Monday, February 27, 2017

Fun on the Farm! (In Pictures)

            Hey folks! We had some awesome weather here in southern(ish) Indiana last week. We seized the day(s) and worked and played outside quite a bit. Can't imagine why I've been sleeping better lately finally...Fresh air+manual labor=good night's sleep!
            Since we're kind of in-between big projects/haven't had anything too exciting to “write home about”, I thought I'd share some pictures for this week's homesteading post. (Rest assured we do have some exciting things coming up real soon!) I'll try to keep the commentary to a minimum, but you know how that goes. ;) These are all from one afternoon and while it wasn't a very typical day, I thought it might be fun to give you a more personal look into who we really are via an impromptu chicken and kid photo shoot. ;)


Ripley hasn't been on the grass much since she, unlike her older sister, likes to put anything and everything gross into her mouth, but she didn't seem to mind the new texture after too long!
Myka is still very much the jealous 4 year old, so she likes to do what Ripley is doing quite often. * sigh * In this instance with the crawling around, it made for a cute picture, at least.


Ripley has been cruising along furniture for quite some time now, so she thought she was hot stuff walking along the tree. Just in the past week she has actually been walking by herself for good distances!
As for the pictures with the ball, I just thought they were cute. ;)


Getting up close and personal with the chickens...
Myka loves hanging out with the chickens...so long as there's a fence between her and the rooster. Otherwise she's stuck to me like glue or takes her bubble mower in there and chases him around with it. Don't look at me like that. He deserves it. Myka won't have to worry about him too much longer, though...Chicken pot pie, anyone?
Pretty sure Ripley got pecked by Esmerelda there, the Black Australorp, but she took it like a champ. (If you're not aware, chickens like to peck things to investigate them. It's one of their ways of checking things out. It doesn't necessarily mean they're trying to be mean.)


To be honest, I'm not entirely sure who this is, in hindsight. Ha ha If you didn't know, we have 4 “kittens” and two adult cats that, well, kind of come and go as they please, nowadays. I say “kittens” because they're almost 6 months old now and almost as big as their tiny little mama kitty.
Anyways, two of them are black and gray, but one has a regular tail and one has a bobbed tail like mama. Unless you can either A) See their tails or B) Clearly see the orange-ish colorings the bobtail one has, it's kind of hard to tell them apart! I thought this was Susan, with the normal tail at first, but now I'm leaning towards Marcy. Her paws look rather big like Marcy's. (Sorry. I sound like a total crazy cat lady, don't I? Rambling on about the intricacies of my cats...)


Time to showcase some of the girls! I feel like the chickens have been getting the shift all winter, so I thought I would show them some love. ;)
Starting on the top left and working around clockwise, we have Ivan, our Light Brahma rooster. I love that I got him mid-crow. :D Again, however, he will not be with us much longer. We plan on trying to hatch some eggs ourselves this spring and then he's going bye-bye. One of my aunts * thinks * she wants a rooster, so I told her she could have him, but I highly doubt she can talk my uncle into it! Lol Especially if he knew Ivan is twice the size (literally) of all the rest of the chickens!
Again, to be honest, not really sure who this is. I've always had a hard time telling Margaret and Julie, our Barred Rocks, apart, ever since they reached adulthood. Large Marge used to look fatter than Julie, but now they pretty much look the same. Either way, one of them is a cheeky little minx and likes to stay out, even when all of the others are already in bed for the evening.
This is Bertha, one of our Buff Orpingtons. She's a nosy girl. :)
Here are our two Barred Rocks side by side. See? Hard to tell apart, right? It cracks me up when they walk around side by side like this because it reminds me of the Sanderson sisters on Hocus Pocus. Ha ha
Ah, the elusive Gandalf. She's so hard to get a picture of because she's always on the move! She's one of my faves, even though she's the reason we had to build higher sides on the nesting boxes because she likes to kick all of the straw out. -_- We still have no clue what she is either! Maybe you can help me out? She was labeled as a Star-Spangled Sebright at the store. She clearly is not that going off of pictures!
Not a bad picture of the ridiculous looking Silkie Bantam, eh? She's usually pretty skittish, but she actually let me pet her the other night while she was “sitting on the eggs”. She's been acting a bit broody, but not sure she's broody enough to hatch some eggs, if you know what I mean. We'll see!


