Be prepared for how much you will LOVE those chickens! Save your kitchen scraps and feed them your leftovers, even leftover chicken. There is not much that they can't eat, and they generally stay away from those things anyways. Always have a treat for them, and they will come running to you. Spaghetti noodles look just worms to a chicken, and they will think that have really scored if they get a noodle. They run around playing "keep away" from the other chickens without a noodle. It is great entertainment! Chickens are masters at getting everything dirty and messy. Their waterer will be a constant source of annoyance, unless you get something with a nipple that they can peck at. They kick dirt around like nobodies business, and that fresh water turns muddy quite quickly. Food should also be in something that they can't stand in, because they kick it all over the place, and somebody *will* poop in the food. There will almost always be a hen in the bunch that will want to be your BFF, and she will jump on you every chance she can get. I used to have one that was notorious for flying up onto my head, lol. Know that getting pecked in the eye reallyreally hurts. This happens when the BFF chicken is sitting on your shoulder. Eyes are shiny, and they just can't help but peck at shiny things. Be aware that a passel of hens is much akin to a passel of middle school girls, and you will see that the "pecking order" exists something fierce. If possible, have someplace the lowest ranking girl can hide out behind to get away from the mean girls. Chickens get sick and die, and you will often have no advanced notice of an illness. You will just find them dead one morning. It sucks :( If you are able to notice when is really sick, it will often be too late for the poor biddy, anyways. It is nothing that you did, and there is usually nothing you can do, but that won't stop you from trying your best and even spending a good amount of money, especially if that chicken is the BFF. Ask me how I know. With that said, anticipate that there may be a time when you have to nurse a sick chicken. Having a place designated for that, like a dog crate or a rubbermaid bin, with a heat lamp, can be immensely helpful.

I have some sort of LG phone on StraightTalk. It's a smartphone, but not a very "cool" one. It just doesn't have enough memory for more than a few apps, so I don't recommend it. I do recommend StraightTalk, though!

That looks awesome!

That's a cute calendar, but I would be afraid of the washi tape leaving behind adhesive residue, if I ever wanted to use it for something else. I use an erasable calendar that I got at a teacher supply store, and mounted to foamboard. We use the white board too much to tie it up as a calendar, but YMMV.

Definitely poor :( I attended a private, Christian school for the majority of my school years. In comparison, the couple of years of PS I had were pretty good!

Language Lessons Through Literature is what we use instead of FLL 1/2. There is a megathread here about this program that you can find by searching LLtL. The link I gave has a preview so that you can see if this is something your child would be interested in. The curriculum creator is also on these boards, and seems very approachable with questions. There is also a social board here for this program, as well as a yahoo group.

I bought the workbook for level 2, and definitely feel that it is worth it. I need to keep it simple, so that it gets done. I very much appreciate all the time and effort that was put into this program.

I find that I use digital stuff more if I have it organized. I also bought some really cheap ink for my printer, so I don't feel like I'm wasting money printing it all off. I like being able to print out just enough for what I need.

I have a lovely assortment of citrus trees growing right now. They are my favorite houseplants, and I have been mostly successful in keeping them healthy. I love that I can pick my own lemons for things! I have a few other small plants, and a basil plant that I replace periodically from Trader Joe's.

Virtual high-five for this! Thanks!

It was from a natural grocers, but there were others on the backyardchickens forum that hatched them from eggs at Safeway. Chances are, if the eggs say "free-range" and come from a small producer, they are fertile. I bought a dozen with the newest sell-by date, and was successful. However, regular, cheap (cheep!ha!) grocery eggs are probably from battery hens and won't be fertile.

Is this something your daughter would enjoy and want to wear? I would have been MORTIFIED if my parents gave me jewelry representing my hymenal state, and I attended a private, Christian high school! I can see how some girls would like such a thing, especially if they had input in choosing it. Maybe it could be something you choose together, in a form your daughter prefers, if she even wants such a thing?

