Easy as 1,2,3

About 2 weeks ago, Eggita, our hen, laid her first egg. And just about every day between 3 and 4 we get a nice little treat from her. So here's the fun that come from having a hen that lays eggs: 

 1st you get to collect the eggs. (She laid 2 eggs one day...that was a neat surprise!)

 2nd you store them in the fridge (washing them off is always a good idea too)

3rd You get to eat and enjoy a healthy, cheap meal! (The orange juice and bacon came from the store... we're not that ALL-natural yet. -But I did get bacon without nitrites, so there you go!)

P.S. I was worried about how the greasiness of the food would effect my stomach, but I had small portions and the baby liked it just fine! I've also noticed that since I get to sleep later(cough 7:30) on Saturdays, nausea doesn't hit me as strong on those days.

A Berry in My Belly

Ok, I know this is a little cheesy, but I came up with this the other day driving down 30 because I use to always get asked jokingly if I had "blueberry" in my stomach yet. 

There's a berry in my belly.

What kind can it be?

A blueberry? A strawberry? A raspberry maybe?  

No, no, no that just cannot be.

This berry in my belly

Is growing can't you see.

With eyelashes & fingernails, elbows & knees

All the details confirm it's a little Mayberry!

Soon to be our's around April 19th!!

Growing by Two Feet

Our family is growing by two feet... Coming soon this April! 

Guess who the boots in the middle are going to belong to?! Yep, a future little Mayberry!

We are super excited!

The night before we found out we were having a baby, we were at our small group and I was talking with one of my friends who just got pregnant. I was telling her how I was, of course happy for her, but jealous that she was pregnant and that I would never get pregnant, lol. The next morning I decided to see if I was pregnant just for kicks and giggles, not expecting anything. And lo and behold, after months of hoping and praying we (well I) got pregnant! 

I was so excited that I rushed, got ready, and drove out to Danny's work to see tell him. There's no way I could wait 'til 4:00 when he got home to tell him and I didn't want to tell him over the phone. However, he didn't have his phone with him that day so I couldn't find where he was went I got there. I called his partner he worked with, his boss and I couldn't get a hold of anyone! I was so worried I wouldn't be able tell him, until I finally ran into his other boss who told me Danny should be back in 10 minutes. I was eventually able to talk to Danny and tell him the awesome news. I got the biggest, sweatiest hug ever... I've never seen him so excited. It was a great moment!

Later that night we went around to each of our parents', grandparents', and siblings' houses to share our exciting news! -It brought tears to my eyes (and my grandma's) to get to tell my grandma that at 88 (soon 89) she would finally get to be a great-grandma!- And conveniently, our last stop was my in-laws where we stayed and watched the Cowboys game. 

It was by far the best day of the summer! Just went I was starting to lose faith, God heard our prayer and answered it in HIS timing. 

Wall of Fame

Down the hall, in my grandma's house is a wall of family pictures. And from the time I was a little girl I always loved looking at those pictures. 

*I'm the little blond pigtail girl in the bottom left :)

I always thought it was so neat that my grandma had all of those pictures. Someday I wanted to have my own wall of family pictures. That someday finally happened this summer!

 *Please don't look at all the mess. This was when we still had no couches and everything was in the living room, including our bed.... but that's a blog of it's own!

Over time I started making copies of family pictures and finding various (cheap) wooden frames for all the pictures. Then I worked on arranging them so they all fit just right. Danny had the great idea of incorporating our Mayberry picture sign in. So using with that idea, I placed pictures of us with both our families in the middle. Then on the left, I have pictures from Danny's side of the family. And my side of the family is on the right.

After the pictures were arranged just like I liked them, Danny helped me square off the section of the wall so everything would be level and even! We did it with yarn...he's so smart!! My way would have been 10 times more complicated to level.

Tada!! Here it is!

I've still got some work to do on it. As you can see I still need to put in some more pictures from my family. And I want to put a light in the hallway so you can see the pictures better. But overall, I love it! It's one of my favorite things in the house... well among many others ha!

Homemade Scrap Curtains

I debated forever on whether or not to put up curtain in our bathroom or just have blinds by themselves.  Thanks to Pinterest, my decision was made! I found a way to have curtains that match my blue paisley shower curtain as well as include the light blue accent I was hoping to use in the bathroom. 

