Chicken Fact

Did you know that in Houston, Texas you can't have chickens unless you have a permit? Even then you are only allowed to have up to 7 hens on your property. Do you know what you need to get this permit? Just guess, I bet you can't. OK are you ready.

You need a note from a doctor saying that you need to eat fresh chicken eggs, for health reasons!  I just couldn't believe it, I mean it is Texas.

Little Blessings

So I have this need, well I guess it is more of a want, for everything to happen faster. It just seems like everything homestead related has been happening so slow, probably just because the move hasn't happened yet. I think this blog is good for me, it kind of makes me realize and appretiate the little things because after going through my pictures so I could make this update I realize that there really is more than I had realized, even if they are little things.

So here they are the little things, that make my life a little better.

we got our shed moved over

Everything has been sprouting :)

We are officially producing now! The strawberries are taking off, I can't wait to have other fruits and vegetables!

the boys found a turtle



We took the ducks on an outing in the yard to the little pond. They thought it was fun but I just thought it was bath time. After they got all clean and dried off you could see that hey they actually have a few feathers now! They aren't just little balls of fluff anymore.

Clean Duckies

The Chickens continue to get bigger. I cant believe that they are almost all feathers now. I think it is about time to put them outside but I don't really want to do that until the move, so we can check on them and feed them easily.

Homesteading 1-2-3

The hubby has been all about homesteading lately. Which is what we are calling it by the way "The Homestead". He's been reading this book. 

It's all about being self sufficient. Trying to grow your own food and not have to go to the store or at least not as much. It also talks about how to can food and dry/keep seeds for the next growing season, and a ton of other stuff. He keeps telling me that we could replace one of our incomes, which would be cool, but it all seems like a big dream at this point in the process.

Well you already know that we have chickens and ducks, this is the book i read before we bought our friends that taught me all about them and what to expect in the early days. it was a fun read and had a lot of good info. 

Boy have they been growing fast. Honestly I can't believe how big they get in just a week. Here are the three flightiest birds perched on the side of the brooder. Patrick thinks that our chicks are probably 3 weeks old. They have been really growing lately and getting their wing and tail feathers.

Well like the book says you can farm on less than 1/4 of an acre so we have 4 this should be easy right. Well here is our little start we have two garden beds and a chicken coop. It's a work in progress. 

The funny thing is we really aren't all that big into the veggies however I will say that as I get older I am trying to try more things. Ok so what are we growing in our little gardens? Tomatoes, peppers (all sorts), lettuce, spinach, dill, strawberries, cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe, corn, peas, green beans and okra. I think that's all for now but I'm sure Patrick will come up with more to plant soon. We have started some from seeds and some from plants we bought at the store. I cant wait for little plants to pop out of the dirt!

When Patrick talks about everything he wants for the homestead, this is what I picture, me ringing the dinner bell with the chickens around my feet. We found a dinner bell in the barn and now Patrick just needs to make me a stand, and it could happen. He does tell me that if he's in the field I have to ring the bell not use his cell phone, I think it's neat, and the boys will love it if I let them ring it.

Look both ways!

Well I think I've done one of these posts before. I'm sitting in the hospital room, looking at my new husband wondering how in the world this crazy lady didn't see him. Really I mean he was wearing a bright teal shirt. Seems kinda crazy. Anyway one way or another I guess she didn't, or she was just going to fast to stop. Boom! She hit him. My poor husband lay in the middle of the road. Well luckily there was this wonderful man, Edward, who was in the Navy for awhile who jumped out of his car to do everything he could. I am sooo happy he was there. 

I was off work and headed to my parents for dinner when I got a call from Dave, Patrick's boss. I didn't believe him, at all, the guys have a tendency to pick on me so while I was turning around I asked him probably 6 times if this was a joke, needless to say it wasn't. I was a nervous wreck while driving and I'm pretty sure I was speeding the whole way, it seemed like everyone was driving at turtle pace. When I got to the hospital I ran in and told them my husband was hit by a car, that's when I met Edward he was waiting for me. He got the biggest hug I was so happy to meet someone who knew what was going on. 

