A Boy's Hunting Dream

The 20th of April can not come fast enough for our Adin Boy. For his 12th birthday we got him his own hunting buddy. She is a beautiful little Chocolate Lab who he has tentatively named Iris, the Greek goddess of sea and sky. The 20th is when we will get to go and pick her up as she was just born on March 2nd. 

We don't know which one she is as we have 7th (last) pick of the females. No matter which one our Iris is, she is going to be a well loved pup. (Maybe not so much by the cat! Poor Buddy the cat, first Freya and now Iris.)  More pictures to come, don't you just want to snuggle them all?

Planning for Spring Chickens

The kiddos are all in 4-H still and are entering the 3rd year in poultry for Adin and the 2nd year for the girls. Our feathery girls are getting older and so we are looking to add to our flock this spring. As the Poultry project leader, I have tasked the kids with researching the breeds that they want to get next. They have to look at what will go best with our aging flock, what will meet our needs, what will work with our climate and what they want in a show bird as well. 
This has been a fun project so far and the kids have really gotten into it.  Both Elle and Eliza have written & typed up reports that they are putting in their record books and Adin is bemoaning the fact that the site we are using is pretty much out of Silkies and Polish breeds. He is loving those fluffy unique birds. I guess we'll have to order those come fall for next spring.  Wow, who knew. 
E & L both want leghorns, one white and one light brown along with an Easter Egger and a Silver Spangled Hamburg. Why do I have a feeling that Hamburg will end up with a name closely related to hamburger.
When chicks finally arrive (once actually ordered) we'll be sure to post pictures. They will be taking up residence in the sunroom again as our first flock did.  What is your favorite chicken breed? Mine is still and always the forever sweet Buff Orpington.

Life As We Now Know It

Life is different around our little corner of the world. Let's see what we have been up to:

1. I am now a RN for our county's Public Health. (Actually, I am the only RN here at Public Health.)

2. The kiddos are older,
 A is a 6th grader, he loves running Cross Country and any 5K's he can get entered in. He is looking to run a 1/2 marathon this year. Anything outdoors and dealing with hunting is right up his alley.

L is now Eliza and is a 4th grader. She also loves running, but really is getting into basketball. She is still an animal lover, but also is getting into crocheting.

E is still E and is also a 4th grader who did her first 10K in October of 2017 with her Auntie. Watch out for this one. She is also a fierce basketball player and is looking to play softball with her sister again this summer. E loves hanging out with littles and enjoys any time she gets to hang out with her miracle 2 1/2 year old cousin Lilly who was born at 27 weeks.

3. We have Freya back in the house, lucky dog who is pushing her limits again.

4. Dear hubby is looking to the not so distant future of retiring (couple years), and is hoping to start    up his Taxidermy again to some degree.

5.I WILL have a garden again this year that grows more than weeds.

6. I have become the co-general leader for our 4-H club and the Chair of our education committee at  church. (where do I have the time to do these things?)

7. Oh, and I have entered the world of Gluten Fee. This is not by choice, but by bowel necessity!

I could go on, but this is what consumes our lives right now. I know I have said this in the past, but I hope to do a better job recording our lives, our memories, our ups and downs. We'll see where God takes us.