Lancelot Acres

Keets-Tulip Time-Tax Audit-New baby!

This week has been just plain crazy. 

Tuesday we were planning on heading to Holland fairly early in the morning.  Then the owner of our local feed store called and said he had guinea keets and I'd better come get them if I wanted them, that they wouldn't last long.  He put 10 in a box for me and the girls and I headed right over.  LOL.  WOOHOO!  I have my keets!  10 of them!  YAY! (Look how little they are!  They just hatched the day before)

It did make us a bit later leaving for Holland than we planned though, as we had to go get them and bring them home and put them in a cage with food and water and a heat lamp.

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So off we went to Tulip Time in Holland so we could get a few pictures of Lauren in her Dutch costume (the same Dutch costume we bought for Lilli when she was this age, and then our cousin Alyssa wore at this age...it's now a tradition).  SIL Vicki, cousin Alyssa and my mom met us up there for pictures.  The pictures turned out fantastic.  The weather was beautiful and we had a great time.

I bought Lauren wooden shoes with her name on them and bought all 3 girls a small wooden shoe name tag.  My mom bought us all ice cream and we had a nice time sitting in the ice cream shop eating our cones.  Then we walked to the Gap outlet where I bought Lilli and Lauren each a sundress and a pair of shoes.  They were already on sale, plus I got another 10% off by using my Old Navy card.  I love good deals :)

Lauren really LOVED her wooden shoes and she clomped around there for the longest time.  People kept stopping us and asking if they could take her picture.  She was very cute.

I don't have a picture of cousin Alyssa in the costume, but here is a picture of Lilli from when she was just under 2 years old and Lauren at 18 months.

Our little Dutch girls, complete with wooden shoes:

This is LILLI!  This was May 2003, when she was 22 1/2 months old:

This is Lauren from this past Tuesday, she's 18 months old in the same outfit (different shoes):

All three girls (cousin Alyssa, Lauren, Lilli):

Watching the water:

Grandma and 2 girls:

Mommy and girls (Lauren plays with her hair when she's tired):

Lilli and Lauren:

Ice Cream:

Lilli:

Cousins:

After walking around and enjoying several hours of sunshine and tulips, we decided to call it quits. Lauren was about 5 hours past her naptime and barely hanging on. 

The girls and I headed to my great Uncle Ernie's after that, for a short visit.  We stayed about an hour and it was so nice to see him.  We hadn't seen him all winter because of sickness and weather.  He told us stories from the past and I love that.  We sat outside and the girls played in the yard while we had a nice visit.  Uncle Ernie always asks about Lance and we always want Lance to go (Lance wants to go too), but it's so hard for him to get to Holland.  It's an hour drive for us and if we go on a weekend, it will take a whole day before we get home...It's hard for Lance to find a free day.

So then we came home and did our chores (chicks need food and water, etc).

It was a great day :)

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Wednesday I took Lilli to school and then took Lauren to my parent's house so I could clean house before volunteering at Lilli's school at 1PM.  I went by the post office on the way home and there was a letter from the IRS.  One for Lance, and one for me.  This couldn't be good.  I opened mine.  It wasn't good.  We are being auditted for the years 2005 and 2006.  We also have to bring our 2004 and 2007 tax returns.  YUCK YUCK YUCK!

Now I really don't think we have anything to worry about, BUT, I do need to go through ALL of the farm receipts and make double sure that our total for receipts equal the amount we have on the tax returns.  This is going to take awhile.  4 years worth of receipts is A LOT!  I plan to take the girls to my parent's house tomorrow and spend the day organizing receipts.  YUCK YUCK YUCK!  LOL

Lance says he heard they will try to prove we are a 'hobby farm' instead of a 'real farm'.  I guess with a hobby farm you can't claim expenses.  I need to do some research...I think if we are making money then we are a real farm, but I don't know the other rules.  I would think if they make us report our income then we should be able to claim expenses?  Blah on audits.

