Honor Roll!

Oh Middle School. It's amazing that we all survive it. It's such a rat race....friends, fashion, phones. Choices, choices, choices! I'm lucky that my kids haven't suffered too much through those two awful years of school. In fact most of them excelled academically and socially. Here we are, down to the last year and a few months of parenting a middle school age child. It will come as no surprise that this one may be the most difficult.

I'm proud to announce that her busy social life has not impacted her academic life. She has worked hard to get good grades and has made the honor roll two semesters in a row. One more to go! And if she makes it she's asked for a trip to visit Aunt Gretchen this summer. I think she deserves it!

Way to go Emilia! Keep up the good work.

Take Your Daughter to Work Day

Last year Savannah spent the day with Mario, but this year it was Emilia's turn to follow him around Neil Armstrong Middle School for the day. She got to experience school from the inside! She learned that gangs are scary. She saw only ONE cute boy! Then she got to write Mario a referral.

The Anti-Vaccine Midwife Gets A Shot!

I'm forecasting late nights by the fire outside, afternoon iced teas with friends, lazy afternoon reading in the hammock, the dog frolicking in the grass and cleaning up the chicken poop that's everywhere. At least they give us yummy eggs to eat.

Do you want to come over and play with me?

We've been mighty busy over here creating an outdoor space that feels happy:) I'm pretty happy with the results.

Saturday morning while I ran some errands my husband went crazy! I came home and he had chopped a whole bunch of our HUGE tree off, creating a whole new shady space for our hammock. I was thrilled that he used his strong muscles and got so much done while I was gone.

He really deserved this break.
(Yes, it's an apple and hot powder)

Then I decided to paint the hen's house....

While moving things around I stepped on a chicken poop covered rusty nail while wearing flip flops! Ay Carumba, that hurt!!!! But I kept on working. (Being the dedicated backyard fixer upper that I am) Mario mentioned something about a tetanus shot. Oh that. Hmmm..... well it has been 22 years since I've had one.

No way was I going to waste that beautiful Saturday sitting in urgent care to get a freaking vaccine. I don't even vaccinate my kids for hecks sake. I'd think about it and read about it and then decide. After 24 hours (and some mighty strong words of warning from others) I did my homework and decided that YES I would get the vaccine. Statistically I was going to be ok. But on the small chance that little poop covered nail did carry some tetanus, well that's some serious sickness that I didn't want.

Sunday afternoon I consulted with the Kaiser advice nurse. I had some questions and the sweet lady was patient with me. When I told her I don't go to the doctor much she said in the sweetest voice, "I can tell". They need to make a "Navigating Kaiser Permanente for Dummies" book just for me.

On Monday I consulted with my Naturopath, who concurred on my decision to get the vaccine. So I headed to the Nurse Treatment window (they don't even charge you to go in and get vaccinated) and got my shot. I was a little pissed that I wasn't getting just the tetanus. I asked for the Td, but the snooty nurse said they had to give me the Tdap, just to be on the "safe" side, since there was an outbreak of pertussis. Oh well.

Here's the ironic shot of the anti-vaccine midwife getting a shot


Oh, and one of the finished projects, our new fire pit area.
Did I mention how happy I am with how the backyard is coming along?
AND SERIOUSLY, I LOVE COMPANY.

I'm still here.

I've been busy. And not so busy. The real reason I haven't blogged in awhile is that I haven't had much to say. But I wanted you all to know that I'm still here! Here's a little photo montage of a few things I've been up to.

Watching the dog and the girl sleep. Really, at times it seems that's all they do!

Me and my FABULOUS apprentice, the other Kelly. Together we are the Kelli/y's.

We don't look our best here, but we were having a great time. This was at a birth that we refer to as a "butter birth". Third baby, Kelly was there just a few minutes before the birth, me a little longer. Mom was amazing and the baby was born healthy. But it was early in the morning!

And here we are with the new little guy. So cute.

