Proverbs 31 mommies

Childhood.

2012-07-22T08:59:00.000-07:00

With the death of so many including a 6 year old girl in the Colorado movie theater shooting it hits so much closer to home when you happen to have a 6 year old little girl. What I am sure started out as a fun memory making experience for that mom and little girl is a night that mother will probably never be able to forgive herself for. We make judgment calls that we could never know the outcome of if something goes wrong and that cold hard fact is that we never could for see it all or change it if something does happen but we also can't hide our children away and keep them from having amazing memories of their childhood. I hope that mother knows that on her daughters last day of life on this earth, she knew she was loved and had a mother who wanted her to be happy and have a life full of good times and memories. We live in a world that tries to make us fear so much and a lot of it is for a good reason I suppose but the fact is we just can't control it all. We can try and protect them from what we think might take place and we can try to be a buffer and shield from all the evil in this world but its just not always possible and facing that fact is harder than most would think, as my children get older I am now going down a road of trying to balance freedom with fear of the unknown, responsibility with protection and all without being an overbearing mother. I suppose this is a burden all parents must bear but this world just doesn't feel like it did when I was little. I had a childhood where I could ride my bike, roller blade, roam and explore my neighborhood without this unshakable fear of something going wrong, now that is not to say bad things didn't happen in my neighborhood and in this world of course sin and evil has roamed this earth for far to long but it just seems to be getting worse and worse as time goes on and unfortunately my kids won't have that carefree running a muck in the neighborhood memories like I had and as much as it saddens me I realize that as their mother I have to make up for this in other areas as well as entrust them to God that he will guide me down this road and protect my children should I make a wrong turn.

ChiCks on the loose!!

2012-06-30T06:50:00.004-07:00

We move these chicken trailers a few times a day so the chicks can get fresh bugs and grass. Oh did I said "we" what I really mean is ben and josh I just sit back and watch! Great team work guys! LOL! Well anyways when you move the chicken tractors you have to raise up the front and pull it to a fresh spot, The chickens are learning this move well and as soon as they see an opening they like to go crazy, escape and run all over the place and once they escape they do everything in their power to keep from being captured. It really is funny to watch someone chase this little tiny chicken all over the place. I was amazed at how fast they really are and how good they are at not being caught! Thank goodness my quick thinking mother-in-law grabbed the camera to get some pictures of this.

She got one!

Here chickie chickie!!

Get in there chickie!

I think I got him!

Yup sure did! One proud boy.

Its a team effort to catch these little boogers!

Here is my family in all our country bumpkin rednecking glory. LOL. We look a hot mess but hey what did you expect after running around chasing chickens all day

The Chicken Tractors!

2012-06-30T06:04:00.000-07:00

Ok well it has taken me awhile to get around to writing this post and I am sorry about that but here it finally is! I know a lot of you have been asking what in the world is a chicken tractor so here it is. We made it out of recycled metal roofing, 2X4s, hog wire, and chicken wire.

Now it may not be the most beautiful thing in the world but we will work on that when we have more time….. I am thinking hot pink maybe? :@) It would have to be a secret mission thought to get hot pink paint past my husband but I will work on it. LOL!

Here is the door that you have to go through to get into the chicken trailers.

Joshua feeding the chickens a cricket, Poor cricket but happy chickens.

In this insanely HOT weather the chickens run out of water quite a bit and we def do not want that so my husband made this very interesting 5 gallon chicken waterer out of a 5 gallon bucket and an oil pan (new oil pan of course). You fill up the 5 gallon bucket with water and then put the oil pan on top and flip it over as fast as possible and it creates a suction that lets just enough water out without overflowing. I know awesome right!!!

They are happy as can be.

The chickens have been in their chicken tractors for almost 2 weeks now! They LOVE it! They especially love it at night when the light is on and bugs are flying everywhere, They go CRAZY! We have hit a few bumps in the road (well more like other larger animals that keep attacking the chicken trailers) so we are gradually making them better and better and hopefully won't lose to many more chickens. The first attack was on there first day in them and the dogs decided to break in and play with them. They grabbed them one by one and took them to the porch to play with them. We lost about 20 chickens that night. *stupid dogs* After we dealt with the dogs the next thing that attacked was what we think is a raccoon (well our good friend tonia clued us in to this) all of the sudden we had chickens with NO WINGS! Now when you know they had wings when you went to bed but not when you got up in the morning it is pretty confusing. I never knew that a raccoon will reach through the chicken wire and eat the chickens piece by piece

This here is exactly how the chickens get eaten piece by piece, They huddle together against the sides and wont move for hardly anything!! Its like there in a trance or something when there going to sleep.

