I totally failed May’s P365!

Yeah, so I could just sum up the month of May (which obviously isn’t over, I know!) as a big ball of slightly controlled chaos. We found out we have a little one on the way, it’s the end of the school year, we unexpectedly filled up all of our weekends with get-togethers/trips, roosters, gardens, and I’m just plain tired!

So, as you can guess, my photo project P365, didn’t even take a back seat, it got left at the curb three bus stops ago! And I can tell you right now, June won’t be any better!

For those of you who look forward to my posts of photos, I’m sorry. But I just didn’t have the time to stop and shoot anything specific. However, I am going to try and at least share photos of all the things we are doing. *Try* is the word here, just so you know.

Thanks for reading!

Alicia

Surprise!

Yep, to everyone’s surprise, we are expecting number 3 at the end of this year.

We are excited and also looking towards what this means as a family. More hugs to give, more mouths to feed, more shoes to look for when running late, more snuggles. Another life to care for and love.

The boys are reacting like we thought they would. Luke hopes it’s not a girl because, “Sister’s are annoying.” (But he thinks it will be a girl anyways.) Nate is excited to finally be older than someone and to pass on some hugs and big brotherly advice…..”even if it is a sister.”

Looking forward to the next school year (which is only about 4 months away…ekkk!) the challenges of a newborn and a new adventure of home schooling should be interesting, to put it mildly. This summer will be filled with gardening, a trip to Kansas City, camping, chickens, but most importantly, planning the school year! With the new arrival coming smack dab in the middle of the school year, I’m hoping to block in some extra vacation time to accommodate.

There is so much going on right now, it would be easy to become overwhelmed! As of right now, I’m handling things I would say fair. I feel ok, we have bill money, a slight plan in place, and a new son or daughter! God has blessed us tremendously and even in the rain, I will praise Him!

(While it’s easier said then done when the world crashes your plans, I have learned over the years that if you just keep being thankful for what He has blessed you with, joy comes in the morning….or three weeks later. But it comes nonetheless. )

The Hen House

It will probably always be a work in progress, like everything else around here. But for now, it safely houses the chickens. I figure on painting the planter (though it looks more like a feeding trough to me…) a brilliant cobalt blue to jazz it up a bit. The trim on the windows are black to tie in with the chicken.

Joe built me these awesome nesting boxes (complete with removable bottoms so that I can replace pieces when they wear out!) from scratch!

And then installed some roosting bars complete with a poop deck (literally, lol!) I got the idea off of  a backyard chicken coop with limited space. That way you can put food under the roost without it getting covered in, well, you know.

The ladies are still too young to start roosting that high, so they use their little bars down in the corner.

Next on the list is to tackle the garden.

Sigh, I’m almost dreading it this year because I haven’t started a thing! Ekkk!

April Set 3 P365

I can tell it’s spring by a multitude of different things. Gardens, chickens, yard work, sunny warm days, puddles and lots of work! Not to mention many other events and time consumers.

So, to say the least, I have slacked greatly on my April challenges! If you are following the same list a I am (supposed to follow that is, lol!) you’ll notice that some I didn’t do and instead included my own. This is mainly for time reasons, and I like to photograph the things around me, instead of looking for something to shoot. But, I guess that’s what these challenges are ultimately supposed to do, take you out of your norm.

I hope you enjoy what I have included in here. Next month I’ll challenge myself a little more

Growing Chickens

 

 

Well, it’s been a couple weeks since we brought home our chicks. They are growing so fast and we are all learning a lot. The boys are in charge of feed and water (with me making sure they get it done, lol) and Joe and I are working on getting the coop chicken ready before we can move them in there.

(this was taken about 2 weeks ago)

The weather hasn’t been helping, it’s gone everywhere from 71 to 34 the very next day. Hopefully we have those crazy swings behind us, because until it stay more consistent, there's no way I can put them out there. The chicks may look bigger, but they are also in the middle of getting their pin feathers in. So, they have these awkward patches of naked patches.

