Update on the coming week

Just wanted to add a quick post before my week begins. It's kind of a little of everything. I'll probably post again this week, but probably not next. This week won't be too bad, but next week I am thinking of skipping town till Friday! We have more appointments than any mom should have, especially when, to all but one appointment, we will be rolling 5 deep. 4 kids in the orthopedic's office. 4 kids at the dentist's office (2 this week, 2 next week). Thankfully I have a sitter for Noah's speech screening.
I actually get to go on a date Friday night. With my husband. We have not been out since October. We made arrangements to switch off with my friend who also has 4 children. Works out great, every few weeks we will just trade off!

In case some of you don't know this Friday is the first day of the Annual Great Backyard Bird Count. So fill up your bird feeders and check out the website for details.
We started identifying some new birds in our birdfeeders this week. The tufted titmouse and the lesser goldfinch female. We also always have cardinals; male and female, morning doves, purple finches; male and female, jays, and black-capped chickadees. We love birds. We are also enjoying watching the Eagle Camera from Norfolk Botannical Gardens. They have one set up at in a bald eagles nest. Well above it. They had two eggs, and Friday there was talk that there may be a third. There is also a great feature on the site to ask questions in a live chat while you're watching. We asked a few about the nest and about how to tell the male and female apart. An eagle will normally return to it's nest year after year. They can weigh up to a ton. This was a new nest to some young love eagles, so not quite as big. The female head is also rounder and her beak ends right below the edge of her eye. The males ends in the middle of his eye and his head looks flatter. Anyway, check out the website for that too if your interested. Great way to see a bald eagle up close.
Our Valentines plans: Tim has to work until dinner time so I am making some steaks I got on sale yesterday. NY Strip steak, topped with red potatoes, sauteed garlic and panko, and for dessert some chocolate cupcakes with truffles inside. So much for all that working out baby! Sorry :) Since we get to go out on Friday it's like having two Valentine's days!

Weird Weather

Ok. So at the beginning of the week here is what I woke up to.

We had crazy storms during the night and very high winds which took out my patio furniture. I don't think the swing will survive, but my glider (new) is ok.

Then the girls and I walk out of the mall today and see this.It's hard to see but it's...

flurries. Yep. I don't live in NH anymore. I don't like cold or snow. Of course the kids are freaking out. We go into Toys R Us and this is what it looks like when we get out.

This is one hour after we get home.

Enough snow for a giant snowman. It's December 4th. Our first Christmas here 9 years ago, Tim wore shorts. Global warming my elbow.

The Giant Leopard Moth Caterpillar

So, today Amber wasn't feeling 100% when she woke up, so we took the day off from formal school. Noah and Nate were investigating in the back yard and came across something I have never seen before...The Giant Leopard Moth Caterpillar!!!This is the coolest caterpillar I have ever seen in my life! When he gets scared he rolls into a ball.

He isn't like other caterpillars that I'm familiar with as far as his crawling is concerned either. He doesn't have a good grip. He walks right off of things! Most caterpillars will inch along and when they come to the end of it and then under it, like your hand...they would walk across the top, then across the bottom while they are upside down. Not this guy. He just walks right off and falls on the floor!















Here is what this fuzzy little guy is going to turn into!! How beautifully amazing is that? This is one of the most beautiful moths ever! Glad that we can experience God's creation all together.

The chickies are gone!

I haven't had much time to post, but yes, we brought the chickens back right before Easter. My house smelled like the fair, so it was time. Here are a few pictures of them from the day we brought them back to 4H. They were so cute.We did have an unfortunate event occur during our time with the little cheepers though. During the hatching process, we assumed Bob would hatch first. He was the first to start wiggling, the first to start cheeping, and the first to bust a hole in his shell. (There is probably a more scientific term to state the latter, but I don't know it!) Bob was the 6th chick to hatch. It took him from early in the morning until almost 8 pm that night. It seemed like he was having a harder time to get around in the incubator than the other 5 did. I removed him and dried him with a washcloth. When I added him into the brooder with the others he could get around by hobbling. As time went on he became less and less mobile until he couldn't move at all. Then he died. It was very upsetting to my 4 little ones. Especially the older 3. Nate said bye to Bob, then proceeded to talk about how much he wanted to play baseball. Not too upset I suppose. The night before he died the kids went to church sad about the whole thing and everyone in Amber's class tried to cheer her up by making some stuff for Bob.
(Since it was right before Easter, some of them turned their crafts into a gift for her). My favorite is the one that says "I'm so sorry for your deth I hop you rest in peca to:Bob-KK" How cute is that? Well, we made it through our first chicken funeral and burial. Yep. I buried a chick in my back yard. I love my kids.

More chickies!

Here is Max all fluffy with the triplets: (that's what we call them anyway) Zeke, Sprite, and Yolko.

This is one of the triplets hatching. I'm pretty sure it's Sprite.

Here they are napping...so sweet:)

Here is Yolko right after he hatched. It's amazing how cute they are once they are fluffified.

This is Max again too when he started to dry off.

They're here!!

Here is Max...our first egg to hatch. We are unsure if it is a rooster, or a darker breed of chicken. We need to wait until he is dry and a little bigger to find out, but we are so excited. Of course we will only have him/her for the week. On Friday we will be returning them to 4-H. This may be something we try to do every year now! If I could only talk Tim into keeping one or two... :)

Spring has Sprung!

I am so overly thankful that spring is here!!! Our winter was very cold, long, and depressing! I dislike getting out in the cold, especially with the poor kids. I have a countdown of sorts of the reasons why my kids are so pumped up about spring:
#5 They can play outside without 5 layers of clothes because it's so cold.
#4They don't have to worry about more snow (the last 3 snowfalls weren't very welcomed here in our home. My kids love to be in shorts...).
#3 They have more sunlight time since we have turned the clocks ahead.
#2There is so much beauty this time of the year too. My girls wake up every morning and pull up the blinds to see if our Bradford pear tree is in full bloom yet ( the top half is nearly all white, just a little more to go!)
But I would have to say their #1 reason is that we get to start our family hikes together again! We love to go to the historical parks in our area and explore nature and history (at the same time...multitasking mama!)
The kids really enjoy investigating the old basements of the homes from the 1700's.
Our 2 favorites about this park is the beautiful community garden complete with grapevine covered trellises (jealous) and the walk up to God's acre. This is a beautiful trail of large steps that lead to a very, very old cemetery. We love walking around and seeing the stones of some of the people who first settled our area. Figuring out how old (or young) some of the earlier settlers were.

We also have a few parks in our area that have great wooded walking trails. We will definitely be having a wonderfully observational spring!