100 days of happiness, days 2 and 3 :)

Unfortunately on the "real" day two I had a miserable  bout of vertigo, ended up in the ER, so I didn't get to post, but my day 2, is my chickens, and day 3 is zack's growth chart :) zack has grown about an entire inch since january, which is quite a bit!

One month old!

The chick's are about a month old, and love going outside!  They are still in their brooder in our basement, but we take them out every few days, to let them explore.  They are starting to each get their own personalities, the lightest of the 6 is fluffy butt, she has a super fluffy butt and seems to be the leader of the pack. They are still on the chick/starter diet. The coop is almost complete (will post pics when done) and they should be out by memorial day weekend! Keep checking back for more updates :)

100 days of happiness, day 1

I've decided to do the 100 days of happiness challenge. Every day I will be posting something that makes me happy, and why. Today, is my son, Zack. He is a miracle baby,  I was told I could never carry a child, and low and behold, my little man came along. 

Strawberry pineapple banana jam

This is my first "stray" recipe, but it came out fabulous.

1 quart fresh or frozen strawberries
1 whole pineapple diced or can of diced pineapple, drained
1 banana
6 c sugar
6 TBS pectin

Combine all ingredients (except pectin) in a pot and cook over low-medium heat constabtly stirring, about 20 minutes, until all ingredients are combined well.  At this point, add in the pectin and bring to a roiling boil for 30 seconds. While doing this, prepare lids and jars, creating a positive, sterile work area. Once the jam is thickening with the spoon test (the gel part should be able to slide down as a goop of gel, not drip.) Be sure to keep checking this part, if you can it too soon,  you have more of an icecream topping. ALSO, Be sure to skim the foam off the top, I always forget to =/ but it still tastes delish! Process via waterbath, 35 min for pints and 45 for quarts ( I recommend pints,  easier to set) remember, sometimes it takes up to 15 days for the jam to officially set.

My two year old loves this jam,  and my hubby who hates jams/jelly even loves it!

Week 2 of the chicks!

Our girls are growing up! The ladies are about 3 weeks old or so and are getting their feathers in :) I think they have doubled In size, atleast, they are beginning to each have their own personalities too :) 

Hey there

Sorry it's been so long since the last post! Gotta get better at this blogging... now that it's spring time, I will have so much more to wrist about! Like our growing farm. We have recently aquired 6 chicks and a rabbit, in addition to our dogter, Lucy, and our two gold fish. So as these little beauties grow up, I'll be posting more and more about them :)

Stuffed with stuffed animals?

Instead of buying an expensive stuffed animal holder, get an inexpensive laundry bag (I got mine for $1 at the dollar tree) and cut one side of it along the seam. Its a perfect stuffed animal holder! I'll be doing one more for the other corner too :) Now my son's stuffed animals aren't taking over our house any more!
Toodles!

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! I've decided to start a blog, with a little bit of everything. From renovating, organizational ideas, to recipes, to weightloss/exercise, to even just saying what I want. This is a little bit of this and a dash of that.

Recently, my husband and I decided to renovate our bathroom. Nothing big or anything, but a good revamp of the space. It was only $500 worth of work, but it made a HUGE difference! To keep costs down, we used paint that was left over from another project, and purchased items as they went on sale. We have been looking to renovate since we moved downstairs, 4 years ago, so it was great when we found a cute vanity on sale at Lowe's for $98. Another thing we used was laminate flooring, instead of hardwoods or tiles. This way, they will be easily transferrable if something were to happen, just switch out that single board and you're good to go, there is no nailing necessary. But, you shouldn't have to do that, since the laminate that we used will be waterproof, especially since we used the waterproof barrier.

By updating the little things in your house, it makes a big impact, and can really give you that little extra push to keep working towards the bigger goals, and may even bring up your property value a bit. The little things in life can make big difference, whether it is your bathroom, bedroom, or even just a coat of paint in your kitchen, it will give you the motivation you need to keep your house up to date. Our old tiles were over 30 years old, my inlaws had not replaced the flooring since my husband was a kid, and they had run out of tiles to use under the washing machine, which left it vulnerable when the washer outlet pipe overflowed. Luckily, when we moved everything, there wasn't any damage to the floor or subflooring. Anyway, the point I was trying to get to, was that because they were so old, no matter how often you wash them, how often you scrub, they will always look dingy, because they are just that. They ARE old, they are stained.

When we first moved into the main part of the house, My husband's (fiance' at the time) childhood home, I couldn't understand why anyone would want to own a house, and try to update it. Then we got married and had our son. I started watching DIY shows and more and more shows on about home makeovers, stuff like that. And I found a passion. I loveeeee (is that enough e's?) repurposing old furniture, and refacing our home. It is amazing to see the beginning till the end.

Until we "chat" again, toodles!