Jonah is just one of those kids.

If you were in IL with us, you will remember how very, very sick he was, and you are likely to remember how sick you were when you caught the bug.  Jonah's complications ended up as pneumonia, and ever since then he has had a lingering cough.  A couple weeks ago his lingering cough started sounding more like a whooping cough (which he had two years ago), so we took him to the doctor.

Well, the poor kid had pneumonia again.  Fortunately, we caught it very early so the antibiotics were able to do their job in short order, and the pneumonia is gone for now.  Friday morning he had his routine follow-up.  No problem, right?  I timed everything perfectly.  I put Simon down for a nap minutes before we left.  Anna's babysitting job was pretty easy while we were gone.  She had to exist and feed herself lunch.

The appt started out just fine until Jonah had to have a finger poke to draw a little blood.  He always struggles with getting blood taken, and he often faints.  He started turning white during the poke, so he laid down and everything seemed to be going OK.  The lab lady left the room and Jonah laid down recovering while we waited for the results.  

All of a sudden he grabbed his head and cried in pain.  Then his eyes rolled back into his head and his whole body tensed, completely stiff.  Then he went limp and fell off the examining table.  By then I was scared and crying, but I managed to grab his top half and pull him back onto the table.  While holding onto him I opened the door and yelled, " HELP!  Someone help me."  Some poor lady in the hallway panicked when she saw and heard me, but, ya know, we needed help.  It felt like forever before the nurses came, but they did come and they were able to get him to open his eyes again.  Jonah was just wiped out.  We had to wait another 45 minutes (including a short nap) before he was well enough to stand and walk out.

And this, my friends, is why I usually have to hold Jonah down on a cot when he gets his blood drawn.  And this is why he has had to be wheeled around in a wheel chair after blood draws.  The poor kid just can't handle it.  How awful.

Don't eat while you read this. Please, for your sake, DON'T!!

Today we butchered roosters.  I have never been subjected to this before, and I am sure I will be having nightmares about it tonight.  I can see how people become vegetarian.

Mark's parents came out to teach us young folk how to butcher chicken.  The process begins with catching the bird and chopping their heads off.  Luckily I was at the grocery store while that happened.  The kids assured me that it was a sight to behold, and the chickens jumped around after the heads were cut off.

Once they were dead, the birds were plunged into boiling water until the butt or leg feathers pulled out easily.  Whether you should test using the butt or leg feathers depends entirely on how your family tree passed down their knowledge.  We were at an impasse with which method is better, so I strategically stayed away while someone else made the call (and did the actual testing).  I suggested putting both methods to a test, but they quietly ignored me.

Once the feathers pass the pull test, the steaming, full-feathered birds were put on tables so we could....pluck them.  Have you ever smelled a wet, hot, feathered, dead chicken?  Have you had the misfortune to touch a wet, hot, feathered, dead chicken?  Neither the smell nor the feel are pleasant experiences, but I dug down as deep as I could and this is what happened.....

Yep, that's me touching a half-plucked dead chicken.  Here's Mark with his bird.

He found some amusement in the act, as you can see below.  His chicken stood up and started talking to the kids.

Here is Mark's mom with a nearly finished bird.

After plucking, the birds were singed to burn off their random strands of hair.  And here, finally, is a fully plucked bird waiting to be chopped up.

After singeing the birds, they had to be gutted.  Gutting seems to require some skill which I am sure I do not possess.  Thankfully Mark's parents clearly knew what they were doing.  Not only did they know how to cut the bird open, but they knew what the inside body parts looked like AND they knew how to clean the gizzard.  I am fully convinced that pioneer children used chicken throats for straws.  

Here is Mark's dad trying to teach me a thing or two about gutting and cutting chicken.

Once the birds were sliced, the body parts were soaked in cold water and the blood was  magically pulled out of the tissue.  One more rinse and the birds were ready for consumption.

We did not eat these chickens tonight - I'm not ready for that yet - but we did try chicken heart and gizzard.  That was another interesting experience, and next time I am certain we will leave those pieces for others to enjoy.

All in all, it was a pleasant, interesting, and disgusting morning.  Mark is making plans to hatch 2013 spring chickens for fall butchering, so call him with your order.  First come, first serve.

Election Night

Here is how the kids spent election night.  They each had an electoral map that they colored in as results were announced.  You can tell they are a new generation since they were using the Roku to stream CNN live coverage on the TV while using an iPad for constant electoral map updates.  And, I was pleased to see, they pulled out our low-tech wall map of the US.

Shopping Trauma

This is a true story that I am just now able to tell.  I hope you enjoy it.

Last weekend Mark volunteered to watch the kids so I could go away for 2 nights.  Yep, you read that right.  Two days and two nights ALL BY MYSELF.  Now, this is quite certainly a rare event and cause for celebration.

Having heard great ravings over a particular clothing store, I drove all the way to an upscale mall in Maple Grove (on the outside of the Twin Cities) to check it out.  Being from the land of prairie, crops, and large families, entering the Cities and shopping malls is much like culture shock.  Well, I was enjoying myself window shopping and admiring the gorgeous ladies with high heels, leather coats, dyed hair, and fancy nails (none of which are practicle in my life).  I got up the courage to enter one of the shops and try on a couple things all the while trying to blend in.  

So, I take off my jeans (no, this will not be TMI for you) and start folding them so they are out of the way in the dressing room.  I look down at the bottom of my pants leg....and what do I see????  I could have died right then and there.  I had chicken poop on my leg.  Not just a little.  Not in a hidden spot.  The well-groomed ladies next to me laughing and having fun in their dressing room did not have chicken poop on their clothes.  Guaranteed.

My only saving grace is that I am sure the city folk did not know what chicken poop looked like.  

Life gets crazy, doesn't it?

Mark & I should be resting up for tonight.  We are just too old to be on the go with all these little people.  Mark will be spending the evening taking Jonah, Eli & two friends to pizza and bowling.  I am spending the evening babysitting Simon and hosting Anna & 3 of her friends for her monthly Girl Game night.  Sarah is spending the evening with some friends and going to eat pizza.  If the evening goes well, one of us will be taking the 8yo & older crowd to a haunted house when the other festivities have ended. 

Today - October 27, 2012

The girls were playing Barbies in Sarah's bed.  Anna sleeps in the top bunk.

Sigh.  She needs a haircut.

Jonah was reading in his bed.  It's officially his bed, but Eli sleeps in it every night too.

I found Simon standing on the desk and playing with the printer.  Apparently he likes pushing buttons on the sly.

Eli was flying paper airplanes.

SNOW - It's October!

We woke up to SNOW this week.  Snow in October.  Does that seem right to you?  

Simon was intrigued by the snow.  Looking out the window, he said, "Daddy car dirty."  Here are a few pictures of him testing it out.  Before he walked on it, he asked, "In it?"  He wasn't sure if he should step on it or not.  Then he spent quite some time poking the snow with his finger.

Eli has a new hat and sunglasses, and he thinks they should be worn together like this.

Simon likes to eat cereal with Mark in the morning, but he takes forever only eating one or two pieces at a time.  Here Anna is his booster chair as he finishes the bowl.

Long time, no blog.  Jonah has found a new passion.  Can you guess what it is?