Long Time No Type!!!

Wow.. once again here I am apologizing for the long break between posts!  I’m sorry, sorry, sorry!  Derek’s work schedule has been crazy for the last nearly month and a half because they are down to two CDL drivers (him and another employee) and so he is traveling on the calf route at least every other day.  Or, in this week’s case, three days in a row!!  So, needless to say, we don’t get to see each other much, and when we do, posting on the blog is not really a top priority, no offense to the readers!!  

Anyway, things have been very wild around the Segerstrom household lately.  It’s mostly just been myself and the children and I’ve grown accustomed to taking them pretty much everywhere now.  I’ve mastered the art of rounding up three children, loading them into the car, and keeping a close eye on them when we go places.  

One Sunday in particular was an interesting day…  I was all alone and readied myself and all the children for church, loaded and unloaded them in the pouring rain, sat through the church service (in the nursery mind you, and with all the children playing, plus one other little boy, I didn’t catch much of anything), then reloaded them all into the vehicle, let Hannah take a quick nap, loaded them again, traveled to Clear Lake for a birthday party, unloaded them, visited with old friends and ate some cake, loaded them again, drove back to Forest City, attended a graduation reception at church, and let Roen and Audrey run around and play while I ate and visited.  Phew!!!  I was exhausted after all that.  

Well, I would like to take a moment to play catch up.  I had a few posts that I had all ready to put up, but never got the chance.  So, here they are, about a month late!! 

A Surprise for Daddy
*** keep in mind, this was the original post from the end of April ***

 

A couple weeks ago I kept thinking and thinking, “What would be something special we could get as a gift for Derek?”  So the children and I went to town in search of the perfect surprise!  Thankfully, we had our niece, Cammie, with us.

I thought of the idea as we were pulling into town.  We stopped at the local farm supply store because the children wanted to look at the baby chicks.  Little did they know we were going to bring some home with us!! ;]  

Derek has been talking about getting some more birds since our other ones got picked off by an owl.  This time he wanted to get some meat birds.  I still wanted egg layers because I love having fresh eggs whenever we need them.  He thought 10 was a good number.

So we picked out 10 Cornish broilers for Daddy, and I picked out 4 brown egg layers for the family.  I think they’re called Americanas.  I thought 4 eggs a day would be fine for now.  Last summer we were collecting a dozen eggs a day and I couldn’t give them away fast enough!! 

We purchased the chicks and some supplies (wood shavings, chicken starter feed, and water troughs).  We changed them into clean boxes with fresh bedding and gave them fresh feed and water, and put a heat lamp over them.  

Derek was sure surprised!!  But he was pleased :].  One less thing for him to have to worry about!  And as an added bonus, I have taken on the responsibility of caring for them.  It’s a constant chore because they eat, eat, eat and drink, drink, drink.  And because they eat and drink so much, they also poop, poop, poop!!  

We started them off in two cardboard boxes, as I said.  One for the meat birds, one for the egg layers.  The next day I combined them to one box.  The day after that, I transferred them to our little plastic wading pool.  I wrapped the outside with a roll of thick craft paper.  This way they wouldn’t jump out of the pool, and it also serves as a draft shield.  Temperature is a big deal when raising chicks.  You have to protect them from drafts.  

I used 2 ice cube trays to hold their feed.  It was something we already had on hand, and it’s practically the same as the feeder you would buy for them in the store.  I purchased two water troughs that connect with another container that holds the water.  I just use two large canning jars.  Their bedding is, of course, wood shavings.  

Today I just upgraded them to a 1-gallon waterer.  I couldn’t keep up with having to constantly refill the other two.  Plus, this one can hang, so they can’t kick their bedding into it and get it all dirty.  

My how they have grown in just a few weeks!!!!  The meat birds are so plump, and their feet are huge!!  We have recently moved them into a bigger encloser, our old rabbit hutch.  Derek and I built it ourselves :].  It will be their temporary home until they are large enough so that they can’t squeeze through the wire of their permanent home.  We no longer have to keep them under a heat lamp, either.  As the weeks passed, I gradually raised the lamp higher and higher until their bodies adjusted to the temperature and they were weaned off of it.  

