The Sun Rose Again Today

     When I began this blog earlier this year, I must have been having some delusions of grandeur.  I envisioned writing about all of my family adventures, my do-it-herself projects and of course all my creative craft ideas.  Well, time is rarely on my side, and I am often deluded.  So, I apologize in advance for the downer that is about to occur.
     My life really isn't any worse than anyone else's, and it is better than many people. I am fortunate to have a great family and loyal friends.  So, what do I have to vent about???
     Well, two weeks ago, I began to feel as though I was being challenged, by what I'm not sure. I'll save that for a different post, if I ever have time to write what is in my head.  The thing is, I really didn't have time to deal with it.  The week before, my husband was sent to Dallas, Texas for about five days. Yes, I said DALLAS, TEXAS. I am only in the minor league of OCD, but Ebola was in Dallas, Texas. Okay, so when my husband came back, I could just quarantine him in the travel trailer for 21 days. Problem solved.
     Next up, my kids always want to go eat after church. With my husband out of town, I caved.  AB had a shrimp appetizer and catfish poorboy sandwich. Before we could leave the restaurant, he had thrown up all over the bathroom floor. I mean ALL OVER.  I immediately thought stomach virus. Darn him for biting his fingernails!  Later in the evening I was proven wrong about my Dr. Mom diagnosis.  He had a rash. Hmmmm.... Yep! This has happened before. Just a month before, he ate at Red Lobster with my brother and had the same symptoms. I gave him Benadryl, but the rash remained unchanged. So, I thought it must be something else. A friend's daughter had just gotten over Fifth disease. That's what the rash looked like.  This time, I took him to the Doc-in-a-box to rule out anything viral or bacterial. He simply appeared to have an allergic reaction.  I'm sure there are many people who can live their entire lives without eating shellfish.  We ARE NOT those people. AB had a Crawfish Football Birthday Party when he turned 10.  We took cooked crawfish to school for his Fourth Grade End of Year Party. He eats ate oysters, calamari, crawfish, crab, shrimp, oysters, clams and scallops. But, life goes on. I made an appointment with an allergist, who we saw today. We are now the owners of the Epi-pen.  He'll be allergy tested in a few weeks. Problem solved.

AB with a lobster 

     I failed to mention that we had plans to go to a Shrimp Festival. I began to believe that it would be best if we just stayed home.  We went anyway, though. We just didn't eat any shellfish. Well, AB and I didn't.  We'll learn to adapt. Isn't that what life is about?
     Next up, I received some test results. They weren't horrible and yet, they weren't great. So, the first week of November, I find out more. This really is minor in the realm of all the things that happened that week. Problem almost solved.
     The principal at LG's school scheduled a Fall Festival on the Thursday before the children were to be out the next day. That same night and time was the Homecoming parade. On Friday, we had parent-teacher conferences. My husband's 25th High School Class Reunion was that night. Our plan was to leave early the next morning to go to the Gulf Coast.  We left in the morning, but it wasn't early. We spent a much needed week at the beach. Everyone survived, and the world continued to turn. Problem will likely repeat next year.
     There is one other thing. While talking to my brother one day during that awful week, he told me that my stepmother has c.a.n.c.e.r.  I haven't visited or called her like I should. You see, one year ago on Halloween while I was at her house with my kids Trick-or-Treating, she got the call that her son had a brain tumor.  I called her periodically, and then I just stopped, partly because I was busy and partly because I didn't want to intrude. Then, for a period of time this year, I've simply been angry! Angry, because I need my parents, but they are gone. With her son sick, I felt like she didn't need my burden too. So, right now I feel horrible that I wasn't there for her. So, here I am angry again, but life goes on, at least for some. Not ready to deal with this problem.
     During this awful week, I really didn't have time to let any of these things get me down, but by the end of the week, I was rather aware of the heavy burden that I was carrying. Many of these things, I simply put in God's hands. Other things, I realized weren't nearly as important as they seemed. Then, I saw this picture on a friend's facebook page. It was a timely message for me.