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So Wednesday when I got home from the post office, our electricity was out.  It was damp and chilly and we have 30 chicks/poults/keets that need heat lamps.  This had me a bit stressed as I was going through receipts in the semi-darkness with an oil lamp.  LOL.  I figured if the power wasn't back on by the time I left at 1PM, I'd bring them in the house and put them in front of the oven.  Luckily, our power came back on about 15 minutes before I left.  It was out for about 5 hours.  All the chicks did fine, but it still stressed me out.  LOL

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So I volunteered at Lilli's school at 1PM...I was lucky enough to do their silhouettes.  I love those things.  They always look so much like the child.  I had fun doing her entire class and they did good trying to be still.  I love Lilli's silhouette and I'll post a picture of it at a later date...I don't have one uploaded yet.

After school we went to my parent's house to get Lauren and we had a short visit with my parents while there.

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Then we came home, did chores (feed and water chicks) and came in for bath and bedtime.  I was just fixing to put the girls to bed and my phone rings.  It's Lance.  He's just outside, so this could be interesting.  It was.

He says, "Have you checked on your goats today?".  Um, no, I hadn't. 

He says, "Well your milk goat had a baby.".  Um, what?

I said, "Oh, you mean Angelina, the brown one with horns".

He said, "No, I mean Violet, your MILK GOAT". 

LOL.

Oh.  I'm heading out.

Now, I'm still not convinced it's Violet's baby.  The lady we bought the goats from said Angelina could possible be bred, but they thought the buck was too small to do his job.  She didn't say anything about Violet, who was still in milk until we dried her up about a month ago.  I'm so glad we dried her up and gave her a little break before having her baby.  Yes, it was Violet.  LOL.  She had a cute little black buckling.  I don't think we'll be able to keep him, but he's such a cute little thing.  I call him Buckeye.  :)  I'll post a picture soon, this post is picture overload already :)

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Thursday I took Lauren to my parent's house again so I could clean the house (I couldn't do it Wednesday because the power was out) and work on receipts.  I volunteered at Lilli's school again so we could finish the silhouettes.  Then I met my mom in Bangor after school and she went to their house for a few hours with Lauren to give me a bit more time on paperwork.  I met mom in Bangor again that evening and we came home for chores, baths and bedtimes. 

Then I watched Survivor, folded laundry and went to bed...LOL.

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Friday has been an almost normal day.  Lilli had school, Lauren and I stayed home.  I didn't go on my walk with my new neighbor as she couldn't make it today.  We are planning it for another time.  Lauren has a runny nose anyway so I was shooting for just a visit anyway, without the walk.

We did chores and Lilli hasn't been inside much at all since we got home from school.  She watched Zaboomafoo while eating her tacos and then she's been outside the rest of the time.  It's a nice evening, almost 60 degrees and she's enjoying it.  Lauren came out while we did chores, but we came inside as soon as those were done. 

Lance came home and cut the fencelines.  Our fence charger stopped working the other day, so he had to buy a new one ($180!).  He wanted to cut the fenceline to make sure the grass/weeds weren't grounding it out.

Lilli and Lance spent some time practicing T-ball this evening and then they went down and caught tadpoles from our pond.  They put them in our wading pool outside in the yard.  Lilli LOVES to do things like that.  She came in bubbling with excitement and couldn't wait to tell me about it. 

Lauren is asleep in bed and Lilli is watching a survival show about snakes.  She's in the recliner in the living room.  Lance went to bed about 10 minutes ago as he has to work 10 hours tomorrow.

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The girls are going to spend the day at my parent's house tomorrow while I work on farm paperwork.

Lance has to work 10 hours and then he's heading to the hospital to see his dad.  His dad was admitted today as his white blood count was low and he was running a low fever.  I haven't heard any more than that, but I'll post when I do.  Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

I'll post again soon...right after I dig myself out of this farm receipt mess. 

Hugs,
Lisa

*Sorry for the picture overload, I really did weed some out...really!  LOL

Keets!

{ 08:17, 2008-May-10 } { Posted by cradtke }

Oh they are so cute! They had some at our farm store yesterday, I considered getting a few but don't anything about raising them. Are they like chicks?
Carol

Glad you got your keets...

{ 07:46, 2008-May-11 } { Posted by mamaof2andtwins }

I love all the tulip pictures. Have a wonderful Mother's Day.
Jennie