Linking up with Andrea and Erika today for some Friday Favorites!
Happy Friday! Theo starts a new shift at work today and it has some major pros (day shift!) and also some very major cons (working every single weekend of 2023!). Either way, it’s a complete schedule/routine flip for our family and so I’m scrambling to get into the new headspace. It will be 100% fine once summer comes around and the kids and I don’t have school, but right now with school schedules and Theo’s new work schedule it’s taking some mind bending from me! Ha.
But here are some favorites from this past week or so! We had a very busy week last week and so this week was recovery week haha.
- A sweet visit with my in-laws!
We had a wonderful long weekend visit with my in-laws! They came down late on Friday night and left about noon on Monday. We didn’t have much on the agenda, but still managed to fit in a lot while they were here! My FIL loves to treat us to eating out, and we went out to eat THREE times, plus one meal at my parents house. I didn’t cook or wash a single dish all weekend! I mostly just lounged around, but unfortunately I think that made me even more tired!
2. The Circle of Life on our homestead
I know that to many, this will not feel like a favorite….but I am learning more and more about how out of touch our society in general is with our food sources (us included!). Anyways, it’s a long story, but basically our one rooster had gotten really, really mean in the past few weeks. He would corner the kids and jump on us with his very strong spurs. I know that you would think a *chicken* can do no harm…until you have been attacked by one. So we decided his time on our homestead was done. Theo wanted to learn how to process a chicken himself because we plan to do this many more times in the future. I will spare you any graphic pictures, but here is the before and after!
Taking an animal’s life is a HUGE burden and responsibility, and one that we do not take lightly. It is also very beautiful to be able to be a part of the whole entire circle of life. It’s also a favorite to fill our freezer with meat from our very own homestead- to know exactly where that animal came from, what was fed to it, and how it was treated during it’s lifetime.
3. Piggies AND Chicks!
This week has been VERY homestead heavy, with the rooster thing, continuing to bottle feed our piglets AND we got some new chicks! They are SO CUTE and my second bathroom is officially a baby animal farm. HA! It’s a FAVORITE of mine that my kids get to grow up like this, even though it is a lot of work!
4. Hitting more and more pregnancy milestones!
I am officially 33 weeks, with 7 more weeks to go! One moment this feels like a LONG time, and the next moment I nearly panic at how soon I am due! I am starting to FEEL it in every bone and joint of my body, and honestly just feel proud of myself that I am still trucking along, even if I do feel like a whale. Also, if you are in your third trimester and it’s winter and you don’t have a mens XL bathrobe, you need to get yourself one. My family makes fun of me, but since I’m so uncomfortable in every other way, at least I’m comfortable on the snuggle level!!
5. Spirit Squad
Tera signed up for spirit squad (basically junior cheerleader) at school and while we were unsure how much stress it would add to our schedule, we are all so happy with it! She loves going to practice and games, and we enjoy being at the games. Some of the games (Junior High Girls Basketball) have been slightly boring, but the last one we went to was really engaging and the crowd cheering (plus the cheerleaders) was so energetic and FUN!
Bonus: A pile of cats
Here’s a little favorite bonus of mine: a pile of snuggly cats! I’m honestly Patience put up with this, because she usually wants nothing to do with the kittens, but she did tolerate this nap for at least 30 minutes!
Happy Friday! I hope that you have a great weekend! We have nothing on the calendar for this weekend except grocery shopping, a library trip, a movie night at church, and church on Sunday.
We have so many friends that have raised (and processed) their own chickens and I’ve heard a lot about the entire process. It does sound like a lot of work…and from what I hear roosters are almost always mean! LOL. Those piglets are adorable though.
Yes, it is a whole process and one that we are really loving being able to be a part of. So much of this year has all been fresh and new for us and it feels like we dove into the deep end of a crash course on homesteading! But it is one of the best decisions we ever made!