Fishing and Brodie's 1st Day of 1st Grade!

We only got out to go fishing ONCE this summer - so sad!  We had actually planned on going camping this particular weekend, but there were a ton of fires and it was so smokey, it just wasn't going to happen.  In the evening when the smoke started to clear a little, we headed to Ririe Reservoir to throw in a few lines.  The boys had had good luck here before, but we didn't even get a bite!  So sad!  It was still a nice evening though and fun to get out. 

Then the following Wednesday my big 6 year old started his first day of 1st grade!  I can't believe he is so big!  He loves school, but we all miss him at home.

Our neighborhood does a giant breakfast at the bus stop tradition on the first day of school.  We set up a few tables on the corner and everyone brings a breakfast item and we basically have a potluck.  Then all the kids get onto the bus and we wave goodbye!  This was really hard for me!  I wanted to take Brodie to school, help him find his class, and make sure he was safe, but he assured me he would be fine on his own and he was.  Still hard for mom though!  I worried a lot that day.

But he had a great day and no problems finding his classroom!  When he got off the bus after school he ran home as fast as he could and he said that his day was awesome because they get 3 recesses.  Oh the life!

And the next morning, we woke up again bright and early and he ran out to the corner to catch his bus! I love the long line of kids at the bus stop.  And this is only the elementary school kids!  Every morning they cheer on the runners as the bus is coming to encourage them to run faster so they won't miss it... as if the bus driver will leave them.  It's funny.

It has been hard waking up so early!  His bus comes at 7:41 and there are a lot of days we are waking up at 7:30.  Eek!  We've only missed the bus once though!

The weekend after the first day of school, we went with some friends to Rexburg Rapids.  I don't really like going to Rexburg Rapids, just because I have 3 young kids who aren't strong swimmers yet, so it stresses me out... even with the life guards!  But they really wanted to go, so we went!  We paid and as we were walking to find a spot to drop our stuff, the life guards blew the whistles and EVERYONE had to get out because they found poo in the all 3 swim areas.  Uhhhh.  You've got to be kidding me!  So we ended up having to wait an hour and a half until the water was safe to go into again.  Mari and the boys had no problems running around on the grass and making some fun of their own, but even they were starting to complain with the wait.

Then finally, they turned everything back on yay!!  And it was a lot of fun, but we didn't swim as long as we had planned on.  Oh well!

Our Chicken Adventure Continued....

It has been a long time since we have butchered our meat chickens, but I figure we should document the process.  We got 2 meat chicks back in June.  I had done a little bit of research on them and they basically eat non stop for 6 weeks until they are so big all they can do is lay around... and eat some more.  I heard they were really messy so I thought 2 would be a good number to start out with to see if it was something we would even like doing.  I set up a little brooder in our dining room and we all loved them!  Well, except Bo.  He just thought they were stinky and couldn't wait for them to feather out and move outside.  Once they were feathered we moved them to the outside coop and they had a really nice life chasing bugs, getting scraps, and laying around and eating.  They grew so fast and before we knew it, they were 6 weeks old.... but I let them live until 8 weeks, haha!

When it came to butchering time, we made it a family affair.  It was a little hard emotionally for me, but the process was easy.  It helped knowing that if we let them continue to live they would start to have health problems.  It also helped that we knew this would be their purpose from the beginning.  The whole point of getting meat chickens was to show the kids where meat comes from.  They weren't phased by it at all, I'm sure because of all the meat we eat from hunting and overall it was a good experience.  I would definitely do it again!

Then, about 14 weeks ago one of my hens, Henrietta, went broody and wanted to hatch out some eggs.  We don't have a rooster, so we went and got 5 fertilized eggs and put them under her.  4 of them hatched out and 1 was a dud.  They were so adorable and it was so much fun to watch little chicks following their mama around.

I moved Henrietta down to the bottom of the coop, under the nesting boxes and put up a wire barrier so that the other chickens wouldn't bother her.  After a few days, I was able to take it down and Henrietta and her chicks mingled with the rest of the flock no problem.

Taking her chicks out into the yard for the first time.

The chicks would follow their mommy around looking for treats and hanging out.  I could seriously watch them forever.  There is something so calming about watching a mama hen with her chicks.

And they quickly grew and started to feather out!

And the "teenagers" who aren't teenagers any more, started laying eggs!  This was one of the first ones!  Pretty tiny compared to the veterans!

Then, once the chicks reached 9 weeks, Henrietta started laying eggs again and left her young to fend for themselves.  They've been doing great in the flock and wouldn't ya know, 3 weeks later, Henrietta is broody again!  Time to give her a few more fertilized eggs!

I love being a chicken farmer!

And because a post wouldn't be complete without some pictures of our children's smiling faces....

Madison County Fair 2015

We went to the Madison County Fair again this year to look at all the animals and of course do some Mutton Bustin'!  The kids loved looking at all the animals.  I have a bunch of wanna-be farmers on my hands!

Mari saying these goats are stinky.

Petting the neighbor's cow.

Bo entered a picture of his into the fair and got 3rd place!

Then it was rodeo time and time to get these boys on those sheep!  Mari wanted to do it too, but I told her she needed to wait one more year.  She's still pretty tiny!

Ryker went first and he did the best that he's ever done!  Then while we were waiting for it to be Brodie's turn, a GIANT thunderstorm rolled through and drenched everyone and everything!  Brodie was still determined to ride a sheep though!  He didn't get very far because the sheep just tripped in the mud and tipped over, but it was still fun and I'm proud of him for going through it even though he got really muddy and soaked!

Brodie's Youth River Rock Triathalon 2015

Brodie completed his first Triathalon back in August!  It was so much fun and he has a blast!  We had been preparing for it all summer and when the day finally came, there were some major gray clouds up above, but it never did start raining, thank goodness!

All the kids started out with the swimming portion which was 50 yards.  This was the hardest section for Brodie, although he got through it no problem.  Once he was nearing the end he saw his gym coach who was one of the lifeguards/helpers and I think it gave him an extra boost to keep on going.  He was all smiles!

Next it was the bike portion and he had to ride .8 miles.  He's a great little bike rider and had absolutely no problems with this section!

Lastly, he had to run .5 miles and also did great!  He ran the whole time and didn't walk once!

He crossed the finish line and received his medal!

Below are 2 of Brodie's friends who did it with him.  On the left is Lincoln and on the right is our neighbor Parker.  Parker is 9, so he did the intermediate race, which is way longer and he did an awesome job too!

It was a really fun day and we are looking forward to doing it again next year!