Another Grandpa Project.

The chickens need a coop and Grandpa offered to design and build one for us.  So the whole crew went to work on the project.  Grandpa was our fearless leader.  One of the first lessons he ever taught the kids was...measure twice cut once. 

While Grandpa and the kids were working on the coop, we made sure that the chickens approved of their soon to be new home.  This is Sofie and she approves. 

But she would feel more comfortable with some walls.

Alyssa washed the window and got it all ready to go.

But then she and Isaac decided it would make a great play house and they could pretend that the window was a drive up window. 

I love seeing the boys working together. 

Sofie just noticed there is no roof either.  Just wait...it's coming. 

Isaac was on the roofing crew.  He is a heck of a shingle-nailer-upper. 

So is Joel.  He can pound a nail down in three hits.  He's a show off.

Grandpa is very patient and taught the boys even more building and construction skills.

Nicko used his muscles to help out with the heavy lifting. Good thing we have some muscles in the family.  Grandpa builds everything in the ultra heavy duty, designed to last a lifetime category.  We like that.  Joel decided that the safest place to be during the next tornado warning might just be the chicken coop. 

More team work. 

Daniel and Grandpa worked late into the evening finishing up the nesting boxes for the chickens.

I LOVE this picture.

This was Grandpa's thinking chair.   

His thinking chair makes him happy.

We like his thinking chair too when he designs this for our chickens. 

This is how we can get the eggs out when they get old enough to start laying eggs.

This little flap is how we will be able to clean the coop out and the little cut out will soon have a ramp for the chickens to get in and out of their coop.

Daniel was so impressed with the coop that he decided that he should try it out for the chickens.  I wonder how many people can say they spent the night in a chicken coop...on purpose?

After Daniel gave the coop his seal of approval, we let the chickens go check out their new home.

They like it a lot.  We know because we speak cluck.

We love our chickens so much. 

The coop is missing a few things yet.  The chickens need a roost to sleep on and a ramp to get in and out.  They need a fenced in yard to keep them safe from predators.  And the coop itself needs paint and a few decorations.  :-)  Working on the coop took the entire family and it is something that we will never forget doing.  Thank you so much Grandpa.  We all learned something new, we loved working with you and we enjoyed the process. 

The chickens mentioned that this coop was way better than the second rate little pens that we had rigged for them so far.  They can't wait to move in.   

Stay tuned for chicken coop updates.  I am already working on decorations.  :-) 

9th Grade Track - 2011

We have had a pretty yucky track season this spring.  But we did get a few sunny hours at one of Daniel's track meet. 

Stretch.

Look at those legs go!

Here he is stretching for the high jump.  We have all noticed that Daniel likes to stretch a lot. 

At this point Daniel would like you to notice his bulging muscles.  He has been working out and he is thrilled with the results.

Jump!

Here he is running in the 100 meter dash.

Crossing the finish line.  :-)

7th Grade Track 2011

Isaac had a track meet on Tuesday.  It was cold, but it did not rain so we were happy. I caught up with Isaac and his best friend, Jake, to take a few pictures before they had to run the 200 yard....dash?  race?  I don't know what they call it actually.  Anyway, here are the two most incredible...tough/cool...boys in seventh grade.

Is he making fun of me???  ;-)

Finally!  That's what I was looking for.  I love these two boys.

And here is Alyssa with her friend Katie trying to keep warm.  Aren't they sweet?

Now, middle school track has a tendency to be a bit unorganized at times.  As long as everyone makes it to the race on time, it works out in the end. 

On Your Mark.
Get Set...

Go!

Look at him go!!!!

Isaac has always loved running. 

I used my super speed to get to the other side of the track so I could get this photo.  Just kidding.  Thank you for the great shot Miss Carol!

Now it is time for the discus.  Isaac loves throwing this thing.  It is very important to exit the throwing area the proper way.  Isaac has scratched a few times for leaving the box in the wrong place.  I have a feeling Grandpa Boiten might understand completely the frustration of making that silly mistake. 

He has an average toss of a little over 60 feet.  I think that awesome!  But as his mother it is my right to be easily impressed by anything the kids do.  :-)

And finally it is time for the high jump.  He sure will not win any awards for his form just yet, but for now, he sure loves this event.  If there is one thing Isaac loves even more than running, it is falling down.  :-)  I wish I had a video camera to record his technique.  It is amazing he makes it over the bar at all, but not only does he do it his way, he is happy with the WAY he gets the job done.   

We Have Fallen In Love

About two weeks ago, we went to the store and came home with this little box.  Inside this box was something so precious.

We brought home nine little bundles of fluff.  They were so cute and tiny.  We all stood around watching their baby chick antics in amazement. 

They basically ate and slept when we first brought them home.  We could not believe how much they ate.  We lost two of them the first day.  The stress of being shipped can be really hard on baby chicks.  We were all so sad. 

One week later, they were eating twice as much food and they were twice as big, but still so cute.  And they are starting to grow feathers. 

But they still have enough fluff to make them adorable. 

And we still stand around their box watching them eat, sleep, play and peck.  We just love our baby chicks.  We have a few of the chicks named.   We have Gwen (Isaac's chick), Olive (Alyssa's chick), Katie (named after Alyssa's best friend), Joel's chick....we're hoping to change this poor chicks name, and Belle (Mom's chick).  We still have a few names to figure out.  Daniel is thinking about Nugget for his chick.  LOL  (Get it?  Chicken nugget???) These chicks are going to grow up and lay beautiful brown eggs for us to eat and to be our pets.  Joel has his chick trained to come and rub her head on his finger.  Who knew chicks were so trainable or affectionate.  This is Joel's chick.  She is so cute.  :-)