Investigate

I had the silly  idea to try to snap a few photos of the kids today... Here's the progression of Zach discovering he cracked the shell of one of the real eggs.

Abi has learned that if she laughs, Zach continues what he's doing!

Love these smiles

Father like son

Growing!

 

We've marvelled at how much the chicks have grown and changed in the 5 days we've had them. But in observing that, it's also made us enjoy how the kids are changing and growing too! Zach talks to us all day long. We don't always understand what he's saying, but it's often decipherable via a word here and there: chick, bye bye, chip, snack, cheese, outside, water, etc. And then of course is his awesome "omph" which translates into eat. Abi as well is just her own person. A friend's daughter babysat the kids and she told me, "Abi KNOWS what goes on in that house and how it runs". She's putting her own toothpaste on her toothbrush (and her brothers for him!) and brushing her teeth, picking out clothes and getting dressed for day school, etc. The letter of the week is P and when we decided to have pizza for dinner, her eyes lit up and she said, "Mom! Pizza starts with P!" So fun.

The Girls

We've decided our next adventure is raising chickens for the eggs. It seems like eggs are a permanent item on the grocery list. Chickens are incredibly common backyard "pets" in the Portland area so I went about shopping Craigslist ardently for a coop. I quickly learned that anything under $500 moves in a heartbeat. We finally lucked out and found a coop exactly the design and size I wanted and I was the first to contact the seller: only 26 minutes after she posted it! The same day (Friday), we picked up "the girls". Since I didn't want to deal with a rooster, I found a local farmer who'll swap out birds if one happens to start announcing daybreak. I had also done enough asking and reading that I was highly opinionated (shocker) about what breeds I wanted playing in the yard with the kids.

 

We currently have a 3 week old Rhode Island Red (Rosie), Buff Orpington (Daisy), Barred Rock (Pocket) and Black Australorp (Rocket... who would have been named Focket by our rhyming 3 yr old but for parental intervention). I'm starting to think our BA is actually a BR since Rocket's markings are identical to Pocket's but we'll see how her feathers come in over the next 2 weeks. I'm grateful Dad arrives in 5 "wakeups" since I'm wanting to add a nesting box extension on the back of the coop as well as replace the rotted out bottom boards.

And then it'll just need a fresh coat of paint! Both the berry boat and the coop will match the house. The berry boat has been scrapped and seats removed so now it's ready for soil and it'll set sail on its maiden harvest once I get the strawberries in! I joked with Steven that he had no idea I would create the Halfacre Farm when he proposed to me, but he's been more than enthusiastic with these projects and is loving watching the kids take to the chickens. Once the coop is renovated and the boat is growing our strawberries, we'll put in the mini orchard: a few apple trees which will be divided off the lawn with a buck rail fence. And honestly how can you resist?!?! The crocus and daffodil are up and smiling and it is the dawn of springtime in the Willamette Valley.