chicks

On Monday we bought 5 Buff Orpington chicks. Nate and Evelyn are thrilled and want to hold them constantly. I have demonstrated many times to Nate how to "hold gently" and he does pretty well for the most part. Evelyn likes to shriek with joy and pat them. She definitely enjoys them more than they enjoy her. Lexi is fascinated also. She watches them intently, licking her lips. Obviously, the chicks must not be left alone with Lexi or the children. 

So far they seem to be happy healthy little chickens, running around pecking and scratching at everything inside their little box. I hope to get a couple Barred Rock chicks later in the week. The Barred Rocks are pullets, but the Buffs are mixed. I am hoping that at least some of them turn out to be hens. If not, Brett has recently become an expert chicken dispatcher and plucker so I will just hand them over to him. 

so that I don't forget

Nate loves to play "going to work"  in his cozy coupe car.

 "Mommy, come give me kiss in car.  Bye-bye! Mine going to work with dad (or Papa or Papa B). Mine going to get gas. Mine going to Chick-fil-A! Bye-bye 'weetie! See ya' later!" 

Yesterday he said, "May I pick you up in car? Noooooo, you too big!" 

And my current favorite, "We eat at Old McDonalds ee-i-ee-i-o?" 

A girl after my own heart and spring beauty

 I love love love flowers and this week is one of my favorite of the whole year. Dogwoods, azaleas, and irises are blooming their hearts out. Splashes of bright color everywhere. Every morning the bright green baby leaves on the trees have doubled in size. The weather has been perfectly gorgeous too so we have been spending lots of time outside. 

Aside note on azaleas...has anyone else noticed how it seems perfectly acceptable to plant azaleas with clashing colors right next to each other? The colors are so brilliant that it ends up being beautiful anyway, but beautiful in an odd way. 

Nate does like flowers, but I am pleased to observe that Evelyn appreciates them more to my level. She gets very excited when she spies a particularly beautiful one and "ooohhhs" and "aaaahhhhs" appropriately. 

My dear siblings claim that I have "almost crashed" repeatedly while driving and exclaiming over some particular flower. They all seem to have a story to this effect. However, nothing dangerous has ever happened. They simply felt alarmed by my sudden exclamation and thus felt as if we had been close to crashing. Just thought I'd lay that explanation out there. 

Yesterday Evelyn took an early nap so later, while Nate was down, she played outside and I took pictures. 

Evelyn walking towards our dogwood.

Even the flowers are coated in pollen! The bane of Georgia's spring.

I stuck a violet behind her ear.

Dirty toes! I had forgotten how much I love dirt. Except under my fingernails.

I love her stiff legged walk, like a sailor with wooden legs, newly at sea. Cracks me up.

Our strawberries are looking happy! I have covered them in netting so hopefully we get to eat some this year instead of supplying all the local wildlife. 

Actually, my life would probably be a little easier if Evelyn did not love flowers quite as much as she does. I have had to replant several plants and she seems to enjoy shredding petals too.  But then, if I was shooting for ease I shouldn't have had children....or flowers. =) 

random happenings

*Written several days ago*

Nate woke up crying this morning at 4 am. We could not figure out what was wrong with him. He did not seem to be sick and would periodically start crying even though he was in bed with us. He just kept saying he wanted to get up and of course we kept telling him that it was still nighttime. We especially wanted him to sleep because we had a big day planned that involved going to the zoo. 

Finally around 6 am, just as I was about to give up and bring him downstairs, he threw up. Poor guy! He laid on the couch moaning most of the morning and I snuggled next to him. 

In light of all that, this post was particularly applicable and encouraging to my heart when it appeared in my inbox this morning. http://www.babyadamsjourney.com/2013/04/things-as-they-are-because-it-is-how-he.html

We had a surprisingly good day after that difficult beginning. Nate continued to feel better throughout the day, Evelyn played happily by herself a little bit, and they both took a good nap. We sat on the swing outside and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. Netflix also came in handy today. =)

Brett set up a "slide" inside for the children yesterday and they have been thoroughly enjoying it. I am too safety conscious, or maybe just not imaginative enough, to ever initiate just a project. No one has yet been injured. Evelyn, thankfully, cannot climb up onto the table  to slide down so she has to have help. 

Speaking of Brett, he has an appointment scheduled with the surgeon next Tuesday, the 16th. Last week he had a CT scan which confirmed the presence of a 3 mm hole in the roof of his right frontal sinus. Hopefully he will be all patched up soon! 

and now she is one