Tuckered Out

I just had to post this. This is a picture of Naomi asleep on the ottoman in our living room. She was standing next to it and decided to lay on it for a minute as she was getting sleepy (trying to stay up till big sister got back from preschool so they could all nap together). She just couldn't make it today and fell asleep where she was. I let her stay that way for about 20 mins until I had to pack her up in the car and go pickup Rosen from Preschool.

Baby Chicks!

     I have been trying to convince my husband that keeping a few chickens for fresh eggs and for our children to experience the responsibility of caring for an animal as well as thinking about where food comes from is a good thing for a couple of years now. 

Thankfully our new neighbors next door got a few layer hens last fall and so he has gotten to watch and see first hand how low maintenance and quiet they are. (No roosters) 

Needless to say he has changed his tune and is actually excited about the prospect. I think he mainly realized that it wasn't just  a fleeting desire and that it really would make me happy. I am so blessed.

And so, he set about to build a home for our future flock. 

Getting everything laid out for building the coop. 

He loves building anything out of wood. 

 Our little man "helping" daddy with the hammer. 

Like Father, like son

 Bird's eye view

 The roosting boxes. We painted the inside white to make it brighter and cleaner looking (for now). 

Also thought it might help with cleaning?

 Finishing up the roof so they'll stay dry.

 That's the CUTEST baby chick I've ever seen! 

Oh wait, that's my adorable nephew Joshua and his pretty mommy Gloria. :)

 Since we built the coop at my in-love's house they delivered it to us the next morning.

 My handsome hubby next to his chicken palace.

 So, when you build a chicken coop a funny thing happens. You buy chicks! Shortly after the coop was settled into the backyard we were off to the farm store to pick out our new babies. We thought 6 would be a good number so we bought 8 (Braid math - we figured some would die, we were wrong)

 These are the new chicks still in the box when we got them home. 

There are actually 8 little fuzz balls in there 

2 barred rock, 2 black Australorp, 2 New Hampshire Reds and 2- Golden sex-linked.

 Putting them into their brooder box.

 Very excited

 Naomi is pretty timid of the chicks but was able to hold one with a little help.

 Settling in

 Rosen did not leave this post unless I made her the first 2 days. 

If I ever couldn't find her, this is where she'd be. She was so concerned about the chicks. 

She will make a great mother someday.

 This is her favorite. It's name is Goldie. 

The other golden is Diamond and one of the Black Australorp's is named Penguin 

(because its face has markings like a penguin). 

The others will get names when we can tell them apart.

Three days after we've brought them home they are already starting to look different. See how their necks are getting longer and some of them are starting to get their wing feathers? As Nathan says (affectionately) "They get uglier everyday."

Ravioli Makers

Aunty Gloria is a wonderful cook and Uncle Justin is like her Sou Chef. Together they taught the girls how to make yummy mushroom raviolis with their pasta machine. Uncle Justin prepared the dough and gave each of the girls their own ball of it to work while Aunty Gloria cooked the mushroom filling. As you can see they were dressed appropriately in their princess dresses. 

They had a great time and the dinner was excellent!
Thank you Uncle Justin & Aunty Gloria!