On an Adventure!

2012-06-25T07:42:00.004-07:00

Have you ever seen a little boys face light up when you tell them we are about to go on an ADVENTURE!? It the cutest thing ever and a boys dream come true. My son joshua loves to watch, listen to, and hear about adventures and is always talking about going on one. Just like the adventures of tin tin which is his and has always been one of my husbands favorite movies.

SoOoOoOo we did. :@)

They ran along the creeks little bank to get see what they could discover.

They found some fish and even a few crawdads!

Real men take there babies on adventures. :@) Just kidding!

but they do carry there babies so their wife can take all the pictures.

We found a CAVE!!!(ok ok ok so we knew it was there when we drove to it)

but the kids were soooooo excited! They found a cave!

The ran around and did more exploring.

There they go!

I def think there favorite part was seeing what they could find in the water.

The places our mini van goes! LOL!

Here comes peter cotton tail……. Well not anymore

2012-06-24T21:54:00.001-07:00

My husband, his brother Josh and my 2 oldest children Sariya 6 and Joshua 4 decided to go hunting for rabbits and succeeded.They caught two adults rabbits and a baby one. I know sad right!? I awwwwwed to, its ok go ahead and let it out. They were all super excited about their uncle josh actually hitting and killing these rabbits and couldn't wait to cook them and eat them!! Now you have to understand we are city people through and through. I have never EVER eaten a rabbit….. Nor have I EVER wanted to but when you hang out with country folk and you start doing things like buying 100 chickens to raise and slaughter you eventually have to tell your brain that maybe these thing are ok to do……. maybe.

These would be the 3 wascally wabbits!

This would be the man who got um!

And also who skinned them.

And who may have enjoyed this just a little to much. LOL!

The most surprising to me was my little princess Sariya had no problem watching uncle josh skin these things and she was even more excited to eat some! Oh goodness what am I going to do with these children, I believe they are def going to be more on the country side.

We then stuffed the rabbit with some apples, onions, rosemary, lemon, and cilantro and baked it in the oven for 45 mins or so….. It wasnt long enough so we had undercooked rabbit and never got the chance to taste it but will try again another time.

Here chickie chickie!!

2012-06-15T08:29:00.001-07:00

Our newest adventure in the clean food movement is trying to figure out where is the best place to get the best chicken for our family. As a family of 6 with multiple guest over for dinner quite a bit we have decided that the best place to get good, clean, wholesome chicken is the same place you can get all of your other food that way, by doing it yourself or from a local reliable source. So we bought 100 of these little cuties.

(The chicken not the child. LoL!)

We took them out of there boxes and put them in there new clean little home they ran around like wild children on crack just chirping away!

Everyone was so excited and the kids love how cute and fluffy they are.

The chicks huddled together to get warm and use to there new home.

Here they are with their feeder and water. We have chosen to feed them with food made from non GMO organic substances (i.e., organic corn, organic oats, organic milo, & organic alfalfa…). We would eventually like to make our own chicken feed so we know exactly where it its from and what the chickens are eat. After all you are what you eat. These chickens are feed the non GMO organic feed exclusively for the first 2 weeks in the brooder to grow big and strong, We then are going to free range them in a chicken trailer which is moved everyday so the chickens can get fresh grass and bugs but that will be for another post.

A new way of life.

2012-06-14T18:09:00.003-07:00

Well our family has been overwhelmed (as I am sure you all have lately) by the health issues of today food choices. Things we always viewed as basic and safe are now being proved to be quite the opposite. When you go to a restaurant you always want the option of being able to peek into the kitchen…. very few of you actually do but I bet if there was signs at the door saying "No one is allowed to view the kitchen!" You would *gasp* and say "Oh I don't think so! How dare you not let me see where my food is prepared!" Well of course they're not going to put that out there but I am sure there are some things they don't want you to see and the fact is there are things you know of but don't WANT to see. We know alot of our food choices are down right HORRIBLE but yet we still choose to take our families to those place and cook those kinds of food. I am as guilty as guilty gets but convenience and price plays a big part in our day to day life and excuses aside it is a process like any other to break out of bad unhealthy habits and form new healthy cleansing ones but I would love to hear some of your guys steps you have taken to get away from the salmonella infested, hormone injected, insecticide and chemical over ridden food that there trying to sell your family now days. I will be sharing with you guys in the next few posts the things that we are doing in our family and if you would like to be involved or have any helpful advice be sure and let me know. :@)

Our nature walk and cave exploring.

