Teamwork!

Went out to the farm after dinner last night to get some work done. Brought the kids, eventhough we figured they would slow us down from any real progress. But we were so wrong! They were such hard workers. Immediately picked up hammers, screwdrivers and facemasks and started helping. We pulled old hardward off windows, scraped up old linoleum off the kitchen floor, and even removed old brick overlay from the edge of the stairs. My 10 year old son, Dylan, did the whole kitchen floor by himself and my 7 year old son, Evan, did all the brick removal and helped with the nails. And our 5 year old daughter, Kelsey, even chipped in, sweeping, and picking up the dropped nails and screws off the floor! Our kids never cease to amaze us and sometimes we don't give them enough credit. They LOVE to help! Just give them a job to do and they are happier helping than doing something else. It's a good lesson for us as parents. Kids want to help. They want to feel like they are contributing, even in the smallest of ways. We shouldn't be quick to count them out. They are wonderful little human beings. From now on we plan on including them in more of the messy jobs. They enjoy it, and it builds strong bonds between us and memories that will last a lifetime.

Heifer in Haiti-an amazing cause!

Heifer International is a wonderful organization whose mission is to end hunger and poverty in some of the poorest nations in the world. Heifer International has worked in Haiti since 1999 and currently has 16 projects under way, involving more than 16,000 families. Heifer Haiti has offices in Cap-Haitien in the north of the country and Les Cayes in the south, and currently works in six of the country's 10 departments. Projects in Haiti range from gifts of livestock, seeds and trees to training and sustainable farming, agroecology and nutrition.

To learn more about Heifer's long-term work in Haiti, rebuilding after the earthquake and how you can help with the recovery, visit, www.heifer.org/worldark/Haiti.

Grocery Store Wars (2005)

Coop run construction

The coop is finished. We bought a coop kit and assembled it. It was pretty easy and designed quite well for chickens. Then we constructed the pen. We made it 8 feet long by 8 feet wide and 4 feet high. We used treated lumber and made sure it is very solid. We burried the poultry wire around the perimeter about 12 inches down and covered the whole outside in half inch poultry netting. This way nothing can get in and they can't get out. We used metal staples to secure the wire and then covered half of the top with a tarp to protect from rain and extreme sun. We also built a small door, so we can access the run to clean it out, etc.... Then we cut an opening in the wire against the chicken door of the coop and stapled the whole area to attach the run to the coop. Then we added the ramp so the ladies can easily walk into to coop. It took 5 hours straight for Roger and I to build the run. But it was all worth it. It turned out to be a terrific hen house! They are very happy hens!
I will post some pictures soon.