All I can say is it’s been really fun watching them, seeing how they’ve grown and changed, and listening to their little peep, peep, peeps!  It’s crazy to think that in about 6-8 weeks we will have 10 big and healthy chickens to pop into our freezer!!  

I decided to name my egg layers.  I picked all names that start with the letter H.  They are called Henrietta, Heather, Helena, and Hilary.  ;]

UPDATE:

Well, so much for that.  We are now down to just 4 meat birds.  Three of my egg layers were pecked to death by the Cornish hens a few weeks ago.  As of Monday morning, when I went out to feed and water them, I found three dead chickens laying in the cage and only 3 live chickens, very disturbed, huddled in the corner.  Let’s do the math…  I started off with 14 birds.  Three were killed by the others, so that makes 11.  Now I have 3 dead and 3 live.  That makes..6.  What happened to the other 5?   

Well, I kept hearing a cheep, cheep, cheep coming from somewhere in the cage.  I thought it was coming from one of the dead hens, like it was just barely alive.  I finally realized it was coming from underneath an ice cream bucket that I had used to water the chickens.  One of them was trapped underneath.  I lifted the bucket to find a hen with a chunk taken out of her rear end.  That bucket probably saved her life!!  So now I had 4 live chickens, but that still leaves the missing ones.   

After some investigating, I found blood on the sides of the cage, and feathers and etc. around the outsides with a trail leading into the woods.  Some nasty varmint pulled my poor chickens through their cage, a space that was probably only about 2 maybe 3 inches wide, and hauled them off and ate them…. Ok… I didn’t spend time and money raising these birds for US to enjoy, so some critter could have a smorgasbord…   

So we set a live trap using one of the dead chickens as bait and we’re waiting patiently to catch the raccoon or possum or mink or whatever it was and that will be that.  I hope.  Oh the joys of farm life!  I’ve become quite accustomed to dead things.

Moving on….

Day for Daughters
(April 27^th)

 

Every year our church hosts a special event in honor of Mothers’ Day.  It’s called “Day for Daughters” because, if we are female, we are all a daughter to someone.  On this day we are served a delicious meal (I’m not kidding… whenever our church makes the food, it’s always delicious!!), and we are encouraged by a special speaker. 

This year the theme was from 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  So different ladies that had a special interest were asked to share how they use it to bring God the glory.  I was asked if I would like to share about this blog!  So I prayed about it and felt this would be another great opportunity to show how we try to “do all to the glory of God” as a family.  

There were three of us from our church family that shared about our hobbies.  Two other topics were about scrapbooking and home decorating.  I loved hearing what the other ladies had to share.  It was neat how they explained how you can honor the LORD in those activities.  You might not think that decorating your house could be done in a way that is pleasing to God, but it can!!  Same with scrapbooking.  I really enjoyed hearing from the women of our church.  Normally we bring in a special speaker who does that sort of thing on a regular basis.  This was a lot of fun!  

For my part, I first very basically explained what a blog is, in case not everyone was familiar with it.  Then I shared three points on why we have a family blog 1.) as an outlet for sharing ideas and the gifts that God has given us; 2.) to minister to younger wives/mothers/women in the spirit of Titus chapter 2; 3.)  to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.  That is the most important purpose.   

We know we are nowhere near close to being a “perfect family.”  There has never been and never will be such a thing, but we do strive to be pleasing to God.  Some days we fail miserably.  That is where grace and mercy come in, and God gives us whatever we need so we can pick ourselves up, dust off our knees, and try again.  Praise Him that He is so longsuffering!!!

I also used this opportunity to share about my brother’s death, and how God brought us through it.  I think it’s very important for people to see how we have responded in that situation because the Lord gave us so much peace and strength in a very, very difficult and tragic time.  I want everyone to know that that kind of peace can be theirs, too.  But you have to accept that it only comes from the Lord, Jesus Christ.

