I'm not sure how it happened, but we are a pageant family.  I mean, BIG TIME pageant love.

It's my fault  I'll admit to that.  I competed in pageants when I was in high school, and I loved it.  I remember Mom putting me and my sister in a pageant, and somehow, I ended up as first runner up.  I have ZERO idea how that happened.  I was hooked, though.  Hubby didn't want Emily to do pageants, but she begged until, at age 15, he let her start competing.  She instantly started doing very well, and we've been a pageant family since!

I actually still compete.  I'm currently the reigning Elegant Ms. Missouri US United.  I came in first runner up at the national pageant this summer.  I love the entire experience; modeling, talking, and meeting new people.  I'm not sure if or when I will stop competing. 

In the meantime, I am now a state pageant director for Pure American Pageants.  I am so honored that they asked to to join them!  I do the Midwest area in one pageant (Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska) and the Mid South area in my other pageant (Missouri State, Arkansas and Oklahoma).  This is my first year, and I've thoroughly enjoyed it so far

Emily enjoys competing in the Miss America pageant system.  She's competed in MO for the last few years, and is considering competing in KS, too.  

So, that's just a brief synopsis of our life in pageants.  You'll read a lot about pageants, so I decided to go ahead and give you a brief overview :-)

As much as I'd love to show you pictures of my girls, I'm on a school computer so my pictures aren't available here.  I'm sorry!  They are getting bigger every day.  They are three weeks old now and have graduated from the plastic storage container to a real cage with linoleum, a beam for hanging their treat block and water, and several roosting poles.  It's quite posh for a temporary setup!

Yesterday was fun.  The weather was beautiful, so for the first time, I took all of them outside to play in my garden.  I have a raised garden built of cement blocks.  Earlier in the year, I put a cardboard box base, and covered it with planting soil and compost.  Apparently it's working great because I got a good crop.  In fact, I'm still getting peppers and tomatoes, and we had a freeze a couple of weeks ago!  Anyway, back to the chickens...I had them in the garden.  At first they weren't sure what to do, but before long, instinct struck, and they began scratching and nibbling.  Then...one girl caught a WORM!  She was very proud of it...until her sisters decided they wanted her worm.  Finally she flew out of the safe confines of the cement blocks.  I was worried, but curious what would happen.  Cruiser was on the lookout (he actually chased a squirrel into the tree when it got close to the chicks).  Once the chick finished dining on the delicacy, she returned to the safety of the garden all by herself, with no coaxing.  I call it a successful endeavor!

Before long, each of the girls had caught a worm.  Each had journeyed outside of the garden, and each returned to the garden by herself.  I was pretty excited because there was a lot of scratching, clearing of leaves, and, well...pooping.  My garden loves me (and so do my birds).

I live in a neighborhood full of chicken keepers, so the kiddoes are pretty used to new flocks.  A bunch of them came over to play with them, which was fun.  The girls enjoyed playing, and Cruiser enjoyed showing off his flock.  We spent a little over an hour outside.  It's supposed to be nice today, so I expect to take them out again.  It will be cold this weekend, so our outdoor play time may be coming to an end shortly.

Oh yes...the names.  I will have captioned pictures soon, but...Michael named the white headed beauty MiMi.  Vanessa named the girl with the T on her head Cindy Lou Who.  We have one girl who always seems to find herself in strange situations (she flew out of the first box and landed on the floor where Minnie nearly sat on her; she got lost under the buffet and got scared; she poked her head out of the cage and couldn't figure out how to get back inside; she flew into one of the holes of the concrete blocks in the garden...you get the idea).  We started calling her Miss Adventure, and the name has stuck.  We call her Missy for short.  The fourth bird is called Royal.  We are huge Royals fans, and the run to the World Series has coincided with us becoming chicken keepers, so it just fits.  We are still looking to name the fifth one!

So good-bye for now.  Please let me know what you've named your girls!

The chickens are now almost 2 weeks old now, and they are so big!  They are growing noticeably every day.  They are starting to really distinguish themselves.  I can tell them apart now.  

They each have such distinct personalities.  Mimi is definitely the boss.  She tells the girls when they should eat, play, roost...she's the leader.  When we lift the lid, she makes sure all the girls are safely roosting on the bin before she joins them.  When I hold her, she looks me in the eye as if to say, "You know this was my idea, right?"  Cindy Lou Who is my cuddler.  When I hold her, she snuggles in the crook of my elbow, or into the cup of my hand.  She is opinionated, too.  She never lets me wonder what she's thinking!  #1 unnamed (whom I affectionately call Miss Adventure), She's the one who flies around haphazardly, running into the side of the tub, miscalculating the edge of the roosting bar, etc.  Yesterday she somehow found herself on the floor. After Big Dog (AKA Minnie) almost stepped on her, she took off running to the kitchen which scared her, and she couldn't find her way back.  Of course she was squawking the entire time.  It was pretty funny! #2 unnamed has to study what she's doing before she does it.  For example, if everybody is jumping on the roosting bar, she makes sure there is room for herself before jumping.  She is always last, but it's because she's always trying to figure out how to do things.  She contentedly sits on my knee, watching what everyone is doing, before making her decision of what to do next.  My last, precious, unnamed baby girl loves to hide.  She sits under the treat tree, and when she's out playing, she likes to hid underneath our table.  I'll admit, we've lost her a couple of times!  While everyone else huddles together to sleep, you will often see her under the roosting bar.  It's so fun to see who the girls are becoming!

