Meet the Ladies...

Introducing our newest feathered friends...

Meet:
Lucy
Ethel
Laverne
Shirley
Lizzie (after Sanford & Son's, "You hear that Elizabeth? I'm coming to join you!) and...
June (after June Cleaver, of course!)

Friends already - just few days old

They look alike!

Almost 2 weeks old - taken while I was cleaning our their cage today. Pardon the chicken rear, she's shy ;)

We brought home 5 on Thursday the 24th and they were so cute! Unfortunately, we lost one this past Tuesday night due to what I believe was a respiratory infection. She was clicking quite a bit while breathing and was so lethargic! That brought us down to four little chicks and the man at the feed store replaced the previous chick with not one, but two buff orpingtons free of charge! We now have 6... oh my. I am learning that raising chickens is a bit more complicated than I originally thought, especially after reading things online about all that can go wrong! We're hoping the rest of the chicks don't come down with anything and stay their healthy, little peeping selves.

I'll be honest, I can't tell some of them apart. Actually, when I introduced the two new ones into the cage with the others, I lost track of who was new! There are two that are easy to tell apart, aside from the black one, but that's it. I'm hoping as they grow they'll have some more distinguishing features because I want to make sure each chick gets the right name. Matthew is ready for their production of yummy, brown eggs, so he's having to work on his patience. We're having fun with them, learning as we go!

Chicks, Feathers, Eggs... Oh My!

Yes, chickens are in the very near future for the Taflans! The chicks will hopefully be ready this weekend and their box and heat lamp await them in the laundry room. You may be thinking we're crazy, or have a weird obsession with feathered friends, but we see it like this - when you have a little bit of land, and part of it is already fenced in, and you love the thought of having fresh eggs from an animal that initially costs $3 each... then who can resist having their own backyard flock? Not us! We think it's great that we have the opportunity to take care of God's creatures and enjoy what they produce here in our own backyard :)

I've thought for a while now that having chickens would be a neat, productive pet to have and when we began renting our little white house, I felt like the place was perfect. Will our landlord agree? We don't really know! Maybe fresh eggs will make her think like we do... In the meantime, before gathering our first egg, we have to keep the little chicks warm and inside until fully feathered (around 6 weeks) and then they probably won't lay an egg until mid to late summer. I'm not sure what our parrots will think having more birds inside, but we bet they'll imitate the chickens a little now and then. While the chicks are growing feathers, Matthew plans on building the chicken coop in the fenced in portion of our yard. He has it sketched out and we plan on cutting costs some by using wood found in our shed and my dad's shed. I'll post pictures whenever it gets completed.

Buff Orpington is our breed of choice and we hope to pick out some healthy little hens (fingers crossed that we don't get a rooster!). Right now 4 is the magic number and I've had the names picked out for them since this past fall. I'll share those later along with a picture of the chicks once they're home.

If I could (maybe one day?) I'd add a milk goat and dog to our miniature farm... although a dog is much more likely than a goat in Matthew's opinion. For now I'll be content with some chickens!

A Handmade Christmas

I realize I may be a little late in writing a Christmas post, but why not drag out the Christmas memories a bit longer? :) It IS the best time of year you know! Plus, I only just today got around to putting away our tree and decorations (yikes!) so it seems fitting to finish my day with a post about the holidays. That's what a snow day - or should I say ice day - will do for you...it's God's way of giving me time to take care of some housekeeping!

Our little Taflan family of two + 2 birds spent Christmas at my parents' house and enjoyed each minute of our time there. Much time was spent visiting family there and in VA, eating delicious food, and gift giving. We felt so very blessed! On the 30th we left for Ohio to spend time with Matt's side of the family. We had fun hanging out with everyone and playing with our five neice and nephews (with the 6th on the way!). Again, we felt so blessed!

A joy of the holiday season is being able to give gifts to those around you. I found great joy in crafting handmade gifts this year and am determined to do more handmade projects in this upcoming year. I wanted to post these pictures as soon as each craft was complete, but that would've spoiled some Christmas surprises! Here's what I handmade this year...

Cookies! I'm pretty sure I baked over 100 cookies... at least it felt like that many! Some to give away and some to eat...yum!

These are tile coasters I made for the teachers on my team at school. Fun and simple! I used scrapbooking stickers with their last initial to monogram each one. I really need to make some for myself!

This is one snowman decoration of three - this particular one was for the basement at my parents' house, since my mom decorates in all snowmen down there. The other two were for our grandmas. I saw this idea at a craft show and thought it was so cute - I just had to recreate!

A wreath I made for my middle sis - she's a music major at UNC. I bought aged music books and spent a good deal of time cutting circles and using the hot glue gun. These pics were before she found a place to hang it. I just love the way it turned out!

I made these dictionary page ornaments for my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law. We exchange ornaments each year and I thought these were unique either hung on the tree or elsewhere. I found the perfect sized decorative boxes to package them in at Michaels.

That wraps up my handmade gifts for this Christmas. I am happy to have left over materials so I can make some of these items for our home! Having a holiday vacation from work certainly fed my desire to craft and I am determined to take more time to do so - even with 19 kindergarten children taking up my time :) It's refreshing to complete a project and giving them away as gifts is rewarding! I want the gift-giving spirit of Christmas to live on well into the rest of the year...