10 Minute Cleaning Challenge with the kids

Do you have a hard time getting your kids to help you clean? How about presenting them with the 10 minute cleaning challenge!

Steps and Rules:

Make a list of things that you see in your house that need to be done (Picked Up, put up, cleaned, taken out)

Set a timer for 10 minutes!

Get as much done on the list as you can with in the 10 minutes!

When doing the chores you have to do it properly or they will have to redo it when the time is up!

Now mom’s the kids can’t do this all on their own! Join in on the fun! Make it fun! Make it a game! If they don’t feel that it is work, your kids are more likely to want to take the challenge again another day!

Our 10 minute Cleaning Challenge List for today looks like this:

• Straighten Couch cushions
• Help mommy take all the blankets to the blanket closet
• Clean the top of the kitchen table and island
• Take clothes to kids room
• Pick up dirty clothes(take to laundry room)
• Pick up all toys and put them where they belong
• Sweep/ Hand mop front door entrance
• Take out Trash

(To encourage the kids how about adding a reward!!)

Until next time,

Set those times,

On your mark, get set, go Clean!

Sunday Fun Day

Once a week, on Sundays, my husband and I have decided to do something new. We are going to try to do something fun with the family. This will give everyone a chance to relax (and enjoy each other company) before the long week ahead.

Today, I was super lucky! This morning my husband took me to the lake all by ourselves! For a short few hours I got to enjoy just my husband, the landscape, wind, water, fish and turtles! Talk about feeling relaxed!

A turtles sunning on a log! How awesome!

My view! Beautiful!

Until next time,

Enjoy Sunday Fun day!

Summer Time Bliss

What a wonderful time of year! Rain showers wash away the dirt, then everything looks and smells so clean.

The garden is producing just enough to get by. But that’s what happens when life gets in the way and you don’t get everything planted that you wanted too. (Next year I will be more prepared! I think I say this statement every year!)

Recipe from:

Check out the book at Amazon.com👇below:

Ball Blue Book guide to preserving
It’s on page number 37 under Soft Spreads

All my canning supplies is sitting on the counter top. The house smells amazing from the grape jelly I just made, and canned. What a great recipe. Fast, and easy! Three ingredients! Light man loves it! He tells me I am not aloud to use the store bought jelly anymore.

Tomorrow I will be making Pepper jelly! I have done all the prepping today and it is sitting in the refrigerator as I wrote this!

I have lots of things on my list of things to do. I am being to wondering if I am going to have enough time to get it all done! Back to work in little over a month. Lots to do!

Until next time…

Time to get busy,

And I Hope all is well,

Take the time to smell the rain!

Eye Opener!!

Birthdays and funerals shouldn’t go together. But sometimes you can’t schedule things on the calendar. 

This past week has been an eye opener for me.

Last Sunday my father’s mother passed away after serveral years of battling Alzheimers.

It is funny how a loss can make you see the true colors of people. 

Tuesday was my birthday. But I stopped celebrating years ago. It’s just another day to me.

Thursday was the viewing and Friday was the funeral.

Then Saturday was the husband’s birthday.

I started living the Simple Country Life because it is so peaceful. You really don’t have to deal with people if you don’t want to. I have my animals that love me and I am surrounded by the beauty of nature.

Then when something like this happens I have to leave the comfort of my home, and deal with the people.

Thursday was a big eye opener for me. I was beyond shocked to say the least. 95% of the people that showed up to the viewing didn’t know that my Father had a daughter. Hmm… Let that sink in for a minute.

I let it upset me of course. Then Friday I got to see the one and only brother that I have after almost 11 years. That was hard. He knows what it feels like to be in my shoes. To feel like you don’t belong. And what I find strange is with all the family gathered around the only people that comforted me during this mess was him and his mother. (Which we have different mother’s but the same father.) She embraced me and told me not to let these people tear me down. Not to let them steal my happiness. It is their loss that they never knew me.

After everything was done and said… I retreated back to my safe haven. 

I found several quotes that have spoken to me in the last few days:

In life, you will realize there is a role for everyone you meet. Some will test you. Some will use you. Some will love you and some will teach you. But the ones who are truly important are the ones who bring out the best in you. They are the rare and amazing people who remind you why it’s worth it. ~Unknown

I didn’t change. I just see things differently now! ~Unknown

As your get older, you will start to understand more and more that in life, it’s not about what you look like or what you own. It’s all about the person you have become. ~Unknown

With last week under my belt… I will not forget how it made me feel. But I will grow from this to be a better person. Words can hurt the most… But be a better person and let them guide you to become a better person.

Until next time,

Be you… No mater what others say to you. Learn, Grow, Teach, and Love.

Hard work pays off!

We started off with just a chicken coop!

Then with lots of hard work, sweat, tears and blood we ended with a mini barn! No it is not the barn of my dreams! But with my two hand I can say I built that all by my self. I am very proud of what I have accomplished.

The reason I turned the chicken coop into a mini barn was because we added two new members to our farm! 

Clover is enjoying not being caged up anymore!

And with sad news… Our Rooster has crossed to the other side of the road. Which actually was a long time coming!RIP big guy!!

Until next time…

Stay busy, work hard!

Busy life!

Summer Break 2017 has officially started! Boy have we been busy! We have got one week under our belt already! Unbelievable!!

I have accomplished so much already in the first week!

 Garage CLEANED​! ✔️✔️

Breezeway CLEANED! ☑️

Puppies Born!!! ✅✅✅

First Camping experience of the summer! ✔️

Visited the neighbors pigs!

Hanging laundry on the line to dry!

Enjoyed some unwelcomed visitors along the way!!

But all and all…the sun is shining! Lots is getting accomplished. Life is busy!! 

