Getting in early

We have enrolled the kids in school.

I know there is a few more years between now and their first day, but apparently to get the school you want, you have to enrol early. I think I have done well to hold off until now, would you believe that some kids are getting enrolled even before they are born. Crazy hey!

So hopefully, all going well the kids will be going the this school.

http://www.silkwoodsteiner.qld.edu.au/

It's completely different from mainstream schooling, but from what I have read and heard about it, it sounds excellent. I've also got a few years to keep researching, if it turns out that it is just a hippy cult, they can just go to our back-up of Gilston Primary!

I am sure that it will be fine though. There are some things about the school that I don't fully understand, but the good far outweighs the bad. I love the fact that the kids learn, through play and by doing practical things. The kids are taught using drama, music, art and dance. I love that they have a vegie garden and a big emphasis is put on appreciating nature. All religions are taught and all cultures are celebrated through festivles.

There is a no TV policy at the school and also parents are encouraged to do the same at home. I am ok with this, I am reducing the amount of Tv the kids are watching already. For the last few weeks we have been successful in cutting it back to only Playschool and the odd DVD. The Tv doesn't go on now until both kids are in bed, heck I am even taping Home and Away. I can't even remember the last time that I watched the news, I don't even miss it at all. Computers aren't taught until class 3 when the kids are around 9 years. Once again it is up to the parents if they want to introduce their children earlier or not. Grace knows about the computer, but she has only ever used it to look at pictures. I really don't see the point of the childrens computer learning games, and as much as Duane would like one, we will never get any of the Wii's, playstation, nintendo or any of the other coma inducing technology for children.


The school is in such a beautiful setting, far away from the glitz of the Gold Coast. Its a relaxing 5 minute drive from our house, avoiding all major roads and therefore traffic. The school is surrounded by beautiful Mr Nathan, with only the sounds of nature.

We drove in just as school was finishing. The school doesn't have a school uniform, the kids just wear plain t-shirts. No brands or logos are allowed on anything, which suits us as I have learnt over time how easily kids are marketed to. Hence our reason to not buy anything gimmicky merchandised products or toys.

All the kids were happy and chatting as they left the school grounds, all dressed in their plain clothing. Grace stood out a bit in the hot pink ensemble she had chosen to wear for the day.

It's a peaceful walk from the car park to the school. Past the new Prep rooms, over a bridge and up to the main part of the school. The school has been built to blend in with the environment, so nothing gaudy, just nice neutral earthy colours.

Duane took the kids to the play area whilst I filled out forms and payed the $75 enrollment fee. I also ran into an old colleague that I worked with at Jalpak Travel. Her 3 kids have all attended the school and she couldn't have spoken more highly of it.

W all felt really comfortable with the decision. Grace has been talking non-stop about her new school, haven't the heart to let her know that she has another 2 1/2 years before she actually gets to go.

Actually thats not totally true. I have also enrolled in the playgroup, so depending on when a vacancy comes up I will be fitting that in to our already busy week. Just another reason why I might take Grace out of Daycare, I am running out of days to do everything.

So there you go, my kids are enrolled in school.

Following my instincts

~~A drop of milk on Xavs chin~~

Why am I not happy to just trust my instincts and do what I know is right and Ok?

Ever since Xavier turned 1 I have been chopping and changing about what to do about his night feeds and co-sleeping. He still wakes once a night for a feed. I bring him into bed with me, feed him and he peacefully goes off to sleep.

I am ok with that. Well most of the time I am. I know that I shouldn't let it, but it is what others think that has me wondering if I should be stricter on him. Stupid hey!

It's just gets drummed into your brain that co-sleeping is wrong. Everyone has something to say about it when it's mentioned and usually it's negative. "Creating bad habits", "What about your husband" blah, blah, blah. The fact that I am still (shock, horror!) feeding him at all let alone during the night is just too much for some. Even the MCHN said that they don't need feeding of a night after 6 months. Breastfeeding is so much more than nutrition though, its comfort as well.

