Little Gardener

For the past two days Maggie and I have been working on a garden.  Maggie did all of the work getting started on it.  She tilled up the dirt and planted the first two rows of veggies.  I came over late yesterday afternoon and helped some.  This morning I got up early and ran.  After breakfast we met Maggie, Katy and Alex and went to CO-OP to get some more plants.  We made a stop at Wal-Mart to pick up some Liquid-Feed to fertilize the plants once a week.  When we got back to Maggie's house Katy and I put our kiddos down for a nap.  It was about to rain so we figured we needed to hurry up and plant so that we could get it all done today.  We planted all of our favorite things.  We planted jalapeños, cayenne peppers, bell peppers, banana peppers, tomatoes, yellow squash, zucchini squash, okra and cucumbers.  We plan on doing a few more things but thats all we have so far.  After nap time Liam decided he wanted to help water the plants.  Here are some pictures of our little gardener.

This is Liam's poor little (dead) plant.  He accidentally fell on him and broke him in half.  We tried to save him but it doesn't look like his is going to make it.

He liked playing in the mud puddles that Maggie made when she was watering the plants.

They found another plant that was on its last leg.  We think one of Maggie's dogs ran over it.

Washing off our muddy hands.

Aunt Maggie acting like she is going to spray him.  He thought it was hilarious!

Our semi finished garden.

I will be sure to update when they start growing and are ready to pick!!!

The Chicken or the Egg?

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?  For us, it was the chicken.  A day later, the egg came.  We decided that Liam should get to eat the first egg!  I had to work that morning, so I told Ryan that he better take pictures.  This is what I got :)

This boy sure does love his eggs!!!

Chickens

Here recently Ryan and I have been talking about getting some egg laying chickens.  One, it would be be something other than a dog for Liam to play with and two, we could benefit from their eggs.  I called Adam Clark last week to talk about what we needed to do and what to get.  With lots of research and online searching we found a chicken coop in Monteagle.  We picked it up on Wednesday night.  It's a small coop that only holds 4-6 chickens, which is all we need.

 The back door where you can look into the house....

Two nesting boxes .....

A perch where they can hang out.....

Looking into the house where the nesting boxes are .....

That night we looked through "The Exchange" and found a man in Beechgrove that has chickens for sale so Ryan gave him a call.  He said he had lots of chickens but only a few that were already laying eggs.  We decided that we wanted to go and see them and we would be by there the next day.  Thursday morning Ryan got up and started getting stuff together for the coop before we went to go get the chickens.  While I was cleaning out the closet in the kitchen and found a water jug that we used for the cats.  It has a jug that sits upside down and keeps water in the pan at all times.  I figured I would clean it up and see if it would work.  Ryan found some buckets and made a feeder out of them that we hung up inside the coop.  We bought some pine wood shavings and I lined the nests and under the perch with it to keep them comfortable.

Here is Ryan making the feeder ....

Thursday afternoon we stopped by Maggie's house and picked up the dog crate and set it up in the back of the truck.  Ryan wanted to use the pet taxi.  Imagine trying to put two full grown chickens in a pet taxi!  I'm glad we got the dog crate!  We entered the guys address into our GPS and headed to pick them up.  When we got there he only had 2 that were already egg laying, which is what we were looking for.  He had a white leghorn and a blue Jersey Giant.  We took them both.  We loaded them up in the crate.  They proceeded to do their business all in the back of the truck.  During my research I came across a chicken called a Silkie and I really want one.  They look like little fluff balls and are supposed to be really calm and good with children.  Tori Spelling has one and she keeps it in her house.  Not that I want to keep it in the house.  I just think it would be a fun and different pet for Liam and they also lay eggs too.  The man had some but they were only 3 days old and way too little for me to be taking care of right now!!! I told him that I would like to see them when they get older.  Maybe we can get one then. :)

My mom and dad met us at the house when we got back.  Dad helped Ryan get the chickens out of the back of the truck.  I wish I would have video taped what happened!  As they were carrying the cage into the back yard, the blue one got loose.  We chased it around the car and finally chased it into the back yard.  As I tried to catch it, Ryan and dad got the white one into the coop.  I gave up on the blue one and let the guys catch him.  After about 5 minutes of trying to corner it, Ryan finally caught her and got her into the coop with the white one.  No animals were harmed, only a cut on dads forearm. :)  They are now safe and sound and getting used to their new habitat.  We plan to keep them in the coop for 3-4 days to get them used to their environment.  After that we will let them free range during the day.  We were told that the will probably not lay eggs for a while because of the transition.  I am hoping that they love their little house and being part of our little family.  I know nothing about taking care of chickens so this is an adventure for us and I hope that we are able to keep them alive.

The blue "Jersey" giant ....

The white Leghorn ....

Liam's reaction to the chickens.  He loves them!!!

Well, I was finished with the blog Friday and was going to post it Friday night before I went to bed.  It had stormed that day and messed up our internet modem.  I'm glad I didn't post because Friday afternoon after I got home from taking mom to the doctor in Murfreesboro, Liam and I went outside to see the chickens.  I opened up the nesting box hoping something was in there but not expecting it because we were told we wouldn't have eggs for a little while until they are comfortable in their environment.  And low and behold there was a pretty little egg laying in there.  I was so excited!!!!

