Warrior Princess

A Seat on the Bridge

2024-12-04T06:08:00.002-06:00

God, wow, he just keeps showing up. Which is a really silly thing to say because he is ALWAYS here.

So what's probably more accurate is that I opened my eyes and heart and saw him AGAIN in the midst of my pain. 7's have a distinct ability to repel pain. My instant image is "water off a ducks back." Hello denial.

But lately it really feels like a tidal wave is chasing me. Hello reality. Yet, even in the midst of this reality when I slow down long enough to open my eyes and heart to him, I receive his nourishment in the spirit.

In my most recent personal therapy session I was challenged by the ever changing construct of grief and using the analogy of a bridge, my therapist very gently guided me to NOT feel compelled to push to the other side, but to take a beat, and a seat on the bridge and just be in the moment of the grief and wait for what God wants me to hear.

It's in the moments I'm running from pain I realize he wants me to surrender and let him chose the path of the wave. Sometimes it may wash over me, yet it's not to destroy me. It's to cleanse me, renew me, and refresh me.

You are welcome, and this invitation is for everyone struggling, to come sit on the bridge with me to listen for what God's got for us.

50th Birthday Breakfast May 27, 2020

2020-06-28T07:10:00.001-05:00

What I'm more happy about that anything else is that our family was together on this day. Our children are 16, 18 and 20 and I know the days of us being together frequently will slowly fade. It's memories like these make my heart swell!

Thank you George and Connie and all the staff at The Front Porch on Bayshore Drive for a most delicious breakfast and a very memorable 50th birthday with my most loved people in the world!

Pray Read Write Read Pray

2020-06-28T07:02:00.003-05:00

August 28, 2019

Emily P. Freeman's podcast "The Next Right Thing" has been seeping into my soul these past few months. Yesterdays - somewhere in the 90's - was titled as above. It is the morning pattern of movement she uses to put first things first and set her day on the right foot for God.

Pray - a short invitation and request for God to hear my prayer and direct my steps.

Read - a scripture to focus on and allow to sink into your soul.

Write - uses paper and pen, free write, whatever you want - just 15 minutes.

Read - sometime non-fiction and inspirational outside of the Bible.

Pray - a dedication of your day to the Lord and his purposes.

Since this actually stuck with me, remembering it this morning during my daily devotions, I hit a reset button. I stopped reading the Bible - said a quick "Lord help me be present with you today." - type prayer and finished reading my One Year Bible segment for today.

So now I'm in my daughters room/office with my Surface Pro and writing this all down. About 5 years ago I told myself I wanted to write everyday in my blog, even if it was just a sentence. I've failed miserably at consistency. I even "dedicated" to write each week while my daughter was gone for 9 months traveling the world to sort of chronical what was happening in my life during that time. I may have written once a month.

I do not know if this will happen everyday, or once a week or once a month. My heart has more in it to pour out than what I'm giving time to, so daily would be ideal. Yet, what's different about today is that I'm not going to try to be perfect, promise a schedule, or even set a specific time. I'm just going to seek to be more present with the Lord and myself.

I woke this morning from a dream and feel it has a tidbit that I do not want to forget. Shaun and I were traveling somewhere in this great world where there lies mountains and rolling hills of plush green acreage. We were moving along in this car that was having difficulty shifting from 3rd to 4th gear while ascending this rather large hill.

Thinking "Are we going to make it to the top?" the hill seemed to increase in vertical angle. The feeling was more like a rollercoaster climbing the largest track with our backs snug to the back of the seats, looking up and only seeing sky. The sound of the car was terrifying in itself, so it wasn't the crest of the hill we were worried about, it was getting there.

A moment later, just a few yards from the top, the car downshifted and immediately revved harder. Next thing - we were launched into the air still looking into the sky. A plethora of racing thoughts spun through my head. "I need to fix this!" "How can I land this car on all four tires?" "I know how to handle water on the road, snow, and ice, but not AIRBORN!"

The car levels off. We feel that moment of weightlessness and the front end tips forward. I was caught in between "Ok, now I can see where I'm headed" and "Holy skyscrapers Batman!" Just look at this gorgeous land, the rolling hills, the patches of sweet little houses, and the farmland riddling throughout the landscape. Oh, and the road appears, thankfully underneath us and the tires hit the ground. We bounce just a bit and are again pinned with the g-forces to the back of our seats as we descend quite rapidly down another 75 degree angle plummeting to our death.