Finding an extra shower curtain that matched the one I had, was a bit more tedious than I planned. Apparently, that style went off display a WEEK before I decided to make this. Thanks Target! So I drove to 4 other Targets in the area hoping they might have one curtain left. No such luck! They wouldn't even sell me the display shower curtain at full price. No I'm not bitter! :p Finally, to my luck, and thanks to my faithful Facebook friends, it was suggested I check eBay. I've never done eBay before but there was my shower curtain and I was able to buy it and have it shipped here for a good price!

Finding the light blue material that I wanted was way easier. I happened to have the same color I wanted (I love that color) in an old stained table cloth I had in college and couldn't part with. See! Being a pack rat CAN pay off! -And now one less thing in the back bedroom!

And now to finally get started on the curtain...

 First, I started by popping in Pride and Prejudice (Keira Knightley version)... I've gotta have something good to work to. Then I cut out 3" strips. I cut the long strip in half, so I have two 30ish" strips. I have a small window that is only 22" long so I only needed 10 strips of each color. 

Next, I got the curtain rod the exact size I would need it and then tied the strips onto the rod. Then put the rod up in the window to look beautiful. 

Easy as 1, 2, 3! The hardest part is making the long strips straight. But as you can see, you don't really notice very much. However, I might go back later and cut the lengths to more of the same length. I haven't decided yet if I want them to be the same or different lengths.

But there it! And it matches my shower curtain, which is by far my favorite part!!!


P.S. Please ignore, the bad paint job. Notice, I haven't made a blog about this bathroom yet. It's still a work in progress. Give it some more time! :)

Raising Chickens!

Wow, it's been a while since I last blogged. We have so many "started" projects, I guess I've been waiting for one to become officially "finished". -I think that's just the perfectionist in me.

So to push away from perfectionist, here's the latest project we're hoping to finish soon. ;)
(Sorry this could be long)

Our adventure all began when we found these cute little guys by our house... I know what you're thinking, these aren't chickens and this post is suppose to be about chickens! Yes, these are baby rabbits. I fell in love with them and was heartbroken when they ran off. -But they still hop by in the backyard sometimes to say "hi".

I asked -begged- Danny for some bunnies for Easter, he said no, they get too messy. So I got wise, and asked for a baby chick. Just one. To this, he said yes. We got 6. And eventually 7. :) 

 Here we are at Atwoods picking out our new chicks!

I wish I could tag them like on Facebook, but these are their names in somewhat order from top to bottom: Chickita, Chickadee, Eggita, Chickalatte, Brigitta, Henita, and soon to come La-A (la dasha).

 After 4/5 weeks of being cooped up in 2 large buckets (like previously shown) with a heat lamp, our lil chicks finally had enough feathers that they proved they were ready to go to their outdoor house. Well, the growth of feathers as well as them physically telling us by flying out of their cage any chance they got, ha, and not to mention the smell! They make MUCH better outdoor animals!!

                       

Occasionally, the chickens will jump up on our shoulders. Typically this is fun. On this day, Eggita jumped on me and decided it would be fun to peck at my face. In the last picture she actually got my eyelid!!! And look at her, looking straight at the camera proudly after doing that. 

And now for the sad, unfortunate facts of life: 

On the second day out in their new happy home, Henita was found dead. We believe from a heart attack. The next day Danny found only chick legs from one. :( A day or two after that, Danny went out to check on them before work. When he got out there he heard them chirping like crazy and he saw this massive owl IN the chicken coop. He was as tall or taller than Danny's knees, with he's wings spread out. And that mean, beautiful creature had already eaten 2 other chickens. -We suspect that this (the owl) is what caused Henita's heart attack, just surprised he didn't eat her. 

We've since made the chicken coop as animal proof as we can until we can get back to finishing it. (Remember we also have many indoor "unfinished" projects too). And I can proudly say that our other 3 chickens are still hanging in there strong! They are fighters...and fast!! -great for free range!

R.I.P. Henita, Chickadee, Chickalatte, & Chickita

Photo on the left: Chickita; Photo on the Right: Chickalatte (black with brown), Chickadee (yellow), Henita (standing tall on the right)

Oh Be Careful Little Feet Where You Go

After a stress free weekend getaway with my old college roommates -minus the anxiety while seeing the Hunger Games (great movies though) - the hubby and I walk to the back of our land. And while almost in the woods, I look down and saw this devilish creature: 

I thought it might be a copperhead, as I jumped and screamed and ran off about 20 yards. But as I was hyperventilating, I thought surely it wasn't since my husband was still standing over it in FLIP FLOPS. Ah but it was a copperhead! So I continued to ask -no beg- Danny to get away. But not without a picture he said. So reluctantly, I handed him my phone to take a picture so we could get out of there quick! 

