I took the babies away from mommy :(

WHY? Because I wanted to put them in with my meat chicks so they can all get to know each other since they will be sharing a coop this summer. I don't have any where else for the two little ones to go otherwise. The chicks were just fine and playing with the other 25 babies and every gets along great. On the other hand mother is IRATE! She is pecking on all the others in the cage with her and calling for her babies :( I feel bad but it's the best for all. Plus she eventually has to give them up. She has started to do a little better (an hour later) and I'm sure every hour will get even better and soon she will forget. She yelled at me and fluffed up her feathers and attacked my had when I tried to get the babies LOL She doesn't hurt but she just acts big HEHE. She's so sweet and such a good mommy. Can't wait for her to hatch some more! Maybe this year yet IF I start getting fertile eggs.
Well, Stefan got his wisdom teeth out this morning and he's feeling some pain this afternoon. They got him on vicadin (SP) and 4 ibuprofen every four hours. Poor kid!
Nic is his normal get in trouble Nic LOL He's such a cutie! I can't believe next fall he goes to school already! I don't want him to!

A few pics of mother hen with her babies/ my frizzle

UPDATE: Here is my new link to our meat chicken journal

I thought I would get this picture up finally...didn't get all the pics downloaded yet but I will some day and share them with you. Here is the silkie hen with her two babies:

See the two babies?? Under the hens wing



Here is a closer look of one of them:



Watching her raise them is just the most relaxing thing ever! I could sit there and watch them for hours :D

Her is my blue orp rooster who is just gorgeous!



And here is one of my newest chicks. THis is a blue bantam cochin...not sure if it's a hen or a roo yet but will be able to tell soon enough.



New news...not sure if I told you all that we are going to be raising meat chickens from now on? Well, they were in the mail this last wed...did not get them yet. I'm worried they are lost in the mail. I have calls in to the distribution center and I'm hoping they get them there this afternoon. I would drive to get them there vs waiting for them to be delivered to my P.O. tomorrow morning. My chicks have always only taken two days to get here :( I'm worried if I wait till tomorrow 1/2 of them will be dead :( I am also starting a new journal JUST for my records of our meat birds so if anyone is interested in watching this journey your welcome to join me there. I will put a link in here when I get it made. There will also be lots of pics to see the growth...were going to be trying different meat chickens and we want to know the what the best tasting one is etc...just a record keeping journal really but it will help us know what to do in the years to come.

Stefan is home on break and we are getting invites ready for his grad party on July 11 :D He leaves July 27 to go to college. I will have lots of pics of his graduation and party when hubby gets them all uploaded for me. Watch for those later.

Update on how things are going.

Missie, to answer your question...yes, Stefan is heading off to Washington DC on July 28th :( It's going to be a happy day and a sad day for us. It SOOOO far away from us :(

Update on how I have been doing on my new health trek...well I have been doing pretty darn good. I have lost 5 lbs since starting the gym...I can tell a difference in my clothes now (just a little but I can still tell) so that's good. Like I said before...as long as the weight is coming off (even slowly) I am not going to change what I eat. I still eat pizza, soda, whatever I want and whatever I did BEFORE I started exercising. I need something to change when I hit a plateau. When that happens I will go down on calories but not until then :D I LIKE eating, why stop if I'm losing?? I DO eat fruit and healthier foods too but I don't cut the sweets or fattening things. If I want them I eat them. I am still going to the gym every day (except weekends) and I believe I am starting to feel better. And feel better mentally for sure! I have to admit...it's darn hard getting up every morning and pulling my butt out of bed to go work out but I do believe I"m starting to enjoy it. I was there today and I will be there tomorrow. Starting to get to know the "regulars" who go about the same time we do.

Chick update: The mommy is showing them food and water today so they have both ate and drank :D And still hiding under mommy to stay warm but coming out more often to investigate things. They are just too darn cute! I can't wait for the next batch she sits on. I just know I"m going to have TONS of chicks running around just to see this again. She will even be a better mother next time :D

Were getting plans made for our meat chicken coop. YES, I said meat chickens. We have decided to buy a dozen freedom rangers and send them to the butcher to have fresh chicken for our table. We are also starting a long process to prepare us for beef cattle. We will get two cows hopefully next year maybe the year after. Depends on how long it takes us to learn about them and how to raise them. AND to get our field fenced in and a shelter built for them.
We got our garden half planted now and expecting some nice veggies soon :D I really need to learn how to can so we can preserve them. Other then those things, I have been working and playing with the chickens and gardening.
I better get moving for today but wanted to come update.

We have TWO now/ MOVIE REVIEW ...SAD!!!

