Chickens

Earlier this year we had a broody Silkie. She sat on 6 eggs for 23 days and hatched 3 baby chicks. They were so pretty! I bought an additional dozen chicks but sadly, a fox got into the chicken coop and we lost the Silkie and all but two of the babies. One is a beautiful Sussex/Buff Orpington cross, she is white with a few black tipped feathers, her name is Elsa, and the other is a Barred Rock, her name is Midna. Elsa and Midna should be laying sometime around July! They are nearly full grown and very sweet.

We later bought 6 more chicks, 3 Isa Browns, and 3 Red Rangers. One of the Red Rangers died, but the other 5 chicks are doing well. I don't expect them to lay until around October and maybe not even then, I have heard that sometimes if a hen reaches maturity too late in the year she may wait until spring to start laying, we shall see!

I am really pleased that all of the chickens get along so well, even at all of their different ages. I kept them separated at first. They could see each other but couldn't get to each other. After a few weeks I put them all together and they seem to be getting along just fine. They only two chickens that don't get along well are the two roosters. The dominate rooster is a Sussex. He is big and bossy and won't let my other rooster, a Partridge Plymouth Rock, anywhere near the flock. The PPR is named Survivor but I sometimes call him scaredy-cat or Mister. He is beautiful and has a green tint to his dark brown feathers. He sleeps outside of the coop on the swing set. He is terrified of people and runs whenever a person gets too close.

In about a week we will have some more babies! One of the Buff Orpingtons is sitting on eggs. She started out with 3 wooden eggs and 4 real eggs, the day after she started sitting I added 3 more eggs and took away two of the wooden eggs. She really didn't like me taking away the wooden eggs! I couldn't get the 3rd one. One day last week I saw her off the nest so I grabbed the last wooden egg out. I knew I should mark the eggs so that no new eggs would be added by other hens, but I didn't do it and yesterday I noticed she now has 8 eggs instead of the original 7. Oops! I guess we will just wait and see what happens. I will try and mark the 8 today and make sure no more get added. I think they will be due around the 25th. When the Silkie was broody her eggs hatched at 23/24 days, a little later than the usual 21. I don't know if the extreme heat will have an effect on when/if these eggs hatch. I really hope they all hatch! At least the 7. Jason said he was really excited about having more chickens because it would mean more eggs, I reminded him we have no way of knowing yet if the chicks that hatch will be hens or roos! He said he hopes at least half of them are hens.

We also lost one of our two Black Australorpes this year to a Opossum. I think he was trying to get eggs and she got in his way. She wasn't killed but was injured too badly and I put her out of her agony. It is hard to do things like that but I didn't want her to continue suffering and there was nothing else I could do for her.

I love having chickens! It is not nearly as complicated as it sounded when I was researching raising chickens. I wish I'd gotten them a long time ago. I love having fresh eggs each day. Its the coolest thing to go out to the coop in the morning, get a warm freshly laid egg out of the nest and go inside and cook it up for breakfast! Its super healthy too!

 Jason decided she would like some watermelon, he was right!

                                                  Elsa

                  Survivor and Samus in the background

Midna

Toys part II

Today we folded down the back seat of our van and loaded it up with boxes and boxes of toys, then we loaded up the trunk of a friend's car and we all set off for Savannah! We arrived a few minutes earlier than our scheduled 11 AM drop off time, but it was fine. They had wagons ready for us to help bring all of the boxes in from the vehicles. They were amazed, as were we, at how many toys, dvd, coloring books, crayons, and other items were donated!

Many of Silas' nurses, doctors, and child life specialists came in to see us and see all of the toys. It was great! It was so awesome to see them going through the boxes and saying things like "Oh, I know who needs this!", "Good! We were almost out of these!", and "Wow! These are so cool!". They also commented on what a great variety of things were donated, all age groups, boys and girls toys! So good job everyone!!

Of course we brought cupcakes for the nurses. Last year we also brought cupcakes, the year before we brought an ice cream cake. Silas used to always bring chocolates with him to the hospital and clinic to give to the doctors and nurses, the funny thing was, he didn't like chocolate much! He never ate the chocolates he brought, he just walked the halls handing them out to others. One time he unwrapped a piece of chocolate and put it in his mouth, then quickly found a trash can and spit it out. One of his favorite nurses preferred Skittles and he would occasionally find his way to a vending machine and get some for her.

After we brought everything in to the clinic and shared cupcakes and hugs, we had a little parade with wagons filled with toys through the parking lot and through the hospital and up to the 3rd floor to the Pediatric Specialty Unit (PSU). We were able to get a few more hugs and share some more cupcakes. We miss our nurses and it was so good to see them! They are awesome :)

After we left the hospital we got some lunch and headed to the beach. We spent a few hours there. It was so nice and no rain! (the forecast said there was a 50% chance or thunder storms). The boys had a blast. It was a good day.

We miss Silas so much, and wish we were celebrating his 7th birthday with him, but we know he is well now and we will see him again. I really believe that when this life is over, and we are with the Lord in eternity, that all of this waiting we are doing now will seem like the blink of an eye. It doesn't seem like that now, but I really think it will seem like that then.

Thank you all so much for participating in this! You have blessed many children and their families, and the hospital staff who care for them. God bless you!

Toys

I am not even sure how it started, but somehow we got the idea to collect toys for Silas' birthday and donate them to the hospital. We did this just a few days after he passed away and delivered the toys on his birthday, June 4th. Last year we did the same, we collected toys and then delivered them to the hospital on Silas' birthday. We had about the same amount to donate both years.

This year we have expanded a little. We started collecting earlier, about a month ahead of time, and we asked several locations to collect toys for us! The local newspaper even ran an add for us. As of today it looks like we have about 4 times as much as we had each of the previous two years and we aren't even finished collecting yet! I am so excited to make the delivery to the hospital on Thursday!

We could not have done this without this community! So many people have come together to make donations for this toy drive, it is wonderful! People don't often realize how much a simple toy can make a difference in the life of a child fighting illness, injury, or disease. Something to hold onto when momma has to leave the room during radiation. Something to special when a child has to be in the hospital on his or her birthday. A little prize for being brave and taking the yucky medicine or being still during an injection. Or something to help pass the time during the hours of a round of chemotherapy.

Silas used to play with action figures in the play room. One was named Dr. Johnston, some were named after his chemotherapies, and then there was the cancer guy whom they fought against. Actually, they rather smashed cancer guy.

I don't know how many years we will continue this tradition, but for now, I am very glad we are doing this. We cannot give Silas gifts for his birthday, but we can, with the help of the community, bless other children.

Thank you all so very much for helping us make this happen, we couldn't do it without you!