Our fall garden

During the summer our garden was let go.  It was too hot to get out and me being pregnant didn't help.. so we didn't get outside much.  The weeds went crazy and the yard was just a mess! (Well, the mess still is around all the time here, but it was even worse.. I think you get the point).  : )

Once it started to cool down a bit and I got some more energy we started clearing out our garden beds and planting some things.  I do believe Jesse was the first to get the "planting bug".. I think he cleared the first bed.  One evening it was so nice and cool I just went to town clearing out bed after bed (I think I cleared 3 out of 5 that night).  Anywho, the results are wonderful.  Now we have some garden crops starting to grow.

But first we needed to make the garden area "chicken proof" to keep our seeds from being scratched up or eaten!-Which has happened in the past..

We spend less money on chicken feed when the chickens can "free range" in the yard, so the fence was important.  The barrier is nothing fancy, just things around the yard used normally for garden trellis' and shade did the trick.  It's not the nicest thing to look at, but it works and it didn't cost us anything to do it.

Our chickens are happy to be able to run in the rest of the yard and we are happy that they can't mess up the garden.  : )

Screens we used to shade the plants have worked nicely for a fence.

                                     Here are some of the things we are growing this season....

Trying potatoes in tires this time!

Tomatoes and "volunteer" sweet potatoes.

Another angle of the tomatoes and sweet potatoes.

Bush cucumbers and cotton.

Beans with tepee and strings to climb.

Oregano (in front) and rosemary (in back).

Wheat.. haven't weeded, but it's kind of hard to with wheat at first.

Banana trees we have grown for years with no fruit.. hope that changes soon.

I forgot to take a picture of the bed with carrots and green onions, but it looks kind of like the wheat bed.. it needs weeded bad because it's hard to tell the difference on the green onion side.

That's about all in this garden section of the yard.  We do have some other things we are growing in other parts of the yard too that I might blog about later.  I always am inspired and excited to see other peoples garden.  Though not super spectacular, I hope you enjoyed the tour and are motivated to grow something too!  : )

A new addition to the farm..

Well, it's been a while since I have written anything.  I have been very busy with raising 4 kiddos!  ; )  We have started a new homeschool curriculum this year, been preparing for a new baby that is on the way (due in about 2 more months), we have recently started our own tree business and added some lawn care in, and the list could just go on.. but anywho, you get the point.. we have been really busy!!!  : )
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We have some new and exciting things going on around our "little farm" and so I thought I would share them.  The newest member of our "farm" is a little gal I like to call "Dinner".  : )

I find that I call it "HE" and "HIM", but Faith is very particular that I say "SHE" and "HER".. Because, "It's a GIRL mom". : )

We got her earlier this week and we are enjoying this addition to the "farm".  We plan to raise her for about 6 months and then "take her to market" (hence her name).  This should be a neat way to save some money (we all LOVE bacon) and learn more about farm life.  This was the plan from the beginning, so the kids know ahead of time this will not be a "pet" for us to keep (once again - no "pet" name).  She isn't very nice, so this might help also.  This is a new experience for us, but we are up for the challenge.. she did just lick Charity's hand through the cage today though..

This cage will work for a short time while she's little.

She has already given us a workout too!  The day after we got her I found she had escaped from her cage!  She was rooting like crazy and had made a mess of part of the yard.  Thankfully she just stayed in the back part of the yard where the rabbits are and didn't tear up the rest of the yard.  I really do like the idea of having a pig for tilling a garden bed, especially after seeing what she had done in such a short amount of time!  God's all natural land tillers.  : )  Plus she would fertilize it too, but that's another topic.  It took a lot of running around, but the kids and I got her to get back into her cage.  We MUST remember to put the extra clip on the bottom of the door!

Yard after it was tilled up by "Dinner".

But then it happened again two days ago!  Someone must have forgotten to clip it back again!  We waited for Dad to come home this time. : )  It was a silly time running around back and forth in the yard trying to get her to go where we wanted her to.  Jesse (Dad, not Jr.) had made a "lasso" out of some rope and was seriously trying to get it "on a leash"..  What silly times to think back on and remember!  It was probably an hour before we finally got her put back in her cage.

She almost looks cute here.

So our new "FARM-ly" member is keeping things pretty interesting around here.. ; )

We are building her a pen out of free pallets.. I will try to update when the pen is complete.

Making more room around the house

So I have been on a decluttering kick for a bit now.  I have plenty of hoarding moments, so these decluttering spells are so refreshing.  I decided that the play kitchen in the girls room was taking up too much space.  I hated to see that fun toy removed from play (hoarding tendencies) : ), but realized I didn't have anywhere else for it to go either.

It's already in front of their bookshelf (not convenient).

