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And they're off to spend the night with zaide and baba. I think allie's survival instincts were kicking in because a smile from her has been pretty rare. Zaide's were. Thank you so much for the night off!


Overheard
Allie: Maddie, is the chicken dead anymore?

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We lost one of our ladies today. I looked out the window and saw that she was laying on the ground which is not normal during the day. Maddie went to check on her while i looked from out the window. She picked her up and said she was fine but I knew immediately that she wasn't. She was covered in blood. I rushed outside to help. my motherly instincts kicked in and I pleaded with maddie to pick her up (i could not do it) so we could get her into a box and away from the other chickens. We brought her inside where long, Lis was crying, story short, she died. Within minutes. She's buried by a hydrangea in the front yard where Maddie will be able to see from her bedroom window. Although to be honest I don't think she gets it at all. It was definitely a life lesson. For me.

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My little button pusher

Everywhere we went today Allie was my button pusher. Our meter was minutes from running out and her short little legs were going to make us late. I wish I would have had ten more seconds to focus the picture but the light had changed and we were barely going to make it across as it was.

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Happy birthday uncle Chris!!!

Kip and I missed the dinner to go and fly in some crazy weather.

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On Tuesday and Thursday mornings the girls go to my mom's before school. That means Nonna gets to pack a lunch. Which is always a hit. Allie loves to come home and have her big girl sack lunch. I am not allowed to assist in any way.

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Another day of sun =

Bike riding with chickens

Rudder getting his ball chucked until he dropped from exhaustion

A little weeding and worm hunting

And TWO eggs in the nesting box.  Good work Ladies!

(Allie was napping during all of this.  She's been a total crab lately.  And she woke up a total crab.  Please, someone tell her she's almost three.  She doesn't need to start her terrible two's now.)

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Having the sun come out has been such a mood lifter. Today we went and flew to Hoquiam, had lunch, flew up the coast a ways, and then back east through the mountains. When I started flying I HATED it. I'm so glad I changed my mind because there's pretty much nothing else that beats a beautiful flight with friends.

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Not the best picture but the story too funny not to tell. Remember Pakistani Santa? We have not mentioned that "incident" since I put my snow tires on months ago. Today I took the girls back to discount tire with me to put on my normal tires and Allie hopped onto the exact seat "Santa" was sitting in and told maddie to come sit on santa's lap. How did she remember this??

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Our second egg! This one survived the walk inside. Maddie said it was delicious. I honestly don't know who is more excited, me or Maddie.

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Our first egg!!!!! Beyond excited. Triumph quickly turned to tragedy when maddie slipped and fell on the way in. We salvaged it and put it on a plate for her to carry in.

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After school snack:

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Kip's phone got stolen today. Boo. I am pretty sure I found it on Craigslist. But hey, you need a laptop to plug into to confirm serial. Bye bye phone. Thank you Renton PD for trying.

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(Somehow this didn't get posted yesterday!)

 Maddie has been very excited to show her 18 friends her chickens. Yesterday that dream came true.

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A whole weekend to ourselves. The girls spent the weekend with the Davis/prentice clan to celebrate Hadley's fifth birthday. Kip and I traversed the state driving to downtown Seattle for st. Paddy's day festivities, up to crystal for skiing and then back into town for a puppy graduation and back up to Bothell for Hadley's par-tay. We are popular. Just kidding. The weekend was so much fun. I missed the girls like crazy but can't wait for my next Lis and Kip weekend/night out.

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Happy st. Paddy's day!

Barca and rudder playing fetch

Rudder and the girls playing fetch. Yes, he is on top of our 6'+ hedge.

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The sun finally came out today.  Thank god because we've been house bound for way too long.  In fact, I should probably make more of an effort to get out of the house even if it is raining.

Today we went to the graduation/commissioning ceremony of a friend.  The ceremony was relatively small, only five graduates, and was in Kane Hall at the UW.  We parked in the garage and had to take an elevator.  If you've been reading this blog long enough you know a certain someone is not a fan of elevators.  Every time we go somewhere, whether or not an elevator ride will be included is Maddie's top concern.  As soon as Maddie learned that we would be taking an elevator she started to get panicky.  There were two heavy doorways that we had to go through in order to get to the elevator lobby.  I pushed the automatic door button on one of them and realized that it was going to hit Mads so I pulled her out of the way.  Her tension had mounted at that point to a 9/10 and she SCREAMED.  Being the mean parents we are Kip and I laughed.  And then pretended to jump on and off the elevator.  And then jumped up and down in the elevator.  We think we're pretty funny.  And no, neither of us think we're the responsible party for her neurosis.

In Kane Hall we settled into our second row seats for the somewhat intimate ceremony and gave the girls our phones to take pictures with.  They were both on their best behavior, rapidly filling up all 32GB of memory on the phones with the backs of peoples heads.  A very high ranking general then came up to the podium to give her speech and during a pause Allie let the most gigantic fart out you've ever heard.  I can't even type it without laughing out loud.  I didn't dare look at Kip for fear that my convulsing was going to turn into "OHMYGOD that was hilarious/Nervous, let's not make total asses out of ourselves" audible laughter.  Maddie, at the ripe old age of almost-five didn't quite have the restraint.  She busted out laughing.  At that point I tired to keep a straight face to shush her.  It worked.  Until the diplomas were being given out and Allie announced that she needed to poop.

