Chicks!!!!

They're here!!!  Well, two of them are:


AREN'T THEY JUST THE CUTEST THINGS EVER?!?!?!?


And we should be getting a third one tomorrow.  And she should be even littler and cuter, if you can imagine such a thing.  I'm going to attempt my first ever FAQ, while flashing oodles of pictures at you.  Okay?  So here goes:


Um...  You got chickens?
Yes, we did.  Yes, we are turning into "those" people.  It's okay, you can laugh at us.  I used to laugh at people who got chickens, too, so I know why you're laughing.  I'm kind of laughing at myself, honestly.  (I used to laugh at people who did homebirths, too, so apparently I'm just turning into more of a hippie with each passing day...  Where will the madness will stop?)

Introducing Ryder to the chicks

Why chickens?
That is a good question.  First of all, the kids wanted a pet.  They really wanted something.  And I like the idea of pets-- teaching responsibility and how to take care of animals and the companionship...  But I also am really busy taking care of four kids all day long and I get grumpy when my house is messy.  So I liked the fact that the chickens (once they're grown) get to stay outside.  WAY less mess for me that way (especially since the backyard is basically Craig's domain).  They're also a relatively easy animal to take care of, once they're all grown.  And then added bonus...  they lay eggs!  So it's a pet that gives back a little.  And I liked that about them.  So we decided to get chickens.  Craig and I also like the idea of learning how take care of ourselves a little.  It's why we'll be planting a garden this year, too.  This felt like a nice way to start dipping our toes in the ocean of self-reliance.

Colton is not so sure about them

 You realize that there's no way you eat enough eggs to make this cost-effective, right?  Yes, we do.  We have no illusions of making or saving money with these hens.  But I hear that chickens that are allowed to roam around outside (safe within their coop) and eat chicken food AND bugs and healthy stuff lay much better eggs: tastier and healthier for eating (more of the good cholesterol, less of the bad-- stuff like that).  And I like the idea of eggs that come from chickens that are allowed to be healthy and treated properly.  Taking proper care of animals makes me happy.

Bentley and Kendra are more excited

But don't you need a rooster for them to lay eggs?
Nope.  You don't.  Chickens lay eggs just because that's what they do.  No males necessary unless you actually want one of those eggs to hatch.  Not to be gross, but it's kind of like how a woman will have her monthly cycle whether there are males in the vicinity or not.  It's just what your bodies does.  And chickens are just really good at laying eggs!

In the box traveling to our home

 What if one of them turns out to be a rooster anyway?
That is the question indeed!  Because a rooster is good for some things-- protecting his flock and taking care of his ladies (a good rooster will bring them bugs and worms and other presents just because he's a gentleman like that) and getting you more adorable baby chicks.  But they're also noisy as all get-out and a good way to have your neighbors file a complaint against you.  In the interest of keeping the peace (literally) we're hoping our chicks are all girls.  But if they aren't, Janna promised to take them back for us.  One of the perks to using an independent breeder.  She's being really great about that, actually.  (More on Janna later.  But for now I'll tell you one thing: that WAS her actual name!)

 

 So you don't know if they're boys or girls yet?
Janna gave it her best guess, but it takes a real expert to tell the gender of baby chicks.  It's called "sexing" them, and even with the experts, it's not an exact science.  So we're just keeping our fingers crossed for now...

 

Is this even legal?
Um...  Not exactly.  We went with Joel Salatin's advice that laws like this are just in case your neighbors complain.  So we told our neighbors our plans and they were okay with it and we promised them free eggs to sweeten the deal.  Fingers crossed.  

Won't chickens be mean and try to peck you?
It's possible.  But some breeds are meaner than others.  We very carefully chose breeds that are especially docile and family friendly.  Just like any animal, each chicken is bound to come with her own personality, but we've at least tried to stack the deck in our favor with these particular breeds.

Why is the spacing getting all weird here?
I don't know.  But this is taking forever to type, so I'm not fixing it.  Sorry.

