The Birthday Grad Party!

Michelle had a combination Graduation party and 19th birthday celebration all rolled up into one big event!  We had a wonderful time!  The weather was perfect.  It was about 73 and sunny by the time the party started.  We had worked hard the last week or so to get everything ready.  There was still lots to get done at the last minute though.

My DH's Mom is staying with us and she got all the candy and treats in the bowls to go on the ice cream bar.  Elizabeth worked with her.  There were a number of kinds of candies and nuts and other treats and sauces to go on top of the ice cream.  We had fresh strawberries too.

My children had decided that they would redo the back hall bathroom for me for Mother's Day.  Somewhere along the line the project got stalled.  It was the day of the big party and here is what it looked like.  Paul had repaired the walls so that there were no big holes or anything, but it wasn't painted, and the bathroom itself still needs a lot of work.  We decided that the way it looked really fit the party motif of 'shabby chic'.  It even had a lot of the matching shades of blue.  No sweat!!!

Michelle was blessed to have her good friend Josie be able to fly up from Virginia for the long weekend.  They worked together really well on the food and decorating.  They really enjoyed their time together.  

The Boss strode around fixing things and getting things ready to show for the guests.  He really enjoyed giving tours of the farm and the house.  He even gave tours of the garden.  

Michelle worked hard on getting all her accents ready.  This was an old metal table she found in the barn.  She painted it and then overpainted it with lace curtains to give it the appearance of lace.  I thought it looked very cool!

We were ready for the party about the time the guests showed up.

Here is what the guests saw as they pulled in.  The yard was freshly mowed and everything was green from all the recent rain.  It was dry enough to be able to park on the grass though.  That was a blessing!

T-Bob is back and rested from his trip to the Philippines.  He was given the job of limeade maker.  He  and Thomas kept the beverages flowing.

Someone asked me how we got everything ready on time.  Here is part of our secret answer.  Have a large family with lots of hard working children come about an hour early to help.  The Stauffers helped get the food ready to be put out, set up the chairs, pick flowers for the arrangements, put on the table covers, and help set up the swingset and volleyball net.  There were other jobs that they helped with that I am probably forgetting right now.  They were such a blessing to us!!!

Chalkboard paint has become a staple here.  We even used it on the back of our 'shabby chic' bathroom door. It is a lot of fun!  Very useful stuff.

Josie and Michelle dressed up for the party and were soon ready to greet the guests.  

One of the projects we accomplished on Saturday morning was to get the swing set from the other house set up.  It was used by the kids almost the whole day!  So glad it was accomplished! 

We set up the tables under the trees for those who wanted to stay cool and also had some set up in the sun, for those who wanted to be warm.  There was plenty of room for all!

For the food we had Burrito Bowls, or as the Amish call them 'haystack'.  There was white and brown rice, with ground beef or pulled pork to go on top.  There was all kinds of toppings.  We had fresh tomatoes, lettuce, two types of salsa, sour cream, pinto beans and chips.  We also had watermelon out.

There was also an ice cream bar with brownies and all different kinds of toppings.  It was super yummy!  Michelle had done a lot of work making fabric streamers to decorate with.  I think she may try and sell them now that the party is over.

There was a nice group of relatives from my Dad's side.  It was really good to see them.  One was my Dad's cousin from Oregon.  My Dad's Sister and  a niece were also there. It is always a blessing to have family around!

Michelle used pallets to set up her board.  She had lots of pictures from her bow business as well as pictures of many of her amazing baking projects.  There were the usual pictures of her growing up.

During the day there were several soccer games that were played, some volleyball, and come croquet.  There was even some frog hunting in the evening.  One was cooked over the camp fire.  They decided that they didn't taste like chicken, but rather more like scallops.  Hmmmmm! Go figure.

My DH's sister Debbie came for the weekend and had a lovely time visiting with Mom.  She was spying out the land to see what there would be for her kids to do when they come for the Memorial weekend for Dad.

