Mini-nature walk

“Is the spring coming?" he said. "What is it like?"...

"It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine...” 

― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

This was fun. But I'm definitely craving warmer weather and sunshine. I think we all are around here. Just have to hang on a little longer! We saw lots of signs of spring already all around us :)

Chicken updates

Back in September, I posted a tour of our new chicken coop . I talked about what it was like having backyard chickens about 6 months in. Now we are looking at almost a year (in April) and I was asked to give an update. So here goes:

Well, first of all, after this many months of keeping chickens we are still very happy with our decision! The delicious eggs we get each day, plus the quirky personalities of our hens add so much to our family life.

There is also a good amount of work involved! Right now the bulk of the work lays with Mike and I. Louisa is able to help us feed them their scraps and their regular feed and help Mike get them back in the coop when we let them out when we ask her. As she gets older, I have no doubt she will be able to assume most of the responsibility for the chickens. We will always expect her (and all our children) to help us with the chores. If she wants to be able to sell the eggs and keep some of the money, she will definitely need to take most of the responsibility for their care! She has also expressed interest in getting more baby chicks. (Naturally)

The coop 

The coop was so beautiful and clean and fresh when it was first put up. I was so in love with it! Now days, it's of course broken in which is obviously the result of having actual chickens living in it. 

We try to clean out the coop about once a week to once every two weeks. Somewhere between that. Of course, when we have string of rain and bad weather it's less appealing to go out there and shovel out the poo and leftover food scraps.

Mike also has to do maintenance on it pretty regularly. 

 The nesting boxes themselves also need to be cleaned out, though not quite as often. This is because usually the birds don't poop in there! I guess it's instinct for them to want to keep the area where they lay kept clean. We use timothy grass in there or sometimes hay for them to make their little nests. 

The chickens - 

 The chickens themselves are doing great, except for sadly we did lose one a little while ago. Poor Sage was taken by a raccoon. Mike actually saw it happen because we heard a noise as we were getting ready for bed so he ran out there. Since the weather was still warm, we were letting them sleep out on the roost in the run, but obviously that was a mistake. The raccoon was dragging her off as Mike was just getting out there :(

So now they have to be cooped up each night when it gets dark, and let out in the morning. This is a little more annoying but it has to be done. We live on a mountain where there are an array of predators.

Mike goes out to check on them sometimes (armed with his BB gun in case he sees any coons) at night and will often see little mice scurrying around the coop picking up the scraps. Kind of gross but what are you going to do?

Laying

We are still getting about 5 eggs a day (from 6 chickens) and I think one of the reasons is because Mike put a light in their coop with a timer so they are getting something like 12 hours of light a day. I guess this is important if you want to "trick" them into laying throughout the winter.

The eggs are so delicious! I am so happy we got a pet that gives us something so valuable in return for our care :)

We do have a broody chicken. Our old girl Mystique is just intent on sitting on those eggs all day long. 

We just laugh at her now. We have tried so many things to kick her out of this habit, but nothing seems to work except letting her ride it out. Eventually she stops but inevitably the thought will come into her mind again and she's back at it. None of our other hens have done this yet! We love Mystique though. I call her my mommy hen and I kind of feel for her. One day, it would be so lovely if we could actually let her become a mommy!

What else?

Oh, some have asked if we let our chickens out every day. We don't, but we still let them out pretty often. It depends on the weather, but usually I like to let them out at least every third day. They looooooove to roam around. It's fine with us, but obviously the poo becomes an issue. Their run is pretty nice, and they like to be in there digging around in the leaves, but there is no grass back there. And right now our run needs to be fortified because the can get out of it fairly easily. We really need to do some repairs back there in the spring so that over the summer we can let them out into the larger run without letting them out into the rest of the yard. I just need my grass to be chicken - poo free for the summer!!

