Last band concert!

As if Tanner's field trip wasn't enough for this sappy Mom, I had to see Madison's last band concert the same day.  She's elected to get out of band (sniff, sniff), and head into art and journalism instead.  I can't say that I'm surprised--the girl does love art, but I am sad to see her leave the world of band.  It's a geeky world, but a good one.  Next year she'll attack her new classes as an 8th grader--the same age I was when we moved to Decatur.  So many times I still feel like that person, and I can't believe my own daughter is that old.  My little leafy twig--growing up so fast.

Last elementary field trip!

Tanner's last elementary field trip--science days to the Methodist Church Camp.  I was so glad that I got to be there with him--next year I'll have ANOTHER middle schooler?  I just can't believe how fast things are moving.

Backyard

I've been working on the backyard since we moved in--there's ALWAYS something to do, but it's getting there.  My most recent addiction is finding old things to put in the yard to make it look whimsical--notice the bedframes, ladder, etc. I could work almost everyday moving flowers around, adding mulch, adding another flower bed--rarely do we just sit and enjoy it. But someday we will--and when we do we will finally see the fairies that live there. :)

Backyard Treasures!

I've graduated!  Thanks to Stephanie, I'm learning how to shop for junk--and I'm loving putting it in my backyard!  I'm hoping fairies will soon take up residence. :)

Easter 2014

We adventured to the ballpark this Easter Sunday for tons of excitement!  Madison was blown away by her book, of course.  Grady loved all the snacks.  Tanner was featured on the BIG SCREEN twice for his moves like jagger, and Todd caught a foul ball!  Great way to spend the day--after taking a jillion selfies to get this one JUST RIGHT.

Easter Traditions

Grady Turns 8!!!

Grady turned 8 years old!!!  All he wanted was to have his favorite people over for jumping and hanging out in our backyard--so that's what we did!  It was actually a really nice evening with friends and the kids had a blast jumping in the fancy jumphouse.  I can't believe he's just 2 years away from double digits--growing so fast!  

My piercing!!! It's back!!!

So, after the race, we happened by a tattoo parlor and I repierced my piercing!  It's pretty sore, but it makes me super happy. :)

Color Me Rad

I'm all about the 5K these days, thanks to Crystal.  Before the #summeroftheboot I was really in a running groove, and it's taken me a while to get back there--Color me Rad is one of my favorites.  Very Hippy. Very Happy.

Cozy Grady

Grady is awesome at snuggling and being cozy.

STAAR

Took the kiddos to a fancy McDonald's breakfast for their STAAR testing days--good luck to them!

Hospital Date Night

In a random turn of events, we got to go on a date night on a Thursday--and even got to dress up evening wear style!  Wise Regional is opening a hospital around the Alliance area, and this was the grand opening.  It was WEIRD walking around a hospital in a cocktail dress and drinking wine, but we rolled with it--even met Jason and Jenn for some post cocktail party pizza afterwards.  At this point, we take date nights when we get them!  Hospital cocktail party and all!

St Patty's Day

No parade this year due to rain--but we definitely made do with shamrock cookies and grandma cookies--of course with soda bread on the side.  It was a bit of a bummer that we had to go to school on the Monday of St. Patrick's Day!!! (even Cale said he was surprised to see me at school since he knew it was a Scroggins Holiday)--hopefully this is the only time for that kind of crazy.  :)

Youth Fair--Chickens, Chickens and More Chickens!

This was our fourth youth fair--Gran was in charge of all the cooking. Tanner took it very seriously--and won 2nd place with his scratch cake (yum!).  Madison did well with her break, and also with some crafts---we've made a plan for next year for her to enter more crafts--she's always crafting and the we are stressing to find something for the fair!  The most exciting event was definitely the chickens--2nd and 4th place--made the sale for both!  Big Year!

Spelling Bee 2014

Madison competed in the Regional Spelling Bee this year--her second trip to TCU.  While she didn't want to study--she did wind up cramming a few days before, and learned many many origins of many many words.  Needless to say, she is already a way better speller than me--or than I ever will be.  The first pic is priceless--straight from the Ft. Worth Star Telegram.  She was so nervous once it began, and we are so proud of her for making it this far--twice.  She's our nerdy wordy girl--and we love her for it.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/03/20/4717412/regional-spelling-bee-winner-gets.html

Chicken Little...a note from my recent article

We've gone chicken crazy at our house.  I'm not even joking.  We've got fifty (give or take a few) chickens in our garage, as well as six hens and two roosters in the backyard.  There are chickens everywhere.  There are chickens right outside my garage door, front door, and back door.  I see chickens when I get my morning diet coke, when I wander around my flowerbeds, when I watch the kids jump on the trampoline, and they literally greet me when I drive up.  I suppose that wasn't enough chicken for me because I hatched the idea to decorate our kitchen in roosters and the Hobby Lobby chicken section will never be the same.

How you ask?  Why you wonder?  Frankly, I blame my friends.  It started slowly, with a science fair project here and a 4-H project there.  They would bring us fresh eggs, and animatedly discuss how interesting it was to own chickens, to watch them hunt and peck, to feed them, and to find eggs every morning like a real-life easter egg hunt.  All of this lead us down that infamous road the chicken crossed,  and I'm pretty sure I heard some of our friends clucking…."chicken?"

We first feathered our nest for the 4-H broiler project, and last year raised twenty-five broilers from chick to adult for six weeks before youth fair.  The kids (and I'm counting my husband here) learned what to feed, how much to feed, when to feed (constantly by the way), and how to hold the chickens by their feet for judging.  This animal project was great for us because 1-we don't have a barn, so the little chicks inhabit the garage, and 2-it's short-lived. The kids learned the valuable lessons involved in a 4-H animal project, but mom and dad didn't have to live with livestock year-round.  That project spurred my husband to rule the roost and build a chicken coop last spring. We raised DIFFERENT chicks after youth fair to have for our very own. Thus our love for the little red hens was born. Farmer Scroggins (my husband) established himself as first in the pecking order, and those girls followed him all over the yard.  We had a blissful summer getting to know them, and waiting for the first eggs. I think I was more excited than anyone the morning we found that first egg--it was a MIRACLE!  Instant Facebook moment.  And let me tell you, store-bought eggs don't hold a candle to these fresh ones.  Yum.  We bought ourselves an official egg collecting basket (you can't put all your eggs in just one basket after all), and now gather six eggs daily. For a family of five that just about works out--even when we are out of ketchup, we still have eggs.  No one is going to starve around here.

Sadly, my own ignorance disrupted this peaceful chicken existance because I wanted a rooster.  I really laid an egg on that one. Now we have two:  Hawkeye and Wacky.  I don't want them anymore--two free roosters going once….

Not to brood about it, but between the CONSTANT cock-a-doodle-doling and sneak-jump-on-my-back-with-claw attacks, I'm putting them up for adoption.  Who knew they could be so MEAN???  They deserve to be kept cooped up and when Farmer Scroggins isn't around--that's exactly where the kids and I like them.  And that's all I have to say about that.

So that brings us to the present--where we have invested in FIFTY broiler chickens (again in the garage), and are reliving the process of feeding, watering, and changing bedding, (repeat as often as possible).  Youth Fair is just around the corner, and it can't get here soon enough--I love the learning, but sometimes learning stinks (even when you stick your neck out).

I'm ready to reclaim my garage, find a good home for these two "all boy" roosters, and establish my place as mother hen. If you'd told me two years ago that this was how I would be looking forward to spring, I would have said you'd flown the coop, but that was before we had all this fun to crow about.