Keeping going

The chickens are in the basement now, at least until the new coop gets done. And I actually got a bit of the dining room cleaned (you know, the bit that ISN'T my craft area). I felt great getting up at a decent time this morning and getting things cleaned. I might even start a trend, lol.
I'm dealing with a little bit of an issue right now. We have recently had a kitten wander up onto our porch. She is grey and long haired and oh so cute! Hubby says no. And he's being firm about it; I swear, I really did try. She's sick and I'm treating her with Amox. I also had to treat her fleas. I'm waiting to hear if my old boss will take her to be adopted out. It really pulls at my heart strings. Oh well, it'll pass.
We finally had a beautiful day. We went out and I started pulling big staples out of the pallet wood I snagged. I was thinking it would be a quick......oh, what was I thinking!! I worked, in the heat, for an hour and a half and have one pallet pulled apart and the staples out. That. Is. It. Ugh, oh well. I just keep repeating, "free wood, free wood, free wood". lol It started to pour shortly after we finished up outside. I'm hoping for another good day, or at least another good couple of hours tomorrow, to get some more work done. I'm hoping that by Saturday I will have enough wood prepped to start putting the posts in the ground.
Well, I promised Matt I would sew up his ripped pj's before bed, so off I go!

Finally!!

It's done! The new chicken tractor that I've been working on for a week is done! I could not be more excited. I have so much that needs to be done around here and I'm finally getting it done. Learning to work with a new baby, again, is proving to be difficult. I just can't seem to accept that I can't work on something for hours and get it done. She's getting better at letting me work now, at least.

Here's what we started with......

Here's what we had after day one.......you know, when I figured out that I had not bought enough wood to finish it, ugh. This is where it stayed for about 4-5days.

So, I had the kids take the old run apart. It was falling over anyways. And here we have it!!! Full of chickens even. Not too shabby. The tarp is to protect from the rain we are expecting. In a few days I will put the big girls in there so they can get usd to each other so I can start integrating the babies into the big coop.

We have started homeschooling these last few weeks. It's going.....slow. I'm doing a more laid back method so that maybe the kids won't notice that it's schoolwork. They just seem to be so opposed to learning. After watching us one day, hubby said that we should just homeschool them all permanently. I'm sure that's because he thought it looked so easy for me. It wasn't bad, but I feel like I need to become more organized to make it work better. We've been spuratic at best, but I want to start scheduling a M-W-F deal to help them get used to it. That way we can run our errands on T-Th or not at all. lol That's the problem that we are having: errands. That and I have been sleeping too late and other things need to be done. We have been concentrating mostly on reading. EX: Matt and I are reading the third book in the "A Series of Unfortunate Events" series. He reads X amount of pages to me. We write down the words that he doesn't understand and he then defines them using his dictionary. He is good about the reading part, not so good about the independent work part. Which means that we don't move on from there. We will keep trying. I also want to buy a book I've heard rave reviews about to help teach Ashlynn and Jay to read. I'll let you know when I get it. Logan is ahead of the curve in his class, but he still has to read out loud to me, from a chapter book. Then he has to summarize what we just read so that I can be sure that he's retaining it. I also found an online math program for k- 6 that is free. We will start that next week. Hubby and I will work on the history/social studies curriculum this weekend. It's still a work in progress.

oh the pain...

Headaches. Seriously? When did I get old? I remember being able to live on three hours of sleep for like two days with no repercussions. Yuck. Now nine hours is about my minimum and with less I walk around with a killer headache all day. Yikes. Ok, I'm done, lol.

Well, it's been a while but I feel like life is starting to gain some sort of routine and it's time to start getting things done again. I am really wanting to get into my homesteading stuff head first. I got more chickies!! Now we have eleven babies and three adults. I love em! lol This means we need a new coop. I bought a design set and am getting ready to get going. Info and pics to come!

Also, it's time to get the garden going......late. I started to turn the soil in the first bed and the cats decided that it was a great, big outdoor litter box! What?!? Yep, that's right. They won't use the one in the house, but the one outside, surrounded by grass and woods and big open space, yep. That's the one. Yuck. I'm working on bed number two. I'm going to clear it and plant seeds and then cover it with chicken wire. I'm hoping that will keep them out of it until I get a fencing solution done. I really just need to get out there and get it done. I'm thinking that I'm going to follow a simple garden design I found in Mother Earth News magazine. I love that magazine, lol. I'm also thinking that I'm going to bag garden, I hope I got that right, with the bags of garden soil I have in the basement. Also, I'm going to get some tires from dad's house and plant my potatoes!! We WILL have food. I WILL grow it. I WILL expand my horizons and knowledge.

I'm sewing.....sort of. I've made two dresses so far for Miranda. One was a pillowcase dress and the other I made for her christening. I want to do more. I really need to do more, or I fear that I will never fully realize the potential of my crowded dining room, lol. I will persevere. lol I plan to make jammie pants out of old sheets for all. I will document.

Knitting. Yep, that's all I have to say. My mojo is gone. I still oogle and drool over patterns. Make plans. Store in my que. Think of what yarn I have or need for what projects. I just am not wanting to finish what I have going. However, I have promised myself that I will finish at least one of them before I start anything else. I'm working on my maternity sweater, I know, I know, I'm not pregnant. I was when I started it, lol. I'm gonna finish it. I also am working on a pair of leggies for Miranda. I will finish the first one before I cast on anything else. I will. Enough said.

