Chicken Chronicles::Vol. 4 (Getting Bigger)

It really is amazing how fast these little chicks are growing. I feel like if I stared at them long enough I would be able to see their feathers coming in. One more week or so and I should be able to move them outside full time. I think they are about 4 weeks old now (Jemimah a little younger, Hazel a little older). Every day I try to take them outside and let them run around the yard. They must know they are small because they pretty much stick to this little "ditch" (created when we pulled out more of those pesky railroad ties) and those tall weeds. They definitely prefer being outside to their lame box inside except when it's too cold...which it has been the last few days! BRRRR

I'm pretty sure the little black one is at least half a week younger. This is how they sleep when they are little. Freaks me out because they totally look dead. None of the others are sleeping like this anymore, but this is how I found Jemimah last night when I checked on them. (Iffy looked just like that and she was dead)

Nope. Alive and well :)

Our little yellow one is getting quite white! She will be all white eventually with a little bit of black markings on the tips of her wings and tail.

The mystery bird. Still not positive what she is. Pretty sure she isn't a Rhode Island Red because she has such speckled wings and she's not getting dark enough. Maybe a New Hampshire Red? Chime in if you have a clue!

Sister Hazel has got to be about a week older than everybody else. She is a lot bigger and is a step ahead of the others on the amount of feathers she has. See all the new feathers around her neck!?

Newly painted coop!

Easton::11 Months

We're reaching the end of that first year. It has gone insanely fast! Easton is a fully incorporated member of the Wagner household. We know him. And he knows us.

This month has been one of our most challenging. Our sleeping regiment has begun to fail. I am not one to have good sleepers. I don't know who is to blame for that. Maybe they aren't supposed to sleep much the first year. I'm done guessing. I didn't have expectations with Easton and sleeping. I just relaxed about the whole thing and just rolled with it. And as mine do, he has yet to sleep through the night. It got better, then it got worse...and I was still alright with it. We changed things up with him (compared to the other 2) so that I could get the most sleep possible. Mostly that meant having him in bed with me through most of the night. Well the time has come for change. I was fine keeping on with what we were doing....but it just stopped working. All of a sudden he was awake most of the night, he skipped his naps, he was exhausted and refused to sleep (unless I was holding him or nursing him). So, the last few weeks have been difficult. We're both sad. Hopefully soon he will get the hang of the new routine. I hate this! Crying babies makes me anxious and a really huge part of me is saying, "just hold him and make the crying stop!" But nobody can really function like that. I have others to care for and Easton. is. tired!

Soooo, other than that he is a riot. He makes the biggest messes you've ever seen. Tearing things up and ripping things off shelves (or anywhere he can reach) and throwing things EVERYWHERE. He has decided that pointing is the coolest thing ever and he points all the time, as if he is showing us something really cool. He's eating lots more foods, mostly off my plate. He has 4 teeth on top now and 4 teeth on the bottom. And I can't hardly wait until this kid is walking!!!! He crawls everywhere including through the dead, messy grass that is everywhere. He is a total disaster most of the time.
4 more weeks and no more "baby" Easton. (:/:(

 

 

Chicken Chronicles::Vol. 3 (R.I.P.)

Iffy-Iola.
Alive and well one day. Not so much the next.

Life (and death) with chicks.

A Funny One of Brendan

I don't know what anyone else thinks, but I laughed my head off after I took this picture. That would be marker on his face and it started a drawing-on-body frenzy. I can't believe I didn't take pictures of what they looked like after taking markers to their faces. I think I was just so shocked. They went straight into the bath because I couldn't really think of a better way to deal with it.
Silly boys.

Kid Quotes::Vol. 32

Wyatt: Hey Mom, I think Milly is the nicest.

Me: I agree. She has a really sweet personality.

Wyatt: You mean chicken-ality?

Yard Demolition

Yard demo is under way here. Demolition to make way for renovation! Sort of forgot how it feels to have a new house with all kinds of possibilities but having to be patient because it is such a slow process to make it all come to life. The backyard is mostly a blank slate. We are trying to really think about how we will use the huge space most of the year and how we can minimize the work and time required to maintain it! Not an easy task. We are in a race right now to beat the heat and get a lot of the "work" done before it gets too hot. This yard probably used to be nicely landscaped, but that was about 30 years ago...and some things...like the railroad ties need to go! The boys took care of that. :) Whoever lived here before used railroad ties stuck in the ground upright (buried about 2 feet deep) for some type of fence like border around a raised area of the yard. Besides that, there are some boards in the ground that probably bordered the river rock that is embedded all around the yard from the grass, which is now pretty patchy. Last weekend all the railroad ties came out. We are going to use some of the bigger (less rotten) ones as a border to house the kids new swing set. (Remember when we had to sell ours back in PA?? Such a sad day. We're looking forward to a new one and are so excited to have the space for one.)

