All tied up....

I have often heard it be said, that kids develop the skills they need for adulthood, while they are children. This theory might explain why I cut the hair off of every Barbie or baby doll I owned as a child. I later grew up and went to beauty school, and with all of that practice under my belt, I was able to graduate. ;-)  Thinking about this has opened my eyes to try and observe what life skills God might be instilling in my children.

Starting to get a little nervous over here.... ;)

Chicken house complete! :-)

Sweet Man and I finally carved out enough time, to finish the big chicken coop. We reclaimed some limbs from the forest, to make the perfect roosts. The girls did the lovely art work on the walls. ;-) 

Their nesting boxes were finished, just in time. The new hens have decided this is their time to shine, and their laying has begun!

The re-purposed screen door was re-screened, and the human section was finally divided from the side that accumulates layers and layers of poo. I don't care how old your shoes are, no one likes to open a door and step on fresh poo. It's slippery ya know. ;-)

Sweet Man made a lovely shelf to store my hay. Did you know chickens LOVE hay? They love to scratch around in it and peck out all of the seeds they can find. This is especially nice in winter, when foraging for wild greens isn't possible.

They seemed quite pleased that their abode was getting some much needed attention.

We were getting a lot of attention as well. They wouldn't leave us alone. Do you know how hard it is to work around this many chickens? I can tell they really love their home, just wish they loved it enough to stop roosting in my porch ceiling. :-o

Glue Yarn Balls

The girls and I got an invite for a craft date the other day, and we were so excited. Not only were we going to meet new homeschool buddies, we were going to learn a new craft. The craft? Glue yarn balls.  Not only was this craft super adorable, but easy enough for the kids to actually do.

I fell in love with our new friends and this craft instantly! I am already trying to figure out how many places I can display these cute little balls of creativity, for we will be making more in the near future.

We had to let them dry overnight,

So I guess you could say this activity taught patience as well! ;-)

A fun filled girly craft day. Now that is what I call a good time!

Puppets and PJ's

The perfect way to end a wonderful day....

Wordless Wednesday...

Things that come with Spring....

Spring just makes you want to do stuff. 

It makes you want to clean out cabinets, and put beautiful dishes on display.

 It makes you want to reorganize your last years bounty, and get ready for this years.

It makes you want to go for a bike ride...

Play freeze tag in the field...

Or make a mud pie!

It makes you want have club meetings with pals and onion grass....

Or cut a whole in your ceiling. WHAT???? A WHOLE IN YOUR CEILING???

"Sweet Man, this will not do at all!

 It does not go with my new color scheme, and I was not going for the loft feeling here!" 

 *SIGH* Apparently spring makes PVC pipes want to leak, and ruin things. We found the culprit....but not before tearing out a potty that was perfectly fine.

So tonight the princesses are without a potty, and the King and Queen without their beloved master bath shower. That's ok. The well was dry anyway. ;-)

A wonderful spring day, and a little surprise to go with it!

Today was WONDERFUL! My first full day off from work, since January 15th. I was beside myself with excitement. I couldn't decide what to do with myself. I decided to start the morning off with my devotions and coffee. With having to get myself and the girls dressed and in the car by 8:30 all last week, neither of those two activities were able to be enjoyed. Perhaps that is why everything seemed so overwhelming last week?

Then I decided to finish the painting project I started yesterday. 

It looks white in the picture, but it is actually a light cream. I couldn't remember why I didn't paint lighter colors before. They brighten up the room so much, and add a cheery feeling to the atmosphere.

While the first coat was drying, I thought I would check on the chickens. To my surprise some of our new hens decided this was a great day as well, and to prove it they left a little gift for me! 19 eggs!!

They like bright colors too!

We had our friends meet us in the woods, and since the weather was perfect for playing outside, that is just what they did. They played for hours, not sure exactly what they were doing. I was cleaning my house, with no kids. It was really nice. :-) Don't worry, I poked my head out every once in awhile to make sure all heads were accounted for! :-) Three girls roller bladed with two pairs of skates. :-o

You can't have a spring day without a little creek playing.

And of course, some chicken watching.

 You see this lady? Well she is the bonus hen that the hatchery sent us for buying so many chickens. They described her as being rare and exotic. Well...she is indeed a HE! Thanks so much for the bonus rooster hatchery workers...LOL

Then the children discovered how sticky and cool, our red clay mud is.

 You can mold it and roll it...

 And even put it in a pan!

Oh yeah....now I remember why I didn't paint our house in light colors before. :-o