So after hearing & reading about that for so long it's really hard to tune it all out and stick to what I think is right. I am so confused sometimes that I am not even sure what I think is right.

So this week I have tuned it all out and worked out what is right for our family.

I am going to keep feeding Xav if he wakes of a night. I will try to give him the dummy, but if he gets upset I'll feed him. I could never leave any of my children to just cry, whether they are little or older. That to me feels so wrong. I would never leave an adult alone of a night if they were upset, why would I do that to my sweet babies?

The co-sleeping thing I will just go nightly on. If I can be bothered getting back out of bed after the feed, I'll put him back. Otherwise he can stay in with us. Duane and I are both of agreeance that this is ok. He is not bothered at all if either kid sleeps with us, I love this about him. I love that he is gentle and intuitive with them, and certainly not fussed what others think.

2 nights ago I went to bed thinking if Xav woke I would feed him and then put him back to his bed. Well he had his feed, came off and fished around for his dummy. I thought, "Get-up Kirsten, put him back into the cot". But I couldn't do it. His soft, warm body was curled into mine, his sweet milky breath tickling my cheek. The reassuring sigh as he exhaled was enough to lull me back to sleep, content and happy that he was beside me.

I am confidant with my parenting choices, knowing that everything I am doing is best for our family. I am not going to worry about what others may think, the internal conflict that I have been having can be hushed.

For now I want to parent with my heart, my babies are only little for such a short time. I want to do what feels right, and not to feel guilty for that.

Project Xavier

Xavier had his 12 month check at the clinic on Tuesday.

Everything was going along well, no troubles with development, speech etc. Then came to weighing time. Seems my little boy hasn't put on much weight over the last 6 months. Just over a kilo , which apparently isn't "enough".

He weighs a smidgen under 10 kilos, which means he has dropped down to the 25th percentile. He has always been around the 50th, so I think that's why the MCHN was a little concerned. He has gotten taller though, 79cm (75th percentile), so tall and skinny!

She has asked me to come back for "review", and to try to get him to eat more over the next 4 weeks. I politely explained what he eats and that I though he ate a very good and varied diet and that I didn't really think it was a problem. Stupid me even mentioned that he was still having a feed overnight, she thinks that he might be having too much milk and not enough food.

Look at this tummy, plenty of chub there!
Honestly I am not worried. I really think its a combination of Xav being more active and maybe because he has been sick. I'll just try and get him to eat more over the next 4 weeks, I did offer him a coke and some chocolate earlier, but he didn't' seem interested!

It's funny how differently my 2 kids have grown. Grace was a littly at 2.9kgs, stayed small for 6 months then as soon as she discovered food, took off. She now weighs nearly 16kgs (clothes on), and about 100cm tall. She is so much taller than her friends. Xav was born 3.8kgs, put on heaps of weight in the first 6 months, then not much over the last month.

I am confidant that he is getting the right amounts of food and milk, he's just an energetic little boy that is burning it off and re-distributing his weight into growing tall!

Ponies and parks

We have just finished a fantastic family weekend.

Saturday morning we went to the preview of the Gold Coast show. It was just a taste tester for the show, but the bonus was everything was free.

Grace heard a rumour that there was to be ponies, so she was eager to get there and have a ride. Lucky the first thing we saw as we walked in were 3 gentle ponies being led around the oval so we shoved the kids into the line before it got too long. We weren't sure if Xav would go on or not but he did us proud. He hoped on the pony (with a little help of course!) and held on the whole way round, didn't say a peep just sat very still. Grace lapped it all up, sitting nice and tall on her pony with a wide grin on her face. She loves pony rides, its her absolute favourite thing to do.

After the pony ride we headed over to the baby animals. Xav wandered through them, stealing a pat of the lambs and goats as they passed him. He was fascinated with the goats tails, he would poke it then stand back and chuckle as the tail flipped side to side. Grace, being Grace, wanted to PICK up all the animals. She was carrying them around, taking them up to other little kids to pat. Some of them got the shock of there life, having a baby goat or chicken dumped in their lap. It was like she was hosting the damn thing, wanting everyone to enjoy them selves and get lots of pats!

