All Fuzz Up

Upon arrival to school this morning I had another bundle of hatched chickens in the incubator. I had a total of 8 eggs that did not hatch but about 20 little babies popped out and said hello to the world.

The kids got to hold the chicks today and many of them I think are in love. I spied several of them bestowing kisses on our fuzzy friends. One little girl asked me if she payed me $200 if she could could keep the little one she was holding.




Mom, Kristin and Allison also came to visit today. Allison actually really liked the chicks. She grinned, smiled and made eye contact with several babies.


Another fun day for all involved!

Birthday Surprises

My class has been taking care of chicken eggs for the last 20 days. Tomorrow was supposed to be the magical 21st day when all the chicks would hatch. My mouth nearly hit the floor when I walked into my classroom this morning (the 20th day) to find 3 baby chicks walking around in the incubator.

Needless to say, I threw my lesson plans for Monday out the window and decided to go to plan B. The early arrival of the babies sent me into a frenzy. I called on my super husband for backup. I asked him to pick up a heat lamp and feed for the chickens from a local farm store. He came swiftly to my rescue with everything the chickens needed and a huge bouquet of happy birthday balloons for me. Turns out that the chickens and I now share the same B-day!

We had a chicken fun filled day from that point on consisting of the chicken dance, chicken tic-tac-toe and happy birthday to the chickens. I have never seen such excitement from kids as long as I have been teaching. Here are a few pictures we snapped today.



We were able to broadcast the chicks in the incubator to the entire school live. We set up the camcorder in my room and pointed it into the their warm hatching ground.
By the end of the day I took 7 fuzzy chicks out and moved them to an aquarium.


All day we had plenty of visitors wanting to get their own peek at our new fuzzy friends. Two of my teammates, Michele and Cindy, even got in on the chicken-mania with a sporty chicken hat! I expect to find more babies tomorrow when I get to school.






Tonight we had family over and did some more B-day celebrations. Eric cooked out burgers and we had a yummy white lady bug cake. I have to say, I have had some really good birthdays but his one really ranks way up there!

Elevatoraphobia

On Sunday afternoon, I left Allen for a 9 hour drive to Mobile, AL to install a soundmasking system. I found out the secret to long drives - audiobooks. I listened to John Grisham's The Testament on the way there and really enjoyed it. So I got there by 10:30 Sunday night, checked into a hotel that my wife Amy booked for me and rested for a while.

I was up at 6 the next morning feeling a little nervous. Not many of you probably know this, but I have elevatoraphobia - a fear of elevators. I tend to mask it quite well at times.

You see, on Sunday afternoon, on the drive down, I called the contractor's superintendent that I was reporting to. He told me to simply meet him on the 20th floor and then I could head up to the 32nd floor where the install would take place. Pale face, numb hands, shortness of breath - that's what came of me for a few minutes. There was no way I could haul my ladder and tools up that many flights of stairs!!

So I got there on Monday, unloaded and headed for the freight elevator. Much to my surprise, the doors to the elevator opened up and there was a man sitting in there on a chair. I then noticed that there were photos on the elevator walls, a calendar, and many other homey touches. The elevator was this man's office!!! Wow, I thought, here I am afraid of a 45 second ride up this elevator, and this elevator attendant does this 8 hours a day! So I put all my stuff on the elevator and the anxiety vanished. This guy knows his elevator, I thought, he practically lives in it!

So that's the key to elevatoraphobia - only ride elevators that have people who live in them.

This is the Mobile, AL skyline. I'm in that building that planes are dodging...near the needle...you might be able to see me waving if you look really close.


View from the front of the RSA building - that sure is a long elevator ride...

New Traditions

I have to say that it is so nice to have Kristin at home these days. She and baby Allison are happy to hang out more even on school nights! Eric and Frank have started working out together on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So this Tuesday Kristin invited herself over while the boys were working out. I love getting to see her and baby Punkin' more.

Shortly after she came over, I volunteered to change the baby's diaper. I think I must have been too preoccupied talking to Allison and trying to make her smile that I wasn't changing with my normal she-might-pee-if-I-don't-go-fast-enough speed. Yep she peed, covering her little outfit and the changing pad she was laying on. She got to put on her PJs a little early. The PJs she is modeling have a giraffe on the front that says I wish I was taller.
Eric is doing much better with his baby handling abilities. I think he is getting the hang of it. One of the first times Eric held her, he had elbows sticking way out to sides--very unnatural. Now he is becoming a pro.
















Bear and Zeke are doing much better about having Allison around. They are excited to see her and always want to do plenty of sniffing but they make sure they are not left out.


We hung out with them again Thursday after working out so I guess this is our new tradition. I love getting to see them more often and I love baby kisses!