Bock, Bock... (Warning, Slightly Graphic)

As promised, here is the pictorial description of our outing this past Sunday. Some friends of ours are trying their hands at raising meat chickens (among other things). As I'm sure some, actually most, of you will recognize, the activity for the day was none other than...butchering chickens.


This was an interesting and educational day on so many levels. I got to relive my childhood memories of spending hot summer days doing this very same thing. Jon got to cut off a chicken's head for the first time...and enjoyed it! We were able to watch the homemade chicken plucker in action. (On a side note...it was a good thing that there were 3, no 4 engineers and lots of beer around to make some on-the-fly modifications. There was even an electrical design change despite not having a EE around. Farm-ineering at it's best!)


Perhaps I don't want to know what it says about someone who chooses to spend their Sunday afternoon butchering someone else's chickens. We can't be in too bad of company because there were three others that also showed up for the event. Perhaps, the level of participation is really what says the most...I'll leave it at that.




No surprisingly, Marie was really not interested in helping with the butchering. She did hang out for a little while and actually did pet a chicken, though not one whose minutes were numbered. Joey liked watching the pigs more than the chickens, but they both ended up playing inside with other kids most of the time.

When it was all said and done, there were ~20 chickens that met their maker on Sunday. After packing the freezer full and cleaning up, we all enjoyed some well-grilled meat for supper. No, not chicken...hamburgers and brats of course! Plus we got to come home with a bird! I can't say that we're going to jump right in to raising our own chickens next year. But, I also can't say that the next time our friends are butchering we won't be on their doorstep again!

Quick post before it's July!

We can't believe that July is already upon us! While there hasn't been anything overly monumental going on in our house, we'll give you a recap of June and share a few pictures while we're at it.

June is, of course, the month for strawberries. The kids and I ventured out to the patch on our own one Friday and were actually relatively successful. We picked about 13 lbs of strawberries before heading to a park for a picnic and some lunch. We got enough to eat, make our jam, and a strawberry pie, but it wasn't enough to satisfy our appetite. So, the following week when Grandma Meinhart came for a visit, we went back. This time we picked closer to 18 lbs of berries along with a few pounds of peas. The kids did well again, but were pretty busy doing lots of other things than picking berries (stopping for drink breaks, practicing their baseball swings with umbrellas found in the car, and taking "rides" in the car by themselves). At least they pretended to help pick peas long enough to get a picture. Of course, when we were done we had to stop at the park again to play and have a picnic. I think we might be establishing a precedent....







The week of Grandma's visit was also the week Jon officially opened the pool. Being that he had one year of practice under his belt, he felt that it went much more smoothly this year. Although we were surprised to find that there were hundreds of tadpoles in the water that had collected in the pool cover. We did catch a few and are happy to report that they are still alive and appear to be doing well...at least to our untrained eyes.

The kids have already really enjoyed the water, as evidenced by the daily requests to go swimming. Marie happily paddles around by herself while Joey is not quite as sure of it. He always says he wants to go in, but then spends a lot of his time on the deck throwing the pool balls into the water...or over the deck fence. He does get a kick out of jumping into Jon's arms...and it must be Jon, I haven't yet convinced him to jump to me. Jon just has to be careful to watch him all the time because as we've learned it is not a prerequisite that Jon actually be looking before Joey jumps!



We were so glad that Grandpa Meinhart was also able to make the drive over to Michigan for Father's Day weekend. He had been working in the Chicago area that week and drove over (through the big storm!) on Friday night. We were without power a good part of the day on Saturday, but we didn't mind too much. Uncle Mark and Aunt Sarah came over and we were outside flying (mostly watching Mark fly) Mark's kite. Marie sure got a kick out of "helping" to fly the kite. Jon was able to pick up the technique pretty quickly, but as for me...not so much. I'm just glad I didn't break anything.




If you look very closely, you can see the kite at the very top of this picture, near the center.

The rest of the weekend, we visited and just enjoyed the company. As usual, there were many requests for Grandma and Grandpa to read to the kids...at least it gave us bit of a break!




We had a fun and interesting outing on Sunday, but that is worthy of it's own post, so stay tuned!

We've also been keeping up with the garden so far. Everything is planted as of this week...the last crop of green beans were put in just a few days ago. Just at about the same time that we were getting the first new beans off of the earliest plantings. We've also had some spinach and rhubarb and just cut off the first head of broccoli. So far, things are looking promising. Hopefully, that will continue. Marie has also been enjoying the various flowers around the house and likes to pick them to "decorate the house."


We do have one big announcement and that is the arrival of our newest little nephew! Thomas Jared (TJ) was born on June 17. At first, Marie was quite heartbroken that he wasn't a little girl, but we are happy to report that she has made a complete turnaround and is now very excited about going to visit Uncle Joel, Aunt Jenn, and baby TJ. Congrats to the new family!

A rainy weekend

At least someone has been able to enjoy all the rain we got this weekend. Needless to say, there were two youngsters that were soaked through by the time they were done. It was straight to the bathtub for the both of them.


Also, you can check out Joey's new look. Here is what Marie had to say about it when Joey was complaining about something or other we were making him eat.

Marie: Even with his haircut, he's still Joey.

Shibata Memorial Day Weekend 2010

We had an action-packed time during our Memorial Day weekend in Ohio! It was a great time to catch up with the whole family. We were so glad to see everyone, especially Aunt Jenn and Uncle Joel who were able to make a last minute decision to drive over!

The kids did very well during the drive down. Marie finds driving on the Ohio Turnpike to be very exciting. She loves the "castles" (the rest areas) and informed us that she would be looking out for them long before we ever got to the Ohio border. It is such a highlight for her when we stop to go potty and grab a bite to eat. It's the little things...

When we arrived Friday night, Aunt Jess, Uncle Joel, and Aunt Jenn had already arrived. Uncle James, Aunt Jaclyn, JJ (who now likes to sometimes be called James, Jr.) arrived on Saturday morning. Jess, Jenn, Joel, and Grandma, had lots of fun things planned for the weekend. They had drawn a super-fun obstacle course on the sidewalk. The kids loved running around it, even if they didn't always stay on the path.


Grandpa's golf cart was also a big hit. The kids loved taking turns getting rides. Anytime we went close to the garage, Joey would say "Go!"


Other festivities included water balloons, water guns, bubbles, ring toss, badminton, and of course a prize bucket. The kids were in heaven! There were some brave adults that attempted the water balloon toss with the kids. However, the kids mostly just loved throwing the balloons on the concrete deck and watching them explode. Marie and JJ really got the hang of shooting the bubbles with the water guns. Jess learned quickly that she needed to stay ahead of them, or she would get caught in friendly fire.




Joey's hands weren't quite big enough for the water guns and he ended up pulling the trigger with his thumbs. Consequently, he shot himself in the face a few times...he didn't seem to mind too much. He really loved the bubbles and was able to get the hang of that as well even though he kept putting the wand right up to his mouth. He also didn't seem to mind the taste of the bubbles or the bubble goatee he was sporting.


We were also able to get over to the pool a couple of times. The kids loved it and I don't think the adults minded being able to cool off a bit either. And it was of course an excuse to drive the golf cart a few more times.


Marie and JJ also got to "camp out" in Grandma and Grandpa's room. I think they did actually sleep...even though I'm pretty positive that on no other occasion has Marie seen 6:30 AM. That could be why she slept a good part of the way back on Monday.


Overall, it was just a wonderful weekend to catch up and spend together. We are so blessed to have such a great family and are very much looking forward to the next edition to the Shibata clan. Only a few more weeks Aunt Jenn!!