LOTS GOING ON AROUND HERE.....

 

Well......the chicken coop has been finished for a week now and home to 4 hens that were given to us (Two silver laced Cochins and two and Barred Rocks)and our 24 baby chicks.....yes, they are all still alive. The chicks are in a brooder box inside the coop. I feel like I am a mom of babies again...constantly feeding and watering these little gals.

 

The girls and I went to a local horse ranch about 1 1/2 weeks ago and picked up a load of horse manure for the garden. We spread it throughout the garden. I plan on tilling it in this week, as we should be planting in a few weeks. Our potatoes are growing well. We had a little set back with having frost last week. The garlic and onions are growing well also. I planted herbs for the first time this year. I planted basil, parsley, chives, oregano, and lavender in containers.

 

 

 

I ordered an electric grain mill to grind my wheat and oats last week.  I truly feel like it was a good investment for my family.  Needless to say, I love my new Nutrimill Grain grinder.

 

Oh and one more thing....the girls and I stopped by a flea market on our way to buy milk last week. We left with a few good items. I bought a cast iron dutch oven for $10...yay me.  We bought a couple little outfits to alter for their American Girls dolls.  Also, we bought Jaelyn a nice Old Navy denim jacket for $5. And, last but not least....my favorite of all our purchase. I bought 2 half gallon and 2 quart old, blue Mason jars with the old galvenized lids. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THEM.

 

 

 

Healthier Choices

 

Over that past year, I have tried to make some healthier food choice for our family.  No, we haven't gotten to the total "real food" point. I have tried to make a few changes at a time. I have tried to cut out alot of the processed foods, but we still consume way to much.

 

Also, we began drinking non pastuerized, raw cow milk about a year ago. I feel that this is the best for my family because it isn't filled with all the hormones that the grocery store milk has in it. I also believe it is good for our immune systems because all the healthy bacteria hasn't been killed during pasteurization. An added plus to buying the raw milk is that it comes with a thick layer of cream, in which I began making my own butter.  My family loves the fresh butter and all I do is mix it in my kitchenaid mixer.

 

We buy our milk in glass gallon jars

 

 

I have also added as much local honey to our diet as possible. It is so beneficial and also a natural sweetener. I have started adding it to our bread and pancakes dough instead of sugar.  I prefer to eat honey on my waffles or pancakes instead of syrup. Well, unless it is real maple syrup. I don't care for the artificial stuff at all. I am trying to steer away from the high fructose corn syrup as much as possible and the artificially flavored syrup is filled with it.

We also, use the honey for medicinal purposes. Examples are for allergies and cold and cough. Jaelyn likes to warm lemon juice and add honey to it for a sore throat.

 

We buy our honey from a local bee keeper, but we

hope to start bee keeping ourselves in the future.

 

 

Something else that we just began doing is grinding our own wheat for flour. We recently bought 95 lbs of wheat berries and 50 lbs of oats. I have been experimenting with different breads, rolls, and pancake recipes. I found one that calls for oats and wheat flour and uses apple sauce instead of oil. We all seem to like it and I personally could eat it without honey or syrup. It is a very good recipe.  You can find it at www.thehappyhousewife.com. By the way, you will find many wonderful recipes on her website.

 

Whole wheat/oatmeal pancakes that I made last

week.

 

We also, plant a garden every year and can as many veggies as possible. This year we have expanded quite a bit. We are trying alot of new things. (Will post more on gardening later.)

 

As I said earlier, we are trying to make a few changes at a time and we still have a long ways to go. My goal is to eventually stop buying and cooking processed foods and to cut down on our grocery bill by raising as much food as we possibly can.

 

Not saying this is for everyone, but this is what I choose for my family.