His first reaction was this ...

Very intrigued! ....

So far we have had two eggs. The white one is the one laying.  He must like it here.  Now we just need to blue one to start laying.  I'm hungry! HAHA!

Kentucky Traveler

Yesterday we left for Fulton, Kentucky for a funeral.  My grandmother's brother, (my great uncle) Bill Atwill, passed away.  I got up early that morning, around 6, and ran around the neighborhood because I knew I wouldn't be able to when we got back.  If I don't stay motivated then I won't be motivated.  After my run, Liam and I got ready to go to my moms house to help her curl her hair.  She is unable to do it herself since her surgery.  Uncle Duane and Aunt Ginny met us there with breakfast and we drove to Murfreesboro to meet up with my uncle Jim and then headed on to Kentucky.  Liam is such a good traveler.  He played with Buzz and Woddy, the games on my iPhone and ate hash browns and fruit loops for breakfast.  He napped for a little while and had a small meltdown when he woke up and didn't know where he was. I took him out of his seat for a few minutes.  He was ok to go back into his seat again once I got my iPhone out so he could play games.  Bribery and bad habits, i know!  Once we got to the funeral home, I got him dressed and we went inside to see everyone.  He was entertainment for quite a few people.  We tried to sit through the ceremony, but about 2 minutes into it he started being noisy and flirting with the old ladies behind us.  I couldnt stand it so we had to go out into the foyer, eat snacks and try to preoccupy him with anything I could find.  Once the ceremony was over, we headed to the graveyard, which was in Cayce, Kentucky.

Liam passed out on the way so I sat in the car while everyone else went to the graveside service.  He didn't sleep very long and was very grumpy and whiny they rest of the trip.

It was neat to listen to my mom and uncle point out places they had been and talk about things they had done as a child.  I got to see where grandparents graduated from high school.  Oh what it would have been like to live in those days when you didn't have much and didn't need much.

After the graveside service we ate BBQ and hung out with everyone before we headed back home.

 

Liam didnt get his full afternoon nap and was super whiny.

 Before we started back we drove by some land that some of my family had recently bought which just so happened to be where my mom lived for a little while before they moved to Tennessee. The only thing left there that was there when the lived there was the milk barn and the well.

Here is a picture of my 2 great aunts.  As a child some of my best memories where with these two.  I remember playing on the tractors and Aunt Jane's house and all the family reunions, water slides and paddle boat rides at Aunt Sara Ann's (aka Auntie) house.  

We stopped at Dairy Queen halfway through the trip and Liam and I shared an oreo cheesecake blizzard.  He also had a whole hot dog too! Little piggy! I am so glad that Liam and I went.  We don't get to see this side of my family very often and I was glad that I was able to go.  

15 Month Check Up

We were one month late on our 15 month check up.  The doctors don't have their schedule out more than 2-3 months at a time.  I get behind and forget to call and schedule his next appointment so I was a month late on this one.  Liam hates the doctor's office like any other toddler does.  He hates laying down and the table, he hates being weighed on the scale, he just hates it.  Once he is in my arms he is fine.  When Dr. Eastham came into the room he wasn't too sure of him but he said that that was normal at this age.  Liam let him listen to him and look in his ears.  He didn't care too much for him looking in his mouth lol.  We talked about some of his milestones and Dr. Eastham seemed to think he was right on track.  He talked about how handsome and awesome he is.  I have to agree with him!  15 month statistics are as follows: Weight - 21.56 pounds, thats a one pound gain making him in the 25th percent. Length - 31 inches long, 1inch longer and in the 27th percent.  Head circumference - 18.8 inches, 71st percent.  My kid has a big head like his daddy.  Hopefully with my brains :)  He received his MMR and Hepatitis A vaccine and took it like a champ.  After he calmed down they sent us on our merry way.

Easter

I was off of work for Easter this year.  We woke up that morning and had breakfast.  After breakfast we saw what the Easter bunny brought Liam.  He loved every bit of it!  We then got ready and dressed for early Church.  It was a good one filled with music and joyful tears.  I haven't been to church like I want and should and I feel guilty at times.  But every time I go it is like I have never stopped.  Church was packed and we had to sit up in the balcony which was nice.  I have never sat up there but I like it!

After church we came home and changed our clothes and headed over to Aunt Leslie and Uncle Duane's house.  We laid around and played with Liam for a little bit.  Then it was finally time to eat.  I love family dinners because the food is so amazing!  Oh and because I get to spend time with all my family :)

After lunch was the egg hunt.  Liam got to be part of it this year with a 5 minute head start HAHA!  I think he did pretty good with a little help from everyone!

Liam's easter basket consisted of good things to eat.  Mostly snacks and some new sippy cups.  I wanted him to have something functional instead of just junk.  It's almost that time to potty train so I figured a potty would be perfect!  He has no interest in sitting in it.  He would rather just play on it.

Im really sad because it has taken me so long to blog about this and I have seemed to misplace my SD card that has all the Easter pictures on it.  Once I find it I will re publish this blog with the pictures :(