My DH had the wonderful idea of pulling the cool toys out of my office waiting room and letting the children play with them on the little piece of driveway.  They had a wonderful time and it seemed to keep them occupied for quite awhile without any squabbles.

Miss Pres was wanting her picture taken.  She was making lots of silly faces.  My brother requested that I take and save a number of such pictures for her graduation and wedding.  Not just the cute photogenic ones.  Here ya go bro!  She is still terribly cute.  I love her freckles!

Whatever Miss Pres does, Sally does also.  Here is Sally's attempt at a silly face.  I have such fun nieces.

The girl's were babysitting for one of the little ones.  They decided she was a 'good baby' since she didn't cry when they dropped her.  Of course, they are small so it wasn't much of a drop.

Everyone left by 10:15.  We had quite a bit of clean up to do.  DH's sister was a real help with that.  Once the majority was at a stopping point, Michelle opened up her gifts.  She was really blessed by people's thoughtfulness!  Thank-you all!!!  

It was a wonderful day and a wonderful party!  It was something we will remember for a long time.  Thank-you for helping us make such fantastic memories!

Moving the Chicks Along

Sometimes I am so busy living that I don't have time to write about the living.  That is not necessarily a bad thing!!!

I finally couldn't stand having almost 65 chicks in the basement!  The dust was overwhelming even though most of it is contained by the sheets around the brooder.  The mobile coop is not near done and I just couldn't wait for it to be finished to get some chicks out of there.  I decided that one of the horse stalls in the barn would have to be cleaned out and made into a new home for the chicks.  This one is pretty tight and was cat proof.  There is netting along the open area on the top.  It was a very dusty job, but Paul helped me.  We then took the hay that came in the barn and spread it around the floor.  We hooked up one heat lamp.  I was too nervous to use two because the wiring in the barn is very old and decrepit.

Michelle and I selected 15 of the largest most feathered chicks and brought them out in a box.  This was a challenge as they were not excited to be caught and the brooder is large.  Fortunately, Michelle has very long arms and I know how to act scary to chicks, so we could chase them down to her end.

They hung out under the light or burrowed under the hay.  One has to be careful where you step!  Don't want to step on a chick.  We watched them carefully for a week.  We decided that 50 chicks that are growing rapidly was still too many to have in the basement.

Yesterday, Michelle and I took out another 31 chicks leaving 19 chicks in the basement.  We chose the most feathered ones.  The reintegration of the chicks went smoothly.  The largest roosters quickly let the others know that they were in charge and things settled down quickly.

My DH made a feeder for them.  This works better than somethings we have done.  We have come up with a couple modifications for next time.  The holes are too big and are down too low.  Too much feed flows over the edges. Next time we will do 1-1.5" holes that alternate towards the the top.  The chicks do a good job though of cleaning up the spilled feed.

This was another homemade feeder that worked well for short term.  Can you tell what it is?  It is a Chipotle Burrito Bowl.  I washed it out and cut holes in the cardboard part.  This works well for smaller chicks.  Now that they are 5-6 weeks old they can open the top from the bottom.  I liked it because it was easy to fill and there was not much spillage.

Here are the 46 chicks in the stall.  They have lots of room now.  So much better than the brooder!  The sheet is hanging there to minimize drafts.  They all seem to be thriving once more, and Mom is happier because there is so much less dust in the basement.  I am still looking at buying more chicks for meat and some turkey poults for meat later this summer and autumn.  Can't wait!  With the price of beef and pork going up so rapidly, poultry will be the more affordable option.

Here is how far the mobile chicken coop has come.  There is still quite a bit more work to be done on it before it is ready for the chickens!!!  The boss has an appointment with a welding friend for next week.  So grateful for a handy stall for the chickens!

