On Chicks and Cows

I finally got the video of my chicks hatching uploaded! It is in segments and there is kind of a long blurp of Asher running around our backyard digging in the dirt, showing off his new underpants, and saying cute things like "Cookie Mauker" and "Scripture Powder" (ie. Cookie Monster and Scripture Power). Oh... and please... ignore the brief martial skiff... we aren't perfect by any means.

Also I wrote a guest post at the Gift of Giving Life about what I learned about birth from watching my chickens hatch... and a really great story about cows.

Food, Inc.

If any of you missed the PBS broadcast of Food, Inc. this week you can still see it on-line here until tomorrow night at midnight.

I think this movie might be, or has the possibility to be, to the industrialized food industry what the book "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair was to the meat packaging industries in the early 1900's. It is really so crazy that we have NO idea how our food is made or where it comes from. I've already been on the "edge" of radically changing my family's eating habits for quite some time and I think this movie defiantly just put me over the "edge".

This is really worth your time.... and I'd love to hear what you think about it.

I'm Not Really Sure if it Counts...

but today is Asher's 4th... maybe 5th... day of wearing underpants without an accident.

Can you see my smile.

I am still hesitant to declare him "potty trained" because as soon as I do I know he'll have a relapse on me.

And I still haven't gotten him to go #2 on the potty yet. He still wears a diaper at night time and usually goes #2 in it first thing in the morning. He almost went once but it ended up in A LOT of screaming, crying and some half in and half out of the toilet. I'm not really going to push it because I'm sure that eventually he'll decide to overcome his fear of pooping on the potty.

More than you wanted to know?

Just wait... one day you will have a toddler and all of sudden his/her bowel movements will determine the course of your day.

Then you will understand my glee.

They Hatched!

I'm proud to introduce...

4

baby chicks

as the newest members of our chicken family!

The first one started hatching last Friday night. When I went out to check on them Saturday morning I lifted up the hen and much to my surprise there was a fluffy little chick under her!

It was a wonderful way to start the morning out.

The rest of the day was so much fun because each time we went out to check there was a new chick or one was in the process of hatching.

The birth nut in me LOVED it and Asher was pretty giddy too. I only got to see one of them actually break out of the shell, but I didn't get that one on video because I was afraid I'd miss it if I ran back for the camera. I got some of it on camera but I am having technical difficulties getting it posted, so I will try to do that this weekend if at all possible.

It was really incredible to watch these little babies be born and I found myself learning more beautiful truths about birth and life (which will be have to be saved for a another post).

Life is really such a miracle.

It was kind of sad that three of the eggs didn't hatch but I guess they must not have been fertilized... or were just duds.

It is also really cute to watch our hen mother her chicks. She has definitely fallen into the "Mother Hen" roll and is SO protective of her little babies. She is always clucking at them to make sure they stay near her and when one of them wanders away she chases after it. It is rather sweet. I think my favorite thing is to open up the coop and see her sitting on her nest with all the little chicks under her. Her body just wiggles and squirms with the wiggly chicks who every once in awhile pop their heads out from under he wings. She is a natural mother.

I think we will keep doing this egg hatching thing every year, if we can, because I think it is an incredible way for Asher, and eventually Rose, to learn about the miracle of life, birth, creation, and how to be good stewards of the earth...not to mention it was SO fun.

The next challenge is going to be trying to figure out who each chicks real biological mother is. They all have the same dad but I'm afraid we might have some strange genetic combinations.

My First Adventrue in Web Design

I just designed my first website... from the bottom up... and I am really excited about it.

You can see it here

It is the website for the Doula Association I belong to and I think it will really help to get the word out about doulas in our community. If you know of anyone in my area who might want a doula PLEASE pass this website on to them!

I'd love to get your honesty opinion about it. Is it aesthetically pleasing? Easy to read and understand? Easy to navigate? Do you feel like you understand what a doula is and what they do after reading it? I'd love some feedback on it.

It was really fun to make and I think it would be fun to take a web design class sometime so that I could do the really fancy stuff. Maybe someday.

By the way... I think my chicks might be hatching soon. This morning one of the eggs had a little crack in it, like someone had pecked their beak at it! So maybe this weekend I'll have some new babies.

What Do You Think About Home School?

I don't necessarily agree or disagree with this cartoon, but I thought it brought up and interesting debate.
I am really interested to know people's honest opinions and experiences about how they made or are making their decision to school their children. So if this cartoon sparks something in you... please share.

