Busy Days

Well we have been busy here on the farm the last few days. We had to finish making preparations for the 100 meat chickens that arrived this am. Man are they ever cute.
We got a ring and a cover to put the lights in set up and put in ground up corn stalks for bedding. The corn stalks are working great, nice for the bottom but also no so small they get it stuck all over them!

Then we put in 4 waters for them, they are quart size jars and this is what we have found works best when they are so small.
They had a longer trip than was planned, the USPS dropped them off at the wrong post office this am and they had to go back and get them to bring to our post office. Poor little things had a busy second day of life I'd say.
When we got them here we took them out one at a time, showing the kids the babies and then dipped their beaks in the water so that they knew it was there. They were all drinking like crazy after their long ride. In all they drank nearly a gallon of water today and ate almost 1/2 a gallon of feed. I can only imagine what they will eat before its all said and done!

The hatchery puts in a few extra to make sure that there is the right number when they arrive as there are times that a couple don't make it on their trip, however they all made it on the voyage and we are now the proud owners of 103 baby chicks. And in 7 weeks they will go to the locker and we will have ours and many others dinners for the year!

Besides that I have been busy sewing up a dress for the oldest Preschool Graduation next week. I can not believe my baby girl will be starting school this fall. More to come later on that, she was so grubby from playing in the water, sand, dirt and of course mud that I was not about to try to get some cute pictures in it.
We also were able to finally get the flowers in the ground we bought a week ago and the flower bed is coming along nicely. I will post some pictures of that soon.
As a parting note I could not resist this beautiful sunset we had a couple of days ago and thought I would share. It is always so relaxing to watch the sun set on a beautiful day.

A nice day at last

Well things have been so soggy lately that we have not been able to accomplish much outdoors. This has been great on getting things in order around the house but when you have been cooped up all winter thats the last thing you want.
So today we spent the day preparing for the 100 meat chickens that we have arriving tomorrow. We are all excited for them to arrive. There isn't much cuter than 1 day old baby chickens.
After that I was able to get a few more flowers planted and some weeds pulled in the roses. Those rose bushes are brutal. They don't forgive and my fingers are the proof to that. I also weedeated some to get the weeds down in one of the flower beds. It will be covered in mulch soon to help with that issue but I need to finish moving flowers into it before I do that.
I also was able to hang lots of clothes the last couple days and we are caught up on laundry now. Just have to put it all away, tho that part is not nearly as relaxing.
To end the day I opened the chicken coop up and let the chickens roam for the evening. They really enjoy that and always go back in to roost for the night at which point I close them up to keep them safe.
And just cuz shes so darn cute, here is Nevaeh laying in the grass watching the cows at my folks yesterday. She is such a sweet thing and needed a special spot for her.

Thats MY camera

There is hardly a day goes by that I am not snapping a picture and that means that my camera is always out where I can grab it quickly. Well with that comes the children getting their hands on it as well. This can be good and bad, but it makes my heart sing to see my oldest so interested in taking pictures. She has her own camera but the batteries are dead and to be honest the pictures it takes are not of very good quality.
So here is a sampling of some of Araya photos she has taken recently with my camera.
Here is her brother hiding

Miss Nevaeh posing for her sis

And another of carter

Yes she does know she is cute

Oh I love my brother

And her cousin showing off

And when Nevaeh sees that Araya is taking pictures she has to take some too. However she doesn't hold nearly as still and hers just are not normally quite as good yet. But here is one from her as well.

Stepping Stones

Tonight the kids made stepping stones for my mom for mothers day. I know that we are a week late but since she had to work last weekend we are seeing her this weekend instead.
The girls had a great time painting theirs, tho it was supposed to have a foot print in it, I am afraid that the mold was not big enough and I let them set up too far before I tried to do it. However I learned my lesson and Carters has his foot print in it. They all turned out great and I am sure that grandma will love the.
Here is Nevaeh painting her's

Here is Araya painting hers

Gotta clean off the brush in between colors

Nevaehs

Arayas
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and all 3 together!

Flirty Fun Apron Tutorial

So I decided that I wanted an apron for wearing when I am working around the house and farm, but after looking all over the internet and through all my patterns I could not find exactly what I wanted. Well that didn't stop me, just made me think harder and decided that I would make it up on my own and share with everyone so if they wanted one as well they too could make one!
Now I am going to preface this by saying that I have never done a tutorial before but I tried to take lots of pictures so you can see what I did. Also I purposely did not include any measurements because I didn't want my measurements to limit you. I decided what I needed by measuring what I would be carrying and going from there. My biggest thing I needed to have safe was my phone that is always with me.
With that, I will start.
First off TURN ON YOUR IRON. I hate using the iron but it really is one of my dearest friends when it comes to sewing.
I took measurements of where I wanted the apron to sit, for me it was hip to hip from the front, then I measured my phone so that I had a pocket to carry it in. From there I went a couple inches smaller for the front pocket. I also cut strips for the waistband and the ruffles at this time. For me I was able to cut 2 strips the width of the fabric for each and it was plenty.
Here are all the pieces

From there I took my pockets and went to the iron. I folded in the edges for the hem and ironed them down.