They are eating.  A LOT.  As a result, they are growing. A LOT.  They are still in the brooder, but it's getting more and more difficult for them to move around.  We've had to move up our coop build by a month!  We are going to keep them downstairs during the winter, taking them outside on warm days so they get used to the sunshine and the elements.  Right now, though, we're building the base.  We tiled the flooring and enclosed it with chicken wire and hardware cloth.  There will be a lid that we can open and close, and a sweep area.  We are building two roosting poles.  The coop will HOPEFULLY be the same shape as our house.  We live in an historic district, and the architecture of our houses are awesome.  We will paint the coop to match our house, as well.  The nesting boxes will be like the back of our house, like our kitchen is.  I'm excited!  Hubby is working hard on the coop.  Of course we will have a yard, and we plan to build it tractor style.

We are really enjoying the girls!  My favorite part is when they hear my voice, and they all line up like good students, and look up at me, expecting me to expound some great knowledge.  Maybe I should bring them to school to show my students how to act toward a teacher!  Haha, just kidding.  My students are actually really cool, too.

Two years ago, we were asked to host a foreign exchange student.  We were asked to be a transitional family; one who would provide housing for approximately 6 weeks, until the student found a more permanent placement.  The kids and I thought it would be a great idea.  Hubby finally begrudgingly agreed.

August 31, 2012 we welcomed Malte to our family. He is from Germany, and was smart, adorable, and a lot of fun.  Within 24 hours, we decided we would be his host family.  We moved him in Matthew's room and they became very good friends.  Malte went to school with Emily every day, and never regretted taking a student into our home.  It was a great experience.

Earlier this summer, we learned that there were students needing placement.  Emily is now in college and Matthew and Michael are both in the high school.  With the extra bedroom, we thought it would be a great time to add to our family.  Vanessa is also from Germany, and she joined our family on August 16.  She had a rough beginning, with her flight from Germany being canceled and because of delays in customs, missing her flight from Chicago to KC.  Once she was finally here, and completely exhausted, she immediately fit nicely into our family.

Now, I don't want to paint a perfect picture of adding another teen to your home.  I will tell you, the struggles are worth it.  I will be sharing our experiences and what we learned as a host family.  I also plan to help you find an organization that will let you host a foreign exchange student.

For now, though, au revoir, auf Wiedersehen, good bye.

I've wanted backyard chickens for a long time.  Not just a long time...but years.  Hubby always said no, but I never gave up.  One by one, most of my neighbors got chickens.  I fell in love with them.  At times, we were lucky to reap the benefits of their hens' overproduction.  Mmmmmm...eggs!  Still, Hubby said no.  Last year we bought a lake house for vacationing.  Lo and behold, our neighbors had chickens.  LOTS of chickens.  LOTS of eggs.  Delicious eggs.  Hubby started to waver.

Then I started researching just what it would take to get hens.  I figured out I would have an easy coop, get three ladies (Rhode Island Red or Plymouth Rock, thankyouverymuch), get a brooding pen and get a coop.  Finally, after all the research, Hubby gave me the go ahead.  But he would have NOTHING to do with them.  They were MY project.  But he would build a coop.

Last week I ordered 4 1 day old Plymouth Rock hens from Estes Hatchery in Springfield, MO.  Bright and early the next morning, I was working, but Hubby had decided to work from home.  We received a call from the post office; we had a chirping box awaiting pickup.  I sent Hubby to the post office, and as soon as he got them home and into the breeding box, even he had to admit they were pretty cute. We had ordered 4, but they sent 5, because it often happens that you lose a hen or two en route.  We didn't!  We had one who had a bit of a rough start, but she is hardy and wonderful now.  Hubby got them set up in our DIY brooder; a Sterlite tub with the top cut out in the center and replaced by chicken wire, PINE shavings, a water dish, a curve PVC tube for feeding, a dowel rod for roosting, and some extra PVC pipe for a climb on.  We have a red bulb head lamp, too.  The ladies seem to love their new abode.  And I think we've bought some time to build the most amazing coop!

The girls are settling in nicely.  Michael named one Mimi, and Vanessa named one Cindy Lou Who.The other girls are still earning their monikers.  They each have their own very distinct personalities.  They are losing their baby feathers and are starting to grow their adorable little tail feathers.  It's so funny...when they hear my voice, they run to the side of the brooder and look at me like I'm going to expound some great wisdom.  I simply love them.  They won't be ready to lay for about 6 month, but I'm going to take this time enjoying getting to know them.  My Yorkie, Cruiser, has designated himself "Keeper of the Ladies," and will guard them with his life.  They've grown used to him, too, and love to play with him.

I'm excited to share them with you!