After terrorising the animals we sent Duane to line up for the balloon man to get Grace a lovely arrangement of flowers, I took the kids over to have their face painted. Grace is a seasoned pro at this so after picking out what she wanted her and Xav to have (a spider!) she sat there and got made up. Xav had never had his painted before, so I wasn't sure how he would go. He surprised us all and just sat there, he didn't move a muscle, even looked like he was falling asleep at one stage.

Duane was desperate for a Dagwood dog, but me being the tight bum had packed lunch for me and the kids. He did sneak off and get his "heart attack on a stick", whilst the kids and I munched on sandwiches and fruit.

We then all headed home for a nice relaxing snooze.

Saturday afternoon was spent doing stuff around the garden. The kids are both at such a great age that we can all go in the backyard and get stuff done with out worrying about what the kids are getting into. Grace mainly wanders between helping us, the trampoline and the swing. Xav just toddles around, trying desperately to find mischief to get into. Usually means the dog water bowl (if we haven't preempted and moved it!) or running up the drive to the top gate to play with rocks. Apart from that they have a great time outside, everything is safe for them so leaves us to get on with the hard jobs.

Duane pottered around the garden ripping out dead palm fronds and finished off the chook fence. I did the laundry and then folded it on the table, all spread out like a mini city. We have a dryer but I refuse to use it for 2 reasons, 1 being environmental and the other is my obsession with the clothes line. I absolutely love putting clothes on the line and then going back to find them all nice and dry with the smell of sunshine and fresh air sprinkled through them. I am a pathetic housewife, but my laundry is always done. I am not as crazy as my Mum though, she has colour coded pegs for certain clothes, heaven forbid if I try to help her and stuff up the routine!

We then went to Bunnings to price up our plans for the chook palace. Seems we are aiming a little fancy for the humble chook, it came it at just under $300. Bit too much to just spend on them I think! So I'm going to look at the salvage yards on Monday to see if we can get cheaper materials.

Sunday I got a sleep in! Pathetic isn't it that I now think a sleep in is 7am. I then got up and made a yummy pancake breakfast with kiwi fruit and maple syrup.

The dogs were looking a bit sorry for themselves so we packed everyone in the car and went to the dog park. It's better now that Xav is walking, we can fit the 2 dogs in the back of the rav. It was a bit hard before when we had to worry about prams etc.

The kids and dogs both had a great time running around and burning off some energy. Every time another dog or person came up, Daisy would circle the kids, making sure no-one got too close. Grace insisted on putting Daisy on a lead and walking her around, even though Daisy kept running off and dragging Grace behind her. Was it wrong off me to laugh at the toddler trying to keep up with a

Duane took the kids up to the park for a play and the dogs and I went for a serious walk, none of this meandering crap. Poor puppies were buggered before it and reluctantly came with me. I want to take them out more, they do love it and it guarantees they crash for the rest of the day.

The rest of the day was spent pottering around the garden, sorting our chicken areas and vegie areas.

A nice relaxing, family weekend. Simple.

Trip to the Farm

LONG OVERDUE!!!!

We have just had the most amazing holiday.

It was relaxing, exciting, busy, adventurous & just plain simple fun.

Although Grace has been on plenty of planes (about 10), she was still so excited about being at the airport. Her and dolly spent ages gazing out the window, watching all the planes coming in and taking off. She was so eager to get on the plane and go up, up and away.

Both kids were great on the plane. I had predicted a bit of restlessness and had prepared appropriately with food and activities. Grace was given a new activity book that you write in with a white board marker and then rub it out. I thought that might be better than risking pen on everything. I also gave her a Maisy book that had lots of magnets in it. She did however spend most of the flight on my knee gazing out the window.

We flew into Newcastle airport, getting in at 6pm. I had arranged a hire car, so after organising keys etc, we set up the kiddies car seats and were ready to head off in our bright green Kia Rio.

