the end and beginning

I can't believe I haven't updated since Christmas.  Not a whole lot going on except CHICKENS!  Which if you have followed our journey the last 5 years you know they consume every waking minute!  No joke I tell you.  So the first week of January Colin picked up 56 baby chicks.  They are so cute for a few days and then I just see them as work . . . a lot of work.   It is constant checking, feeding, watering, making them wake up to eat, the temperature is right, cleaning . . . and that cycle repeats 24 hours a day.  I can't even tell you how many nights I slept without waking up in the middle of the night to check on them . . . oh yes I can tell you . . . ZERO!  I woke up at least once or twice every single night . . . EVERY.SINGLE.NIGHT.  The things we do for our kids.  The past week was our local county show and man it showed us that hard word really does pay off!

Indeed we . . . I say we because me, my mom, my dad, and Colin worked hard . . . did the best we have ever placed!  It truly is a team effort . . . so Grand Champion (1st place) and 3rd place out of 69 entries.  That is pretty amazing!  Let me tell you about that amazing teaching with Colin.  She came into our lives when Colin was in 8th grade and his second year of chickens.  She knows her stuff!  Sadly, she left his school for another school near by.  We were both so sad but she still helps us.  Now isn't that amazing!  Her school is much smaller, and I know she is doing awesome things there but man we miss seeing her daily.  So even though her current students compete in the same show as Colin, she still answers any and all questions and helps us pick our best birds.  I will give Colin credit as this year the last two weeks he told me he knew the best two birds and well when she came she agreed so he has learned a lot from her.  There really are not words for her dedication to current and past students and her drive to make sure her students succeed.  What an amazing teacher!

And let me not forget that about four weeks into this project we picked up 75 one day old chicks for the Houston Livestock Show to be held in March.  Yes, for about two weeks we had a lot of chickens in our garage.  The little meets the big . . .

The little is 2 weeks old and the big is 5 weeks old!  They grow so fast.  So there is not rest . . . now if mother nature will move along and get this artic winter gone it will make us all much happier.