~Irishman Acres~: September 2012

Hello there! It has been a while since I have been on my blog. Life got a little hectic, and I needed to take a breather from some of the things that I enjoyed, to free up time to do things that had to be done.

And now I am jumping back in head first! I am taking on a challenge made by a blogger I follow:

the lovely Nester. She started this a few years ago and now it is a great big hit in the "blogging world".

For 31 straight days in the month of October, she challenges us to choose ONE topic and write about it for the whole month!!!!!!!

So I hope you follow along on my journey of 31 days.....it will be challenging, but fun!

**********

DAY 1:

This one is an easy one for me.....what means more to me than chocolate cake and

country music, combined....and this is HOME.

I believe the word HOME is more than just a place where we keep our stuff, or sleep at night.....

it's a FEELING OF PLACE~BELONGING~COMFORT~LOVE.

Think about what HOME means to you....

Is it the place you grew up? Your hometown?

Is it the space you have created with your own 2 hands for your family?

Is it the church you go to on Sundays?

The vacation spot you visit regularly?

From good ol' Webster's Dictionary: Definition # 1

I am so excited to write about my favorite topic for the next 30 days...I hope you come back each day and see what I have come up with for FINDING HOME.

~Kim

Linking to: The Nester's 31 Days Challenge

Friday, September 7, 2012

Poor little babies!

Our little calves, Cassie-Dee and Lil Miss Charlie, have a new brother that has come to live with us...HAWKEYE. They all share the same dad (Bull, Ken). And we have been busy with the weening process here. Which is actually pretty sad, if you have ever heard the cries of calves, you would agree!

Cassie-Dee

Don't let these sweet little faces fool you....they are STRONG as oxen. Along with weening from their mothers, we are trying to "break them" so we can eventually show them at the State Fair next year!

And can you see their little horns starting to grow in?

Hawkeye

Our barn has proven to be a great "weening station" for our young calves.

The Mamas were not far from the barn for a few days...yes, there was LOTS OF NOISY DRAMA!

Claire-A-Belle..aka Lil Miss Charlie's mama (and sweet Dixie)

Carly Jo...aka Cassie-Dee's mama

We have usually had a vet come cut the growing horns off, but then they sometimes grow back....so we did something new this year. Baileyhusband drove them to a vet that specializes in surgical removal of horns...and here are our Frankensteins....cue the sad face :(

yes, there is an extra calf in this pic...we also have a few other calves of our extended BaileyFamily that we are weening in our barn

Hawkeye is fitting in good around Irishman Acres....his Mama (Katie) lived here once, we actually bottle fed her and his Dad is still here :). We plan on showing him as a bull, and when he gets a little older, he will be sporting that awesome bling, I mean ring, in his nose! He is very sweet and the most tame of all the calves. So far he is NOT showing that horrible temperament of Ken.

We have lots of Fall plans for our farm....along with trying to get in the swing of things with back to school and all the fall sports my children are involved in, I also started a new career with our children's school system. Which is why I have not posted very often lately. Hopefully we will find a new normal and I will find time to do this labor of love, blogging!!

~Kim

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

a DORM ROOM makeover: Moving her IN

A lot of you know that my eldest daughter, Emma, is now leaving our nest :( {sad face, gulp}

packed up and heading off to college

And although, hopefully, we will be seeing her on multiple weekend visits....it will be sad not seeing her beautiful face EVERY day. To make ME feel better about her being "on her own", I helped her make her new space feel more like HOME to her.

I was extremely skeptical about my baby girl living in a dorm the first year...it resembles a jail cell.

Here are the "BEFORE" pictures:

2 uncomfortable beds that made the room feel SMALL

Attached double desks, with 2 ugly RED chairs

STAINED carpet, and 2 large closets

Everything is painted this creamy white color and the walls are cinder-block. She is rooming with one of her best friends from high school, which was so much easier planning the design of the room.

And here are the "AFTER" pictures on move-in day:

We replaced the red chairs with the ones I redid here

Put the 2 dressers together to have the TV be a comfortable height for their beds, they can still use the mirror on either side of the TV

Storage is a MAJOR factor in dorm rooms, and even though these shelves are hideous, the girls made good use of them

I LOVE these black sheers..and the shelf unit holds more storage (along with popcorn and m&ms)

The girls bunked their beds to give more space in their room. Not what they had originally planned, but turned out GREAT!

The ONE awesome thing is the large CLOSETS! I sure hope Emma keeps it looking so organized!!

Their kitchen. The girls have since BEDAZZLED the fridge :)

Emma's "MOVE-IN CREW"

So completely proud of our daughter....and excited to see what the future holds!

Emma, your life is just beginning! You have proved to be a hard worker...not to mention an amazing sister to your younger siblings...and you have grown to be one of my best friends!! Good luck, study hard,
have FUN, and come home to visit as often as you can! Love you FOREVER AND ALWAYS!!

~Mama

Sunday, September 30, 2012

31 days of Finding Home