I went into much, much more detail on all of these points, but I can’t remember everything that I said because I don’t write out a speech word for word, I just jot down points, and pray that God will give me the words to fill in the rest!

This was a wonderful time of sharing that I got to spend with my step-mother, Loretta, who comes with me every year :], my mother-in-law, Aunt Carol, Grandma Muriel, and sisters-in-law, Emma and Abbie.  And of course, I got to be with my two little girls!!! :-D

I’m very thankful for the opportunity to have shared about my love for Jesus.  This day was a great reminder that everything we do, even eating and drinking as the verse says, can and should be done to the glory of God!!

W/ my step mother, Loretta

W/ my mother-in-law, Kerri, Aunt Carol, Grandma Muriel, and sisters-in-law, Emma & Abbie

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More recently, I just started a new group on facebook, and I’m so surprised at the response it has gotten!  I opened up an auction site.  It’s just like the local buy/sell/trade sites that I sell things on, but in this case, it’s not “first come, first serve” .  Members are able to bid on the things they would like to purchase, so if someone really wants an item, they can pay however much they want for it. 

 After just 2 days, the group member count was up to 180 people!  I’ve sold a few things already and have been totally shocked at the items people are in bidding wars over!  The things I thought would go for a lot have gone for a little and the things I thought would go for a little have gone for a lot!!  It’s very interesting! You can check it out at https://www.facebook.com/groups/b.segauctionsite

 I’ve been painting and repurposing things like crazy lately.  I haven’t let the rain slow me down.  Whenever the sun peaks out from behind the clouds, we’re back outside again working, working, working!  And if it is raining then I’m doing the finishing touches on projects inside.  

I’m kind of in a rush to raise some mullah quickly because Derek and I are preparing to celebrate our 5^th wedding anniversary on June 14^th!!!!  Hooray!!! :-D  I am taking on the fun and challenge of planning the entire weekend getaway AND I’m going to try to fund it all, as a special gift to my husband and best friend.  I can’t go into any details because it’s all a surprise.  All I can say is, we are LONG overdue for a getaway (this will be the first one in the 4 years since we’ve had children) and it is going to be soooooo much fun!!! Derek is going to looove it!  :D

Also, Monday

was my… get ready for this… 28th BIRTHDAY!!!!  How can it be?!?!? I feel so ooold! I’m almost 30! I’m trying to compile a list of “30 Things to do before I’m 30”!!  So stay tuned! 

A good friend of mine, Jessica Jordal, and I have teamed up in an effort to lose weight!  Every morning, as long as the weather is cooperating, we take the children for a 4 mile walk.  She pushes one stroller and I push a stroller.  It's been working out great!  It really is a work out, too!  

We keep a food diary and share it with eachother every day.  We have to keep track of everything we eat and drink.  We have specific rules that we have to follow too, or we face a penalty at the discretion of the other person!  Here are our rules:

1.)  we must include at least one fruit or veggie with every meal.

2.)  we have to drink at least 32 oz. water a day

3.)  we have to do 30 minutes of additional exercise aside from the walk

4.)  we have to keep track of our Spiritual food, too!!  We have to read at least   3 chapters of the Bible a day.

I think that's it.  If we feel the other person didn't make good food choices, or didn't do additional exercise (I get busted for that regularly!), or didn't read their Bible, that person has to do a punishment.  10 pushups, 10 sits up, and 10 jumping jacks X however many necessary.  One day I had to do 40 of each.  

It's been really good for both of us.  It's a nice time to get together to chat and talk about Biblical things, and the exercise is great.  I'm really thankful for this time and friendship! :]  

We've been doing it for about 3 weeks.  We weigh ourselves only on Thursdays and set a goal weight for each week.  We've both lost weight every week, but haven't always met our goal weight.  So far I've lost about 5 lbs and I'm excited!!  It's currently on hold as it rained every day last week, and this week Jessica is visiting California for a week!  

Can't wait to post again and tell you about our exciting weekend!  Derek had 3 days off and we celebrated Colton's (my brother-in-laws) graduation ceremony and reception AND my 28th b-day!! :-D 

SO GOOD TO BE BACK!!