VICTORY!!! ~at last

WE FINALLY HAVE A CHICK!! After all my failed attempts, victory at last. This little chick might look pretty pathetic but it's only an hour old, it's suppose to look like that.

It will dry out and get cute and fuzzy in a couple days. 3 other eggs are showing signs that a possible hatching might be coming next...

It's only a miracle that I hadn't throw the eggs out yet, they are all 4 days "overdue" and according to my research that's not typical. Honestly I was waiting until I could stomach the process of going though and opening up the eggs. It's heart breaking to see fully developed eggs not hatching.

Hopefully I'm not counting my chicks before the eggs are hatched! :) I had already called this third attempt a failure so I am ecstatic to have even 1 chick hatch.

Out of the mouths of babes...

Some of the funny things the kids have said recently...

Noah & Josiah are walking towards the compost pile, Josiah wants to play in it.
Noah says: I don't want to play in it, it's poop!

Josiah: Laughing at the idea that Noah thinks compost is poop..."Hey Mom! Is compost poop?"

Mom: doesn't answer right away, she is thinking on how to respond.

Dad: Steps in an answers before mom. Dad says: "Yes, compost has some poop in it"

Noah: Feeling victory that he was right.

Josiah: Completely grossed out that we are putting poop in the garden!

A couple minutes pass and Josiah walks up to me in the garden and says "Mom, why are we putting poop in the garden, we eat the food from the garden?"
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Last night we had a beautiful day and decided to eat dinner outside on the back patio. We are eating dinner and Noah decides to tell us the birth order of all the kids, he says Austin was born first, then me, then Siah, then Alanah, then Kaianah.

Noah: Did we really all come out of your tummy Mom?

Mom: Yes, you all really came out of my tummy! (mom thinking, I have the stretch marks to prove it)

Josiah: You ate all of us?!?

Noah: We are all so big, how did we fit?

Dad: You were much smaller than you are now, you've grown since you were in mom's tummy.

Mom & Dad: We turned Josiah's comment into a joke and said that Mom was reallllly hungry and that's why she ate all of the kids. We have explained since that Mom didn't eat the kids.
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Josiah & Mom are gathering chicken eggs a couple days ago. We are walking and talking and having a nice time just the two of us. I open the chicken box and hand the eggs to Josiah to put the eggs in the basket.

Josiah: Mom, do the chickens poop the eggs out of there bottoms? How do the eggs get in the chicken?

Mom: Great question Josiah, let's ask dad when he gets home! :)

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Mom is getting ready for the day, I'm in the bathroom brushing my hair, & putting on makeup. Alanah comes in and wants to do what I'm doing.

Alanah: Mama, I need stick-stick. (stick-stick is chapstick or lipstick)

Mom: No, not right now.

Alanah: "Mama, I princess, I need stick-stick! I pretty."

Mom thinking: Oh, wow...she is such a girly girl. What's this going to be like in 10 years?? I'm scared. :)

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Easter Sunday

We started our Easter Sunday by attending church. After church we had some food prep to prepare for some family coming over. In an effort to cut down on the cost of a traditional Easter dinner we tried something new this year, our Easter dinner was a Mexican theme. We had beans, spanish rice, homemade corn tortillas, chile relleno, pork with chile verde sauce, enchiladas etc.
My Aunt Alice made this cake for Easter. The kids just LOVED it.

Alanah with one of her Easter Baskets. (With a few extra items that we didn't expect, THANK YOU Aunt Diana & Uncle John.)

Grandpa & Grandma Fitzpatrick left Easter baskets for the kids....we hid the baskets and the kids had to find them.

Kaianah enjoyed her 1 egg that doubled as a rattle.

Here's the kids Easter baskets. They are about 30 seconds behind me and I snapped this picture before they came running up to get 'em.

Uncle Rob and Uncle Mike are watching the kids hunt for eggs. (Uncle Rob had recent neck surgery thus the neck brace)

Alanah found some!

Aunt Barbara & Aunt Alice helped the kids dye Easter eggs.

Another step in our journey...

The learning never stops...as of today we are officially BEEKEEPERS. Another step in our journey to being less reliant and more sustainable.
"Dummies" pretty much says it all. Oh wow, we have SOOOO much to learn.

Okay, I just have to tell you, I'm totally scared of bees. I had to put on my big girl pants today and work through the fear. The bees were flying all around me, landing on my hat & clothes. It was a little scary but I did it!!

This is our "NUC". (yeah, I had to google the definition)

I'll save you the work: Nucs, or Nucleus Colonies, are small honey bee colonies created from larger colonies. The term refers both to the smaller size box and the colony of honeybees within it. The name is derived from the fact that a nuc hive is centered around a queen - the nucleus of the honey bee colony.

Here's our Nuc in it's proper location.

Here's Dusty smoking the bees. The smoke calms them down. (It does much more than that but I'll spare you the details)

Here's Dusty coming back after opening the hatch to release the bees. We had Alanah out with us so her and I stood back so she wouldn't be in the way or get stung. (Burger & Tri-Tip are pictured to the left, they want to see what all the buzz was about.)

Happy Birthday Miss Alanah

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALANAH NOEL DAVIS

It was 3 years ago today that Alanah came into this world...

She is such a joy in our lives and we are blessed to have her as a daughter.

We LOVE you!!!

~CLASSY~~

She ain't purdy but she'll work.

We needed something for hauling wood, materials etc. Cash being our short crop we turned our sights towards Craigslist.
Our criteria=working, registered, durable & CHEAP. We found this "beauty" for $170 and it's working out GREAT so far!!!

Greener pastures...

We wanted to plant pasture grass for the cows this year...
All this was done with a small rototiller, hand seed spreader & 3 rakes!! phew, glad that's done. :) Austin really helped with this project, he rototilled about 80% of that pasture. He's really growing up. :(

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

We love you!!