Hello...?

Is anyone there?  I totally forgive you if you've moved on to bigger and better blogs.

I've spent the last week geeking out....chicken style.  You name it, I've read it (including Raising Chickens For Dummies).  You see, I only have 40 days to prepare before my 4 little girls (in the form of baby chicks) arrive.  There's SO much to do!  Prepare the yard, buy a coop, load up on supplies, etc., etc.  I'm so excited, that I'm seriously having a hard time containing myself.  While waiting for the checker at the grocery to bag my things last weekend, I had this overwhelming (tourette-like) urge to grab him by the shoulders and tell him, "I'm going to raise chickens in my backyard!  Do you hear me? 
 CHICKENS IN MY BACKYARD!"  In my mind, I pictured myself gently letting him go and telling him I'd be back with fresh eggs to share.

We ordered 4 different breeds.  All cold-hardy, and supposedly leaning more towards the friendlier side....we shall see.  This morning we visited the farm to check out their chickens.  Just to take a closer look and follow through with our ongoing research.  I had to pry the boys away from the coop.  Not joking.  They did not want to leave.  Logan and Jack have named two of the chickens at the farm (Snowy & Princy) and the 4 of them have developed quite the bond.  I'm still not joking.  These hens, and their flockish friends, come running whenever my boys talk 'chicken' with them.  It's a good feeling to know I'm not the only one displaying obsessive chicken behavior in this family.

Aside from chickens, I've been doing my best to keep the kids as busy as possible.  On Monday, we made kites and hung them from our kitchen ceiling.  It was a project that took 3 hours to complete, but was VERY worth every second.  It makes the house look fun and springy, and I hear the song 'Lets's Go Fly A Kite' every time I come around the corner.  Dorky?  I don't think so.  It's the little things that excite me.

Aside from kite-making, we've been busy coloring, doing play-doh, and spending every sunny second we can outside.  On Tuesday, I gave the boys washable markers and let them decorate their canvas tent.  They each had their own panel and drew (what they tell me were) Indian (oops...Native American) designs.  Wes's side was the only one with no color on it.

Aside from himself, Wes managed to find a sharpie in my Sunday school bag and color on my great-grandmother's ottoman later that day.  I really did think I had done a good job of hiding the sharpies.  Apparently not.

There you have it.  My brain is swirling with thoughts of springtime and chickens.  I long for the day when I look outside and see my coop and my chickens catching rays of sunshine in the backyard.  I long for the day a neighbor knocks on the door and asks to borrow an egg.  And I long to send one of my boys to the backyard to collect it.

Suburbia-your suffocating grasp on me is weakening by the minute.

Did I tell you I'm getting chickens?