Best January ever

January 26, 2016January 28, 2016 / Jeanette / 2 Comments

I feel like I have accomplished so much in these first 3 weeks of January.

I turned 34! My birthday was quiet and uneventful. So YAY! to a drama free birthday.

I have stood up for myself and told 2 important people in my life that they will not disrespect me or walk all over me or my family anymore.

We started back to homeschooling and I feel like we are doing pretty good. Some days are better than others, but yesterday was the best yet. I felt like just in that one simple activity so much was learned. We talked and discuss while they used their hands to create something so wonderful. It was definitely a proud mommy moment.

My youngest daughter has been working with a wonderful therapist for the last month. Up until now she has resisted any kind of therapy, but she has really connected with this therapist and I truly see a difference. Then this week, the therapist got us in for an appointment with their psychiatrist. And let me just say, WOW! Where has he been my whole life!!! When our therapist asked how it went. I told her she was a life saver. He just knew what he was talking about and none of this well it could be A or B or Z. He nailed it and talked to my daughter not just about her. Wonderful man!!! I am beyond thrilled because it has been a long 10 years of trying to find a diagnosis.

As I am writing this, I am sitting here looking at my 4 brooders. That’s right~count them FOUR brooders. First one has my baby chicks that hatched on January 2. Second one has a week and a half old Pekin duck with a couple of chicks flying in and out. One chick has really taken a liking to my lonely duck and is very protective if any of chicks come in. The third is full of Cayuga Ducklings about 4 days old~19 of them to be exact. And last but not least~ more Pekin ducklings. These are 4 days old. I have 19 of them also. Most of these will be sold with the exception of the chicks and 4 ducklings. I sold 15 ducklings at the beginning of the week. So my new little business adventure is very productive. Keeps me busy that is for sure.

I am also setting up the incubator so I can set 24 eggs for a Valentines day hatching. Or as I like to call it The walking dead hatching. We aren’t big Valentine’s Day people. It’s just too close to Christmas and my birthday. I will probably just cook a nice steak dinner, so why not also hatch some babies!

I also have a couple of pre-orders on some female chicks that I am keeping. Just trying to add some interesting chickens to the flock. My first order comes the end of February and my last order won’t be here until first week of June. Who knows what other kind of trouble I can get into between now and then.

This post is partying over at the Our Simply Homestead Blog Hop

The low down dirty, stinky truth about hatching chicks!

January 14, 2016February 4, 2016 / Jeanette / 2 Comments

As soon as we got our first 6 baby chicks a couple of years ago, I knew I was hooked and adding more. Which is why I bought 6 more! Then hubby and I realized there wasn’t a coop as nice and cheap as I would like for the amount of chicks I bought. He got mad saying I put the cart before the horse (or something like that). So we had to scramble to build a coop.

So ever since then, I promised him that I would not do that again. I want to know what I am doing before I run out and do it. I want all the known facts. So I read all about incubating for the last few months. I wanted to make sure my eggs thrived and the chicks were healthy.

But I am here to tell you about the things that people have left out. The things I never knew or read about. The things I had to find out the hard way.

The low down dirty, stinky truth and nothing but the truth about hatching chicks!

It’s so exciting seeing your first little crack in the egg!

Until you realize that little chick is going to take HOURS! So you keep getting up every 5 minutes for the next 24-48 hours checking on that one egg. Yup! I have done this 6 times and did this every time.

When the chick does hatch, it is not the prettiest thing. It’s covered in slime and has an umbilical cord attached. Just like a newborn baby. The inside of the egg-shell was actually really cool. My kids thought it was awesome to be able to see the blood veins in the egg-shell and to see the different layers.

And once your chick has hatched it is tired and will lay there like it is dead. Just flopped down face first! Don’t worry it’s not. This is how babies rest. And on that note, get use to it because this is how they will sleep for quite a few weeks.

Once the baby hatches, you have to leave them in there for at least 24 hours or just until their feathers are dry.

While your baby dries, it will gain strength and play tag with your other eggs. The eggs will get bumped and moved; possibly even rolled from one side to the other. Don’t panic, this is doesn’t affect your eggs hatching.

Now your little baby is dry and ready to come out. Fantastic! But beware of the smelly incubator. When you open it up, it’s enough to make you gag! Everything has been baking! And baked umbilical cord is not a good smell! Just saying!

Chicken eggs take 21 days to hatch. I usually leave my eggs in the incubator until day 25 or 26. If no more hatches by then, I call it and throw away the dud eggs. Now is the fun part, cleaning the incubator.

