Smores, Peep, Taco, and.... ?

Okay...  What about our family picture is different?  Notice anything cuter?  Fuzzier?  Chirp-ier?

The cat sure noticed....

Chickens!  HA!  Yep.  We have added four chickens to the family.  :)

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Michaela's Chick, "Smores"

Sierra's Chick, "Peep"

Andrea's Chick, "Nutella or Taco"  :)

Scotty's Chick, "Yet to be determined"  (maybe Feathers, maybe Easter)

Now the pet to people ratio is way lopsided...  Pets: 8, People 6. ...and every evening our living room feels kinda like a barn. :)  The chickens are "playing" in the corral, guinea pigs are squealing in the background, and the cats are wondering what the heck is going on.  I just sit by the fire and laugh... because what else can I do?!

...and we have two chickens arriving from school in a month.  That is what started this whole thing.  You know you live in a "farm town" when your daughter brings home a "chicken permission slip" on the first day of school.  Sierra's science class is hatching eggs, weighing them and looking inside them with some special chicken-looking light, etc...  and after the eggs hatch, the chicks need homes ...and guess who said they would take two.  ...Yep, We did.

We were waiting patiently for our school chicks and then one day I saw a sign at the local tractor supply store down the street, "CUTE AND FUZZY CHICKS HAVE ARRIVED".  I drove past it every day for a week until I couldn't take it any longer.  I pulled in and checked the chicks' cute level.  Super Cute!!!  I told Paul to go buy a heat lamp and that night we took all four kids to pick themselves out a new feathered friend.  

LOVE THEM.  I love the chickens.  I'm beyond glad we got them.  They sit next to me at the fireplace all day under their little heat lamp and do chicken-y type things.  :)  You know...  peck, chirp, stretch, etc...   I've added an extra layer of fence because the cats are a little more interested now that they are bigger and flappier.   ...and they sleep in the bathroom.  :)  (Oh goodie... one more thing to "put to bed")

I think what I like most is watching the kids with them.  They all adore their chicks.  We will all sit around the cage watching them like they are some TV show ohne commercials.  :)  I think this is the only way to love chickens.  I'm pretty sure they are ugly when the get big, but right now I just thing they are the cutest things ever....  chirping away next to me as I type.  :)  I think I'll still like them ...even when they are ugly.  :)

...and we've eaten chicken the last two nights for dinner.  I kinda thought the kids would put two and two together and refuse to eat it... Nope.  Sierra is the only one who won't eat birds; I don't think she's eaten a bird in over two years ...not even a turkey on thanksgiving.  :)

Snowboarding KE

Here she is....  Well, after a few hours of lessons from some random teenage BOY.  :)

During our second ski trip Michaela decided she likes snowboarding better (yes, after we bought her skiis)....

When we first arrived, all six of us were going to go up the BIG hill, but Andrea and I had to bail out at the last minute because I couldn't control her on her new leash very well.  :)  I realized this after Michaela was already on the ski lift attached to a snowboard so I couldn't help her and despite how much I love my husband, he's not a snowboarder and he couldn't offer much help...

It all worked out in the end though because a cute little Michaela who was floundering around face down in the snow attracted the attention of a random snowboarding boy who then spent the rest of his day as her personal instructor.  (I had hung out with him during a snack break to "assess" him.  I deemed him safe, threatened him, and sent them both on their way...)

Guess we need to start looking for a snowboard for Michaela.  She's been using mine, which even the BOY said, "Wow, that's an old board..."  HA!  Yep, 15 years old and probably too big for her.

AND...  Do you see the sun?  It was super hot!  I was in a T-shirt all day and I was still warm.  It was a good day to forget Sierra's coat at home.  :)  It was cute because it was Hawaiian Weekend so the entire place was decorated like a beach.  How appropriate for the day!

First time Skiing!

We rock.

Seriously...  we are all awesome.

• Michaela is awesome because she hopped on my snowboard and took off down the hill without a single crash ...until the end.

• Sierra is awesome because it took her about five minutes to get the hang of skiing.

• Scotty is awesome because he was brave and rode the ski lift and now he LOVES skiing.

• Andrea is awesome because...  well, she is awesome because she could have ruined this entire trip by being a turd.  She was happy all day and loves skiing just as much as the rest of us.

• Happy and I are awesome because we survived taking four kids skiing for the first time.

Skiing was great and everyone loved it! ...loved it so much that we have since purchased five sets of skis and boots.  I think we will try to go again this Saturday...  it was fun and now that we own our own stuff we can skip the rental part which was probably the most stressful part of the entire day.  :)

We started off on the bunny-est of all bunny hills with this cool thing called a magic carpet which is like those moving sidewalks they have at the airport.  It takes you up the hill.  :)  Cute huh?  Way less threatening than a   ski lift you have to jump on.  :)

On our first run Sierra and Scotty did great.  They just took off down the hill like they knew exactly what they were doing.  I don't even think Sierra fell.

Michaela was the only one of us who had been skiing recently.  She had gone in Norway for her first time so she was already a pro.  :)  I wanted her to fall like the rest of us so I stuck her on my snowboard and she actually did really good well on it!  I think I'll make her a snowboarder so she will be cool like me.  Of course the last time I snowboarded was 15 years ago ...back when snowboarders weren't even allowed on certain parts of the hill because they got in the skiers way.  :)

Andrea was hilarious. Sorry if this movie gives you motion sickness...  I was running after her.  :)  When we started I would take her up the hill and walk next to her holding her hand on the way down. (We were on the practice bunny hill.)  She thought it was great and I held her hand for a few runs... then I had to disappear and let Daddy take over because she wouldn't let go of my hand.  :)  There was no real trauma and in ten minutes I returned to a cute little super star skier going full speed ...straight down the hill rocket like.

When I remember learning to ski we were told to make a "snowplow"; now you make a "pizza" ...either way the triangle you form with your skis helps you go slower ...and when you are learning slow is good.  However, nobody told Andrea "slow is good".  She refused to make a pizza; she only wanted to make french fries which are two, straight, parallel skis.  For this reason we couldn't take her on the big mountain so I stayed with her on the bunny hill and Paul took the three big ones to the REAL hill.  :)

The REAL hill involved a ski lift and it's probably better I wasn't there for that too.  :)  Scotty had some hesitation...  :)  During this time Scotty and Sierra braved a BLUE SQUARE ...and even though Scotty had a mega-fall which involved both of his skis flying off in a cloud of powder he still asks to go skiing every day.  Sierra did really well for her first time ...very proud of her for trying it!

Michaela and Sierra needed a "Texting Break"

Anyways.  while the big kids skied the afternoon away I had Poozie on the bunny hill, but I couldn't use my snowboard because it was too hard to manage the board and a Poozie.  So I got to ride up the magic carpet while standing up and then run down the hill chasing Andrea who was giggling hysterically at the fact she refused to make a pizza.  We did this for two straight hours.  I thought she would get bored; I even tried to bribe her with Pringles and Hot Chocolate to go in and take a break.  Nope.  She wanted to keep going.  We have since bought a pair of skis for me so I can chase Poozie easier.  :)

There you have it.  Our first ski experience.  I'm glad we actually did it because we weren't sure we wanted to deal with it until the last minute.  ...but since we live 45 minutes from skiing it seemed kinda dumb not to.  (Plus, next year the kids can join the ski club and someone else will take them skiing once a week!  Score!)