The Chicken Chronicles 5.28.21

In May we observed the one-year anniversary of the day we got our chickens.  We kept thinking we'd take a commemorative picture but never did - here's one of me with my favorite of the chickens (don't tell the others) instead.

I also participated in an outdoor activity from our Relief Society, a Tour of Yards.  About 30 women walked to a few pre-determined yards to see gardens and such, and in our case, to see the chickens and the coop.  I love that the email advertisement said that if you attend you can "learn a thing or two about the world's most love chickens!"

The other news from the big chickens this month is that Dixie is officially at the top of the pecking order.  There is evidence of her pecking on all the other chickens - Bandit included.  Ben has threatened to file down her beak.  Or eat her.  The fact that she's approximately 90% feathers and would therefore make for a meager dinner is probably keeping her alive right now.

But most of our attention was on our new brood.  The chicks grow and change so quickly!

Henrietta, Waffles, Bo, and Blue

The chicks starting getting on the edge of their bin less than 2 weeks after we got them, but it took a little longer for them to start wandering around the garage.

Waffles, Henrietta, and Bo in front with Blue in the back.

I tried to keep them in their bin by putting some scrap screen on top and keeping it down with boards on both sides.  It worked for a little while, until this happened...

I'm pretty sure Henrietta said to everyone else something along the lines of, "With our powers combined--"

When it was warm enough, the chicks were able to explore the yard.  For the first while we limited this to time when they could be supervised by an adult, for fear of the older chickens beating up on the chicks.  Once while the kids were at school, I thought I was being smart and brought them to the front yard with me while I was weeding (away from the big chickens).  When I was finished, you should have seen me hobbling around with a bum knee, trying to catch those little chicks as they ran in and out of the bushes.  I didn't make that mistake again.

Bo, Henrietta, Blue and Waffles

See how much bigger the big chickens still were than the chicks?

"Bandit, this is Blue."

Last Week of School!

A few weeks ago I was within arm's reach of being caught up but with the need to take care of kids over the summer and the busy-ness of the last month, I'm now dreadfully behind again.  So if this post sounds a lot like a journal entry, it's because I mostly copied and pasted it from my journal in order to get it published...

Cat only had one final she was worried about: Concurrent Enrollment Chemistry.  She’s loved the class and her teacher, Mrs. Slade, and she’s done very well all year but the final was intimidating since it was the final from UVU and would determine the grade she would get in the class, which would go on her college transcript.  She also had a final in Socratic, but wasn’t worried about that one.  So finals week was pretty easy for her and she spent a lot of time with her friends (which worked out great for me because I appreciated her doing extra jobs to help with cleaning).  Cat had lunches with friends, dinners with friends, went to the Puppy Store with friends, went to friends’ houses, had friends over to our house, and attended multiple parties.  Graduation day was particularly exciting, with a party at a sophomore friend’s house in Alpine, then attending the tailgate and graduation at Water Gardens with her soccer coach (also the HS Dean) and his KGM sons, then going to a graduation party at her friend Kylie’s house and getting home at 1:33am.

Cat and one of her Senior besties at graduation

Jack had finals in about half of his classes and took them seriously enough that he actually studied.  He did well (As and Bs) on everything except the translation portion of his Latin exam, which didn’t go so well.  But he finished the year with As and Bs in all of his classes and just one B-, which is pretty great!  He had some social time too, running into his friend Isaac after school and deciding to go to McDonald’s together.  McDonald’s hasn’t opened up dining rooms yet so he and his friend walked through the drive-thru (Jack with his bike) to get their food, then sat on the curb to eat.  He received an invitation to the yearbook signing (on the last day of school when finals were over), which I think was a mistake, since I only bought a yearbook for Cat, but he went anyway and then really really wanted his own yearbook, so he ran home and begged Ben to buy him one until he agreed and ran back to the school to get a yearbook so his friends could sign it.  I was at Oma’s so I wasn’t there to say, “Jack doesn’t need a yearbook.  It’s okay if he doesn’t have one.”  He finished reading Jurassic Park too!

Eliza was one of the family members who helped Jack study
by quizzing him from his study guide.  Here, the subject was science.

