Big Brother is 12!!

We had a very low key birthday for our first born. That same day we were closing on our house re-finance, then we went to dinner in town before coming home and having cookies and opening presents. Everyone had a good time and had fun celebrating. I cannot believe he is 12 already, it seems like just yesterday we found out that we were expecting him, he was such a surprise blessing for us and continues to be a blessing for our family. We couldn't have asked for a better kiddo to start out our family. The day after his birthday we decided on a whim to get a couple baby ducks..they were actually hatched on his birthday. The kids named them Donald and Daisy and they have been pretty fun to have around. As soon as the weather warms up a bit and they get a little bigger we can move them from the garage to outside by our chickens.

Star Wars birthday.

My loves.

Notice my dad in the background with a cat on his lap. He does not like cats..lol. Glad he was a good sport.

New characters for his infinity game.

Rubiks Cube!!

More characters for his game.

Little brother was a big help!

They were about 1 day old here.

Little cuties!

They are about 2 weeks old here.

Eggs!!!!! - Chicken Update!!

The white egg was the first we found- and was really small!

One day last week we found an egg in the backyard- it was small and white, so we felt like it was most likely from our Ancona (Oreo) because she is the only chicken we have that will lay white eggs. The next day we found a small brown egg in their run and thought another chicken was now laying. Each day since we have found only a small brown egg. So we are assuming for whatever reason maybe our mystery layer first layed a white egg. Upon research it still seems likely Oreo layed a random egg and none since.

Jeff threw together some nesting boxes to attach to the coop quickly because we didn't expect laying to start until mid-July based on their ages. We finally figured out who our mystery brown egg layer was- Sally our Rhode Island Red. She has given us a small egg every day for a week now. They are so small, but I read they will continue to get bigger. And she uses the nesting box now!!

Jeff cooked up 5 of Sally's eggs this morning for the kids to have for breakfast- Sadie said, "Mommy, Sally's eggs make me thirsty!" We cannot wait to have more eggs and hopefully be able to sell them to friends and family - otherwise we will be drowning in eggs as we are estimating to get 5 per day when all 5 are laying...that's about 150 eggs per month give or take!!! We do go through 60 or so a month- and I may be getting creative with egg based meals!!!

Enjoy some pictures of the kids and the chickens!!

Looking for an egg!! This is the most exciting part- even I run to see !!

There it is!! (we had just got home from church!)

Hallie holding her chicken Sally- our layer!! Sadie just had to be in the pic too!!

Ethel in front, then Lucy and Sally

They all like to be together!

Sally and Oreo in the background. Colby is clapping for Oreo- she comes to him when he does.

This is Kit!

Chicken Update!

Here are some recent pictures of our chickens! They are so fun. The kids are such big helps taking care of them- Especially Mr. C! They are so friendly and the kids enjoying playing with them everyday. If you have ever thought about getting chickens, I highly recommend it!

Exploring..

The pretty much finished coop...

More exploring...

They love climbing on things!

Oreo!

Chicken Update!!!

We have moved the chickens outside!! WOO HOO!!! I was sooo tired of having them in the house. The coop is almost completed, Mr. took a break from it to build us a fence but is finally back at it and will hopefully have it finished before Monday. We took their brooder out on our patio and since the weather has been amazingly wonderful for Colorado this time of year, they are perfectly comfortable outside. We let them out to roam a small portion of the yard and the kids have been enjoying them and having chicken races with them. They follow the kids around and love to jump on me when I go sit out there with them. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!!

Oreo & Sally

The Coop so far

Our Backyard Family Farm!!

So we finally took the plunge and did it!!!! We have been talking about getting chickens for 2 years now and we finally decided to make the commitment! Hopefully it will be loads of fun and learning! Enjoy some pictures of our new baby chicks. So far only 4 have names- I may update tomorrow when Mr. C finally names his!! Mr J and I named ours Lucy and Ethel (mine is Ethel cause she eats all the time!), Miss H named hers Sally (she loves the name Sally- she wishes that was her name) Miss S named hers Kit (too much American Girl movie). I will continue to post new things about the chicks- so stay tuned to see them grow up!!!

EDITED TO ADD: Mr. C has named his chick Oreo. When full grown it will be black with white specks.

Sara