(this was taken today!)

 

I did a little more reading on the Cinnamon Queens and learned they mature at a faster rate then the Barred Rocks, so they are definitely growing by leaps and bounds! I had to move them to a big space after I noticed just how big and crowded they’ve become. It worked out pretty good, they have an eating/drinking area that is free of pine shavings (ie: they won’t be filling their water with them anymore!) and a lower area for whatever else chickens do with their time. It usually consists of sleeping, flapping and pecking when not eating and drinking.

Sorry this one is so blurry, but the chicken wire threw the focus off and I was too tired to retake another one, lol.

Buck is very interested in the chicks and routinely sticks his big dog nose where it doesn’t belong. I guess one had enough and pecked him right on the honker! It was priceless! He just stared at it in disbelief…

Until next time.

Whole Foods now open in Mishawaka!

When the boys first came home with their lists of foods to remove from their diet, I was overwhelmed to say the least. I literally came home and had nothing but water (REALLY!) in house that they could eat/drink. Finding alternatives was expensive, time consuming and down right hard most of the time.

Over the years I’ve found all of the local health food stores, co-ops and learned about Whole Foods in the bigger cities. I can usually find one product here, another over there (usually in completely different towns!) And I only shopped at a  Whole Foods market when visiting or someone else drove by and picked things up for me.

Sooo, I was thrilled when I learned they opened a Whole Foods Market in Mishawaka! Now, Whole Foods isn’t a end all to my food shopping problems, BUT it sure does make it easier to pick up a bunch of things in one stop! On a wonderful outing with my dearest friend Roni, we ventured into a PACKED store and I found some real gems I thought I would share with you!

Both boys have digestive problems, one of the main reasons they are food sensitive. So when the doctor suggested we get as much coconut yogurt in their diet to help with this, I’ve been on the search for it. While I have found it locally, it’s irregularly in stock and I have never seen Greek style. Until now! And it’s GOOD! Surprisingly good!

 

We also found Keifer! It’s full of pre and probiotics, great for tummies

And I NEVER thought I would see the day they offered Gluten, dairy and SOY free mac and cheese!!!! And it was pretty darn good! It’s made with the Daiya cheese that we have come to love. It’s pretty expensive for the small amount you get (one box can be a side per boy) at almost $5 a serving.  But it would be a great thing to travel with or take with us to others house for dinner.

And something we’ve known and eaten before is Van’s Blueberry Waffles, YUM! These are such a treat for the boys, since I haven’t come up with an edible waffle recipe myself…yet. This morning the boys were home with a cold of some sort and we treated ourselves to this wonderful breakfast! Oh, and I finally found the soy free Earth Balance spread for the boys! Tastes just as good as the other stuff

And last, but not least is…get ready for this….Soy-free “soy” sauce! We originally found out about this stuff at the health food store in Angola (small, but packed with some awesome stuff that’s hard to find! Totally suggest you visit if in the area!)

It’s by Coconut Secret called Raw Coconut Aminos. Basically it’s fermented coconut. (The crazy stuff people will eat when they don’t have a choice, lol.)

They have a variety of products that I haven’t checked out yet, but noticed when I was at the store. What’s amazing about this stuff is that not only is it super super good for you, it seriously taste like soy sauce! It’s not as salty, and I find we use more than regular soy sauce, but you really can’t tell any other difference. It’s pricey, like everything else, so we use it sparingly. But it’s worth it!

All in all, I found many things that I just can’t find regularly anywhere else. While most things are on average the same to $2 higher, it’s almost worth it to make one stop. Especially if you are already in town.

I probably won’t make trips there weekly by any means, but stock up on occasion. And I found out they give discounts for buying in bulk/cases, so that might be incentive to spend the gas and get everything I need!

April 2nd Set P365

Again, I’m taking the list out of order and shooting what I can when I see it.

Where you stand (I took this literally more than morally, because that would have involved some serious Photoshop, lol!)

Touch of yellow

On the Edge (of the woods)

Overgrown

Sprout

100