mother hens

While I was at work today papa and the girls did what we do most days around here now. Play house. Hen house.

To say we've been spending a lot of time in the hen house is an understatement. The girls spend hours moving feed pans around, dumping water and getting fresh, coaxing along the egg layers in the nests, settling chicken squabbles, fixing ruffled feathers (literally and figuratively of course)

and pounding together ornate feeding houses so that they can move chickens in and out and in and out. You can see one in the background here (it had to have a peaked roof). Mae is about to catch Jingles (the black chicken) and insist she eat in the new feeding house. Thank goodness chickens are kind and patient creatures and fairly greedy so they'll do just about anything the kids insist upon as long as food is involved.

Note: For those of you who are wondering, the blaze orange hats are because it's deer hunting season. Not that we think we'll get shot at in the barn, no, it's all about getting into the spirit you see...the girls are determined to be just like everyone else... in the trucks going by, at the post office, in the grocery store....observant little ones they are, but then I guess the blaze is hard to miss.

Elsa Mae's gift is definitely chicken whispering. Everyone has something.

And I'll leave you with my favorite two photos of the day (courtesy of papa). He has no idea what little animals he is raising! (Look closely at the black sheep and you'll see what I mean!)

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. May your week be full of many moments of gratitude.