Heads down, butts up girls! :)

Hmmm...well I think that about covers it! Do you have any additional questions? I would like to say that if you are interested in taking the plunge this Spring, you are welcome to talk to us! We have learned so much over the past year. Much of it from trial and error :) It is worth the investment for us, but I know it's not for everyone. You need the space, obviously, and the desire to clean up after them, and give them the care they need. So far our chickens have been really healthy, with the exception of a few pasty butts (I won't go into detail about what that is. I'm sure you can somewhat deduce what it entails)

Again, overall our chickens are lovely contributions to our family. The children are learning about where our food comes from, what raising livestock is like, and a host of other cool things. We love eating fresh eggs and sharing them with our friends. We also love that we NEVER throw food away anymore. I can't tell you how nice that is. All our food scraps are put into our new eggs! (With a few exceptions like citrus and of course, we don't feed them chicken :) And we love observing their funny mannerisms and personalities. So fun. I'm sure this will be a lifelong hobby for us.

7qts

......and, it's Friday again! That was fast!

Also, it's February! I love how the picture for the month is one of Jesus as a child. Appropriate? Well, I'm pretty sure the Lord as a child would not have taken markers and drawn all over his mother's calendar :)

 

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Lent starts MONDAY! I'm ready for you, Lent! It's an early Lent this year, which is fine with me because that means Pascha comes earlier too! Yay! This year Mike and I have reflected quite a bit on what we want to do together, individually, and as a family. We are really looking forward to growing and hopefully progressing in our spiritual journey.

 

What are your plans for Lent? You don't have to be Catholic to participate in Lenten sacrifices/habits by the way! I have a friend who always used to give up soda for Lent even when we were in high school. She is not Catholic but saw the benefit in exercising self-discipline.  (At least, I think that's why she did it :) There are lots of aspects of Lent that you are welcome to participate in if you feel so inclined! Let me know if you have any questions.

 

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Monday is also Louisa's birthday. So we will mostly be celebrating her birthday on Sunday. She is thinking about getting her ears pierced! She's a little nervous so going back and forth, but I told her it's completely up to her. We went shopping already for her to get her some new clothes that she desperately needed. I cannot believe how big she is getting, and how mature! Her style is really coming out more and more and it's definitely distinct from mine. Such a strange thing to watch unfold - your children becoming independent from you. Obviously, this is something that happens gradually from the day they are born! And obviously, this is the very beginning of noticeable detachment from her parents, as Louisa is only turning 7! But I'm already having such strong, mixed emotions about it. I am so proud of her. I love her style and the way she carries herself. I am truly seeing an independent, confident, tender-hearted young woman growing up before my eyes. I am so honored and humbled to be her mother!

 

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This week I got into a discussion about Common Core math on Facebook and it was very eye opening! I posted a video of a nanny/tutor who was trying to understand what Common Core math was all about so she could help the kids with their homework. At first glance the "new math" does seem quite a bit more complicated and even idiotic. Lots of observers are understandably scratching their heads wondering why change things so dramatically? Won't this hinder kids' understanding of math concepts instead of help them?

 

I put my questions out there and got a lot of great feedback! After a little more research, I do feel like I understand what they are trying to do. I was delighted to receive several private messages as well with some additional thoughts. (Oh, and here's a funny thing. Those who commented publically on my FB page were all female. Those who privately messaged me were all guys! I always thought guys didn't mind public conflict, but clearly after using Facebook for 10 years I've found that the majority of commentators on hot-button issues are females! (That may be a post for another day :)

 

In any case, I just wanted to add some of my additional thoughts on Common Core. First of all, I am not qualified to make a thorough evaluation on the whole deal because obviously, I'm not there in the classroom teaching it or learning it. I am not trained in the principles/pedagogy. So, anything I say is coming from an outsider's perspective. It's obvious that Common Core elicits STRONG emotions from people outside of it. It's understandable right? Because, Common Core strikes most of us as confusing, cumbersome, counterintuitive, and frankly, ridiculous. I am certainly sensitive to this phenomenon. I feel it is similar to how I feel as a practicing Catholic. To outsiders, what we do (forgo birth control, teach our children about the Eucharist, spend lots of time learning about dead people (the saints) etc.) seems pretty dumb/confusing/and even scandalous to a lot of people outside looking in! So, I get that the strong responses of "outsiders" should not always be the measure of the truth or success of what you are doing.

 

However, just like Catholicism, I believe that any new curriculum deserves to be picked apart, criticized, and pretty much torn to shreds so that it can be evaluated! No program should be "above" that! If teachers and administrators are going to insist that Common Core is "great, grand, wonderful" and not let us pick it apart, then every parent should be concerned! You know what I'm saying, right? If there is value in teaching with Common Core principles, than those principles should be able to stand the test of time and scrutiny. 