Now I had advised the farm stay that our flight didn't get in until 9pm, but Jetstar being Jetstar had changed the schedule at the last minute, so we got in at 6pm. The lovely hosts of the farm stay had said that because we were getting in so late they wouldn't charge us for the first night, and me being a tight-bum thought we would just kill the 3 hours before checking in.

So we made our way into Salamander Bay shopping centre to pick up supplies for the next 3 days. I was planning on making full use of having self-contained accommodation, making lunches and yummy dinners to keep costs down.

We then headed back to the farm and tried to find where to check in. We did have a little bit of trouble locating the place, we found the farm but couldn't find the B&B that you check in at. We drove up a narrow driveway which then opened up to reveal a beautiful old farmhouse. There were 2 cars outside, but no lights on. We stopped the car, as we did a possum jumped off a guinea pig cage and went scampering back into the dark bush. We were both still unsure if this was the right place or not, so I tried to call. No reception. I sent Duane in to knock on the door, it took a while but then 2 people came to the door. After a bit of chatting Duane came back to the car and explained that they thought we were going straight to the cabin. The heater would be on and the door was unlocked with the keys on the table. The hosts would catch up with is in the morning.

The kids were both asleep in the car, so we got to the cabin changed the kids into their jimmy jams (they stayed asleep) and put them to bed.

The cabin was nice. Just a little 1 bedroom cabin with a kitchen, lounge room and bathroom. Xavier was in the cot in our room and Grace was in the bottom bunk in an alcove off the room. She was happy because her doona had all the playschool characters on it!

Somehow through the night Duane and I acquired 2 little hot water bottles. It was a tight squeeze in the double bed, not like at home in the huge king bed.

We did get to wake up to the quintessential farm sound, the Rooster. We were already awake though, the kids had us up at the crack 'of dawn.

So up we got to survey our surroundings in the daylight. Oh, and how beautiful it was. We were smack bang in the middle of paddocks, surrounded by all different farm animals. There were chickens in a coup over the back, a donkey behind us, sheep one paddock over, some cows and a pony at the front and a black lab waiting at the door to greet us. It was perfect.

So after having some breakfast, we all headed out for a wander around the farm.

After a chat to Scott (the farmer), he told us to head over to the main chook shed and he would meet us there. We fed the chickens and collected the eggs for tomorrows breakfast. Grace & Xav were in awe of all the animals, Xav showed no hesitation in patting every furry thing that passed by him. Grace was eager, but a little reluctant at going into the chook house with about 50 chickens. She ended up going in, and even picked up a few.

After getting a quick run-down of what can and can't be done, we were told by Scott to be back at 4pm to help feed all the animals and have a ride on the back of the tractor.

We then headed into Nelson Bay to check out the beautiful beaches. We stumbled across some markets which sold lovely home-made sauces, jams etc. I picked up some chilli relish and some lemon butter to have on our toast. It was absolutely freezing, the icy wind was coming straight off the water. I was a little worried about Xav's ears, so we bought him a knitted beanie (which he wore for the rest of the trip!)

After the markets we went for a walk around the little town. It wasn't really busy, but I could imagine it in summer to be packed. There were beautiful views over the bay and it would be a great swimming spot in warmer weather. Pity it was so freezing now!

We headed back to the farm for lunch and a midday sleep. We all have a nice 2 hour snooze, and woke just in time to get our warm clothes on for the farm tour.

There was a variety of different sized gumboots out on the verandah. I really didn't think that we would get as muddy as we did, so didn't really dress the kids properly. Oh well, I learnt for the next night and we just wore the same clothes. Mud and all.

The tour was so much fun. Scary, but fun!

First off we watched as all the cows came in to be fed and 1 (Sheryl) to be milked. We helped break up the bread and hand fed the cows and the bull. Grace loved doing this, except she was bit hesitant with the bull. He had the hugest, thickest tongue that would curl around your hand as you passed him the bread. He also insisted on being hand-fed, refused to pick up any food from the ground to eat. There was also Daisy the cow who was a sweetheart, albeit a guts. She always hogged all the food, but took it from you so gently. I found out the next night that she was actually pregnant, so that explains the appetite!


