Tweet-tweet, not Twitter

My Internet connection has mysteriously righted it's self. I am wary & untrusting of it's intentions. I believe it to luring me into a false sense of security only to snatch the rug out from under my feet when I least expect it. Oh the evils of the digital age.

Until that time when I am again sent spiraling into the black hole of internet-less despair, I will continue to keep you all informed of the goings on around here....hmmmm....let's see....Oh, first of all, Ordinary Sarah begged for more farm pictures a few days/weeks back. In response to her lovely request, I dug out my camera & took loads of pictures of my wild children, the new kittens, our freshly sheared sheep, and other farm-like things. I came in the house, bathed the FarmHands, and uploaded the pictures only to have my connection fizzle out on me. I will try to return to that train of thought at a later (but hopefully very soon) date.

Then I had a few Hot Mama epiphanies after sorting through my giant box o' clothes from Princess. I've been dying to share my newly acquired wisdom, but that will also have to wait for a slightly later date.

Since I've been on my mini-hiatus, the FarmHands & I have had many adventures. We've explored the creek that runs through our property well past our boundary lines (much to their delight & mine). We've learned about shale, had lessons in skipping stones (I'm not really good at it, but I try), ridden Lexi's miniature horses (that Bitsy was convinced were dog-dogs), four-wheeled all over the country side, gone out for ice cream & taken Busha & Bucka some, ate far too many nearly ripe black berries, had an impromptu campfire, been swimming in our little pool, and Uncle E's big one, and generally kept very busy. My bath tubs have permanent rings around them, the dishes piled high for a few days, & every towel in the house was dirty, but it was all worth it. Every minute.

Saturday, we loaded the crew up & headed south to check out CMOE (Children's Museum of Evansville), where we tried to take them for BabyGirl's birthday before #1 Son got sick on us. 10 minutes from our destination, BabyGirl started complaining that she was sick. When we parked, she told me she wanted to go home. I was not very happy & was pretty sure she'd feel fine in a few minutes (she couldn't tell us what was bothering her...it was a very vague complaint). After being in the museum for about 45 seconds, she was miraculously better. Go figure.

A few words on CMOE: if you live in our general area and are looking for a fun way to wile away a few hours with your young children, go for it. $6 admission for anyone over the age of 18 months. Most everything is hands on. It's not a huge place. It can all be done in a few hours, or you can spend all day depending on what you decide. Husband wasn't impressed, but the FarmHands loved it. I wouldn't suggest it for anyone over the age of 10 unless there were younger kids along for the trip.

After CMOE, we stopped by at the "new" Gander, Mt. store so Husband could drool over bass boats & the FarmHands could marvel at the massive assortment of fishing lures. BabyGirl & I picked out a pink hand gun, but couldn't talk Husband into the $400 price tag. He's just no fun at all.

Next came a quick trip to McDonald's where we even "WENT INSIDE TO EAT!!!!" We are pretty strict drive-thru people, especially with all 4 kids in tow. And we finished up our outing with a "quick" stop at PetSmart. I say "quick" because this has been the scene in our house for the past 2 days following that "quick" trip:

The FarmHands have been begging for a new inside dog since Andrew passed away. I'm happy with just Lilly May and have firmly stated so on many occasions. Instead we opted for a different species to fill the void.....Budgies.That is, parakeets. They are the newest members of our menagerie. I've been coveting them since our trip to Kentucky Down Under last summer. Husband had suggested them before, but I wasn't ready & didn't want to skimp. This time we found a really nice cage (complete with bowed Plexiglas front to better watch the birdies), and they had the color birds I wanted, so we came home with a small box & my two new babies. That's Emmett on the swing & Quill on the perch looking in the mirror. We're pretty sure Emmett is a boy....Quill, we're not quite sure about yet.

All the way home from E'ville, B.B. kept asking if he could "hold the chickens," and Bitsy kept shouting "bock-bock-bock" and pointing to the box on my lap. Eventually we convinced them both that they weren't chickens & that birds say "tweet-tweet" not "bock-bock."

QM glared at me when the FarmHands told her about their new birds (we were at church Sunday morning & she & HT were there). She told me to take them back to the pet store because she already picked up two of them for me & they would take much less maintenance....they're plastic.

I decided to keep both. Sorry, Mama.