Lots of Love

Before the month is over, I want to make sure to share about Valentine's Day!  Our homeschool co-op had a little exchange - well, actually lots of people showed up and we kind of freaked out the ice cream shop employees (note to self: hold it in a bigger venue next year!).  Reed filled little bags with homemade treats - he melted a Hershey Hug on a square pretzel and then squished an M&M on top.  Sweet and salty yumminess! (not my photo)

Blossom did marble paintings.  If she had her way, she would probably spend a good portion of each day painting.

In a baking pan, she rolled paint-covered marbles over paper until it created really cool designs.

We let the paintings dry and then cut them into heart shapes and glued on little Valentine messages.  They turned out really sweet!  Even though Reed's treats were probably more of a hit with the other kids, I like to fool myself into believing that the kids loved these as well :)

The kids get to share a little more love this month with our new chicks!  These are called Buckeyes (from, you guessed it, Ohio).  We bought them on craigslist.  They are a rare breed and I am excited to add them to the flock!  They will turn a very lovely dark reddish-brown as they get older, and the roosters are supposed to be very docile.  They are good meat birds as well as egg-layers.

We have 5 of them peeping away in the brooding box in our living room.  Never a dull moment!

One Warm Day

We had one blissfully warm day here in the mountains this weekend.  I think it was in the 60s!!  We soaked up every minute of sunshine that was possible. 

Bobby, Blossom and I took the short drive to Warren Wilson to hike along the creek.  I can't believe it's been years since I've been here - it's SUCH a great hike with kids.  It was warm enough that Blossom even dipped her feet in the water (very quickly!).

It's a neat hike because there are plenty of interesting spots along the way.  There are big rocks to climb on, a small bamboo "jungle", farm animals, and even a sandy beach if you hike far enough.

Yup, Blossom loves her some real river sand!  Shoes came off... she did not want to leave.  We had to pry her away as the sun started to set, since we knew that meant the end to the glorious warm day and back to the chilly Winter.