Random Thoughts

Winter has arrived, even if it hasn't technically come by the calendar.  There is snow on the ground and white everywhere.  I really like it- usually, unless I have to drive on unplowed country roads.  Friday I was out in the country and the snow came pounding down.  I actually had to skip my last two patient house calls as the roads were so bad that I was afraid that I wouldn't make it home.  I was having to shift into first gear to make it to the top of some of the hills, and that was after changing my route to avoid the largest hills.  Ugh,  I was about the only vehicle on the road.  I did get home earlier because of it (about 9).  It was interesting as about 20 minutes from home the snow got a bunch lighter and the rest of the way was reasonably easier.  I had to leave yesterday morning at 6 AM to head to Columbus for a seminar.  A couple VERY busy days.  That's why there haven't been any blog posts.  I have been too crazy busy.

I love the fact that our house is warm despite the freezing weather outside!  I like the fact that the heat is FREE!  The other day the gas company called the house and wanted to know if I wanted to fix the rate I pay for the gas at 56 dollars  or whatever per unit.  I laughed as I interrupted the woman and told her that really that since we have a gas well, she was buying gas from me!  It was fun!

 Michelle and Elizabeth have been busy doing photoshoots of the bows for her facebook and etsy pages.

I love their creativity, and how they work together to get them done.  Michelle comes up with the ideas and Elizabeth follows her directions.

I think they came out so nicely!

T-Bob's basketball team had another game.  It was a very close and really exciting game.

This little guy (#11) was the difference maker.  He got hot and shot about 6 three pointers.  It was the difference in the game.  This was an away game.  This gym was super small.  There was only room for a single row of chairs on the side, and even then you had to keep your feet back or they would be on the court.

T-Bob got to play the whole game.  It was his first real game that he played in.  He did really well and I was proud of him.  He scored two baskets and got a number of rebounds.

The other team was quite a bit bigger, except for their two little guards.  The guys played really hard.  It was back and forth.  Trevor, our star player, fouled out with about a minute left in the game.

 The coach pulled the guys together and they made a comeback, however the final score was 38-35 we lost.  The team thinks it will be different when they come to our gym later in the year.  They aren't used to a lot of running on a full sized court.

One thing I DON'T like is the sound in your child's voice when they call you and you KNOW something is wrong!  "Mom, are you almost home?"  You know there's a problem!!  Alas, Michelle had sliced her thumb on the inside of a can.  It was nasty!  We were able to clean it up and get it glued together.  All was well. (Just be glad I didn't post the close up of the wound. You don't really want to know that much.)

 The girls had a good time going to a craft show on Saturday to sell their bows.  Michelle had T-Shirts made up to advertise her business.

Alas,  There was a very low turn out so sales were very slow.  It might have been due to the cold weather.  That was a disappointment, but everything is available on the website.  (go to Anna's page here...https://www.etsy.com/shop/AnnaMadeItBows.

Well,  now you know what we have been up to the last few days. Have a great week!

Anna Made It Bows

 Our daughter, Michellle,  has been making hair bows for the last while.  She has recently started selling them and has opened a site on Etsy and facebook.  It is called Anna Made It Bows.  Here are some of her creations.

Elizabeth and Michelle went out yesterday in the freezing cold (19 degrees F, -7.2 C) and very windy!  The lighting was great and made for nice pictures!  All these pictures were taken here at the farm.

She tried to hide from the wind behind these trees.  I love her color choices,

I think this was  my favorite photo of the day!  The sun came out and the wind was blowing.  I really like this particular bow.

Here's more of a close up of the bow.  It really has beautiful autumn colors.

Another shot of the white bow.

Here is a close up of the blue bow,  She has LOTS of bows made in LOTS of different styles.  If you are looking for a specific color or style let her know.  She also makes matching mother daughter sets or little girl and doll sets.

Here are some smaller bows on clips that would work well on a little girls ponytails or hair.  She does beautiful work.

Please go to her FB page and like it.  She has other bows and pictures there.  She also bows for sale there.  The Etsy site is still a little under construction, but it should be up and running in the next couple days.  These bows make great presents for the girls on your Christmas list.

Thanks!