PEACE

With all the storms that were raging through our county and state, I decided to do some bible journaling to help calm the nerves.  There is so much going on around us right now.  Two dear friends have found out that their dads have cancer all over the body.  My heart has been heavy and weary for them.  Its so hard be that it's a actual physical storm raging around us like today with the high winds, or if its a internal mental or physical battle we are facing. We sometimes have a hard time realizing that we have a God that is bigger than all of it!  I have to remind myself this on a daily basis because I struggle with anxiety and depression.
Its hard to say it out loud even when you know there are thousands upon thousands of others that are out there struggling with it, you don't feel like you should become one of "those" people or be "weak." Especially if you are Christian!  But why do we Label ourselves like this?  This is something I have fought and fought for many many years.  Its not because I stay home and home school my children (most people would say that), because this is a problem I dealt with earlier on in my teens.  I would have horrible panic attacks, break out in hives like you have never seen. It was so bad one time I had to leave school and come home and take a baking soda bath to try and get the itching to stop.  For some reason this is how my body reacts to stress.  I have right many friends who deal with this exact thing.

I struggle horribly with the fact that I feel like I let God down because I have to take medication.  But then I remind myself, if I was diabetic would I feel like I let him down if I took insulin every day?  When a part of your body is sick you must take care of it.  Its very hard for my body to relax.  Like for instance I'm putting in this post at 12:39 am.  I worry non stop that I'm gonna get cancer and not be here to raise my beautiful family, I mean the list goes on and on.  But one thing I can do that helps calms the raging winds and storms is to sit down and read his word!  This is my absolute favorite verse in the whole bible.  I found it the day my mom found out she had breast cancer and of course I ran and got my bible because I was tore up inside and I needed something to help me stay focused that God does work All things for the Good!.
Isaiah 26:3 you will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trust in you!
I hope and I pray if there is someone out there that is struggling with their emotions or anxiety that they don't feel like they have let anyone down because they have to get help or medication.  I have fought this battle for a long time and it doesn't mean God loves you less, or is disappointed, because actually the better I feel the closer I feel like I can draw to him.
XOXO
Hayley

EASY TO DO DISTRESSED PLANK WALL

At first I had no idea what to insert today for my post because I'm so far behind on putting stuff in that its unreal.  I have finished about 5 or 6 projects and taken pictures along the way but have been tired and haven't even known where to begin on which one I wanted to post.

So, I'm going with my Plank Wall Project.  For this project I can actually say and be very honest that it was pretty easy.  I am all about easy, as you can see from previous post.  I want to post projects that are easy so that others will be encouraged to feel like once I have taken a chance and flubbed through something that if I can make it so can anyone else!!

If you can use a tape measure, push a button, use a paint brush and bend over you are good to go!!! No, seriously that is all it takes.   Now I did have to borrow some tools from my husband and daddy to complete this project but if you have someone around that has a couple of tools, then you can do this.  Tools needed: a large round circular saw to make even cuts, a nail gun, paint brushes, tape measure, level,petroleum jelly. stain, white paint, and a pencil.  

This wall that I finished has a little special meaning behind it.  I had decided after looking through many pinterest boards that I could accomplish this project, told the hubs what I wanted to do, so I went to Lowes with him to pick out some other things for a "Fixer Upper" project we did(I will have those pictures in another post), picked out the other items but while I was there I checked out all kinds of plywood boards, all kinds and prices.  They range anywhere from 20$ for a 4 x 8 board up to 60$ a board depending on what kind of wood you want.  Well, I'm trying to keep my expense down, so I decided I wanted to wait and think over this thing and check with  my dad(the farmer) to see if we had anything laying around on the farm to use, because I love to reuse, recycle if you know what I mean.  So we left went bout our day and come home.  After coming in and staring at my wall I felt bummed because I wanted to do the project but didn't want to spend like any more than 50 cause I knew I wanted to be able to go to the almighty Hobby Lobby to get some desk decor later.