 

 So what breeds are they?
Glad you asked!  I spent a lot of time researching chicken breeds and weighing the pros and cons of each kind.  It was really fun, actually, getting back to my nerdy college roots.  I even took notes so I could remember it all.  Anyway, Lucy Mack, the yellow one, is a Buff Orpington.  As you can see, they're basically golden balls of fluff.  They're also the only chicken breed I saw that was described as "cuddly."  Sophronia, the brownish one, is a Welsummer.  A Welsummer rooster is what you see on a box of cornflakes, although the females are a bit more boring looking.  What makes them wonderful is that they lay beautiful dark brown eggs.  I love the idea of having colorful eggs and hope some day to collect some other chickens that lay fun eggs-- you can find chickens that lay pink, blue, and even green eggs!  Emma, the one that hasn't arrived yet, will be a Silver Laced Wyandotte.  I didn't really think of chickens as being pretty until I discovered this breed, but then I knew I had to have one.  Emma will be the beauty in our brood!  

 

 

 Uhh...  What's with these names?
You must not be Mormon.  These names are all Smith women from early church history.  Lucy Mack was Joseph Smith, Jr.'s mother.  Sophronia was one of his sisters (and had the funniest name of the Smith women; Don Carlos won the contest for Smith men).  And Emma was his wife.  Lucy and Emma are both names I really like, but given the church history and my own last name, I figured I would never use them (same reason I don't have sons named Joseph or Hyrum, even though I love those names).  So now I finally get to!  One of my favorite things is finally getting to use names that I like but for some reason or another couldn't use for my own kids.  Be prepared for a Jane some day (too boring with the last name of Smith), a Cordelia (Craig always vetoes this one), and if we ever do get a rooster, Dante (Craig says our kids are too white to pull off that one).  The fun never stops!

 

 Why did this all take so long?
I know, right?  I feel like I've been waiting on pins and needles for the last week, in addition to planning for this since Christmas (which was when we told the kids our big plans)!  The biggest problem was this lame Virginia law which states that when you buy chicks, you have to buy at least 6.  I have no idea why this law exists or what they're hoping to accomplish with this, but there you have it.  And heaven help the girl who only wants three chickens.

So we found Janna, our independent breeder.  She was great because she could get us the breeds we wanted, she was willing to take back any roosters, and she could get us the right number.  A winner!  But the downside was that we had to work around her very busy schedule, plus try to coordinate around when the chicks might actually hatch and/or be delivered.  So it's been a big pain.  If we ever do this again, we're going to buy six chicks and then "forget" half of them at the store!

Did you see that they're selling chicken coops at Costco?
Not until it was way too late.  Craig was already knee-deep building our own, so we just gazed longingly at the adorable Costco models and shook our heads.  But honestly, Craig's will be great and I'll get to paint it a beautiful blue with white trim.  And he had tons of fun designing it, so we're not really that bummed.  But it was pretty ironic...

This is my absolute favorite picture

So really, though, how did this happen?
Craig (and probably his whole family, but they're too polite to say) blames me and my hippie Seattle roots.  I certainly wasn't raised to incorporate livestock into my daily life, though, so I don't think it can be this.  And as I said, just a few years ago, I was mocking people who kept chickens in their backyards.  I actually think it's all Craig's fault.  Because, like I've said before, he's just so capable.  Things that sound impossible and scary feel like real possibilities once Craig is in the picture.  At least, I certainly wouldn't blithely talk about moving walls, building playsets, remodeling bathrooms, and, yes, designing and building my own chicken coop!  But with Craig on my team, these things happen!  And he not only does them (and finishes them!), but he does them well.  So why not?

I hear the eggs are supposed to be fabulous.

One Day More...

"Janna" canceled on me this morning about an hour before we were supposed to meet up, and asked if we could meet tomorrow.  I was terribly disappointed.  I hardly slept last night I was getting so excited, and now I have to go through it all over again tonight.

But on the plus side, Craig is happy with this new arrangement, since he won't be getting home until late tonight and had felt bad to miss out on all the fun.  Now he'll get to come with us for the pick-up, and I'll admit that I feel a lot more relaxed knowing that my very capable Craig will be there with me.  I always feel like nothing can go too terribly wrong as long as I have Craig by my side.

But since I've teased you enough, and since most of you already know what I'm up to anyway, I'll show you what we have set up for tomorrow:

This is one thing you can do with a shower you never use.  Beats using it for stroller storage...

More pictures and the entire story to follow.  Fingers crossed!

Anticip--

--pation.