Daddy and Myka looking for tadpoles. Because, you know. Tadpoles in FEBRUARY is normal, right?! (And yes, my child had pajama pants on all day. Don't judge.)
Here is a big ole bull frog mamba jamba John accidentally scared out of the water, quite literally. Don't worry. We put him back. I'm sure he was fine.

See that reddish twig in the middle? That is a black raspberry bush! I am SOOO excited about how many black raspberries we'll be able to get to this year. We had access to quite a few all over the place last year, but I swear we've, like, tripled that from clearing away brush. Squee!


 
This Is How We Roll Thursday Party
ethannevelyn.com
Thinking Outside The Pot

Simply Earth Monthly Recipe Box Giveaway

This post contains affiliate links if clicked on I may receive a small commission to support this blog.

Welcome to the Spring Fling Gift Guide Simple Earth Monthly Recipe Box Giveaway!

This contest is hosted by the Social Media Gurus Network!
Below is a list of all the bloggers involved in the gift guide.

Michigan Saving and More

Deliciously Savvy

Tales From A Southern Mom

Heartbeats ~ Soul Stains

Welcome To My Kitchen

Life in a House of Testosterone

Bohemian Babushka

Here We Go Again ready

My Silly Little Gang

Mom Are We There Yet

Java John Z’s

Giveaway Gator

SaraLee’s Deals Steals & Giveaways

My Itzy

Mint Green with Envy

Everyday Gizmos Sweeps & Views

Mami’s 3 Little Monkeys

alwaysblabbing

Ronda Writes

PaulaMS’ Giveaways, Reviews, & Freebies

Missy’s Product Reviews

Stingy, Thrifty, Broke

Bargnhtress

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now let’s get to the sponsor!