Now I'm awake and replaying the dream. Curious if I had even a slight inclination to cry out to God or turn over my loss of control to him who is in control of all things. My desire to be in control isn't something that consumes my life. Since I had cancer surgery, I have been very eager to allow God to take a hold of all things Colleen that are out of control and help me right my path and calm my heart. He's got me.

Yet, my automatic reaction wasn't to cry out to God. This is a reminder to me that even when I think I have surrendered to God, there is still a flesh desire that can overcome my years of relying on God and make it about me while I try to control the outcomes.

Lord rest your spirit in my heart this day and continue to guide my automatic thoughts and reactions from the perspective of your eyes and not my man-made eye-glasses.

Core scripture for my work

2019-07-20T22:07:00.000-05:00

“The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭20:5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

http://bible.com/111/pro.20.5.niv

Unbelievable! This is the year that I have pushed for starting my private practice and the scripture that I have been seeking comes forth in my daily devotions. There are many that can be formed in the context of counseling and helping others with the struggles of this life. Yet, this one above is THE ONE that reaches into my soul as the foundation of my purpose. God has gifted me with insight into people's lives helping them to move from the stuck place they find themselves into a freedom of living through their identity as God has set forth. God has grown my talents for listening, processing, and uncovering the deep waters for individuals. I'm humbled with each person I have the privilege to sit with and learn about. Most times their deep waters have pain, hurt, neglect, sorrow. There are many though that bring me great amounts of joy to help uncover people's dreams, desires, talents, and gifts. What a huge joy and responsibility all at the same time.

God trusts me to handle people's calling with his sensitivity, his motivation, his encouragement, his loving kindness and wisdom that comes from him. I am truly humbled at the place God has directed me to serve. I want nothing more than to help others stretch and grow their potential for the kingdom and God's purposes.

The moments early in my practice that were filled with insecurities are now replaced with the constant knowledge that God's guidance is always there for the task. He constantly reminds me with each year I serve him that he deepens my understanding of his mysterious ways in how he reveals his plans for others. 100% of the time that I gently nudge people with curious questions or self-reflective thoughts, they find the things they are looking for inside themselves. It is such a joy to see their eyes light up like the children we ministered to in church for 20 years. Clients' sense of safety and security in the space between us allows them to let their walls down and become vulnerable to their own thoughts, feelings, and desires. Whew! What a place of strength they find in this vulnerability.

It completely parallels the scripture that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. I thank God for the walk he has guided me on to find my own very deep vulnerabilities. He has provided several wise and gifted people to walk beside me on this path. Sometimes good friends, sometimes professional therapists, and sometimes my children and husband. I don't believe in asking my counselees to do anything I wouldn't be willing to do. So because I've walked through my deep waters he allows me to be a guiding force for others to make the journey.

At yet still he continues to take me deeper into the waters of my understanding of myself and who he created me to be to serve him. And like my counselees, I find sometimes there is pain in the water and sometimes undiscovered gifts that bring joy, true joy from my deepest inside parts.

Hope is what has given me the strength to move through my deep waters. Especially as a young therapist. Before my adoption, before cancer, before children, before losses of friends to suicide, before I knew my name, God instilled in me a hope of things unseen but yet to come. Am I a mind reader? Do I have the knowledge of people's futures stored up in my mind? Can I predict the future? No. By no means. Yet hope isn't any of those things. Hope is what it takes to dredge through the ugly stuff in life to develop grit. Grit helps build endurance through perseverance. Finally perseverance develops character which contributes to our faith in something greater than this world has to offer. It all started with hope.

Why do I have hope? Because of one simple thing. He loved me before I understood I needed his love to survive in this world. I had been looking for love in many places before I realized he already loved me. None of those places I looked provided me with the love that filled my heart permanently with peace. In him, I learned to have my breath, my life, and my inmost existence.

Hold

Pain

Ends

“let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭1:5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

http://bible.com/111/pro.1.5.niv

Jordan's 14th Birthday

2019-05-23T06:24:00.000-05:00

Sent from my mobile.
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   Jordans 14th birthday Best Buy trip with hamburgers for dinner and apple pie for his 'cake'

Quick trip to the Pumpkin Patch...Halloween 2017

2019-05-23T06:23:00.003-05:00

Sent from my mobile.
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               Pumpkin patch 2017

My Missionary Daughter

2019-05-23T06:16:00.000-05:00

Looking back at the day she left.... and remembering the Commissioning Ceremony at Crosspoint for the Senior. She has grown and learned so much. Her joy at the evening of the Commissioning was fulfilling to watch. As she truly enjoyed her peers, their parent presentations, and scrolling photos.
I look at these photos now and think about how she was 18, a teenager, an adult, and ready to take on the world.

