Here a Cluck, There a Cluck, Everywhere a Cluck Cluck

Today was the day that Abbi worked hard for! She gave a report on a breed of chicken called Australorp, and of course no report is complete without a live presentation. We began the morning with a visit to the orthodontist to repair a loose wire. Then we stopped at Aunt Julie's house, which is the foster home for Abbi's chickens, and picked up Licorice (the chicken's name, not candy). Abbi's chickens were removed from their original home by the boss on CR 35, due to lack of attention to chores ... important things like water, food, and gathering eggs. They may be returned to their original home now that spring is here, we'll see. Obviously the boss will have the final say.

Off to school we headed with Licorice in tow. After signing in at the office, to a chorus of oohs and aahs, down the hall we went.

We made a stop at the restroom so Abbi could wash a little "chicken residue" off of her sweatshirt, that she acquired sometime during the trip. Here is Licorice waiting patiently in her carrier - not like she had much choice.

Abbi did an amazing job on her report! I even learned a couple things that I didn't know. I was sooo proud of her. She has had a great year learning and experiencing many things with her wonderful teacher, Mr. Hamilton. I am so thankful for each teacher that she has had!
My question for today is ... "whatever happened to taking puppies and kittens to school"? Now that I could handle! Today really wasn't too bad. When Abbi was done, I simply carried that chicken in it's cool carrier back down the hall, to my car, and back to Aunt Julie's where I dumped it back into it's pen.

Our farm is exploding with animals ... our dog Uno now has 5 puppies, Abbi has two bunnies, 3 cats, tomorrow we will get a new horse to replace her geriatric horse that died this winter, and soon we will be taking possession of the baby chicks that we'll raise for the fair. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine taking care of such a menagerie of animals, or even chasing a pet bunny around the horse pasture like I did on Wednesday. I am learning to relax and just enjoy whatever Abbi brings into our lives!

Talking Old Fashioned

When Alli was home from college for Christmas break, she began the process of labeling all of our old 8mm home videos. They were all just thrown in a box, some with dates and events wrote on the labels, some without. She viewed them all, and wrote the year and some details on each one. Then my job began ... I hunted for a VCR (remember those?) that would have a digital counter on it. I searched Goodwill, The Depot, WalMart, Target. They are hard to find! At the retail stores, all that was available was a combo with the DVD, for a hefty price. Not exactly what I wanted or needed. I needed cheap and short-term! I finally scrounged one up out of my Mom's basement. I love when she's in Florida, cuz I can just hunt high and low for things. However, now with the new homesteaders camping out at her house, I need to call ahead. They seemingly think that we live in a dangerous neighborhood and lock everything up tight!

Now back to my task. I am beginning to go through each video and edit by writing down what I want to transfer to DVD and what I don't want transferred. I'm doing that by writing the range of numbers on the digital counter. See, that's why I needed the counter! After I'm finished with this process I will take everything to a man in Middlebury who does the transfer to DVD. I can hardly wait for it to be done! It will probably be many months until we can easily pop in a DVD and laugh at the antics and old-fashioned-ness of this chaos I call "Family"! I've only got 70 to go through. :) While I'm at it, I'm also going to have him transfer our wedding video. Woo Hoo! Bring back the Love!

So, a couple evenings ago I was viewing a few of these gems, and Abbi and Kevin happened to join me for a few laughs. Following is some of our conversation: (video events are in purple)

Alli & Mitch opening Christmas Presents ... I say "it's a Walkman".
Abbi: "Mom, you're talking Old Fashioned"

Indy 500 footage from 1990.
Kevin: "Only rednecks with money go to the Indy 500"
Abbi: "What's with the perm Mom?"
Kevin: "Holy Crap Barb! Nice perm!" (last name will remain a secret, you know who you are)

Somehow we ended up with a video of Wilbur & Sarah and kids opening Christmas gifts.
Abbi: "Nice hair Sarah"
Kevin: "Holy Mullet!"
Kevin: "I want a record player too!" (Kim and Jason each recieved a lovely record player)
Kevin: Wilbur, nice mustache! He's rockin' that mustache!"


There's a glimpse of what happened that evening! I think in the future I'll do only private viewings. The un-invited commentary makes me feel old!

Time to catch my breath ...

My head is spinning with all the happenings here at our home! My creative juices are flowing, but I will need more time to get it all "Blogged Out"! So here's a filler for the time being - borrowed from Facebook. My apologies if you've already read all about me.

25 Random Things About Me

1. I was born on my Mom’s & Dad’s anniversary.
2. My Dad couldn’t remember what they named me when he went to work the next morning, and he told someone “I know it’s not Cinderella”. My sister named me. Maybe that’s why Dad couldn’t remember. My real name is Cynthia Jean.
3. I was born with a cleft palate that was repaired when I was 1.
4. I wear size 5 ½ shoes and buy all my tennis shoes in the young boys section … there my size is 4 and about $10.00 cheaper!
5. I broke my arm when I was 2 years old by falling down 1 step.
6. I made two road trips back & forth to Hesston College by myself. Before cell phones! YIKES!
7. My husband & I met while cruising Goshen. I had car trouble and he jumped me (with jumper cables). :) And we exchanged phone numbers.
8. One week went by without a phone call, so I called him and asked him out. The rest is history!
9. I had braces for 3 ½ years.
10. I am number 5 of 6 kids.
11. My younger brother and my Dad were killed in a small plane crash when I was 20 and Wendall was 16. Easter Sunday 1985. It’s strange how after 24 years my life time-line is still measured by “before the crash” and “after the crash”.
12. I went back to college while Alli and Mitch were very young. When Kevin was born in July, I still had one college class left, so in the fall I took a Monday evening class.
13. I graduated from Goshen College in1995 with a BS in Physical Education.
14. I am also a proud graduate of Hesston College. “Hesston, it’s the t-shirt I look best in …”. Just a song that Bif and Jen made up while we were students.
15. I have coached volleyball at the middle school and JV level for a total of 14 seasons (I think) since 1985.
16. I have had repair surgery on my heel, knee, elbow, wrist, and shoulder. Each one, except the heel, related in some way to an amazing ski accident in 2004.
17. My two oldest each broke their front teeth 5 days apart. Alli in a freak Frisbee incident and Mitch passed out and hit his face on a canoe on Interterm at Bethany. When he returned home 6 days later, I took him to the dentist, and the dentist reopened the cut he had in his lip from biting through it and found the piece of tooth still lodged in there.
18. I have never attended a public school. In fact every school (1st – college) has been Mennonite. I started 1st grade when I was 5.
19. I grew up in a Conservative church, and wore dresses and my hair up with a covering until I was 16. My friend has repeatedly asked for pictures, and I can’t seem to find any. :)
20. I had my ears pierced when I was at Hesston College and when I came home at Christmas my Mom didn’t look at me for 1 week! When I got my ears pierced, it took longer than I thought, and I was late to volleyball practice. I was with my teammate so we had to run extra after practice. I would never do that to my players! Ear piercing is very important!
21. My parents both spent their younger years in the Amish church. I still have a few wonderful Amish relatives!
22. While I enjoy my longer hair style, my soul is screaming “short and sassy”!
23. No vacation is complete without sand and sun.
24. I love Globetrekker on PBS, Sunday nights late (11:00ish). That’s why I’m a mess Monday mornings!
25. Only one reality show for me – Amazing Race. My Dad always said I was born with wings on my feet!