The house is better than it was, although far from perfect. I have instituted a chore chart. It seems to be working. The kids are a little resistant, but oh well. The house is no longer trashed and there is plenty for them to do when they are "bored". I just had to accept that they would never do the chore perfect, or how I wanted it done exactly, and all was well to delve out the chores.

Homeschooling. I will do it. I am starting it. I am planning for summer since school will be out in less than two weeks. More to come on this.

We are busy and I am staying up too late. lol It's bedtime. Life is getting on course and there will be lots to report. See ya then!

Aaaaahhhhh, so tired

I wish I had more to say, but that's pretty much it. I am beat; and apparently, they know it, lol. Getting back to real life has proven to be exhausting to say the least. There's just so much to do and a newborn who has no desire to let me do it. I'm trying to get everything at the house taken care of, but it is slow going. However, it is going. I am trying to get on top of things a little at a time. If I get the kitchen cleaned every day, then it is clean and gives me something to look at. If I get the laundry done every time it needs it, well then it doesn't pile up and get out of control. I know it's a simple concept and it's not like I'm saying something that everyone doesn't already know. However, how many of us are diligent. LOL Probably more than I know. I'm usually not very diligent as life has a way of getting away from me. It helps that I have diapers to wash. What a weird comment, huh? They have to be done every 2-3days and so it forces me to get down there and do them, which usually leads to me doing at least one more load.

I'm feeling really invigorated by the wonderful weather that we have been having. It makes me want to get outside and see my girls and start planning my garden. I still have a lot of research to do, but I am itching to get my feet in the dirt so the planning will get done. Hubby hate this time of year cause it means yard work. I, on the other hand, love it because it means gardening and beauty. There will be lots to report!! I'm going to buy my potato starts this week/weekend so they can go in on St Patty's day. I guess that means that I need to plan where to plant them, lol. I've got a few ideas in the works.

I've been trying to use my bread maker so that it doesn't become another appliance that just sits around. To be honest, we really don't have appliances that sit around these days. My new coffee maker is REALLY going the extra miles these days. lol I made some pizza dough in it tonight. It looked pretty, but I'm not sure how thrilled I was with it yet. However, it really seems to have been a pretty big hit. This is what is left of two large pizzas. At least I'm making dinner every night now. I haven't done that in months!! Usually we have cereal night at least once a week. lol

And.... a pic of my beautiful princess, just for good measure. lol

Baking Bread and my Moby

Well, life is officially in full swing now and I'm trying to re adapt. Hubby got me a bread maker, which I am very excited about. I am in the process of making my very first loaf in it!! I had one years and years ago but as a younger much stupider adult I let it go to pot and had to throw it out. I didn't know what I had, obviously. lol I'm excited to get to my whole housewife deal and get going on the things I couldn't handle when I was pregnant. Here's my beautiful new Oster!!

I have a cranky, pukey, gassy little fuss for a daughter today. I've noticed that this is our trend when we have to run all day. She's used to being able to take her time to eat and burp and hang out with mom and I don't think she handles being rushed too well. So, I have a solution. I bought a Moby wrap about three days before she was born and I darned well intend to use it!! I gave it a whirl about a week ago but have baby brain and sleep deprivation and couldn't figure it out looking at the instruction book. Good thing for Ravelry!!! It has been my saving grace for many things not to mention a great place to meet and talk to others interested in the things you are interested in. So, one of the girls in one of my groups posted some YouTube links for tutes on the Moby. Now, why didn't I think to look there?!? Oh well, once I got looking, I literally spent like an HOUR looking at a bunch of tutes since I want this thing to be an alternative to sitting on my butt all day with babe in arms. I'm digging it so far. She is napping in it right now and it has made it so that I can post here and play with my new bread machine, lol. I'm going to go start dinner and do dishes here in just a few minutes........MAN!!! This thing is great!!

Look at what happened to me! I grew up in the city and now I'm a baby wearing, cloth diapering, breastfeeding, homeschooling, gardening, chicken keeping, baking from scratch, crazy lady. LOL It's funny how life works out.

Miranda Rose Francis

I know I should have done this earlier, but I have been recovering from surgery and enjoying letting someone else take care of me for a change, lol. It's been nice and I while I am trying to enjoy getting back to my real life, it sort of sucks. I'm so tired, lol. Anyhow, here's here stats!!

Miss Miranda Rose Francis came into the world via csection on Monday, February 15th, 2010 at 8:29am. She was a whopping 9lbs 7oz and 19 inches long. She's short and chubby and totally adorable. Her head and chest were both 14.5inches around making for an interesting delivery even for a csection. She's a trooper eating and she's fairly easy although a gassy little fuss at times. We love her and she is definitely a part of this very interesting family!!

No Poo: Week 2

Well, here it is. Week two and a couple of days, lol. My hair tends to feel kind of greasy on the second day, but I'm hoping that's just a phase. I'm thinking of doubling my baking soda and water. However, I'm also thinking of cutting my hair, again, lol. I've still got some damaged parts that need to go. I think I'll ask hubby his opinion. We shall see.

Here's another pic. My cat likes to lay like roadkill over my bump. I wonder what she'll think when she can't do that anymore, lol.