I like to add a stay stitch with a loose straight stitch on my machine to be sure that they don't move on me but that is totally up to you.
Next I added some elastic lace to the top of the small phone pocket to gather it up. Regular elastic would work just fine, I wanted the added frill to the apron for me.

I also added the same lace elastic to the bottom of the pocket, without stretching so that it did not gather there for the frill.
I then sewed on the smaller pocket to the front of the larger pocket. Be sure not to stretch the top of the smaller phone pocket when you pin it on or it won't gather the way you are wanting it to.
My next step was to add the ruffle. I like the look of a clean pleated ruffle, you can also use a ruffler foot for your sewing machine or do 2 straight stitches and gather it that way but you will need more fabric or that. So I pinned on my ruffle.
For mine I made the ruffle wide enough to fold in half and pin it to the apron front with right sides together. This gives a clean edge that I don't have to hem up


Next up was adding the waistband. I sewed my 2 pieces of waistband together, folded them right sides together and ironed them. I then sewed it together into a tube and turned it right side out. I also ran the top of my apron thru my serger to avoid it unraveling on me. Then I pined the waistband to the top of the apron, starting at the middle of each and working out.
I sewed them together, and went back through and topstitched all of my edges for a nice finished look.

Once finished I added 2 snaps to the hip of the waistband. I will now get a couple of hand towels that match the apron and add snaps to it so I can snap the towels to the apron and always have one with me.

I hope you enjoyed and this is able to help someone with an apron that is just right for them as well.

A Yummy Dinner

Tonight I decided that we were going to have Baking chicken for dinner. In part because I love using my new Le Creuset Cookware. If you have not seen it, check it out. It really is the best! I picked the Kiwi green color which is so pretty and very springy!

So back to dinner....
I put the whole chicken in the dutch oven and cooked it at 350 for about 3 hours with about a cup of water and a poultry seasoning my brother and sister in law gave us for Christmas. After that time I added a bag of baby carrots and turned the heat down to finish cooking until dinner time.
I then made up some homemade garlic mashed potatoes with cream cheese and home frozen sweet corn. It was delish!!! Oh and we added some fried up morel mushrooms to finish it off, the last of the season and they were so yummy.

The kids enjoyed it and Carter made a huge mess with the mashed potatoes.
All in all it was a huge success.

Happy Mothers Day

Today as I sit here and think about what today means to me I remember back to our tough journey to become parents. How hard it was, how we longed to have the children we do today and what a joy it was to finally become them.

The journey started not long after we married in 1999. We wanted nothing more than to bring children into this world and raise them to be productive members of society. But it was not something that was going to come easily for us. We tried for a very long time, many false hopes and squashed dreams. It wasn't until 4.5 years later that we would finally see those 2 bright blue lines on a stick that we had purchased so many times and thrown away just as many. We were very excited but isn a cautious way. We had tried on our own, and were just about to go full force into fertility treatments when it happened. We were actually waiting for the beginning of that next cycle to start. It was January 9th that we found out and a day that we will never forget. The next 9 months were a flurry of ups and downs. I was sick with morning sickness until the day our daughter arrived. The tiredness was something like I had never experienced before. But the joys that I felt when I would feel that little being move around inside me was something I had longed for. I complained about her tiny toes being stuck in my ribs but deep down I was thankful for them at the same time.
While we thought we were ready for her arrival I can honestly say now looking back, it was much easier to have toes stuck in your ribs that it is to raise a child in the world we live in. It is not something I could ever give up but it is something that is a bigger challenge than I knew was coming.
The delivery was not what we expected, after several failed attempts to induce and her not coming on her own, we ended up in a c-section. I felt deflated, this was not how things were supposed to go, but looking back now, I am glad to have my beautiful daughter and it really doesn't matter how she entered the world.
The days were much more beautiful and more interesting than I could have ever imagined on my own. I found a new liking for the small things in life. I saw things I hadn't seen in years.
And 2.5 years later we welcomed her little sister into the world. Another bundle of joy that reminds us of what the world should be but maybe isn't.
And when she was 10 months old we found out we were expecting again. A shock to say the least. And 9 months later we welcomed our son into our arms.
While I can't say for sure that our family is complete, it feels complete most days. The children are close enough together that they are able to play together. They have the fights as all siblings do, but the looks they give to each other of pure love is something that melts my heart.
The family I have today is so very special and each day I thank the lord to have them, even as I am asking what was I thinking and when is their bed time.