Day 2 hatching eggs, mini eggs and box fun.

OK I realise that this picture is a little fuzzy but I think that it was just all the excitement of candling our hatching eggs for the first time.

This egg is an unfertilised egg that Mary laid, it is just for comparison purposes. See how clear it is.

Sad news, we have a cracked egg. We can see the egg changing round the back but apparently we have to throw it out as the bacteria will get into it which could affect the other eggs :( so one down 5 to go.
But the other 5 eggs looked like this. You can definitely see the dark patch in these eggs on day 2.
Knowing how we are all slightly obsessed with eggs right now, Gran brought some quails eggs for the kids to try for lunch.
But first Kiki and Gran made some corn bread.
Although Kiki did more licking than mixing.
Reading their new wildlife magazines that have come though.

So cute!
They are a pain to open, they have a really tough inner membrane on the shell.
But we managed to get almost all of them in whole.
Corn bread. It is the first time we had eaten corn bread, it was very yummy, especially the crusts.
Playing with gran.

Boo made this dragon for gran and grandad.
Playing with big cardboard box. It is amazing how long kids can play with them.
Although there were arguments over who's turn it was
but they came up with a solution :)

Eggs, more eggs, candles and wax, and...snow!!!!

The kids are very much into their poultry right now :) Kiki and Googs were playing with Daisy duck, getting her to sit on the egg to hatch it.

And then guess what came in the post...
The hatching eggs!!! We decided on getting a mix so we won't know what type of leghorn they are until they hatch!
We left the eggs for a few hours to get to room temperature.
While we waited for the eggs to warm up, the kids decorated some spring candles with coloured beeswax.
Kiki decorated hers with lots of eggs.
Googs went for spring coloured splodges

Boo made a chick on one side,
Blossom tree

and Easter bunny my little hippie :)
Champ did two different types of daffodil,
a blossom tree (round the side) and a nest of eggs

They all decided that they wanted the candles to sit next to the incubator and to be lit on the chicks hatching day :)
And you can't say that they don't love their chickens, they all went out to check on them after an unexpected snow fall.


Before the children went to bed they put the chicken out to watch over the chicks and also make sure they had a chicken to look at when they hatched :) I am going to feel really bad for them if we don't get at least one chick!
fingers crossed....

Surprise package!

A package arrived yesterday...
the kids dived into the box to see what it was...
Our egg incubator!
Disinfected and running. It is recommended to run the incubator for at least 24 hours before setting the eggs. I am not sure when the eggs will be delivered (I obviously ordered them after the incubator arrived) but I want to be prepared for when they do.
We were going to get an incubator with an automatic turner but changed our mind thinking that the kids would learn more with hands on experience, which means the kids have to turn the eggs 3-5 times a day for 18 days.

Egg candle. It uses an LED light which doesn't heat up as much as a regular torch so its safer for the gr owning chick.

We had to have a go with our hen eggs. I am not sure if it is going to help much as I can't even work out where the yolk is. hmmm maybe it just takes practice. The eggs look really pretty though, like mini galaxies :)
Yay! Lots more eggs for baking...maybe, hopefully :P

Finger knitting and general busy-ness

The older two were out playing with the chickens so I decided to teach Googs how to finger knit.

He was soon able to do it by himself
And made it into a scarf for his koala.
Kiki has been making buildings and cities as presents for everyone. She is so proud of them that she asks to take pictures of them :)
I was a little naughty, stopping off at the South African shop for some naughty treats. I have to say, after always having a soft spot for thr bright green cream soda, it is no longer something that I enjoy. Oh dear, I am getting old!!!! Even ouma rusks were a disappointment, the rusks we made were much yummier.

When I shared out the grape fanta, Champ asked me if I was giving him alcohol :D I told him that it was grape flavour which solved that :D It's funny how you don't really get grape flavoured goodies here in England.
Our bulbs are blooming!!! It makes me so happy, and smells wonderful!
Kiki and Googs made some toilet roll animals.
Now this was supposed to be a cow but for the life of me I couldn't picture a cow head to draw it!!! I mean we have a field full of cows opposite the house. So anyway this is Goog's cow/horse :P
Kiki begged for pink and blue cupcakes.
:D I just love her style.

Kind of hard to see but this is Goog's dragon. I said that if the kids designed a new chicken coop we would get some wood and they could make it. They rushed to the table and came up with two very different designs so we are now trying to merge the two.
pumpkin pie
After sitting with the older two doing some maths, I walked back in the lounge to find Googs and Kiki reading bedtime stories to their babies.
It was so cute as it was done all so so seriously :)
I realise that Champ and Boo haven't featured very much in this post but that is because, apart from when they are doing their work, they are outside with their beloved chickens. I know that it won't last so I am letting them get their fill now :)