Quite odd...

Yesterday, Daniel brought in the smallest chicken egg we have ever seen! (Below are some pictures of it compared to a normal sized egg). The shell was unusually hard, and it contained no yolk, only egg white. Very strange indeed. We have no idea how that happened!

A Trip to Maple View Farm

On Tuesday we went a field trip to Maple View Farm with our church's homeschool group. We all enjoyed it, and it was very educational. Unfortunately it rained almost all day, but we were able to work around it.

Waiting for the first class to begin...

 The first class was on the pumpkin and was quite interesting! The lady explained the whole pumpkin-growing process, and different parts of the pumpkin, and all that. I never knew there were so many different colors of pumpkins! I mean, when I think of pumpkins, I think orange! But no, there are white pumpkins, blue pumpkins (though it looks more green), red pumpkins, and, new just this year, pink pumpkins!

Then, since the rain had mostly stopped for the time being, we went outside to see their little "petting zoo." 

they had a Jersey cow named Maple...

and a lama, whose name escapes me...

Bethany petting the miniature horse... they also had chickens, goats, a donkey and a calf.

Next, we had another class, this one on the dairy bottling process. She also told us about the cows themselves, what they ate, how much milk they gave, and so forth, and about bottling the milk and making ice cream.

Showing the "old" ice cream makers... though I remember using one of those!!

 We were afraid that the rain would prohibit our hay ride, but they had a covered hay wagon, so we were able to go after all. They drove us around the farm and told us about the different cows in each pasture, showed us the trench silos, and other things about the farm.

Amber, Me, and Megan

Lauren, Leah, Bethany, and Elaina

a trench silo, which they fill with silage

More cows...

the milking parlor, with a total of 12 milkers (can you tell it's raining?)

Afterward we the ice cream shop where they make their own ice cream. It was a little expensive, but they had so many flavors!! I got Carolina Crunch, which had several different kinds of candy bars in it. And it was so good!!

It's finally done!!

For those of you who don't know, our house was a "fixer upper." In other words, it was a mess when we bought it and needed a lot of painting and remodeling and such. And it was fixed up in a hurry because Mom, Dad, Paul, and baby Daniel were living in it while working on it! (Yes, it was crazy! Mom hated the house for the first month! Thankfully, the rest of us kids got to stay with grandparents! =)) The basement was kinda secondary to the rest of the house and has mostly been the "guy's domain". But now after six years, and previously having a dog down there too, it needed redone. The carpet was stained, the walls were marked, and the one room only had a plain basement floor. The rest was all carpet.

So, we got some paint and 13 square inch cream-colored tile, and proceeded to improve the basement. 

The "game room" as we call it. Part of the carpet is pulled up. The boxes in the corner are the tile.

We all chipped in with the painting, and that was no problem. (Except that I forgot to get any pics before we painted. I'm always forgetting those things!)

"No, that goes over there!"

The tile, however, is a different story...

The first room  had only a concrete floor, but the walls are painted here and look much better! They were dark green!

Mom and I taking out carpet. (Yes, we're wearing sweatshirts! That's how long ago this was started! It wasn't a major thing that needed done right away, so Dad didn't! Which is really odd, cause he isn't usually like that!)

the concrete floor under the carpet. Doesn't it just look lovely? lol!

Daniel hard at work!

This is one of the two bedrooms. We didn't replace the flooring in them, the carpets were fine, but we did paint.

Wow, Daniel can balance a hammer on his shoulder! Isn't he talented! =D

Well, after Dad and Nate finally got tile laid and grouted, it became apparent that the grout wasn't all the same shade. Some places were darker or lighter than others. Dad took some pics of it to Lowes, and they said "oh, yeah, that has happened before." They gave us a certain kind of paint, and guess what we had to do?? Yep, painted every single groove! Poor Mom did almost all of it! It was quite a pain, but it's finally done!!

grouting the tile

I don't know why some of these turned out a little gray

The trim needs put on yet, but that about it! While we in the mood though, Mom has started painting the stairway, and we going to take the carpet up off the stairs. Will post pics of that when it's done!

As long as it keeps him busy...

Dad and Nate were replacing the bed of the trailer yesterday because it was rotting, and Daniel wanted to work too. So he made a chair out of plywood! He also informed me that it even rocks! (The legs aren't all even! Not exactly the most smooth rocking, but . . ) This is actually the second chair he has made.

 Then, of course, he had to paint it...

The finished product (don't ask my why the legs are a different color. I don't know! Daniel just wanted it that way! =))

This "rocking" chair may end up cluttering "decorating" the porch, but he enjoys building things, and it gets him outside and keeps him out of our hair for a while! =)

An afternoon at the airport

Yesterday we went to an observation deck at the airport to watch the planes come and go, and had a picnic on the grass. Daniel has been wanting to have "a real picnic." =) There was also a small play area where Daniel could run around. We quite a few planes of different sizes, but I have no idea what kinds they were! =)

(sorry some of these got a little fuzzy)

Back to School . . .

     This week we started school, yesterday being our first day. I'm enjoying it; Daniel was dreading starting up, but I think he's liking it now; and Bethany, well, she never did like school!

     Daniel is in second grade this year, Beth is in seventh, and I am in eleventh.

Ok, this is totally off topic, but I just wanted to say, that I really like Shape Collage! You can download it free off the internet, and it is awesome! I've had a lot of fun making collages! (Except that they put the name right across the front of your pic... that can be annoying when it's covering up someone's face!)

my books in the background . . .

and Bethany's books in the background . . . no, just kidding!! =D