My view of things this week

This has been my view this week.... rain, lot's of rain and more rain. Harvest has come to a complete stop around here. Our road is almost totally underwater. But I think the sun is FINALLY going to come out this week. I would have to say after a weeks worth of hard rain the sun really does look wonderful.So...the Lord willing and the creek don't rise we will hopefully be able to make it to town tonight to do a little trick or treating.

Grateful

I've been very grateful lately of all the time I've been able to spend on projects. No...they are not Picasso's but it's very satisfying to me to have the opportunity to sit and create little things during the day. Gets my mind off the messes to be cleaned up or the fights I need to break up.

I need that outlet.

I'm grateful for little one's help around the (dare I say?) farm. This is our new chicken house and it used to house all the outdoor toys. The girls are all still doing fine. After we start free-ranging them (letting them run loose and poop all over the yard) I'll get individual pictures of each of them and let you in on all their names. Saw a fox near the yard yesterday so I'm a little worried about their safety. We'll see what happens I guess. I'm grateful for the kid's desire to draw and make things........even if it means I usually have yet ANOTHER mess to clean up. I'm just grateful today.......

what are you grateful for?

Headed to Target!

I am up, showered, dressed and have make-up on. The coupons are all organized and I have my print-out of deals....I'm headed to Target people...watch out!!
(My cousin sent me this and I thought it was VERY appropriate...haha!!)

Are we chicken farmers now?

We have decided to raise some chickens for eggs. It sounded like a great idea when we were talking about it but now that they are home I'm wondering who thought of this?? Part of the reason for our trip north this past weekend was to purchase some chickens off the Farmerfoley's. We picked out six. I'm not sure what kind they are so for now we'll say we got 2 blonds, 2 brunettes and 2 redheads.

The Hunter did a great job of picking out the girls. I'm wondering if we should call him the Chicken Whisperer now instead of The Hunter....hmmmm....

Remember that whole scene at the beginning of the Beverly Hillbillies where they are all loaded down and headed to the big city? Remember how they had chickens strapped to the side of the truck?? Yeah, well...here is where you insert a hillbilly joke. All six of them made it home on the back of the truck and are doing well so far. They are eating and drinking. It should be about a month before we have eggs. I'll keep you posted.

This is just the beginning ya know. The Hunter envisions an 'off the grid' farm ya know. He wants one cow, one pig, and one goat. These 6 girls are just the beginning.....

In need of vacation now

I said I wanted to do a lot of propping-of-the-feet and relaxing this weekend but that didn't happen. That's ok....it was a blast! There was a lot of zaniness...some which started in the car on the way north. We stayed in the Farmerfoley's RV and other than the lack of plumbing it was a wonderful (FREE) stay. Not only were the pillows fluffed and the bedding turned down when we arrived but there were also chocolates and a new People magazine on the bed. And besides....if there had been plumbing we might have had to do this and nobody wants to do this!

I tried to put three out of four children in the same bed for awhile but that lasted about....3 minutes. Just long enough for someone to 'steal my covers' and 'hog my pillow' and then Bubby started doing what all guys do when there are 2 girls around...he started trying to impress them with all the bad words he knew...Poopybutt and PeePeebutt and then when that didn't work he went to spitting. It was so much fun to see all my bestest buddies again. It's been a long time...too long! We all went to a local Mexican restaurant and had a fabulous time making the Mariachi band play all the best Mariachi songs we could think of...like Ice Ice Baby. Matt was SO DONE with the Mariachi band. The Mariachi player noticed he was making The Lady in Red here so uncomfortable that he kept playing and talking right to her all night.

After all the food and drinks we headed out in search of some dancing. Well, there wasn't much dancing to be had in the small town but we made our own fun and I can't wait to go back again.

Propping my feet up

All the card making.... all the baking.....

all the knitting....

and all the sewing.....has left VERY little time for all the free magazines I've been getting and that are piling up around here.

