An End to the Chicken Saga

It was just over a year and a half ago that the chickens came into our lives. It all started one night in May 2012 when we went to Emma's kindergarten class open house. Her class had hatched 10 of the cutest, fluffiest little chicks the week before and we spent a long time oohing and aahing over them. As we were leaving the open house, I overheard her teacher telling one of the parents that if anyone wanted to keep the chicks they could. I couldn't help it...I'd always had a secret dream to someday have chickens...and here was my opportunity.

That night I proposed the chicken idea to a very reluctant Jon. I pulled up the backyard chickens website and started talking to my brother who had owned chickens. We had to make a decision before the teacher took them back to the farm the next day. After a late night of researching and talking (and maybe a little begging) Jon agreed that we could try it out. 

And so began the chicken saga. Jon has written the story in great detail, and it's hilarious. If you haven't read it yet, it's definitely worth the read. Here's what he has so far. Part 1, part 2. Hopefully part 3 is coming soon.

This was the chick hotel that Emma's class made

Long story short, the chicks quickly (very quickly) grew from the cute, furry little balls to gangly adolescents to full grown chickens. Somewhere in there Matthew accidentally drowned a chicken trying to give it a drink of water, and then we gave away the 4 roosters. We were left with 5 fun, quirky little hens. 

We've had more than a few adventures with the chickens...which Jon will hopefully write about. There were days when we played with the chickens and collected the most beautiful eggs and couldn't imagine life without these funny little creatures. And there were days when we were pulling our hair out and if it weren't for the potential mess, Jon would have gone out and slaughtered them. Over time the frustrations started to outweigh the positives and we started talking about getting rid of them. After researching the slaughter process, Jon ruled out the option of us killing them. However, he knew someone from church who wouldn't have a problem with it. At our ward Christmas party, he mentioned to Jim that he had 5 hens to get rid of...thinking that Jim would kill them for us and he could have some free chicken. Instead Jon was shocked when Jim responded that he was in the middle of building what he called the ultimate chicken coop and would love to take the chickens. We couldn't believe how perfectly it all came together. 

On New Years Day, we got the call. The coop was finished and Jim was ready to come get his birds. The kids went out in the yard to say good bye. They were really only sad to see Stripes go. She is the smallest and sweetest of the flock. By far the favorite. The kids said their good byes and then ran back in. And they haven't looked back. Jon went straight to work taking down the chicken coop so we can hopefully let the backyard grow back. 

We loved having the experience of having chickens. It was definitely a learning experience...and we definitely did everything the hard way. We are glad we did it, we are glad to be done, but we hope to do it again someday when we're in a more permanent situation and our kids are older. 

New Years Eve 2013

We went way out of our comfort zone this year and had a New Years Eve party with a few friends. It was so much fun. Good food, good friends, great fun! There were 8 adults and 13 kids aged 8 and under, so it was a crazy, chaotic fun. We even finally opened our chocolate fountain for the occasion. It was a huge hit, especially with the kids.

This little cutie kept asking me to take her picture

 Sweet baby snuggles

At 9:00 we gave the kids noise makers and watched the ball drop (oh the perks of being on the west coast!

Christmas Day

Christmas came SO fast this year and once again it really didn't feel like Christmas at all. As much as I love the weather here, 70 degrees just doesn't scream Merry Christmas. :)

For the first time since having kids, we were not the first ones awake. Emma and Alyssa woke up around 7 and Matthew followed a little bit later. We finally woke Ellie up at 8 because the kids couldn't wait any longer.

The set up. I love the kids expressions when they saw everything.

Emma wrote this letter to Santa: Dear Santa, I have some questions for you. Is Rhoudohlf real? Can your reindear really fly? Are parents your elfs? How do you deliver presents to the whole world on time? Please tell me the answers.

On the back she had provided spaces for the answers and she was thrilled to see that Santa had answered. His answers were 1. yes  2. yes  3. parents help me sometimes 4. I can only deliver the presents because children believe!

Matthew's Hot Wheels track was the hot item of the morning. I really didn't want to get one, but it was the one thing he had been asking for for months and the only thing he said he wanted. Jon talked me into keeping it after I bought it and I have to admit it's been a lot of fun. 

Ellie got this fold out couch bed. She plopped down on it and did not move from it for most of the day. And now she sleeps in it every night and all the kids try to sit on it when they watch movies. Definitely a great purchase! 

So excited about her crystal growing kit! We've only grown one of them so far and it was really cool. It's a pretty involved process so Jon has to be around to help. We can't wait to see the rest.

Alyssa hung out with us for a little bit and then went down for a long nap.

Hooray for headphones! While they were Emma's gift, they were just as much for me as for her.  :)  She LOVES playing the piano, which is awesome, but it's so nice to let her practice in silence sometimes too.

Lego treehouse set

And the Lego cafe set she's wanted for months!