 

Luckily, I had on my mud boots on. 

Warning: Snakes beware!

Locked In

Our latest construction was making a cleaning closet. This project is the tail end of our much bigger project, the master bath and master (mostly mine and a little Danny's) closet. Which I need to blog about. This blog, however, is far more entertaining; the bathroom project is slow and boring and still not finished :(.

Anywho, Danny said he could get our little closet finished in a day he just needed my help for a few "minutes". I was actually in the middle of cooking, believe it or not, and he wanted to pull me away from this rare occasion.

Here is the closet. (Ha, I insisted on taking the picture with a few "cleaning supplies", it gives it a more cleaning closet look, don't ya think?)

Our task was to install the new door and door frame. At first Danny wanted me on the outside to make sure everything was level and he would nail the door into place from inside the closet. I'm great with noticing a hanging picture frame is not level but a permanent door that needs to open and close made me too nervous.

          I tried to help Danny level the floors once, while he was under the house and that was a big mess! 

          I got the floors more unlevel than when he was doing it by himself. 

Danny agreed and then came up with his next wonderful idea that I would go in the closet and nail the door in place once he got the door level. :P So I practiced using that heavy electric nail gun* in scratch wood. And just like it's name it was electric = meaning lots of power, and gun = meaning it jumps when you (or at least I) shoot it. I was convinced that I would somehow end up nailing my foot to my eyeball, yet there was no backing out now. Danny said I wouldn't and that I would do just fine. (I did get him to make the exact spot he wanted me to nail on the door, b/c I'm an exact spot kind of person) So here I am alone in this small closet just me and this nail gun: 

         *correction: Danny says the heavy electric nail gun is technically called a frame nailer... hmmm still like my name for it better. 

Pretty small and cozy in that closet, huh? Luckily I had light because Danny gave me his headlamp - a flashlight that you wear on your head. Comes in handy for EVERYTHING, and a trick I learned in college is headlamps are great for plucking someone's eyebrows! But that's another story. -These are the things you think of when you are in a small closet space.

Danny leveled the door, I nailed the marked spot. I did a couple of double shoots (ha extra protection), but no split wood so I did a descent job. And now it was time to cut of the white plastic strip that held the door closed so I could be released. Danny cut the strip and pulled through the hole in the door but the door didn't open. Then I heard "Uh-oh". It's never good when you hear "uh-oh" and you're on the inside of a small closet.

He forgot, until now, that on a new door there's a black plastic bolt that holds the door in place. And it's not as simple to take out as one might think. He explained it might take a little while to figure out and am I ok in the closet. Am I ok in the closet? Yes, I love being in small, closed in areas with only a little light, and my nicely cooked supper on the other side, far from me. Then he asked, "Do you have your phone with you?" I felt my pocket and smile. Ok, I might be able to through this, at least I have my phone, and a newly downloaded book.

But it still wasn't a fun experience, my hands smelt horrible from holding that rustic metal nail gun. This is were my small inner city girl comes out and I had to ask Danny to bring me some hand sanitizer and squirt it through the door. Which he did, but not without making fun of me for that being the only thing I wanted. Hey, I had my phone and if it had taken much longer I, for sure, would have had him shove one of my quesadillas through that hole. But smelly hands are not fun.

If you look close you'll see Danny, safe on the outside, trying to figure a way to get me out. And if you look really close you'll notice the black plastic bolt on the right side of the hole.  

This is me NOT so excited to be stuck in a small closet! 

Well, I did finally escape! We put up shelves and I filled it with all of our lovely cleaning supplies and even had room for a few extra towels. I'll organize it better later. ~maybe a few cute baskets to hold everything. 

If You Let a Country Boy Do His Own Plumbing...

If you let a country boy do his own plumbing...

he's gonna need to buy some pipes.

When he gets the pipes, he'll need to go under the house.

(picture coming soon)

When he looks under the house, he's gonna remember it rained & poured and he's gonna get muddy.

So he'll want to put his coveralls on.

When he's under the house fixing & installing new plumbing, he's gonna forget something and have to come back through the house!

When he goes through the house, he's gonna get it MESSY!! 

When he gets the house messy, his wife's gonna want it cleaned! (and want running water again!!)

So since he's gonna agree that's no way to live, he's gonna scrap & scrub until it looks "normal" again! 

When he does the bulk clean, scraping & scrubbing, his wife will gladly agree to go behind and do the detailed cleaning. 

As his wife is cleaning, she's gonna realize this is what happens if you let a country BOY do his own plumbing! 

~ That was our past weekend adventure!