Well, I decided to take all the decor I had in there down, putty up the holes and just basically prepare the room for changes.  Especially since I didn't know what I was gonna do about the boards. I decided what ever I did that I didn't want to keep the red, so I went ahead and painted the office with some old grey paint that I had from another project so I still haven't had to spend any money. 

So, after deep thought I decided I was gonna go to Lowes to purchase the boards.  Right as I'm getting my pocket book to leave my dad calls and says he and my son Jonah was bringing me something from the farm. I said well I'm headed to Lowes and he says well hang tight there before you leave cause I'm turning in.  He brings me this huge, I mean huge box from where he had bought a combine auger 3 years ago before my Grandfather(the other farmer) passed away.  This was so cool because my grandfather would be really proud to know that I was able to use the box.  

 This is them coming in to greet my other son Isaiah and they are wrestling cause that's what they do.

Then below is the large, like I said, large box that he had and wanted to know if I could use it? What???? Can I use it......???   Like God is So So good!, No purchasing wood now (that comes later on the next plank wall, LOL)

So now all I have to do is take the cotton picking thing apart.  So we do, we get a crow bar, and hammers and saw and start taking the box apart. (Now this was not Easy, it is much, much easier to go to Lowes buy the big board and have the cutter at the back of the store to cut it into planks that makes nice and even boards. But I didn't do this for this particular project but I do on one that I will post later if you don't have old wood laying around. 

Ok, so once I had the pieces apart and ready for the circular saw, I brought them in one at a time and placed them in the floor to use a tape measure on.  Once I cut my pieces with the saw, I begin nailing them all up with the nail gun.  Now, if you have a stud finder this would be a good time to use one.  I don't use one, I use the old knock on the wall trick and if it sounds hollow I keep going till I hear a stud. But a stud finder will work great if u don't know how to do this. 

So once I was able to use the nail gun and slam all those babies to the wall it looks a little something like this. 

 As you can see from the first picture, I fixed the first one to the wall but before I kept going I did take a level and hold it on top of the plank to make sure it was level.

You can actually leave the wood as it is, or you can stain it dark, but I chose to use stain and white paint because I wanted that farmhouse white style. The first thing I did once I got all the boards nailed was to use a little bit of wood filler on the wholes that were really large, I didn't want to cover up them all cause I wanted that old barn effect. 

First I applied some Classic Grey Stain left from my pallet wall project and decided I wanted to have the lines in the planks to show through to give it the distressed look.

Once you paint the stain with a old brush be prepared to have paper towel in the other hand to wipe it down cause it will run a bit.  

The next part is actually kinda funny.  After reading many blogs and DIY sites on how to do this most of them said you needed to use a Vaseline in the creases over the stain so once you paint the boards and sand them the stain will show through.  Believe me it is much easier to sand the places you want to have it show through if you use some kind of petroleum jelly substance.  I on the other hand couldn't find the Vaseline but with having 6 people in the house there had to something else that I could use without having to run to the store to get some.  So I used Preparation H.  Yes folks, that stuff works wonders and has many, many uses.....Who knew? But guess what it did the trick.  This is how I applied it. 

Once I had all the seams jellied up with the booty cream, I used a flat white paint for the wall.  Now you could probably use any old white paint even trim paint, but I already had a gallon of flat white paint left over from the house.  I painted the entire wall and let it dry for a hour.  

Once I felt like it was good and dry I went back and lightly sanded with a piece of old sand paper in the areas I wanted the grey stain to stick through.  

I really was please with how it was turning out!

I let all the work sit over night and cleaned it up the next day so I could add some of the decorations I had found and put together.  

My metal shelf, sign and metal basket came from Hobby Lobby.  The old frame with metal chicken wire was found in a old house we bought, I just cleaned it up and repaired the nail in it and stuck some magnets on it to hold notes or pictures.  Here is a extra picture:

Now I was able to do this entire project for  around 75.00 because the only expense I had was the decoration! So if you have this kinda stuff at your home you could do it for even less! Let me know what you think!