The Pony hung out with the cows, so she was waiting to be fed too. Although she didn't want the bread, she only wanted carrots. Grace was happy to do this for her, she spent ages hand feeding "Jenni" her carrots.

After the cows were all fed, the resident "Mummy" cow (Sheryl) needed to be milked. Grace was eager to do this after seeing an episode of Hi-5 once where Charli did the same. She found it a little hard to get the milk out, but with a little help from Farmer Scott, she got it flowing. After they had enough milk, it was all put into bottles for the 2 calves. This is what Grace loved the most. She was so happy to be feeding the calves, the look of amazement on her face was priceless.

Xav & Grace both got a ride on Ernie the Donkey. Such a placid animal, except for early mornings when he liked to wake everyone up.

Next on the tour was the tractor ride. Oh, this was scary, especially for Mum and Dad trying to make sure the kids didn't get hurled off the trailor.

We were bundled onto a trailer which was on the back of an old Massey Ferguson Tractor. The tractor looked old (it was) and slow, boy was I wrong. We were taken around to the pig, I'm not sure who had the most mud on them, us or the pig. It was such a rough ride, Farmer Scott hit every mud patch and pot hole that he could. Duane was trying to stay upright and hold onto Xav at the same time. I was clutching on the the outside of the trailer with Grace clamped between my knees. It was frightening, especially when we were flung from one side to the other. I was sure that we were going to loose a child at some point. We came away bruised, muddy and laughing our heads off. Grace loved it, I liked it and Duane hated it, volunteering to give it a miss next time!.

After the tractor ride I got chatting to Scott's wife about the different accommodation. Duane had said that he wouldn't mind paying the extra and spending our last night in the cottage. When I mentioned this to Louise she told me that the people has just moved out of 'Cow Cottage' and we were welcome to move our stuff straight over if we wanted to. Well that was enough go ahead for us, the car was packed high and we made the move to the 3 bedroom cottage. It was so spacious and luxurious compared to our humble cabin. It had 3 large bedrooms, full kitchen, dining room, comfy lounge room and bathroom including nice big spa. We also found out in the morning it had a beautiful, big deck where all the farm birds hung out.

After a yummy BBQ dinner, the kids fell in to bed in an exhausted heap. It seemed that the fresh country air mixed with farm activities was conducive to a good night sleep for both kids. Which left Mummy and Daddy to have some time alone to chat. It was a lovely night, should have organised it better and bought a bottle of red!

The next morning we were all wide awake before the rooster started crowing. Except this morning there was a different noise after the rooster. Ernie the Donkey was "Eee-yoreing" and making a complete racket. Grace and I headed over to the chook pen to collect some eggs.

On the way over I noticed the baby lamb was bit muddy, which I thought was a bit strange. Grace and I stopped to watch him have a feed of milk from his Mum, Grace is amazed every time she sees a baby animal feed. It wasn't until on the way back that I realised it wasn't the same lamb that I thought it was. It was a new one. By this time Farmer Scott was down feeding the animals and asked if we had seen the new baby that had been born overnight. I couldn't believe it, a baby lamb had been born just outside our cottage. We hadn't heard a thing. how special was that. Grace was eager to go give the baby a pat, but Farmer Scott just picked him up and placed him straight into Grace's keen arms. The look of amazement and excitement on her face was beautiful. She would have held that lamb forever and been happy, not sure how happy the lamby would have been though!