Until next time,

Step back into the country,

And Enjoy!!!

What a mess of a week!

With everything that has been going on this week I haven’t had time to post.

• Last Wednesday we had a small tornado close to home. It was only an EF1. We had no school that day. And we had tree limbs galore! 
• That same day my Rooster attacked me.
• My husband’s knee is swelled and hurting.
• Little Man has a rash all over his body. Rushed him to the doctor thinking it was an allergic reaction to something. Nope! Come to find out it is a viral infection running its course through his body. Funny part of this story: he went to the school nurse on Monday and she told him he had sun burn! Now I would like to know what planet she got her RN because where I live it has rained for a week!
• Been trying new bread recipes!
• Ruby the rabbit has decided to eat the baseboards. The hubby ain’t to happy about that.
• Got my grow light system set up to start my vegetables inside before planting outside. (I will post pictures later!) 

In the country anything is possible!

Until next time,

Don’t make plans in the country, they always change!

Country Girl 🐔🐰🐓🌄

New Addition!

4H started last week. We were sad to find out that Little Man has to be a Cloverbud again this year. But good news is, he will be a real 4H’er next year. How exciting! 

Knowing my Little Man… I started thinking ahead! You can never plan to much! He wants to take rabbits next year. Well this momma is on it!! I’m on the research Bing! To say the least! I have come to the conclusion that we need to buy show rabbits this year and get him started learning this summer! That way next year he won’t be scared and just thrown into something he knows nothing about.

Show rabbits also know as meat rabbits are a little different than a pet rabbit. So the planning begins. 

• We need to build a rabbit hutch out side to house a doe (which is a girl rabbit) and one for a buck (which is a boy rabbit)
• Then we need to build another hutch for the offspring!
• We need to find pedegree rabbits to start our rabbits out with!

We have so much to do to prepare for the show rabbits… But in the mean time, I bought Little Man a pet rabbit to keep indoors. This way he is learning the basics and he can play with this one!

To top it off a pet rabbit is cheaper than show rabbits. We still have a few months to go before we will be getting the show rabbits, so this momma is putting her little boy to the test and he don’t even know it. I figured with a pet rabbit I could find out a number of things!

• Is he scared of it?
• Can he handle it properly?
• Can he clean up after it properly?
• And lastly, can he feed and water it properly?

If he can prove to me that he can do all these things on a daily basis with his pet rabbit…Then we will move forward with the purchase of show rabbits!

So we would like every one to meet: Ruby!

Until next time,

Plan for your kids future!

Country Girl 🐰🐓🐔

Find Happiness in the small things!

The weather around here is far from what it should be. We are almost at the end of February and the temperatures are almost 70*. We really didn’t have much snow this year. 

This morning as I was driving, I was thinking about the small simple things that are all around us that we miss daily. Simple things that could bring us happiness and joy, if we would just take a look around.

It is hard to see but there is a farm tractor in the fog!

The top of an old country church! I find it kind of peaceful.

An old jar that my little boy and I found behind our house!

These are just some things that I came across today! Imagine all the things that we pass on a daily basis and don’t pay attention because we are to busy or distracted!

Look for the small simple things in life. Take a moment and just slow down! You never know what you will miss when your not looking for it!

Until next time,

Find happiness in the small things!

Country Girl 🐣🌄

Chicken Crazy!

Due to a nasty ol’fox I went from having 18 chickens and 3 guineas down to 6 chickens and 1 guinea! Here are the 7 that I have left. My little boy helped with the names!

⬆ This is Black Beauty! She is one of the babies my little boy and I hatched out in June 2016. Her personality is amazing. I truly love this bird! 

⬆ This is not a very good picture, because she wouldn’t sit still for me. This is Snow White! I rescued her from being the last one in the box at a local feed store. She is a little flighty!

⬆This is Pumpkin. One of my originals!

⬆ This is Cinnimon. She is one of my originals.

⬆ This is Clover. My little boys 4-H chicken that he received for his first year in 4-H as a Cloverbud!

⬆This is Spirit! He is our main man. My little boy and I hatched him out,  June 2016! 

⬆ This is the Guinea. We have never come up with a name.

The poor husband got the blame for the first 3 birds that I found dead. I was for positive his coon dogs had been involved. He kept telling me “No! They won’t touch your birds.” I didn’t believe him.

Early one Saturday morning I was at the kitchen window washing up the breakfast dishes when I heard something hit the side of the house in front of me. Silly me took off running out the back door in my lavender fluffy bath robe to find out what was going on. Just the sound made me think that the birds were trying to get on top of the house. I walked down to where I heard the noise and I didn’t see anything. So I turned around to go back inside.

Low and be hold… When I was getting ready to go through the door here comes my chickens running scared! They ran right past me. 3 seconds later around the corner came a big red fox! Boy did he look healthy!!!

Not thinking of what I was doing I chased the ol’fox clear acrossed my yard in my lavender bath robe, screaming my head off at it. By the time I got it to the woods I turned back around to go back to the house. Looking at the back door… There was my husband doubled over laughing his head off at me! 

I didn’t find it to funny at the time. A week later my husband didn’t find it funny anymore either when he was building me a predator proof chicken coop in the hottest part of summer!

The learning curve could have come sooner, or I wouldn’t have any birds left. Not only did we predator proof the coop we put the coon dogs all around it so if something like the ol’ fox would happen to come around they will bark and scare it off. 

It’s been well over 6 months and I haven’t had a problem since! I just feel guilty for having to pen my birds up. I loved letting them free range. But I am here to tell you… If you let your birds free range you are taking the chance of a predator having a free meal!!

Until next time,

Love your chickens!

Country Girl 🐔🐓🐣