WHAT'S EASY FOR BREAKFAST?

Hey everyone! It has been over a week since I added a post! Eck..... It has been so extremely busy here lately.  I have so much to share and add on here but I just haven't had a moment to sit down and take the time to add it.

So back a few months ago I had shared that I wanted to put Easy things on my blog.  Because who doesn't love easy? I'm a big believer in doing something that taste good but is easy!  I love to be able to provide my kids and husband with something good to eat, but dang I don't always want to be in the kitchen for days on end.  So here lately I have been working on a lot of projects in the house which I will be posting hopefully sometime this week and because I have been working on them I haven't taken the time to make meals that take a lot of prep time.  

Well since breakfast is the first meal of the day, I started with it.  One of the things I just tried shooting from the hip and hoping it would turn out well and it did(surprisingly) and then the other is something my Mema and my Mama would make for us for breakfast when I was a young as I can remember.  Now, you probably can google or look on pinterest and find both of these easy things but I haven't looked because I honestly come up with one of them on my own and I was afraid if I looked on Pinterest and saw where a million people had done it I would be devastated that someone beat me to the idea, so if you are reading this post and say, gosh I already knew to do that, then its ok, (sigh, a little tear) lol its ok, I will have some other things to post later this week that hopefully you haven't seen before.  

The first thing is Blueberry Muffin Pancakes

Key word here is Muffin.  I don't have to include a recipe cause they are not homemade... I use Aldi cause that's where I do my grocery shopping, but I'm figuring you could do this with any mix.  I took out the muffin mix prepared it as the box said and added 1/4 of water extra to my mix and then made pancakes with them instead of muffins.  They were so so yummy, the kids said, "Mama these taste just like muffins!" Plus with the syrup on them they were Divine!  Score!!! This is the one that I made up on my own...

Next is the one that my Mema and Mama would do for me as a child and it was one of my favorites for breakfast.....Oooooh, I can just remember and it makes me want to fix a piece right now. 

Cinnamon Toast

This is so simple but yet the kids will love it. 

Regular loaf bread

stick of butter (I use the real deal)

Brown Sugar

Cinnamon

You take and cut several pieces of butter and lay top of slices of bread.

sprinkle on brown sugar

sprinkle on cinnamon

put in oven on broil until the butter melts. The End... its really that simple!

This is before going into the oven.

As you can see, I use a plenty of each, also the kids say they like lots of butter, I usually cut a nice size chunk and then cut that into fours and put 4 small squares onto each slice...

So So yummy, and with a glass of Milk! Ahhhh!!!

What do you do easy for breakfast? You can't eat this every morning, but if you are looking for something the kids will love and not take forever maybe you can try one of these.

Please let me know if you have any easy ones, I would love to try it and I can do a post of what you have here on my blog!

These will also be located on my "Smack Yo Mama"because they are just that good!

TROUBLE REMEMBERING SCRIPTURE? TRY BIBLE JOURNALING

So, I'm really getting into this whole bible journaling thing.  I'm no where near what you see on pinterest or even close to any of those websites out there that promote it.  But I share it because it really does help me to put these scriptures to memory.  I have a really hard time putting things to memory because I am raising and teaching 4 children, and I promise, promise that with each child, each subject that I teach them I honestly do believe for them to get smarter I have to loose a little bit of knowledge.  I think that's where bad minds come from... I think by the time you hit around 60 or higher if you have children then your brain is possibly half the size it once was because they have robbed you of your own to make theirs bigger... it just has to be!  I have to tell myself this because what other reason would it be for my craziness... So anyway, since I don't have as much space in there to retain the scripture to memory when I put a picture in there and I say it over and over again as I sketch some how I can remember it once I'm finished!

