Look!!!
Look what I got today!!!! 40, yes that's right FORTY teeny tiny baby chicks. After all, what's the point of moving to a house with a whole acre if you're not going to use it any way? So after months of talking about it, I actually and really truly went and bought forty tiny chickies. Aren't they adorable??
The kids are in heaven with them. They don't want to leave their fluffy little sides.
Sammy is a VERY big fan. He's getting quite frustrated with the mean big people who won't let him grab those fun little chirping toys. Doesn't stop him from trying, though.
So much fun!
Impromptu
Today started as the normal sort of day-after-a-rough-night-with-the-baby kind of days. A little sluggish, breakfast at 11, lunch at 3--that kind of a day. I had to run some errands and Hazel wanted a little friend from the old neighborhood to come and play and eat over. No problem!
Then the doorbell rings. A clump of very earnest faced and shrill voiced youngsters looked up expectantly with their pajamas in hand. "We're here for the late-over!!!"
???
Apparently a few days ago I put off the clamoring hordes of children wanting to play later with a vague suggestion of doing a late-over "maybe on Friday or something."
Vague enough in my mind that it didn't even register, but in their minds this was the highlight of their social calendars. What to do? They were so excited, there was nothing to do but smile excitedly and welcome them to the big party.
Then the little brothers started showing up. And the four children across the street. And the aforementioned Hazel friend. My sister-in-law with her two cute kids were spending the day with us already because of some pipes being worked on in their home. The grand total we ended up with??
14 children. Oy vey.
I made a homemade pizza, had at least 10 (thankfully washed!) hands helping me with toppings, and broke into my hidden stash of oreos for dessert. Goodness, but 14 children eat a lot!
We haven't been able to find the Wii since we moved, and the VCR and DVD players aren't hooked up either, so we improvised with no electronic help. On the docket was a piano/harmonica contest, hide-and-go-seek, and storytelling. At the exact stroke of 9, I heaved a thankful sigh and started to scoot them all home!
Octuplet mom is so in trouble.
The promised land
I think I've moved to Zion. Or maybe the promised land. Something fabulous and almost unbelievable. This is a neighborhood where people actually
care and are kind. Listen to the evidence:
We had 5 people drive from this neighborhood to our old house on moving day, load up the vans there, then drive back to new house to unload. In a snowstorm.
Our massive driveway has been shoveled twice, both times anonymously.
The other day, a man was out joyfully aerating the lawns of everyone in the circle. Just to be nice.
There are scores of children who play together in the same kind of way we played 25 years ago in neighborhoods. It's a night game neighborhood.
My neighbor across the street called me today just to see how I was doing.
An awkward boy of about 15 showed up on the doorstep--think a pudgy Napoleon Dynamite. He wanted to welcome us to the neighborhood and see if we needed anything.
Last week my kids and I were invited over for lunch with another 5 moms and kids.
Incredible, no? These things just didn't happen in my last house. It was a nice area, very standard suburbia. The new neighborhood is much more eclectic, and it feels very rural, despite the fact that it's 3 minutes from the freeway.
All I can say is--it feels like coming home!
