And we have an updated post!!

God is good!! He has answered lots of prayer!! Christmas time was great. We had many good family gatherings. Jason's family was able to celebrate with us on Christmas Eve, and my family was able to gather on Christmas Day.

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. There was a storybook snowfall Christmas Eve, and plenty of snow to play in the past few days. The kids have enjoyed thier days off of school, and had a blast sledding today!!

Eggs!! We have Eggs!!

Over the past week, our chickens (more likely one chicken) has given us three eggs every other day since Sunday. The kids are waiting for one more egg so they can each have one of our own eggs for a meal! They all check multiple times throughout the day.

Our privacy fence is done, and the birds have been able to do a little more free ranging around the yard. It has been a great experience and the kids have really enjoyed the chickens. It is amusing, sitting on the ground and feeding them grass through the hardware cloth.

Soccer Season!!!

My Soccer Players!!

Today was filled with soccer, from early this morning until almost noon. We started at 8:00am with Logan's first game! He did awesome, he is so fast! He made two great assists that ended with a boot to the goal. I didn't realize how large his field was, next time, I will have to bring the zoom lens!Next was Morgan's pictures/game. Pictures at 9:12 and game at 10:00. She did a great job. She loves to play soccer!! She is a great team player and passes well. She isn't afraid to go after the ball. Spent!! Totally Spent! She ran so hard! As a matter of fact, so hard that after we got home, of course, after going out to eat, she was so sick!! Poor Morgan!

Lucy, our tag a long! She did a great job, she was such a trooper. She willingly (thought it was fun) to use the potty chair I brought along in the car. To walk anywhere at Tuma, is a trek, especially with a two year old who has to go potty, now! Here she is heading to Ethan's game. Of course, with the necessities!! Water and Chocolate Donuts!!

Ethan's pictures were at 10:12 and his game started at 11:00. We made everything on time and the schedule worked perfect. Everybody did such a great job, getting ready and being patient for thier turn for morning activities.

Ethan did great too! Since he was a tiny boy, 1 yr old he loved to kick the soccer ball. We would go to the Logan and Morgan's games and he would kick, and kick, and kick the ball into an open goal. He will spend hours in the driveway, kicking the ball against our brick foundation. He loves to play soccer in the backyard, with anyone who will play with him. He did a great job, in his first soccer game!! He made a few goals and also stopped the other team from making a few. It was so much fun to sit and watch him do something that he loves!!

Headed back to the van, Miss Lucy kicked a soccer ball all the way there. I was very pleased at how well she stayed and watched thier games. This was only the first week, here is hoping the rest of the season she does just as good!! I love her curls, blowing in the wind!!

Headed to the van, after a morning full of fun and sweat!!

Free Range Chickens!!

Yum!! Pumpkin Seeds thier favorite!!! I was wondering what I was going to do with the 40 pumpkins I grew this year!!!! We have had a productive week. As it all started last Monday night when we first brought out 6 girls home!! Monday night, and Tuesday night I had to take the girls into thier coop and place them on the roost one by one. On Wednesday night, they were all in the coop one was perched on the roost as they all should have been and a couple were not, but they were all in the coop!!! By Thursday night, all 6 girls were perched on the roost when I came home. They all fit perfectly in the 4ft wide roost that they have in thier cozy coop!! City Ordinance says our girls each have to have an identifying bracelet placed on thier little ankles!! Thankfully most of the girls don't mind being picked up, and all of them seem to settle once you have them close to you. Snuggling must be comforting!! My neighbor came over to hold the girls while I clasped thier bracelets shut. It just so happens that the bracelets close with an eyelet that has to be crimped. I happen to have a scrapbooking tool that was the perfect tool to use to get this job done. At the zoning department, they were sure to show us the tool that is recommended to be used with the tags. They were quick to add that thiers was not going to be lent out. When I seen the bracelets, I was totally confident that my scrapbooking tool would get the job done!! And so it did!!

