Peep and Peek-a-boo

We had a very busy and full weekend.  First, our family and friends that come on Memorial Day weekend came on Saturday afternoon.  We had 21 people in the house, and everyone had a great time.  On Sunday, Nathaniel and most of the adults went on their kayak trip.  The kids and I went to Mass and then hung out with the other kids, a friend, and my in-laws.  Mostly, my friend Polly and I were here with our kids, as my in-laws took my niece and nephews back to the hotel for a nap.  Things quieted down by last night, when just our friends and 4 of their kids remained at our house.  Then, we discovered that our hen has hatched two chicks:

Did you see Peek-a-boo?  She was actually playing peek-a-boo with us, peeking up out of her mom's wing, then going back down.

There are two chicks.  The other is bright yellow, so it is named Peep.

Also in chicken news, Malachi took a picture of this tiny egg we got yesterday:

The traditional stairs picture only has a few of the kids in it, since we once again forgot to take it when everyone was around.  In total, there were 11 kids here, but as you can see, half did not make it into the picture.  We've decided to do the picture first next year.  We'll see if we actually remember!

Sir Panther and Lady Midnight

We have the most adorable cats.  Lydia has been calling Panther "Sir Panther the Great" and his sister "Lady Midnight."  Sir Panther really does fit him; he looks quite regal most of the time.  Lydia recently heard the song "Duke of Earl" for the first time, and she absolutely loves it.  She was telling me about it and was impressed when I could sing a verse and the chorus for her.  (And let me tell you: Lydia is not impressed by much I do these days!)  Since then, she has also been referring to Panther as Sir Panther, the Duke of Earl. He doesn't seem to mind.

Been Workin' on the Rail Road

We love our history center.  Today, they were celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike being hammered in, connecting the country from coast to coast by rail road.

Gyunay can really hammer!  He was enjoying it.

Lydia's been pretty good with a hammer for a while, so she had a slightly bigger/heavier one for her turn.

They also got to use the printing press.  It's always a hit.

Garden Arch

I've been wanting a heavy-duty trellis arch for the garden, so this weekend, Nathaniel assembled one for me out of 2 cattle panels, with some assistance from Malachi.

He bent two cattle panels and secured them to the ground with several tent stakes.  Then, he zip-tied the two panels together.

I've already planted cucumbers, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, tatume zucchini, and cantaloupes along both sides.  I'm very excited to have this vertical space.

Also, Gyunay had his last soccer game of the season:

He really enjoyed soccer, so we will probably sign him up again in the fall.

Malachi's Confirmation

Malachi was confirmed last night.  Elijah was his sponsor, so I got a picture of the two of them together.  

Our Archbishop was sick, and our priest is recovering from surgery, so we had a last-minute substitution of a priest from a neighboring parish.  We were glad he could step in.  Normally, the Archbishop does all of the Confirmation Masses in the diocese, so I doubt that the priest had actually presided over one before.  

Malachi chose St. Maximilian Kolbe as his patron saint.   Each kid says their saint's name during the Mass, and I think he was the only one who chose St. Maximilian Kolbe. I heard a bunch of St. Sebastians, several Joan of Arcs, a couple of Cecilias, Lucy, Jose, Juan, Elizabeth, Mary Magdalene, Francis, Stephen, Phillip, Teresa, and Peter.  I couldn't hear everyone's, and there were around 40 kids getting confirmed, so I'm sure I missed a few.  I'm always interested in which saints the kids are picking. 

Growing

We are starting to see some real growth around here.  First up, the chicks:

They have eaten most of the clover I had planted in their yard.  They are fully feathered now, and I haven't used the heat lamp all week.  

Also, the gardens are growing.  Look at the strawberries:

And this tomatillo is already blooming.  That is really unusual, as tomatillos usually are slower to grow than my tomatoes, and those are not anywhere near the flower stage (except for a couple of cherry tomato plants).

Last up on this garden tour is the treehouse garden, one of my newest areas.  The larger (taller) plant in the foreground is one of the blueberries.  The green all around are arugula and baby bok choy.  The yellow flowers are some of the bok choy.

This garden is doing very well now.  It has 4 blueberry plants, a couple of cantaloupes, 2 sugar baby watermelons, a few bush cucumbers, one tomatillo, one pecan tree, one rhubarb, one tatume zuchini, and the arugula and bok choy, as well as some carrots.  I did put up some netting to keep deer at bay.  I've been lucky so far that they haven't been nibbling, but we have so many deer here that it's unrealistic to think that will last for long.  

Cuties

Thurby

I've been to Churchill Downs before, several times.  We've taken the kids on a weekend afternoon, bet on a couple of races, and enjoyed some time in the nearly-deserted stands.  This week is not like that.

I can only imagine how crazy it was today for the actual Derby.  

That white pole in the background is the finish line.  We had a great view for the races.  I didn't win any.  Actually, if there was an award for picking the losing horse, I would have done quite well, but it was still a good time.

April Harvest Totals

This is hopefully the last slim month.  The gardens are growing, and I hope we get some real harvests in May.

Arugula - 2 cups
Bok Choy - 1/2 cup
Eggs - 147