Outing

The other day I-

Wait. Did you hear that?

Is that?....Yes, it is! It's the sound of hundreds and hundreds of screaming bugs running, crawling, inching, flying for their lives! They call out warning to family and friends! They abandon projects! They leave behind meals and head for the hills, or the neighbor's yard, whichever comes first!

I. Have. Released. The. Chickens.

::Da Da DUUUUMMMMM::


Yes, so the plan was to let the chickens get used to their coop, so they would know that they have a safe place for food, water and shelter. I really didn't want to chase chickens all over the place when it was time for them to get pinned up at night. Impatience threw that plan out of the window.

That and the fact that the grasshoppers were getting bigger.

So I let 'em out! Turns out they are totally cool. They follow me everywhere and I have no problem catching them to put them away. So now they make it to the west side of the barn in the morning and eat by my garden in the shade and then back to the east side in the afternoon where they sit in the shade and rest.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Ok, so the red is a Production Red and the gold is a Buff Orpington. They are totally sweet! I haven't named them yet, but plan to. I'm thinking something like... Lucy and Ethel? Ginger and Mabel? Something....I'll keep thinking about that.

The red one is super curious and definitely the leader. She is also the one that stays by me the most. Super friendly and likes to be held/pet but she has a kind of crazy gleam in her eye with Coen. I'm keeping my eye on her.

The gold one is more skiddish and is a bit more difficult to catch. She doesn't like to be held and every time I set her down after picking her up she lies down and ruffles her feathers, like I gave her the heebie geebies. She, however, follows Coen everywhere. If he walks too far away she stands up really tall and  runs after him then stops when she gets a few feet away.

Doing a super good job eating the bugs, though! They are bedded down in my garden as we speak, which I'm not too excited about. I just know they are going to scratch up my seedlings come next planting. Also yesterday I picked yet another huge cucumber but this one had been pecked on.

Not cool.

My Mei Tai

I'm LOVING the Mei Tai!! It's saving my hiney these days!

Coen doesn't understand that Mommy is out of shape and slow. This stage of running away from me as fast as he can is getting old QUICK! I want him to be able to walk around and explore whenever he can, but there are some times where it just isn't appropriate or safe. Sure I could strap him in the stroller but who wants to get that thing out and put it away over and over again. Plus I've always liked to hold Coen and for him to be close to me.

Enter Mei Tai.

I found one while I was volunteering at JBF a few months ago. Actually, I found two. The one I wanted (and bought) was brown (my favorite) and was marked at $25. The other was black and marked at $75, so it was brown or nothing!!

It's completely comfortable and super simple to wear. I can now get Coen securely on in less than a minute. Plus, he loves it. It's much more practical for a bigger kid. (I still love my Moby wrap for babies though.)

It's perfect for times when we're outside watering the garden and Coen wanders off to chase the dog and he's quite far away from me. I envision a chupacabra hopping out of the woods and snatching him up. So, into the Mei Tai he goes! :)

I definitely suggest it as a sling for kiddos... hmmmm.... maybe.... 10 mos. and up. According to the tag, mine came from this site. Check your resale shops first!

Progress...

Slowly but surely, with a LOT of sweat and hard work, the yard is turning into a place I like to be. Four wheelbarrows later the cactus is G.O.N.E. . Unfortunately my bush beans didn't make it. Something...strange....happened to them, so we're on round two. I'll probably pull them up to make room for something else come summer. We'll see. Okra is doing good though! ::cheesy smile::

 The lettuce has a mind of it's own and is growing super fast. I think I'll have to do some thinning.

And I had one strawberry.

Emphasis on the word had.

Free Play!

Whoa, I have been sooo crazy busy yall, and MAN has this blog suffered!! Not only is Coen keepin' me on my toes but this warm, spring weather gets me goin, goin, goin!!

Remember how I mentioned here about how I start projects and never finish them? I listed a few things I would be working on. (Don't worry, I didn't finish those either).. Instead I started new ones.

One of the things I have spend my time on is this little gem here.
 

I found this little baby in an abandoned storage unit. Apparently when some people empty their units they don't clean up all of the trash. They leave behind old junk that they don't want and it's free for the taking. Who knew? This little cart was just sitting there with nothing but a landfill in her future. Sure she was a little gritty and grimey and screamed 1979, but other than that she was in great condition. Best of all, super sturdy and had four wheels. I knew Coen's heart would go pitter pat if he had this at home to push around all summer. Of course the idea of Coen being completely engrossed in his "new to you" outdoor toy while I worked on my tan this summer made my heart go pitter patter too.

