First Kaleb, and then the rest of us soon followed suit...getting the latest thing going around. Today most of us have been super lazy, sleeping and laying around doing not much of anything, cause we feel so lousy. Ah well. I am glad it is before next week, when all the Christmas partying and baking starts.
Except for Elijah...who stayed home and slept most of the day, but miraculously got better today so that his friend could come over. The friend already had the crud, so he felt safe coming into the sickhouse.
I think they did a lot of planning though. Knolen brought a four wheeler, bb gun, bow and arrows, a big knife, chargers for Kalebs gun, a can of spam...(something my kids have never tried but are toasting in the fireplace right now) and more gear...I think they had a big expedition planned. The funny thing is they thought they were going to use it all this afternoon. They did find a little salamander, which is a first. We do live on a boy's paradise!
Jeremy found feathers all over the yard again this morning. 3 chickens are missing. The kids found a ton of feathers, blood and an egg....down the trail. I am sure it was the coyotes. I saw one in the yard the other night. I am a little irritated. We have 4 left. Out of 12! I think we lost our last blue layer....Frustrating. I know we will get more this spring...and hopefully have this stuff figured out so we don't keep losing them. We've had an opening through a door so they could 'free range', but that will probably have to stop.

Well, I've officially joined the Twilight frenzy. I saw the movie last week with some friends who'd read the series. I think I already mentioned that in a previous post. I started reading the book after the movie..which was kindof fun. I definitely like the book better, but loved the beautiful visuals in the movie. After reading the book, I wanted to watch the movie again, so yesterday I took Kas as an early birthday present. One of her friends loves the movie, so she was interested. It was fun doing a 'girlie thing' with her.

We had parent teacher conferences last week for the younger kids. It was very insightful for me. Kas moved to another class, so I went to her old teacher who loves her. She says she was a huge help and would do anything asked, and she knew she could count on her for anything. She is very helpful around the house too, but seems to constantly be contentious. and moody. Elijah's teacher is a friend of ours, so I think she was a little more open than she normally would have been. She said that Elijah sometimes will almost get in trouble because he will defend his friends, if he feels like they are being mistreated. She says she can guage what is really going on, cause she knows Elijah won't lie. If he is keeping quiet, she guesses that they are guilty. I thought that was funny. She realizes that last year he got away with a lot cause of his cuteness, and is determined he won't this year, which makes me laugh. I realized that an attorney may be a good career choice for Elijah...he likes to fight for others rights. and that maybe he is more responsible for the arguing that is constantly going on between him and Kas. I decided maybe I need to cut her a bit more slack....We are very blessed with good kids...who even if they struggle with school work, are always doing pretty well in the respect and helping categories...which is more important to me. Good grades is a bonus...which they do pretty well too.
Kaleb on the other hand struggles with school work. He excels in the respect and all....NEVER a problem...but doesn't really like schoolwork. Friday when I picked him up, he told me he got an award at school. I asked what for...and with a little disgust in his voice, said....'writing.' I laughed so hard. I knew he had it in him, cause when he was like in second grade he did very well with it....so well in fact, his teacher was showing all the other teachers and principal. He used to write very creative stories and cool illustrations. Anyways, it will be interesting to see where this goes. I hope it gets him a bit more interested or confident in school.

well, that is enough for now. I did get my camera fixed finally, so I should be able to add more photos soon, which will make this much more interesting.