Strawberry Patch

3 years ago, when we moved into this house, I planted 4 small store bought organic strawberry plants which produced half a dozen small grape size berries that first year. Those four plants have multiplied into what is now dozens and dozens of plants which produce HUGE juicy berries! I always clean up the patch this time of year, before the plants begin to flower. Trying to find the time to do this was challenging this year, as I needed several hours to get it done. Between kids' naps, their temperaments, the wet weather we've finally been having, my own motivation as well as other activities and events that seemed to be more important than digging in the dirt, I was beginning to think we'd just have to rummage through the weeds to pick our berries this year. But then we had a free, warm sunny day last weekend with two happy kids, a motivated mama and a few baby chicks that wanted to play outside with us in the sun.
A few of the plants already had flowers on them, but after all the love we gave them, vermicompost (worm poop) we mixed in with their soil and marigold seeds we planted all around them, I'm confident they will reward us with amazing fruit this June-October (yes, they give me strawberries that long). I can't wait! Whats even better is that Ezra will be a year old (that magic age the 'experts' say it's okay to introduce strawberries to babies) at the exact same time the first batch of berries will be ready to eat. I think I'm envisioning strawberry short cake as his birthday cake!

This is Sparkles. We won't know for sure for awhile but I am pretty sure she is in fact a he. I've told Esperanza that if she is a boy, we will be eating him for dinner. She wasn't the least bit bothered by the idea. Butter and Fluffy are behind her.

When the chickens come outside I have to enclose them with chicken wire caging so the cat doesn't eat them. Soon, they will be bigger than Lucy. Until then, they don't get to 'free range'.

As the day progressed and the sun became warmer, layer upon layer of clothing was shed.

A Science & Art Project

When I was a kid, before my parents divorced, my dad taught us kids about the sciences. This must have been part of his role in the whole homeschooling thing, but really, he was a science nerd and loved experimenting specifically with physics and chemistry. We did solar energy projects and various experiments with gravity, fire, magnets, light, electricity, etc. We also would combine different things to discover what kind of chemical reactions would occur. I was young when my parents split, so I probably have fewer memories of these times than some of my older siblings might. I do have several treasured memories though, along with a book that my dad used for some of the projects.

One of things he taught me was the chemical reaction vinegar and baking soda have when they were combined. I used this idea to create my very own science fair project in school and made an erupting volcano (pretty sure it was 5th grade). Before last week, that was the last time I made a volcano.

Last week while my sister was visiting, she had the idea to make the vinegar and baking soda erupting volcano. I think when I was a kid I made the volcano out of paper mache. We used play-doh. When we told Esperanza what we were going to do, she had kind of a blank stare. At 3 1/2 years old, there's still SOOooo so very much to learn (shoot, at thirty-something there's still so much for myself to learn). She had yet to learn about volcanoes so we gave her a quick Volcano 101 course, complete with a few YouTube videos showing volcanic eruptions. And then we set off to make one. While my dad carried the science gene, my mom has the art gene. I'm not real amazing in either area, yet Mary's idea turned into a very artsy, colorful and creative science project.

First we had to make an extra batch of play-doh.

Mary got the rolling pin and all kinds of kitchen utensils to cut and mold the clay to make a scenic volcano and surrounding area. Esperanza helped.

Ezra wanted to help but mostly just ate play-doh

And here's the scenic, colorful volcano and surrounding area. They were going to name the volcano Esperanza but went with her middle name Flower (her middle name is Flor, which is Flower in English) instead so that the letters would fit around the mountain. We added palm trees, a little heart shaped lake with a frog sitting on a lily pad, a girl standing under a sun umbrella and lots of pink glitter all over the mountain.

Fill the mountain with baking soda...

Add vinegar with red food coloring in it...and WOW!

The scene was quickly covered in red hot lava (oh, we added a few animals at some point too - a duck and a bear)

Esperanza thought this was sooooo cool! We did it again and again and again...

and again, and again, and again, and again...

...until finally the play-doh became more doh and less play.

Baby Chicks

I know little to nothing about raising chickens. But I'm about to learn. My neighbor and I went and picked up 10 baby chicks today. 2 Barred-Rock, 2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Speckled Sussex, 2 Buff Orpingtons and 2 Sex-Links (one black and one golden). We couldn't find any Ameruacanas, which are the ones that lay blue and green eggs. The Orpingtons are 2 weeks old and the others are 3 or 4 days old. My neighbors family and mine will be turning the side yard in between our houses into the chicken yard sometime very soon. Her husband says he's going to build the chicks a home. Hopefully he's serious because these baby chicks won't stay small forever. For now, they are in a corner in my living room snuggled up in a big plastic Rubbermaid tub with a warming light, bedding, food and water. This is our flock and the new members of our family....

This is one of the Buff Orpingtons. Her sisters name if Fluffy but we haven't named her yet.

Esperanza named this Speckled Sussex Flower

Esperanza named this Black Sex-Link chick Negra (means Black in Spanish)

Lilie (neighbor girl) named the Golden Sex-Link chick Goldilocks

Here's the set-up. Hopefully our cat Lucy will leave them alone. I've tried to introduce her to the chicks to get a feel for her intentions, but she acts like she doesn't have any interest. I'm thinking Lucy will be spending her nights outdoors for awhile.

We still have a few to name, but I'd like to wait to get to know them a little better. Expect to see more of these girls in the future.

Counting In Spanish

Esperanza loves playing this memory game she has. Armando and her play it ALL the time. She's good! Me, not so much. I only play with her sometimes. After we played a game this evening, we tallied up how many each of us had. She wanted to count in Spanish. I haven't even watched this video before uploading it, but I'm sure it's somewhat comical because both her and I need a little more practice counting in Spanish. She's actually much better than I am, but I think the camera distracted her so we both get a little confused and she gets a little off track.

Snow Yesterday, Sun Today

Yesterday we woke up to an inch or two of snow. We went for a walk down the road to bring some egg cartons to a friend who fills them up with farm fresh eggs for us (until we get our own chickens in a few weeks - more on that another time). Esperanza put her wings on, and off we went. It's been a week or so since our last walk around the neighborhood and we discovered some new buds and blossoms along the way. The melting snow and cold air made it an interesting Spring day.

Snow fairy

And then today, we woke up to the sun shining brightly with a hint of warmth in the air. We played outside in the sun, went for another walk, put peanut butter and seeds on a pine cone for the birds and made oatmeal cookies while Ezra napped. When Armando came home, he took the kids for another walk and taught Esperanza how to peddle her 'big' bike.

Goodbye Snow Fairy, Hello Sun Fairy (she loves her wings)

Here's Esperanza riding her big bike with training wheels that her Uncle Tony (Armando's brother) got her for her 2nd birthday. At almost 3 1/2 years old, today was the first time she got the peddling figured out and road it by herself. I think she'd have been able to ride it sooner, but Armando and I didn't spend much time practicing with her over the past few months. She's got it down now after just one sunny day. Now, to get her a helmet.