2011-09-12T18:57:00.000-07:00

SoOoOoO we have the CUTEST little park by our house with 3 caves you can explore. One of them is a wide mouth cave with water coming out of the entry way. The water is freezing cold all year around but the kids don't seem to mind to much. The other 2 you can walk right into and if you have a flashlight it helps but can walk all the way to the back of them. There are bats which kind of creep the kids out but what is a cave without bats?! They also have an amazing little trail to take a nature walk on. The kids get to see all kinds of animals and plant life plus they feel like they are in the middle of the forest and on a big hike. Here are some pictures of our nature walk / cave exploring from today.

Baked sliced potatoes w/ sliced onions and butter

2011-09-12T18:36:00.000-07:00

This is by far one of my families favorites side dishes. It is soooo simple and can totally be make ahead of time and stored in the fridge until your ready to bake it. So here it goes.

Ingredients

1 medium sized onion
6 large potatoes
2 sticks of margarine or butter
Salt and Pepper

A good amount of potatoes. (this will vary depending on how many people your feeding) Peeled and sliced in half first and then into about 1/2 inch thickness.

1 medium sized onion cut into thin slices

Place sliced potatoes into a baking dish.
Cover with the sliced onions.

Cut butter into 1/2 in slices and lay on top of the sliced potatoes and onions.

Sprinkle your salt and pepper and any other random seasoning you think would make it taste great! I sometimes add a little garlic powder or cloves.

Cover loosely with foil and bake for 40 mins @350F

TADA!!!!

Now I must give credit where credit is due. I got this recipe from my cousin Shawnacee Moore who has an amazing story and blog of her own. She is an incredible mother and wife. You will love the way she writes her story of love, romance, heartbreak, tragedy, and humor.

Her blog can be found at www.mommadooright.blogspot.com

Baby or no baby?

2011-09-08T09:43:00.000-07:00

Well lately all my kids have been able to talk about is wanting a little mini baby (there words not mine) The boys say they only want one if its a boy and sariya says she only wants one if its a girl. SoOoO I have worked my butt of trying to talk them out of these crazy things! I mean gosh we are already a family of 5. One more and I would never be able to own a normal sized car! LOL I know I know not the biggest thing to worry about. Well this morning joshua started in again saying he wished he has a little mini baby and wish I had a video of how our conversation went but i might do a mini interview with him later and i am sure we will get just as much of a kick out of it cause his brains comes up with the funniest stuff naturally.
Well anyways it went like this Joshua says "*sigh* I wish we had a little mini baby so I could give it the baby books on my shelf." I said "Yeah but you know that babies cry ALOT right?" Joshua without even hesitating to think about it says "Yeah but I could just put your shooting pink ear covers on" (my ear plugs for shooting) and I said "Well you know they poop alot and it stinks right?" Joshua says "Yeah but you would change the diapers not me." I said "You know there alot of work right?" He said "Yeah but I am such a hard worker boy!" I couldn't sway him to my side so I just said "Go talk to your father." LOL!I don't know what were gunna do with these kids.

Does milk from cows given rBGH hormone affect the milk or not?

2011-09-08T08:21:00.000-07:00

So the big controversy right now is does milk from cows given rBGH growth hormone affect our families. One of my fav post that I have found on this topic that i believe is somewhat fair to both sides is

EarthTalk: Do Hormones Given to Cows Make Milk Unsafe? | Environment | AlterNet

There is obviously a quick effect that shows up in our cows. Making up to 50% greater incidences for infections of lameness and hoof problems and 25% get udder infections like mastitis and major reproductive issues which in return means they will be giving them even more antibiotics. Which also means you will be giving your family more antibiotics and hormones through there milk. There have also been studies which have proven since we ingest so many antibiotics through our milk and meat that it is effecting our ability to fight off diseases since our bodies find a way to bypass things if it gets them on a regular basis. They have found that humans who consume milk with rBGH to have a higher lever of IGF-1 and more prone to Breast, prostate, colon and many other cancers. There thought and ideas are that our natural protection from early cancerous cells is blocked by consuming IGF-1.
For this reason I have decided to switch my family from cow milk provided by companies that give there cows rBGH to all natural organic milk. Cows which are not only kept from getting the rBGH but also who don't take antibiotics of any kind. The farmers who choose to keep there cows organic choose natural ways of healing there cows ailments.

