Chicks and A Swimming Pool

The results of our surrogate chickie hatching experiment. Nine out of fifteen of the eggs hatched!! I couldn't get all of the little fuzzies in the picture. They are SO cute and Addie mama is so sweet to them <3

The girls have been swimming 3-4 times a day in their little pool. You wouldn't know it's only 5 feet wide by the "tricks" they do in it ;)

Water Fight with Daddy!

Mark came home to a water fight war zone the other night and couldn't help but retaliate when he was blasted with two water guns. It was so fun to watch them! They got me the day before so I opted out of this one ;)

                                     

                                       

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Just finished two wonderful weeks of swimming lessons with these two. They had lots of fun in the pool with Miss Michelle and Miss Alyssa. Elise was very brave and tried to do everything she was asked even when she was cold because layering three swimming suits wasn't enough. Maysie is getting really good at paddling around and is putting all the pieces together.

                                       

When It's HOT!

When it's just too hot out to do any of the normal daily activities.

Torn paper art. This kept Elise busy for approximately 45 minutes! She made the "rainbow" and the flower ( I was really impressed with her design for the flower). Maysie did the beautiful butterfly. And I made a chicken :)

This funny little duck likes to eat frozen green beans. lol She made some shapes with them. Such a smart girl!

And then, they drew on themselves with chalk for a while and came inside to take a cool bath. And then Maysie asked me to cut her hair (you can see it's about 4 inches shorter in the fridge art pic at the top)

I'm probably going to cave this week, drought or no drought and put up a small pool for them, and me ;)

Big Girl Bed!

It was high time I moved this little pumpkin out of the crib. She was super excited and helped me build her bed. She informed me that she would have rather it had been purple, but alas it is green. I feared the same kind of shenanigans I experienced with Maysie when she moved out of the crib, shorter naps, playing around in her room, rolling out, and getting up and wandering around in the night. But...she has surprised me and aside from slightly shorter naps here and there and the failed sister sleep over (it was eleven o'clock pm when I sent Maysie back to her own room and I decided we would have to try another time) she has transitioned wonderfully into her big girl bed!

I had to get a picture of her taking her first nap <3

This is Maysie's first nap in the same bed over 4 years ago <3

Let the Canning Begin!

We have four of these plum trees that make miniature plums on our property. Every year it seems like such a waste to just let them fall on the ground. This year I felt inspired to make some jelly out of them. The girls had fun helping me harvest a big bowl full and then they happily sat at the counter where Maysie taught Elise how to draw a mermaid while I smooshed the plums and turned them into something yummy.

New on the Farm!

This is our new little rooster, Camo. He is a Cochin/ Phoenix cross and is really friendly and hopefully stays that way. He has an awesome rockstar hairdo.

Addie is a very broody chicken this spring. I was able to get some fertile eggs for her to sit on so with any luck she will continue to sit for a few more weeks and we'll see if any of them hatch! There are some eggs from Silkies and Cochins under there.

Our younger birds are getting big now and should start laying soonish. They are so pretty!

The little Hamburg, Purdy is still kinda dinky, but she's cute as a button. She's not friendly at all but likes her two pals (above) and will go running across the yard squawking wildly if she gets separated from them :)

Three Years Old!

This cute little duck wanted hamburgers and french fries for her belated birthday dinner (homemade of course). I built an ice cream cake too! 

I think she enjoyed it ;)

She got a really cool portable animal clinic too. The girls have been having lots of fun playing with it and discovered the little puppies from Maysie's puppy birthday party last year fit in the kennels!

"I'm THREE and I like carrots from the garden, playing with animals, getting dirty, wearing princess dresses, swinging, smelling flowers, dressing myself (doing everything myself actually), playing with my sister, bothering my sister if she doesn't want to play with me, sharing mommy's makeup (blush only), singing, wearing jewelry, exploring, climbing, dancing, eating herbs and raw kale from the garden, and being silly and fun!

Last Minute Travel Plans

We were fortunate to be able to travel to Utah last week to attend Grama Jukes' memorial service. It was a beautiful service! Of her fifteen grandchildren, thirteen were able to be there. They sang "I See the Moon" together and I'm certain Grama was smiling down. It was wonderful to see so much family in one place to honor Grama. We got a lot of work done helping to organize Grama's belongings so that her house can be put up for sale. We brought home some amazing treasures to keep her memory alive in our home. The drive was beautiful, the kids were pretty much perfect angels 12 hours both ways. The hotel was nice, Mark and I both took turns swimming with the girls (someone had to stay with Brute in the room). It was really nice to get away for a few days!

This is how you sleep when you're driving across the desert :)

We had scheduled Elise's birthday party for Saturday but had to cancel it when we found out we would be out of the state. We had an impromptu party for her and she got to play with lots of cousins. She was a happy girl! We will reschedule her party for an upcoming weekend once we know what Mark's schedule is going to look like for Amador Fire.

Out like a light every night! They played their little hearts out everyday! Maysie only slithered out of the bed a couple times each night. She doesn't even wake up, I just look down and see her on the floor. Someday I hope she'll learn how to stay in a bed!

Brute thought the hotel was ok. They didn't let him swim in the pool and he didn't have a cushy chair to sleep in next to the bed.

We saw this awesome steam engine chugging along on our way home! The conductor blew the whistle for us and everything!