Eliza had an eventful week too.  She enjoyed having friends sign her yearbook - including a boy who apparently has a crush on her.  She had a lot of fun in the annual 5th-6th grade kickball tournament and was able to laugh off the fact that her class placed last.  The 5th and 6th-grade swim day at the nearby pool (while the younger kids had Field Day) was another highlight.  She was really excited to find some Snoopy and Coke-related gifts for her Snoopy and Coke-loving teacher, who she loves.  After school on the last day I commented to her that it was funny how the year seems to drag on but looking back it feels like it went really fast.  She immediately disagreed.  "The year didn't drag!  Every day there was something special."  I shared that with her teacher as a testament to her personality and skill as a teacher.

The teacher replied with, "Thank you so much! That means the world to me! Eliza is spectacular and I'm so glad she made every day wonderful for me. Each day when she left, she thanked me and wished me a happy day. She is kind and wonderful."

When Eliza got in the car at the end of the last day of school I had my phone in her face wanting a picture and I couldn't tell from looking at the screen that she was actually crying - smiling through her tears - because a friend of hers won't be back at the school next year.  (Boy, if she was having this hard a time over one friend going to a different school at the end of 5th grade, she's going to be a mess when all of her friends scatter at the end of 6th grade.)

Smiling through her tears...
and holding on tight to her end-of-the-year
gift from her teacher.

Like Jack, Luke ended up with a yearbook I didn't think he needed, haha.  I'd intentionally bought a yearbook for Eliza and not Luke, thinking one yearbook for an elementary school was enough in a house.  Apparently Luke's teacher believes that every child should have a yearbook of their own so she bought one for each child whose parents didn't order one.  Well, I didn't agree with that particular principle but I think I love every other thing about Luke's teacher this year.  She really made this a great year for him, and outdid herself by giving each child a 3-ring binder with writing samples, drawings, and other momentos she'd held on to from the year.  I was floored.

The theme in Luke's classroom was BEES - everything bees - and he wanted to give his teacher a bee-themed gift.  Unfortunately, I didn't work on making that happen until it was too late to order something from Amazon and I didn't feel like I could take the time to go shopping around for something bee-related, so I did the next best thing.  I found a cool-looking jar of honey at Walmart and added it to my grocery order that week.  I felt like it was pretty random but funnily enough everyone in the family was disappointed when they saw it in the kitchen and realized it wasn't for us.  Hopefully Luke's teacher appreciated the sentiment (in addition to her gift card).

Eliza and Luke were pretty happy to not have to wear uniforms to school
for the last week.  This is the outfit that Luke put together.  Eliza was so excited
about Luke's fashion choices that she told him he's the best little brother ever.
He said, "Well, I'm not Jackie Robinson..."

Thursday was Field Day and I volunteered to help - it was the only volunteering I did at school all year, largely because parents were discouraged/not allowed to come into the school because of Covid.  It was fun to be back at the school and to finally see the faces of the kids Luke has been talking about all year.  When Luke's class came to my obstacle course station, I asked them if Luke was mean to them or if he was a troublemaker in class and they all said no, except that he puts paper in his mouth.  (How many times have we talked about not doing that?!?) 

Last Day of School!

Filling In

Toward the end of April, Cat's former soccer coach reached out to us to ask if Cat could play with the team during the last few weeks of the season.  His practice of keeping a small roster to allow for maximum playing time for each player had backfired when multiple players were out for the season due to injuries.

Cat acknowledged that she was busy with demanding classes and a commitment to train with the boys' team at school, but said she'd like to play when she was available.  We signed her up, ordered a uniform, and Cat starting competing again within a few days.  She wasn't able to attend practices but played in several games and scored almost as many goals.

Cat played with the team in the President's Cup at the end of the season, which was held at Lakeside - the first time we've watched games there in a few years!  They played well and Cat scored a few times.  They ended up 2nd out of the 3 teams in their bracket, which meant they all got some bling.

While there were many new players on the team, there were also several familiar faces.  It was fun to connect with old friends - both players and parents!

RIP Reggie

Reggie T. Butterfly emerged from his chrysalis in Lindon, UT on Wednesday, April 21st.  Reggie had a happy, if confined, childhood, but developed a profound physical handicap during adolescence.  

For the last several weeks of his life he resided in an oversized vase outfitted with sticks and honey-water, occasionally venturing into the outside world under close supervision from his devoted caretaker, Eliza.

Eliza discovered that Reggie had passed away peacefully in his home on Thursday, May 20th.  Arrangements were quickly made for a backyard interment.  Those present recognized the joy Reggie had brought to their lives, as well as his indomitable spirit, impressive longevity, and willingness to endure scrutiny so as to satisfy curiosity.

Rest in peace, Reggie, and know that you are loved.