Red-Neck Play Pen and April Fool's Day

Here is our Red-Neck play pen that we used the other week while grilling out on the deck. It worked like a charm to keep D on the deck and his toys nearby.

We don't usually do too much for April Fool's Day, but this year I thought it would be cute just to do a few innocent little tricks/pranks. M helped me to mix up the cereals the night before, so that the kids would get a surprise when they tried to pour it into their bowl. I also colored their milk blue, since they always refer to their milk at the "blue" milk because it has a blue cap. That ended up being the funniest thing. B came into the bedroom early in the morning to inform her father that their milk was blue. He sleepily stated, "Yes I know your milk is the blue cap milk. Why are you waking me up to tell me that? Go eat breakfast!" I had to inform him that their milk really was BLUE . We both laughed for quite some time over that. E didn't even want to eat breakfast because he was a little leery of how it would taste.

Later in the day I cooked up some of our chickens we raised and butchered that were in the freezer. When I told the oldest two they were going to help me pull the meat of the bones, they thought I was kidding and it was an April Fools joke. The joke was on them, because I really made them help and I taught them where to find all the meat. When I let them taste it, they were glad to be the ones doing this job because it meant "free samples" as they put it.

Spring Fever!

Spring is definitely one of our busiest times of the year. We have chicks were are incubating and holding twice a day, seedlings we are growing and watering, Chinese praying mantis eggs we are hatching, 4-H projects were are working on, hair cuts for the warmer weather, and we are changing out our cold weather clothes for warmer weather clothes and getting rid of old ones.

We also just purchased some gold fish for T's 4-H Aqua Science project that will need to be fed 2-3 times daily. Of course, school work is also being done diligently Monday through Friday to ensure that we will have our first two quarters in before the summer break.

I am a little overwhelmed just listing it all. It is definitely an active time at our house, but there is so much to learn from each of these activities and projects. I need to keep reminding myself of that!

B with one of her 4-H gardening project activities. She was learning about plant parts and how they "drink". She really liked this one.

The Chinese praying mantis' are great for our science class and also will be a very beneficial addition to our garden. They eat all sorts of harmful bugs and insects that like to damage plants. The kit says that we can expect between 400-800 mantis to hatch! This should be interesting!

The purple basil sprouted in less than five days!!! I was truly amazed! Many of our other seedlings are growing now, as well, and it has only been a week! We are having much better luck with these heirloom seeds than many of the store bought, high bred varieties we've tried in the past. I am getting excited to get working in the garden and get some peas, lettuce, and cabbage in the ground. I hope the weather will cooperate so I can get them in soon!

D's first trim by Grammy. This was shortly after buzzing T and E's hair for the upcoming warm weather.

New Chicks on the Block

Here are the most recent additions to our growing flock of chickens. We purchased 20 chicks for the kids to raise. Each of the older five picked out their own unique one. The remaining 15 were all barred rock chicks that we hope will be good brown egg layers. We've had a successful two years with our Rhode Island Red hens. They are still good large brown egg layers and have been throughout the whole winter, thanks to the addition of a timed heat lamp in their coop. I am not sure how much longer we can expect them to keep up such a steady production, so we decided to go ahead and invest in the next generation so that we wouldn't have any shortage of eggs.

To house our most recent additions, we've converted an old freezer into a nursery/incubator for them. It has worked out wonderfully! Since this picture, we've added some brick so that the chicks can hop up and down and self-regulate their temperature a little better. They are really loving that added feature.

Here are a few cute pictures of the R and E with the chicks.

M is even taking her chick "Mae" in 4-H this year. I am sure we all will learn much from her experience. That will definitely be an adventure!

Everyday Happenings at the Copper Corral

I've promised myself that we are going to take more pictures of the "normal" stuff. So, I've tried to take more pictures of the everyday, and even run-of-the-mill activities that don't usually seem to warrant a photo.

The kids received a Japanese fighting fish as a present from their uncle Brian a year ago on St. Isidore's feast day. We decided to have an impromptu party at snack time on his feast day this year. We brought Mathias Isidore to the table, sang to him, and had some of our "sweet treat" corn muffins (They have coconut, butterscotch chips, and marshmallows in them). We also splurged and had some sweet tea. It was a nice little snack break for the kids.

Another snack the kids like is "bugs on a log", which is just peanut butter on celery with raisins on top. E really dug into his!

That same day we attacked Mt. Laundry and I thought it was so cute the E was leaning up against it. I just had to capture the moment. Our laundry is always an ongoing battle that I will never win, but this time it had really gotten out of control and this picture proves it. (Maybe I shouldn't be posting this picture; it will ruin my chances of ever winning the "super mom" trophy. lol.)

We had a park trip for recess and P.E. the other day. The kids were so happy that the weather had finally turned much warmer and they were itching to get out and play. I just couldn't say no to a trip to the park on such a sunny day. I didn't realize how much I needed the break until we were there. Inspite of the break, we still got all of our work done for the day. It was a win-win situation for everyone.

Chickens at the Copper Corral

Well, it is official. We are the proud owners of a dozen chickens. Ten pullets and two roosters. The kids were so excited. I can hardly wait until we have "farm fresh" eggs. I am not looking forward to the day we butcher our first chicken, though. I've warned the kids that the chickens are not pets, but food. However, even our oldest is already thinking up names for the pullets (her favorite name is Heidi). This makes me think they are already getting attached to the chickens. Maybe when the chicks get older, and uglier, they'll loose interest in them.

M is excited to collect eggs. She's already called dibs on collecting the first batch of eggs. I tried to give her some perspective on what is involved with the chickens. I told her I will expect the kids to help feed, water, and clean out the chicken coop. She said, "That's fine." I thought for sure she'd complain. Wow, how she is growing up into such a fine young lady. :)