I look at these pictures and I see my little 3 year old Josie, that bossy little bundle of joy!

One of my very favorite photos of these two!

I am so thankful for this girl!

Fighting FOR each other

2019-05-23T06:14:00.001-05:00

25 years ago I expected to have a lifelong friend and lover. I didn't expect to be let down, hurt, and attacked. When i was let down God showed me what i needed in him, when i was hurt God showed me where I

needed his comfort and when attacked God showed me how to accept criticism. I have my lifelong friend and lover. We are and always will be better together. When we remember our fights and disagreements aren't with each other, but together we fight FOR each other against the divisive nature of satan.

Abba Father, A Changing Year for All of Us

2019-05-21T06:01:00.002-05:00

Hey God, I am so thankful for the year we have had to grow. Gap year has been a special experience for all of the Wenner's and we each have a little story to tell. I knew I would feel this way, but I wish I would have journaled throughout the months. It was when Jo sent home her journal from Ethiopia that I began to realize the amount of growth she has experienced. This year has been an incredible year of change for me as well.

Started my own business - Private Practice in Mental Health. So thankful for TJCC. The meeting was a divine time, a connection you made happen Lord! I have learned so much in such a short time. I am a good therapist and people are hearing the word throughout the community. I'm so grateful for the military population in this area. There is a huge need to meet with respect to the active duty personnel, their spouses, and any of their dependents. It is truly a separate special population of mental health needs; one that I haven't experienced before in NC, or PA.

My respect for the military personnel grows each day. It is especially rewarding to offer Christian Counseling based on the Word of God and integrating a spiritual aspect into my practice. I can see now how years of reading the Bible can allow a person to hear Holy Spirit and head the guidance of the Lord.

My weaknesses in practice are also something I've learning from. It has been no secret that number details have not been my friend over the years. I struggle with the little things and if it weren't for Dana there would be so much more scrutiny from the insurance companies. I am so grateful for her patience with me in my multiple careless mistakes. When I learn something I've got it, but I can't do a task just once a month and remember easily how it's done the next. Paying attention to the small changes in CPT codes that are necessary for accurate billing is exceptionally important.

There is one area of my life that needs a little more work. At PVT (Parent Vision Trip) Josie challenged me to have 3 coffee dates before she comes home. So far I've had 2 and the one I really want to have is Sharon. We've tried to connect twice, but since I've worked full time outside of the church, we hardly see each other. Part of it is due to the fact that I'm no longer available during the weekdays and she's usually busy on the weekend. I have just 2 weeks left before Josie is home and I have one more coffee date to go, I really want it to be with Sharon.

God I am so grateful for all your blessings. You have sustained us and blessed us this year. We have a new couch and recliner for Shaun. That was monumental! - another journal time. We have a new car for Josie when she returns, paid in cash! We have completed paid off the red van - we affectionately call "Ruby." Our boys have excelled in FLVS. Their Sea World trip was a highlight for sure. I was in Orlando at the same time, yet the Lord orchestrated a training for me to take advantage of.

EMDR has been a blessing too. My first training I would consider a bust, but the extra grand I spent on getting trained by the official EMDRIA organization was so worth it. I feel like I've enhanced my ability to help people exponentially. Reducing areas of disturbance for patients is amazingly satisfying and it really has nothing to do with me. I atune to the patients, yet the brain with the bilateral stimulation does the work. I'm still reading, as I probably always will do in order to keep current and edgy with respect to latest technology and enhancements in mental health services.

I'm going to end here. First blog entry in months! So much more to write about, this entry alone excites me about returning to this habit of expression in my life. Thank you Lord for your goodness to me, my family and my patients. You are a good, good father!

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “ Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15 NIV https://romans.bible/romans-8-15

Josie's Senior Prom 2018

2018-10-02T20:05:00.000-05:00

Really Dad?

What's going on with Case? Josie doesn't care.

Gorgeous Ladies!

Leann gives Jo her flowers, awe...

Marissa, Leann and Jo

Beautiful Josie!