Definitely check out backyardchickens.com . They have a large and active forum that addresses every imaginable aspect of chicken care there is. For your purposes, I would look into chicken breeds that are considered "dual purpose." Start with 4-6 from your local feed/farm store. These will be sexed as pullets (females). Look for Barred Rocks or Buff Orpingtons. They are generally large, friendly, and good layers. If you don't have a feed/farm store nearby, then mypetchicken.com will ship smaller amounts of chickens. Once your chicken obsession occurs, you can make room for other varieties :) I don't think you can go wrong with Buff Orps and Barred Rocks, especially as a beginner. Once you get your feet wet, look into meat varieties. I wouldn't go into it expecting to eat the first chickens you raise, so let that be your layer flock. It could also be that I'm just a big weanie, and can't eat a pet, which they quickly become ;). I would get less attached if I thought of them as DINNER right away. Another reason why I think starting with a small, hardy flock is a good idea, is because it leaves you room to experiment, this being a homeschool forum and all :). You can build an incubator and hatch eggs for an awesome project. Backyardchickens.com has all sorts of info on doing this! Chicken development is amazing, and you can see them growing and moving while still in the egg, by using a flashlight! You can get hatching eggs from a number of sources, including ebay(!), craigslist, friends, and natural food stores. I once hatched an awesome chicken from grocery store eggs! I have also hatched rarer varieties from eggs bought on ebay. I have built 2 different incubators, using plans/ideas found online. I'm a bit of a chicken enthusiast, lol.

The "Messianic Jews" I've encountered have not been Jews in the least. They are Christians that somewhat follow OT guidelines, especially wrt diet. I find this somewhat baffling, because a Jew is only a Jew if certain guidelines of parental lineage are met, or a conversion happens within set conversion guidelines. One cannot simply call themselves a Jew and *poof* become a Jew.

It means "Christian" to me.

Yep, I get these cysts as well. Very annoying and embarrassing.

I am an adoptive parent. My opinion on abortion is that it should be rare, safe, and legal. That opinion has been pretty consistent before, during, and after my child's adoption. I do wish that abortions were much more rare than they are. I think we fail in that regard, as a society, to provide adequate support so that some women don't feel that abortion is their "only" choice.

I can certainly understand the reluctance to have her name "out there." Perhaps she needs a pen name until she is older? Thanks for the info on the book title. I added it to my cart!

Any hints that we can use to search for it? I would love to check it out!

I get my kiddo outside for about 15 minutes, running around, skipping, jumping, etc. That 15 minutes buys us over an hour of focused work time. I have some toys for gross motor play that she is getting for Christmas, so that she can still do stuff when the weather isn't cooperative for outdoor play. I got the 15 minute idea from an Occupational Therapist with an adhd child. It has been a total game changer for us!

The Easy bake oven is one of my fondest childhood memories! I loved that thing, and baked all kinds of goodies in it. I credit my mad fraction skillz to learning to convert real recipes to fit the EBO ;) I bought my daughter one for Christmas this year.

Well, I haven't lost a rooster from a frostbiten comb yet! I was bummed to see that my little bantam rooster got some frostbite, as he has a heat lamp available. Unfortunately, he thinks that he would rather sleep outside, and I have to put him in the coop every night. It was soooo cold the other day, that he ended up with frostbite in a short time. I wonder if your rooster is a leghorn? Those guys have huge combs and wattles, and tend to be more vulnerable to frostbite.

Scrape off the cork, then patch the wall with spackle and sand it smooth, prime and paint. It might take a few coats of spackle to repair the damage. An area that size shouldn't take you very long to do. Alternately, paint over the cork if you just want a temporary improvement.

Frostbite. The affected areas will probably blister and scab over soon. His comb won't be as pointy when the scabs fall off. Do you have any heat for the chickens?

I really, really like NMSG watercolor-Chebacco Lake Moonrise1 and am bummed that it sold. I like the higher contrast and moodiness of this painting.