Fighting with Chickens and Moves, Oh My!

We are still here, we haven't fallen off the edge of the universe.  We have just been a bit busy with the throws of the New Year.

Jake is busy, busy working on his Thesis.  He's made great strides and has met all of his self-imposed deadlines thus far.  Way to go Sharp!  He is also trying to enjoy the surfing while he has it.  Did I mention that truck of his?  It's running right now.. For a while it was down, because the brakes went out while we were Christmas Shopping... Actually, his Chevy has two brake lines, so we only lost a set of them.  He replaced the new line and the truck's been running great since.

Colby is also a busy young man.  This week he's taking his mid-terms.  Two, 5 hour, tests on the Great Books, one biography written on someone older than 60, Science, and Geometry which will have to wait until next week.  He's been sorting through baseball cards and running and/or surfing with his dad for exercise.

Jackie continues to take ballet and has made so much improvement since she picked it up again.  She gets to take two classes per week and seemingly loves it.  She continues to help me in the kitchen and with the littles.  She is such a lovely young lady.

Benjamin the Grand is doing well.  He's busy with school and is a little master with his Grammar skills.  He often takes a bag of baseballs and a bat and goes to an empty lot near our home so he can practice his skills.  We're contemplating letting him enjoy the Little League experience in VA.

Louisa too is excellent with Grammar.  She has conquered Prepositional Phrases, Yay Louisa!!  She practices her math drills daily and is making smooth progress.  She too is taking ballet, but recently confessed to her dad that she'd rather be playing football or soccer..

Libby is making great strides in her understanding of math.  She's a busy big sister and is constantly in the middle of what everyone around the house is doing.  It's as if she has the ability to fly with the speed of sound and be in the center of everything all at once.  Very impressive.

Silas comes next in the list of Reynolds and he's a dear young lad.  He received a big boy hair cut and he looks so much like my Benjamin used to.  His vocabulary has exploded and he is everyone's favorite 3 year old.

Samuel, a.k.a Sam, a.k.a Sammy T., a.k.a Teddy, is so, so fun.  He runs around the house charming even the most distracted among us.  He is enamored of his big brothers.  In particular he likes to wear Colby's baseball hat and run around in Silas's cowboy boots.  He speaks a language only understandable to himself and the rest of us just give him what he wants when signs, "Please."

I have been looking to the move.  I've been charged with narrowing down the housing list, so that's what I work on.  I also have decided to conquer the chicken.  I never realized how challenging cooking a chicken could be.  Jake thinks it comical, but let's just say that I've made great strides.  The first time I made the chicken we ended up sitting down to dinner an hour and half later than what was planned..  By the fifth shot, I was only 15 minutes behind schedule.  One of the times I was fighting the chicken, trying to separate the skin from the thing, Louisa came in the kitchen and said, "It looks like you're holding a butt."  She's pretty charming huh?

Below are some pictures for your enjoyment.

Libby getting ready to go on a field trip.  She chose her clothes all by herself.

Jackie and her dear friend Catherine

Louisa building a tee-pee for Samuel

Silas on the run

Samuel being retrieved after making a run for it at the beach.

That's my baby bump, not my hind-end bump.

Jake and Ben trading cards.. Samuel loves to be in the middle of whatever the guys are doing.