We have high hopes that I'll be able to pick up an important package tomorrow morning.  I'm so excited I can hardly stand it and I'm also super nervous that it will fall through.  Last night I kept dreaming about it all and thinking it was happening this morning and then being disappointed when I would wake up enough to realize I still had one more day to go.  This has been in the works since December, and possibly even earlier than that.  And it's so close now...  So close!

This has involved plotting and buying and planning and building.  Researching and note-taking.  Texting and calling some woman who's name I'm not entirely sure of (I think Janna, but I could be wrong) and who I just figured out does NOT work in Manassas like I thought, but actually works at the same chain store, but in Purcelville (which is an hour away).  We're buying something from her sort of under the table, and it's been complicated, like these sorts of things tend to be.

But as of right now, we have everything we need on our end and we're just waiting to see if Janna (or whatever her name is) can deliver the goods.  I don't think I've ever been involved in something so covert before!  And, actually, I kind of suck at it.  But ooooh, I'm excited!

Fingers crossed!!!!

If all goes according to plan, I'll have pictures to share tomorrow!

The Birthday Post

So, yes, my little baby turned one.  Nothing like a baby to make time go by so fast and so slow all at the same time!  We had a fun day of it-- I showed him pictures of when he was just born and he smiled and pointed at them.  We gave him his first cupcake ever and sang to him and held the phone to his ear while other people sang to him and let him (sort of) open presents.  Birthdays are wonderful.  And then, a few days later we did it all over again with Grandma and Grandpa! 

I'm glad we get some time to celebrate my little guy!

And now, here are WAY too many pictures of it all!!!

Right after we blew out his candle for him.  He was slightly disappointed not to get to touch the flame...

But he got over that pretty quickly

Facetiming with his Kentucky cousins

Opening presents

I love how perfectly Japanese he looks kneeling here!

Cute little feet!

A pile of presents bigger than he is!

His first tool kit from Aunt Leah!

Bentley and Ryder find ways to distract themselves from the temptation of opening Colton's presents for him

Happy little boy!

Happy little boy with a hammer!

So typical: Kendra and Ryder play with his new toys, while he's off to explore all these amazing boxes!

Oh, I love my little Colton!  How happy I am that he's part of our family!  Happy birthday, Colton!

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Colton turned one last week.  And this is NOT the official birthday post where I tell you all about that rather significant event.  But this IS the post where I tell you a quick story that relates to it all, and share one picture as a "teaser."  Because I can drive a blog-plot forward like that!

So at his one-year check up, Colton's doctor was slightly concerned with the fact that he is neither talking at all NOR is he pulling himself up to standing.  Once I prop him against something he can stay there for ages, but he hasn't managed to really get there by himself yet.  And while he does babble all the time to me, none of it seems to be making any sense or have any real meaning behind it just yet.  So, my answer to both of these was (slightly sad) No. 

Now, I am not prone to worrying over my kids.  I'm saving that for when they're teenagers.  And so far they've managed to get to every milestone sooner or later, so if it's a few months later, I don't think that matters too much.  (It helps that my Mom informs me that I was kind of late to speak and to read, and I think I'm plenty smart, so I'm not inclined to place a lot of faith in these milestones as markers of intellect or ability to succeed in life or whatever it is that we as parents are hoping to find evidence of when we brag about all this stuff.)  But I will admit, that I left the doctor's office wondering if maybe I ought to be worrying more about my baby. 

So naturally, when I got him from his afternoon nap that same day, he was proudly standing up in his crib.  All by himself.  I thought about emailing the doctor to tell him, but figured he probably didn't actually care that much.

So yes, Colton has finally figured out how to pull himself up to standing!  Happy Day!

Except, as is often the case, this has introduced a whole new set of problems.  Because now when I put him in his crib for some sleepy time, he pops up like a little jack-in-the-box, and then cries and cries because he can't figure out how to get back down and he can't sleep standing there.  So it turns out this whole standing up business is not all it's cracked up to be.

This is what parenting is all about, folks!

Here's the teaser I promised.  More of this to come!

Extraordinary

I probably see a hundred things on facebook every day and most of them leave little to no impression on me whatsoever (kinda makes me wonder why I waste so much time there, but that's a topic for a different post).  But this quote, apparently by William Martin, struck me as unusually profound.  The more I think about it, the more I love it.  So I'm putting it here, so I can share it with you, and so I don't lose it.  I hope you like it, too!