During the week, Jason has been busy putting up a bit of privacy fence to keep our chickens in thier designated "Chicken Free Range Yard." He has been able to work on the fence on a couple mornings this past week, and was able to finish it today!! It looks really sharp! I can't wait to get another section of fencing put up. I will feel much more comfortable as my chickens free range in the future. Tonight, after the gate was placed on the fence. We brought the kids outside, and gave them a few rules about the chickens being able to be free ranged.

The chickens can only free range while we are outside with them, as we don't want them to jump the fence and venture to unprotected territory, by neighbors dogs and so forth. Our birds are a bit flighty and when they feel threatened, whether by a child or by another bird (as in this case) they are not afraid to use thier wings!!

The only person who was having problems with the one and only rule was Miss Lucy (who would have thought) she was set on chasing a chicken. She wants to pet them on her terms, not thiers. She ended up on the other side of the fence determined and letting us know (loud) that she was going to come back in the chicken yard with us.

She eventually was able to come back in and did much better about not chasing the chickens. The chickens were a bit on edge while "Free Ranging." They were very hesitant about leaving thier pen and coop. They were out for less than 10 minutes and happy to get back in get up on thier coop and call it a night!

A Weeks Wait...and we have CHICKENS!!!

Our City Council passed the ordinance last week, Tuesday night, to be exact. We are now able to have 6 hens in our yard. This morning, I was able to go to the zoning department and get our permit. We also got a permit to add a little bit of privacy fence around our yard, how nice they gave us a year to get this done!! Jason did last minute things for the coop - added the roosts, some latches, the nesting boxes and did a great job, all today!!! Heavy lifting done by Logan and Morgan ~ what great teamwork!! ;0)

Morgan ~ she would have gotten on the roosts if I would have let her!

Notice her chicken wings, getting a little afternoon snack from the chicken feeder!!

Oh My!! She thinks she is part chicken...

Morgan helped me get the rest of the coop ready for the new arrivals that came along later this evening!!

SO that brings us to this evening, the kids and I hopped in the van and ran to Theisen's for a few last minute things, like feed and oyster shell!! And a few other small things! As soon as we left Theisens, we headed to the place we bought our chickens from a few weeks back that we found on Craigslist. It was a good hour away!! Jason made some holes in a few boxes, so our chickens could safely travel home. We had an exciting ride home in the van with 6 chickens and 4 kids!! The chickens were not caring for thier ride, they were scratching quite a bit, in the boxes. I was a little worried about them getting out of the boxes. The boxes were taped, however, I didn't tape them all the way across the top of the box. We got home right about 8:00pm and it took an hour to get a little feed, water, and the chickens into thier coop. We have no electricity to our coop, although our little LED lanterns lit it up rather well. Well, enough to get a couple pictures anyway!!

The were a bit timid! There are 6 birds, 2 each of Black Australorp, Buff Orpington, and Silver Lace Wyandotte. I will try to get better pictures tomorrow. The majority as you can see went to sleep under the nesting boxes and the one Buff Orpington I put up on the roost, she stayed there while we were out there... not sure where she is now, except I do know they are tightly secure in thier Little Chicken Mansion!!!

A Week Later... and

The coop is almost ready!!

Can't Wait!! The kids and I finished painting the nesting boxes, see??

Jason and Lucy did most of the pen ~ Lucy has been sick with a cough over the past, QUITE a few days, and Jason stayed home with her while we went to church. They were able to get the posts set and a few other things completed.

Vents are in!!

Posts anchored!!
On Sunday they got a great deal done, the whole frame for the pen, and the frame around the pop door. We aren't able to build the pen right next to the building, because the roof of the coop sticks out. Jason is handy and made a little tunnel that is predator proof between the run and the building.

Today, Jason was able to get the hardware cloth up around the run. He had plenty of help!

There are a few more items that need to be finished: The tin roof, sand in the run, hardware cloth on the windows, a pop door needs to be made, some more painting, and a few chickens then we can call it good!! (I guess some bedding, a feeder and a waterer may be necessary too!)

The Coop is 8 x 4, and the Run is 8 x 8... I think our 6 chickens will be happy chickens!! In the near future they will have a nice piece of the yard that they can free range, a little fence building/modifactions need to be had.