)

Fast forward 1 and 1/2 years to the present. I noticed the food in the fridge wasn't very cold. Wes, who thinks that I panic about everything, assured me that it was probably NOTHING as he checked the temp and showed me the reading on the front that said 37 degrees.

Well, being the "common sense" kinda girl that I am~ I thought, hum... 37 degrees is just over FREEZING and the food is lukewarm. The fridge is NOT working properly regardless of what the nice blue illuminated temperature-reading says!

The next day I was cooking all the food in the freezer and transferring the rest into coolers because the fridge was BROKEN!!

Wes' sister, Lauralee, found us a repairman. (Thank you, LL) He came, he saw, he... agreed with me... it was broken. He is currently working on getting it replaced by Samsung because it can NOT be fixed. Please, Lord, let us get a replacement.

My sister, Heather, being the kind person that she is~ offered us their extra fridge that they keep in the garage~ to use until we could get ours fixed or replaced. Aghhhh, thanks Heather!

We have been using it for the last week. We have really enjoyed having it here. We have become fast friends. I already consider it part of our family. We have hung our pictures on it. Everyday, I sing its praises and lovingly wipe it down and tell it how much I love it.

(Some people have 2 refrigerators in their kitchens, right?)

Life was good UNTIL... we got home from church last night.

I kept hearing this clicking noise.

What is that? I asked. CLICK...CLICK...

NOTHING, said Wes! (his classic "in denial" answer)

I couldn't just sit there. I had to investigate. I listened. I waited. I held my breath.

CLICK... Oh, there. Did you hear it?

NO... said Wes. (still in denial...)

I tried to convince him to abandon his lazy-boy-chair and come into the kitchen to hear the noise for himself.

He politely declined.

He thought I was overreacting. He laughed at me. He made jokes about it. He listened from the comfort of his chair and refused to hear what I was hearing.

(Somebody is living in the land of make believe... Sometimes, I wish I lived there with him.)

Ok, I thought, maybe I am a little over-dramatic. I am sure this refrigerator is not going out. Nobody has that kind of luck, right? I do have a tendency to over analyze things in my life. I can literally think something to DEATH!

Well, guess what?

I got up this morning and the food in the fridge is... cool at best. I opened the freezer and guess what? The bag of ice that was in there is now a lovely puddle of WATER!

Wes got up and guess what? He now hears the clicking! (Welcome back to the planet, honey!)

I Googled the problem~ it doesn't look good.

Wes called the repair guy.

I am trying not to shout I TOLD YOU SO! That would be rude. and childish. and not-productive. But oh~ so satisfying!

Wes just got home with a refrigerator that he found on Craigslist. Great, I hope this one works. Our kitchen is beginning to look like a refrigerator graveyard!

Madison~ Our first blessing from God

Madison is our first child~

She is my miracle child. Without knowing it, she introduced me to Jesus before she was ever born.

When I was pregnant with her I had the Alpha-fetoprotein test to check for birth defects. She tested positive for Downs syndrome. We were sent to genetic counseling where they advised us to abort her. We were told we would end up in divorce, overwhelmed with financial obligations and burdened for the rest of our lives with a child who would never live on his or her own. We were devastated and confused. We went home to think over our options. It was the scariest time of my life.

I was not a christian at the time and I believed it was a women's right to choose. I was not raised in church and didn't know how to pray aside from "Now I lay me down to sleep". We were terrified. I didn't know what to do or who to talk to. Through a series of events over the next few weeks, God showed His face to us. A friend offered for us to come to her church where they would pray with us. And pray they did. They wept while praying over me. They cried out to God to heal this child I was carrying. I felt such peace when I walked out of those church doors. I didn't know what the future would hold. I didn't know if she was healed. I didn't know if she would be born with Down Syndrome.

But I will tell you what I did know ~She would be born. She had a right to life. God created her and only He would decide what would happen to her. Wes and I would stand together and face life together with our child...with God. We found out the next day that the test was wrong. Our baby was a perfectly healthy little girl. Praise God we didn't listen to the Doctors. Praise God people were bold enough to share their faith with us. Praise God that we listened.

13 years later... We have a wonderful, sweet, healthy daughter.

She loves to read... she will read for hours at a time. She takes a book with her everywhere and tries to sneak in a page or two whenever she can. She can't read in the car though~ she inherited car-sickness from her dad.

When she was a little girl she thought she was an animal. She ran/walked on all fours (even in public). At Wes' graduation from the University of Georgia, she was on all fours telling everyone in the VERY CROWDED auditorium not to step on the horsie!

She has a servants heart. She loves to bake, clean, organize, babysit, and cook for us. She just loves to help. Often, she will offer to babysit so Wes and I can go out to dinner alone.

When she was little, she was so shy that she didn't want people looking at her. Whenever people said hello~ she would say, "Don't look at me!" and hide behind me. Soon, everyone learned to say hello without looking at her!

She loves music and she has a beautiful voice. She listens to her Ipod ALL the time!

She wants to be a stay-at-home-wife and homeschooling mommy one day.

I worked for the first 3 1/2 years of her life and she was lucky enough to have her Mammie and Papa in Georgia to spoil her rotten!

She adores her dad and loves to spend time with him. They will spend hours watching boring movies and shows together.

She is compassionate ~ Many nights she has sat up with her brother or sisters while they were scared or sick. She never wakes us up, she just comforts them and prays with them.

She is funny. She loves to laugh.

She loves hanging out with her friends and cousins but she prefers to be at home with her family.

She is always the first one to offer words of encouragement or a compliment when someone is feeling down. She sees the good in people and reminds them of their good qualities. I love this about her.

She has integrity.

She was born on her dad's birthday.

She has a quiet strength. God must have known she would need it with triplet sisters. Instead of being jealous of the attention they get, she is proud and happy for them.

