3-day weekend project

With the wedding celebration coming up in July, lots of things left to do in preparation. One thing Mark and Teri wanted done at the farm was to fix their septic system. It's been a "shitty" problem for awhile. ;)

In case you were wondering how a Septic system works, I found this pretty little diagram that was helpful for me to understand. The inside pipes go to a Septic Tank (where the solids collect) and then that tank has pipes running out of it that disperse the water/waste into the ground.

We took advantage of the three day weekend to fix theirs. The cost to have someone else fix this is ridiculous so the boys thought they could tackle it themselves. This is the scene of the crime... The cement slab is the septic tank.

After accessing the situation and realizing the old pipes were toast, they decided instead of backbreaking labor to dig around and out the old pipe, they went and rented a backhoe.

Ted and Ruby joined the party too!

Here I think Brandon and Mark are trying to determine who's poop is floating by. :) Just kidding, they are awesome for figuring out how to do all this.

They got a ways onto the trench on the first day and picked up all the new materials for it.


Brandon did have to show off his really white g-side when posing next to all the Infiltrator equipment.


This was Mark doing his best impression of that bit in a Austin Powers movie where he is trying to back up and forward out of a tiny spot, although Mark wasn't in a tiny spot. :) (He was still trying to learn how to use the tractor)

The next day the digging was even further along, good work Mark!

While Mark was doing that we took a few things down to the bridge on the tractor. Well, Brandon did, Hunter and I jumped off after it seemed a tad bit dangerous only having one hand to hold onto her.

But I think that's enough about poop and one-man tractors, here are some cute Hunter pics!!

Clarice and crew!

We got chickens!! On Saturday Hunter and I drove for about 2 1/2 hours total to pick up a 1 yr old hen from Craigslist in Brush Prarie, WA. The lady had an awesome farm with lots of chickens but this hen wanted to be out with the people and wouldn't stay back with the hens where she was supposed to. I figured she'd be a great friendly hen and she is! She's super adorable and outgoing and chill, and we love her. Brandon named her Clarice, she's named after Clarice in Silence of the Lambs. :)

I gave her some leftover corn on the cob this morning and she ate it right up! It'll be so fun giving our food scraps to them instead of composting and we can still compost their poop, which will be great for the garden next year!

Cora is the only dog to have met Clarice when she's outside the run and she seems ok with her. She's really easy to catch too when you want to put her back in the run. For now we'll keep Cooper and Clyde separated from her, they are both super curious and I think they need to get used to her through the chicken run before we try a 'nose to beak' meet-n-greet. Clarice did give Cora nice peck on the nose, so I think she'll be able to hold her own with the other dogs.

So then today I found another farm from Craigslist in Sheridan, OR about an hour from us that had a bunch of young and 1 yr old hens to choose from. Teri came along for the ride with Hunter and I. We had to stop at Lowe's real quick and Hunter and I waited in the car and I snapped this super cute pic.

We finally got to the farm after driving through the most gorgeous scenery, seriously, so beautiful. I am envious of these people, they have the cutest farm with so many animals. Check out the geese that were in our way as we made it back to the hen house on the driveway.

I didn't get any other pics of their place, which is a bummer, but we'll be back out there in August to pick up our new goat that we're getting! Ok, so we're not getting it, but Teri is! Well, we're at least going to try our hardest to talk Mark into it. This goat (no name yet) and his sister, Roxy, would keep that farm area cleaned up nicely. :) Isn't he adorable!?! He was really sweet and friendly too. Only a few months old I think, and he'll be ready to live on the Case farm in August.

Oh, so, how could I forget, we did get two 2 month old hens from their farm! I didn't really get any good pics of them yet, they are a little nervous so didn't want to be shoving my camera in their face. But you can kind of see them in the background of the picture below. One is a Buff Orpington and the other a Barred Rock. We're still working on their names...

And I also got a pleasant surprise from Clarice, our first egg!!! We all thought it'd be days or even weeks until she layed because of the stress of the dogs, but nope, she layed one in a day! I was checking all day today too and I was shocked to actually see one when I went to show Teri the little nests Clarice put together.


