Back To School!

It's that time again - back to school! This year Mr. S. has moved on to 5th grade and Middle School! He's glad to be away from all the "little kids" as he calls them. Today is actually his third day there. The Elementary School starts a few days later than the Middle and High Schools in our town. So far I think he's liking it. :) This first 24 days his class is doing chemistry & physics in their science unit - something he LOVES - and they'll be making rockets! :)

Mr. S. - 3rd day of 5th grade, 2012

Mr. M. starts 3rd grade today. This is the year when everything changes! There's more expected of him and his classmates this year than any previous grade. This is the year where they have to wait to get that drink of water or get out of their seats. The teachers love their 3rd graders, but they have so much instruction that there's just no time for goofing off. It's going to be a fun year, though - egg drop, shoebox animal habitats, report about a favorite planet, memorize the major bones in the human skeleton, and more! :)

Mr. M. - 1st day of 3rd grade, 2012

3rd grade school supplies - 2012

This morning at the bus stop we started up the "Gehrke Huddle" once again. This is where we huddle up (hug) and I pray for them and tell them I love them as we wait for the bus to pull up. :) This picture is from the last day of school this past May. They were allowed to wear non-school uniform clothes.

The Gehrke Huddle

My boys are gowing up! Here's a couple more pictures from this morning. :)

I can't open my eyes! It's bright, Mom!

Daisy and her Boy - she picked him out at the animal shelter when he was in Kindergarten. She comes out to say goodbye to him every morning at the bus stop. Daisy has been with us for 6 years now.

Let's Hear It For The Boys!! :)

Summer Wrap Up - Part 1

What a summer! I'm really glad that school starts this week for the little Misters! :) Mr. S. headed off to 5th grade and Middle School this morning. Mr. M. starts on Thursday. I'll get the usual back to school picture then. :) For now, here's a picture from our recent county fair - to be written about in the near future. :)

The chicks have all survived - nearly as big as their "Mama" now. :) Fairly certain there's a rooster or two in the mix! Genetics have always interested me. Looking at the chicks, I can see what breed their real mamas are. The Americauna/New Hampshire crosses are growing the cheek "tufts" typical of their mamas. The Welsummer/New Hampshire crosses are a darker brown and have smooth faces.

See the cheek tufts on the one in front? :)

Americauna/NH Red x

Welsummer/NH Red x

Sadly, we've lost two hens. One was an old girl (though not as old as "Mama"!) and I knew her time was coming soon. The other, "Goldie", was a complete surprise! Mr. M. is in charge of egg collection and found her in the house. We think it might have been the heat. :( So now we are down to six layers and King George.

The drought across the midwest has affected the cost of layer crumbles that I feed to the chickens and chicks. This last bag I bought cost $16.27/50#! King George and his girls are back on a free-range foraging schedule. I'd locked them up in their pen a while back when I kept finding hidden nests containing up to 2 dozen eggs! They are very happy now. Here they are this morning:

King George

King George & Americauna hens: Honey, Roady, and Dove

Free-range foraging heaven!

Expansions

Mr. Gehrke converted the "basement" of the chicken condo into larger living quarters for Yellow Feather and the Chicks. He also built a little pen for them. They now have about 6 times the space as before. :)

There's a little peep hole on the south wall of the new pen. That's how I can check on the Mama & Chicks when they run for cover in the house. :)

We also expanded the goat pen this spring. It's cut down on the amount of weeds and mowing quite a lot! The goats love it, too! As you can tell, though, it's been a dry spring and summer so far.

"Snickers"

"Milky Way" (aka "Bow") w/ Kona dog

"Dove" - trying to lay an egg until I disturbed her!

*Please do not republish pictures without our permission. Thanks!