I am already dreading the day she leaves home. I don't know what I will do without her. I want to keep her here with me... forever.

Going...going...gone!

Well, it is official. We found a new home for Skittles (the hen/rooster).

I stopped over at my friend's house and she was more then happy to take Skittles off our hands for us. The only problem is that she wouldn't be keeping him in her flock.

She was willing to take him and turn him into a chicken salad sandwich! GASP!

Don't judge, people. You do realize that the chicken you buy at Kroger used to be alive, right?

But I am with you. I know that chickens were created to feed us but it was sad to think that Skittles would be... you know... boiled, grilled or pan fried and placed on someones table. I was totally getting the vegetarian movement sweeping our nation. Skittles was a sweet little hen turned rooster.

He was Kennedy's pet. The sweet little chick she used to carry around. The sweet little chick that pooped on her hand one time. Ewwww... but like a true mother, she loved him still.

I "chickened" out and couldn't go with the family to deliver him to his final resting place. I lied to my sweet children and told them that Skittles was going to a new farm to live a happy life. I tried to justify my lie by telling myself it was for the best. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them...right?

The guilt was killing me. One lie soon turned into more when they started talking about the possible life he would lead. They had such high hopes for the little guy. They even talked about wanting to visit him one day. GULP...

The time came... Andie scooped him up in her arms, they climbed into the back of Wes' truck and off they went.

Goodbye Skittles! Kennedy sit down!

They came home all excited... Mrs. Beth told them he was going to live at a new farm with other chickens.

Oh no... the guilt... now other people were pulled into my lie. Then Wes told me the wonderful news. Skittles was indeed going to live on a new farm.

Beth decided she couldn't eat Skittles. She used her chicken connections and found someone who was looking for an Easter Egg-er rooster (chicken breed that lays blue and green eggs) and they wanted our Skittles.

So all is well... Skittles gets to enjoy a happy life. A dream life for a rooster... he will enjoy getting piggy back rides from all the hens on his new farm.

and better yet... I ended up not being a big fat hypocrite every time I tell my children that a lie is a lie no matter how big it is!

I have good news and bad news

OK, I have good news... and bad news.

Which would you like first? Ok, ok, ok, let's start with the good news.

The good news is.... Our egg factory is in business~

That's right, we found 2 eggs in the nesting boxes today when we went out to feed the chickens. 2 eggs!

We were very excited. We were all so proud of our hens and cheering like new grandparents. I think we were just thankful that we now have at least 2 confirmed hens!

I know what you're thinking, " Those sure are small eggs!" or maybe, "2 eggs won't feed 5 hungry children!" but it's a start... give us time. I have confidence in us. Plus, I already stopped at Beth's house today and asked her why our eggs were so puny! Beth is my resident chicken expert and she assures me that the eggs will get bigger as they lay more.

So hopefully, in a few weeks, we will all be eating eggs for breakfast!

NOW... On to the bad news...

Skittles, our most beautiful chicken, is officially a BOY!

Yep, that's right. He is a rooster. Ewwwwww!

Kennedy, our girlie-girl, and owner of Skittles is devastated! She has suggested that we sell him and buy her a rabbit. As you can tell ~ she is crushed!

We should have known he was a rooster. He had the most beautiful coloring out of all of them. We used to just sit and admire how much prettier he was then the others. I guess like the peacock, he needs all those beautiful colors to attract the ladies.

Although that doesn't make much sense now does it?

If you think about it, the rooster to chicken ratio is pretty good at most farms. ~ One rooster to an entire FLOCK of hens ~Sounds like he is the wise one in that equation.

Thanks to Google, we had hope that he/she might still be a hen even though the cocka-doodle-doos were getting louder every day. Google claims that hens do crow~ which might be true ~BUT...

We saw some disturbing activity today that proves that you shouldn't believe everything you read on the computer. Skittles is not a hen. He is most definitely a boy...

We saw him getting a piggy back ride on one of our hens. Yep, he went all the way to 4th base. Ewwwww! Definitely a rooster!

I have to go now ~ I need to flush my eyes with Holy water...

Andie~ my sweet girl

Andie~ or Andie-girl, as she is affectionately known, is my third child but the oldest of the triplets.

When I was pregnant with them, she was the baby at the bottom. She laid patiently in the same spot and watched as her 2 sisters fought to be on top. 8 years later and nothing has changed!

She was the last one to walk and had to wear these little corrective boots. Her two sisters would take her toys and try to run away. In order to get back at them she would drag herself over to them, ram them with her head, knock them to the ground and bite their backs!

She loves to read.

She is funny. Not just funny, she is hilarious! She will keep you laughing with her one liners from morning to night.

She has such a sweet spirit. When I buy new clothes (or anything) she always lets the other kids pick first and she will take what is left. Even if I insist that she picks first, she always "knows" what the others would pick and leaves those for them.

She is a great singer.

She loves to dance.

We call her the dog whisperer. She can take an unruly dog and force it to listen to her! She is fearless when it comes to animals.

She is loving.

She loves to cook~ she is always the first one in the kitchen to help me. When she is not cooking real food, she is playing restaurant with her play food.

She is the most laid-back of my children. She just goes with the flow. I love this about her.

She is the only triplet that has earrings.

When she was born and in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) she had an IV in her foot and her vain burst. She was burned from the inside out. God answered our prayers and it has not affected her mobility at all. She has a small faded scar on her foot but I love it. It reminds me of what a miracle it was that they were born so healthy.

After reading this blog Andie-girl said, "Awwww, Mom. If we ever run out of food and you have to have someone adopt me. After they this read this blog, they will really like me!"

I think all those threats of selling them on Ebay might be effecting them!

She makes me laugh, I need laughter in my life. I think I will keep her here with me....forever!