Home again, home again, jiggety-jig...

Yeah!! I just picked up my middle 2 kids from camp and when Brian gets home tonight we will all be under one roof again....AT LAST!!! Of course it gets crazy again next week but we'll enjoy it while we can! After hugging my kids to death as they got off the bus I asked them how it was and I got a comment from Natalie that ONLY Natalie would say. She said..."Mom. We ate so much candy. It was ridiculous." I love my little rule-followin' girl. At least she thought it was ridiculous!! And then I discovered that Ridge was homesick 'every day' and then my heart broke. But hopefully he'll want to go back next year!!!

Sappy love stuff

And have I mentioned that these people....



these kids whom I love very much have been gone since yesterday to church camp? YES, again, I realize they are having fun. But be still my heart...I need them home!!

Just because...

Isn't he the most amazing husband? No reason for the flowers....he just knew. And he was right. I love him..........

One of the reasons I love living in the country...

This evening I was walking through the living room to get a drink and looked out the window and saw this...

My neighbors were burning their trash and I stepped out to take a little picture. I love this place...I'm totally serious!!

Stinky problem part 2

Yesterday afternoon we finally had another plumber come out to the house to help us find the source of the stinky problem we have had for about 2 months. There are certain times of the day when the smell is almost unbearable. If you didn't see my post down below then go check it out. Anyway, to make a VERY long story short we knew the solution was behind the wall in the laundry room and that cutting was going to be involved. Not good. So at 9 am this morning the work crew arrived and started cutting. They started at the back of the built in cabinets in my laundry room where they thought the pipe was and praise the Lord that is exactly where it was!! They had to cut the back out of the top and bottom cabinets but they think they found the pipe that was the problem. I'm just praying that the solution has been found and that they do not need to come back!! Not that I didn't thoroughly enjoy getting to know Dale, Virgil, and James. Dale was a character and the owner of this little company. He scared me at times because his breathing was very labored as he was on his way out to the 'smoking area'. Funny. Didn't know I had one of those. And James looked so young I think I could be his mother. I'm not kidding. He would be telling me something about my pipes and all I could picture was him playing with his legos before he came over to my house this morning. But you know you're living in the country when the plumber hugs you when he's done and calls you darling. He was like a grandpa just taking care of me...except for the fact that he made me pay him. Don't think my grandpa would have made me pay him. Anyway, they were very tolerant of my taking pictures over their shoulders. They would back up and say "want to get a picture of this?". At the end, Dale said "why don't you get one of all 3 of us next to the truck. Virgil, get out of the way of the sign. Let her see the sign." Love these guys!

Virgil getting started with the cutting...


The fellas. Dale, Virgil, and James.

Now we've got to find a good cabinet guy who can fix the mess. Know anyone?

Have I mentioned...

Have I mentioned that this child....


...my oldest child, Emily....the one who changed my life for the better and made me a mom for the first time has been gone since Wednesday? Have I mentioned that it makes me feel all out of sorts when my children are gone? Oh, shes been at church camp and I know she is having fun. I've seen pictures from my friend, Jenni, who is there too. But I miss that girl. I need her home soon or...or.....I don't know...ELSE!! She'll get home tomorrow afternoon and it won't be a minute too soon! WARNING-my middle two kids(8 and 10) leave for camp a week from Monday. Heaven help us all....

Stinky problem

You know you are a home owner when you pull up to your house and see this....

What is it you ask? Oh, its just a septic system truck sucking out the contents of our septic tank. What else would you think it is???

For the last 2 months our house has smelled like the inside of our septic tank in the early morning hours and in the late evening hours of the day. Its not good ya'll. We have plumbers involved and we have the septic people involved. We're probably about to have carpenters involved because its probably going to require ripping out a wall and fixing something. I won't go into it all here. But at this point we just have to get it fixed because I can't stand waking up to that smell and not being able to have people over!! Its embarrassing!! But the point of this post was to say this.... Wouldn't you hate it if your job were to do THIS...


It stinks so bad outside right now!!!! I feel so sorry for them! And I didn't want them to think I was crazy or making fun of them by going outside to take their picture so I took it from the window. If you have a septic system then thank your septic dude. And maybe give him some potpourri as a Christmas present.

