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

WHATS FOR SUPPER?

Is this a question you hear at your house 3 times or more a day? At my house I hear it 4 times at every meal, which means I am asked what are we having 12 times some times 15 times in one day! Aghhhhhhhh!!! I have 4 kiddos who ask me every meal and then sometimes the hubs to ask. So by the time I finish one meal within 30 mins someone is asking me again.... I want to scream just writing this out and stressing about what I will do for tom. Well one of our favorite meals is a deer roast, or beef roast which ever you prefer.  We have both because of deer hunting.  I am picky about deer meat. I don't want it to have that wild game taste, and with doing this, it is a simple way to roast in the crock pot with veggies and I don't think you can tell a difference.  The first thing I do is layer carrots in the bottom of my crock pot.  I lay the roast on next.

Next I wash and peel about 10 red potatoes. I like to us the red because I heard somewhere they were better for you... 

I also use one whole sweet onion or yellow onion.  

I layer these on top of the roast. 

Its very easy, just a layering process and then cooking and letting it do its thing!

I then fill the top of the crock pot with water, cover with some salt and pepper.  Around 1 tsp of each.  

I put this on around 8:30 in the am so we can eat right at dinner time.  It needs to cook at least 8 hours to be good and tender and your veggies to be good and cooked through.  My kids love to dip the roast with ketchup, A1 or barbecue sauce.  

Once the meat is done, I use 2 cans of sweet green peas warmed up with a tbs of butter, a can of biscuits and there you are with a awesome warm meal that the kids will be thanking their mama for!

THE BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES YOU'LL EVER MAKE AT HOME!

Ok, so as a kid(and now a big kid) my favorite all time cookie is the traditional chocolate chip.  My mom made them for us all the time because she knew that we loved them.  Now that I'm grown I do love oatmeal raisin, macadamia nut and probably any other cookie out there but I still lean towards chocolate chip as my favorite.  So now for the heart breaking truth--I love homemade things, all homemade things can be better than most store bought stuff, but when it comes to cookies its something about the ones in the packs(Not the roll) cookie dough that just cooks up great every time! Why ? I don't understand this.

My mom is one of the best cooks in the world.  She makes tons of homemade recipes, her own, and then she can whip up anything Martha Stewart makes or any of those other fancy nancy people.  But cookies, oh cookies....... why must you get hard and brown on the edges?  Why does the chocolate lover brands from which ever company that it is turn out like something from the mall.......You know those places.......they have names like Cookie Jar,  Cookie World,  ect......and just the name draws you in.  I would go to the mall in Greensboro with my mom and beg for the ones filled with creme in the middle..... YES......those cookies..... Ok, so back to what I was saying, I have tried tons of different recipes and decided oh fart, why do I keep trying when the dang things are right in the store for you to buy, no mess, no fuss and BAM they are delicious!?!

So back at Christmas some of my awesome home school gal pals got together for a little brunch and my friend Liz brought these cookies that she said she made from scratch from a recipe from allrecipes.com.  and the heavens sang.... I said What???? These are homemade? not the little package deal?? She said nope and it makes a ton of them.  So of course I had to try them out. You can google them at allrecipes.com under Award Winning Chocolate Chip cookies or you can use mine I'm gonna post here.. I only added a little here and there and didn't change it a lot, but did make a few changes.  So here goes:

Chocolate Chip Cookies
4 1/2 cups of All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons of Baking Soda
4 sticks of butter softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 (3/4 ounces vanilla instant pudding boxes)
4 eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla flavoring
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
I cook min around 12 mins but each oven is different.

So oh by the way, I'm gonna try and start a page called Smack Yo Mama, cause that is Always what my family says when the food taste really ( I mean really) good, Or possibly Great!  That way you can click straight to that page to get the recipe.  

Back to our previously scheduled program:

Preheat the Oven to 325

(the other recipe calls for 350, but cooking them slower I think helps!)

Sift 4 1/2 cups of All- Purpose Flour and 2 teaspoons of baking soda and sit aside

(When I do this I put in 2 cups, then my soda, then the remaining flour that way its all getting mixed together well)

Isn't it so soft and fluffy?!

In a large mixing bowl (I use a kitchen aid) cream together 

4 sticks of butter

1 1/2 cups of packed brown sugar

1/2 cup of white sugar

Let me stop right there to say that I don't use regular white sugar I use a all pure sugar see below. 

I get this at Aldi, but you can also purchase it at Walmart. 

 Ok also something that I do that was different is that the original recipe called for softened butter, so if you know first thing in the am that you are gonna make these jewels take them out and let them get soft on the counter throughout the day, but me I'm usually last min, so I stick mine in the microwave for 1 min

Nice and warm! Ok so I add this and the 2 sugars to the mixer and let them all be friends. 

This is where it gets Crazy! Ok, this recipe calls for 2 boxes of vanilla instant pudding mix! Yes you just dump those right in.

Oh,You won't believe how good this taste, feel free to take some out and add a few chips and eat it raw, there are no eggs in it at this point!!! 

Ok next you have 4 eggs to add.  I also added the 2 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla flavoring at this point. 

 See the hint below, but slowly add the flour mixture. 

***Hint, I don't add all my eggs in at once like the recipe calls for because it makes it really hard to get all the ingredients mixed up and your dough is just not as pretty.  Mama always told me to add a egg, then a little flour, then a egg, back and fourth until its all mixed up.  Believe me this mixer is gonna get really really full. Don't panic if it looks really dry, mine did too, but it all works out!

Last but not least the 4 cups of chocolate chips.  