When you open up the side table it takes up even more space!

It's cute, but I have found an alternative!
I know that this will not be the case for many people, but I realized that I have something around the house that isn't being used, and is somewhere else (out of the girls room) that could be used for the same purpose!  We purchased a wood burning stove several months ago and never have found a place to put it (being in Florida I can't see us using it as much as I dreamed when we got it).. so in the mean time I didn't want it getting ruined sitting in the yard or out in the shed, so I had my hubby put it in the laundry room (the only available space - out of the way - that I could think of at the time). 

Well, I just recently cleared some things off of it and decided this was the perfect "play kitchen" alternative!  : )  So I went and got some of the play pots and pans and let the kids give it a test run.

They can use the oven for playing and storage!

I hung the potholders above the stove on a hanger.

The new play kitchen looks like a hit!  : )

Now if I could find someone to give the old play kitchen too, then the girls would have a nice open space in there room.. let's just imagine for a minute what that would be like...  : )

Have to find somewhere for it to go!  This is so much better!  Less really is more.. I have to keep repeating that to myself.
If I get brave enough I might share some other decluttering projects.. my before pictures are pretty bad though.. Jesse Jr. said, "You don't want anyone to see those pictures" when I told him that I took some before pictures of my bedroom!  : )  It really was that bad!  We'll see.. you may just have to use your imagination on that one!  : )
Hope this idea helped to spark some creativity on how to use some other items in your home and let some other ones go.  Especially if your like us and could use the space!  : )

Sock folding changes

Just the other day we were watching a Duggar video and the younger kids were matching socks.  I saw the oldest girl (Jana) show them how to fold them.  It was different than I usually fold our socks so I thought I would try it.  I did and I liked it.  So I thought I would share with others.  Maybe you already fold like this.  I might just be the only one that this is new to.  : )

This is a pair of Jesse Jr.'s socks.  I could have looked for a really clean white pair, but this is real life, so you get to see the more realistic pair.  ; )

And this is how I would normally fold the socks.  I would just fold the top down and the feet would be floppy.

But the new way - you fold the pair in half first.. like this.

Then you fold the top down over the whole sock.  Which makes a small little bundle.. like this.

This just seems more compact and I like it.  : ) 

Maybe this will help other families who are looking for new ways to tackle the laundry or make socks take up less space.  I know that sometimes its hard just to find the matches though, let alone get them folded and put away, right!  : )

Slipped up today

I gave the kiddos those yogurts in a tube today.. and it wasn't the first time we have had these, but Hope can only get so much out of the tube and then she needs help pushing the rest up to the top to eat.  So here comes Mommy to help push the yogurt up the tube.. I guess I gave it too much Mommy muscles and my hand slipped right up the tube supper fast and the yogurt went flying out the tube!

Charity's such a great actress for the picture!  : )

Oops!  I'm so sorry Hope!  I love you!  We all "slip-up" sometimes.. he he.. I know.. it's corny, but what can I say!  : )

A Sweet Moment

I love when I see my kiddos sharing or hugging.. it just feels good.. and is much nicer than arguing (which happens more often than I prefer).  So I wanted to capture this sweet moment I saw the other day while we were out front watching a tractor cut back some brush across the street....

So precious!

And then they saw me....

Not only was Faith holding on to Hope so sweetly, but she was sharing her popcicle with her too!  : )  They love to share germs more than anything else, right?  : )

Thought I'd share!  But I'll keep my germs to myself!  : )  Hope you enjoyed it!

Chickens - like a house cat or the family dog?

Our chickens are so friendly that they could be discribed as being like a house cat or the family dog.  What I mean by this is that they are by the back door a lot (like a house cat).  They sit and wait for us to open the door..  like this:

By the way - this makes a mess of it's own at the back door. O_o

 and when we do open the door..  I mean how could you say no to a face like that.. Ha Ha!

Had to keep this picture.. what a face!  What a shot!  : )  Ha Ha!  Don't mind the messy back yard!

they become the family dog (they run in under the dinner table to eat any scrapes the children - mainly Hope these days - has left behind on the floor).  : )  Which I am thrilled with as long as they don't over-do their welcome and leave me something else to clean up instead (which does happen occassionally - but it is more centrally located and not scattered around the floor like the babies food mess, so it's still easier to clean up - yet still gross).  : )

Just thought I would share these fun photos and stories of our silly family birds.  Hope you enjoy!  : )

Riding Horses

The kids got to ride some horses this weekend and they each loved it!  : )

Jesse Jr. and Faith waiting for the horses to be let out of the ring to start riding.  : )

Even little Hope enjoyed riding which she did laying down.. he he.

Faith needed me to ride with her the first time she rode, but after that she was so comfortable that she kept getting back in line for another turn.

