More chores

We were really busy when my dad was here! Ok, HE was the one who was busy. Marcus has been traveling a lot, and Gemma is so active that it's hard for me to get any outdoor chores done (plus, the indoor chores keep me busy enough!). So we had a huge list of things to do.

We (he) cleaned the mailbox then we all went down to put on the new numbers. Gemma's in the Mustang with Bun.





The pile of wood was from the garage construction 1.5 years ago. Dad moved the good lumber to the barn, and moved all the little pieces to a nut tote for our neighbor. Then he seeded the bare area and covered it with mulch.


He set up a nice chicken home in our far stall...cleaned the pony poop and even braided some bailer twine to make a rope for the feeder. One door was kaput so he tacked up some outdoor plywood to keep the chickens in and the drafts out.


We finally put up the bird feeder from auntie Erica and Carter.


Dad found a bird house and hung that up too.


Meanwhile, the kids kept busy...


First encounter with a mud puddle.


Good clean fun.


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Shopping with grandpa

We had to make a trip to Home Depot on Wednesday to buy supplies for all our tasks...screws for fence repairs, numbers for the mailbox, adhesive for floor trim boards, and some other household stuff.


Here's James using The Force to open the doors:


The next night we went to Target so the kids could each pick out a special treat, per grandma's instructions.


Mariposa loves her princess and Gemma loves her new book.


(Bunny got a Chewbaka figure and James got a really cool Lego watch. Thanks grandma and grandpa!)
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From Auntie Erica

Thanks for the gifts, Auntie Erica!





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Chicks!

The big day finally came...we got chicks! Our local Coastal store was done selling chicks for the season, so we tried Wilco in Cornelius. Jackpot!



We chose 3 of each: Americauna, Barred Rock, Black Sex Link, Rhode Island Red, and Buff Orpington. Quick math--that's 15 chickens.



They all lay brown eggs except one lays green eggs. Now we just need a pig.



Look at these cute to-go boxes!



The chicks in their new home. We are going green (ok, cheap)(or should I say cheep?) using layers of newspaper covered with shredded newspaper.



Gemma just loves them. James loves that he's "old enough" to hold a chick without help. Mariposa can't, and that frustrates her, but she is happy to watch the RI Reds (her favorite, can you guess why?). Bunny has taken charge and is already a real mother hen. She even named one Princess Laya. Aidan thinks we should name one Darth Layer. Grammae likes Yolk Skywalker.



They are doing well and seem happy and healthy. They made it through the night so that is good, except Marcus thought they were dead (the brooder looked like a chickie Jonestown, minus the red Kool-Aid). Now we know that's just how chicks sleep when they're happy.

The livestock adventure begins!


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Grandpa at play

Gemma has really taken to grandpa...she knows that grandpa sits in this certain chair, and if she brings him a book, he'll read one. And another. And another. And Gemma knows that if he leaves, she can just cry and then he'll pick her up.

This morning, we (Gemma and I) woke up and I said, "Do you want to get dressed and see grandpa?". Gemma only heard "grandpa" and therefore cried while I tried to dress her, she wanted to get downstairs and see grandpa so bad! As soon as she got downstairs, she went straight for the books and grandpa's chair. :o)

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Grandpa at work

Grandpa setting up a chicken brooder (he pulled the trough from the back of the barn and cleaned/bleached it, set up the lamp, etc.):


Here he is, cleaning up the front landscaping:


Feeding Gemma lunch:


Grandpa does it all!

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Grandpa's here!

Grandpa arrived from Denver via Salt Lake City right at dinner time. Ikea meatballs to the rescue!


Gemma warmed up to grandpa right away:


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Sacrament prep

Waiting in line for a scapular:


A coincidence...I had just received in the mail a small pamphlet on wearing a scapular. I was going to throw it away (it was junk mail, asking for a donation to a random charity) but I decided to keep it for some reason. Now we'll read it in school.


A class on the stained glass windows in church.


Anna was watching the littles at home. Bunny and I took the opportunity to get hot cocoa. Here she is, playing the guitar at the coffee house:


Rock on, girl!

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Any given day

Any given day, this is what could be going on at our house:








(a note written by James, asking the tooth fairy for $2 for one tooth, instead of the usual $1):








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Spring break, pt 4

At the end of the week, Marcus joined us on a trip to the zoo. It was a beautiful afternoon, after about 2,641 straight days of rain, so of course there was no parking. No problem! We went downtown to park, and rode Max west to the zoo.


The flooded rainforest was a favorite.


Twins.


Gemma also liked the ducks. Bunny got a couple of good shots.


Riding a lion cub...just like her Red Roddy at home.





Back into Portland for dinner at Noodles & Co.


And dessert at Ben &Jerry's. Mariposa is showing off a fudge Phish. James looks like his torso is on backwards, weird.


We spent some Christmas money from the kids' great-grandparents at Powell's.


James didn't exactly get a book as we had hoped...but that's ok.


Mariposa divvied up her money between princesses, MLPony, and Barbie.


Bunny chose Star Wars and American Girls History Mysteries. I chose some art books for school, and Shel Silverstein. I also wanted a cookbook but I'll wait till it comes available used (until then...library!). Marcus already spent his money on guy stuff, which is ok since he likes to read books on his Nook now.


The end.


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