Chicken Farmers no more

A few weeks back we began to allow the chickens to free-range. For those who don't know what that term means, we were basically just letting them loose in our yard. Yes, they sometimes wandered into one of our neighbor's yards, but never farther than that.

Within a few days, we noticed a chicken was missing. We were doing a headcount every night, so we could make sure all of the chickens returned from the day's wanderings to roost in their own coop. We hoped the errant chicken would return, that perhaps she'd found a comfy branch to roost on. But we feared the worst.

Sure enough, our fears were right on target. The next day we discovered the telltale pile of feathers that indicate the chicken was attacked by another animal.

Knowing there is a fox in the area, I immediately figured the fox was the culprit.

A week later, another chicken disappeared. This time we found the pile of feathers before it was time for the hens to roost at night. Again, I was pretty certain it had to be the fox. The very next day I spotted the fox just around the corner, running through the woods. This confirmed my theory.

The morning after that spotting, Lexi spotted the fox. She was barking up a storm in the kitchen, pawing at the backdoor. Gordon looked out the window to see what had Lexi all fired up, only to see the fox in our backyard, running among the chickens! He quick put Lexi's leash on her and ran out after the fox, but the fox got a headstart and took off into the woods.

This past Monday the fox struck again. The victim was my favorite chicken of all. She was the sweetest girl we had, always following me around and staying by my side when I hung laundry.

I had had enough. The fox must have a den nearby, probably full of pups that need to be fed. But I simply could no longer stand letting my chickens be live bait for the fox. It was time to make a change.

Our options were to either keep the girls penned up all the time again or to relocate them to another home where there isn't a fox anymore. I feared that penning them up wouldn't stop the fox -- the fox could scale the fencing, and probably would until all of the chickens were gone. So we decided to give the chickens to a friend of a friend who owns a farm not too far from here.

Trey came over and helped me round the girls up first thing Tuesday morning. They have been brought to their new home, where they will have the company of approximately 100 other chickens.

It's a bittersweet ending. I'm glad the chickens will be safe. But I'm going to miss seeing the hens come running when I call out to them. And I'm REALLY going to miss having an unending supply of fresh eggs in my fridge! Good thing I know a number of people who have chickens, and sell fresh eggs.....I've become a spoiled brat when it comes to eggs & will insist on having nothing but fresh ones from now on!

Spring Break recap

Last week was Spring Break for the big girls and William. Gordon took a vacation week from work at the same time. We didn't have a set itinerary or project list in mind, just planned on getting to what felt right.

Gordon was super busy all week. Mostly he worked outside, taking full advantage of the gorgeous weather we were experiencing here in CT. Our neighbor, Rob, and Gordon cut down a number of trees from the front yard.

I'm ecstatic that this is the major project that Gordon decided to focus on this past week!! These trees have been standing dead in the front yard since before we moved here. They dropped dead branches at the slightest wind. Not the prettiest nor safest.

The girls spent an afternoon playing with Rachel and Samantha. Both had a blast. Neither was happy with me when I arrived to pick them back up and head home.

Nora figured out how to climb over the rails on her big girl bed. My days of putting her to bed and not having to worry about her getting into things she shouldn't be are gone. At least she still hasn't figured out how to open her bedroom door. For now.

The whole family went to the movies one afternoon. We saw How To Train Your Dragon in 3D. It was the first time the kids got to see a movie in 3D. William and Nora watched about half of the movie without the special glasses. I tried it myself, but was too distracted by the blurry-ness of the picture.

Nora had her first ever 'real' playdate. Emma, niece of our friend Chris, is a little over a month older than Eleanor. The two girls had never met before, since Emma and her Mommy recently moved to CT from ME. I hadn't had the pleasure of hanging out with Beth (Emma's Mommy) in at least five or six years. It was great to meet up with Emma and Beth at the best local burger stand. After eating a little (and running around a lot), Beth and I drove all of the kids to a playground just down the street. All of the kids had a blast. Grace and Dianna especially adored getting to catch Emma and Nora as they slid down the slides.

And then there's William. William had a great week, pretty much shadowing Gordon as much as possible. That boy must think the sun rises and sets on his Daddy.

But, in true boy fashion, Will couldn't let the week end placidly. Remember the staples in his head?? Yeah....I just pray this isn't the start of a trend with my boy. I don't think I can handle the stress of such traumas.

Now we're back to reality today. I'm not going to pretend that I didn't want to burrow under the covers instead of getting up this morning. Instead, I got up and out of bed, made breakfasts and lunches, ushered the girls out the door, and got the Little People ready for the day. All in all, I think this Monday was pretty successful. Especially for being the much-dreaded "Monday After A Week's Vacation".