***Nevermind. With the check I just wrote to them they can buy their own potpourri!! But I'll still thank them!***

A couple of videos from our time building the coop...

At last...the chicken mansion....er...I mean the coop!!

**WARNING** This post contains too many pictures than it has a right to. I just didn't feel like doing this in different parts for fear it wouldn't happen. So thanks for hanging in there and if you make it to the bottom of this post let me know what you think!!

Friday night we finally finished the coop!! Brian worked so hard on it and every free moment he had when he wasn't at work he was out there!! And it was hot, ya'll. I'm talking in the 100's every day last week!! I just wanted to brag on my husband for a minute! He really didn't want to be doing this at all. But I never heard him complain. Not even once!! Even after the unfortunate incident that involved Adiah running the golf cart into the little garage. I'll fill you in on that later but let me say this. Adiah is fine but the golf cart is not. Anyway, thank you, Brian for working so hard on this project!! I love you!!

This is the little garage on the first day of construction. The coop is going directly behind it.

See Adiah sitting in the golf cart? This was taken moments before the "incident". Praise God she had moved from the seat to the floor board area of the cart. She accidentally stepped on the gas and released the brake even though the cart was off. She came flying down that hill and hit the corner of the little garage. She was not hurt at all but this mommy and daddy about had a heart attack. She is no longer allowed to just sit in that thing. Which won't be a problem since we have to take it to get fixed somewhere.

It doesn't look as bad as it is....

We had a little visitor while we were building. I love cardinals!! God uses cardinals in my life in various situations so I loved seeing this little guy!

The frame going up...

No construction zone is complete without your Super 44oz drink in a styrofoam cup. AKA the Big Gulp wannabe

We had dust flying everywhere!

My dad came over one day and helped! It was hot and I was quite worried about these guys!

The kids helped SO much during this project!! They painted, measured, cut chicken wire, etc. They were troopers, I tell ya! Emily painting the inside of the coop...

Ridge working hard!

Natalie painted too!

Even Adiah got in on the action. Actually she stole this from someone and we found her later hiding underneath doing her own version of painting the coop.

Getting their instructions

Cute little lady!

Brian even had some late nights trying to get this thing done!

Here is the entrance to the nesting area. When they start to lay eggs I'll just reach in here and gather them!

A little vent area between the run and the inside of the coop

The water/food area

The ramp down into the run

One of the doors to the coop area. When its time to clean it out I'll open this up and clean away.
He really thought of everything, I think!!

I loved this feature. When I go to gather eggs I'll just prop up the door with this little bar that folds up and down.

The nesting area before I added the bedding

The roosting area inside the coop

The finished product!!! For someone who has NEVER built a chicken coop before and just glanced at several different plans and came up with his own idea I thought it turned out amazing!!! He spent so many hours on this thing!! Great job, Brian!

My guy next to his masterpiece!! Emily thought she'd add a little character by making a sign for the door!

The work crew...

Taking the chicks down to release them into their new home!

Ahhhh!!! Free at last!! Sort of...

Swim time!!

We've been enjoying our pool on these hot days! I love how brave Adiah is getting!!

I think Brian might be less than thrilled with our antics...

We're on day 4 of our coop building. I say "our" loosely. Really its Brian but I like to think I'm involved. He's been very tolerant of my picture taking through this whole ordeal. But I've decided not to do any real posts about the coop until its finished. And its close, folks. Its really close. But I thought you might enjoy this little movie the girls and I made while you wait.



I'm pretty sure he is ready to be done with the coop for this reason alone!

Its all about the Chicken Coop...

The chicken coop is in the works! I'll have to fill you in later but don't worry...I have lots of pictures already. Like this one for example....



There's just something about this guy when he wears his hat backwards and power tools are involved. Yum.

I asked him this morning if he ever thought he'd be building me a chicken coop. He said "I figured out a few years ago that I'd be doing cr*p like this a lot more than I thought when I married you". Romantic, isn't he? Baby, you're going to have to quit talking that way or I can't be held responsible for my actions. Yum.