Because I didn't want crazy colored kids toys littering my yard, I've spent the past week picking paint primers and colors and layering and letting dry. Now, she's finished!!

Waddya think? I'm happy! I think Coen will love it. Total cost? About six dollars! Now If you'll excuse me, I think I hear a little boy waking up who needs to practice his grocery shopping! :)

The Oil Cleansing Method

Well, I thought it would take little more than half a week to convince me, but it didn't. Three days into trying the OCM I have already received complements on my skin, (Hoorah!) so, I thought I would share the wealth!

If you haven't heard about it, the oil cleansing method is a way to clean your face using oil! YIKES! I know. I felt my face turning into a pizza when I first read about it. However, because I couldn't get past the truth of the basic scientific principal that "oil dissolves oil" I knew I had to give it a try.

Quick skin history, because I know you are all so very interested....

Over the past couple of years my skin has been fairly easy to care for. I think that's because I stuck with ONE product and I nailed down a system. I washed my face with Cetaphil and applied Cetaphil moisturizer. I learned that this "milky" textured cleanser washed off of my skin better which prevented clogged pores. My skin was also very dry and if I didn't apply moisturizer almost immediately it would start to get tight and flaky. If I ever got a blemish I used a spot on treatment.
I knew that these regular soaps and cleansers were stripping my skin of it's natural oils, as well as leaving behind a film of soap scum and chemicals and other junk. To combat the problem I applied a lotion, which usually left my skin feeling bogged down.

Enter OCM.

Our skin secretes oil to keep it soft and hydrated and to unclog any impurities from our pores, keeping our skin clean and blemish free.

OK, so I made a mixture of three parts olive oil (3t.)and one part castor oil (1t.)with a few drops of tea tree oil (2 drops) to fight any bacteria.

At night I rub the oils all over my face skipping the skin around my eyes. Then I either hop in the shower for a quick steam, or I steam my face over the sink for about a minute. After that I rinse my skin with warm water being careful to only rinse off the excess oil, I don't want my skin to be oil free, and pat dry with a clean towel! This removes my make up as well! I wash my eye make up off with water or I use an oil based eye make up remover. The first night I did this I was pleasantly surprised at how soft my skin felt. It also felt clean, refreshed and not greasy at all!

In the morning I splash my face with water and apply this witch hazel toner, which I LOVE.

My skin looks more tone and blemish free!! It also feels amazing and I haven't had to used moisturizer once, which is a miracle!! Give it a try! For more information about the OCM you can click here.

Food, Baby!

Well, we're on to baby food! Actually, Coen started rice cereal when he turned five mos. old. (I don't wanna hear it from all you LaLeche moms out there) I figured that baby food was right around the corner and wanted to break in the Beaba we got for Christmas. I knew I could make some of the starter recipes and freeze them, so when we were ready for food I wouldn't have to scramble to make anything.

So I called up my friend Becca in Arlington. Her sweet Elinor is only a month or so older than Coen, so why not try out some of our homemade baby food on her? We made sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, apples and pears and apples and pears with cinnamon(which are sooooo good). It was really fun and easy to make and Elinor loved it!!

Here's Becca with our first batch of carrots.

Me making the apples and pears

Coen oogling Elinor. He loved watching her!

The fruits (and vegetables) of our labor!

A few weeks ago I started introducing Coen to it and he loves everything!! He's a great eater too. Since then I've made sweet potato with broccoli, mashed banana and mashed avocado. He hated the avocado. He didn't spit it out though. Just swallowed and then shuttered. It's pretty funny!

E is for Eco Friendly

Well nothing has happened to us that begins with "E". I know. No explosions, earthquakes, excavations, experiments, enabling or enduring endeavors ....fortunately. I was, however, looking at a catalog today that contained alot of Eco friendly items. I figured a good little blog would be to share some of my favorite green sites. Again, let me state, that I'm not getting on this "green kick" because it's cool right now. I don't believe this whole global warming thing. The earth has been slowly warming for thousands of years. I'm just excited to see healthy organic solutions to everyday issues. We should be mindful to take are of the world God has created. Besides, it's better for us! I'm not completely green or anything. When my dog got fleas in our house about a year ago, I was ready to endure serious toxicity to kill all of those nasty little turds. It's fun to find alternatives though. Anywho, here ya go!

Composting
The Dirt Doctor!
Green Living
Rain Water Harvesting
Green Feet

I'm running out of free time! I'll have to add more later!