Simply earth

Essential Oil Recipe Box

See the review HERE.

~~~~~~

THE GIVEAWAY

This giveaway is in no way endorsed, affiliated, or associated with Facebook, Twitter or any other Social Media Networking Site.You are not eligible if you have won a prize from the sponsor in the last 12 month. This Giveaway is valid in the United States Only and Entrants must be 18+ years of age to enter. This giveaway event will end at 11:59 PM (EST) 3/20/17. The winners will have 48 hours to email their information back to las93063 at gmail dot com or a new winner will be drawn, you may want to put this email address as safe as it could go to spam. The sponsors are each responsible for shipping of the above prizes. No blog associated with this contests are responsible for prize fulfillment. If you would like to be a sponsor in a giveaway like this please email Laura Smith at las930 (at)gmail (dot) com. If you take an entry you must stay following for the entire contest or you will be disqualified.

Also we all “love it if you like us” on Facebook! If you like our blogs on social media it helps us bring you only the best giveaways and more of them!

Enter below and Good Luck!
 

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Monthly Crafting Book Club: Giraffes Can't Dance

giraffes can't dance book

            Hey folks! I'm excited to be participating in something new on the blog: the Monthly Crafting Book Club. I just recently came across this on Raising Fairies and Knights, who hosts it, but was immediately interested in the idea. Books and crafts are two of my personal favorite things, but, even more than that, I have been consciously trying to read more to my girls and I am all about anything that helps make learning more fun and books more memorable. Plus, Myka usually likes doing crafts too. ;)
            The premise behind the Monthly Crafting Book Club, if you're new to it as well, is that we read a specific book (or any book from a pre-determined series) and make up a craft that goes along with/pertains to that book. Fun, right? It is geared towards toddlers and preschoolers, so it's the perfect age range for us right now. But enough yammering. Let's get started!

reading together
I gave my husband the arduous task of taking a decent picture of us while we read the book again. No easy task as the little one likes to get up in my business, so they end up fighting over my lap!

            February's book is Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae. This is a fun and heart-warming story about a giraffe named Gerald who longs to participate at the annual Jungle Dance. The problem is, well, he just can't dance like all the other animals!
            After an embarrassing scene at the annual Jungle Dance, Gerald meets a friend who, amazingly, helps Gerald discover his only special rhythm that he dances incredibly too. All the jungle animals who made fun of him earlier even catch him dancing and all want to know how he became such an awesome dancer!
            I had never heard of this book before, but I think the three of us all liked it for the most part. I love just about any children's book with rhyming text. Having a baby who likes to mutilate books, I was happy this came in a board book version. ;) Myka loves dancing, so she enjoyed that aspect of the story. She's probably a little young to grasp the whole “dance to the beat of your own drum” moral of the story, but that's ok. Still a good lesson. One of Ripley's favorite things is looking at books and Giraffes Can't Dance seems to be one of her new favorites. It's so funny and cute watching her point to pictures and babble on. :)
            Now, on to the craft!

finished giraffe craft
Suggested Age: 3+

What You'll Need:

giraffe craft supplies

-toilet paper tube
-5 craft sticks (aka popsicle sticks)
-brown marker or paint (or yellow or whatever color you want to make your giraffe!)
-brown yarn
-2 googly eyes
-brown foam or construction paper
-scissors or shark knife
-glue


gcd craft1
*Decorate your tp tube with some giraffe spots.

*Color or paint your craft sticks brown and let dry while you finish the next steps.

gcd craft2
*Poke a hole just big enough to squeeze your craft sticks in for the neck and legs. (I used scissors, but I highly recommend using a sharp knife instead!)

gcd craft3
*Cut out a giraffe head shape from your foam or construction paper. Glue or stick on one googly eye on either side. (Did you know there are handy googly eyes that are stickers on the back?!)

gcd craft4
*Glue your giraffe head to one of the craft sticks.

gcd craft5
*Cut several small pieces of yarn. Tie one close to the end of the other. Snip off tails to make it close to the same length as the end of the first string you tied it too. Repeat with at least one more string, more if you like or are able.

gcd craft6
*Glue your yarn tail to your tp tube.

gcd craft7

*Once your “neck” and head are dry, place it in the neck hole. Repeat with all of the “leg” sticks. You can try to glue these in if you like, but again, we just made the holes big enough to squeeze the sticks in so we wouldn't have to worry about the glue. :)

girl and giraffe craft

Be sure to look below for even more craft ideas to go along with Giraffes Can't Dance!
Giraffe's Can't Dance Craft - Monthly Crafting Book Club is celebrating Giraffe's Can't Dance Crafts this month with a group of bloggers and crafts to show that Giraffes CAN dance.  


ethannevelyn.com
Thinking Outside The Pot
This Is How We Roll Thursday Party

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Fun at BUGS Gym (Bloomington, IN)

             Hey folks! Are you a parent local to the Bloomington, IN area? I hope some of you are, because I have an awesome place to share with you today!
             BUGS (Bloomington United Gymnastics School) is, of course, a gymnastics gym, but they offer a whole slew of other programs as well. Aside from gymnastics instruction, BUGS also provides adult fitness classes, a preschool program, recreational soccer, dance class for little ones, and more. Located on the west side of town, it is easy and quick to get to off of 37.
             We recently went to one of their open gym times, which are for kids walking through 6 years old, during the week. (There is an open gym time for older kids on Saturdays.) I had heard of BUGS through a local mom group, but just hadn't gotten around to taking the kids there for whatever reason. In hindsight, I wish we had gone sooner!


             My 4 year old had a blast and the 1 year old had fun as well. Even though she is not walking on her own yet, there are plenty of squishy mats and surfaces for her to play on. (You'll have to keep a close on eye on crawlers, though, to keep them away from activities that are probably not great for them, like the hole/slide thing you can see in the video linked at the end.) And bonus, if your kids are not walking yet they are free!


             As for the older kids, there is plenty of equipment to enjoy and burn some energy off on! Everything you would expect to be in a gymnastics gym can be found, such as balance beams, horizontal bars, mats of all shapes and sizes, and more. It doesn't end there, though! There is also a fun “tree house” with slide, trampoline, giant pit filled with foam blocks, and even a zipline! You can get a better idea of what to expect at BUGS open gym time and watch my kiddos in action by watching our short YouTube video below.


             I can't really compare the price to other places since I have not been to any, but I'm betting it's fairly standard. (We did have a gym similar to this in Arkansas and it was $4 per child for the whole day, but...That was a few years ago and a completely different state! That's the best comparison I can make, though!) It's $5 per child for an hour of play time. Or, you can purchase a pass and save some money, which is what I ended up having to do as I forgot to bring cash and can't remember the last time I carried a checkbook on me. In case you didn't catch that, make sure you bring cash or your checkbook if you only plan on paying for one day.
             Have you ever been to a gym like this with your kids? What kind of fun places do your kids enjoy going to?
This Is How We Roll Thursday Party
ethannevelyn.com
Thinking Outside The Pot

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Baby Bonanza Giveaway

This post contains affiliate links if clicked on I may receive a small commission to support this blog.

Welcome to the Spring Fling Gift Guide Baby Bonanza Giveaway!

We love babies and we have some great sponsors that want to give out some awesome prizes for someone's little one!
Over $500 in retail value!
This contest is hosted by the Social Media Gurus Network!
Below is a list of all the bloggers involved in the gift guide.

Michigan Saving and More

Deliciously Savvy

Tales From A Southern Mom

Heartbeats ~ Soul Stains

Welcome To My Kitchen

Life in a House of Testosterone

Bohemian Babushka

Here We Go Again ready

My Silly Little Gang

Mom Are We There Yet

Java John Z’s

Giveaway Gator

SaraLee's Deals Steals & Giveaways

My Itzy

Mint Green with Envy

Everyday Gizmos Sweeps & Views

Mami's 3 Little Monkeys

alwaysblabbing

Monica's Rants, Raves & Reviews

Ronda Writes

PaulaMS' Giveaways, Reviews, & Freebies

Missy's Product Reviews

Stingy, Thrifty, Broke

Bargnhtress

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now let's get to the sponsors!

Teach My

Baby Bonanza Giveaway

Teach My Baby

See the review HERE.

Available on Amazon

