Little pieces of gold?

Chickens are the first animal we bought we when moved out here in the country.  We've had many flocks since then.  Some lay well, some don't.  Some tolerate heat, some don't.  We keep learning all along the way.  

Our little flock decided to start laying again.  Woo Hoo!! Eggs are expensive!  I joked the other day with the girls that we were collecting our gold. :o)

We like to rotate out our hens when possible if they get too old.  Callie just sold her Cream Crested Legbars.  She kept her Rhode Island Red, Lavendar Orpington (my favorite), Laced Wyandotte, and Golden Sex Link Chickens.

 And then she added 9 chicks to the flock.  They are Novogen chickens.  They are supposed to be heat and cold tolerate and lay well.  We will see!  So far they are doing great!

A New Endeavor on Storybook Farms

It was before Christmas when Silas started telling us he would like to raise rabbits.  He would mention it here and there.  Then, after Christmas he told me he was serious and would like to use his money to invest in a rabbit business.  He did tons of research and prepared a whole presentation of why he should raise rabbits.  It was quite impressive!!

Patrick and I decided to let him go for it!

The first hurdle to tacke is where to keep them.  Several years ago Josh had gotten into raising rabbits for meat.  It went well at first, until it was obvious that he was allergic to them!  The set up was also inclosed, so it made it pretty hard to take care of them.  Silas talked to Josh and he said he could have all of his old cages and supplies.  Silas just needed to rework them.

With a bunch of help from his Daddy, they reworked the cages and created a really cool rabbit area. I think we should call it the Briar Patch. :o)  AFter talking with Callie, she decided to join in on the adventure with him!
 

Now they just needed to buy a couple of rabbit!  He researched the breeds and decided on Holland Lops.  We looked and looked.  He was being so careful with his budget.  We decided to go to an auction where they had livestock.  He found the cutest female Holland Lop!

She's white and fluffy and has floppy ears.

They named her Snow White.

They've been doing great taking care of her!

Now she just needs a couple of friends, don't you think?

Better late than never, right?

Well....it happened again.  Just like last year, it was "one of those years."  Things just didn't go as planned to celebrate Christmas with my parents.  But, that's okay.  It's better late than never!  We enjoy any time that get to be with them.  It really is a treasure!

As usual, they showered us with many gifts!  We had fun giving them some, too.  

I pulled out a couple of Christmas decorations and let the kids play Christmas music.

And then we feasted, and played, and opened gifts and spent lots of family time together. That's the best, isn't it?

We even spent some time working on making (and eating) gingerbread houses! It was fun, but wow what a mess!!

 

We talked and visited and they enjoyed being with their grandchildren and great grandchildren.  My parents are such good grandparents!

On the last night they took us out for pizza and wings.  It was so delicious!  We decided to sit outside since it was a nice night and would fit all of us.  My parents definitely are SOUTH Floridians and couldn't handle a 60 degree night chill.  Us NORTH Floridians could!  :o)

And just like that it was time for them to go.  It always goes by so fast and I cherish every moment.  Love you Mom and Dad!!

A gift for Dad

This year we had to celebrate Christmas with my parents much later than normal.  That post is coming soon of all the fun we had with them!

We exchanged gifts with them.  I was able to crochet my Dad this fun scrappy blanket.  I love all the blues and grays in it! I think he liked it, too!

 

My Sunday School Class

Through the years I've been blessed to teach different Sunday School Classes.  When we first got married, I taught 4-5 year old boys.  That was fun!  I've helped Patrick as we taught many different ages from elementary to teens.  When we planted VSIBC, I became the teacher for 4-12 year olds.  It was great!  Then, we divided my class and I taught 7-12.  But, as our church has grown, and God has brought wonderful people that want to serve alongside us, my roles have changed.  A few years ago we decided that I would be with Patrick in his adult Sunday School Class.  I loved it!

But, then our Sunday School nursery began to grown and babies began to be born.  Yay!  It was getting more difficult for my Beth to teach her toddler class as well as have the babies to take care of.  So, I asked if I could be the Sunday School Teacher for the babies.  It has been great!!!

Since we've moved into our new building, we've had to be creative with space, especially so that the babies don't get trampled.  Tabitha set up the perfect area for me to keep the babies.  I feed them, change them, pray out loud for them, and sing with them.  I love it!!
 

Beth is on the other side of the half wall with her 2-3 class.  She does such a great job!! I'm so proud of her.  

I love my little class! I love that God lets me serve Him in this way.  I love my church family!

"I love you" Banquet

Our family's "I Love You Banquet" has become one of my favorite days!  I've posted on how we do it in the past.  Basically, we exchange names and try to keep it a secret.  Then, each person makes a gift for the name they draw.  I love all the creativity!

We also have a nice meal together and then I get my family photo.  We always do a normal, smiling photo.  Then we do a crazy one.  Wouldn't you know it, the normal, smiling one is blurry.  Yup, that's us!
 

Callie and I have so much fun setting the table together!

This year we decided to do a pasta bar.  We had a meat marinara in the crockpot and a creamy alfredo.  I made two kinds of pasta, then we had peppers, onions, bacon, cheddar, parmesan, chicken, mushrooms and olives that could be put on top.  It was so delicious!

This year I drew Silas's name.  I attempted to crochet him a football pillow.  It turned out pretty wonky, so we all had a laugh at that!

AJ drew Callie's name.  He had us all dying laughing at the story he wrote for her about a chicken losing his feathers. It was great!  And then it had a nice moral to the story at the end.  Very creative!

Joshua made me a nice coffee scrub.  It smells soooo good!  And then he wrote me a letter.  It made me cry and boo hoo. It was very sweet and thoughtful.

I somehow missed a picture, but Patrick drew Josh and made him a little platform for the bottom step at his house.  It turned out so great!!

Beth drew Tabitha and made her a beautiful bracelet, then created a picture with the words of a song Tabitha just wrote.  Tears again, it was so sweet.

Tabitha drew Liberty and made her some cereal bars and a coupon for a spa night.

Liberty was very excited to show everything she gets to do on her upcoming spa night!

Brenna made Micah some of her Sweet and Sour Chicken!  It is amazing!  She created a cool take out box for it.  Micah loved it!! (So thankful he let me try a bite!)

My Beth is a peach tea lover!!! Silas decided to make her Peach Tea Ice Cream!  He is getting good at these neat flavored ice creams!!  It was so delicious! (I'm thankful she let me try a bite!)

Callie and Micah drew AJ and Brenna.  They made a menu for a date night for them in the future where they will cook them a romantic meal and serve them their meal. That should be fun!

Liberty drew her Pops name and made him some of the most yummiest brownies!  They had a cheesecake swirl and they were good!! (I'm glad he gave me a taste!)

And Freedom and Victory drew each other.  Tabitha helped Freedom make Victory some edible playdough, then did the same with Victory.  They were very happy about that!

It was such a nice evening and we enjoyed eating, laughing and giving...it doesn't get much better than that!