Bye, Bye Chickies

I always have thought that if something happened to my hens, roosters, or chicks that it wouldn't feel like any big tragedy, but when this theory was tested, it seems I'm a bit more attached to my farm animals than I think.  Earlier this year, in last summer, I had a broody hen that sat a pile of eggs and from 7 eggs, 4 hatched.  One of the chicks dies right away because I didn't take it out of the coop soon enough, but 3 others survived and grew to be big, beautiful, juvenile chicks.  We had them in a small enclosure by our driveway, just outside our fenced yard and the top of the enclosure was covered with bird netting.  We realized that this was not very secure, but for all this time, no animals ever tried to breech it.  Even while we were gone for several days over Thanksgiving break, the chicks were fine.  And then, this morning when I went out to the van for something early in the morning, all that I found was a place where the bird netting had been torn away, piles of feathers, and paw prints in the dirt.  Upon closer inspection, I found more feathers and blood on our fence going to the neighbor's property.  This was enough to send me into tears over the little chicks I had raised from day one under a heat lamp in a box in the garage until they were 2 month old chicks that actually looked liked miniature hens.  I, of course, value human life above all, but I was surprised at how strongly I felt about the life being stolen from my little birds in such a sneaky and unexpected way.  Even the Bible says that God watches over the sparrows so if all of God's creatures are important to Him, then I shouldn't feel badly about my natural reaction to the giving and taking of life, even that of a little bird. 

So, in this most recent episode of Woman vs. Nature, nature has definitely won.  I have to admit that it is a little discouraging battling the wildlife in each and every little endeavor on our property, but I'm thankful that I don't live in a time or place where my actual life depends on it. 

My Growing Toddler

My "baby" is already 2 1/2.  She's growing and changing every day and it's fun watching the little person that she is becoming.  She's developing into quite the little character as she learns to tell jokes, goof off with her sisters, and wheedle the family into getting her way.  With her bouncy brown curls and eyes the color of dark chocolate, Little D has stolen our hearts.  It is a blessing to watch each of my children as they grown into the unique individuals that God has created them to be and I'm so happy to be their mom.  As Thanksgiving approaches, my five daughters are truly something for which I am thankful. 

Wordless Wednesday 11-7-12

Painted Pumpkins

Carving jack o' lanterns seems like a fun idea if: (1) you have the right tools, (2) you have a chunk of time to dedicate to the carving, and (3) if your children are old enough to do some or, better, most of the carving themselves.  As we don't fit into any of these categories, I thought it would be nice to let the girls paint them instead.  Also, this preserves the pumpkin flesh inside for when I want to actually cook it up and use it (the paint is washable, so I'll have to wash it off before baking :-).

Here are the girls working on their creations.

Scotch tape make it easy.

And here are the finished creations.

On the left, Livia's pumpkin (4 years old). On the right, Dakota's toddler pumpkin (2 years old).

The older girls' pumpkins.

Arianna's candy corn pumpkin.

Selah's bat.

Isabella's modern pumpkin interpretation made using strips of masking tape removed after painting.

No Horsin' Around

On our recent trip to Bates Nut Farm to the pumpkin patch, my hubby got up close and personal (with his camera lens) to some draft horses that were pulling wagons for hayrides.  When the girls realized how big draft horses are in person, they decided that it would actually be very difficult to ride one considering how wide the backs of the horses are.  They are very pretty horses and my hubby took some nice pictures of them!

Dash to the Desert

Going on camping trips during the school year can be a real challenge due to schedules, school activities (both for the kids and for Augustus as a teacher and speech & debate coach), church, etc.  Thankfully, though, we close enough to the desert to get there in just a little over an hour and Anza Borrego Desert State Park is at our disposal.  In times of economic hardship and budget crunches, with outrageous camping fees at California parks and recreational areas, the bargain price of camping for FREE (yes, you read that correctly) is great!  All we do is drive out to a pull-off on one of the roads in a designated recreational area, park the van, and set up a tent.  Another huge bonus is that it is legal to have a campfire in a protected enclosure, so we bring the basin to our fire pit which fits the bill.  We have our favorite area in the park called Blair Valley and there are several short to moderate hikes right there that are great for the family during the day.  So, last weekend, knowing that we could only go for a short trip, we dashed out to the desert on Friday afternoon and came back on Saturday around lunchtime, with enough time so that Augustus could get cleaned up to go and chaperone Homecoming.  

Four really cool highlights from our trip:  (1)The three older girls got up in the morning, with their Dad already off hiking, and decided to take a hike of their own.  They started up the big hill directly behind our tent (in my full sight the whole time) and made it half way up.  I loved seeing them go out on their own adventure, helping each other along, and developing camaraderie as sisters.  (2)As we ate breakfast, we heard the tale-tell sound of an Air Force jet coming (the military does training out over the desert).  As the jet came into sight, it was so low, if felt like you could just reach up and touch it and then a second later it had darted over the next hill and was gone.  (3)Before leaving and after packing up,  we went on a short hike to a historic Native American village sight were there are morteros, deep indentations and also more shallow indentations for both grinding grain and rolling out the dough; the Native American people came to these areas seasonally.  Once the girls got going, they kept looking all over to find evidence of more morteros and also old cooking sights in the boulders and campsites.  It was fun seeing them imagine being out there in a different era, having to fend for themselves in that terrain.  (4)And finally, the highlight for me personally was seeing the most brilliant shooting star that I have ever witnessed.  It was glowing red and yellow on it tail end, light a natural firework flying through the sky.  Both Augustus and I were aghast and in awe of this evidence of God's wondrous creation.

The night sky is amazingly beautiful out there.

Waiting for dinner in the dark.  We didn't get as quick of a start as we had hoped for, but we made it.

Enjoying being around the campfire.

Tricks with glow sticks.

Our campsite from up above.

The hubby playing with his camera as the sun rises.

Selah, up the hill, hiking with Isabella and Arianna.

Isabella and Arianna, hiking.

A steep uphill.

Our campsite.

Dakota, basking in the sun.

Pumpkin Patch Pictures

Selah

Isabella

Livia, happy as always to smile for a picture.

At least they are all in 1 picture.

Livy right in the middle posing front and center for the camera. 

So pensive.

Not too excited about smiling for the camera after being stung by a wasp.

Not sure what this is all about.

Okay, I can be pleasant for Papi and the camera.

I'm kind of getting into this.

Little D, hamming it up.

Maybe this one will turn into a coach for our little princess.