~~~~~~

Squooshi

Baby Bonanza Giveaway

Squooshi Reusable Food Pouches | Family Starter Kit

See the review HERE

Also available on Amazon.

~~~~~~

Cozy Cocoon

Baby Bonanza Giveaway

Super Easy Swaddling™

See the review HERE.

Also available on Amazon.

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Milkies

Baby Bonanza Giveaway

Breast Pad Ever

See the review HERE

Also available on Amazon.

Baby Bonanza Giveaway

Milk-Saver

See the review HERE

Also available on Amazon.

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Playgro

Baby Bonanza Giveaway

Step by Step Music and Lights Puppy Walker

See the review HERE

Also available on Amazon.

Baby Bonanza Giveaway

Ball Activity Nest

See the review HERE

Also available on Amazon.

Baby Bonanza Giveaway

Jungle Friends Gift Pack

See the review HERE

~~~~~~

Marcus & Marcus

  Baby Bonanza Giveaway

Bamboo Fibre Dinner Set

See the review HERE
Baby Bonanza Giveaway

Feeding Spoon Dispenser

See the review HERE

Also available on Amazon.

~~~~~~

Miracle Baby

Baby Bonanza Giveaway

Miracle Blanket

See the review HERE

Also available on Amazon.

  Baby Bonanza Giveaway

Posheez Snap’n Grow Bodysuits and Posheez Snap’n Grow Adjustable Pants

See the review HERE

Also available on Amazon bodysuits and pants.

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e-cloth

Baby Bonanza Giveaway

Luxury Hooded Towel

See the review HERE

Also available on Amazon.

Baby Bonanza Giveaway

Chemical-free Cleaning Home Starter Set

See the review HERE

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Pacific Play Tents

Baby Bonanza Giveaway

Cottage Playhouse Tent

See the review HERE

Also available on Amazon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I would also like to say Thank You to all the promoting bloggers!

THE GIVEAWAY

This giveaway is in no way endorsed, affiliated, or associated with Facebook, Twitter or any other Social Media Networking Site.You are not eligible if you have won a prize from the sponsor in the last 12 month. This Giveaway is valid in the United States Only and Entrants must be 18+ years of age to enter. This giveaway event will end at 11:59 PM (EST) 3/14/17. The winners will have 48 hours to email their information back to las93063 at gmail dot com or a new winner will be drawn, you may want to put this email address as safe as it could go to spam. The sponsors are each responsible for shipping of the above prizes. No blog associated with this contests are responsible for prize fulfillment. If you would like to be a sponsor in a giveaway like this please email Laura Smith at las930 (at)gmail (dot) com. If you take an entry you must stay following for the entire contest or you will be disqualified.

Also we all “love it if you like us” on Facebook! If you like our blogs on social media it helps us bring you only the best giveaways and more of them!

Enter below and Good Luck!