Update on last week

Well I had a very eventful week last week! Mom, Dad, Jessica, & Melissa all took a trip to Dalton, Georgia Tuesday afternoon and stayed until Thursday morning.  They went to a place called Trinity Oaks Farm.  The reason for this visit was to learn some different things about having a milk cow.  This family has several cows and my family got to watch them milk all of them. Trinity Oaks Farm does not milk by hand.  They actually use a machine called the NuPluse milker.  We got some good information and just being around cows gave us some more insight on what we need for our cow.  Everyone also had a really nice time. =D  The family they stayed with was super sweet & loves the Lord, 

which was a big plus!!  

If you want to see some pictures from their visit you can click on the picture 

of the cow. --->

My sister, Melissa, has a photography blog & has put stuff on there. She's awesome!

While they were gone, 

Robby & I got to have a little stay-cation.  It was perfect! 

We watched one of our favorite movies, 

 We only had time for 2 so we watched Episode IV & V.  

What awesome movies!  I never get tired of seeing them, and could watch them again right now. haha  It was nice to spend some one on one time with my hubby.  I love him to pieces ♥

Then this past Friday through Sunday we got to watch two of our precious nieces, Elizabeth & Meredith, and also one of our nephews, Hutson.  I love watching those kids!  Oh, and actually I got to see all my nieces and nephews on Friday. Although, I didn't get to see Caleb, Hannah, & Sarah for very long, or my sissy, Christy.  
I was quite bummed!  

We got to my brother in-law Jonny & sister in-law Tracy's house at about 4pm on Friday.  Hutson is really into these things called Beyblades.  We had many "battles". haha  When we got ready to battle he would say "Beyblades, beyblades, let it rip!" 

Here's a picture of them.  

You attach them to this pull cord thingy and "let it rip".  He has an arena that you "battle" in.  It's actually pretty fun!  He played with them until dinner.  I made one of the kids favorite meals we usually cook...Juicy Chicken.  It's funny how it got that name. You can thank my husband for that, and now he & the kids will chant "Juicy chicken, juicy chicken!"  It's so cute.  I also made some corn and green beans.  It was great if I do say so myself ;)

After dinner the girls played on the swing for a bit, while Hutson played some basketball.  Robby & I joined in.  It was very fun! Hutson & I were on a team against Uncle Robby.  We won!! Woo!!!  Then we all went in to watch a movie, Pete's Dragon.  That use to be one of my favorite movies as a kid.  Jessica and I would watch it over and over again.  Esp at my Grandmom's house.  I still enjoy it, but those darn songs will stick in your head for days! haha Oh, well the kids really loved it.

Saturday we got up real early and drove out to our house, "the farm".  We spent all day here with my parents & sisters.  The kids had a blast!  Hutson got to throw a football around, the girls loved swinging on the front porch, and we all took a walk around the property.  We went to the back pond and the kids loved how Bullitt got to come with us.  He was running around so happy, and getting into every puddle he saw.  Crazy thing.  He even tried getting a box turtle.  

Dad got him away, and the kids got to see the turtle all closed up tight in defense against Bullitt.

Elizabeth actually got stung by a wasp or bee, but man she was a trooper!! We all prayed for the poison to stop making her red & swell up, and for the pain to go away.  Several minutes later, Elizabeth told me it didn't hurt any more. I looked at her foot and the swelling had gone down.  God is so awesome!!   

After a yummy dinner of Spaghetti, we all took another walk.  This time it was to the front pond while sun was slowly going down.  Hutson & Elizabeth got to shoot the pellet gun into the water.  They loved it! Also, the guys that farm our land right now had some big machines parked out in the field. The kids loved seeing them, and I got some cute pictures of them sitting in the wheel of one.

Hutson, 7 1/2 years old

Elizabeth, 6 years old

Meredith, 3 years old

Aren't they just precious?!  We went back to the house and mom popped us all popcorn.  Mmmm, how I love popcorn.  Seriously, I am ALWAYS in the mood for some popcorn.  Even if I just ate a big meal and got full.  If someone starts talking about popcorn, I'll have some. =D

With our yummy popcorn (all this talk of popcorn is making me want some now, ha!), we all watched one of my all time favorites, The Emperor's New Groove, or as Hutson kept calling it, The Emperor's Grove hehehe He's so cute.  The kids loved it, and I of course laughed my head off.  

I laughed more than the kids.  

That movie just cracks me up!! 

Esp, the ending...  

Oh my goodness.  There are so many good lines! LOL  
I'm easily entertained :D

Anyway, we set up a couple of air mattresses in our room for the kids.  

                                          

It worked out perfect. They slept great!

Sunday morning we took the kiddos back home.  

What a fun weekend it was!! 

Once Upon A Stall

We actually started on this project last Thursday evening and I've been taking pictures every day of our progress.  On Thursday it was rainy and I forgot to bring the camera over into the barn.  I wasn't about to walk back over to the house and get it, so I just used Robby and Mom's camera phones.  

