No Backyard Henkeeping for Overland Park, KS ... YET!

This is Miss Eva helping her dad make breakfast. Eggs to be exact. We are hoping someday we can walk under our deck, say hello to our hens, and grab a few eggs from them for breakfast (supplementing with grocery store eggs, of course, since hens only lay about an egg a day and we would need 7 eggs per day at least!).

If you get a chance, head over to Facebook and LIKE the page Overland Park Needs Hens. Even if you don't live in my neck of the woods, you can still show your support. My main argument is that hardly anyone is going to go out and get a hen if it is ever approved. Overland Park's argument is that we are a nice city and that hens don't belong here. Yet hens are kept in LA, San Diego, Houston, Minneapolis and many other major cities who are way ahead of us.

Hey, hens are way less gross than cats and dogs. They may be dumb, but they give eggs! And they won't jump your neighbor's fence and poop in their yard. And they won't poop in your neighbor's sandbox. And they won't poop in yards when you take them for a walk on their little hen leash. Can you tell I'm obsessed with poop from animals being where it should not be?

Can you keep hens in YOUR city? Would you?

Don't Become One of "Them"

I've realized something this last week.

I realized that I can pack up my family and move away, but that there will always be haters around. There will always be jealous people, bitter people, anti-Catholics, people who don't like big families and assume you are stupid about birth control, people who think homeschoolers are lazy and don't really teach their kids at all.

There will always be people who judge you and who are never on the mark.

No, moving won't help. Getting mad or getting even won't help. Do you know what helps?

The thought that I won't be one of "them". So to avoid becoming one of those sad, lonely, judgmental people, I pray for them. I try to have a sense of humor about situations that are bad. I try to understand why someone would do something so horrific to another human being, and then I stop trying to understand and just hand my problem to God.

I continue my life. I love on my kids, I educate them. I love on my husband. I cook and clean and write and hang out with my friends and see my family. I laugh and smile and joke not because I minimize things that are happening, but because I just want to be happy and I want my family to be happy. I don't want to be a bitter, mean person.

It's hard at first to not become one of "them" ... but with practice, you can do it. Your actions can influence your thoughts.

BOGO Michael Literal Funny

Yesterday we went to the Parkside Coffeehouse at Cedar Ridge Church in Lenexa for some drinks before hitting the cool park with the lake. The coffee guy gave me a buy one get one free deal, and I took it!

Later Michael asked what deal I got. I said, "Buy one get one."

He says, "Don't you mean buy one, get one FREE? Because when you buy one, you most always GET one, right?"

Foiled again by Michael. That one keeps me on my toes for sure!

Have a great Thursday, and Happy Birthday to my sweet niece Gabrielle! We'll be at Bible Study then the local farmstead for some animal and history fun with our homeschool group. What are your plans for the day?

Why are Hershey's Kisses aerated? Like my yard?

Can someone please explain Hershey’s new aerated Kisses to me? Are we not just paying the same amount to have air whipped into our chocolate, saving money for Hershey’s? I expected them to be like 3 Musketeers inside, but there are just air pockets. It's like when my husband uses the aerator on our yard to keep the grass healthy. Do they have a mini aerator that they run over chocolate to make tiny holes in it?

AMBER Alert for Unborn Children

There was a piece the other day in our local Catholic newspaper, The Leaven, by Ron Kelsey that really grabbed my attention. It was called, "AMBER Alert for Unborn Children." Mr. Kelsey thinks we shouldn't make a distinction between our born and unborn children. He contends that we (society) "rationalize the following evil acts:

• killing our children by chemical and surgical abortion
• manufacturing them via IVF or cloning
• conducting research on them via embryonic stem-cell research
• manipulating them via prenatal genetic screening to eliminate those who are considered undesirable"

Wow, that's a lot to think about.