You have all the bad eggs, the broken eggs shells and membranes, the disconnected cords and maybe some poop. It’s great fun! I recommend doing this outside or in a separate sink from your everyday sinks. I have a laundry room sink which is quickly becoming the chickens sink. I use it for giving them baths, washing their dishes and now cleaning their incubator. I also recommend a pair of rubber gloves. Just to take away some of the yuck factor. And I use baby soap on mine. It’s what I use to clean them with so I figure its safe, plus it’s what was sitting there the first time I did this.

It’s going to take a good amount of arm muscle to scrub some of the stuff off. Once your done, dry it the best you can and then let it sit out to air dry. Its best if you can leave it out in the sun because this will really take care of anything left behind. You are ready for your next time of incubating.

Now that I have told about all the gross things of hatching. I am going to give you a tip that I have yet to follow. I have read several places online recommend putting down some rubber shelf liner. It helps the babies gain their footing and aren’t slipping everywhere, but I would think it would help with the clean up also. Maybe keep the bottom from getting so stained and allow easy clean up by just throwing everything on top away.

So what are you incubating next? Because you know even after all this, you will be incubating again. The babies are too cute and seeing a life form and be born is amazing.

Once you hatch, you never go back!

This post is partying over at the Our Simple Homestead Blog Hop

Hard

January 13, 2016 / Jeanette / Leave a comment

Recently someone said to me, “You just don’t get it, life is hard.”

This someone was a family member who I was extremely close to until this last year when he just disappeared.

Apparently life got “too hard” to pick up the phone.

But please don’t assume because someone looks like they are living the perfect life that they don’t understand how hard life can be.

Hard is not knowing when your next job is going to come. Hubby hasn’t worked since November 30. Today, January 13, is his first job in 5 weeks.

Hard is marking off those calendar days and still not hearing the phone ring.

We had 2 months of our mortgage to pay, kids to feed and a homestead to run before even a phone call for a job quote came in.

We don’t live with our significant others family and work at a restaurant the gives us free food.

Hard is knowing we have 4 kids to feed and hoping we can make it through.

I had to scrape together meals the best I can with what I had to work with. My kids never starved, but they also knew we couldn’t grocery shop like usual. And that leftovers had to be eaten. We just didn’t have a choice.

Hard is losing a pet.

Realizing that they will never be there at your feet anymore.

Hard is starting your day at 4:30 in the morning and ending it at 9 at night. And knowing tomorrow you have to do it all over again.

Hard is realizing your another year older and the ones you love and trust aren’t going to be around forever. Hard is knowing tomorrow isn’t guaranteed and one day you will have to say good-bye.

Hard was my Hubby being in the hospital for 24 hours while I am unable to be there. I had no one offer to watch the kids unless it was an absolute emergency.

Getting up, going to work and coming home~ is not hard.

Life is hard, once you have lived it.

Life is also hard when lived alone.

2016 Homeschool update and goals

January 5, 2016January 4, 2016 / Jeanette / Leave a comment

Our new school year begins. I have a 1st grader, 8th grader and a 10th grader now.

This is also the first year that I am not doing all the lessons in all subjects with all of my kids. I realized it wasn’t realistic of me or fair to them. My 10th grader is doing most of the schooling on her own. And only joining us for US History & Geography and Creative Culinary. The rest is through online resources.

My 1st grader is between grades. He is too old for Kindergarten work and not quite ready for 1st grade completely. So we are making it up as we go with him. But I am glad I waited to start formal schooling because now he is so excited to begin. That’s what I want. No one is happy if he is resisting and I am tearing my hair trying to get him to focus.

My 8th grader is the tricky one. She is physically of high school age, technically in 8th grade, but mentally between a 3rd-5th grade level, some days. Towards the end of last year, I notice she wasn’t getting what her sister was doing and was losing interest. She was starting to join more of my son’s activities. Even storytime, she would find some spot to sit so she could hear the story. As frustrating and disappointing as this is, I have resigned myself to it. I want her to grow, learn and be able to function on her own. And it may or may not happen. But for now, this is our reality. Our daughter is stuck as a 9-10 year old. So why would I stress myself and her out to learn things she obviously can’t comprehend.

So my goals for this year…

Have my 10th grader continue to earn credits towards her high school diploma and get a part-time job.

Have my middle daughter continue therapy and continue to work on basic concepts while incorporating them into real life situations. Give her plenty of social situations with children her own age. We have also considered an autism school, but have yet to really make a decision on that.

Have my youngest learn some life skills like tying his shoes and learning his phone number and physical address. Begin reading and build on the skills he has already learned.

