A laid back Saturday

M is 8 weeks old today, my time has flown as it seems like she born only a few hours ago. She is smiling a good handful of times a day now and making some interesting noises out of her little mouth. She is such a content little baby and is just pleased as peach as long as she is fed, dry, and clothed in something comfy and preferably fuzzy.

Taken today at 8 weeks old

Our small garden project is going well we now have three marigold sprouts! They seem to be doing well. There seems like there might be a small sprout starting on the bell pepper, maybe? There is one sprout on the egg plant and now there are THREE sprouts on the tomatoes! J is super excited about it all. I can't wait to see if these actually flower or produce veggies! 

We went to the Farmers Market yesterday and they had a kids area (I wished I had remembered my camera)  and J got to paint a yogurt container and plant some sunflower seeds. So they are now part of our project too!

The three marigolds

The egg plant sprout

One of the tomato sprouts just starting

The second tomato sprout

The third tomato sprout 

The painted tub

The sunflower tub 

I also bought some rabbit meat yesterday and we are going to cook it tomorrow I am hoping it is a real big hit so we can start setting up for rabbits and our food! 

Busy Day Today!

Today we had story time at the library and it was mundane as usual but J adored it. My midwife came by for my last appointment today and I got a clean bill of health. M weighs a whopping 9lbs 12oz up from 6lbs 4oz at birth.  She is fabulously efficient at breastfeeding and obviously doing quite well :D

Here is what I wake up next to every morning! 

Here she is today all snuggled in our moby wrap during swim lessons. 

Today J graduated from level 2 to 3 in swim lessons! She is super proud of herself and now wants to be on the swim team! She has another year before she is old enough so if she stays in swim lessons until then she should be fabulous! So the tail end of her swim class involved starting to learn the torpedo with assistance! 

Here is J learning the torpedo. 

Tomorrow is home school group and J is really looking forward to it! Oh and we have another sprout from the marigold greenhouse but still none of the others have sprouted. Only time will tell! 

We Sprouted! All right only the marigold but still J is happy!

So the little green houses have been germinating for a week now. No sign of spouts from the bell peppers, egg plants, or tomatoes but the marigold has not one but two sproutlets growing! J is pleased as punch that her flower is growing. I can't wait to get a garden going I do think she'll love to 'help' with that.

Here you see the marigolds.

Bell peppers

Egg plant

Tomatoes

J's other flowers in the window

Bunny enjoying some free time out in the grass.

Chicks are all doing well and enjoying this great weather. Sir Ian decided to sleep in the tree last night. It worked out well for him. 

We got a rabbit though don't think he is breeding material.

He is a super friendly and has yet to be named and probably won't be bred to anything. But he likes J and hay and that is pretty good.

The unamed buck. 

I am not going to bore you all with pictures of the green houses. They aren't sprouting quite yet so no need for pictures of dirt.

We are going to buy some rabbit meat from the meat butcher and I will make it on Friday for dinner so that way my husband can make the final decision on meat rabbits.

I'd love to be in a place by the end of summer '13 that we are eating 90% all our own meat and veggies. I am going to start canning this summer with produce from the farmers market but would like to grow my own for us next spring. Also next January/February I'd like to raise about 30ish meat birds to raise and freeze along with the hopeful frozen rabbits we should be able to get through a few months with out purchasing meat from the store. How awesome would that be?

Home School Group and Ian

Today was our home school group and J had a blast with dodge ball. Not that she understands the rules at all. She spent most of her time screaming whilst attempting to hit others and grab balls. The one thing she understood   was if she got hit with a ball she was out.

I am sad we found this group so close to the end of the school year but next school year it should be amazing since there will be a bit more active teaching and learning going on then now.

Here is J and her daddy loving on Ian. He is such a sweet guy. 

Home Schooling and Chickens.

Ok so we are doing a plant project where we check on them every day. We found these little green houses at the store and and gave them to J for easter. We planted them last night and I will take pictures daily.

From left to right we a marigold, sweet peppers, white eggplant, and tomatoes. 

If these work well we can easily reuse them again after the plants have been transplanted! I also have some pictures of the chickens. I will add the rest later when I get a good shot of them. 

Here we have Sir Ian

This is Yellow Head (barred rock)

This is the young Super Lelu

This here is good ol' Blackie. 

Gilbert

Super Lelu the first. 

All names are courtesy of J. 

Welcome Home!

Life is finally seeming to fall into place where I would like it too. We have our temporary chicken coop up and running, with four 10 week old hens and one giant 6 month old rooster. We also have another three hens in the brooder. I can't wait till the coop is done; we have most of the supplies and equipment. I hope to get all cut and organized this weekend and spending the next weekend constructing it.

Here is an inventory of our ladies. (I'll post pictures tomorrow)
2 rhode island reds
2 easter eggers
1 buff orpington
1 barred rock
1 black sex link

Our Roster is an easter egger mix.

I will also have pictures almost daily of J's and my current science project of growing seeds. We got four mini green houses and have planted the seeds. We will be watering them and having them bask in the sun (if Oregon gets any) and just observing what happens!

Till tomorrow my dears! Good night!