Several months ago a friend invited me to go to with her to a workshop about how to home school your children. I've toyed around with the idea of home schooling my children but I've never been to dead set on it. I am a bit... okay a lot... intimidated by the idea. Yet then there is a part of me that gets so excited about it. So I went with her just to see what this home school thing is all about.

During our break I was in a group of experienced home school moms and I told them they had 5 minutes to convince me to be a home school mom. They did a pretty good job. They all spoke of how wonderful their teenagers were and how versatile they were. How they could interact really well with all sorts of people-- little children, their peers and adults-- and hadn't ever gone through the rebellious teenager phase. They also spoke about how much fun it was to home school and about what a great community of home schooling families there is in our area.Yet I think that their most convincing argument for me was:

1. Several of the moms (at least 1/3rd) had been trained as school teachers and had worked in the schools for several years. They had made the decision to home school their children because they knew that if they wanted to freedom to teach like they wanted, and if they wanted their children to get the best, absolutely the best education they would have to get it at home.
   

This argument really resonated with me as a doula because as a doula you get to see so many different ways to birth and almost all the doulas I know choose to give birth at home. I think this is because after seeing all the different possibilities for how to birth they come to realize that if they want the freedom to birth how they want then they need to have their baby at home.

There is something so innately holy and beautiful about the home and in a day in age when the family is so under attack I sort of like the idea of keeping my children tied closely to their family and to their home-- spiritually, physically and mentally.

Yet I do have some concerns about home schooling. I feel kind of strongly about public education and about making sure all children, no matter their situation, have a good education. I feel like taking my children out of public school would be a bit selfish because I could use the energy towards making public schools a good experience for all children. Also, I'm afraid of getting "mother burn out". Already, I sometimes fantasize about how nice it will be to send my children away for a good part of every day so that I have time for myself and time pursue some of my personal pursuits. Yet, then I remember that there really is no other job more important than being a mother and that the most important work I can do is to teach and lead my children to do what is good and right.

Basically.... I haven't decided on how I want to educate my children. I know I still have a couple of years before I have to make that decision, but I feel like something as important as how your kids are educated should be given a lot of thought. I think I am going to attempt a home school pre-school and see how it goes. I'll just take it one step at a time because... really, the idea of home schooling kind of scares the pants off of me. Yet then again so did the idea of having a home birth, but I conquered that one with God's help and gave birth pretty much fear free both times. I have no doubt that if God tells me that home school is what is right for my family that I will be able to do it and conquer my fears.

But... I haven't asked Him yet so I'm not quite sure what we'll do. Still I'd like to get other people's thoughts about schooling. How did you make the decision to educate your children?

If you home school your children (or are planning to) what are your reasons?

If you public school your children (or are planning to) what are your reasons?

Life Tastes Good

Sometimes I can't believe that these two little ragamuffins actually exist... and that by some great miracle I get to be their mother.

Since this is the place where I archive all the photos and videos I don't want to loose in case our house burns down I am posting some videos of Rose laughing, crying and clapping. She really has the best laugh...half the time you can't tell if she is laughing or crying. I wonder if that is how it will be when she is older? I kind of hope so. But if not I don't want to forget what it sounds like, nor do I want to forget her sweet little cry, nor how her face lights ups when she sees she is getting attention for clapping. It makes me kind of sad she is getting so big!

Gone Broody

About two weeks ago our little black silkie hen went "broody", which means she stopped laying her own eggs and wanted to sit on her nest all day. When a hen goes broody it is because she wants to incubate and hatch some chicks. Most modern chicken breeds have had the "broodiness" and "motherliness" bred out of them because they aren't desirable traits for chickens you want to get the maximum egg laying capacity out of. Silikies though still have the genetics to be really good mothers and are some of the best "brooders".

So when our silkie went broody I was really excited because I've been wanting to hatch some of our own eggs this Spring and get little chicks. I had her sit on golf balls and ping pong balls for a few days to make sure that she was serious about being a mother and wouldn't get up and desert her nest.

She remained faithful and so about a week ago I moved her into her own little coop away from the other chickens and gave her 7 eggs to sit on. She has been siting on the eggs for about a week now and I am starting to get really excited. I just hope that some of them hatch. I might try "candling" some of them in a few days to see if I can see any developing embryo's', but I've realized that broody chickens are kind of like laboring women and that they do best if just leave them alone... the more you mess with them the more likely the chances are of something going wrong. So, maybe I'll just leave her alone and let her stay in her rhythm... or maybe I'll be like an annoying nurse and keep "checking" her to see if the eggs are making progress. It would be really cool if we could see the little chickens developing inside!

Check back in about two weeks for some exciting egg hatching... hopefully... Jon might be out of town so he's made me promise I'll get it on video!