Adventures, Cont....

I've got my chickens! They don't look at all like the pictures posted previously, because I want lots of eggs and Polish chickens don't produce well. Two weeks ago I got six little red hens. Five days later a fox got four of them. We reinforced the coop, moved it closer to the house and I went to a farmer to get four more birds. Now we have three red hens and two Barred Rock hens (black and white stripes). I'll post pictures once I get my camera batteries charged. I'm currently getting four eggs/day, but expect that will increase as the hens get settled in their new home.
We also got two ducklings. I'm hoping they are female and will lay eggs for us, but if not, they will make good eating in the fall (if we can manage to not get too attached to butcher them). The boys love to watch the ducks. They have doubled in size in one week! (ducks, not boys)
William asked me if we can have hay and a red barn on our farm. I guess he figures that we have a tractor with a few attachments, chickens, ducks, a cat, and we've started seedlings, then we must have a farm! He also keeps asking for horses and cows. Too bad two acres is not enough space for a milk cow. Then again, I think I already have enough animals to feed and water.
Curt taught me how to drive the tractor yesterday. Brian thought it was great that mommy was on the tractor. He kept smiling and waving at me. We were moving all the woodchips from their various piles to one location near the garden so it will be handy for mulch. The boys were both helping rake. They were climbing on the log pile and sitting in the play house together. So cute. They would both live outside if they could. It should be a fun summer.
Next project: a greenhouse (unheated variety) so we can enjoy winter veggies. I put the chicken coop over the grass where we will put it, so they can kill the grass and fertilize! I also want to make a narrow pen for the hens that I can put between my garden rows, so they can weed there as well. Why should I do the weeding when the chickens like to do it so much?
We would love to let our chickens run free, but we have too many dogs that wander around. I'm afraid they would go after my hens! There are also hawks that fly over the field out back. Still trying to decide. I'd just hate to lose more birds.
Updates on boys:
William is reading extremely well now. He loves to do school and he likes math just as much as reading. We are beginning to add and he gets the concept, but we don't have things memorized yet, so don't quiz him. He's also beginning to really want to do what is right. It makes it much easier to help him change his attitude or behavior.
Brian is really starting to talk. When William talked he did one word at a time and spoke rather clearly. Brian has been speaking in complete, though not understandable, setences for some time. Now I'm beginning to understand them. He says things like, "William, may I have the fire truck please?" but it comes out like, "May-may, I ha ire tru pee?" His intonation is perfect and I think that helps a lot. He calls himself "Bri-bri" and William is "May-may." If you want to hear him, call us. He'd be happy to talk to you on the phone, but don't expect him to listen much. Brian has also shown interest in using the potty. He does well as long as I take him frequently enough and he usually tells me as soon as he wets.
So, you can see that we've been a little busy. Perhaps you will forgive the long delay in posting and I'll do my best to keep up in the future.