Sister For Sale

"If I get too sing-y and you put me up for sale, and no one wants me, just let me go for free."

-E

Monroe

E has croup, again.  We took it easy for the first half of the day, but I think we were all needing to get out of the house on this very wet and dark afternoon for a little field trip. Being outside in the moist air is really beneficial for E's tight air pipe.

I have mentioned the feed store in Monroe where we got Petunia, it's a great family run place that has the largest selection of chicks I ever dreamed of (ducklings, turkeys, and guinea fowl too).  E was in heaven.  She moved slowly from bin to bin exclaiming how cute they all were and picking up the little fluff balls to get her little fuzzy fix.  We were pretty much the only visitors so we stayed for a good 1/2 hour or so.

I was in the middle of a relatively lengthy conversation about waterers and feeders with the clerk when I felt a tug at my jacket and heard an obvious concern welling up in E's raspy little voice. "Mommy!  I need to show you something!"  This wasn't giddy excitement, she was worried.  I excused myself from the conversation and she led me to the bin of chicks that she had been fawning over and pointed to a quiet little peep, "That one is pasted up!"

Alright, poultry talk:  *Pasting up : "a condition in which their droppings cake up and block their vent opening, preventing them from passing any more droppings."  It is deadly if not dealt with promptly, and E knows this.  She is visually terrified.  Alright, this is tricky.  This store obviously deals with chicks a lot, they're a probably a dime a dozen, each one isn't too valuable (some of these are being sold for the table anyhow, very few I imagine will have a long drawn out life the way our backyard flock will, our pets).  God knows I do not want to tell someone how to run their business...conflict is not a strong suit for me.  Do I take care of the sick chick myself, do I lie and tell E that someone who works there will take care of it...do I get involved?  I chose the latter; to ask for help on behalf of the sick bird and my wide-eyed girl.  My daughter needed to see action.  I walked back to the young clerk I had been talking to and quietly asked if they cared whether or not we had spotted a pasted-up chick?  She affirmed that they did and asked E to show her which one it was.  She scooped it up, cleaned it's fuzzy little bum, and was able to relieve that little body of some serious built up droppings.  I'll admit it wasn't a pretty site, but when she set that chick back down and it quickly scurried away and into the flock, I felt a huge sense of relief, we had made the right choice.  Who knows, it may die tomorrow but my daughter was able to experience a sense of justice for one of God's smallest creatures and that kind of empathy is something you cannot really know without experience.  I was so proud of her, and I told her so.  We talked about how perhaps that very chick may be a pet that will make someone happy for a long time, and how maybe someone had helped one of our girls in their first week of life.  It was a very sweet car ride home, and I was so happy we had made the trip.

*Definition provided by the good people at My Pet Chicken.

Coffee Breath

I worked hard today: laundry, gardening & landscaping, and keeping up with old N.  I needed another cup of coffee before I made the drive over to pick up E from school.  I poured my mug, placed it in the cup holder, strapped N in and made the 4 minute drive to pick up his big sis.  She greeted us like always with a big smile and her large backpack bumping behind her.  When she opened the van door her words were not, "Whew, I need a snack," or "Can I watch a movie when I get home?" as per usual.   It was instead, "Why does it smell like 'Mommy Morning Breath' in here?"  Hmm.

His Favorite Books, In No Particular Order

Aside from "Mama, Dada, and Eh-nuh (for his sister) "Buh," is by far his favorite/reoccurring word.  Some of these "buh's" are the very same that E would pick before bedtime and naps at this age, and some are new.  Either way you cut it both of them love books and we couldn't be happier.

Colors

Trucks

Dear Zoo

Maisy's Train

Happy Baby's Words

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

ABC's

Moo, Baa, La La La

Time For Bed

Chicky City

This thing is really taking off!  Seattle and surrounding areas have a 3 hen max, but it could soon be upped to 8!  We wouldn't add to our brood right away, but it'd leave room for getting more chicks when the egg laying of our current residents slows down in a few years.

 

Pants Not Required

She came home from school and the weather immediately turned to a torrential downpour.  She grabbed boots and a raincoat and stomped in the accumulating puddles until her clothes were sopping wet.  So naturally after a romp in the driveway's chilly waters, you of course pull off your pants, throw on your apron, and bake up your own storm in the kitchen...

Then literally as soon as we finished the blueberry french breakfast puffs, the sun came out; time for another wardrobe change.

The Milk Man

Moo, moo!  We're getting milk delivered to our door now! (and yogurt, cheese, sour cream, etc.)

Um, Yeah It's Good.

New favorite at-home coffee.

Cousin Reel

I think I'm going to start an ongoing cousin reel here. Fairly often they all end up at my mom's house and it'd be fun to see how everyone changes. So here is the first 3, same kids, same couch, same order, on second thought, we'll just throw them up there and see if we can just get one where all 6 are in focus:

(October 2009)

(January 2010)

(May 2010)

Run, Fun, as Fast as You Can!

The Run is almost done.  My dad let me help out with the mesh yesterday, I just need to decide on a paint color.  I kinda like the classic barn red, but don't really want to draw too much attention to our girls from the random passer-by.  We let 'em run around for a few minutes after Papa delivered it this afternoon, but the weather is still so unpredictable, that I just can't count on a chilly breeze or rain to start up at any moment. So for another week or so, they'll be in the garage happily cheeping away.

First Hair Cut

*Flight of the Bumblebee performed by Rafael Mendez, haircut acrobatics performed by Ann-Krestene, she is a professional and these stunts should not attempted at home.

Evening Rainbows

E spotted a beautiful rainbow last night before bed @ 8pm!

Eat & Read

Someday maybe he'll combine these 2 loves of food & books and take after me; finding total contentment in reading through recipe's or attending book signings for cookbooks...but for now here's a few snapshots of my day:

Pulling out the cereal boxes from their cabinet and dumping their contents on the floor and shoving as much as he could manage down before I scooped up the handfuls from the carpet.

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And reading!  This kid  l-o-v-e-s  books.  This is a relatively new phase, last month he would wiggle and writhe in my lap, and now he's totally engrossed.  He especially gravitates toward the 'real picture' books of babies, animals and such.

Sidewalk Chalk

It's one of those indispensable summertime activities that keeps kids of all ages engaged and outside.

Turkeys in the Hen House

 Papa's been workin' on our coop!  Hip hip!

*this is just the run, we will be attaching it to the hen house...

Pulling Up & Upside Down

He has mastered the pull-up.

He's pretty good at sitting back down too.

He's even better at spotting my phone innocently resting on the couch cushion, and then handing it to me when he finally notices I've caught him!

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You've seen this in his 'learning to crawl video,' but he still loves doing this move!  I've been trying for weeks to capture it, but the minute I reach for the camera he moves on...this morning I got lucky as he was clearly in performance mode!