First spring arrivals!!

Well, we started this winter with 8 chickens, two roosters and 6 hens. About a month ago we noticed that we only had 5 hens running around. When we didn't see her for a full week, we decided that she had fallen to one of the many predators around. Yesterday, Eric was doing some yard work and came upon the hen with a bunch of little chicks!! She had sat on ten eggs and hatched 6 of them, through several winter storms, too! He estimates that they are only a few days old.We were going to try and let her raise them free range, but Ollie (one of our great orange hunting cats) thought they would make a nice snack. So Eric chased the hen and the chicks through a wood pile and finally caught all of them and put them in a make-shift cage for a little while. We figure that she hadn't eaten the whole time she was sitting, because once she was in the cage, she ate for a solid hour :) Mom and chicks are doing well. Hopefully we'll have pictures up soon.

A cook out and sick kids

This happened because Rowan was playing on the piano and Kayleigh, of course can't let him have anything without taking it from him. So she sat on his lap to play the piano. He didn't seem to mind much and they were like that for about 5 minutes before Kayleigh got bored! I can't believe how cute they are together sometimes.

In other news, Saturday we went to a neighbor's house for a pit roasted pig cook-out. When we arrived, somehow the fire had gone out in the pit and the pig was raw still. So we had hot dogs and hamburgers instead. The kids both enjoyed the outing. The next day we went back over for lunch and the pig was done this time. It was very good. We're talking about having more pit roasts in the future.

Monday night, Kayleigh was very sick. She got sick in her crib no less than 5 times that night. Christine was just about worn out with staying up with her. So Tuesday, Christine left Kayleigh home while she did some errands. When she came home she didn't feel good and didn't eat dinner. She was sick three or four times before bed time. She felt better on Wednesday. Then Wednesday night, we were keeping Rowan entertained before bed and he got sick all over and had to have his outfit changed. He got sick three times, I think, in about an hour. I put him to bed and checked on him several times, but he only spit up a little bit during the night, and it didn't even wake him up. The long and short of it is, who's going to get sick next? Me or Eric. I have all weekend off, so this might be the best time for me to get sick, I guess. So far so good, no one else is sick.

Oh and on Monday, Eric and I went out and bought another goat. This one is a little older and will be ready to start practicing packing soon. He's a little overweight, so we're trying to condition him. He's very nice. He's a LaMancha goat. The breed sounds spanish, but was really developed here in the states. His name is Gordon. Eric is teaching the younger goats to follow on leashes, and they are doing very well. They are still very funny playing around, but very boisterous. You have to watch your head as Eric found out. He got a chin butt by accident. Mostly they are very good with our kids. They try to untie shoelaces and chew on hair, but Kayleigh thinks they are hysterical

growing fast

The exciting thing this week is that Rowan is getting up on his knees. He doesn't go anywhere when he's up, but he still pushes himself backwards and away from his toys. That doesn't go over very well usually :) Oh yeah, and when I gave him a bath last night, he had so much fun splashing!! I've never seen him have so much fun in the water. He's also getting upset when Kayleigh takes his toys, and he's starting to hold onto them more, which makes her a little upset. I see "fun" times in our future!

On Monday, while Christine slept, Eric and I took Kayleigh and Rowan to the Greenbelt in Boise. It's an 11 mile walking, jogging, biking path along the Boise River with parks and museums and shops along it. Kayleigh had a lot of fun looking at the ducks, she didn't see why she couldn't go into the water after them! Rowan enjoyed the scenery and took a nap. I'm sure he'll enjoy it more as he gets older.

standard week around the farm

Ok, so they didn't find anything wrong with Kayleigh. That's the wonderful news. Of course, now we have no idea why she had blood in her urine. But she's acting fine and is normal in all ways now. Go figure.

We've been busy this week. Eric has had his hands full taking care of and training the goats. They finally have names. The one with white ears is Buzz, the one with black ears is Deke and the brown one is Gus. They are all named after astronauts. They are so much fun. Kayleigh thinks they are hysterical and Rowan isn't sure what to make of them. They nibble on his fingers some. :) I think they're funny when they jump all around and on everything. The chickens have been busy laying eggs, but since they're free range it's our own little easter egg hunt every day!! I think our nieghbors are getting some eggs as well. :) Eric has also been reinforcing the goat's fence to keep them in and loose dogs out. So far so good.

Rowan has been full of life lately. He's learning to crawl now. His arms are pretty strong and he hasn't figured out his legs yet, so he tends to go backwards. He gets pretty frustrated that he's further away from the toy then when he started. And he still is a lazy susan!

I'm about ready to wean him totally to formula. I keep getting frustrated when he doesn't eat well, then I think "that's it! I'll just quit now." but then I don't want the last time I feed him to be when he fought me. So then I wait for a nice easy feeding. But then I think "see, he does fine, why should I quit?" Ha Ha. I think the joke is on Mommy, now. But I finally decided that I would quit when he's 7 months old. That's just a week and a half away, yikes! But I'm sure it'll be easier all around.

Well, the monkey is awake now so I'll talk again soon

What a week!!

We had a very hectic week. Christine's little girl, Kayleigh, had been sick a week or two ago. Then Friday, Christine thought she saw pink in the diaper, but decided it was probably the light. Later that day, she saw it again and we cut the diaper open and it was definatly pink. We called the doctor who said she could see Kayleigh first thing in the morning, but if it got worse to take her to the ER. We agreed to take her in the morning. Christine and I went to work, leaving Eric with both kids. Kayleigh got fussier as the night went on and then she wouldn't go to sleep. Eric decided to bring her in. Christine took off from work and met him there. I was able to take a break and go get Rowan for a visit to my floor, to give them a break. It turned out she had a bad kidney infection, and they sent her home with instructions to follow up on Monday. At this time, we're waiting for the results of some tests. Hopefully it was just a scare. Kayleigh of course is being her usual fun loving self and learning to climb on things. Much to her mother's dismay :)

On the other hand Rowan is learning to be mobile. We can no longer expect him to be where we put him when we put him down. He also spins around on his tummy and we call him the lazy susan. He's learning to eat solid food. He's up to carrots now. He likes to blow a raspberry just as I give him a spoonful and spray me with carrots. That's a lot of fun!! He loves to watch Eric. He was fascinated by Eric vacuuming. I'm not sure if he can't wait to help or make a mess that requires the use of the vacuum. He thinks Daddy is one funny guy! He loves to laugh with Daddy.