backyard
Bayus is FOUR!
Friday, April 24th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments
On Tuesday our little Bayus turned 4 years old 
To celebrate we had several special little friends over for a train themed party. This year Bayus was extremely involved in the planning of his party, so much so it was all I could do keep up with him and his ideas! A special thank you to my dear friends who took pictures of the party for me (I got called away to a birth just over an hour before the party, but it was super rapid and I made it back in time for the cake and presents) and also one dear friend that took my cake decorating weaknesses under her wing and made a point of coming over late the night before to help me put together a somewhat recognizable train cake- thank you ladies!
I’d also like to thank Sonya of Sublime Threads for her awesome work on designing and making Bayus’ birthday shirt for us. If you ever want a truly special outfit with quality workMOMship then check out Sonya here
Another great link I need to make sure you have is for MrMcGroovy and his amazing cardboard building plans and kits!
Please watch the short video I made (get a cup of tea while you wait for it to download) that includes images of all the little details we put together for the party and some of the unexpected entertainment like magnifying glasses and the chickens
Brrrrrr! Baby its COLD outside!
Monday, December 15th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments
You know its cold when the high for the week is below freezing……
You know its cold outside when the fish tank in the back room is having trouble staying within temp…..
You know its cold outside when you decide to cook a hot breakfast for your chickens!
Its a good way to use up stale pantry items though. This morning the menu is: oatmeal, TVP and raisins.
The first snow…..
Sunday, December 14th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Today we had our first snow of the Christmas season. Elias is out with Daddy so I was only able to get pictures of Hannah and Bayus enjoying the snowflakes (Bayus thinks they are yummy!).
‘Mama, they got trucks!’
Monday, December 8th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
Eddie captured this picture of Bayus as he squealed with delight at all the trucks that arrived to re-build our neighbors house. They had a very extensive house fire over the summer and the remains have sat sad and empty up until a few weeks ago.
As you can see Bayus is wearing the ‘official’ outfit of choice for a 3yr old these days- ‘cozy’ (his words) pajama shirt, undies and mismatched rain boots! I love 3 yr olds!
An unexpected visitor….
Thursday, September 4th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments
this morning Elias woke me up with excitement in his voice, ‘Momma, Mom, Mommy! There is a new bird in our yard!’ I got up and grabbed my camera to go see. When I looked at the bird I was shocked as it looked nothing like the little chickadees and robins that we’ve come accustomed to seeing in our yard- this birdie was ‘different’. Standing about a third of the size of our chickens, with thick stocky legs and feet (unlike a chickadee but more like chicken legs), intriguing markings and little desire to fly away- this bird was worth getting a picture of and finding our bird guide book. The bird book wasn’t entirely helpful other than telling us what it wasn’t, so I called in more help- I called my friend Val, the resident authority on all things nature. She listened to my discription and said her guess was grouse or pheasant. At that point it was just a short google search through images of each and related birds before I found our bird- the Chukar Partridge, national bird of Pakistan! Native to areas in Europe and Asia but now found many places around the globe this ground nesting bird has a favorite food, the weeds in our yard! Little Chukar seems quite interested in wanting to be in the coop with the chickens which makes me wonder if its possible that this bird came from a local neighbor (they are sometimes kept for their eggs aparently). I’ll decide later if I need to post ‘Found Chukar’ posters about the neighborhood, in the mean time he/she seems quite happy to eat our weeds and bed down in the bean bed near the chicken coop. The kids can now find Pakistan on the world map! *click on any of the images to see them bigger*
Feeling crafty…..
Thursday, September 4th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments
I’ve been sick in bed for the past few days and so the kids have been enjoying some extra free time to craft on their own, read books and play outside. They have been getting quite creative both indoors and out. Outside they have begun gathering materials in the yard and clearing an area behind the storage house/shed for their ‘clubhouse’. I’ve been overhearing lots of discussion on the clubhouse including future improvement plans, supply needs and secret handshakes. Inside they asked to needlefelt with me and came up with some amazing creations of their own (especially considering their age and it being their first time working with needlefelting). Elias made a tiger and Hannah made a brown squirrel to go with the gray squirrel I was making. Bayus ran and found nuts from the kitchen (almonds) and search for acorns in the backyard to feed the little squirrels. I learned how to needlefelt from a friend and amazing teacher and crafter named Hastings, the kit I used I ordered from a friend and owner of The Blue Ladybug. Needlefelting is done entirely with natural sheep wool, some undyed and some dyed. We’ve worked with wool before with wetfelting when the kids were about preschool age (they made wool balls) and they really enjoyed a picture book named ‘Farmer Brown Shears His Sheep’. I went ahead and reserved it at the library as a refresher for them on the wool process, plus its an adorable story and Bayus hasn’t heard it yet.
