just when my family thought we couldn't get weirder...

we built a chicken coop. well, Josh put together a chicken coop kit with some "help" from the rest of us. Now we just need a few chickens (we're thinking 4) and all the stuff needed to care for them (better research that) and we'll be eating homegrown organic free range eggs. Yummy!

ADD

I totally have ADD lately. I want to craft and decorate but nothing holds my interest for long. It has to be all short instant gratification projects. I still have pictures from our trip to post. And I have pictures from other random things too. But here's a little look at what life has been like the last couple weeks

• appliqued 3 t-shirts for Nathan
• made a blanket for the baby.
  
• made 2 nappies and wipes cases
• started using PACE's for our history curriculum. I just can't find one that I like and is easy to use.
  
• Emma, the non-reader, LOVES to read her Social Studies. She reads it on her own and reads the questions and answers them on her own too. can't read? whatever!
• got a haircut/trim today. just a couple inches off the length and a few layers. makes a big difference in how it feels though
• Got Catie's hair cut today. About 5 inches off the length and she asked for a fringe (bangs). I'll have to get a photo.
• Changed all the photos in the frames in the front room. And bought another frame that I have to find photos for. =)
• Finished the Christmas vinyl decorations that Josh got for his birthday.
  
• moved the bookshelf from the living room to the school room.
• got the school room completely cleaned up.
  
• got out all the various containers of clothes from around the house and organized them all.
  
• very tempted to wash all the cute little baby stuff. But will probably wait another month or two.
• Had the dreaded glucose test at the hospital this morning. That stuff is nasty. Then went to Big W and HBW and then to get my haircut. When I got home Josh and the girls had done schoolwork and tidied up the mess from the weekend!! So nice to walk into a clean house. Thanks, honey!! (I know you check up on me!)
• Got all but the yoke of Beka's birthday dress done one night last week. But it's just been sitting there ever since. Oh well, I still have 2 months until her birthday. =)
• wrapped Nate's birthday presents.
  
• made two birthday presents for girls at church.
• got a couple more things sorted for VBS.
  
• ordered a bunch of stuff from walmart for Mom to bring over with her.
  
• ordered books for Catie from the book depository. (I can't keep enough books in this house for her. and the selection at the library leaves much to be desired.)
• moved furniture around after moving the bookshelf out (well, Josh moved the bookshelf. it's heavy! the furniture I moved was easy to slide.)
• moved the furniture back to its original spots cuz it just fits better.
• set up savings accounts for the kids
  

ummm...I think that's about it. of course we've been doing schoolwork and keeping the house tidy, etc. I'm ready to give up on cooking though. I botched a batch of choc chip cookies. It's the recipe I've been making for YEARS. I swear I followed the recipe and yet it still turned out weird. And the same with beef stroganoff. How do I mess stuff up when I follow the recipe and have been doing so for years?? uggghhh...I think I'll stick with stuff the kids can make. Tonight is homemade pizza. Hopefully it turns out well. =)

LOL

Josh took a picture from Halloran's Hill of the highest point in Queensland. Of course it was a very cloudy day and you can't actually see the highest point. So, this photo makes me laugh.

days eight and nine

Saturday was the first day that Gwen didn't have to work. We didn't choose a very good time to visit as the first week was the last week of June and thus, the end of the financial year. So Gwen was very busy with work. Anyway, on Saturday we headed out to see some of the local sights. The first stop was in a field to see the "dancing brolgas". These birds come here to mate every season. The are big water birds more likely found in the outback. The males can be up to 1.5 metres tall. We couldn't get really close to them for a picture. But it was fun to see them in the fields. We were amazed to see a huge flock of ducks in the field where we were too. After this stop we went to visit the curtain fig tree. I'm sure by looking that you can figure out why it's called the "curtain" fig tree. After that we went for a drive and visited Lakes Eacham and Barrine. Lake Eacham had lots of fish and turtles to check out. We also found it amusing that there were cement steps with a railing leading down into the water. It was just strange looking. When we reached Lake Barrine it was raining quite hard. So we had a quick look around and read up on some of the logging info then hopped back in the cars and went home. The girls found it more fun to ride with Grandma and Grandpa the whole time we were out being tourists. Josh and I had to get used to a quiet car. Well, as quiet as it was with Nathan singing his little heart out. =)

