Our first egg...

Here is our first official egg from one of our chickens....

Chickens, chickens and more chickens....

Once the chicken coop was complete we got 10 chickens from our neighbors, Mike and Stephanie. Within a few days they called us and asked us if we wanted the rest, so we took the other 10. We found homes for 8 of the 10.
Tate and Austin have enjoyed naming them, playing with them and collecting the eggs....Tanner just looks at them with wonder and opens and closes their gate about 25 times a day.

Our newest addition to our homestead

A chicken coop

Stay tuned to see our chickens.....

Our boys....an updated picture!!

Well, it has been a long time since I have posted. I have heard many times, "Are you done with your blog? We haven't see Tanner since he was a newborn!!"

I am hoping to post a few more things soon...probably not much of me chatting, just some pictures of the kids. Stay tuned!!

Can you tell these boys are brothers? I don't think too many people would mistake that...I also updated my pictures to the left too so everyone can see some recent pictures of them. Tanner is 15 months, Austin just turned 6 and Tate was 7 in March.

HAPPY BIRHTDAY AVERY!!

Today would have been Avery's 3rd birthday!! Doesn't seem possible that 3 years ago today God gave us to her...and only for a short time. We honor her today by sponsoring a day on Life 101.9, our most favorite radio station. We will also be doing a balloon release later today with the boys...I am hoping that will be a tradition that we will continue to do over the years.

Thanks again for all of your prayers and support!!

Avery - our hearts are joyful today because you are at the place we long to be, but we also miss you so much and can't wait for the day to see you again....

We love you sugar!!

Dad, Mom, Tate, Austin and Tanner

Flying banana cake....

Today we (Tate and Austin and myself) decided to make banana cake. We had three bananas that were very discolored and they either needed to be pitched or used...I have this great recipe for banana cake I got from a friend years ago, so we decided banana cake it is. I have been doing a lot more cooking and having the boys help me with gathering ingredients, reading directions and measuring. My main goal is to teach the boys skills to survive on their own some day and make really good husbands...anyway back to the story.

We had everything mixed and I had just pulled the mixer up so all of the banana gup could drip off before we put it in the pan to bake. Just as I turned my back to grab the spatula, Tate grabbed the lever and Austin bumped Tate's hand and within a second banana cake was flying, and I repeat FLYING, all over the kitchen. It happened so fast, and it felt like I was moving in slow motion to get the lever pulled back to OFF. Once it was off, my type A personality (not very happy mom), looked at Tate and said, "What caused you to do that....?" I could just see the tears well in his eyes and at that moment I realized this was a complete mistake, I need not make a big deal out of it. So, as banana cake was splattered throughout my hair and running down by face, I quietly reclaimed my composure....and then we laughed and laughed as we looked around the kitchen to see all of the different places it had landed.

I often forget that even as adults when we are being taught new things, mistakes are bound to happen....in fact we usually learn more from the mistakes we make then anything else. So, when you are taking the time to teach your children new things remember not only are they learning new skills they are also learning about how to act (or react). Patients is something I struggle with from time to time (because of my darn type A personality) but patients is what I hope to show my children even if there is banana cake dripping from the ceiling....

From now on, the cake is going to be called Flying Banana Cake.

A pony ride...

The people that bought our old house have 3 children and horses. They fenced in an area as fast as they could and now have their horses with them. We took Tate and Austin over on Sunday evening for a pony ride from soda pop. Avery always used to tap her cheek and say "HORSEY - HORSEY!!" I wonder what she would have thought about riding one. The boys loved it, we hope to visit again!!