So as promised, here is my post about our new little flock! We are super excited to welcome them to our family and to take care of them! They have been the talk of the neighborhood! We love them so much!


So maybe you are wondering what possessed me to ever think of raising chickens and ducks. That's a good question! For a few years now I have wanted to and have talked with my husband about it, but at our last house, we really didn't have much of a place to keep them, unless we cut out half our garden space. I'd rather have more for fruits and veggies than chickens!


Now that we are much more property and have so much more space, we are so very excited to raise these cute things! We decided to get laying chickens and so my mom's friend ordered my mom 20 chickens, but they didn't want that many, so we are getting laying chickens, they will be here in May. In the meantime, we time to the IFA nearest us to look at fertilizer for our lawn and of course as you walk in, they have all their chicks and ducks and turkeys right there. So being excited, I started looking around. I came across the ducks, which are super cute and just fell in love!


Not only are ducks so cute and fun, but there are some that will lay eggs that you can eat! I was even more excited for that! I've never had duck eggs before and am curious if they are as good as everyone says they are. So we bought the supplies to start our ducks and chicks but didn't get ducks, since they only had one layer. That gave us time to come up with how we would take care of them.


The guy at the IFA was very helpful and said to put them in a Rubbermaid type tote. I emptied a tote and started to get it ready. We have a Tractor Supply Company that is much closer to us and we went in there for something, not sure what, but they also had chicks and ducks. They didn't have any laying ducks but would get some in sooner than the IFA, so I went back a few days later when they would get some in. They also had the lights and bulbs cheaper there, so I got some there.


When I went back to get our ducks, I decided that we should get some meat chicks as well as laying chicks so we could have some fresh chickens in our freezer. One thing about the Tractor Supply that I don't know is the same with the IFA, is they require you to buy a minimum amount of birds. Minimum for chicks is 6 and ducks is 2. I wasn't planning to get that many meat chicks, but that just means more meat in the freezer. Plus they were only $2 each to buy and I'm ok with that. Ducks are more, at about $5 each, but the Tractor Supply was less cost on their ducks.


I got a little crazy at this point and was so in love with those ducks that I ended up buying 5! They had 2 layers and then I got 2 Mallards and 1 White Pekin. They are super sweet. The non-layers were about 2 weeks or so old when we got them, but the two layers that just came in, had just hatched! They told me that one still had part of his shell on him when they got him. They are so precious, and I am so in love! It has been fun to see how fast they are growing! I have loved having them so much!

These are our chicks and ducks today! A few things I've learned in this excursion in our lives:

• Our garage has smelled like a farming store!
• Keep their cages and bedding clean so they don't smell so bad!
• Make sure to check food and water morning and night!
• Ducks love water and will splash and play and make a huge watery mess!
• Kids love to hold the little cuties

They have grown so much in the almost week we have had them. We had to move them from the Rubbermaid tote to a larger box, which we were so fortunate to have! My brother in law works for the former governor Huntsman at the airport. They were getting rid of these 3 foot square boxes that used to store and ship landing gear in. He asked if we would want them for anything. I said yes, not really knowing what we would do with them, but figuring we would somehow use them.


When we realized the totes were going to be too small, my husband thought of these and they have worked out perfect! They have plenty of room to run and stretch and then we fashioned these tops from the lid that have hardware wire on them so they can't get out and other animals can't get in. I did have to line the duck box with some plastic under the bedding, since they love to make everything wet and I don't want the wood on the bottom to start splitting and hurt them. Here is what the boxes look like, and my husband also fashioned a thing to hold the lights, since we found out when they are attached to side of the box, it gets much too hot.

So this has been our new adventure so far! I will share updates on these little cuties and how they are doing  time goes by. In about 6-8 weeks, we start to move them outside. Until next time!

Welcome! I am so glad that are joining me on my adventures as a homemaker, backyard farmer, crafter, cook, baker, etc! I am so excited to start this new blog!


I love to talk about myself and what my family are doing. No I'm not conceited or self-centered, quite the opposite in fact. I do feel, however, that I have a lot of useful information to share with others. So here is a little about me so you can get to know me a little better and hopefully learn something from me as well. I love positive comments and hope you leave lots, it's important to build people up, not tear them down!


So, I grew up the oldest of 4 kids. My parents were great and raised us the best they could. I was a normal child that fought with parents and siblings, but we made it through and I'm a much better person because of the influence they all had on me. I love them all so much!


In elementary school and through most of my junior high and high school days, I was teased by others because of how I looked. It was hard during those years but those times made me stronger and now I teach my kids that that is just not right! No one should be teased because of how they look! We are all created by a loving God who made us just the way we are supposed to be and we need to embrace that!


My family was there through a lot of hard times, like the teasing, break ups and bad grades, and also during the good and fun times, like marching band competitions and dating and of course my wedding! Which brings me to:


I am a wife of 15+ years to an amazing man who treats me like a queen and has given me so much in that amount of time! He is a full-time programmer for a great company that he loves, that allows me to stay home with our kids. When we met I was going to cosmetology school to cut hair. I love this industry so much and I'm so glad I have this background! I was able to put my husband through college cutting hair, which didn't pay much at all, even at full time, but we were fine being poor and learned to get by. Plus I haven't paid for a haircut much in that time, and my family never has had to.


While my husband was in college, We had three kids. The oldest was born a couple years after we were married. He has been a good kid, but very strong willed and likes things his way. The second and third were born together, yep they are twins, which is a great story I should tell sometime. They were nine weeks early and a lot of work, but I wouldn't trade them for anything, they are great!


About 5 months after the twins were born, my hubby graduated from college and began working more full time. We moved closer to his job and by that summer were pregnant again. We decided we needed to make a more permanent move and bought a home. Our fourth son was born the next January. Having four boys was not our plan, but we don't run on our own plans, God is always in charge!


But we did wait for a while to have anymore kids, since we had four boys in 4 years! Four years after having our last son though, we welcomed a beautiful little princess to our family who is our pride and joy! It was so much fun having pink and purple instead of blue and green! Don't get me wrong, I love my boys dearly, but there is just something about having a girl!


So we stayed in our house there for 10 years and decided since our boys were getting so big, we needed to move to a larger home and try to get a little more property. We were able to move last summer to a wonderful place that we love and have never been happier! The neighborhood is great, the schools are great, and my kids love that we have lots of kids close by to play with! We couldn't have asked for better!


Which brings me to now. We are very excited to have made it through the Utah winter and are very much looking forward to gardening and especially some new chickens and ducks we are going to raise. We are so excited!! My next post will be about our new little flock, so I won't write much here, just know I can't wait till they are bigger! We are also building garden boxes from scratch and I'm excited to share those with you as well, they don't look like many I've seen anywhere, It's all my hubbys design and thinking and we can't wait till it's all done!


So in a very small nutshell, that is me and what adventures we are pursuing in the near future, so come back often and see what I've been working on lately. There is always something, promise!