Upcoming outdoor projects:
removing all the random river rock and boards
pool fence to protect our almost walker
swing set
planting (grass, plants, flowers, vegetables)
composting
painting chicken coop and moving loud, messy chicks outside
desert landscaping front yard

swing set is going to go in this corner

Miniature Golf

Our house is right by Castles and Coasters. We've never been, but last night we decided to check out their miniature golf. It was a blast! I LOVE having Thursday as our Friday. We got 2 for 1 because it was a weekday and there was nobody there. Awesome!

To explain an upcoming picture, Easton has been having some troubles lately in the sleeping department. Basically he just won't go to sleep at all. Not for naps, not for bed. And then when he finally does take a nap, he doesn't stay down long. Must be teeth?? Check out the picture of him though.

Look at that moon! Almost full

All my boys

This was one tired dude! He never did sleep in the backpack either.

Chicken Chronicles::Vol. 2 (The Chicks)

We have chicks! They are actually 2 week old pullets and we got 5, each of them a different breed. We are having so much fun with them already!

We got an Ameraucana (Easter Egger), a Delaware, a Barred Rock, a Black Australorpe, and a we were supposed to get a Golden Laced Wyandotte, but I'm pretty sure they gave us a Rhode Island (or new Hampshire) Red instead. I'm really okay with that because we already have 2 "blackish" ones and the Wyandotte would be another black one. The RIR will be redish and then the Delaware will be white. They are super cute, quite a bit bigger than a 1 or 2 day old chick that you might be used to seeing pictures of, and they are just starting to get their real feathers. They are curious and friendly and all of them are easy to grab and pick up. They are happy as can be in their new little home (a box for now) and are chirping up a storm.

We took the day to come up with names and just had to pick some and be done with it or else it could have really gone on and on forever. I wanted to stick with an "old lady" theme and Rand requested that he get to name one of them (He sees a plethora of old lady names on a daily basis). His name is my favorite.

correction: I previously wrote 'Effie', but Rand's bird is actually named 'Iffy'. My bad. I like either. Iffie it is!
Here are: Iffie Iola (Rand's- Iola, like "viola" without the V. This font makes it look like an 'L', but it's an 'i'), Sister Hazel, Milly-Molly-Mandy (It's from a book we have. We'll call her Milly for short), Hattie Rose, and Jemima Bean. We love them!

Milly

Hattie Rose

Chicken Chronicles::Vol. 1 (The Coop)

Having our own chickens has been a grand idea of mine for the last few years. When we first moved to Arizona I remember thinking, 'Shoot. Now I'll never get chickens. You can't raise chickens in the hot desert.' Well then I started doing a little research and come to find out there are tons of people raising chickens in Phoenix. (Me and my prejudices against Phoenix)
So our lives haven't exactly been suitable for pets and such with all the moving and unrest. We've been renting and knowing we would probably move again and so it's just always been in the back of my mind. Maybe someday. Well I think I'm really starting to feel settled...at least I'm getting there!
As far as the chickens go, we (I) have done our due diligence. The boys and I have checked out books from the library, devoured the Backyard Chickens website, researched coops and building plans and craigslist, etc. I've mentioned it to Rand's Dad (who grew up on a farm in South Dakota) and he basically thought I was nuts. Rand just listens to my grand schemes sort of waiting for them to disappear..."Do you really think you want chickens?" Um. Yes. I think I do! My aunt, who used to raise chickens has been the most encouraging. She gave me magazines to thumb through and just thinks chickens for pets are the best!
For Valentine's Day, Rand gave me the "go ahead". With all the other projects we have to do around here, I knew building a coop just wasn't going to happen yet. So I contacted a local guy who builds coops. I've noticed his ad on craigslist for a long time, but his coops weren't as cute as some of the others I had been looking at. Well, long story short I ended up getting it for several reasons. It was the right price and a good size for the price. It was assembled. It was very open which is best for hot Arizona summers (most of the cute coops I think would kill my chickens in a split second).
So I got it! It is probably going to get a coat of primer and paint before the ladies move in. Oh, and right now it is outside our backyard gate, next to the garage because it is about 2 inches too wide to fit through. We're going to have to lift it over. I love roping Rand into unexpected manual labor with my grand ideas. :)
Next up. Baby Chicks!