 

 

 

 

 





 

 

 

OUR CHICKEN ADVENTURE BEGINS
 

 

We are in the process of building a chicken coop to raise chickens for eggs and meat. Notice, I said in the process...lol. Hubby is working on it as I type this. Friday, I stopped by a local feed store to look at and purchase some seed.  Madison and I could here the baby chicks as we walked through the door.  I said "no" several times.  As I talked with the lady that was waiting on me, I realized it would be 2 more weeks before they would receive more Rhode Island Reds. We chose them because they are said to be good dual purpose chickens and good for our area.  Needless to say, Madison and I walked out of the feed store with more than seed. We walked out with a box of baby chicks and chick starter as well....19 Rhode Island Red, 3 Amaraucanas, and 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes. 

 

Guess where they are????  We now have baby chicks living in our house....of course in a tub. I am amazed at how quickly they are changing and how messy these little things are.  The girls are naming the ones they know we are going to keep.  Hoping nothing happens to them. We shall see how this new adventure goes. 

 

Our Yorkie, Ginger, wondering what these noisy

things are.

 

Jaelyn petting the chicks.

 

It doesn't take much to entertain these girls.

 

 

JUST A FEW THOUGHTS:

 

As, I was scrubbing another, yes, another pair of Madison's jeans this morning, trying to remove the grass stains, I began to think about why they were so stained.  You see, Madison, played extremely hard while playing in those jeans Saturday.  She walked 2x4 boards while pretending she was walking a tight rope.  She shot her BB gun and Jaelyn's bow and arrow.  She crawled all over the ground as she anxiously watched her mom and dad building a chicken coop. Actually, she helped as much as possible. She enjoyed climbing the ladder and holding the level for daddy.  She rode her Aunt's 3 wheel bicycle through mud puddles. She enjoyed jumping on the trampoline and swinging with her sister.  She enjoyed being an 8 year old girl.  My point is......I am glad that my girls still want to be little girls. They want to enjoy nature and just run and play.  They don't want to sit in front of the TV, computer, or video games all the time. I truly feel that it is important that children are allowed to be children.  Nowadays, they grow up WAY TOO FAST!   

 

We changed up our curriculum last week, and I must say, that "school time" has gone so much better. I think they were doing alot of work, but not really learning.  Not saying, that curriculum was not a good curriculum,but it just wasnt' working for us.  We are now using more of a Charlotte Mason approach. We shall see how it goes.

 

After 3 days of pretty much continuous rain, our potatoe plants are sprouting...yay. I get so excited when I see things growing, especially when it is healthy food to feed my family.  I am praying that we have a bountiful harvest this year and are able to share our goodies with family and friends.

 

 

MEET THE HENSONS

 

My name is Lisa. I have been married to my wonderful husband James for 16 years. After loosing one baby and dealing with infertility for 5 years, we were blessed with our first baby girl Jaelyn, whom will soon be 11. :(   Two years later, God gave us another beautiful baby girl, Madison. We chose to homeschool the girls from the beginning.  The first year, Jaelyn and I cried almost the whole year.  I strongly felt that God had lead us to homeschool our girls, so we kept on.  We are still trudging along to this day.....step by step....and day by day....with the help of my Lord. I am so thankful for the priviledge to teach my girls at home where we can also learn lots of life skills, which is my ultimate goal...prepare my girls to be productive young adults whether they choose college, marriage, or the job force. 

 

We live on less than an acre of land at this point of time.  Hoping to eventually own a larger piece of property.  We have gardened for about 12 years...canning and preserving as much as we can.  We are trying to become more self sufficient. We added container gardening and some raised bed to our land this year. We are in the process of building a chicken coop in order to raise chickens for eggs and meat. Also, we currently bought oat and wheat to grind for our on flour.  We have been drinking raw milk for about a year now. Also, we make our own butter from them cream. We are hoping to get away from so much of the processed and hormone loaded foods.

 

 

Jaelyn, Madison, James, Lisa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our beautiful daughters,Jaelyn and Madison 

 

 

 

 

 

Jaelyn and Madison enjoying a field trip with

some friends.