Getting Lost and Stuff

I guess we'll start with the stuff first. 

I found a perfect spot for the chicken coop, but a blasted shrub was in the way. This is Thomas putting an ax to it to get it out. The other kids were really just there for support. Not sure they were really helping. But, he did end up getting it out - root and all! 

When it comes to destroying things, Thomas is a pro. We replaced our microwave because the old one stopped working. Thomas didn't think it was good enough - just "not working".?. It needed to be demolished completely. 

I think he succeeded, no?

(His only regret - He couldn't blow it up.)

Sarah in her class play, "Lemonade". She was Sleeping Beauty. 

Sarah with her good friend, Sarah. (Her father, Mark Parson, was in my high school graduating class. Who would have guessed?) 

We had a pretty traumatic few days when Peter was nowhere to be found. After  posting it on facebook, a friend tipped me off saying our neighbor had talked to her about a new rabbit hanging around their place. We immediately went to their house, and there was Peter! 

But, alas! He had found his soul mate. Their goat! 

They had apparently spent a lot of time together those few days, so much that Peter was taking naps on "Goatie's" back! Whenever Peter has escaped since, we've always found him over there with Goatie. So, we made him a little house right next to the chickens under the coop. Now we're hoping the chicks can be his new BFFs'. 

Oh, well. At least we always know where to find him when he gets out!

This is a picture I shot just after the girls found him from his 3-day absence.  It was the fist time Peter had escaped and had been gone for more than a few minutes. I'm pretty sure they were the happiest girls on earth at this moment.

And, speaking of getting lost, James had his first experience with this in April as well.  Once the kids all get home from school, it gets a little crazy around the Ferguson home. I'm usually helping someone practice, listening to the details of a troublesome/joyous day at school, or running kids back and forth to lessons etc. Well, on one such afternoon, James decided to leave the house and ride his bike to the park. He's never done this before, and I could have sworn he was in the basement playing with Legos, so I actually doubted my concerned neighbor when she called saying she spotted James at the park. But, sure enough he was nowhere to be found, so I began a search with Richard. We talked to some people at the park who had seen him, but by the time we got there, he had disappeared from there as well. We then continued to drive around for over an hour in the surrounding neighborhoods. I kept calling home to see if James had arrived. Nope. I would call Richard to see if he had found him. Nope. We had Richard's brother and an employee out looking as well. I was trying my best to hold in the tears, but I just kept imagining the worst. I know, hard to believe.

Finally, I spotted him riding his little bike on the path at Smith Park. He had no shoes on (go figure) and seemed fine. As I pulled over, he looked up and once he realized it was me he yelled, "Mom!" and the enormous amount of relief on his face was evident. We ran to each other. Tears were streaming down my face, and as soon as I picked him up, all the pent-up fear came gushing out of him as well. We hugged and cried. And then I asked him what in the crap made him think he could ride his bike to the park by himself! Stinker.

After talking with him about it for a while, we finally figured out that he had tried to come home, but took the wrong road. He wheeled his way past the high school (instead of up past the hospital) and found himself in the Hidden Valley neighborhood. He even described the playground he passed in Hidden Valley. I hadn't even thought to drive that far out when searching for him. He said he got scared once and started to cry, but then he somehow turned himself around and made it back to the park. (Miraculously!) 

If you want to know what a sincere prayer sounds like, imagine a mom praying to find her lost son, and the prayer of gratitude that follows the reunion.

My prayers were answered that day.