ER visit for a traumatic first

Last night I was able to scratch another 'first' off my parenting list.

It was the first time I've had to rush a bloody child to the ER.

We had been hanging out here at home, with our neighbors Rob, Margaret, and their two kids. We had a fire going in the fire barrel, had had cheeseburgers and salads for dinner, and were just hanging out. The kids were fooling around on the hammock. Everyone was having a great time.

Until the hammock got flipped over.

All the kids fell out. Will started crying. He had hit his head on the hammock stand. I rushed over to pick him up and comfort him, simultaneously commanding that the hammock was now off limits. I sat back down with Will still in my arms, trying to comfort him.

Margaret suddenly exclaimed, "Oh My God! He's BLEEDING!!"

Everyone jumped into action. There was blood all over the back of Will's head, his coat, my hands. Everywhere.

We got the bleeding all but stopped, assessed the wound, and decided a trip to the ER was in order. Rob and Margaret stayed here at the house with the girls so Gordon could ride in the back of the van next to Will while I drove. By the time we got to the hospital, Will was feeling a bit more like himself. He even cracked a smile or two for the nurses when they tried to joke with him.

William ended up with three staples in his head, to close the wound. We'll have to take him to the doctor sometime in 7-10 days to have the staples removed.

Here is a picture of William in the ER examining room while we waited for the nurse to come irrigate Will's wound.

A close up Gordon took of Will's boo-boo this afternoon. The gash was probably just under 1" long, but very deep.

And here is a shot Gordon took of me and the Little People this afternoon. Nora has recently figured out how to climb out of her big girl bed and was absolutely refusing to take a nap today. I finally brought her downstairs so we could rock in the rocking chair and read stories. Will climbed in my lap too. He fell asleep first, but she quickly followed him into dreamland.

Sweet moments such as this last one are so few and far between. I try very hard to enjoy each and every one of them as I can, before the kids all grow up on me.

Portraits -- continued

As promised, here are just a couple of the portraits I took last Friday of Kelly's niece and nephews. It was seriously hard to pick which portraits to share with y'all -- I shot about one hundred different shots!

Portraits

Most of my friends and family already know this, but not everyone, so I'm going to put it out there.

I pretend to be a photographer from time to time.

It all started back in high school. My senior year I had free time in my schedule. Instead of adding yet another study hall, I decided to sign up for Mr. W's photography class. I figured there wouldn't be a boatload of homework. Little did I realize that I would end up discovering a new talent. A hobby that would last into my adulthood.

At first I was a die-hard photographer who insisted on going totally manual. I loved the feel of my Pentax K1000. I loved that I could take 100% credit for every beautiful photograph I shot using a manual camera. If I didn't have the composition or focus just right, the photograph would be horrible. But if everything was perfect, it was all because I got it right.

With the advancing technology, I finally upgraded to a digital camera a couple of years ago. Thanks to my loving hubby, who bought me a Canon Rebel. I love my Rebel, though I wish I would try to venture more into the land of manual photography with it. I hate to admit that I shoot almost entirely in automatic mode. But I do.

Also with the advancing of technology, I also use a photo processing program. In my opinion, these programs can be (and often ARE) waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay overused. I use mine primarily to sharpen and crop images. I also love that I can use this program to add a 'watermark' to photographs that I do not wish people to steal and misuse (like when I post on this blog).

For the most part, photography is nothing more than a fun hobby. One that I don't often get to do. But every now and then I'm asked to take pictures for a friend or family member.

Like last Friday, I was asked by Kelly (a family friend) if I could take portraits of her nephews and niece. I met her at a local state park and had a BLAST photographing the kids. It appeared they had as much fun as I did, which is totally cool.

Noone likes to have to go to a stuffy photography studio and be bored to tears while being molded into the perfect position. That's why I like to use natural light for my photography. I like to shoot the perfect candid shot. One that will give a glimpse at the subject's true personality.

I asked Kelly if it'd be ok for me to share a few of the portraits I took here on the blog. She asked all of the parents involved and finally got the 'OK' for me to do so. I will need to add my watermark to the images before I post them, but I wanted to tell everyone to be on the lookout!

Food, Inc.

In the past few years, I've been trending towards feeding the family less and less processed foods. I don't buy 'helper' type mixes. I don't often buy pop tarts. I no longer even buy cake mixes. I like cooking and baking from scratch.

I thought we were doing well, as far as the family's diet is concerned.