I got a laptop (okay...I bought it for myself). Our laptop died several months ago and the desktop is just not the same. I am so so happy to have a laptop again.

So sweet

After hanging out inside all day playing with our new toys and games, we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and ride down to the park. It was the perfect end to a great day.

Jon spent a lot of time putting Lego sets together with the kids. Can you tell he loves his Ninjago dragon?

I love how magical Christmas is with kids. We had just as much fun watching them enjoy everything as they had playing with everything. I loved hanging out together, just our family, in pajamas all day. Aside from some tummy trouble Alyssa had in the afternoon, the rest of the day really was perfect. Lots of game playing, lego building, cuddling, and laughing. I felt so overwhelmingly blessed at the end of the day.

Halloween

A little catch up post from way back in October...

The Saturday before Halloween we went to the pumpkin patch. The kids had been begging for weeks, but with a brand new baby, it just hadn't happened. It was a gorgeous day and we had a lot of fun.

The pumpkin picking was serious business.

We loved having my mom here for all of the Halloween festivities.


We had a lot of fun carving and decorating our pumpkins

little Halloween baby

Bumble bee...this was a repeat costume from last year.

Ellie's bumble bee was also a repeat from last year and Matthew's fireman costume was a clearance find a couple days before Halloween. Yeah, I really wasn't on the ball this year and I'm totally okay with that!

We went trick or treating up and down 3 of the streets in our neighborhood and called it a night. Between that candy and the candy from our church Halloween party the weekend before, they were more than set. Halloween is definitely not my favorite holiday...it's probably my least favorite holiday, but it's always fun to experience it through the kids.

Christmas Activities

A little rundown of our pre-Christmas activities this year...most of these are cell phone pictures, so excuse the poor quality.

We went and picked out a Christmas tree the Monday after Thanksgiving. This will probably be our last live tree for a long time because we bought a nice fake one on an after Christmas sale (hooray!) Jon prefers the big, beautiful real trees, and while I like them, the practical side of me really prefers a nice, beautiful fake tree that doesn't shed needles and doesn't have to be bought year after year. And having a pre-lit tree doesn't hurt either.  :)

 An unplanned visit with Santa at the mall

 The kids thought it was hilarious that Alyssa fit in the stocking

 And a random non-Christmas picture that was taken last month. Cute kiddos hanging out.

We were able to spend a couple different days with Jon's family before Christmas. The Saturday before Christmas they had their annual family Christmas party. They went all out for their Polar Express themed party. We received our tickets for the Polar Express in the mail the week before. The kids thought we were really going to ride the Polar Express and were ecstatic. It was a little sad to let them down, but they were still thrilled that they got to go to Grandma's house. We hung out that day, had a yummy dinner, decorated gingerbread houses, watched The Polar Express, and had a yummy hot chocolate bar. And I didn't get a single picture!

On Christmas Eve we went out to their house again. We went roller skating during the day, which was quite the experience with 3 little kids. Emma was terrified at first, but got the hang of it and ended up loving it. Ellie LOVED it, but someone had to hold her up and basically carry her around the rink because she wasn't holding any of her weight. She was just along for the ride and having a great time. Matthew hated it and only went around the rink once before sitting out and playing games on the iPhone. Ah well...good times!

We had an amazing dinner, opened sibling and grandparent gifts, and the grandkids acted out the nativity. Such a fun night!

Ellie loves the soft teddy bear and the blanket that Grandma made

 The Ninjago golden dragon with the golden ninja has been on Matthew's wish list and he was thrilled

 And the airbrush art set was a huge hit too

 I'm pretty sure that Emma is always Mary and Owen is always Joseph. And of course whoever the baby is that year gets to be baby Jesus. Ironically, all 3 of my girls have had a turn being Jesus. Matthew is the only one of our kids who never got to.

 The crew this year consisted of Mary, Joseph, a shepherd, and two adorable angels.

The Monday before Christmas we went to a live nativity event called Bethlehem A.D. It was seriously awesome and something we'll definitely do again. If you live around here, check it out! It is put on by a church in Redwood City. They build this massive replica of Bethlehem that you walk through. You pay your taxes, sign the census, walk through the town center and see all the shops. There are tons of animals that you can pet (the kids loved the camels!) and then you end up at the stable where Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus are. They have the kids come sit up in front of them for a few minutes. Very cool! Before going to the program we ate dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory, which is one of our new favorites, and after the program we drove around looking at Christmas lights. Alyssa miraculously slept the entire 4ish hours we were gone and we had a great time.

And to finish off our pre-Christmas festivities...the kids on the Sunday before Christmas. I had wanted to get a picture before church but we were late, so this is what we ended up with after our afternoon church...and it cracks me up. Some very obviously over-tired kids. Matthew had been crying the whole way home and Ellie's hair looks...awesome... Real life in all it's glory.  :)