Here a Chick- There a chick...

Besides the many turkeys and chickens that run around the farm, we got new baby chicks! So exciting! They are being raised as meat chickens.

The kids love them. They love to watch them...

To sing to them (MM esp likes to "sing them to sleep," where she holds them and sings until they close their eyes...)

But most of all, they like to climb in their cage and hold them. 

 

Henry likes to hold onto their tails, put them on their perching bar and then push them off. You should see his face; he does it all in love

 

 

All under the watchful eye of Hannah, a sweet dog who lounges around close by.

We are learning a lot about raising chickens.  Most of the chickens are pastured, meaning that they get to run around all day. But the chicks are being kept in little wire chicken trailers that we move each day so the chicks get access to clean grass.  Moving the chicks is sometimes a challenge. Today, a little chick's foot got caught and he was injured.  We took him inside and Dawn (our landlord/mentor around the farm) taught us how to clean him up and put scarlet oil on his wounds.  Margaret Mary was very determined to help the chick feel better and sat beside him keeping him company for a while. She also named him "Ouchy."  While cleaning his wounds tonight, we saw that his bone is sticking straight out of his leg...ouch.  We hope he is able to heal!

Sometimes when we're out working in the garden, MM will look up and see the chickens running by, and then she takes off after them yelling "Chicken race!"  The chickens usually win.  Henry, on the other hand, stays in the garden till the job is done.  But he does join in the chicken races sometimes when he needs a break.

Watching Granddad Work

One of the reasons we wanted to move to a farm was so that our kids could see and be with Jason while he works, just like Jason did when he was young.   This past weekend, our kids got to see their papa AND grandad work together.  They were pretty impressed. I think they played in the dirt for hours...

Look who fell asleep (in the sling) during morning chores...

what a beautiful surprise to look down and find a sleeping Buba!

it must have been when we were trying to chase the turkeys back into their pin for thirty minutes!

A Long Story Short

So, two weeks ago, we packed up a big truck

and drove across the country.  We stopped and got inspired at Fiat Farms in Kansas:

Colored lots of pictures, (MM still colors the eyes on pictures really wierd...)

Visited with more good friends in Nashville... (The Havens). Both our families had three babies in three years, so we have a lot in common. Check out their little beauties...

Peter slept a lot, and the big kids watched a lot of movies.

and then we arrived at our farm.  We had a great peace the entire trip and enjoyed traveling with Martin (Jason's dad).  But I felt a rush of anxiety when I returned to the house after Jason and his dad had unloaded the truck and saw this:

thankfully, the kids had fun playing

 

but unpacking with three children is impossible.  Simply taking care of them and feeding them is a full time job.  Two weeks later, we still have an entire room and a garage filled with boxes.  But back to the farm.  We took a couple hours to rest...

and then got to work feeding chickens and planting crops!

We love it here!  The house we live in is really dark on the inside (there isn't a lot of natural light) and that is the ONLY thing I don't like.  I've spent a lot of time asking around and googling how to make it brighter, but it might be something I just have to live with.  It's just hard cause as a mom, I spend 99% of my day inside cooking and cleaning, and I feel disconnected from the beauty outside in our dark home. Any of you have ideas?

So many more pics to come! We just got a bunch of baby chicks to take care of... Here's a sneak peak of a baby who isn't too happy with all the attention :)

Peter is Five Months!

We're here in North Carolina!  Before I post about the move and our new life here on the farm (which is a lot), I wanted to write about Peter's five month stats before I forget them.  So, here is Peter at five months: 

He is rolling and scooting all over the place and can lift his trunk (when he's on his belly) all the way off the ground. He's starting to sit up a little too, but I'm not brave enough to back away and take a picture yet.

He still loves his hands. I even found him sucking his thumb joyfully in the car seat yesterday. 

Peter is a joyfully little baby. He has a big temper that manifests itself when he's playing with a toy that frustrates him or falls out of his grip.

This last picture just makes us laugh.  Jason thinks the tagline should be "I am Peter and I approve this message."  I think it looks like a senior picture somehow; it gives me a little glimpse of what he will look like when he's older...

Peter George Ambrose. "Bubba."