Just thought this was cute. We read The Rainbow Fish today and all the kids made fish. Elizabeth's fish seemed startled when his air bubbles escaped from the wrong end!...

Today has gone swimmingly, pardon the pun. Tuesday is one of my busier days ~ today I had nine kiddos. We learned about Texas Wildlife (thanks, Aunt Wendy!) and wrote stories about our favorites. We found some frogs and tried to race them. We had our Rainbow Fish activity and had a beetle encounter. The beetle was not a planned part of my day...he was the size of a plum, very shiny, and shoved into the toe of my boot by one of the boys, either Braden or Luke. Did I mention the very thick, very large pinchy-thingies on top of his head? We watched Chicken Little to round out our day, which I realize is loosely connected...chicken, wildlife...work with me here. Trying to entertain nine children ranging in age from 5 months to 12 1/2 yrs is hard enough ~ sneaking in some educational activities to interest/involve them all is a whole other deal. I was feeling pretty clever suggesting the frog races because it took a while for them to figure out the frogs wouldn't cooperate. The next second, my 2 yr old was eating the frogs as if they were M&M's and my confidence wavered. All is well ~ tomorrow we try again!

The house rocking is underway and looking good. It is slow and backbreaking, but one day we'll sit on the front porch and be really proud of what we accomplished. We won't get to work on it again until Sunday. Maybe my arms will work again by then.

By the way, Oreo can and does jump the new gate on his pen. It is taller than me. Billy has decided he'd rather run with the horses and hightails it for next door every chance he gets. We're hoping the donkeys come soon and capture the hearts of both the goats so that they'll quit misbehaving. The rabbits continue to grow. Sadie is a sweetheart, even if she's a lot lazy.

Talk to you soon.