Another goal is to simplify our homeschool schedule. From August until November, I had such a full calendar. There was field trips, art & park days, homeschool meeting days and book clubs. I am an introvert so this kind of schedule was too much for me. I know the kids had fun, but it was hard to get in the homeschooling with all the activities. So I am limiting them to a certain amount every month.

Plus all the activities were starting to cost more than I would like to spend every month. With our new budget, we won’t have the funds like we did before.

I am going to pick the activities that go with what we are learning at the time.

I think all of this will help us stay on track and have a great homeschool year.

Simple

January 4, 2016 / Jeanette / 1 Comment

It’s 4 days into the new year and I am still thinking about what I want to accomplish in 2016.

The one word that keeps coming to mind is simple. I want to simplify my life. I want to slow down and just enjoy the moment.

Live in the moment.

About a week ago, my hubby had a healthy scare. At least it was a scare for me, he was chilled and cracking jokes like the class clown he is. But it scared me enough to know I want to enjoy every moment. No one knows what tomorrow will bring.

Tomorrow is not guaranteed. And I want to go to bed at night knowing I gave it my all.

In the end, I just want a simple life. I don’t need the latest and greatest technology. And I don’t need designer clothes.

I want simple friendships, not ones that take so much work to hold together.

I want simple relationships, not ones where I am doing everything and getting nothing in return.

I want a drama free zone.

I want my house to be clutter free and organized.

I want my food to be as healthy as I can make it.

I would love to go back to the little house on the prairie days.

And just live simply.

My Ducks made me sick

December 19, 2015December 21, 2015 / Jeanette / 6 Comments

All my life I have been a lover of ducks. When we moved out to this property, Grandpa use to say we can get some chickens. And I always said, no I want ducks. I just love them so much! Well as everyone knows I got ducks last year and ultimately ended up with 2 females and a male. My females are laying all these gorgeous eggs and I have been baking up a storm with them. Then the first incident happen.

I was making brownies and of course tasted the batter. Within a few minutes, my throat got itchy and swelled and my lips were tingling. But I thought it had to be the new spices I used on my pork chops. I have used duck eggs several times before.

Then I made a batch of cookies with Dakota. As soon as I ate one, I had the worse pain in my stomach. A few days later, ate another one and the pain was back but this time I threw up once.

Next, I made some cookies for the kids and I didn’t even eat one! I just licked a small amount of batter off of my finger and within an hour, pain. I couldn’t even cook dinner that night.

Well you think by now I would have learned my lesson. But I made brownies Monday night and I was up all night throwing up and the pain…..oh my god, unbearable! I almost told my hubby to take me to the ER. I mean I birthed 2 babies and 1 with no epidural and that didn’t even come close to the pain I was experiencing. The crazy part is I was at the doctors that morning. And we both thought it was my anxiety flaring up. But I thought that was strange because it would hit when I was at home watching TV and relaxing. What do I have to feel anxious about?

So this last time, I put 2 and 2 together. I know I should have taken notice with the first incident. That was bad enough. And it explained why all the medicines I took to help stomach symptoms weren’t doing a bit of good. I needed to treat an allergic reaction. But I had no idea that is what it was.

The next day after all these events, I would feel wiped out and still had soreness in my stomach. I would take the day to rest and that would throw the rest of the week off. Let’s just say I am not happy about spending my holiday season on the couch. I feel like I missed out on so much activities with my kids. But now that I know, I will take better caution.

Now I have 3 ducks and at least a dozen eggs a week that I can’t use. So I am selling them. NOT my ducks, the eggs. I made that clear to my hubby and he said he wouldn’t have asked me too. I have a lady that buys them for her dog because he is allergic to chicken eggs. It will be a way to pay for my feed.

I just hate to think if I had gotten brave and tried to eat one scrambled. I may not be around to write this to you.

This post is hopping at the Clever Chicks Blog Hop

Sugar Cookies

December 2, 2015 / Jeanette / Leave a comment

On Sunday, I got a rare and special treat. It was just me and Dakota. This never happens. My two youngest girls were at a sleepover and my oldest daughter went to work with Daddy that day. So it was just me and my boy. We went to breakfast at Dunkin Donuts and then came home to bake some cookies. All Dakota wanted was Christmas Tree Cookies with green sprinkles like on Blues Clue. And being that kind of Momma that’s exactly what he got.

Now I can’t take credit for this recipe as being my own. But it is the best recipe I have found for sugar cookies. I found this recipe on Pinterest. Check it out here.

Here is some pictures of how our cookies turned out.

Not only are they pretty but they were very tasty too.

Also check out my post from last year about my favorite childhood Christmas Cookie Here.

I am thankful….