Case and Jaret

Under the Same Roof

2018-10-02T20:04:00.000-05:00

Picked up Josie at MacKenzie's house in Peachtree City GA today at 2 after her 10 day training camp for World Race Gap Year. It was sooooooo good to hug that girl and and know she was coming home. While she was away her website donations increased by $1000 so she is over $8000 now. What an amazing way God is providing for her to make this journey around the world and share God's love! It's so good to have my family back under the same roof again. Even if it's just for a little while longer. (She leaves in less than 60 days.)

Tuesday, September 11, 2019 - First day after drop off.

2018-10-02T19:54:00.001-05:00

Arrived home last night and knocked on Jo's door as if she was still here. When I entered and turned on the light a rush of grief flooded my mind, heart and body. I sat on the bed for a few minutes thinking 'what have I done?" I just left the only person in the whole world who has my DNA and is a woman in another state to leave for Cambodia! I'm nuts.

Ferocious Communication

2018-05-30T22:08:00.001-05:00

One area God us working on in our marriage is invincible communication. We refuse to allow satan to slip into a crevice of miscommunication and fester discontent. We are ferocious about making sure we understand each other.

Destin Wine Auction Fundraising Dinner Benefit 4.29.2018

2018-05-03T21:58:00.001-05:00

Great night serving for a great cause! Josie joined me this year and we had a hilarious and eventful evening with lots of people that gave for a fabulous cause!

Crosspoint Senior Graduate Commissioning Service 5.3.18

2018-05-03T21:56:00.000-05:00

Dear Josie,

You are an amazing young woman of God. He has shown you great love and peace through struggles from 2nd grade with the shock of your mom having cancer to just 4 months ago when he changed your path from college onto the mission field.

The time has come to look ahead to your beautiful future. You’ve chosen differently than the majority of your peers. Most will be on college campuses meeting teachers, attending classes, writing papers, taking tests and attending parties. Most will be home by Thanksgiving, then Christmas.

In less than 90 days you will start a 9 month journey on the World Race. First a few months in Cambodia, then Ethiopia, Nicaragua and finally Costa Rica. You will experience cultures you’ve never seen, surrounded by people who speak different languages, and learn to live out of only what you can carry on your back.

You can do this because you love traveling and meeting people. Yet you can also roll with the punches and keep on going. Your dad and I admire that in you.

We understand why you’ve chosen this adventure for your first year after graduation. We are honored to think about how much love you have in your heart to work to raise funds in order to help girls and boys trapped in sex trafficking. It all seems so surreal.

We both think back to our mission trip to El Salvador a few years ago. You were in your element putting smiles on children’s faces with your personality and warm heart. We remember the lesson you shared with those little girls. ‘Your thumbprint is the only one like it in the whole world.’ We remember their faces beaming when you told them how amazing they were because God made them unique, special and one of a kind.

We see that you understand that every person you meet is an appointment from God because you treat them all with the touch of Jesus that you have learned to receive. Take every opportunity to encourage others and be an ear to listen, but don’t forget to take care of yourself. There is only so much Josie to go around. Let the Lord fill you with his joy, peace and love.

If we could pour all we know into you right now, it would simplify be: Love God, Love Others and God will be faithful to provide all you need every step of your amazing life ahead.

You are a treasure. While we are sad to see you leave our home, we are so incredibly happy to bless you as you go to work for the Lord.

Now we release you into the great world to travel, help others and share God’s wonderful love to those facing unimaginable pain. Rely on God for your strength, protection, peace and joy. He will renew you each time you feel empty and spent.

Remember the calling God has placed on your life. Whether you have a lifetime of missions, or this experience is a springboard into a future you have yet to uncover, God is guiding you every step of the way.

Always remember that Home is where your Mom is.

Love always, Dad, Mom, Ethan and Jordan

Thank you UWF!

2018-05-01T15:41:00.001-05:00

Knocked out those extra classes, last day... CHECK!

License Exam Application Sent

2018-05-01T09:19:00.001-05:00

The joy of proving you are capable of what you have been trained to do.

The money for faxing transcripts, applications, and the application fee for the exam....

The frustration of Florida being the only state with different rules for licensure and the application process.

Argh!!!!!!

So I'm celebrating the small success of an application that is complete.

Thank you Lord for small success'.