So, this weekend I'm headed to the Nort' Country to prop my feet up, read some magazines and hang out with all my best girl friends. See ya next week!

Chester!

My cousin, Jennifer, came this past weekend and I'm not sure who the kids were more excited to see....her or, Chester, her french bulldog. Chester came snorting into our lives on Friday night and couldn't have been a better dog. He was more well-behaved than my children! He only gets ONE toy at a time out and when he's done playing with it he puts it back!! Yes...you heard me right! I think my cousin should raise my children from now on. He never left the kids side all weekend long. They both LOVED him and I think he really loved the attention. By Sunday morning I think they officially wore each other out. Poor Chester just laid on the couch and didn't move. "Hey Chester check out my cool new iPhone!"When Jennifer told him it was time to go home I swear he walked up to each of us and gave us a hug. He hadn't jumped on me all weekend but he jumped up in my chair as if to say 'see ya later' and then jumped back down. It was too cute!We miss you guys.....come back to visit soon!!

What did I get myself into???

I love tote bags and I have way too many of them. There are so many blogs out there that I look at everyday where the women are whipping up all kinds of fun sewing projects. Some of these women make a very nice income sewing bags and purses. They look so easy to make right? They are just a square with some handles and a couple of square pockets. How hard could they be to make?? Well....last year for Christmas I made a couple of people tote/grocery bags. They turned out pretty good. Very simple, no pockets and I bought the handles....I couldn't figure out how to make them. Now everyone wants tote bags......sigh.....

So, for my aunt's birthday I decided to make her another tote bag. She requested pockets inside this time. I tried to make it a little more stylish than the last ones I made. I did ok...only cried once during the process. No, really...it was fine. I just can't seem to get my mind wrapped around the projects. I can barely envision the finished product. I'm not sure what is wrong with me. ha! So, my aunt receives her tote and shows it to her friend who turns around and orders three more. THREE totes!! I'm all about making a little money and I'm very excited about this. She wanted SIU (Go Salukies!!) fabric so her and her friends can take them to the ballgames. I put pockets in them for their cell phones and keys. Hopefully she will like them.

I like the idea of making these and selling some but the first major problem with this little business venture is there isn't a fabric store within 45 minutes of me. If I make a mistake or get a last minute order I can't just run out and buy more fabric. Living in the middle of no where is making me more frugal and organized I think. These are good qualities to have right?

Lot's of cardmaking

Lot's of card making going on around here lately. I have a scrapbooking/card making/sewing/computer room right off the living room now so I sometimes am able to sneak in during the day and put some things together before the kids realize what I am doing. I also do not feel so isolated from the family and can interact with the kids while I'm creating things. I do tend to get distracted with the help of the computer and facebook though.

Out of the blue last month my friend Jenny sent me a Stampin' Up! stamp set called Good Things Grow. Such a pretty little stamp set and perfect for fall I think. I made her a couple of cards using the stamp set as a thank you.

It is so much fun getting unexpected things in the mail! I also made a couple of other cards for various friends. I was going to give detailed descriptions of each card and what stamp set I used but.....there is just not time. I can only do so much people!!

I did you the Cricut to create this flower which I think is fun. The Cricut is so great for making simple cards look fun!

I have also made a number of cards for sale this month. I really should do that more cause it's fun, easy and I can make money at it.

We are being INVADED!

I told you there were things in the corn and beans that wanted to get me. I told you there are things to be afraid of. We are being invaded by ladybugs!! They are all over my house...inside and out!We are in full harvest mode around here and it's warmed up so the beetles are everywhere! They are flying around the house so much is looks as if it's snowing. The windows are covered with them!I just vacuumed 262 beetles off my kitchen and laundry room ceilings....yes I counted. I put the vacuum away and my ceiling looked like this again within a matter of minutes.
I would go to town to get way from them but I don't want to open the door! I'm trapped!!