We all got ready early and headed out. We were going up to The Hunter Valley to spend the day. It was a leisurely 1 1/2 hour drive away and both kids slept soundly the whole trip. It is such a beautiful drive, the amazing landscape of wineries is just gorgeous and so stunning. We drove around a few of the wineries, secretly wondering why in the world did we bring the kids? How good would it have been to just wander around the wineries, having a taste at all of them and then stumbling back to our accommodation. But that wasn't' to be, so we did the family version of Hunter Valley. We went to the village and wandered around the quaint little shops. We wandered over to the Botanical gardens, but didn't go in. I would have liked to but both kids were getting hungry and a little grumpy. So instead we went to the playground and had our picnic. The kids had a ball running around and playing on all the equipment. Xav looked adorable toddling around with his new knitted beanie on. Grace of course spent most of the time on the swing, in between trying to make friends with all the older kids.

After lunch we went for another drive around to look at the Vintage Golf Course and some other wineries. They really are stunning. It is such a picturesque place, just devine.

We were planning on doing a winery tour at Tyrells but after finding out that it took 1 hour we decided not too. Didn't think that the kids would be that excited about learning the art of wine making. We also visited the Roche winery, which is ultra modern and cool, then headed home. I wanted to get back to the farm by 4pm so I could take Grace on the Tractor ride again. We made it back with about 5 minutes to spare. We quickly got changed into yesterdays muddy clothes, pulled on our gumboots and headed up to the cows.

Grace and I got gloriously muddy again then went back to the cottage where Duane had run us a nice warm spa bath. Xav, Grace & I all jumped in and cleaned up. Duane had also lit the wood fire, so everything was toasty warm and inviting. As much as I hate the idea of burning wood (it just seems so archaic) I do love a warm open fire in a cold climate. We grew up with them in Tassie and there is something cosy about warming up in front of a fire, or getting your pj's warmed before getting out of the bath.

I made a yummy pasta dinner with garlic bread, and then the kids crashed for the night, leaving Mummy and Daddy once again with some quiet time.

The next day was to be our last day so we spent the day wandering around the farm, just relaxing and enjoying our time together. I wanted to clean the whole house as a thank-you to our hosts, so Duane took the kids for a wander whilst I busily cleaned. I hurriedly cleaned the whole place, eager to join in the fun outside. I mopped my way to the back door, stepped back admired the cleanliness then raced off to join my family who were feeding the sheep. Stupid me didn't think to shut the back door leading out to the deck. We came back to the house and were greeted by the most horrid stench. I stepped in the door and immediately knew where the smell was coming from, bloody duck, geese and turkey poo everwhere....All over my nice clean floor. So I had to re-mop the whole house and try to get rid of the fowl(!) aroma.

We packed up, sadly said our goodbyes to the farm and its animals, then headed back to Newcastle airport.

Sadly our wonderful holiday had to come to an end.

It really was a great way to reconnect as a family and also enjoy the simple things in life. I definitely want to look into doing a farm stay again, we all enjoyed it so much.

The only thing wrong with great holidays is that they end.

Ah, the serenity

Gosh I love the middle of the day.

The kids are tucked up in bed, resting after a busy morning. The dogs are even having a snooze, no doubt re-charging their batteries for the daily afternoon event of being teased by the high school kids going past.

I get to sit down and enjoy lunch in peace, with no little seagulls pinching bits off my plate. Today was a big bowl of homemade chicken & vegie soup, I even made the stock from the leftovers of Sunday nights roast. It was beautiful with a yummy crusty roll. I did scour the cupboards for a sugar boast afterwards, but as we haven't done groceries this week, it was slim pickings. So I have managed to quench my sweet tooth with one of Duane's flavoured coffee things.

Geez I hope that the day sleep last a while in this house, hopefully Grace won't be giving it up for a while. And even if she does, enforced quiet time in the bedroom will be encouraged.

Anyway, I have been fiddling with my blog over the last 2 days. I was trying pretty it up a little, so I went searching on the WWW. It's a scary place out there for a novice blogger like I. I found a beautiful template, but it seems I don't know my html's from my .xml's and ended up with a H.U.G.E mess to fix up. Widgets were lost in cyberspace, never to return! Lucky I did predict that it would turn disastrous and I had saved a copy of my original.

I am happy with it now though. It's not perfect yet, still needs a few things added, but workable. I really wanted something with butterflies and flowers and in nice feminine colours, so I'll keep searching, but in the meantime this will do.