Make the Ordinary Come Alive
Do not ask your children
to strive for extraordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable,
but it is a way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder
and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting
tomatoes, apples, and pears.
Show them how to cry
when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure
in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.


Isn't that beautiful?

I sometimes wonder.  There are probably a hundred different reasons someone might look at my life and think I'm probably miserable.  I don't have enough money or a nice enough car or a big enough house.  If any of my children are actual geniuses or child prodigies, I have yet to discover it.  I don't have them signed up for five different sports each to try and mold them into one of those uber-talented child stars you sometimes hear about.  Three of them aren't even close to being able to read yet, and I'm actually okay with that.  I don't sleep much and I spend an inordinate amount of time doing mundane things like laundry, dishes, changing diapers, and soothing booboos.  I'm sure to some women this would be their description of hell.

But I think my life is wonderful.  Playing peek-a-boo while I change Colton's diaper is a joy  Watching him finally crawl properly and wiggle his little bum as he slides along is an exercise in hilarity.  Watching my kids playing together without me having to step in and referee is witnessing a kind of miracle.  Having my home clean and ready for guests is full of satisfaction.  It's a quiet kind of happiness that I think too many people long for, without even knowing it, or how they could ever achieve it.  And even though putting kids' shoes and coats and hats on for the umpteenth time can sometimes feel tedious, the truth is that I wouldn't have it any other way.

I find my life extraordinary, and never imagined I could have been so blessed.  And I want to teach that to my own children as well.

So Close, and Yet...

With all the cold and snow, I get hungry for color.  I can hardly wait for the grass to turn green again and for the brilliant blue of the sky to come back.  I get so tired of everything looking washed out and grey, dirty and frozen.  It's why I get so excited when I see cardinals in all their red glory.

So when I looked out the window and saw a flash of brilliant orange, I had to examine it further.  I suspected it might just be garbage, but it certainly seemed to have a leaf shape to it, and I wondered if it was possible for a leaf to still have retained such a bright color this long.  I craned my neck every which way trying to see if better through the window, but finally had to send Craig out to retrieve it for me.  (Because I was certainly not going outside!!!  Too cold!)  I told him if it was garbage to just throw it away, but if it was a leaf, I wanted to see it.

Craig is very nice to me, so he pulled on his shoes and coat and headed right out.  When he came back in he was laughing.  "Well, it is a leaf..." he began, and then showed it to me.

It was a small leaf that had been spray painted utility orange. 

Oh.

Guess Who is 6 Years Old?

The observant, slightly stalker-ish reader may have noticed that Kendra's birthday passed without mention on the old blog, but never fear, I am remedying that right now!

So, yes, my little girl is a big 6-year-old now! And that seemed to call for a party. I'm not exactly a big party-planning person, but a quick scan of Pinterest yielded a couple games that wouldn't require too much craftiness or taking out a second mortgage on the house, so we went ahead and formed a plan.  The theme was Pizzas and Ponies, so the kids worked on making mini pizzas while everyone was still arriving, and then we played Pin the Tale on the Pony:

Eating their pizzas shortly before cake time

Using a hula hoop to lasso things

And then playing "Magic Rocks," which doesn't have much to do with ponies, but is a very fun easy game that kids love!

I take great pleasure in making my kids wear goofy party hats.  This is especially fun and easy right now because they're all perfectly willing to play along.  It's gonna get harder once they're teenagers...

I love how Bentley is sporting this hat completely without irony or anger.  Ha!

Kendra received her very first Barbie doll, which horrified me.  I thought about returning it, since the gift receipt was included, but Craig thought that was being too mean.  My inner-feminist growled over it, though.

Even Colton got to wear a hat for a few seconds!

Later, Kendra received presents in the mail from family members

And a few days after that, we went to Culpeper so she could celebrate with Grandma and Grandpa

After she was done opening presents, we took her out to meet some horses, which was very exciting for this little horse-loving gal!

Unfortunately, after the horses, poor Kendra got sick.  Very sick.  So we had to curtail the festivities a bit.  Here she is sleeping it off on the couch.  Isn't she beautiful?

The next few days I could tell she was feeling better when she got excited for the presents she had opened, but barely looked at!

My little 6-year-old princess!

Happy birthday to my sweet, sweet Kendra! You are something special and we love you very much!