chicks

The chicks arrived and brought lots of excitement.  Oh, the time we spent in that hot brooder house watching the little balls of fluff!  They are just so cute!  Kellen thought it was quite fun to turn them on their backs because they would do karate.  So we had to set some rules.  Lanelle reported that the rules are no karate and no pretending they are action figures.  Neve is enjoying them now, but oh, they made her mad when they would peck at her yellow rubber boots! 

 We are learning lots.  Thankful for books and friends to answer our questions.  We are learning to watch their behaviour to figure out if the temperature is good.  It was a little scary when the power went out for awhile during a thunderstorm and they were all huddled together in the middle of the room.  Hmm, guess we might need to think of a back up plan. 

 Lanelle is learning to be the "chick checker" (its more fun if we call it that :) and giving very informative reports.  She went out this morning in the rain and reported that 2 were sleeping under the light, lots were eating, they were spread out around the room, and they looked happy. 

 When I was sitting at the table with the kids while they colored and Kellen was practicing some writing, I felt inspired to try draw a chick, using the How to Draw Baby Animals book.  I usually only draw stick figures for the kids, so I was proud that I could follow the steps and get a pretty good lookin' bird on paper. Yep, its all about chicks these days!

We are on day 3 and haven't lost any yet.  I'm still trying to prepare myself, cause I know its pretty normal to lose some.  We went to the city today and I had to laugh at how concerned we were to get home and check on them.  So thankful that we are here and getting to experience this fun.  I love the learning and newness of it all.  Its wonderful to watch the kids experience this.  There has already been some talk of what happens to the "yellow ones" in the fall.  Lanelle says it makes her a little sad, but it seems to be accepted as the way it is.  And we focus on the brown ones that we'll be keeping for a long time :)