Connor's Turn

Last night, three of the teams I coach had their first end-of-season soccer tournament games. Obviously I couldn't coach all three so I took Kenzie's team, since she 's the youngest. I coach with someone else, so she took Alex's team. One of the parents took care of Connor's team. Kenzie's team got beat really bad. One more loss, and they're out of the tournament. Alex's team got beat, too. Same deal. Wouldn't you know it, but the one team (Connor's) that had no coach won the game!

Now here's today's gush. The game was tied at the end, and had to go to overtime. That means, shootout. Each team takes 5 penalty shots at the other team's goalie. The team with the most goals at the end of the shootout, wins. Connor got the winning goal. And the other coach's kid was the Goalie that stopped the other team from scoring the winning goal. Both of us coaches got to see the shootout, but neither of us had anything to with coaching the team up to that point. Needless to say, everyone was very excited, and of course, I had no camera with me. So, I tried to take a celebration photo of Connor this morning at 7 am, but it wasn't quite the same as it would have been last night.

Foster Chickens

WE HAVE CHICKENS!!

We are now the proud foster parents of three roosters, temporary residents of our brand new chicken coop. We'll probably get 3 more tomorrow. They actually belong to our friends who have 15 chickens and enough room to house about 6, at least until they get their own coop and run built. I jumped the gun, as usual, and built our coop even before we had the eggs. Now we know the answer to that age old question of which came first. For us, the chickens. Right now, a couple families we know are gathering eggs from their flocks for us. Once there's enough to fill the incubator, we'll begin the process from eggs. If all goes as planned, the guys you see here will be just old enough for the dinner table when our new birds are ready to take over the coop sometime in early to mid December.

I was at the grocery store today, and the kids and I were in line, talking about getting chickens. The cashier overheard and I told her we were getting chickens. She got the strangest look on her face (well, not strange for me, I get them all the time from people; they don't expect the kinds of things I tell them about me and my family). The cashier asked where we'd put them, and I told her in the back yard, and her look got stranger (but, where else would you put chickens, I ask you). I went on to tell her that they'd be in a chicken coop, and that seemed to make it all okay. I'm really glad I built a coop. I wouldn't people to think I'm strange, or anything.

Anyway, after the cramped quarters those chickens were in at their old residence, they took right to their new home. They didn't have an open run before; now they have all kinds of open space, and lots of new bugs to eat. I couldn't get them inside without the kids' help. We have a fox and stray cats out there and I didn't want to kill my friends' chickens the first night I had them.

The kids are overjoyed that we have chickens now. Bekah can't leave them alone, and keeps chasing them around, trying to pet them. Taylor, Mr. shy himself, thinks nothing of walking around with a chicken in his hands. And Kenzie, of course, loves anything that moves. Alex and Kenzie say they're going to be up at 6:30 tomorrow morning to feed, water, and let the chickens outside. I bet they'll do it, too, the first day.

A lot of this is a repeat of Vicki's Blog, so you read more there.

Day 2

Getting a late start. The kids decided to sleep in (until 7:15) while I was hanging laundry on the line. One load down (or up?), 4 or 5 more to go. The kids are upstairs now, eating breakfast and feeding Bekah, while I steal some moments alone, with my coffee and computer. How many 13 year old boys fight with their 8 year old sisters over who gets to take of the 2 year old toddler first thing in the morning? That's how I left Alex and Kenzie, not really fighting, just establishing that pecking order I guess. And NOBODY's gonna peck my oldest daughter! Not if she has anything to do about it. For the record, she is the one taking care of Bekah this morning :o)

Speaking of pecking order, we should be getting some chickens today. While we wait for, and eventually hatch, our new eggs, I've volunteered our coop to be used to house some friends' of ours roosters, as they mature for the chopping block. They have 15, six week old chickens (10 roosters), in a small 4x4 enclosure. Too crowded, so we'll hold some until December, when the axe comes out, and our new chicks will be mature enough to take over the coop for themselves. I'll just have to keep reminding the kids not to name them. They aren't pets, they're food. You don't name food, unless you use names like roast, stewed, or cordon blu (my favorite chicken dish).

The first child has just shown up. Alex. We now know for sure who won upstairs in the Battle of the Baby. I wonder who's going to get Kearsyn when she shows up? Ever see a 'dropped ball' in soccer? or a 'jump ball' in basketball? or raw meat in a school of sharks? I'm getting out of the way, let me tell you.

Well, two kids are here. Connor. My bet is the kitchen is getting noisy with the youngest four attempting to decide who's got what kitchen duties this morning. It's clear as day, on the chart, on the wall, but they all conveniently forget how to read, or where the wall is, when it comes time to do the chores.