Eggs

Maddie had her first experience coloring Easter eggs. We did it last year at a friend's house, but she was too little to even participate. It went really well! We used plastic cups and she got to "stir" the eggs around. At the end we had a dozen and a half eggs and a multi colored Maddie. So much fun!

m.i.a.

I have been sucked into the vortex of life. My mom is in town from California which means that the girls have grandma time and I have a little free time to run errands and get things done. I have been so busy I haven't even gotten a moment to think about blogging. And as sad as it is, I really haven't been taking a lot pictures either. I feel bad about it, but obviously not bad enough to do anything about it. I feel just a wee bit like I'm on vacation with my mom here to help and it is sooo nice! Spring is in full swing here, the pollen is getting a bit less, we've had a thunder storm and rain off and on the past few days and my garden is growing. We pulled out a couple radishes just to see what they looked like, and although they are tiny.....about the size of a nickle, they are red and radishy and taste good even in their small stature. My lettuce is growing too. If we picked leaves now we could have a very tiny salad with radishes! lol Anyway.....I should be back to blogging once life goes back to normal but for now I am having such a good time with my mom here that blogging is not on the fore front of my brain!

wasteful

I've been spring cleaning my house for what seems like forever. Will I ever be done? Probably not! lol As I had mentioned before I gathered a lot of kids toys to take to good will. I finally got around to bringing it over there today and was very disappointed with the whole exchange. I was carrying the bags in and the dude working there noticed that there were toys inside. He told me that they can't accept toys anymore because of the new lead laws that came into effect in February! I knew this would be happening, but I guess I thought that it was such a ridiculous law that it would have been changed or over turned. I feel so sad, and a little mad too! When did it become the governments place to make laws governing the sale of used toys? Why can't we as parents make the decisions that are right for our children? Why couldn't they make a law that made it mandatory to inform parents that there could be a possibility of lead contamination and then let us decide whether we wanted to take that risk when buying used or hand made items. I can not believe that good will can not take toy donations. What does this mean for low income families that have kids and can't afford to buy them brand new toys? What does this mean for me and my family as we outgrow toys through the years? The dude at good will told me that they had to throw away kids bikes because of the new laws, and he didn't understand what kid would be gnawing on their bike! What a wasteful, wasteful law this is turning out to be. It all reminds me of that old christmas movie where Burgermeister Meisterburger outlawed toys in Sombertown. I know that all toys are not outlawed, but this law is going to have a huge impact on our culture. *sigh*

I'm going to list my bag of toys on craigslist for free. Hopefully someone will come pick them up because I don't have room for them, and I do NOT want to throw them away!!

Catch 22

The weather is beautiful. Beee-utiful! It has finally started to be consistantly warm and sunny and there is nothing I like more than to open up my windows and enjoy the fresh air. Unfortunetly the same time that the weather gets gorgeous around here is the same time that the trees are blooming. Blooming trees create pollen.....teeny tiny green pollen that sticks to everything!! Being from California I never had to deal with much pollen probably because there aren't nearly as many trees. But in green land aka North Carolina there are trees everywhere thus pollen everywhere. For those of you who have never experienced spring pollen this is what it looks like:
That car (not mine) is not covered in dirt....it's a fine dusting of green pollen. The stuff is so fine that it goes right through screens and is currently coating most of the inside of my house. Every piece of furniture has a thin, green, dusty layer on it....even my floors! So, it truly is a catch 22. Do I open my doors and windows and enjoy the lovely breeze, but then have to clean my house from top to bottom every couple days? Or do I just keep the windows closed ignoring the beauty outside and have a clean house? Well, I guess since my windows are all open I pick option one, but I'm not looking forward to the house cleaning ahead!

rootastic

I am learning that I am not very good with chickens. Last night I checked in on all the poultry before I went to bed....everyone was fine. This morning I wake up and one of the little white leg horns is dead. Out of the 6 little black and white bunch that we got, I only have 3 left. 2 black & 1 white. I do not have a very good mortality rate at this point.....50% isn't good no matter how you slice it! Another issue that I have with my 2 australorps and 1 white leg horn is that they aren't growing. Well, they are growing feathers, but they aren't getting any bigger which means there is a very good possibility that they are bantam chickens and not standard. A bantam chicken is basically just a small chicken. They are generally about half the size of a standard chicken which isn't a bad thing, BUT.....small hens lay small eggs. Bantam eggs are about 1/3 the size of a standard egg. Which seems kinda pointless to me......the bantams eat nearly as much as the standards and won't give me eggs that I can use to cook with.....I've never come across a recipe that called for a wee bantam egg in it! lol

Ok, so it gets worse. My rhode island reds are now about 8 weeks old and distinguishing characteristics are becoming present. I currently have 2 roosters and 1 hen. Arrrggh. I am so frusterated. Besides the fact that a rooster would seriously annoy both myself and my neighbors, I don't need a rooster. I would not eat one of my chickens, rooster or not, and I am not planning on breeding my chickens for more chicks. Thus the roosters need to go bye bye. And while I'm at it, I feel like I should just re home the bantams as well because I never really intended to have bantams. Thats what I get for buying mutt chicks from Tractor Supply Co. So, what does this all mean? I am going to go from 11 chickens (at the height of my chicken-ness) to having 2. And I'm not even sure that Lucky (my barred rock) is a hen....although her comb is still small and yellowish which are indicators that she is a she......but who knows. Seriously!!!! I'm not going to do anything today, but I've got to get on the ball and try and find at least the roos a new home. I really wish that they could just be hens.....they are good chickens, we just can't have the crowing. Poop.

Here is one of the roos.
Notice the comb (the red thing that looks like a comb on his head)

Here is another roo

Can you guess which one of these is a roo and which is a hen?

Answer: the one on the left with the larger, redder comb is the roo.
The one on the right with the smaller yellower comb and fuller breasts is the hen.


Lucky.....my barred rock. Maybe she will fulfill her name and be my lucky HEN!

howz the weather

It seems like the weather trend that we have been experiencing out here is 4-5 days of rain and cloudy weather, and then 4-5 days of beautiful, sunny, cool breeze, 70 degree weather. I have to say that I like the latter better, but rain is good for the earth.....I'm just glad I don't live someplace like Seattle where rain is the norm!! There's not much that I enjoy about our yard being dirt, but it is fun that when it rains for a few days we have some great mud puddles for Maddie to jump in. Boy does she seek them out....and she's a pro at jumping in them! lol We have been enjoying the lovely days and spending lots of time outside, and now that it stays light outside longer, we are often out there until 7:30 or so. Nice.

She is very serious about her sand and water table!! lol

favorite shirt

This shirt is by far my most favorite piece of baby clothing. I bought it at Target on clearance when Maddie was a baby and I'm so excited Charlotte is in the right season to wear it too. I heart this shirt! I kinda love the kiddo wearing the shirt too! wink wink.