Drumroll Please...

Our sweet little baby chicks have finally arrived! Here is the afternoon in pictures.


We took a family trip to the post office to pick up what was a much smaller box than we expected! The postmaster said they'd been keeping her company all day.


Their home for the next 4 weeks - 1 inch of wood shavings with newspaper over that for the first day so they don't confuse wood shavings for their food, heat lamp as they're supposed to be in 90-95 degrees for the first few days, waterers with sugar water and chick starter (feed).


Ta da! This side had mostly black stars with a few red stars (light brown) and a Cornish hen (traditional yellow) mixed in. All of the chicks were born on Friday (2/25/11), so, they are just a few days old.


Exploring their new home - Geoff took them out of the box one by one, and I dipped each one's beak in the water, so that they knew it was there. Most chicks that don't make it die from dehydration, so we're trying hard to prevent that. There is only one we're worried about at this point, but Geoff hand fed her some food mixed with water, and we've been checking on her this evening, so we're hopeful she makes it through the night.


Three little chicks all in a row!


Huddling under the heat lamp.


Mary-Michael meeting the chicks with Daddy. She was shy at first, and then was really exicted about petting (aka swatting) at them.


And because of the unseasonably warm weather today and our heavy dose of Virginia Tech agriculture life, we had to sport the UVA outfit.

My Seeds are Growing!

For you green thumbs out there, this might not seem like a big deal, but I can't tell you how excited I was to see some sprouting! My dad and stepmom are both avid landscapers/horticulturalists - they work in the field, they teach classes and they have their own beautiful garden. I love walking through their gardens and eating their yummy produce, but I must admit, I have not appreciated or paid attention to their knowledge of all things green until very recently. I think my dad knows the Latin name to at least half the plants that exist in North America - it's quite impressive. And of course, I am married to a landscaper, so this really shouldn't be that big of deal, but I am amazed at how these little seeds that arrived in the mail could turn into something edible with a little soil, light and water. I feel like I've turned nothing into something!







This weekend Geoff and I are getting away to a bed and breakfast - we need some G&T time as we like to call it. We're hoping to do a little beer and wine tasting while also visiting a nursery called Edible Landscapes where you can find all things green and you guessed it, edible! I'd like to try a few berry bushes this year and see if they survive our massive deer population. We shall see!

Our sweet girl will be taken good care of by Geoff's parents. If I was a betting woman, I'll bet she gets a little ice cream and other sweets while visiting, too. That's what grandparents are for though, right!?

Chicken Update

Today was supposed to be the big day, but yesterday we received a call from the hatchery that it was a bad hatch. Hmmm not sure what that means, but I think I'll take my first chickens from a good hatch. So, now the arrival date is early next week. Hopefully, they'll be here in time for Mary-Michael's birthday. In the meantime, the roof on the coop is finished, we have running water at the coop and electricity officially run out there for the heat lamp. We took a trip to our local tack and feed store (Triple D) on Saturday to pick up feed for the chicks. While they didn't have what we needed, we did get a healthy dose of advice on how to raise chickens, hogs and cows from the owner. Mary-Michael donned her overalls (actually her Uncle Kam's old overalls!) and enjoyed playing with all the equipment. After a quick drive through the Angus cattle farm Geoff worked on the other weekend we landed at Southern States where we found the feed and some more vegetable seeds. My dad accompanied and served as the entertainment in the back sea.

So, is this how many lived their Saturdays when farming was the norm? I think I like it. But ask me in two months when my calendar says I'm supposed to plant a dozen vegetable plants and seeds... it's always an adventure around here! Stay tuned.

Down on the Farm

Some of you may know we had a brief moment last summer where we decided we should move out of our beautiful home in the country to suburbia where many of our friends and family (and stores!) live. There are lots of advantages to moving closer, but we decided with some prayer that it wasn't time and God still had things for us to do right where we are. So, this decision led Geoff to immediately begin planning for some things he's always talked about - chicken coop, vegetable garden and just general sustainable living. I told him today that he is the gas and I am the brake on this moving vehicle of dreams. It's a good balance though not always an easy one to strike. If he had it his way we'd have built fences, bought 5 cows, a few pigs and the land next to us. I kindly let him know that sadly money and time do not grow on trees, and I'd like to make sure we're suited for this kind of life before we invest our children's future in it. So, we agreed that this year we'd get some chickens, start a decent vegetable garden and keep a hive of bees for honey.