 

If it can't, then it's not worth our time. Sometimes I worry that school kids are part of this continuous "experiment" and that nothing ever sticks around for long. Why does everything have to be so fluid? I am just worried that if Common Core turns out to be another little "trend" then all these kids will have had to learn in a frustrating, difficult way for no reason. I have followed a group on Facebook that is highly critical of Common Core and there are quite a few stories of kids in tears over their homework, and their parents in tears as well because they do not understand how to help them. So, that has me concerned as well.

 

Perhaps not though. Perhaps Common Core will turn out to be the best answer for these generations of children who are falling behind the world in Math and Literacy. We can hope, but we can't afford to hope with our eyes closed!

 

 

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On a more comical note : have you seen Tom Lehrer's take on this? (This is a few years old so it's not actually a parody of Common Core, but it is pretty funny. Watch for a laugh.

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 Emmett has been a handful lately! Not sleeping well at night, not liking to be told what to do, wanting to do everything completely on his own - oy vey. And seeing as how he's getting too big to be carried around on our backs in the Ergo anymore, we're really reaching a new era with this 21month old!

 

 

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I have been really focused on eating healthy for the last few weeks. It has been going really well, I have to say. Salads have been at the top of my list as well as healthy sandwiches with lots of veggies and lean meat. I am really happy that Lent is also a good avenue for me for better eating, just because we always take sweets out until Easter.

 

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Hey, chickens can fly!

Lady Mastermind surprised us the other day with this this amazing feat. Crazy girl!

 

Well, hope you have a wonderful weekend not "cooped up" :)

 





Lego Love

Back when Josie had her 5th birthday (Beginning of December) we decided to buy her some "regular" Legos. Before that, we didn't really have any of them in the house, with a few exceptions. Michael had gotten one tiny Star Wars box and Louisa had gotten one tiny "Pizza shop" set over the summer. That was all. Before this it was all Duplos. Which is obviously due to the fact that we've always had tiny babies around, and also that my kids aren't really that old yet. On most boxes, it says Ages 6+, and of course, our oldest child is still 6 (for one more week!) Yet, it has become apparent that Duplos haven't been holding their interest as much this past year. They do still play with them, but more often than not they are rummaging around it the too large container and not really building anything.

So, Mike and I decided we could start buying regular Legos and allow people to gift them to our kids. We figured we'd find a way to manage even though all of our kids are obviously not age 6 and up. For one thing, 21 month old Emmett has so far been pretty good about the Lego situation. Michael, who is 3, is IN LOVE with Legos. He loves them and will sit for long periods of time building and playing with his Lego sets. It's great. Josie and Louisa also enjoy them immensely.

adorable.

So overall, we are very happy with this new era in our home. I think Legos are amazing. They inspire creativity, imagination, fine motor skills, and more. I loved Legos as a kid. Of course, they didn't have quite the diversity of Legos they have now, but I still played with them all the time. It's a wonderful aspect of childhood that I'm glad I get to share with my children. As I am typing this blog post they are playing with them,

"Oh Hi, how ya doing?"
"Oh fine. It's time for a car wash."
"Oh wait no, first we have to get lunch."
"Oh it's okay, we can go to this pizza place. Let's sit down."
"The pizza is so really hot right now so we have to wait for it to cool down..."
"I'll be here for a few minutes but I have to go do a few other things right now, so, Bye!"

 Organization 
Right now, we have a pretty organization system, but I know many moms have told me how Legos become the bane of their existence when there are too many or their kids don't take care of them. We generally don't allow them to have them in their bedrooms. I keep them in these drawer things and put them away high up where they can't reach, so they have to ask me when they want to play with them. They don't really have to take care of them so much as we do for them. But, they do have to clean them up when they are done and ask to play with them, so we haven't had too many problems just yet.

Do you have any suggestions for the future as their collections inevitably grow? (Louisa has already saved over 30$ to purchase a big set that she has wanted for a while)
Do you make your kids put them away according to the set they came in?
Do you limit Lego play to a specific room?
Any other tips for me?

I foresee a trip to Lego land in the future!
...Or, perhaps, maybe just to the Poor Man's Lego Land: aka, The Lego store :)