So far my children haven't noticed a change of the taste AT ALL. Even though the package is different they adapted right away. The 2nd day we had switched to the organic milk I asked my son caleb who is 2 1/2 to get me the milk out of the fridge, he immediately grabbed the organic container with no question. I was amazed at how the kids didn't care that the package had changed or what it looked like as long as they got there milk. LOL. We chose the 2% horizen or the 2% great value brand. They both taste just like regular milk with the exception of a slightly stronger after taste. (I am actually the only one who noticed this) everyone else in my family say im just crazy and that there is no taste diffrence. :@)

Praise of a Good Woman

2011-09-07T13:59:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 31: 10-31

Who can find a virtuous woman?

For her price is far above rubies.

The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her,

so that he shall have no need of spoil.

She will do him good and not evil

all the days of her life.

She seeketh wool, and flax,

and worketh willingly with her hands.

She is like the merchants' ships;

she bringeth her food from afar.

She riseth also while it is yet night,

and giveth meat to her household,

and a portion to her maidens.

She considereth a field, and buyeth it:

with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

She girdeth her loins with strength,

and strengtheneth her arms.

She perceiveth that her merchandise is good:

her candle goeth not out by night.

She layeth her hands to the spindle,

and her hands hold the distaff.

She stretcheth our her hand to the poor;

yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

She is not afraid of the snow for her household:

for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

She maketh herself coverings of tapestry;

her clothing is silk and purple.

Her husband is known in the gates,

when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

She maketh fine linen, and selleth it;

and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

Strength and honor are her clothing;

and she shall rejoice in time to come.

She openeth her mouth with wisdom;

and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

She looketh well to the ways of her household,

and eateth not the bread of idleness.

Her children arise up, and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praiseth her.

Many daughters have done virtuously,

but thou excellest them all.

Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain:

but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

Give her of the fruit of her hands;

and let her own works praise her in the gates.

Cute mother sayings I love.

2011-09-07T13:16:00.000-07:00

1) A man's work is from sun to sun, but a mother's work is never done. ~Author Unknown
2) The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness. ~Honoré de Balzac
3) If you have a mom, there is nowhere you are likely to go where a prayer has not already been. ~Robert Brault
4) Women's Liberation is just a lot of foolishness. It's the men who are discriminated against. They can't bear children. And no one's likely to do anything about that. ~Golda Meir
5) She never quite leaves her children at home, even when she doesn't take them along. ~Margaret Culkin Banning
6) I love my mother as the trees love water and sunshine - she helps me grow, prosper, and reach great heights. ~Terri Guillemets
7) Mother - that was the bank where we deposited all our hurts and worries. ~T. DeWitt Talmage
8) A daughter is a mother's gender partner, her closest ally in the family confederacy, an extension of her self. And mothers are their daughters' role model, their biological and emotional road map, the arbiter of all their relationships. ~Victoria Secunda

My goal for a healthy and better lifestyle.

2011-09-07T12:57:00.000-07:00

Life doesn't have to be complicated to be healthy and that is what I am going to try to set out and prove. As a matter of fact I think it will actually get a lot simpler once you know what you are putting into your families bodies. We have to have fuel to run on just like a machine or car requires and a car can't work properly if we put dirt and gunk into its fuel system but for some reason we think its ok to put junk it into our bodies fuel tank and then expect it to never get sick, to always have plenty of energy and to keep the extra weight off. Well why would we expect so much from it when you get out of something what you put into it. Our bodies are using so much energy just to digest and get what little nutrients it can out of the food we give it that by the end of the day we are exhausted both mentally and physically. Well I am going to do an experiment I guess you could call it, with my family of 5 :@) We will be taking the things that we normally eat and swapping them out with as natural and organic as I can get. We will be starting slow and just simply replacing the things we use on a daily to weekly basis. I will be noting any difference or changes that I see with my family. I will also be letting my kids critic the things I change to see if they even notice a taste difference. Some of the biggest things I a hoping to change first are my children daily vitamins, milk, meats, and produce. Hope you will join us on this journey and start making simple easy changed that will effect your families future as well.