On Sunday after church we got chips and scallops and went up to Hallorans Hill for lunch. You could see a lot of stuff from up there and there was also a bit of information about the history of the area too. One of the sights to see was Mt. Uncle and Mt. Aunt. =) I'm not sure what the pictures are of but they are from up there.

day seven

We drove down the range to Cairns. Reminded me of going to visit my grandparents in the mountains in Arkansas. We stopped at a lookout and it feels so strange to be up on the mountain and having a view of the ocean. The girls were all in the truck ahead of us with Grandpa. We saw this beautiful rainbow. I know it looks a bit ordinary in the photo but that was through the windscreen in a moving car. It was such brilliant colours and looked like it was only a metre or two off the road.

The reason for going down to Cairns was to check out the auction. The kids only lasted an hour or so but Floyd was there until mid-afternoon. The girls were fascinated by the auctioneer's speech. They couldn't believe he could talk that fast and kept asking what he was saying. All I could really understand was the dollar amount. =) Anyway, we went and checked out a couple shops then headed back to Atherton. It was the first day with little rain and the kids went out to feed the cows and check out the barn. They loved those cows. They had all of them, even the bull, eating out of their hands. As you can see from the last two pictures it was still quite chilly of an evening. The girls loved having Grandma read to them every night before bed.

days five and six

I don't recall doing anything on Wednesday. Well, we did make our daily trip into the laundromat to dry laundry. It rained all that first week and we only had 3 outfits each so I needed to keep up with the laundry.And Nathan found ways of amusing himself. He loved to put all the drinks on that mat. We were afraid he was going to roll them down the ramp. And he enjoyed watching Boz on my laptop.
On Thursday we took the kids to a shop in town called The Crystal Caves. We got to put on hardhats with lights and go look at these rooms that had been made to look like caves with crystals and fossils all through them. The pictures don't really convey how cool everything looked because you can't see it well without a flash and the flash washes everything out. The star of the show was the HUGE amethyst geode. The girls loved it.

days three and four

On Monday we went to visit Gallo Dairyland with the Blackmans. We saw them making chocolate and making cheese. There was an animal nursery and one of the calves decided to try eating Catie's jacket. They also had a viewing area so you could watch them milk all 270 cows. They milk at 3:00pm so Josh and the girls didn't get back to see that until the day before we left to come home. No pictures of that though. =( That night the kids and Dave and Grandpa played a round of Mexican Train Dominoes. The next morning the Blackmans packed up in the rain and left to go on up to the tip of Australia. Nathan loved having Asher and the other boys around. He constantly wanted Asher to hold him. The rest of our day consisted of playing around the house and taking laundry to the laundromat to be dried. woo hoo! exciting stuff =)

Day two

Josh set the alarm for 2:00am. We were packed and on the road by 2:33, ready for our 13 hour trip. First sunrise we've seen in a long time. =) After 13 rather uneventful but long hours we arrived in Atherton. Nate got straight out of the car and headed straight for the tractor. I can't find a pic of the house but it was a small old house that we all fit into nice and cozily. I don't think we took pics of the end to end beds either. It was good to see Grandma and Grandpa even though we've seen them fairly recently. Our friends the Blackmans showed up later that afternoon as a stop on their way up to the northern tip of Australia. Thankfully they were camping so Gwen didn't have to find them beds too. =)

Day one

On Saturday the 24th we left Hervey Bay and drove 5 hours north to Rockhampton. We stopped at the Rockhampton Botanical Gardens and Zoo. Nate likes to watch The Zoo on tv so we thought he'd enjoy his first visit to see some animals. And it was free so win/win. The little koala in the enclosure was so active. He kept running back and forth and getting as close as he could to people. We enjoyed the time there before heading to where we stayed for the night.