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Happy Halloween

By on 11/6/2014

The Halloween celebrations started a day early for the kids this year. On Thursday there were the annual Mark Twain Elementary parade and class parties. The parade is a great tradition where the streets around the school are closed and the kids and teachers, decked out in their costumes, parade around the block.

Here is Will and his fifth grade buddy Austin getting ready.

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The parade

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Class parties were next. Maggie and I attended both Will and Amelia’s, meaning she had double the snacks and candy.

Here is Amelia’s third grade class.

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Costume highlights with Amelia’s friends Avery, Haven, and Alex.

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We were in Iowa City for Halloween. (It was a three day weekend and there was corn to be picked.) Here are our little trick-or-treaters, Hermione Granger from “Harry Potter”, Princess Elsa from “Frozen”, and Yoda.

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We went into town to trick-or-treat with the Galluzzos. Here are Joanna and Lucia as the Fox and Gingerbread Man. (Maggie’s not sure about the Fox.)

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Baby chickens…more things I’m responsible for keeping alive.

By on 9/26/2014

A month ago, after an evening with Helen and John in Effingham, and a few drinks, we decided we should get some chickens. Twelve hours later Helen and I bought a darling little chicken coop at Rural King. This is how it looks put together, and with two coats of stain and paint to make it pretty.

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The next weekend we bought four week old chicks: Clementine, Harriet, Penelope, and Josephine.

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They lived happily in our laundry room for two weeks before we decided, with constant heat from the heat lamp, they could move into their coop outside. So last weekend we moved them out and they loved the extra freedom and room, along with time to find crickets in the grass and take dirt baths.

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On a side note, one of our lovely chicks does seem to be getting bigger and more aggressive than the others, could she be a he? Just in case, when I bought more feed for them this week I also bought another chick. Here is Florence, our Speckled Sussex.

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We have been loving our chickie babies and grown quite attached. So when I walked outside yesterday and saw this hungry hawk eyeing my coop, I did what all good mothers do and started throwing rocks at him. Didn’t phase him. In fact he only flew away when the neighbor’s dog came over and ran after him. (I was a little intimidated by a hawk who doesn’t fly away when actually hit with rocks.)

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Needless to say, he came back, 6 more times yesterday and was here this morning.

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Since Maggie and I were going to be picking apples with Will’s class this morning, I took matters into my own hands using a neighbor’s fake owl and some aluminum foil. I’m the first to call myself “a crazy chicken lady”.

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The hawk was on our fence when we returned from the orchard, not on the coop, but there are claw marks in my foil to show he attempted to land there again. Wish me luck!

 

UPDATE: (30 minutes after the original post)

Apparently the hawk and owl go way back. They’re friends.

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Morning Goodbyes

By on 9/26/2014

We are well into the school morning routines. When Dave leaves for work all the kids require a big hug and will come running to him when they hear his backpack buckles come together. A little while later we walk to school to drop Will and Amelia off. Maggie gets hugs and kisses from her siblings, and then Will hugs Amelia and says “Maybe I’ll see you in the hall today” with a smile on his face. It’s a pretty great way to start the day (minus the tears over breakfast choices, getting Maggie to go potty before we leave, and keeping her walking or biking at a responsible pace).

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Margaret Vision

By on 9/26/2014

During Will’s soccer practices, there are times when Margaret wears me down and I hand over my phone. Here is what she sees through the lens:

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