So anyway, I have put pictures of some of my previous journal entries on here, but I'm gonna just display them on this particular entry to show some of them and different ways you can do it.  Some are not the greatest looking, but at the time when I was reading and found something that really struck my heart as I was studying, the picture may have come to mind and then I just started sketching it out... Well sometimes something looks so beautiful in your mind but it never looks the same on paper cause I'm not one of those fancy, nancy awesome art sketchers.  So here are couple that I've done, I hope that with seeing just how simple you can make them that it will encourage you to make a go at it if you are considering journaling.
love xoxoxo

This is my newest one. 

Job 14:1-2

 Genesis 1:5

 Isaiah 43:1

The Psalms

 Deuteronomy

A LITTLE BRAGGING

I know that all mama's are supposed to have some braggin rights.  Well, with me having four children it seems like when I mention one, I need to mention them all to keep it fair.  So a couple of weeks ago I put a little post on here about Kylah, my oldest, and her Art.  She loves to paint and draw and we are very proud of her.  I do have little things about each kid that I hope to share at some point and time.  But today is Emma's day.  She loves to sing. So I wanted to post a short clip on here of her singing.  I already posted it to instagram and facebook, but felt like since I did put Kylah on here that I need to include each of the other children.

What is so special about this post is that she has just started taking guitar lesson at our church.  She is learning to play it because her daddy and I want her to be able to incorporate some type of instrument with her voice.  Her heart is into singing and she will flat out tell you that, but we want her to be able to recognise the notes that she is singing as well.  

She tells me constantly that she wants to be able to sing something special for our church... so she walks around all the time like she is practicing there.  So I'm in here last night working on my ghost chicken story(see previous post) and she starts talking about songs on Klove and how she really likes this song by Lauren Daigle and would love to be able to sing it for someone.... Unfortunately, I don't count as a special someone anymore since she sings for me all the time.  But I tell her I'm not a huge crowd, but sing it for me anyways and act like I am.  As I type she says I need you to listen to me for a min!! I said, "Goodness ok, what's wrong?" and that's when she tell me exactly how she feels....

"Mama do you know why God put me here?" I respond by saying what I always say or something you know you have heard in church growing up.  "Yes to tell people about Him."  She looks me right in the eyes and says "Yes ! But I'm supposed to SING HIS name mama, not just tell people!" 

Of course I stopped everything I was doing to give her my undivided attention. I said you are exactly right, how about we record your song and send it to Lauren.  I said she may not see it, but we can show her just how much this song has impacted your heart for God.. She of course loves this idea! Because you can attach peoples names on instagram  it would be worth a shot.  So we did, we didn't hear anything back from her but still it was fun.  And it made Emma Grace feel special! So here is the little clip she sang.. Hope it feels your heart for Christ!

THE GHOST CHICKEN RETURNS!

A few weeks ago we had 16 chickens! 16!! This was awesome cause its the most we have ever had and I have worked and worked with these chickens to make the pen nice and safe.  We have been through many chicks (sad face) cause in the past we haven't had the best lots.  From old dog lots to just any thing that we could rig up to try and keep them contained.  Ok so I'm a lover of animals and when other strange animals want to eat my animals the mama side of me comes out and wants to protect my little ones.  So I go in to crazy mama mode.  I try to start building things to keep them safe and for the most part it works, but may not look very good.  LOL

So my husband who sees me working myself to death feels sorry for me and he and my cousin puts up a huge lot.  Like a acre worth and fences it in for the dogs and chickens.  So now we have a cute little coop and lot.  Still I have a problem with varmints trying to take my animals.. Like fox and coyotes wanting to run up and down the back edge of the lot.  So, after many nights of waking to hearing my dogs bark and me walking around the edge of the fence with a gun at 2 am, I talk with my daddy (the farmer) and he says lets put hot wire around your lot like I do the cows and fry those bad boys if they try to take your birds!!! Sounds like a plan to me.  So he and I and my boys run the wire and now I have a prison proof lot!! Yes baby, come on fox lets see how you do now!?!