Christmas 2017

2018-01-02T21:19:00.001-06:00

A blessed Christmas it was today...
So fun to watch and experience the kids excited to give their gifts. Ethan shared some sentiment for Jordan in a card, Josie so much more excited to give than receive, Jordan wrapping both my gift and Ethans in the same box because he ran out of wrapping paper! What a crew...
Shaun gave me the gift I most wanted, to have my DNA test through Ancestry!

I have such warm thoughts of playing Blow It Dice with the kids last night. It was endearing to hear Ethan ask how we knew how to be such good parents. Then most surprising to hear the other two agree, lol.

We attended Christmas eve service at Crosspoint. The service was memorable simply because the kids saw the Advent wreath I decided to teach them about at home come to completion during the service. We all took communion and sang during the candlelight together. Such good memories of my childhood.

Couldn't help feeling a little lost looking around and seeing no one we knew. It felt like we moved to a new town. I miss the sense of familiarity and friendship from Generations.

I am so thankful for the sweet presence of the Lord especially these last two years since we resigned from ministry leadership.

Moving forward out of the poverty mindset I didn't know I was still stuck in.

2017-03-11T12:34:00.001-06:00

Back in school, well at least have applied and received acknowledgement that I can register. I knew it wouldn't be easy getting my Licensed Mental Health Counselor status in Florida as it's typically the most difficult state to get your license. However I was completely side swiped by the fact that I have to take 3 college courses. Truth is, I hoped to slide into the board qualifications for my license based on the fact that I have my Master degree in counseling (since 1997) and that'd I've worked the better part of 20 years in community mental health and in community agencies and schools.

So imagine my surprise when I not only have to document almost 4000 hours of qualifying experience, take not one, not two, but 3 college courses, and also study for the Florida Board Exam for LMHC's. Far be it to actually be easy and plan to study for 6 months preparing for the exam and take it in order to get my license. (approx. a $300.00 process)

I'm not one to act or appear like I know it all, or that I'm a so called expert in the field. However, I really felt that this process wouldn't be so strenuous, or expensive.

After talking to the psychology masters program office I felt a little better know that this happens to alot of people who move to Florida from another state. In addition, I think I'm really becoming excited to be back in academia again. The troublesome part is the $1000 per class, not including books and materials that I'll need to fork out. (Actually a $3300.00 process, not including driving an hour to and from class several times a week)

Since my session with my life coach last week, I really know this is the direction I need to take and push to finish. It's really the only option for me to rise out of the poverty of human services professions at the government funded level and go into practice for myself. It is exponentially helpful however when there is someone who can guide you and encourage you that has walked the path and that you can trust to show you the way.

Life coaching is going to be my next goal. As I am able I am going to explore the qualifications, certifications, and different organizations to affiliate with in order to develop this avenue of revenue for our future.

850 Elite Volleyball Academy 17U Team wins Silver Bracket 2.4.17

2017-02-06T16:07:00.000-06:00

After an entire day of losses and frustration, this team rises to the ocassion and works their way to victory in the 2017 Tallahassee Junior Volleyball Invitational.

So proud of these girls for working through the sets to get to the finish and WINNING!

Wish I could have been there to see it personally, yet brochitis and a double ear infection kept me at home and asleep for the majority of the weekend.

And that's a WRAP! Nov. 1, 2016

2017-02-06T15:59:00.001-06:00

Exiting church after 7 years as full time children's pastors at generation united church, Niceville Florida.

I should have know when Jeff Boes fell in step with me before service and asked where we parked. But I didn't. So essentially I tipped the children's ministry team off to have an entire 90+ minutes to saran wrap our van complete with several props from our last Christmas musical.

It was an especially hilarious way to be celebrated. (too about 15 minutes to unwrap the van...)

It's been a fantastic run and a beautiful 20 year journey in ministry with this amazing man!

Morning Coffee - worry-free living

2017-02-02T05:41:00.000-06:00

Enjoyed coffee with friends again this morning.

Joyce and Krystal have had a special place in my heart since we came to Niceville. They are Godly women and they have the work of the Lord at the forefront of their minds daily. I appreciate them because they are not afraid of sharing their faith and their sense of God in their daily lives.
Its refreshing to me to be uplifted by their constant flowing of God's word out of them and applying it to each of their experiences.

I am drawn to Christ through their testimony. I am more and more curious about what God can do through me when they talk about their giftings and their husbands and their submission to the Lord in their marriages. I am so thankful for women who can be real and be strong at the same time.