Duane is still really keen on getting chickens and a vegie garden. he has cemented in the posts for the fence, so once that is up we can start organising a coup. I would like to attempt to build one, but he's not real keen. he has picked out one for $600, but there is no way I want to spend that kind of money on it. We might go check out some salvage yards and also the tip shop. I am confidant that we will find something there. Then it will be on to making the raised vegie gardens. I am hoping to make this out of colourbond, to match our fences. We have also decided to get the chickens as babies. Raise them inside for a bit and then put them outside. Duane has been talking to guys at his work and they have all suggested doing it this way, instead of getting a hen that is already laying. I guess it is to maximise the laying time, and also not scare them with an environment change. I can't wait!

Ok back to fiddling with the blog, and finishing of some long-overdue posts.

Cluck, cluck

I am going to have more babies.

2 little girls actually & I am so excited. I am already daydreaming about potential names.

I really didn't think that Duane would ever agree, but he is busy making room for our new arrivals. He seems more excited about it than I am, which is strange because he has been dead against it for ages. Today he wandered around, trying to work out in his head what had to be prepared for the big day. He measured & sketched out plans, trying to use all our space wisely. After a while he sat back and declared that he had a plan, everyone was going to fit in and have a comfy bed.











Yep....we are getting chooks! Not sure when, it all depends on when we can have their little house built.

I have been nagging for ages to get them, I dream about going out in the yard with the kids and collecting our own eggs that have been lovingly layed by our pampered hens. I have fond memories of feeding Nan's chooks, and always getting so excited when I found an egg. We'd then take them inside and Nan would soft boil our 'googey eggs' for breakfast. Pop would always finish his off then flip the eggshells upside down and put them back into the egg cup, then give them to us kids to eat. We'd go to crack the top then realise that it was already empty. He did this for so many years and I remember just pretending I didn't know what was happening, then always putting on a big surprised face.

Apart from the obvious bonus of nice, fresh eggs, I actually think that they will make great pets for the kids. Now I don't expect that they will be the touchy, feely kind that sleep on you lap, but they will be good for the kids to watch and also help feed, clean etc.

We are going to build a coop and run for them out the side of our house. It is an area that we don't use, so it won't be missed. The added bonus is that it will be right outside the kids playroom window, so they will have a good view of them even from inside. Duane has already dug holes and put 3 posts in for one of the fences. He bought some cement today, so tomorrow will be spent cementing them in. Then we just have to fence the other side and organise the coup.

I plan on keeping them in the run for the majority of the time and just see how the dogs react to them. I'll let them have an hour or so in the afternoon to fossick around the front yard. Good way to aerate the lawn and to also get rid of weeds.

The dogs have both been around chicken before and haven't really shown an interest. They do have a love/hate relationship with a magpie that visits daily though. The smart thing stands on the other side of the fence, strutting around the yard & flying up to sit on the fence. It drives the dogs nuts, but if the chickens don't fly I am sure that the dogs will be fine.

Also, as if getting chickens wasn't a big enough win for me, Duane has also given the go ahead for a huge vegie patch. It'll go beside the chicken run and will be big enough to have everything in it I want. I had a vegie patch before that I got lots out of, but then I grew some stuff in pots and it just didn't work. So not only are we going to have free-range (well kinda) eggs but also home grown vegies!

Now to have Duane not only agree, but be excited about these 2 things is H.U.G.E. He has never been interested in growing vegies, or trying to be more self sufficient. He has never shown any interest in fixing or improving things on the house, most things get initiated by me. So for him to actually show enthusiasm for this venture AND to start digging holes etc makes me so happy. Finally I feel like we are on the same page in regards to our home. I have been thinking for a while now how I would love to buy acreage, so I could do this and that. Unless we sold both houses and I started working it just wouldn't be possible though, but I am ok now knowing that most things I wanted (chooks & big vegie garden) we can have here.

I can't wait to get some happy hen's in and to start collecting some yummy eggs!