Saturday, January 31, 2015

Cute chicks, and crazy dogs.

Since chicks grow at pretty much the speed of light, my photo opportunities for getting pics of them this tiny and adorable are fleeting. I spent a few minutes attempting to get some cute shots today. Chicks are HARD to get pictures of let me tell you LOL. Between needing to be as quick as I could so I could get them back to their heat lamp, and them not wanting to sit still a second...I am surprised I got anything at all.

I put them in this cute little basket, they of course wanted to try to jump/flutter out.

Miss Belle, the little Easter Egger.

I just love her little beard, I can't wait to see what she looks like all grown up...since she is a mixed breed I have no idea, it will be a total surprise.
What is harder than trying to photograph one little chick...toss 3 more into the picture LOL.

Anna, the Barnevelder, is cooperating...not sure what her sisters are doing.

2 out of 4...getting closer.
























It was like an exercise in futility LOL.

Lucky for them they are cute, even when they are not cooperating.
Jasmine and Anna, so sweet.
Jasmine is supposed to be a Barred Plymouth Rock, be those babies look amazingly similar to the Cuckoo Marans, I think I picked a Barred Rock, but I won't be 100% until she starts to get feathers.

Could Mulan be any more adorable? The Silver Laced Wyandotte's are so pretty...can't wait for her beautiful feathers to start coming in.




My one shot where all 4 are sort of looking the same way at the same time LOL.
The kids have wanted to hold the babies since we walked them in the door. Today they each got a short turn.

They were very careful and gentle. The kiddos weren't ready to put them back, these chicks are going to get a lot of hands on care I think.




























My friend Dina and her kiddos came over for dinner, a movie and some crazy dog socialization time.
A VERY rare moment where Lycan was not going 100 miles a minute trying to sexually harass poor Kitsune. Don't feel too bad for her though, my little half pint is tougher than she looks. She was LOUDLY kicking his butt most of the 4 hours they were here LOL.
























Toward the end they started chilling, just a smidge. They played a little tug of war with each other.

























The chicks got a little more attention before the night was over.
























Aww such a sweet moment.

Friday, January 30, 2015

The chicks have landed...and another student of the month!

We had a pretty fun day today! First Lily got totally surprised when she was announced as Student Of The Month, 2 kids in 4 months...come on Xander :)

This month was recognition for "self control". Poor Bug has had a hard time since her BFF Kalaya moved away, but I guess she has been holding it together at school. Her teacher says she has seen Lily start to get sad or get cranky and then she calms herself down and does what she is supposed to. I'm glad, because she has been a total pill at home LOL.

Jericho was really happy for his big sister...he ran up and gave her a big hug :)

Way to go Lily Bug...you are a rock star!

Momma is super proud...hope this doesn't put too much pressure on Xan Man LOL.



Dad was so happy to be able to make it this morning, he was stuck working when Hayden got her award.



Grandma made the drive out too, Lily was so excited to see her too.

The next stop on the fun train...the feed store to pick up some of our baby chicks! They weren't supposed to be in until tomorrow, so it was an unexpected surprise.

They had like 5 or 6 different breeds in these two little brooders...I had 4 specific chicks I was looking for, but with them all jammed together it took a few minutes to pick out the right ones.


Here they are, 4 of our 6 little ladies. From left to right we have

"Mulan" she is a Silver Laced Wyandotte...she will lay brown eggs.
Next is "Anna" a Barnevelder...she should lay dark brown almost chocolate eggs.
Then there is "Belle" she is an Easter Egger...hopefully she will lay blue or green eggs.
The last one in there is "Jasmine", she is a Barred Plymouth Rock and will also lay brown eggs.

Yes, the kids decided to name our chicks after Disney Princesses...Elsa and Ariel should be joining us soon.

They are little bitty's, but they will grow so amazingly fast...they were just hatched on 1/27 and already some of their baby fuzz on their wings is starting to be replaced with pin feathers.

























They got home and crashed out for a nap. They seem to be doing really well, chicks are pretty fragile...I hope we don't lose any, the kiddos will be crushed. I feel like a brand new nervous Momma all over again LOL.

Our little makeshift brooder, the kiddos can not get enough of watching these little babies.

OJ also seems to be quite interested...good thing he has no claws and no real interest in killing anything.


Someone was getting super jealous LOL.

Belle our cute little Easter Egger, they told me she is an Ameracuana but I am pretty sure she is not. EE's are half Ameracuana half something else, they sometimes have a cute little "beard" and lay blue eggs like Ameracuana's but they are a mutt. Belle does have the little beard, so hopefully she will lay blue eggs too!

The gray bellied one over there is Mulan.

Jasmine watching over Anna.


Jasmine is starting to get her little comb (thing on the top of her head). Some breeds have large combs, some have small pea combs, some only the males have combs...chickens are all so different. She better be a she...chick sexing is only about 90%, sometimes boys do get mixed in with the girls. Fingers crossed we don't have a "Charming" in here LOL.

These babies grow and change so fast...stay tuned for lots of pictures ;)

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Buried in clothes.

We hit the feed store today, Kitsune and Jericho managed to not break anything...and I managed to not bring a new pet home LOL. We were actually picking up a few things for the chicks we are getting later this week!!! I have been thinking of getting chickens for a couple years now, I kept putting it off thinking they would be too much work. 3 of my friends have chickens and make it look like no big deal, so this week we are taking the plunge!

Rabbits are always so cute.
























Checking out the chicken feed.
























Jericho asked if he could have a horse in his room...I wish dude ;)
























Bring on the baby chicks, we are ready!
He thinks he is so sneaky. I asked Jericho if he wanted to walk with me up to the top of our street to get the trio off the bus, he said no. Then I happened to notice this stealthy ninja trying to sneak up on me.























He needed the Mission Impossible theme music going on.
























Dee da doo, dee da doo.


Busted...that smile.

Lily has had it really rough since Kalaya moved away. She is sad, doesn't want to go to school, is grumpy when she gets home...it is really sad. I hope this doesn't last long...she is really being a pill. She spends a lot of time playing in her room alone right now. I went to check on her today and walked into a scene from Lady and the Tramp...she even had their radio playing LOL.

Too cute!

We got a start on the garage today, hoping to do a little bit each week and maybe in a year a couple months it will be done. This is all kids clothes, headed for Goodwill and Grandma's next garage sale.

Goodness.

I ran into all my old pictures and photo albums...it was a time suck for the kids and I, thankfully Jason kept working away.
Cool story...When we were driving to Mt. Hood the other day we came across a snowboard and bindings in the middle of the highway. We stopped to pick it up, decided to take it home and post it on craigslist to try and find its owner. The rest of the day the kids were so proud that we were being "nice people" and were trying to return the lost snowboard. So far we haven't had any luck, but today after I told someone who replied that it was not his lost snowboard he emailed me this...

"I was so hoping it was mine. You are a very respectful person to attempt to return someone's lost snowboard. I'm glad there are people like you... doing the right thing. You should be proud of yourself. Thank you so much for the reply." 

I am so glad we grabbed this opportunity to teach the kiddos something...and it makes me so happy that they took pride in helping to do the right thing.