Ok this is the funny part, I work all this time fixing, working, sweating, trying to keep all the animals from coming IN right???  But didn't really think about the birds trying to get Out! The dogs and chickens are connected.  With a small fence running down through the middle so the puppies won't chase the chickens.  Cause you know that would be to fun for them to resist!

As you can see in this picture we have wire everywhere.  So first thing, the chickens learn that they can cross over the middle fence go in to the dog lot and come out the door when the dogs are out and be free birds! Then second, once all the fence is done we left for the beach and hawks start swooping in and got one of our baby chicks from last year!! I tell my husband I give up! I slap give up! 

Your talking about Red Neck.... I was so mad, I sat on a bucket with a gun for over 2 hours waiting for one of those birds to come back!  Whats so bad is that my aim from nervousness would make me miss and I would be better off throwing the gun at the bird than I would at shooting it!  So while I'm at the beach my wonderful brother and mother(knowing my love for the animals and that I would freak out if I knew this had happened) decided to tie tobacco twine from one side of the fence to the other to keep them from flying into my coop.  (that's why you see a million strings in the picture above)

So back to the Ghost story, sorry I'm so long winded but if I don't explain you miss some of whats going on here! 

So, we have everything tied up, closed up, strung up and yet I go out to feed my chickens about 2 weeks ago and realize, something is missing!!!! Yes, one of my little grey bantams is gone!! What??  I knew that another hawk was gonna get her cause she kept leaving and coming through the dog lot to go scratch for those worms on the other side of the fence...dog gone it!

 I tell Jonah, I knew this was gonna happen.  So we just decided to except the fact she was gone!  We looked all around the property, down into the fields everywhere, no trace, no pile of feathers, nothing. At least 3 weeks goes by and the morning of the big snow, I'm walking through my kitchen in the morning and what do I see running from one side of the fence down to the dog lot back in to the chicken coop to get food???? The Ghost Chicken! She has returned!!! I woke everyone up with my surprise because of course I couldn't contain myself.  

We watched as she ran in got some thing to eat and drink and then left with a rush, but where to??? We couldn't tell... So we were on a mission to watch for her again but only Emma Grace was able to catch a glimpse of her running wild feathers one am and said she was headed under the storage building.  

Ok, so you wanna talk about camouflage!!! I looked under the storage building 3 times! Then on Friday morning I looked for her for over a hour thinking, its time!  If she has a nest its about time they would be hatching!!   I was worried, worried about the cold, worried about food and water they would need, and worried that some wild varmint would get them!!! Ahhhhhh!!! 

So,

after lots of walking and no chicken, I decided that I just would have to trust that the Lord would take care of it....(as if he couldn't) Ugh.... this is so much like my life!!! I think I can do it better than him(not really, but my actions are like I think that) and I try to carry this heavy load,  like ok...this is heavy.....but I'm making it Lord... seee... .ughhh (bam, hits the floor!)

So now to Present Time: Me and the girls run to Dollar General yesterday(Monday) to pick up a few things, and Jonah calls screaming in the phone, "Mama, Mama, you aren't gonna believe this!" He tells me to come home that he walked by the storage building and out walks this mama bird with a ton of chicks!!

God Is So Good! Right?! I mean, how many times in a day can he remind me of his promises? Promises to care for me, never leave me, provide for me, feel the same things I feel..... on and on.... So of course I go into total freak out mama mode again and this time we board up a place in our storage building, cover it with hay and place them inside where no animals can get them or harm them... I said we are gonna do it right this time! But you know, really???? Its all in Gods hands, even if I don't know what to do, he does! He knows every feather(hair), every need(food and water), he knows all these things. We just have to have faith!!!!!

They were a little scared at first! I don't know why, I mean it was only 6 of us freaking out trying to make things comfortable for them! LOL

Ok, so when we get stressed we hide under our mamas! No lie, if I could still do this I would! 

