Salty Mommy

 We have the brooder all set and picked up the chicks from the post office first thing this morning.  First step is to make sure everyone knows where the water is.  They are chirping like crazy and its the cutest sound ever!

 I am waiting impatiently for a special delivery of 25 baby chicks! After sharing a few with friends I will hopefully have 10 new babies :)  As they grow in the safety of the brooder we are going to refit the chicken coop and hopefully make it predator safe. Sadly I lost my last group of hens to raccoons.  Join me in this time as we create a new safe space.

So as you can see Christmas was yesterday and I shared two elf stories! We did a lot of fun and helpful things this month but realized really quickly the elf leaving notes or little presents was a BAD idea. It quickly became a competition on who could find the elf first. So that meant my children who usually sleep until 7:30 or 8 were up before the sun. There was fighting and crying and whining over the elf. My answer was the elf had to go. I texted our next door neighbor and she went on a covert mission for me. (hide elfie while we were visiting Santa) and Elfie left a note that he had to go back to the north pole because everyone was getting up too early. Elfie came back for Dec 23, painted everyone's noses red and left a note in dry erase marker on the bathroom mirror, "Merry Christmas" The best activity we did this December was to go to a local nursing home and sing christmas carols. The residents loved it and our group loved it too.  The joy in several of the l...

So my kids were all late for school because I lost track of time doing our ELF scavenger hunt again and again. My kids reset up the scavenger hunt clues and did it 3 more times. My oldest was expecting an ADVENT lego starwars calendar and I think he was a little disappointed that Elfie didn't bring one. I just couldn't do it again this year, 4 kids - 4 lego advent calendars that end up dumped into the giant boxes of legos we have in the playroom. I hope that the let down of not getting his lego advent calendar is softened by the cool experiences we have in the next 25 days. (He really loves loves LEGOS and Starwars - but he already as a ticket to go see the new movie Shhh!!) Elfie landed safely in the Christmas tree and he had a note (see yeasterday's post) explaining the plan for the next 25 days and a little scrap paper clue. The clues led all 4 children around the house to find the treat Elfie brought them. The treat was holiday tic tacs which may seem odd but it i...

I haven't blogged in way too long. But i wanted to share our new ELF on the shelf tradition. We are trying to help our children understand the true joy in Christmas is not in the presents. I know easier said then done when you have 4 kids ages 8,6,5 & 5!! Elfie is going to give my kids a daily mission to share God's LOVE and Christmas JOY! And yes it is November 29 and Elfie is set to return tomorrow and I am just now working on the plan. I will be sharing as I plan and as it unfolds. Here is the opening letter to my kids from ELFIE -  Happy Christmas, It is so wonderful to see you all again. It seems like I have been gone forever! Its NOVEMBER 30th and this year I want you to help me spread Christmas Joy to people in your town and neighborhood. I am super duper duper excited to share a very important Christmas Cheer Spreading Mission with all four of you!! Now that you are all old enough to understand the importance of sharing God’s Love and Christmas JOY we...

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