The other hatched out yesterday and she is just super cute! She has little puffy cheeks like her mommy (an EE or Easter Egger) and she has feathered legs like her daddy (Cochin) I just hope it's a girl now cuz I really want to keep her. I hope they are both girls and I will keep both of them. This is the cutest thing ever to witness! I can't stop watching them LOL they are always doing something different and mommy is now teaching them how to eat and drink :D She wasn't a very good sitter but she sure is a good mommy. Well I guess she did ok since they both hatched right?! They are getting brave and starting to come out from under mommy too so we get to see them more. I pick them up now and she is just fine with it.
I have my video camera on the charger so tomorrow when I get home from the gym I'm going to take some pics with that and a video too. BOY this is SO much easier then having the brooder light running 24/7 AND cheaper! I just let mom do all the work.

I did get to the gym today again...I also went thursday and Friday of last week which I wasn't here to report. I am starting to notice a difference now too. I was looking in the mirror at myself and I"m starting to firm up in certain places now :D NOW I just need to step up on the aerobics to get rid of the flab so I can SEE the firmness LOL.I lost 5 lbs since starting the gym which is good since I'm prob putting on muscle weight. We are going to get our fat % tested this week too so we can see the difference after a months time. I am also calling to make an apt with the doctor to see what my levels are. Hadn't done that since 2005. Cory got his done and all his levels improved since 2005. He is still riding his bike almost every day or every other day for sure. And we are planting our garden (1/2 done now) so that is hard work too!

Well, I better get some things done before I have to run out to work. Last night work sucked by the way. NO laundry was done at all so I got the whole works! Two HUGE carts full and our carts are the huge types on wheels. I was not a happy camper yesterday when I got to work. I did have almost all of it done by the time the auditor got there. He only had 1/4 load left to fold. Today I'm sure will be the same. Thank god I have three days off coming up here.

Next week is Stefan's graduation! I'm so proud of him! He's getting all A's and B's He goes on his class trip to Chicago this week too. We are having his grad party on July 11th. Should be fun. I have lots to do before that time though so I'm asking for a few days off work right before the party. I have to remember to do that tonight. I want to shampoo my carpets too...they are getting so bad. My dad refuses to take off his shoes and we always had that rule for our family...still do. So him being 83 and set in his ways we can't get him to change. He is forever hauling in dirt and mud everywhere. We want to replace carpets in a few years anyhow so it's not so bad, we can live with it for now. At least the rooms that got new carpets he doesn't go in thank goodness.

OH MY GOSH! I almost forgot...did anyone see Marley and Me? IF YOU DID NOT, YOU MAY NOT WANT TO READ FARTHER! STOP NOW AND GO WATCH IT! HOLY cow was that sad! I was crying my eyes out! Seriously! I don't remember a show that made me cry more. It so reminded me of our poor Baily when we had to get him put to sleep. We carried him home and buried him in our back yard and put rocks over his grave just like they did with Marley. It just brought back so many memories. SO SAD! The only difference was the whole family went in when he was put down. We were all crying like big babies. Poor Alex and Stefan grew up with Bailey and they took it the hardest. He was SO old though and he had a good life. I was bauling becasue I felt so bad for them! It's so hard to see your kids hurt. I'm not looking forward to doing that with Max someday. That will be just as hard. This time it will affect Nic the most. But all the sadness is worth it in every way just to have them in your life. Dogs are wonderful MOST TIME LOL We all know Max was NOT a good doggy at first...remember what our basement looked like with all the feathers from the feather pillow?! LOL Max is like Marley in a lot of ways. He's still naughty sometimes and gets into things but we love him to death and he loves us. We could never get rid of him no matter how naughty his is. The other day he peed on the couch! YESS, the couch! Thank god it was the one downstairs so I took it all apart and soaked the cushion and it's all clean and fresh smelling now :D Lots of word though. Not sure WHY in the world he did that...sometimes he dreams so deep that he doesn't wake up...that's what were thinking happened. Plus Stefan forgot to let the dogs out before bed like I asked him to do.

Ok I'm gone! I have to get something done today and I have to get ready to go in an hour...doesn't give me much time at all.

WE HAVE NEW BABIES!

I STILL have not found my camera (BUMMED) and now we have two new chicks that hatched from under the broody silkie. OH THEY ARE ADORABLE! Even more so seeing them under their mommy. Well she is not THEIR real mommy but she is a mommy to them. They are hiding under her right now but the one that hatched last night is getting brave now and showing himself to us for a few seconds before zooming back under mom. This is my first time witnessing this and I'm thrilled. Also thrilled that my dad got to see it because he wanted to see that. He said well, I'm shocked that she did it! LOL I am too since they are three days late I was beginning to give up hope. I was going to toss the eggs tomorrow if they hadn't hatched yet. I knew they would be a little late as this was her first time trying to hatch out eggs and she wasn't the best at it. We found them both outside the nest twice and she couldn't get them back in so we put them in for her. It prob slowed them down a bit. I'm going to try to get a video of this...we still have our video camera so on my day off WED I am going to do that.
I have to get ready for work now so I will chat at you guys tomorrow. I DID get to the gym again today too :D Tomorrow is another day and I will make it there then too. I lost 4 lbs so far even eating what I want to eat :D It's worth it!