On the flip-side...There are women who have such strong affliction and bondage that they don't want to take an opportunity to fix their situation. They will focus on and repeat the problem and circumstances that created their misery without realizing they have the power to dig themselves out of the mess they are in.

People have forgotten their strength and power comes form the one they serve.

If they serve satan they have false power which actually cripples them from the tasks of their lives. If they serve the Lord he provides wholeness and joy beyond any of their troubles and woes.

Worry eats at a person's ability to be an effective minister for the Lord. Worry cripples the very muscles that exercise toward expanding the Kingdom of God. The tight knots of fear, stress, anxiety, and insecurity provide a rich garden of paralysis that the seeds of satan can grow deep and tie around the joy and freedom that God planted long ago in the lives of those little children who accepted his sacrifice for the payment of their sins past, present, and future.

Thank you Lord for my salvation and the women in my life that have been a great example of putting your Word to work in my life!

All State Chorus 2016 for Jordan

2017-02-02T05:33:00.000-06:00

On the way to his first All State Chorus rehearsal!

What a great day arriving at the rehearsal room for All State Chorus at the Tampa Convention Center! Mrs. Hartzog - awesome music teacher for Lewis School!!!

Chillin' before rehearsal starts...

Pretty proud of his awesome self!

Jordan at All-State Chorus 2016 Tampa Convention Center Jan 12

Uncle Ron and Aunt Becky came up from their summer home in Bradenton to see Jordan's concert on Friday!

A photo with the awesome singer and his parents!

3 Best Kids on the Planet

2017-02-02T05:31:00.002-06:00

I'm never satisfied with the fact that our family isn't one of those well-organized, photos-every-year kind of families. Yet when I get a good one, I'm keeping it!

And yes this took some persuasion and the firm "mom voice"...yet this is the look, amazing!

3 TEENAGERS!!!!!

oh my word, I can't believe that I have 3 TEENAGERS!!!!!

They are each one amazing, loving, caring, compassionate, fun, intelligent, motivated, good students, and although they can sometimes look like they'd rather not be related.....when the rubber meets the road, we're family and if something threatens that, look out world. The Wenner's are gonna beat it together!

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   Josie 16, Ethan 15, Jordan 13

Chickens - the end of the story

2016-08-13T09:27:00.000-05:00

I did my best work combating the conversations about the chickens we adopted. Well, Shaun said we bought them, but I insert my motherly instincts here.It was a good thing, I thought, that the kids were refusing to think of our chickens as dinner. Yet I knew the little guys would only produce so long and well, you don't want to just throw them away. This seemed like the appropriate photo to describe our projected feelings for the chicken.

We had some exciting interactions between our two dogs and the 4 chickens after we put them in their run in the backyard. Brutt was the funniest. He would race out the door and run right into the hardware cloth bending his nose. He also figured out a way to fit himself between the chicken run and the backyard fence. We supervised whenever the dogs were outside even thought the chickens were always in the run, however we never found the situation looking like this...

Until....
One night the dogs were left out for a 'quick' potty break. They were called in and eventually came. But the next morning we unfortunately found the chickens looking in worse shape than this...

Brutt had left the evidence.
He had dug a hole under the chicken run and run our little chickens ragged trying to pin them down.

The look on Sugar's face when we went out the following morning was true remorse. Brutt however, ran out as if nothing had happened the night before. He pounced around the chicken run expecting to be able to chase those chickens for another round. Unfortunately, there were 4 little bodies laying on the ground in various places around the yard.

So there lies the end of our chicken story. No eggs produced, no chickens butchered for food. Just the fun of having them, watching them grow for a few months, and finally tortured by our minature dauchund.

Lessons learned:
1. Shredded paper makes great bedding for chickens in a brooder.
2. Chickens are fun to watch grow and play together.
3. Chickens do snuggle each other when they need to share body heat.
4. Chickens love strawberry hulls and with fight over one even when they have 4 or 5 laying on the ground.
5. Dogs like to torment chickens and will do handstands between the fence and the run in order to get them.
6. Dauchunds can dig holes really fast.
7. Chicken poop is great for the garden but horrible on the nostrils.
8. A husband can be much more tolerant of my whims that what I gave him credit for.
9. Children that once thought it would be horrible to have chickens eventually grew to love watching them and their silly antics.
10. Never leave your dogs in the backyard with chickens no matter how sturdy and secure the chicken run is.