Sunday, July 27, 2008

Our Girls

The chicks (starting to look more like chickens):



Anna, hanging out:

Margaret, looking smug:

Eleanor and her flora collection:

Sophia found some honeysuckle:


Everyone is fine, Anna had roseola but she is fully recovered, we're busy and it's hot. Pretty much sums it up. :)

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Another Lovely Morning

The garden is definitely a success. My goal was to grow something this year, and in that at least I have succeeded! Sophia fell off of some playground equipment yesterday and hurt her arm, I still haven't decided if we should have it x-rayed or not.

This sunflower was a volunteer, from some birdseed that fell around the sidewalk. It makes me very happy.

The cheeps are spending most of the daytime in their hutch in the backyard this week. I think they'll move out there fulltime next week. The one in the doorway is Daisy, she's so friendly!


Here is a shot of the hutch we (well, mostly Tony) built out of leftover fence wood. It still needs some finishing touches and then I'll do a post about it, showing all of the amazing features!

Saturday, July 12, 2008

The County Fair

Today we went to the county fair and had a (mostly) lovely day. I forgot the camera, so no pictures.

The weather was unseasonably cool, we were wearing sweaters in July!! We saw lots of poultry, including some wyandotte pullets, black and white, similar to ours. We also saw rabbits, sheep, goats, cows, and there was a petting zoo with ducklings and llamas and miniature horses...in short, lots and lots of animals.

Pretty much the cutest thing all day was Anna at the petting zoo. She got so caught up in all the oohing and cuddling that she was walking around petting all of the other kids on the head. She got some pretty funny looks.

Ellie stepped in cow poo, and I unknowingly picked her up and carried her around a bit, so we brought home some fertilizer on Ellie's shoes and my pants (and the stroller wheels).

After walking around a lot, eating some junk food, smelling and wallowing in all of the animal glory, and riding a few rides, we drove home with at least two little ones screaming all of the way home because they didn't want to leave.

Can't wait to do it again next year. :)

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Why we had to separate Sophie and Ellie in the van

I hesitate to post this, it's pretty ugly. This happened on the 4th of July as we were driving to the lake. We thought it was funny, but that's probably because we're fairly desensitized to this sort of violence due to living with four kids.

So you've been warned, please use viewer discretion when watching this video, it's not for the faint of heart. These are children behaving very badly.

Oh, and another disclaimer, please don't assume that Sophie is as innocent as this clip makes it appear. I didn't get the camera out until after she had finished pushing Ellie over the edge.



We switched Sophie and Margaret for the ride home, and they will sit that way from now on.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Mediocre Chick Video

Here is a youtube video we took earlier today. Daisy and Hyacinth both like to sit on the back of Margaret's hand. The quality is not so good, but you can at least hear their cute little cheeping.

More Chicken News and a Tooth Update

The chicks are doing great, they are now over 1 week old. They spent a bit of time out in the grass today, scratching and pecking. They pretty much have names now, the two most outgoing are Hyacinth (she's the singer) and Daisy. Sophie and Ellie have named the other two Rosalind and Celia. Celia is the little one that was very wobbly the first few days, but seems to be coming along fine. They all have some wing feathers now and a few tail feathers. We can still tell them apart by their markings, but their personalities are easier to tell apart all the time.

Here they are outside earlier today:




Anna's tooth is still hanging in there, hanging being the operative word :(. It does not appear to be reattaching at all, and I expect it will fall out the next time she bumps it. It really was almost completely knocked out when she fell, so we're not surprised. I'm trying not to worry about it and just be thankful she wasn't really hurt. I am sad at the thought of her little smile changing. Oh well.