Now I'm not sure that it's enough.

Gordon and I watched the documentary, Food, Inc., last night. It was very interesting. I learned a LOT about how the foods our nation consumes are raised. Quite honestly, I was disgusted by a lot of it.

But I wasn't entirely surprised. (Except for the part about tomatoes being picked green and ripened using ethylene (sp?) gas....no wonder store bought tomatoes taste so gross!)

If you haven't already, I strongly urge you to watch this documentary. Become better informed.

Spring Break

This is the week of Spring Break for the kids at school. Gordon also took a week's vacation from work. We're not going away. We plan on tackling some of our household projects. Maybe we'll even get out a time or two and do a fun family day. For now, we're just enjoying the leisurely pace that this morning has afforded us.

Tax Day!

Today is April 15th. Tax Day. Have you filed your taxes yet? I've heard stories of people who kept a tradition of sitting outside the post office last on the 15th of April every year, all for the sole purpose of people watching. In this day and age of electronic filing, I don't know as though there are any last minute runs to the post office anymore. But it sure would be fun to watch all the last-minute filers, wouldn't it?! ;D

What an HONOR!

About a week and a half ago, I received an e-mail from the secretary for our local Girl Scout Service Unit. She informed me that I was due to receive a special pin signifying the five years I've volunteered as a troop leader. She needed to know if I'd be attending this month's meeting for all of the local leaders.

[[CONFESSION TIME: I don't usually go to the Service Unit meetings. Most months I have every intention of going, but when the evening arrives, I usually forget. ]]

I e-mailed Barbara back. I told her I'd try to make sure I was there. I didn't want Barbara to have to worry about catching up with me at some other time to give me my pin.

Imagine my surprise when I got not one but TWO pins tonight. After Barbara handed out the years' of service pins, she went on to say that she had other awards to be presented. The second pin I was awarded was for being an Outstanding Leader. Both Tracey, my co-leader, and I were nominated for our work as Girl Scout volunteers. The letter that Barbara read to the group described some of our special qualities and how they benefit the girls in our troop.

Really and truly, I feel that I'm the lucky one. I have enjoyed being a Girl Scout leader more than I can say. Sure, there are times that I would love to step down, but then I see how excited the girls get when working on a project or learning something new. It is then that I remember WHY I volunteer as a leader. There simply is nothing better than helping young girls learn and grow and explore.

Old Sturbridge Village pictures

As promised, here are some of the pics from Old Sturbridge Village on Friday...

Nathalie reading the facts aloud to everyone...

Learning about some of the old farming tools...

Will really enjoyed this -- it was a game that illustrated how difficult farming in the 1800's was...

The girls got all into checking out the 'to-market' wagon, loaded with goods to sell...

Talking with the Tin Man...

Playing (and learning!) in the play area that it off limits to school groups...

Grace getting to work the bellows at the blacksmith shop...

Dianna took a turn too....

Old Sturbridge Village

This past Friday, Grace's class took a field trip to Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, MA. Instead of paying the $35 fee for the field trip, I opted to hook a ride with Amy, Sam, and their girls to go there as a family. Because Gordon couldn't get out of work for the day, I only had to pay entry for myself and the children. $36 later, we were granted entry to the Village. Not bad, huh? I figure it was well worth the money for ALL of us to see the Village instead of just one of us.

The girls and Will all had a great time. We our time going through the buildings, talking with the people who work there. We learned a lot about how the early Americans lived. We spent a lot of time at the schoolhouse, in the Cooper's shop, and the Blacksmith shop. The girls even got to work the bellows at the blacksmith shop!! How's that for handson learning?!?

I have a bunch of pictures. Still on my camera.

You wouldn't expect anything else from me, right??

I promise to try to get them uploaded for everyone to see as soon as possible.

The story behind why it'll be a long time before I shop at ACMoore again

As a former customer service representative, I am a firm believer that companies should strive for Quality Service. I try to be understanding if/when I encounter a cashier/waitstaff/service person who seems to be having a rough day. I try to give them the benefit of the doubt. I know not everyone is perfect and I know it's sometimes difficult to paste on a smile and be polite when you're having one of THOSE days.

Still, I believe that it's important for those who work in the service industry to understand that it's important that they try. Every little encounter they have with a customer reflects what they general public's opinion is of the company they represent. When I receive excellent, quality service, I talk about it. On the flip side, when I experience service that leaves me feeling unappreciated, I'm going to talk about that to.