November 18, 2015November 20, 2015 / Jeanette / Leave a comment

I am thankful that my Hubby puts up with me as much as he does. I do love him even if I did say I wanted to buy a donkey and name it Babe (my pet name for him).

I am thankful for my kids. Parenting is stressful, tiresome and some days down right awful. But without them I don’t what I would be doing or who I would be. I was meant to be a mom.

I am thankful for my family. Sometimes they are stupid, crazy or weird. And some of them are all of the above all at once, but how would I know how to be normal if I didn’t have something to learn from. (To all the family members that read this, that wasn’t meant for you. Nope would never say that about you.)

I am thankful for being able to homeschool and being able to have a homestead. I guess that falls under being thankful for my Hubby since he works very hard so that I don’t have too.

I am thankful for my Autistic daughter. I am thankful it is only that and not anything worse. I have friends who are dealing with the possibility of death as an end result for their children’s condition. And I am very thankful that my daughter can walk, talk and function at a higher ability than some with this diagnosis. I know it could always be worse.

I am thankful for my grandparents. Without them, I wouldn’t be half the person I am today. They stepped up and made sure I had a stable home and a place to call home. For that I am forever thankful. Even though 2 are gone, they are never far from my heart or my thoughts. I am an introvert like my Grandma. I only keep a few close friends. I am a farm girl like my Grandpa. And also got his love of Country Fried Steak and dumplins.

I am an animal lover like my Grandmom and also got her need to feed and take care of people. My Grandmom was a picture of grace until you got on her bad side. Then the gloves were off. I feel like I am like that. I will always be polite, even to someone I don’t care for, but if you insult me or my family, you better watch out.

I have my Grandaddy’s sense of humor. In fact, I was just telling my hubby and kids that my Great-Grandmother (his Mother in law) never liked Grandaddy because of his sense of humor and the way he would eat his food. Like fried chicken, she always used a fork and knife, where Grandaddy would pick it up with his fingers. I notice my hubby using a fork sometimes where I am like it’s finger foods, I’m using my fingers! So in the end, I am convinced that my great-grandmother wouldn’t like me either. And especially not now that I named 2 different chickens after her. See there’s that sense of humor I was talking about. He also taught me about love and devotion. Seeing him still committed to my grandmother after she has been gone almost 22 years is inspiring. You don’t see love like that nowadays and I hope my marriage is just like theirs, Strong and withstanding time.

So what are you thankful for?

This post is partying over at Simple Blog Hop

Holidays upon us..week 7

November 17, 2015 / Jeanette / Leave a comment

Well it is here. The holiday craziness is officially upon us. I know I am a little behind because of illnesses and remodeling. Yes, we decided to remodel in the middle of the holidays. We did the same thing 4 years ago too. We are just crazy like that. But thankfully it is done and now I just have to reorganize my house. I am also writing this while dealing with a very sick little girl and a million things on the to do list. But I always pull it off. Sometimes by the skin of my teeth. But hey that’s life.

So what should you be doing….

Hopefully you already shopped, are ready to shop, going shopping for everything!

Grocery shop for Thanksgiving no later than this Friday. It will save you from dealing with the massive crowds.

Make a plan for your Black Friday shopping. I am not participating because it seems the stores open earlier every year. I like to enjoy my Thanksgiving with my family and friends and shop on the actual Black Friday but I will just be shopping from this very computer I am writing you from.

Christmas shopping should already be happening. We have had boxes coming in at least 2-3 times a week here. I am almost completely done with my family outside of my household and just need to concentrate on my kids now. Hubby already bought his present so that’s one less person for me to worry about.

Hopefully you found my Holiday series helpful. I enjoyed writing it.

Happy Holidays ya’ll!

Christmas Planning…week 6

November 13, 2015November 13, 2015 / Jeanette / Leave a comment

Last week, I came across this fantastic post by Christy Jordan. For those of you who don’t know, she runs a blog called Southern Plate and also has published 2 cookbooks. She is my blog idol.

Anyways.

She posted about how she makes a Christmas Notebook. It was so easy and simple. And I thought what better way to get organize than to have one place for everything.

I always have half used notebooks lying around so I put one to use and turned it into the Ford Family Christmas Notebook. Her is very fancy, where I just took a sharpie to the cover.

I did everything she did, but I also added in a page for Thanksgiving menu and grocery list.

And I will be adding pages for Christmas Cookies to bake, Elf on the Shelf Tricks and our 25 days of Christmas activities.

I hope ya’ll will find her blog and post as enjoyable as I did.

OH I forgot… Target and Walmart black friday ads is up on the site.

Growing a Large Family

The ups and downs of raising a large family

family