Jesse Jr. seemed to be right at home with the horses too.. He had to take off his cowboy hat and replace it with a helmet, but boy was it fun!

Charity could tell you all the horses names and what color the horses were and which one is her favorite.. every detail!

 They each had a great time riding and really didn't want to leave when I said I was ready to go.  The Lord has made some big and beautiful creatures for us all to enjoy.

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

The other night I made this new recipe that a friend had posted on Facebook (thanks Sarah). ; )   It came from Texas Recipes on Facebook.  It's called Cinnamon Roll Pancakes.  It was delicious, so I thought I would share it.

Doesn't it look like a real cinnamon roll?

                                                
We all enjoyed it.. so I thought I would share. :-)

Growing Potatoes

Well, last week was rather busy, but we found some time to plant some potatoes that were starting to sprout in the bag.  These were regular russet potatoes from the grocery store.

These are left over ones.. the ones we planted had even longer sprouts than this.

Each potato had several sprouts, so we cut each sprout and left a bit of the potato with it.  Then we planted these pieces in ditches that Jesse had made in the garden bed.  We were surprised to see how fast they grew in a little over a week!  : )
                        
We are very excited to watch these potatoes grow..
We have to cover our beds to keep the chickens from scratching and ruining the seeds.. We had to learn this the hard way!  : )

Faith making a silly face by the potato bed. : )

Faith loves to help plant seeds in the garden!  We really appreciate her help.  : )  God really has given her a gift in being very delicate with the seeds and covering them up ever so carefully.

I will try to take more pictures if the Lord allows these to grow and then when we harvest them!  : )   So look out for updates on the potatoes!  : )

                                       -------------------POTATO UPDATE-------------------
So we are now at the end of March (about a month since we planted the potatoes) and I wanted to share some new photos.

        We hilled them up several times through the month as they grew.  Jesse waters the potatoes every couple of days and our three Barred Rock chickens are great pest control as well.  We haven't added anything else (because we are trying to grow everything organically).  They seem to be doing great (above ground anyways).  : )

Hopefully they will be growing lots of nice potatoes underground.  : )

I just read that when they blossom you can dig up "new potatoes" (little ones I guess).
For the mature (big) potatoes though you have to wait two weeks after the plant dies.
What a silly thing it seems that we can't wait for the potato plants to die!  : )
Can't wait to see how big some home grown organic potatoes will be.

Napkin Folding Fun

Today is my and Jesse's 9th Wedding Anniversary.  To surprise him I woke up early (a real surprise in itself.. he he) : ) and fixed him a big breakfast.  I should have taken a picture of his plate!  Anywho.. I was preparing for this early meal and decided to fold some fancy napkins to go along with the "grand" meal. : )

Here are some pictures of two different napkin folds I learned.  It's great fun to do and really makes the table look special!  : )

This one looks nice sitting right on the plate. (Even this cheap plate can look nice!) : )

This one is fun because it has pockets to put your silverware in and more.

Have fun making the table look nice in a free and simple way.

I may do a step-by-step blog of these folds if anyone is interested... Let me know.

Simple Step-by-step Valentine Craft

Today I made a simple little Valentine that I had noticed online sometime last week.  I thought my kiddos might enjoy them and I had all the supplies already on hand.
We'll call them "Candy Butterfly Valentines".
         Supplies you will need: 
                     Sucker (Lollipop - whatever you may call it)
                     Paper (any color you want or have)
                     Google-eyes
                     Scissors
                     Pen
                     Glue (if Google-eyes don't have sticky backs)

Step one:

Fold paper in half and cut a butterfly shape close to the size of your sucker.

 Step two:

Decorate butterfly wings and put two small slits along the fold.  This is how I saw it online, but you can be creative - use stickers, stamps, or whatever you like.

 Step three: 

Add Google-eyes to your sucker and slip it into the wings.

 Step four:

Share your candy butterflies with others!  : )

I thought they were kind of neat and supper easy to make.. hope some others enjoy this as well.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them.

A Real Tree Hugger

Jesse found a great deal at a yard sale this weekend for some tree climbing gear.  He couldn't pass up this great deal and he thought he might try to learn to cut down trees in our back yard and even possibly to make some extra money.  So here he is giving it a try!  : )

Ain't nothin' like your own backyard to give it a go!  : )

"Okay, Honey, that's high enough.. (nervous laugh) ..why don't you practice coming down now."  : )

 Going up looked much easier.. coming down not so much.  : )  Jesse said it was hard work!
As you can see in the background.. we have quite a few trees for him to practice on!  We may not have a shaded yard much longer!


Has anyone ever done this type of work?  We would love to hear any advice.