Chillin' with the Peeps

From left to the corner and up: Doll Face, Fluffels, Rose,
No name, Izze, Trumpkin

Maryah had piano lessons today so we went up to Gang Mills to drop her off at the Rawleigh's. I hung out at H-Cup with Del, my parents and Sanna. After we picked Maryah up, we went to Tractor Supply to get some wood pellets for the stove. Normally Dad just runs in and gets them, but today we saw a sign that said "chicks just in" so we thought we'd go in and admire their cuteness. Sanna especially was excited to see them. Well, they were adorable. And suddenly Mom says, wouldn't it be fun to get two of them? Dad comes over from the pellet section, and Mom asks him. Dad says, well, sure--but if we are buying supplies for 2, we might as well get serious about this and buy 6. Sanna squealed. So we grabbed the sales person and he held the box while we picked out the six we wanted. They had yellow ones for butchering, but we went with the black Plymouth Rock, which are layers. We bought some feed and a water dispenser, and all in all it came to less than $30 (the peeps were $1.99 ea.). Not bad for a bunch of fun and usefulness. Now I see why people in the Great Depression would buy chickens--they don't cost a lot and are very profitable. Then we went to Wegmans, and were going to get chicken to go with our rice for supper, but as soon as we said that sanna about almost burst into tears. So we got a couple pork chops instead. I hope she doesn't go vegan. On the way home we thought of names. Sanna promptly named hers Fluffels, Maryah's is Doll Face, mine is Izze, and then when we got back Isaac named his Trumpkin, and Misha calls hers Rose. The 6th one doesn't have a name yet because Andrew hasn't thought of one. I guess we can be patient since he just got back from Latvia late last night and is now back to the grindstone of school. They are so adorable though! We've never had chickens before, and I think it will be fun, especially when they are little like this. They chirped a lot, and we soon found out that Trumpkin is going to be the chieftain due to the fact that he keeps pecking everyone, but as soon as we put the heat lamp up they settled down completely. They are such babies.

Yesterday we went to the home church we visit occasionally, which was at the Markell's. They recently tore down a wall and added a slight addition so we fit a whole lot better than usual. We sang a lot of great hymns, and then Ron preached the perfect message in light of the week we had just come out of. It seems like their family had had much the same week we had: frustrating. It was even over the same thing: cars. But his message was really just about the Christian life (he used the first half of Ezekiel 47, where he is being led through the different levels of water), and being content where you are, and in the situation you're in, because you are right where God wants you. Even if you are spiritually dry, suffering, out of strength...be at peace. Cause God can still use you. One thing I remember he said, though it wasn't completely the point of the message, I just like it: "We are so anxious to cross a thousand seas to save one soul, yet there are hundreds of souls needing saving all around us." hm. It is very true.

Afterwards we all ate together like usual, and then one of my friends, Danae, said that she had some M-80s and we should explode something. Random, I know, but we always end up doing something like that with this group of people (aka--our neighbors lol). Throw knives or tomahawks. Build huge bonfires and guess which way it will collapse, and who it will collapse on. Have 3 hour long snowball fights. Discuss ninja tactics, and how to build dangerous things.

So when the guys hear she has M-80s they get really excited. We all did, and the anticipation was great. We really gloried in the anticipation. Because it turned out the anticipation was the only thing worth...anticipating? We walked a 1/2 mile from the house, with all these plans of the various ways we could use them. We light the first one, and Jesse, who lit it, runs away as fast as he can and we all cower behind trees. Then *pop* off it goes. It wasn't much louder than a little kid jumping on bubble wrap. And the snowball we had stuck it in...nothing exactly happened to it. We try not to be disappointed. We wonder if they really are quarter sticks of dynamite? Maybe a quarter of a quarter stick? With the rest, we lit two and threw them in the air. One we stuck in a mud puddle and there was there nice bubbly blurp when it went off. The other we shoved up the tail pipe of David's car (it was his idea), and that was pretty exciting. When he turned the car on after it exploded (the M-80, not the car), a bunch of smoke and soot came out the exhaust. And that was the epitome of our pyrotechnic career. [Note to any concerned reader: in the midst of all this crazy stuff, we really do play it safe]

Then we came back into the house and ate cookies and got warm. Then we just sat on the stairs (even though there's plenty of chairs and couches to sit on, we always congregate on the stairs, for some reason) and talked about everything from cars to college to how to flick someone properly for it to hurt....etc. Until we all started falling asleep. I think the time change was getting to us. Then Ben left because his sister is house sitting, and she locked herself out somehow, so he had to "break her in". He couldn't do it by himself though, so a bunch of other people grabbed various implements and went to help. Then Erin and Danae had to go soon after, so Isaac and I caught a ride home with another person (the rest of the fam had left in the afternoon). Even though I have my DL I hardly ever get to drive anywhere because of our car situation, or the weather is bad, or it costs a bunch of gas to get anywhere...yeah. In the 4 months I've had it, I have driven 4 places, for a total of 35-40 miles. All well. I really don't mind. Just the fact that I can look at it whenever I open my wallet is seriously fun. I could care less if I never actually get to drive. Haha

Back home, we spent the evening playing Risk, which we haven't played in many many years. I won, which was quite interesting.

So, so far, spring break has been sweet. Definitely different, but good all the same. What can top hanging out with friends in coffee shops, thinking just for fun, going to church, blowing things up, or buying cute little balls of fluff?