Easter Egg Hunt

The hidden stash

On Tuesday, I started to wonder if something funny was going on. Yesterday, the chickens only left me one egg and today there are none. I usually get at least two if not three. I wonder if my mother-in-law, who lives next door and had obviously been doing some weeding in our yard today, didn't just lift up the hutch and take a few and didn't say anything. Although we'd certainly be just fine with that, I quickly dismiss this thought as it would be SO unlike her. Hummm....
Wednesday there are no eggs again! Huh? And yesterday, only one. I wonder if they've made some secret nest....I rummage through the backyard, looking at their usual dust-bath spots, but can't find a thing. If you saw our backyard, you could see that finding a secret nest is like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. That's why Nonna has been weeding in our yard; it's a jungle with most plants 2-3 feet tall with a canopy of some weeds over 4 feet tall. I sort of like it that way as I think it give the chickens extra protection and they LOVE to eat and chew on the variety of weeds around.
Then I wonder if maybe they're sick or stressed and have stopped laying...
Well, today I went out and, again, found no eggs in their boxes. Determined to find them, I look under tarps, wheelbarrows, around rock piles and then, FINALLY, I see something blue in the corner of my eye... There in the weeds is a hole in a thicket that leads to, you guessed it - a hidden nest, piled high with 15 eggs!!
So, I grab one of the kids' sandbox pails and collect the clutch. As I'm gathering, I wonder with a smile if I haven't thwarted some collaborative with the Easter Bunny. I mean, they're already painted green and blue! I envision the chickens syphoning off their work for a designated night drop-off with a local bunny worker. If so, Easter Bunny, I apologize in advance! I will be sure to do all the work at this house to help lighten your load.

A Children's Song that Speakes "Parent"

The Parent's Daily Anthem - elected by me who USED to not drink coffee....and then kids came...

Thanks for speaking "parent," Ralph!

Grandma's birthday

We just finished celebrating Grandma's birthday. Ainsley came down with her kids and we found time to get everyone together for a rare photo. Here's the result with Grandma (or as Alessandro says, "Emma") and all five of them: Alessandro, Darren, Ava, Braxton and Bettina.
Happy birthday!!

The Girls' Life in Pictures

The girls just LOVE drawing....Any sort down-time is dedicated to crayons, paper and sounding out words. It always seems to be that I start paying close attention to their art during the spring time each year. Last year blogged about their art they were making shapes and using different colors. The year before, I blogged they were just starting to eek into the schematic stages of drawing.
This year, not only are they are late stages of the schematic stage, but they are adding words to their drawings. Another mom in their class commented to me one day that Ava & Bettina are pretty advanced in their drawings. After hearing that, I took note of the art around their classroom. They have been studying dinosaurs and the kids were asked to say and draw what they would do if they saw a real dinosaur. Dictation was taken by the teacher and written underneath each picture. Ava said that she "would hide," and in her drawing, she is hiding while the dinosaur walks past her. The dinosaur has the word "Roar" next to it. Bettina told the teacher she would "fight it" and in her picture she is facing the dinosaur. The word "Hiya" is etched out in black crayon next to her. That mom was right. They are not only deeper into the schematic stage than most kids, but they were the only ones in both classes (out of 28 kids) that incorporated words with their drawings. That's sort of cool!