May 2016

We still had my parent's horses for the first few days of May.  Frankie liked following the chickens around and I loved the lilacs in our neighbors yard.

One Sunday morning the boys ended up outside in their pajamas.  I looked out the window to see them soaking up the sun with the horses.

Then a few minutes later I went out to check on them and I couldn't stop laughing at Timmy.  He was running around holding a chicken while wearing his pajamas, coat, and a head rag Mark had brought home from a Real soccer game.  It was quit the getup and reminded me of a crazy pirate.  There are so many times when I am grateful that our backyard is a pretty private place.

We enjoyed a few bike rides around the park of course stopping to play in the streams and search for snakes and frogs.

Timmy helped me make bread in my new amazing Bosch mixer.

Chip the pony settled right in with the big horses and became best friends with Frankie.  He was sooo sad when they had to leave.

The kids started learning how to lead him and take care of him.

Timmy drew this tiger for me as a thank you for going on a field trip with him.  

One day I brought Wendy's for Brian at lunch and Timmy got to stay after Kindergarten to eat lunch with the big kids.  Now he knows what to look forward to next year in first grade.

The boys played lot of soccer.

One evening there was a schedule mistake and the team Brian was supposed to play did not show.  So the coach had any parents and siblings play against Brian's team.  The boys thought is was the coolest thing to play each other and I even got in and played.  They said it was their favorite game of the season!

And we all played some cello too.

Mark's birthday landed right on Mother's Day this year.  We bought lots of good food to celebrate and decided we needed someone to share it with, so last minute we had my parents and the Scotts come for dinner and cake.  Happy Birthday Mark!

One family home evening Mark gave a little lesson about gun safety and taught the boys how to use the bee bee gun.

Mark finished the roosting bars for the chickens.

The boys had a good group cello class.  I love that they get to be part of the Cheney cello studio.  It is a lot of cellist they get to play with!

One of the highlights of May was going to the Cavalia Odysseo show as a family.  It was an experience we will never forget and truly the most amazing show I think we will ever see.

We went out to dinner and then headed over to the show.

Here's another visit to the park only this time we took Chip for a walk.

Chickens.

Haircuts.

Chip seemed so lonely after the horses left that I started searching for a buddy for him.  This little girl the same size and training as Chip came up for a good price so we decided to go for it and have two ponies. We named her Joanna and call he Jojo.  Her white mane is the coolest.

When I got her out of the horse trailer Chip went a little crazy!  He wanted as far away from her as possible and as close to the horses in the pen next door.  He ran as fast as he could up and down the fence wanting to be on the other side.  When Mark went near him he jumped straight into this gate Timmy is standing on in the picture below.  I don't know how that little pony jumped so high and hard, but he smashed right into the gate and bent the top three bars.  We think he was maybe trying to jump over. He probably had some bruises, but other than that he seemed fine.


A few days later he and Jojo were best friends.  I was so relieved because the reason we got her was to be company for Chip.

Since he has gotten used to Jojo, Chip has been much more calm and happy.  Here he is falling asleep as Timmy brushes off that winter fur.

The ponies love to eat the chicken scratch we sometimes hand out.  May was a sad month for our chickens.  We started the month with 33 chickens.  Their little door was opening in the mornings and they would wander the fields and then they would go in at night and the door would close.  They seemed so happy. We thought they were perfectly safe.  One week Mark went out of town and one day I looked at them and it seemed to me that we did not have as many as 33.  So I took the time to count them (not an easy task when they are constantly moving) and only counted about 26 or 27.  What had happened to them?  I watched them closely for another day and the numbers stayed the same.  Mark came home and he was worried about it but we didn't think to keep them in their coop.  The next morning as I was getting the kids ready I went out to check on them and found them scattered to the winds even in our neighbors yard.  There were two dead chickens on the ground and 3 more missing.  So sad.  They have been kept in the coop since and we have been trying to trap the culprit with no success.  We only have 11 hens and 10 roosters.  I wish we had more hens and fewer roosters.  We think it is raccoons or a fox, both of which have been sighted recently here.

May was very busy at school.  I was there almost every day volunteering for something or other. I helped with the water slide for field day.  It was cold outside, but the kids still loved it!

Brian and Timmy started playing Mincraft in May and wanted me to take a picture of the American flag Brian built.

May brought talent shows, recitals, and Timmy's birthday!  More on those things in other posts.  School ended for the boys before Memorial Day and we left for an awesome trip to Yellowstone!  May was full, and besides losing 1/3 of our chickens, things were wonderful.