Now, I have to work on LG's Runway Fashion Birthday Party.

Treasure in the Nesting Box

Well, it finally happened! After church this afternoon, I went out to check on the girls. I heard one in the house, which is unusual.  Normally, they enjoy hanging out under the house, or they escape the run to forage in the nearby woods. I peeked through the window and saw Mickey, named after Mickey Mantle. Yes, I know pullets are females, but tell a ten year-old boy that he can't name his favorite chicken after his favorite baseball player. Well, I didn't.

Anyway, I opened the door and what did I see, but Mickey strutting around with pride beside the nesting boxes. Then, I saw a tiny egg nestled in the nesting box that I introduced Mickey to a few days ago. I screamed with glee. I pray it didn't frighten Mickey into an egg strike. So, I carefully scooped up the treasure and showed it to my husband and LG. I wrapped it in paper towels just in case the first egg is more fragile than normal.

AB had spent the night with a friend. Once he arrived home, he was thrilled to hear the news. He spent the rest of the day checking on the nesting boxes.

After I tucked AB and LG into bed, I went to check to see if the girls had turned in for the night. For the last week, one chicken has been defiant and remained out every night. After putting the chicken I call Damien, in the house, I noticed there weren't any more eggs in the nesting boxes, but I saw something unusual under the roost. It looked like an odd light brown egg. I picked it up only to discover that it felt like a water balloon. I knew we were going to throw it away due to the location it was found, but I couldn't resist getting the children out of bed to look at it. Oh, the adventures of raising chickens. They weren't yet asleep, anyway. Inside, it looked like a regular egg. I am so excited about our egg treasures.

Now, I wish we had a few more chickens, maybe a dozen more.

It is all so amazing.

No Sew Costume for a Pow Wow Princess

Recently, our Cub Scout pack had our end of the school year awards banquet.  The theme was a Pow Wow.  We were fortunate to have an anthropologist who has studied the Native American culture lead us in the Pow Wow.  He allowed the children to assist him in setting up a lifesize tee pee.  We learned about various tribes. The Scouts and their siblings wore Native American style outfits.  It was a fantastic event!

I turned to the internet for inspiration on a design for LG's outfit.  I found this site http://blogilates.tumblr.com/post/9876043253/diy-pocahontas-costume-for-under-5-tutorial, and got a few ideas.

I purchased a Youth Large t-shirt at Hobby Lobby.

 I couldn't find the RIT dye, but I did find Tumble Dye.  

First, I cut off the hem at the bottom. Later, we used the hem as a belt to cinch the costume. Next, I cut off the sleeves at the angle shown in the original tutorial.

Then, I cut thin strips from the sleeves.

  Next, I cut fringe in the raw edge of the bottom of the shirt.

 Then, I cut small slits below the neck of the shirt. I looped the strips through the slits.

Longer strips were used in the middle and shorter ones were used toward to outside.  I tied them in a simple knot.

I prepared the floor by placing clean garbage bags on it.  I dampened the costume and wrung it out. Then, I put it on the trash bags. I applied the spray dye evenly over the garment. You could do it outside, also.

Next, I hung the costume in the kid's shower to dry overnight. In the morning, I put the costume in the dryer to heat set it. It turned out beautifully, but it was a little short, so, LG wore gym shorts under it. It is unlikely that I will wash the costume, so I don't know if the dye washes out.

LG, the Pow Wow Princess

LG wears a little girls 5/6 and the shirt was a youth large. 

Disclaimer: I have not been compensated in any way for mentioning the products and store listed in this post. Although the above mentioned website was used as inspiration, the completed design belongs to Clever Ideas of a Random Mom.

True Warrior

A dozen or more.

That is the number of times each day that I think to pick up the phone to call my mother. I don't actually do it, you see.  My mom lost her battle with Lupus just days before my 39^th birthday. 