I finally got to go see him! It seemed like it took forever! I was so happy to see his face. He was awake and talking that was such a relief! But he had on a neck brace which was kinda scary. They told me that his skull was fractured and that the blood was coming out of his ear. They also said the neck brace was just a precaution, they were just waiting to make sure that his spine wasn't injured. That was Tuesday.

Since then they have moved him to his own room it was a bit of a waiting game. At 5:00 Wednesday morning they finally took off the neck brace that was hurting his head so bad and started him on IV pain meds that don't mess with his tummy. He also said that his thumb hurts so they took an X-ray of it to see if its broken or fractured or anything. Luckily all is well with his thumb. 

We had to stay all day and wait because they wanted to do a CT of his head and make sure the amount of blood in there didn't increase. It didn't it actually decreased, score! that was just what I wanted to hear.

Well he wasn't eating much and he was still on IV pain meds because his tummy couldn't handle the pills. Anyway we didn't get to go home that night. They want him better. Well guess what me too! 

He did eat some apple sauce after the sentanced us to another night and by Thursday morning he had kept it down :) The trauma doctor said that as long as he ate some breakfast, and held it down too, that they would let us go home. I could feel the excitement on my face finally that meant they weren't so worried anymore, we turned a corner :) well he did eat a couple bites of cinnamon roll and home we went!

He wanted his wedding ring when we got  to the room. So sweet :)

When he came in as trauma patient they gave him a fake name, so he has been Xer Liquid the whole time. Kinda funny. 

He isn't completely healed yet but we are getting better. I'm just glad we are home where we belong.

Cluck Cluck Quack

As I've told you before, I see feathered friends in our future. Well it's happening we are venturing off into the world of chickens, one step at a time. I have read books and done research online. That is how everyone does things these days right? Well it is all coming together, we bought chickens, ducks and a coop! They are to small to stay in the coop all the time but they do like it when we take them out with us and they have a chance to explore!

I had no idea how fast ducks were until we put all of our little feathered friends in the coop together and they just ran circles around the chickens. Zoom Zoom.

Some of our chickens have a lot of their adult feathers already and are trying to fly around. It's fun to watch the little balls of fluff flap their wings.

Our coop! OK OK I will admit it we didn't build it ourselves we bought it in boxes and put it together, sure it cost us a little more this way, but hey it saved us a LOT of time, and it is going to work great.

They love the new digs and the boys love watching them!

I can't wait to watch our gals grow up :)

Until the end of time

Christmas 2011 Patrick asked me to marry him. I was so happy and totally surprised. Of course I said yes! He's amazing why wouldn't I?

Now almost exactly a year and a half later we did it we got married! Our love has just grown stronger, and I don't think we could be any happier. I don't think I could dream up anyone more perfect for me.

There was of course a ton of planning and I think it all came together really nice. We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day.

Gabe and I

Patrick, Shawn and Wesson

Patrick's sister, Kelli, made our cake. It turned out great!

We couldn't have done it without our friends and family they helped do so much. Thanks to all of you!

Just a couple of weeks ago my aunt and uncle renewed their vows, for their 25th wedding anniversary. It was really nice. In a blog she wrote shortly after she mentioned how one thing they agreed on at the very beginning of their plans to marry was this, “No matter what would come into our lives, we would never discuss divorce”. It's kinda perfect don't you think? It is really something I think more people should promise each other, it's sad that divorce is so common. Patrick, the boys and I have all been victims of divorce and it has partially shaped who we are. Seeing this just made me realize that we can vow to do the same and not make it an option no matter what. We will forever be together, all of us.

Taekwondo

Shawn has been in taekwondo since Santa gave him lessons for Christmas and the boy loves it. About a month ago we took him to his first tournament. He was still only a white belt and they put him in the novelty division (everyone got medals). It was a great experience for all of us. I enjoyed seeing what he has learned and what the older kids are doing.

He didn't place but they gave him two medals and he was thrilled. We went out for pizza to celebrate.

Last week he did belt testing, and he got an 8th grade orange belt! He is moving right along.



The Belt Ceremony



With his Certificate

Way to go Shawn :) We are so proud of you!