So, I'll start with the chickens. When we initially discussed this I had thought we agreed 5 or so was a nice number to start with. We aren't massive egg eaters, but it would be nice to share with a few family and friends the fruits of our labor (or really their labor, but you get the point). The hens he wanted produce about 2 eggs every 3 days, so we'd have about 2 dozen a week. Well, he started reading and dreaming and really felt like God was leading us to do something a bit bigger. We live in a community where you will likely pass a very nice home next to a few trailers looking terribly run down. The economic differences sadly run parallel to the racial differences in the county. The blessing of having a not-so-shy spouse is that it's not too hard for us to meet people, but you do have to take the extra effort when you live in the country. And like in the good old days when you wanted to meet neighbors you brought them a pie, dinner or cookies, Geoff thought it would be great to deliver eggs and fresh produce as a way to connect. So, the 5 chickens turned into 55 - yes, I said 55. A week from today we will be trekking to the post office to pick up 55 chicks.

Now, I am coming to terms that not all of them will live - not only because 15 of them are Cornish hens for eating (eek!) but because it's just the nature of life. But still, this is A LOT of laying hens. You may or may not have received my plea to start saving your egg cartons - if you didn't, and you see us, please start saving them! Lord knows we will need them.

The chickens are definitely the most interesting of the farming escapades we have agreed to take on this year, but I am probably most excited about the veggies. Geoff...well, he's getting there. Geoff eats about 5 vegetables, and he knows that growing more of our own food also means learning to eat it (much like me trying to eat the Cornish hen I once cupped in my hand when she was a chick), so he's agreed to try things. We ordered at least 30 different packets of seeds after doing some research on Virginia Tech's agriculture site (sorry UVA, Tech has you beat here). We've received most of them, organized them by date to be planted and have a schedule laid out. This weekend we started a number of seeds (mainly herbs) in small pots. Since we don't have a greenhouse, we are using a spare bedroom to grow the (see pic below). Now a veggie garden is a lot of work, so I'm thinking of this year as the trial year. We'll see what veggies grow well here, what Geoff will eat and what others will eat and then we'll modify for next year.

And lastly, the bees. So, my dad keeps bees and has really enjoyed it. He claims they're low maintenance and has hooked us up with his bee guy. The bee guy came out last week to see the supplies we had (all donated by my dad), shared some info with Geoff and ordered us 6 pounds of bees, which will also be mailed in April.

Isn't it weird what can be mailed nowadays? Bees and chickens!

So, this is only the beginning of life down on the farm with the Lawrence's. Stay tuned and see the farm in the making through pictures below.


Bee hives.


Soon-to-be seedlings.


Farmer Geoff.


Shed/chicken coop phase one.


Shed/chicken coop phase two.

Eleven months

My sweet, smiling, squealing sugar baby,

Yes, I can call you that because I'm your mother. So much of me is so sad that you are approaching the one year mark. I have tried so hard to enjoy the moment and stage you are in each day and not say "Oh, I can't wait til she..." God is reminding me as I write this that it's ok to be sad about the time passed but that I should also be excited for all the beautiful, challenging and new moments that lie ahead. So, I will continue to avoid reading Someday or I'll Love You Forever to you or to anyone for that matter. The mothers who wrote those books must be tough as nails or maybe they were written by men...I can't get through the first few pages without tears.

But alas, this post is supposed to be about you and not my teary moments.

Here's what you're up to:
-grinding your 4 teeth (now that your 2 top teeth have finally showed up!)
-attempting to say kitty cat, which really sounds like tittytat (you are able to pick out the kitty cat from a group of pictures)
-standing for a few seconds
-you are obsessed with the dogs' water bowl, which means dumping it on the floor if I don't get to you in time. This is now the cleanest part of the kitchen as I'm forced to do an impromptu mop!
-climbing stairs - you've become quite the expert - bring on the baby gate!
-you are a mooch - whenever someone is eating, you spot it, you beeline for them and you stand by their side with a sweet grin until they share.
-you are starting to really show us when you're unhappy - small tantrums ensue, which involve you putting your face to the floor and crying - thankfully they are short lived at this point
-Outside of these mini-tantrums, you continue to be a really happy baby, bringing joy to everyone you're with.

Momma, Daddy and so many others love you and are praying for you - we know you will continue to be a blessing to others, and that is a true gift!

All our love,
Momma and Daddy


My pretty princess.


A picture from a recent visit to meet your new cousin, Emelyn (Kallie and Ethan in the background).

A short video: Puppies, Kisses and Giggles