For Karina

Hi Karina!

We miss you very much here in Norman. Baby Joseph wants to know where his roommate went! And, of course, the chickens miss their mama. We love you and hope you have a great time in Fort Worth and seeing your mommy!

Love,
Uncle Aaron, Aunt Kelly, Baby Joseph and Baby Payne#2 (and the Chickens) :)

This is Joseph and Aaron after Meme, Papa and Karina left last Sunday. Poor Joseph.

This is the strange egg we found! That means that all 5 hens are laying now. But look how tiny it is!

1st Birthday Day

A few highlights from Joseph's first day as a one-year-old: He says "drink, please" at breakfast.

Doesn't he look smug? I'll just call it a "smirk". ;)

Typical Joseph in the car. We were on our way to the Farmer's Market!

Waking up (happy!) from his morning nap. Yes, naps are still required on a birthday. :)

I should teach him a sign for "milk", because sometimes he'll say "drink" when he really means "milk" - because he won't take water!

Joseph enjoyed playing on his birthday, and was so happy that he was able to spend it with Karina.

For dinner, I actually planned on making Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas. I didn't quite get that far, so we had a "treat": macaroni and cheese with smoked sausage. Pretty much a terrible meal nutritionally, but a Payne favorite! It was Joseph's first pasta dish and (of course) he gulped down every bite! Maybe it'll be a birthday tradition for him?

For dessert, we had some of those Oklahoma peaches we bought at the Farmers' Market. We put a candle in the peaches for Joseph, who is a pyro by birth and LOVED the flame. We couldn't get him to blow the candle out, though, so we helped. :)

He's never had free reign over a plate of food. Can you tell?

Two favorite things to attempt with birthday peaches: put them in cupholder; put them on floor. I encouraged the first.

And this morning, J was playing in his new favorite place. I wanted to document it!

Happy Birthday to You

Chicken Tractor

Built by just about every member of the Payne household, but most especially the Mr. :)

By the way, it's a chicken tractor because it's completely portable and intended to be moved daily or nearly that so that the chickens graze our grass and their "presents" are evenly distributed over the lawn, providing better fertilizer than any chemical can try to mimic.

It's 8'x4' and 3' high. The roost and nesting area is the covered part in the back, with the open area for their food/water and recreational purposes. Technically, we could lock them in there and they'd be happy for days b/c of the grass, feed and water. But we let them roam the yard. :)

Aaron built a door in the front that swings out. This is the nesting area, seen from a "secret" door that Aaron built so that we could just grab eggs from above. It's been working wonderfully! They're actually laying in the nest boxes!

This looks down through the nest door into a nest box and further, to the ground. You can see the roost (a stick hung above the ground where they sleep) and the divider between the roost/nest area and the open area.
The Happy Payne Hens!