My mom was diagnosed 18 or so years ago.  I didn't realize that she was truly sick until 2006.  One Sunday afternoon, after eating lunch with our family, I noticed the rolled up sleeves of her white, linen tunic revealing her battered-looking arms.  They were so very, very thin, and bruised. They were shades of black, purple and blue.  I asked her what happened. She replied, “nothing”.  Really?  That began my lesson into the horrors of autoimmune disease.  Lupus ravaged her body, but it couldn't steal her courage, faith or love.   

To the untrained eye, one of these hands may look like it belongs to a frail, elderly person, but that couldn't be further from the truth. This is a picture of me holding a true warrior’s hand. It is the same hand of the strongest person that I have ever known, my mom.

I miss my mother and I grieve my loss, but not for a second do I wish that she were here.  I would never want her to suffer for even another second.  I can only imagine what an incredible Mother’s Day she will be having in Heaven.  

During one of our last conversations, my mom told me that my children would help me get through her death. As always, she was right.

Happy Mother’s Day, Moma! 

Moma and Me

State of Total Distraction

On the ride home

Around 9:45 a.m. this morning, I received a call that the peeps were ready to be picked up at the Extension office.  I took a shoebox and a pet carrier to put them in.  When I walked in the office, I just followed the sound to meet AB's peeps. Eighteen.balls.of.fluff.  They are adorable and noisy, but more adorable than noisy.  It really is hard to get anything done, knowing that they are here. I can't wait until AB and LG get home from school.

I did buy a smaller waterer and will feed them in lids for a few days. I also rigged up some chain and snap links so that I can raise and lower the heat lamp.

Eve of the Arrival of Baby Chicks

One fateful day, my son, AB, came home from school with a paper from our local 4-H. It was entitled "Chick Chain".   I took a few minutes to read about the program. AB said that he wanted to do it.  On that particular day, our captive animal population included a bearded dragon, two turtles, one dog, and multiple fish.  I regularly care for the CAPs. I really didn't want to triple our CAPs. I want my children to respect all living things, and I want them to be responsible for their CAPs. I have many wants.

We live in a small Southern town, however, we do not live on a farm. I've never raised livestock or flocking animals of any type.

That evening when my spouse arrived home from work, I handed him the aforementioned paper. After quickly scanning the paper, he said, "ok".  Ok, what? No...  The appropriate answer was no.

At one point in the past, I may have wanted to raise chickens and to be earthy and such, but I have come to the realization that I may not have time for that right now.  I may have my kitchen decorated in roosters, but I'm not sure what to do with fowl of the flesh and blood variety.  Ok,so with much hesitation, we are doing this.

We pay the $50 for the program. We attend an orientation. Many weeks go by.

Tomorrow it "C" Day.  Chickies Day.  Eighteen of them to be exact. They are to be picked up in a shoe box at our local Extension office.  Like any expectant mother on the day before her due date, I have the nursery prepared. So, finally, there it is.  The point of this post.  I had to create a brooder for the baby chicks first few weeks of life to keep them safe and warm. This is what I came up with.

I purchased a small roll of hardware cloth. I
used wire cutters to cut the hardware cloth to an
appropriate size for the lid. Then, I used a
permanent marker to mark in the corner
one square over from each edge.

Using a permanent marker and the edge of a square,
I drew lines to each mark I made earlier in the corners.

I gently used a box cutter to go over the lines.  This
was a rather tedious task. I applied gentle pressure
 as I went over it each time. Eventually, I cut through
 the plastic.  As much as I would like to have rushed
through this step, patience paid off.

Using the hardware cloth as my guide, I drilled
 holes in the corners and midway on each side.

I used #10-24x3/4 inch machine round combo with nuts and #10 finish washers.

I laid the hardware cloth on top of the lid, aligning the corners
with the holes. Then, I put the bolt through the washer, in the corner
of the hardware cloth, through the hole, and attached the nut on
the underside. I will check the nuts daily and tighten as needed.

Closeup of hardware cloth and bolts

This is the completed setup, ready and waiting for the chickies.  I wanted to try out the bulb, but this is not the actual fixture that we will be using.  I may go with a smaller waterer, but the feed store was out of them.