If I feel that the service I've received is truly despicable, not only will I talk about my experience with anyone who will listen, but I'll also perform my own little boycott of the offending establishment. The lack of income said establishment will have from my going elsewhere will probably never affect them. But I get a perverse sort of satisfaction knowing that I'm not compromising what I feel is right.

SO. I will not be shopping at AC Moore any time soon. Why? Have yourself a seat and continue reading....

I went to the AC Moore location in Manchester on Tuesday, looking to purchase some supplies I needed for a project my Girl Scout troop is starting this week. They had what I needed, but not in enough quanitities. I purchased what I could and left the store, heading to Michael's, another craft store in the area. There, I found similar items, but not the exact ones I was looking for. I purchased what I could and headed home.

After returning home, I got to thinking that it truly would be best for all of the girls to have the same exact items. It would save me from having to hear the 'how come she gets....?' questions.

With the purpose of finding more of what I originally went to purchase Tuesday, I took Dianna with me to Waterford and New London. First we went to the Waterford Michael's location to return the not-quite-the-same items. They also did not have the same items I'd found at AC Moore, so Dianna and I headed to New London to the AC Moore there.

While we were at AC Moore, I decided to return the 10 skeins of embroidery floss I'd purchased on Tuesday at $0.36/ea. Since I had found a multi-pack of embroidery floss at Michael's that was a far better deal, I no longer needed these. Upon entering the store, I headed straight to the first register to return the floss. After waiting for the cashier to finish ringing up the customer in front of me, it was my turn.

As I'm pulling the skeins of floss out of the little bag, the cashier says to me, 'I cannot process your return, I'm unable to do them. She'll have to do it for you.' (pointing to another clerk who was standing right behind me, engrossed in a private conversation with the customer who had been ahead of me)

I said ok and turned towards the other clerk, patiently waiting for a break in their conversation to grab the clerk's attention. After listening to the clerk and the customer talk about picnicking at a local park for a few minutes, the cashier at the register informs me that the clerk would be able to process my return at register 2. I can wait there for her. I'm sure she was thinking there would be no sense keeping the customers waiting behind me any longer than necessary.

I grab my floss, bag, and receipt and take them to register 2. I stood there for a good five minutes, hoping to grab the clerk's attention. The conversation she was having was so riveting for her, though, that I was never able to get her attention.

After the cashier at Register 1 finishes ringing up the next customer in line, she finally says to the clerk, 'you have a return.'

The clerk says, 'OH. A return. Right.'

AND THEN PROCEEDS TO CONTINUE HER CONVERSATION.

A minute or two later, she bids her friend goodbye and walks over to me. No apology coming from her mouth, she gets right down to the business of handling my return. She asks me if I'm going to want to keep my receipt. I replied yes, because I needed to have a record of the other items I'd purchased in order to be able to reimburse myself from the scout troop account.

The clerk tells me she needs my name. I give her my first and last name, spelling them both.

The clerk then tells me she needs my mailing address. I hesitated here. I asked what she needed the information for. (I hate to give out my personal information.....in this day and age of the internet where one can find all sorts of information online, I don't like to make it too easy for solicitors to contact me) I was told that because I wanted to keep my receipt, she had to have this information. I continued to hesitate and asked what the information is used for. She said, 'I don't know, but I've given mine before and never been contacted for anything.'

At this point, I was so frustrated that I left in a huff. I grabbed the embroidery floss, my receipt, the plastic bag I'd had them in, and Dianna's hand. I barely looked at the clerk and said, 'Forget about it. C'mon, Dianna. Let's go.'

I was trying very hard to control my emotions. I didn't want to make a big scene, but I was more than a little grumpy. If it's company policy to collect a customer's mailing address simply because they wish to retain their receipt, the employees should know WHY.

Is it because the company is afraid of being ripped off? Yeah. I'm going to be laughing my way to the bank over ripping you off with my return of $3.60 worth of embroidery floss.

The story doesn't end here. Nope. I really wanted to know WHY AC Moore requires it employees to either retain the receipt when an item is returned or to collect the customer's personal information.

I called the Manchester store and asked an employee there. I was told that it was because they have no way of noting that an item has been returned if they don't retain the receipt. Also, if there's a problem with the returned item, they would need to have your personal information so they could call the customer.

umm.....really??

If I just returned said item and let the store keep my receipt, there would be no way for them to know who I was or how to contact me.

As for the reasoning that they would have no record of the return if they didn't retain the receipt, well that sounds absolutely bogus to me too. In this day and age of barcodes and computer archives, I'm *sure* there has got to be a program code that would enable their system to notate an item has been returned. How do other stores do it?? Maybe AC Moore should look into that procedure a bit more.

