Building Our Chicken Coop

So the chickens are finally home and our coop is almost completed. The only thing that needs to be finished is the paint and a bit of trim work. Eric and I built the coop as my birthday gift :) Days 1-4 were completed during nap times. (Usually 2 hrs)

On day one, we bought the lumber and built the frame. I made all the cuts and drove every screw in. I wanted to be involved.

On day two, we put up a wall, laid the floor, and added framing to the run. Again I made all the cuts and drove all the nails&screws.

Elena woke up early so she came out to "help".

On day 3, Eric stood 2 more walls and built a window while I began painting.

Day 4 the roof went on, rear wall installed, and I painted some more.

I love the heart shaped ventilation hole.

Day 5 was super hectic!!!

Eric woke up and worked on finishing the at 6am. We went to pick our hens up at 9am. They finally made it into their coop at 3pm that day! 

They must be happy ladies because they have laid 3-4 eggs a day since arriving. We couldn't be more thrilled to have them. Only one has a name do far, her name is cinnamon, she's the big meanie ;) So the coop won't be finished for another week or two but our girls don't mind. I'll post the completed coop when we get it done.

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Military Wife

As a military wife, I couldn't be more proud of my husband. After spending 8 years on active duty in The United States Marine Corps and the past couple years in the Air Force Reserves, he has dedicated his life to serving the people of this great nation. His reserve unit will likely deploy next year (for 6 months or more) and while it is always in the back of my mind, I try not to worry about it. Every month he is gone for a few days and at least once a year he is gone for two weeks (or more). This year, like many before, he will be gone on my birthday. I'd love to "be that girl" who is cool about it, no sweat. For my family, I am. On the inside, this sucks! Not just because it's my birthday this Saturday, but because I can't spend it with my very best friend.  We have learned to love FaceTime on our iPhones but it's never quite the same.

[Above: Our daughter standing in daddy's boots that are clean and ready to be packed.]

As a military wife and mother, we must ever be the bookends holding everything together while our spouse is away. At least in my family, those times are generally shorter now. :) since our daughter is only 18 months old, she is not at the age where she understands it all yet but I will say, I'm not looking forward to the inevitable "daddy is leaving" tears. Cross that bridge another day.

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Chickens!

I'll post more on this later but my chickens are finally home!

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Wax Paper & Autumn Leaf Sun Catcher

Fall is here! The leaves are turning and air is crisp. One of my favorite fall crafts as a kid was the Leaf Sun Catcher. Today, Elena helped me make one for our new home!

Elena picked most of the leaves out and we laid them out on a cooling rack to inspect.

Then we chose the design we wanted and arranged the leaves on a long piece of wax paper.

The wax paper is on an old towel. We folded the wax paper over top and turned the iron on high.

Then we placed an extra towel over top and ironed the wax to seal the leaves in place.

We held it in front of the light but ultimately taped it to a window. I cannot wait to see the morning sunlight pour through the rich colors!

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How to Make Apple Butter

If you are anything like me, then you probably enjoy the fall. I take it to the extreme! I buy too many apples, drink too much cider, and purchase too many sweaters! My family recently went to an orchard and pumpkin patch with my friend Amy's family. 

Naturally, I came home with a lot of apples. This year I set out to make apple butter. We picked Macintosh and Cameo apples, though I'm sure you can use any kind for this. Here's the recipe I used:

Apple Butter

10 medium apples

2 tsp cinnamon 

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 dash of salt

1 cup apple cider (not pictured)

1/4 brown sugar (optional)

Peel, core, and slice your apples. Add all ingredients to your crockpot and cook on low for 8-12hrs or until spreadable. Pour into jars and refrigerate for up to 6 weeks. The jars can be frozen for up to a year as well. 

Make sure to remove every trace of peel. Peel bits are to apple butter as egg shells are to scrambled eggs; not good!

Throw it all in the crockpot and give it a good stir.

Half way there! I kept the lid on for the first 8 hrs and then cracked the lid to allow it to thicken up a bit.

The end result was 24oz of eat-by-the-spoonful deliciousness! The recipe I received from a friend included a can of juice concentrate but at the last minute I used a cup of apple cider instead. I decided that the juice concentrate would be way too sweet! I added a bit of brown sugar but it turned out almost too sweet so wait till the end to see if you need it!

I wish that I could have bottled the smell of the apple butter cooking; divine!

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Letters to my Daughter

Dear Elena...

And that's how it began. On my only daughter's first birthday I began writing her letters. Sometimes I only get to it once a week, other times twice a day. I'd like to share these memories with my daughter down the road. I pay special attention to the little things that make me fall in love with her over and over again. These details tend to get lost with time. Myself, I have an awful memory. I write to her for her, for the memories, and for myself. I've been faithfully writing for 6 months. I just don't want to forget, the story of us. I realize that it's not for everyone but I hope sharing this will inspire someone else to do the same. But then maybe I'm just a sap...

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Pillowcase Dress DIY

Tonight I had a great time crafting in the kitchen. I decided to attempt the "Pillowcase Dress" that often pops up as soon as the summer begins. I am very green when it comes to sewing, very green! Let me preface that by saying that I am not a puzzle person. Does that make me anti green puzzles... maybe so. I look at sewing patterns like a puzzle and I find them very difficult to follow. This is why the pillowcase dress appealed to me so much (though I didn't use a pillowcase). I just browsed google images and free sketched my basic design. Here is my finished dress.

The end result was decent although I marked the dress in pen and so this was just for practice. I have made drawstring pj pants for myself using the sewing machine (the hubby walked me through the pattern portion of it, darn puzzle!) My other projects included: 2 dog beds, 2 dog coats, a 6 month onesie, car seat canopy, a skirt with a zipper back, and drapes. The dog beds were the easiest and turned out the best. The pj bottoms are great and I still wear them occassionally. 

This week has been a doozy! We have had my niece over three days this week as well as plenty of fall chores to complete. We've been working on the chicken coop as a family. The floor is in and two walls are up now!

We also finally had good conditions to burn up the huge brush pile at the back of the property. It may look small but those are 4x4x8 posts in the picture. Luckily we kept it very tame and the neighbors didn't call the fire dept.

We also mapped out the dog run and next year's raised bed garden. All in all, it was a productive week. What have you done to prepare for shorter days and colder nights? As always...

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