More chicken pics coming soon!

Family

Last weekend we hung with the Uncles out in Salem. Brandon hung out both Saturday and Sunday, but I only made it for Sunday. It was Alexa's 2 yr bday party on Saturday, she's the one on the right below. In the middle is her cousin Nate. I think technically they are all second cousins...

A shot of three of the Uncles lounging, Andy, Matt and Jason...


Aunt Lori and Hunter also lounging...

Hunter riding on a sunshiny plastic car thingy. :)

Last Saturday we went to the Roller derby too. I didn't get many good shots, but in this one you can see Erin on the left in the back, getting in jammer position. She's tough.

Bring on the chickens!

I have quite a few things to get caught up onto the blog but I'm tired and have to be up early, so for now, here is the finished chicken run!! We bought the chicken coop and decided to build our own attached run. I drew up the plans and then with a kickstart help from Teri on the frame I made the whole thing by myself! I'm pretty impressed actually, but we'll see how it stands up over time. Heh.

The guy we bought the coop from said that chickens aren't too smart to find a small door hole so I made the whole end of the run the door that flips up on hinges. :)

And of course I have to share a cute pic of Hunter from this afternoon. Cecilita (siamese kitty in background) and Hunter are the best buds. Cecilita follows her around EVERYWHERE! I think if she could sleep with her she'd jump up in the crib. It's really cute.

Best Mother's Day ever!

Today was officially my first Mother's Day and it was the best! Last year Hunter was still in the belly and while it was awesome (we planted a rhododendron bush), this year was awesomer.

I woke up to Brandon attempting to make me pancakes, but then when I got up and reminded him that we were out of syrup, no breakfast in bed for me. :) He made it up to me by giving me the prettiest necklace I've ever received, it has Hunter's birthstone, a peridot, in it, I LOVE it!

As most know I'm not a big jewelry person but this is super simple and beautiful and ME! Did I mention I LOVE it!

So we went out to Jay's (a local diner) for breakfast. We're really lucky Hunter is so well behaved, there was a kid near us throwing a giant fit. I'm sure we'll have some of those tantrums in public eventually, but for now we'll enjoy that she's an angel in public.

After breakfast we went home for a nap and then headed out to the farm. We needed to measure some things for the wedding, but it was just a beautiful day to get outside and walk around. I had to say Hello to my buddy, Numero Uno. He was happy to see me.

Cute family shot!

Mark and Teri were pulling logs out of the creek to clear out a big log jam. That's Teri on the tractor, Mark was in his wet suit, not sure if it's suitable for young peoples eyes. Just kidding. :)

Hunter found her first caterpillar in the field. (ok, I spotted it)

She had so much fun she pooped out on the 5 minute drive home.

Once we got home we slaved in the yard for a few hours and now we're just relaxing and sure to go to bed very soon. Another work week starting tomorrow... Boo.

Happy Mother's Day to all moms!!

Saturday Spring Party

On Saturday we went up to Holly's house for a spring time party with PIE! Hunter fell asleep on the drive up to Portand...


She had a great time playing with Auntie Holly. This picture is cute cuz you can see one of Hunter's eyes. Slightly creepy, reminds me of when she would be awake in the middle of the night and staring at me with one eye half open. Hunter, not Holly.


Hunter wasn't a fan of trying on the super-fab sunglasses...

I think they were better suited for Belau.

Maybe. ;)

It was a fun time though meeting some of Holly's new law school buddies and watching them be silly at playing charades. Thanks for having us over Holly!

Out of comission

I had a gum graft Friday and will offically be out of comission this weekend. My face is swollen and giant, I feel like a chipmunk during the fall trying to store up enough food for the winter. Never fear I'm on good drugs and am being well taken care of by Crystal and Hunter. Here are some pics, don't feel bad if you laugh. I would laugh too if it wasn't me!

P.S I'm trying to smile in this one.

Chasing Hunter

One of my favorite games lately has become chasing Hunter down the hall. I had Crystal take some video of it lately so I could share with all of you the fun that we have. Hope you enjoy as much as I do.