Wait. We're still not at the end of the story here.

I called AC Moore's customer service line this morning. I was on hold for more than a half hour, waiting to talk to a live person, before finally giving in and pressing 1 to be able to leave a voicemail. Having no faith that I would actually receive a return call, I left a message. Then I proceeded to send an e-mail to the customer service department. I admitted that I'd just left a voicemail message, but that I didn't believe I'd ever hear from anyone. Then I typed out my question and left my cell phone number, in case someone did actually have an answer for me.

I'll admit to being more than a little surprised when, less than an hour later, I received a return phone call! I explained to the gal what my question was, and then went on to detail for her my experience. She cited that it was "company policy" to collect personal information on returns where the customer wishes to retain their receipt. No other reason, just that it was their policy. As for the in-store experience, she was very sorry. I should have been given the option of not leaving my personal information, they have a special 'no information given'-type customer code they can enter instead. Other than that, there wasn't much else she could do. Just say she was sorry that I had such a bad experience and then offer to contact the New London store manager on my behalf. She didn't know his schedule, but said that she would hope he'd contact me as soon as he gets the e-mail. It sounded to me like she wasn't sure he would, but she was going to pass it off on him anyway.

So. I got the sympathetic ear of one phone-customer-service employee. She filled me full of 'what a horrible experience' and 'I'm sorry, it's just corporate policy'. And that'll probably be the end of that.

MY policy is that I will not be extending my patronage to another AC Moore ever again unless I absolutely have to. (I never like to say never) It won't hurt the big corporation that AC Moore is, but I'll feel better dealing with companies who appreciate my business. I like supporting companies who do not act like friendliness, kindness, and good manners are just something they say they value. I prefer to support companies that show they value them.

Coloring Easter Eggs

After spending most of the day Friday at her friend's house, Grace called home to ask if she could sleep over. I reminded her that we were supposed to go to Nana's to color eggs with Jerod. She said she didn't mind missing that -- she'd colored eggs earlier that day with her friend.

So I took Dianna and Eleanor to Nana's house to color eggs. (Will decided he wanted to stay home with Daddy)

With only a few kids coloring eggs, it took longer than I'm used to. But Dianna and Jerod both had a lot of fun.

I only gave Eleanor a bowl of plain water to dip her eggs in. She thought she was the coolest toddler around, getting to dye eggs with the big kids. I felt like the smartest mommy around. I didn't end up with either a thoroughly colorful toddler or one pitching a big huge fit. Win, win for everyone!

Letterboxing

Gordon and the kids all had Good Friday off. The day ended up being the most gorgeous of the season yet. We couldn't let it slip away without taking advantage of it. While Grace went to spend the day with a friend, Gordon and I decided to take the younger three to a local trail to go letterboxing.
Spotting one of the hidden letterboxes we were searching for...

Stamping the letterbox image in our logbook...

It is such a beautiful area, I couldn't help but take some scenic nature shots...

And a portrait of Dianna too...

Amanda Got Married!

April started off with a big BANG. One of the good kind of bangs.

We got to celebrate with my niece Amanda as she married her best friend, Dan. It was a small, sweet ceremony held at their friend's house. My big girls were THRILLED to get to dress up for the occasion. Little did they realize when they were getting all prettied up that Amanda would ask them to participate in the ceremony!

Here is a picture of my three girls taken at home, before we left for the wedding.

Amanda and my big girls, before the ceremony. (I was going to post a picture that included Mariah, Amanda's friend's daughter, who also participated in the ceremony, but I decided against it.....didn't want to put a picture of someone else's kid on the internet without their permission)
Amanda and Dan wanted a carrot cake for their wedding, so I volunteered to make it. I tried a new recipe, one I found on The Pioneer Woman Cooks blog. OMG, it was TO.DIE.FOR. And oh so easy to make. I *highly* recommend you try it!

And because I didn't want Will to feel completely left out of the post, here is a picture of him posing with the Bride.
And one of me with the Bride.

A BIG congratulations to my Amanda!! May you and Dan have a long lasting, happy, fun-filled life together.

While I'm at it, I'd like to formally welcome Dan to the family. It may be more than a tad chaotic, but we sure know how to have fun! ;)

Quick Update

HAPPY EASTER everyone! May you all enjoy this beautiful day as we celebrate the Lord.

I have a lot of pictures from these last couple of days to wade through and pick some to post. There are pictures from Amanda & Dan's wedding, letterboxing, and egg coloring. Please be sure to come back and check them out much later today. Right now I need to finish preparing foods to bring to Mom's for our Easter Celebration.