You can do them all 4 the same kind, but this last time I made them I used 3 cups regular size and 1 cup mini chips. You could also add nuts if you like, but I haven't tried them that way.  

I use a olive oil spray to spray my cookie sheets, then spoon them out about the size of a golf ball. 

This recipe makes over 70 cookies!! Which I love cause I have 4 growing kiddos!

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of them finished because my nieces came over to a spend the night so between family and cousins they were all eaten up in 2 days and I forgot to take a picture... Hope you enjoy! XOXO

WHITE AS SNOW

Every year when it snows the first thing I think about is what the Lord done for us on the Cross.  Have you ever noticed that when you see a white snow man with a red scarf how absolutely stunning it is?  Or how when the ground has gotten completely white that all the birds eating at the bird feeder are so pretty but there is just something majestic about that red cardinal in the middle of them all and it catches your eye.

I took this picture last year out my front window of a male and female cardinal.  I still can't look at it without first looking at the male.  That red is so beautiful... So every year when I see the red on the white it always reminds of what Christ did for us. He washed us white as snow! So today before I took off on the sledding adventure, I sat down and finished a page in my bible journal that I have been working on.  I originally had only intended to right the word tetelestai in the middle of the crown of thorns with the blood splatter, but then I realized I spelt it wrong.. Yes, I am that goober that loves google! The word tetelestai is the Greek word for "It is finished!" 

But Once I looked over and over it and kept messing with it I realized that I could put a cross in the center, since that Is what he did that washed us white as snow! Thank Goodness for the Cross.  I can't ever hear the story and not cry.  How could anyone hear the story and their hearts not be moved?  I'm going to include my mess ups because I think God wanted me to use the cross and if I had gotten it right the first time I wouldn't have included it.  I used a F where there should have been a L. 

The mess just kept getting worse and worse! Is that not what we do! We get ourselves into this mess sometimes. Stress, Problems, Sin? The more I messed with it the worse it got.  I sat back and said, "Lord I have messed this thing up!" Then he said, The Cross, Hayley!" and I knew that was it! So I worked at it, and worked at it.  Its still a mess, the words don't shine like I would like for it to, but thats me, I'm the hot mess, the stressed out person with a messy life... So this picture means a great deal to me, to know that as messy as I am, God can still cleanse even a sinner like me.  Thank You God for the Cross! 

Most of it is done with water color pencils, micro pens, gel pens and acrylic paint, all of which are my daughter Kylah's arts supplies.  I used acrylic to splatter the red/crimson paint and spray with a water bottle.  I hope someone will read this some where and it will help them to realize the love Christ has shown for us and will see that he can help anyone no matter how messy your life is. 

xoxo

Hayley

SNOW DAYS

Snow! Snow!! I love it! I love snow cream, sledding, hot chocolate, baking, seeing friends while we sled, eating good food, I could go on and on.  We have been sledding for 2 days! My body is sore in places I had forgotten about... This was the first day of sledding.

It started out relatively well. We sled most of the day at my house, but then left and had to go to the monstrous hill at my parents that I slid on as a kid.  I will say I don't have a picture of yesterdays at my parents because once I sled most of the day the last time I went down with 2 of my children on my back I landed in the creek with water up to my neck, needless to say I had to go home and change clothes.  So then to the next day of sledding.  It went much better, thank goodness I only made it close to the creek and not in it.  

This is the hill! There is a nice size creek that runs along the entire bottom including a fence to keep the cows in.  The water in this creek was very cold! At this point we are just getting ourselves warmed up.  

This was after a---lot of sledding and needing something to do that was sitting to rest our legs, since we don't have a chair lift to bring us to the top, which my brother and I said we were gonna have to speak to daddy about. (yeah right) 

Well, after a awesome supper at my moms (so nice and warm) we come home to a absolutely beautiful moon that reminded me of Gods Promises to Thank him once again for a beautiful day, and all my many blessings!

It had a glow of a cross around it, it was so Awesome! 

A LIT SOMETHING SOMETHING FROM HOBBY LOBBY OF COURSE!!

Hey Everyone!!! You would think with all this snowing going on I would be posting like crazy, but I have been working on lovely Taxes...ughhhhh....yes taxes... I despise the things.  With us being self employed we have so much to get together.  But anyhow, I have worked for 2 days on them and now I'm finally finished.. Yay!

I have so many projects that I want to finish or stuff that I've done and need to do a write up or a post on it.  Today I was really excited cause other than finishing my taxes I was able to work on my bathroom. I have wanted to slowly but surly put my on style with in it. When we first moved in I was in such a rush to just get in with 4 children (one which was only 4 months old) that I ended up just sticking old stuff I had in every little spot and not really able to take the room and say, "Hey, how do I want this to look?" 

So that's my mission now.  I'm taking one room at a time and trying to put my own little spin on things, but do it slow so I will really like how it turns out.   I repainted it, did the pallet wall, then made my little shelf out of the old art box(see previous post).  I have wanted a little old house style cabinet to put in there cause lets admit it, a women needs to hide those little personal things cause we don't want our "stuff" laying all over the bathroom.  I have been looking for said cabinet for 2 years cause it had to have a old charm but be small enough to fit on a certain wall.... I finally found it at where?? of course the wonderful Hobby Lobby my go to store!!! I already had a little jar my kids had found out in the woods and then put a neat little floral piece from hobby lobby in it to give it some charm.  The only thing I have left to do is decide what I'm gonna hang on my pallet wall but out of pinterest and many, many trips in lots of stores I haven't found just the right thing yet.  I like to make stuff, so that it doesn't cost very much, but yet for it to look really cool and like something you would see in a old farm house cause that's just the style that's "us."

What do you think?