These pictures are TERRIBLE quality, but 

the lighting wasn't the greatest so it'll do. 

   

Dad being Vanna White haha

As you can see it was a mess over in that corner!  The previous owner left most of that stuff there.  Some of the wood on the left, was from us cutting down pallets. 

Got the good camera now!

We cleared everything out of that corner and stacked up all of the bricks.  There were so many!

We didn't get to work on the stall Friday, but Saturday we got out there and worked most of the day.

Section cleared and ready for
installation of stall, sir!

The first post we set into the ground.

Time to get this dirt raked the way we want it.

My hard working man! I joined him
right after taking this.

Robby getting his rake on.

  

After getting the post on the right sunk, and the ground raked,
Dad & Robby got the boards attached up top.

This is the big dog gun. Robby & Dad love it.

This was on Sunday. Charlie, our cat, decided to check out our work.

First boards are up.

Starting to look like a stall!!

This was left by the previous owner.  It's going to be perfect for a gate on the stall!

These boards were left by the previous owner.
Yay for free wood! 

I love how this looks and I'm so
glad I was able to help :D

This was the last thing we did on Sunday. We sunk both the wood and metal posts, and attached the gate to it.   

We made a ladder to get up to the loft where we'll keep the hay .  Works great!

Got to make those cuts perfect.

Taking measurements for the loft floor

I just stood back while the muscle men did this part hehe

The wonderful loft Robby & Dad built.

Robby had this handle in his van, but it just got in the way so,
he took it off and used it here!
It works so great for getting up and down from there. 

Ready to see the semi-finished project?!?!?!?!

Drum roll please..............................................................................................

We're using the stall to keep our ladder from running away at the moment...
If you were wondering haha 

TA DA!!!! There it is!! We still have to install a door in the back...that's why you see two posts leaning to the left.  We also have to get the electricity run over there and install a light.  It's almost done though! I think we'll also be starting on a milking station soon.  Lots of work to be done, but its so much fun and VERY exciting.  

♥ I love being a farm girl ♥

Making our home a farm

It's finally time!! *cue the trumpets*  

We're finally going to get 

a cow and some chickens!!!  

We needed to figure out ways to lower our monthly bills, and of course food is always high on the list.  One of the biggest expenses is milk, dairy products (cheese, butter, sour cream, etc.), and eggs.  Which are things we use a lot of.  So there seemed to be a good solution to this problem.  


About 2-3 weeks ago, the 6 of us started feeling like God was saying its time to get some farm animals.  It would save us a good amount of money.  

A cow can produce about 2 to 4 gallons a day...A DAY!! That's just insane. It's perfect for us though. We can start drinking milk at every meal, have cream for our coffee, make butter, yogurt, sour cream, cheeses, ice cream (dad's favorite)... the possibilities are endless!  

Okay, maybe not endless, 

but you get the idea. 

  

The type of cow we're looking into getting is a Jersey. Jersey cattle are a breed of small dairy cattle. The breed is popular for the high butterfat content of its milk.  They are calm and docile animals.  Jersey cows are also highly recommended for first time owners.  

           That would be us!      

Chickens are the other farm animals we plan to purchase.  A chicken usually will lay one egg per day.  We haven't come up with a final number we're going to purchase and what types yet.  I'm really looking forward to this, because there's nothing like a farm fresh egg! If the chicken gets to move around and forage, their yolks get a dark yellow orange. That's when they are REALLY yummy!  I can't wait to have those again.  Lately we've just been getting organic eggs that have been fed grain.  They aren't as nutritious or as tasty as chickens that get to move around & forage.  Of course before we purchase a cow or chickens they will need a place to stay and there's no way we'd let them bunk up in the house! hehe

*Side note* This is something we've been learning.  Just because it says organic doesn't mean its the best.  We are trying to get back to basics. Getting unprocessed.  There are lots of organic products that are still processed and therefore are not that healthy for you.  Same thing applies to cows & chickens.  Just because they are fed organic grain, doesn't mean they are healthy.  Cows should be on a grass diet.  That's why lately we try to buy grass fed beef when we can.  One day we'll start raising cows and chickens to butcher.  Trust me this isn't an easy topic for me to wrap my mind around.  I wasn't raised on a farm so killing animals will be VERY tough for me.  I'm willing to try though, because I feel its something God wants me to do.  So if He wants me to do it, I obviously can handle it. =)   

Just a bit of nerdy cow humor haha

So this month we're getting everything together to build a coop and a stall.  It's so exciting to think that we'll have a cow & chickens soon. I've always dreamed about being a farm girl, and soon I will be.  I am looking forward to gathering the eggs and going out to milk the cow.  It will be lots of work, 

but fun too! 

Now it's time to go build a stall and a chicken coop!