She has 2 on her back but the other 8 are under her... She had all 10, through this winter storm, had them with her and ready for food when we found them! I love farm life, I love our Ghost Chicken, I love Gods Many blessings!!

That's All Folks!!

THE NAKED BEE

I want to start doing a little product reviewing if I run into something that I think works great.  Here is the problem I have with products.  I am a tight wad.  I don't like to waste money on products that I end up throwing away.  When I first started couponing I was in heaven.  I loved the fact that I could get products at a discounted price and not loose a lot if they weren't any count.  But, what ended up  happening is that even though I would run into stuff that was really good, I would still have a lot of stuff that I didn't care much for.  So, in this long drawn out story, ugh, is that I have slacked off the couponing and made the decision to only buy the stuff that I know for a fact we really like and use coupons just when we can.

I usually buy as much organic as I can at Aldi, they have a really good organic line of things there and the prices are very reasonable.  I still do by sugared cereal (don't hate me) and things that are not the best for you, but try to do healthy when we can.  I Love summer, its so much easier to do the right thing when you have fresh fruits and veggies outside.  I have always wanted to have my own little greenhouse outside, but since I'm not rich I don't have this, so I Can veggies and freeze as much as possible until the next spring.

Ok so anyway back to the point of this article.  When ever I can try something and it does turn out well I want to make a note to share it with others.  Back before Christmas last year me and my girls had taken my grandmother out to eat lunch and my aunt was able to go and she introduced me to a new lotion that's mostly organic called "The Naked Bee!"  I absolutely loved the way it smelled and how when I used it my hands honestly didn't get greasy.  I'm big on smells, I don't like for the smell of the lotion to be overwhelming and I want it to be a clean fresh smell.  The cool thing about this product is that it comes in shampoo, soap, candles, lip care, ect.

So, since I had never purchased any of their products but knew the lotion smelt good I decided to order a sample type kit.

This kit I purchased off of Amazon for around 20$.  It was shampoo(conditioner), hand and body lotion, lip balm, candle and soap(u can see I have been using the soap like crazy).

Ok, so I Absolutely Love these products.  I have not been paid by this company, they don't even know I exist. LOL But I just like it when I see that someone shares their honest opinion on something. 

What I Love About These Products!

1. The Smell (I ordered the Orange Blossom Honey) but comes in a variety of smells.

2. Non Greasy

3. I have a very Sensitive Scalp, I have a issue from stress that causes itching and hair loss, but this has completely went AWAY!

4. The smell (again, the shampoo is just as nice as the lotion)

5. The lather.  Ok so other organic shampoos have not lathered like I like.  I like to look like my hair has been covered in shaving cream kind of lather to make my naturally oily hair to feel clean and this shampoo does that. I have even made my own shampoo and I like this much better.  The bottle does say something like 70 percent organic. 

6. The soap ( it has such a clean feel and yes it lathers just as good as the shampoo) I want to try and make my own soap myself, that post is to come, if it turns out.  But if it doesn't I'm for sure ordering this again.  I do use a different soap for my face called Cetaphil, which will also be a different product review cause I love that soap for my face.  

7. The candle, as you can see I haven't lit it yet, but still smells great just in the cute little can they provided.  

What I dislike about them.

1. The Price, its not the cheapest of products, but hey what is? Most all the products out there by these big companies are just as expensive and we don't know what in the world they are putting in them.  

2. Nothing.... I absolutely can't come up with anything else.  

So, long story short, this is a product that we will continue to use in this household.  I ordered mine from Amazon, but you can check out their site       www.thenakedbee.bz

https://www.facebook.com/The-Naked-Bee-346573482069246/

If you are having any type of scalp problems, you should at least try out their shampoo!

I hope you like this little review and if you try their products you will comment and let me know what you think! 

@thenakedbee.bz