Valentines '11

I love Valentines Day. It's such a pick-me-up in the middle of the worst month of the year (in my opinion). The month where winter just kind of seems to be dragging on and on and all you want is some warmer weather and some seeds to plant...and yet there is still so long to wait.

What am I talking about? I live in Phoenix. None of that applies. I guess it's my default after a lifetime of dark and dreary Washington winters. Well, I still love Valentine's Day.

We've done lots of the faves this year. Lots of heart-y crafts. Heart shaped pancakes. Heart shaped cookies. Pink and red candy. Giant teddy bears. Roses. And our traditional scavenger hunt (for all the boys). This year for our dinner I made homemade pizza pockets which were more or less a hit. And for me, Rand gave me the go ahead for the chicken coop I've been planning for the last few years. I'm pretty pumped about it. :) Bring on spring!!!

Nicknames

Nicknames seem to just happen. You just start them somehow...sometimes without thinking about how they really sound.

Naturally, we shorten names. Kaylee is often "Kay". Brendan is almost always "Bren". Rachel is "Rach" and Joanna is "Jo". Wyatt is "Wy". Easton is "E".

And then there is progression. We add a "Y" sound to the end of the nickname. This doesn't work with everyone, but Rach becomes Rachie, Jo become Jojee, Brennie, Wyttie (how would you spell that?? It sounds like whitey), etc.

Some nicknames around here I don't even know where or why....

Brennie-boy, Bren-Bren, Bubs, Bren-O

Wyatt-doodle, Wytie-pants,

E-Ton, Lumpy-lou, E-boy

And then there are a couple favorites. Little Bella used to call Brendan "Bernie". And another friend's son calls Wyatt "Wallet".

Now, I'm assuming all this is bordering more on the "normal" side of things, right? Everyone does this?

Seems like nicknames have taken a little turn to the ridiculous lately. Mostly it's Wyatt.
When Wyatt says "Easton" he likes to really stress the "TON"...really he does it to everyone. He just over emphasizes the last part of words because he's silly I guess. With Easton for some reason, Wyatt has started changing the last part of Easton's name. So I hear a lot of "E-struck" or "E-stub". And then lately it has just been shortened. Wyatt literally calls Easton just "Struck" or just "Stub". It's rather hilarious. "Hey Stub".

I've been thinking a lot lately about how silly it is, these names and how they come about. What would a stranger think if they heard me call my son "Whitey-Pants"? I do it without even thinking!

Just when I think it couldn't get any sillier, Brendan got a new nickname from Wyatt. It went on for a couple days before Brendan said something. :)

Wyatt: "Hey Brick, ya wanna go play outside?"

Brendan: "Wyatt, please don't call me 'Brick'"!

Wyatt: "Can I call you Brennie?"

Brendan: "I want you to call me Brendan for 3 days!"

Maybe that's just the natural consequence Wyatt needed. :)

Swaddled

Haven't swaddled him since his newborn days, but this was just the ticket to solving some of our bedtime/naptime woes (notice I said some). He loves being swaddled.

Kid Quotes::Vol.31

On the way to Brendan's baseball practice tonight:

Wyatt: Mom, when I'm out on the field I sometimes think it's a dream.

**proud Dad**
__________________________________________________________________

another day.
we had to turn around and go back to the house because we forgot something....

Brendan: Is Mom just going to hop out and get it?

Rand: No. Here's what's going to happen. When we get to the house we're going to drive the car onto 2 wheels and go through the door sideways and Mom is going to reach her arm out the window, grab it off the shelf, then we're going to drive through the house, out the back door, across the backyard and jump the back fence.

Wyatt: (mumbling to himself in the back seat) Our car can't jump.

Science Experiment #10::Water

I love when science experiments leave the kids totally amazed. This one was so simple but oh so impressive to these little minds...especially these little minds who think a lot about "the force". :) It's everywhere.....

First we put a dry napkin in a small glass bowl and submerged it upside down in a big bowl of water.
 

How is it still dry???.................................tip it sideways and let out the air...wet!
 

Another bowl with holes poked in the bottom. Full of water. Doesn't leak!
 

But poke a hole in the top and....

Then we learned how siphons work
 

Look how amazed Easton is!!!!