A little bit Country....

So yesterday I embraced my country life and got my own grass mowed. And in the spirit of "momhood" I did it with the baby in the sling and the preschooler on my knee. I'm sure we made quite a sight to see, with #4 just trying to sleep peacefully in the sling and #3 singing her heart out as we zipped around on the John Deere. The yard looks so nice after it's mowed...I love it. By the time we finished the older two were getting off the bus. So #2 and I (after he had his required afterschool snack) went out behind the barn (really the garage, but I am sure at one time served as a barn of some sort) and started cleaning out for CHICKENS! I can't wait to get some! We are gonna have fresh eggs, and if I can muster up enough courage to do it, we will do meat chickens too. We have been doing some research, a lot of research, so I think we are ready. I am just anxious to get started. I think we have most of what we need to build the fence for the chicken yard. And I know we can get the materials needed for the coop for free, at least most of it. We plan on building out of "retired" barn wood from my grandmothers barn. We would still have to purchase some things, but the bulk of what would be most costly isn't gonna cost us anything. I would eventually like to maybe have some rabbits too and take this country living thing to a new level.

"Conveniences" in the Country

Good Morning! Living in the country in this day and time isn't as tough as it used to be. And granted, I am not very far out in the country, the nearest "town" (village really) is just 1/3 of a mile up the road. So we are lucky to be close enough for natural gas instead of having to have a propane tank. We also get rural trash pick up, and it's cheaper than our next neighbor up the road pays for in town pick up. If we lived any closer to town then we would have to pay for garbage stickers, $1 for each "container" whether that be a bag, box, or can (no bigger than 30 gallon). But living just far enough to qualify as "rural" we get the quarterly fee of $60 every 3 months for up to 6 containers each week which if you do the math comes to 78 containers for every quarter which means in town we would be paying $78 for that very same garbage. Cool, huh! We have pick up every Tuesday, so I try and have the trash out Monday night, though we don't always get to it on Monday. They tell you to have the trash out no later than 6:00 Tuesday morning, but rarely are they ever here before noon. And many times they fail to come at all! We have had to call about our trash so many times it is not even funny. So here lately we have called and really ranted to the manager about the trash still being here in the evening because it had been happening so much. And then last week we forgot all together about putting out the trash. And now here it is Tuesday, and once again, we forgot to put the trash out last night. Well as I was opening the curtain to watch for the school bus I saw the trash man show up at 6:30 a.m., wait for a minute or two and then leave. I am sure his manager has him call whenever he shows up at our house to make sure that he has been here. And I forgot...for the second week in a row. So next week I have GOT to remember to take the trash out, or I will be paying more than the "city folk" for my trash!

Yummy Chicken...

So yesterday was a busy day. While I really enjoy attending church, and really want to see my children going to church, it is fall baseball season and the only day they play is Sunday from Noon to about 4:00. Every Sunday except for Labor Day weekend, through the fall. And being that we don't have an extra vehicle for my son to drive himself to his games, I get nominated to do the deed. Which means having everyone up, dressed, fed, an ready to go by 9:30 or 10:00. Not too hard, but then I also have to make sure that I have a spare set of clothes for #3, who try as she might, doesn't always make it to the potty on time... And then I also have to make sure that we have plenty of diapers and spare clothing for #4, because you just never know what kind of day he is gonna have. Oh yeah, you also have to make sure there are plenty of snacks, because #2 & #3 like to snack and are "starving" most of the time. And don't forget lunch...gotta have lunch for everyone, because it just gets too darn expensive after paying for gas to get to the ballgames (at least an hour drive each way, every week) and trying to feed the 3 kids who actually eat solid foods. And then by the time we get home again, it is DINNER time! The cycle never ends. These kids are always needing to eat! SO that brings me to Yummy Chicken... Yesterday morning was no different than other baseball Sundays, except that I had to take DH to work first...at 4:30 in the morning! Talk about an exhausting start to my exhausting day! So I get back from taking DH to the airport and I take the chicken legs that have been thawing in my refrigerator out and put them in the crockpot. I dump BBQ sauce on them and turn it on low. I do this at about 7:30 in the morning. Fast forward 12 hours.... OH my GOODNESS... we walk in the house to a delicate smell of BBQ and chicken. I lift the lid of the crockpot... heaven! I lift out each leg with the tongs and about half of them fell apart before making it to the plate. So tender and juicy! Even #2, who "doesn't like chicken" loved it! I threw some potatoes and beans in the microwave, add a little salt and pepper to them and voila! Dinner is ready! And what a wonderfully delicious dinner it was. And WAY too easy to be that good! I think I am gonna try and figure out how to add a recipe section for WAY too easy recipes...