...one more, this one just for pheasants

Believe it or not, out first coop proved to not be big enough, well, what did I expect, after mr. sassafras went and got himself 20 (!) baby pheasants! (they are cheaper by the dozen) The getting was fun, after a really long drive, we got to the seller's house, walked out back with Trouble and the kids in tow...when "what to my wondering eyes should appear..." a beautiful, gorgeous, gigantanormous EMU!!!!  He was beautiful....totally cool, looks just like a dinosaur, his feet are awesome - I named him Kevin, after the bird in the                               pixar movie"Up"....unfortunately, we don't seem to have addequate fencing for a bird his size :(     Believe me, I did my research...  Anyway, the kids got to go into the pheasant coop and hand pick their choices...Mau picked the cutest, littlest one that unfortunately was dead by the time we got him home....but other than that, they did really good...

Of course, 20 new babies meant we needed a new coop, and after more than a few reminders from yours truly, mr. sassafras finally did come through, not without the help of my little mr. boy peep himself, who of course thrives on building anything, so there you have it, before and after, another palace in our yard....

Oh my, how they grow...!

It's hard to believe, but the chicks have been growing like weeds! Remember the very first pics of the kids holding their brand new chicks? Well, look at Buttercup  and Grey now... and although none of our hens are laying yet,we just got some full grown hens from our friends which meant a yummy free lunch for the kids, their very first fresh egg...! It was soooo good! 

something BIG has been here....

I love being able to homeschool my children, I love watching them play together and have a blast at it too, I love watching them learn as they live each day to its' full potential, I love seeing their faces when they first discover something new, or something old seen in a new light...like listening to crickets and woodpeckers, and finding frogs in the outdoor sink every morning, and discovering a new bug and researching it, and figuring our how plants grow, and how seeds work and delighting in the wonderful flavor of that very first tomato from their very first vine, and bottle feeding their calves and figuring out how much money they owe for the calf formula and carrying the hay, and hearing them talk about oats and grain and picking wildflowers and little wild peas to add to spaguetti, and hearing them talk to their chicks, and their sheep...I love how they grow, I love how their world is full of wonder and new things to discover each and every day...so there.

Paloma

....and this is Paloma, my free range horse....we let her out into the big pasture and she has not wanted to come back...she is happy out there though, she has friends, 3 neighboring horses, one of which I am pretty sure she has a crush on, as well as the little donkeys, goats and minis on the other side of the fence... lately she has been coming back for breakfast, we feed her carrots, lettuce and she just loves the wet c.o.b.    On our random pasture walks, she likes to follow us around, I could almost lead her if I was so inclined (and if she didn't speed up the moment I tried to hold on to her), I don't know what the future holds for her, so far, she just wants to stay out there, we shall see...

"I will call him squishy and he shall be mine'

Nope, his name is not really 'squishy', it's TROUBLE and boy, does he honor this name....just two days after  we got him, he was trying out his herding instincts by nipping at Paloma, our horse, needless to say, she did not appreciate his efforts and kicked him away...Trouble quickly recovered, altough he is now a bit scared of anything bigger than a teenage turkey, we are trying hard to keep him away from the birds though, since I really, really need my birds to be free range...so far, we have been letting the turkeys and 5 of the roosters go out every day into the pasture...we realized the first evening that we needn't worry about their safety at night because they were literally begging to come into the coop to roost with the others...

But back to Trouble....Remy named him the day we picked him out of a litter of five, Mr. Sassafras did not really like it, but the name has stuck...he is overall an adorable pup and we hope he will overcome his fear of large animals and become a good sheep herder...he does bark at the sheep once they are safely on the other side of the fence, and he is waaay out of harm's way...hey, better safe than sorry, right?   he also, inevitably runs off with our shoes, and does not return them unless he is offered a 'cookie', he is  lucky we love him so much.

little boy peep in action