We had 4 births in three weeks. 3 primips (first time moms) and one multip (see above). They were all great, none were super long and we were excited to be busy, yet with perfect spacing, giving us time to recuperate.

Dinner with the Kids

Alexis is in town and we were able to spend a few hours with her on Sunday. We had dinner with all of our kids, minus Chial (in Fiji) and Parker (who knows where he was!). It was nice to have everyone together. I know it made Mario very happy. Alexis gave Mario a killer shoulder rub before she left! Lucky!

Some Changes Ahead

My husband officially resigned from his job today. He had been considering early retirement but when we looked at what he would bring home it is about half of what he makes now. I was hoping that he could stick it out for a couple more years. That way Chial would be home from his mission and hopefully the 3 adult children living with us, plus Chial, and possibly even Savannah would be out on their own. (YES, it is a possibility that I will only have ONE child home in a couple years!!) Without going into the politics too much, he was set up to fail at his job. Honestly, the biggest mistake he made was....SURPRISE....he was too nice! He covered for someone else for a full year that he should have just exposed. He was told this person was undermining him, but I believe he didn't fully grasp what was going on until it was too late to do what he should have done. By a mutual agreement with his boss he chose to resign and let the school go in a different direction. (By the way, this person has already begun to lobby for Mario's job, before the resignation was formally given. I'm a little bitter. Mario is very calm.)

Over two years ago, when I first heard that his position was available and he was thinking about applying I KNEW he would get the job. I KNEW this was where he was supposed to be. And from the moment he was hired this job has been a struggle for him, and for our family. We have all suffered because of it, but Mario most of all. I don't know why he was supposed to be there for such a short time and have this experience, but I am trying to have faith that it is for a greater purpose and something better will come along. I have complete faith in my husband and his integrity in doing his job. I have complete faith in his experience and skills. What I don't have faith in is the state of our economy and the crisis that our country is in right now. It is not a good time to be looking for a job. It is not a good time to sell a house. But as we consider our options I pray that we will be provided for.

Please pray for our family
that Mario will be able to find a better job
in a healthy work environment.

We have so much to be grateful for. I am grateful that we are able to draw from Mario's retirement if we need to. I am grateful for my experience in living on less and the knowledge I have that we will be able to do with less. I am grateful for the abundance in my business this year and the wonderful women who have entrusted me to be their midwife.

I have been nagging Mario about his health for such a LONG time, and I am grateful that this change will enable him to focus more on his health and making the life changes that he needs to to feel better. I am grateful that we have health insurance (at least until September)that enables us to see alternative health practitioners for only $5. We are both seeing a Naturopath and making changes that I hope will make us feel a whole heck of a lot better.

I brought home a bag of dirty dishes from my Midwifery conference yesterday. Oh, what a sweet treat for Amos, who thought it was wonderful to stick his head inside the bag and lick all the goodness off of those dirty plates. Being the eager pup that he is he just plunged himself in, not taking notice that he put his head through the handle. We had to laugh and take videos before we let him free. hehehe.

The First Half Dozen

Don't they look like pretty Easter eggs?
They are fresh from the hen and tasted oh so good!

For your viewing pleasure....

I was finally able to upload my videos of the girls playing Guitar Hero.
Aren't they hilarious?

I tried everything to rotate this video with no success. Sorry.

Meet my Little Ladies

Went to pick up my hens yesterday. They are Banty's which means they are much smaller than a regular hen (therefore: less food consumed, less poop and smaller eggs). I have 2 Ameraucana's and 1 Barred. The barred is already laying and we got our first egg this morning! The Ameraucana's may be laying but the woman we got them from isn't quite sure. In any case, they should begin laying soon.

The biggest challenge is Amos. No surprise there! We can't figure out if he's excited or terrified. Maybe a little of both. But he sits at the back door whining and scratching to go out and when he's out he is barking and terrorizing the chickens!