Prairie Scraps

I'm not sure I would ever have bought a FitBit on my own, but when I received one from my Mom for a Birthday/Weight Loss Reward, I find myself quite obsessed with it!  I consider myself pretty active, and even run on the treadmill 3-4 days a week for 2 miles.  Well, in the last week and a half of wearing this little band, I have found that I'm definitely not active enough.  This FitBit has certainly been a reality check for me. The American Heart Association recommends that you take 10,000 steps a day to keep your heart healthy.  Most "normal" days, I've found that I don't get anywhere near 10,000 steps, BUT it has challenged me to make sure that I do.  As a result, I'm feel much better, and have even taken a half mile run up and down my driveway (unheard of, because I've always been too embarrassed to run in public) with my kids.  Maybe this Fitbit is onto something!  It sure is getting me to move!  What about you?  What keeps you moving...

Just wanted to share what our meat chickens are starting to look like.  They sure do grow fast!  My kids and husband primarily take care of the chickens, so I was shocked at how big they are when I went down there to see them last night.  Just three or so weeks away from butchering time!  It's going to take us four days to butcher all 300 chickens, so it will be a big ordeal!  Stay tuned for that!

My firstborn is about to graduate this Sunday! Because we homeschool, this is creating a few weeks with a ton of work and getting ready for the graduation ceremony and the party!  But I have to say doing the crafting is my favorite part!   There are four boys in our area that are graduating together, so we are having their graduation in one of the family's barn (not animal barn, but really, an extra space for people gathering barn!)  It's a beautiful location and a beautiful barn, so we feel extremely blessed to be a part of this ceremony and party!   We decided to make the most of the country feel and have burlap and country accents.  I offered to make burlap pennants for each of the boys, spelling their names, for the card tables, and then also a big GRADUATION banner for the gate out of burlap.  I happened to have four extra pennants, so decided to make one with 2015 on it for another accent.    Their color is navy blue, so I...

Well, moving West to the prairie, has not converted me to be a coffee drinker at all!  It seems to not be an enjoyment to drink coffee, but a way of life here.  One of the things that was recommended in my 30 Day Healthy Cleansing and Fat Burning System was to go off all coffees and sodas.  Here I will admit - Diet Coke was my hurdle.  Well, now there is new research out about coffee being ok!  Even though I still don't drink coffee, nor will I, I am really excited for my friends and family who do.  Here's the article: Hydration: How much water do you need?   It also talks a lot about what you should drink each day, too!

Last year, we raised a mix of laying hens and meat hens.  We ordered 25 as chicks in a random mix and ended up with 7 meats.  Well, that wasn't quite enough for our family of 7, but it definitely got us wanting more this year.  We decided on getting 50 this year of the fast growing, Cornish Cross.    We actually kept them in a second room off our chicken coop with our laying hens, and anxiously awaited their Big Move to the Chicken tractor in the yard, so they weren't making such a mess in the hen house!  Tonight was the move!   With the move to the tractor, also came a new water system.  We found chicken nipples in the farm store and drilled holes in PVC pipe attached to a hose and then a 5 gallon bucket.  The bucket is placed on the top of the pen full of water, and the gravity makes the water run to the nipples.  This is far less messy than the traditional waterers!  We had to watch the chi...

The sunsets on the prairie are always a reminder to us that we truly made the right decision to move our family of 7 across the United States to the West.  Some days are tough here, it's hard to fit in with the locals, difficult to get used to everything new and seems unreal that we are 70 miles from the nearest Wal-Mart or McDonald's.  And then, God sends this for us to enjoy at the end of most days!