After the ceremony Kip and I laughed at the fart situation and the woman in front of us turned around and mentioned how great the girls had behaved.  It was very sweet of her.  The she said, "was that what I thought it was?"  No doubt lady.  No doubt for anyone in that room what that was. 

And once again, if you've been reading this blog long enough you know that Maddie is painfully shy.  And when I say painfully I mean that literally.  The mother of the graduate came to talk to us and kneeled down to Maddie's level to talk to her.  Maddie could not speak.  She did however awkwardly whack herself on the head about 20 times before we finally caught the flailing arm and stopped her.  It was a really precious moment.   

Ah yes, the Davis girls definitely need out of the house more often.  

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We made quesadillas for dinner. They had beans on them. That's a no-no (depending on the day) in allie's world. (she also decided kale was a good thing tonight. It's random I tell ya)

Anyhow, we got out the cookie cutters and all was good in the world.

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"My Portrait March 2012"

Maybe I just have chickens on the brain but...

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Some girls have dolls...

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These two girls were going at it today. Allie's car nap did not bode well for rational thought. Nor did maddie's long day at school. All is forgiven when you see their sweet, angelic, sleeping faces.

Plus that means I'm off duty for the next 8-10 hours. Hoping there's some good TV shows on Hulu or Netflix. Or some good opening credits because I probably won't be able to stay up past 'em.

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I went to load the car this morning for our ski trip and rudder hopped in and sat in the back as still as he possibly could hoping that I wouldn't notice him. Unfortunately for him the flash on the camera revealed that he truly does have no brain... Nor do the glowing eyeballs camouflage him all that well.

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Beggars can't be choosy right?

Uncle Chris and auntie sophia watched the girls while I worked this morning. I got a text mid-morning of allie's tramp stamp.

The best part of the day was when we got to kid's club and Allie showed everyone her tat. I just wished auntie sophia could have been there because the very next announcement was that she (sophia) had one on her peaches.

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Allie INSISTS that we brush her teeth in the dark. Can you blame her?

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I know, enough about the chickens already. Today they took their first dust bath. (since they're not laying yet we are maintaining the glass is half full mentality and celebrating other firsts) Maddie, Allie, and I sat and watched them do this. For an hour. It was really fascinating. And I am a dork. I know.

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So thankful, for so much. Even when things seem difficult it's easy to look around and see how bright the outlook really is.

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I have gotten really lazy about pulling out my "real" camera. I think I've set myself up for failure with having to take a picture every.single.day.  But after spending an hour weeding our jungle and watching the girls run around I finally decided to get the real deal out.


Daniel has morphed into Danielle. I'm not sure if that evolution was the result of someone correcting Maddie or if she figured out on her own that Daniel is a boy's name.  Danielle continues to be carried around everywhere Maddie goes.  Lucky gal.

I wanted to bludgeon this one with his tennis ball.  Kip, please fix the launcher.

In the meantime I do have Allie, fortunately.  Her favorite game is to play keep away.  She thinks it's a riot. Rudder could care less.  Attention is attention.

Speaking of attention.  Make sure you're paying attention when there are trees (or anything) to climb.  Boots or flip-flops, skirt or jeans, whatever the outfit, whatever the weather, whatever the danger, she will be going up.

And more harassment.  Look at the pure joy.  I also have another picture with tears after Rudder got his ball back.  That is not part of her game.

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I don't think today's events are too far from the ordinary but I feel like they should be written down to read at a later date...because they are hilarious.

The girls and I stopped at Safeway today where the infamous .50 horses live. Maddie "never gets to ride" on them so she was ecstatic. But not as happy as Allie who was literally pulling me through the lot screaming "I'm coming white star!" But since sibling rivalry is alive and well Maddie also staked a claim to white star. Allie acquiesced and then began yelling that she'd ride "brown boy." Yes we were in the hood. Yes, there were plenty of "brown boys" around. Fortunately she still speaks what Siri calls Cambodian so I don't think anyone understood what she was actually saying.

Then when we got home we went to get the mail just as the mailman pulled up. It was a big ol' family party at the mailbox. Including rudder. Maddie got the mail from the driver and we all headed back towards the house. Kip whistled for rudder but neither of us could see him. And then I heard noises that mentally drew an image of a very bouncy lab...in the mail truck. Yup. He was in the mail truck. Thank god for people with a good sense of humor. (now I just need to convince the UPS driver to stop giving rudder bones. On any given day, around 4:00 PM, you can head to lakeridge drive and see a UPS truck followed by a lab sprinting behind it and then me screaming at said lab to come back. The positive reinforcement of the bones has clearly led him to believe that any delivery person is likely bringing something fun for us and him)

And lastly, in a true Allie whiny voice:
Allie: what does Maddie have?
Kip: she doesn't have anything but a bunch of butt crack.
Allie: I want butt crack!


Oh yes...and my child had no shoes. Really long story but kip was supposed to pick up Mads, got stuck in horrible traffic. I had five minutes to wake Allie up and get to maddie. So, we skipped the shoes. And I was supposed to Safeway alone. It didn't happen. So there you have it.

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Family ski day

(Dad, don't know how you escaped the pics.)