Chicken Update

I know that everyone is dying for an update about our new pets. I kind of left a cliff hanger in my last post about the chickens. Will the 2-year old kill them? Will the cat eat them for dinner?

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Luckily, our chickens seem to be doing fine. Logan quickly lost interest with them and pretty much leaves them alone. Even when he does decide to bother them, he just tries to pet one of their heads. They seem to always know when he’s coming and instantly freeze up. As for the cat, I’ve trained our kids pretty well to keep the doors closed. It will hopefully keep happening when the chickens are moved outside this summer. I knew I had done a good job of training the kids when I went outside the other day and Logan yelled at the door. “Mom, come in, come in. Cat eat chickens dinner.” I wonder what will happen when he puts together that the chicken we eat for dinner is another form of the chickens we have as pets. I guess I’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

It’s been really educational having the chickens, too. Did you know that chicken manure is considered one of the most amazing fertilizers? Some people keep chickens just for that reason. Thankfully, despite the learning curve, they’ve been pretty easy to take care of.

Oh…and we found out what kind of chickens they are. We got in touch with the egg supplier and they said they are a Bantam blend. They’re not purebred chickens. They are small chickens and will lay small eggs (hopefully they’ll start laying when they’re around 4 months old). They are still pretty small, but I’m amazed at how quickly they’ve grown and changed. I would estimate that they’ve at least quadrupled in size.

I’ve been taking pictures every week. Want to see the progress?

Here they are at one week:

 

Two weeks:

 

Three weeks:

 

Four weeks:

 

And finally, five weeks. We took them outside for the first time today.

They’re still pretty little. And they still cheep, so technically they’re still chicks. But they can jump pretty well, now. It won’t be long before we have no choice but to move them outside.

They look so completely different than they did as chicks.

Here’s Sonic:

And Sparkles:

And this has been in the last 4 weeks. Dave brought them home May 3rd. And I thought my babies grew up fast!

Next step…get a chicken coup.

Kindergarten Field Trip

I was pretty lucky and got to go on Max’s field trip this year. The kindergarteners always go to Bear World. And it’s a steal! Only $2 per person (compared to a price ten times that normally).

This was Max’s first time riding school bus. I honestly think he was more excited about that than anything.

We sat next to our neighbor Chloe on the bus. She’s been in our kindergarten carpool group all year, too.

We first drove around Bear World so the kids could “meet” all of the bears.

There are a TON of bears there! Over 50. The lady giving the tour was amazing. She knows every single bear by name. She would point out the window and tell individual stories about each bear.

After the tour, we had a little picnic.

Fed the ducks,

And visited the petting zoo.

The day ended in the show stopping event of petting the bear cubs. We went at the perfect time because that was the very last day they were allowing anyone to pet the cubs. Those bears were so patient! They let every single kindergartener get a turn.

It was so much fun to spend the day with just Max. We don’t get to do that often enough!

Mom’s Spa Night

Right before Mother’s Day, the activity day girls in our ward had a Mother/Daughter Spa night. It was really fun and cute. Beforehand, all of the daughters made invitations to give their mothers. Bria was so excited to go and show me all of the surprises!

There were three different “stations” if you will. We started at the manicure station.

Bria gave me a lovely sheer pink manicure topped with a lovely pink shimmer.

Next up was hair.

Why, yes, that is Bria holding a 400 degree flat iron extremely close to my head. I actually own the same flat iron that does indeed get to 400 degrees. Do you see the look of apprehension in my eyes?

 

Finally, make-up. Bria wanted to be sure that she didn’t miss any of the most important make-up products.

She tried pretty much everything available. When she was finished, she said: “I’m sorry mom! I was trying to make you look like a doll, but I think I accidentally made you look like a clown!”.

At the very end of the night, Bria presented me with this handmade Mother’s Day bracelet.

It was such a fun night. I really have such a special daughter. {WARNING: INTENSE MOM BRAGGING ABOUT TO COMMENCE}.  It was really important to her that she make this night special for me. Being a little girl, you would think that she would want her fingernails painted. And, being that she normally doesn’t get to wear make-up, you would think she would want me to put make-up on her. But instead, she insisted that she spend all of the time pampering her mom. It was a pretty proud moment.

Monkey

One more Logan post. I love this age he’s at. His cuteness completely makes up for his total disregard for all things clean and his lack of interest potty training. ;)

Logan is an interesting talker. He tends to make up names for things. He understands the correct word when we say it, but when we have him repeat it back, he substitutes with his own word. It makes for interesting conversation.

We first noticed this when he was learning to say “Max”. Instead of saying “MAX”, he said “CARS”. He also called cars “CARS”, so we really had to listen to figure out what he was talking about.

We finally got him to say Max’s name right. Although it took quite a bit of convincing. He knew Max’s name, he just preferred to use “CARS”.

Here’s the new word that Logan changes:

 

Dear Future Logan,

Please don’t blame us when we forever call you “Monkey”.

Love, Mom and Dad

Here’s Winking at You

I’m pretty impressed. Logan learned how to wink. At two and a half. I don’t think either of our older kids learned until at least four. Max still has trouble with it. But, Logan is one determined little boy. He decided he wanted to know and figured it out.

 

Also, I figured out how to use the video part of our camera. I’m sure there will be lots more videos to come.

 

Our New Pets

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the hardware store with the kids. It’s spring time, and we live in the country, so they had tons of chicks for sale. Bria was in love. I actually told her no at the store. It seems like all of our neighbors have dogs. Plus, we have a cat here. But, I said if she really wanted chickens, she needed to convince her dad. I fully expected him to say no also. But, instead he said that every year the 2nd grade at his school hatches baby chicks. He said he would ask if we could have them. Bria’s a pretty good convincer.  Guess what he brought home today?

To say that the kids are excited would be a complete understatement. Although I’m a little worried that these babies will survive a two year old.

We let Bria and Max each name one.

Bria named the lighter one on the left Sparkles.

Sparkles is a little bit feisty. So far, she likes to pick at the other chicken. Is this normal? I have no idea what I’m doing!

Max named the darker chicken. Her name is Sonic Fast Hedgehog. We’re calling her Sonic for short.

These two have had quite a day. They’ve so far been kept in separate 2nd grade classrooms. So, not only were they moved to our home, but this is the first time they’ve been around each other.

I’m pretty excited and nervous about this new adventure. I know I’ve lived in Idaho for a long time, but I’m truly a city girl. Right now I’m just hoping they survive. If anyone has any chicken advice, please share!