Looking for Food

"Boys! There's a snapping turtle in the yard. Leave it alone." "Cool! There's a snapping turtle in the yard!" "Did you hear the "Leave it alone." part?" "Yes Ma'am." I went out yesterday to get started cleaning out the coop. Kelly was barking and going crazy. It was a roving snapping turtle. He stayed about an hour, and I don't think he will be back. He must have a headache after all of Kelly's fussing. She chased him all of the way from the back yard, through the side and front yards, and into the road. He actually could move pretty quickly.

We see a couple of these a year. The farm land behind us has been cleared, so I don't know how many more we will see. There is still one pond not far from us, and we have our tiny pond that we dug in the backyard, but at least three ponds back there have been filled in. That means the food supply has gone down drastically.

The farmers kept assuring us they are planning on farming the land, but I am getting nervous. They haven't planted anything yet, or even prepared the fields. They were the ones that caused the huge wildfire a couple of months ago though, so maybe they just don't have the resources to farm it now.

The house is still coming along. The floor is in and the insulation is up. The insulation makes it a LOT quieter up there. I had been afraid that the rain on the tin roof would keep the boys awake, but it is so much quieter that I think they will be just fine.

My parents will get here tomorrow, and they will help us to get more done on it. The windows will go in and the walls will get framed. The end is in sight!

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Turtles aren't the only ones looking for food around here. The boys are always hungry these days. #2 ate and ate and ate last week. So I went to WalMart last night to shop. I was in there a few days ago and realized that the food is so much cheaper, even with coupons at other stores, that I need to be shopping there. I have to be careful to only go to the spots I need, or I will buy more than I want and that will end up more expensive. Anyway, I bought lots of convenience items that the kids can throw in the microwave and cure their hungry time, like meatballs, tater tots, cheese sticks- not in the microwave though, etc. Once school is out I think we will have time to get some cooking done and freeze it for those munchie times.

I finished going through clothing for the boys. I thought #1 had skipped size 16 and gone straight into an 18, but as I put things away I realized he was in a 16 before. I guess I can't keep up with my kids' sizes. Denial I suppose.

Anyway, #1 is in size 18. I had a couple pair of 29/30 men's jeans for him, and they were too small. I was shocked. His daddy wore a 28/32 when I met him! #1 thought that was funny as well as surprising. The sad part is that I could wear Hubby's pants when we were dating. There is no way I could get into those 28/32 jeans now!