Obsessed Much? Monday

Happy "Independence Day" week! This year is our 16th Annual 4th of July Party. Last year I posted about some of our decor....

Well, while I AM trying to get to the decor part...I have a little problem....RAIN

Which gets me to the thing that I am OBSESSING OVER this week:

WEEDS

Our friends and family will not care much, I know that. But we want our farm and home to look it's best. It's kind of like dressing up to go to a wedding or some other fancy occasion. Your children might not be too excited about this, but they are to be showered, hair combed, in their "church clothes"... and on their best behavior. 

{At our niece's wedding last fall} 

That is how I view our yard for this annual occasion. 

Most of the approx. 200 guests only come this one day a year to our farm, so of course I want her looking her best! 

So, because of my OBSESSION this week, I don't have any great photos to share of our yard yet. It's an on-going project. On top of all the weeds that I have been discarding (between the rainstorms...we are talking flood-stage amounts of rain!), I have also been getting all the patios and porches perti-fied...and not to mention the inside of our home. I will probably just be removing dust-bunnies and scrubbing toilets right up until friends and family arrive on Saturday! 

{Some weeds are pretty though, and will be staying!} :)

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Chicks and Calves

Our farm has some new little ones running around, and I couldn't be more excited. There is nothing cuter than a mama hen hatching her own chicks and taking care of them.

These are the Brahma chicks, there are 6 total

Our Silkie hens hatched 9. One is a black silkie, 7 are white, and one mixed. And the black hen is the one taking care of them all, poor Mama...could you imagine trying to corral 9 toddlers?? She does a great job showing them how to scratch the ground, where to find water, and then keeps them safe and warm from all the rain we've been having.

I took this close-up of them after just a few had hatched to share on our Instagram. SO cute and fluffy...Silkies are my favorites! 

And then this year has been a record...one of our Peacock Hens Peahens has hatched 5 little chicks peachicks herself! She laid on her nest with 5 eggs under her, and ALL 5 hatched and have survived!! 

Daddy Paco is proud too! 

She is taking wonderful care of her babies. There is another Hen laying on a nest with an unknown amount of eggs under her. We are hoping for the best...and the incubator is full (17) of what looks to be good eggs also. (Baileyhusband recently kindled them and they look to have chicks growing inside!)

WHEW! That will be alot of little ones running around....look for our "For SALE" page on our website Irishman Acres if you are interested in purchasing some Peafowl from us! They are MY FAVORITE farm bird. 

I also wanted to show some new pictures of our little calf that Carly Jo had on June 13th...that was Friday, the 13th!!! Her name is Carolina, and she is precious (of course).

You can read all about the day she arrived HERE. 

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I hope that this weekend has some rain-free moments so we can get more outside work done for our big 4th of July party that is coming SOONER than we will be ready for! (Wow, that was one big long sentence..just picture it coming out of my mouth fast and out of breath....because that is how my brain and body are functioning right now!) Happy Friday!

Summer at our Home: The Front Room

Welcome to our home!

I thought it would be fun to put a little tour together of our summer-styled home. 

 People usually decorate more in the fall (Halloween, pumpkins, etc) and definitely winter (Christmas)...not much in the summer. To me, summer is more of a clutter-free- less- is- more kind of time. It starts out that way anyway...kids, animals, projects get in the way of that sometimes, but a girl can dream right?

So, before this house gets too messy this summer, I took some pictures of what I would like my home to look like most days, and thought I'd share them here (for documentation purposes, ha). I will show one room at a time, and when I'm done, will put them together in one Tour Post.

Today, I am starting with our front room. I recently showed our bookcases that we painted white. You can see that post HERE. Now here is the rest of the room, styled for summer!

Our farm name is not actually painted on our wooden crate coffee table, but now that I digitally put it on there, I kinda like it! 

I added in that bright afghan and it certainly brightens up this room. This little love seat and matching chair with ottoman were given to us by my mama, they are so comfy and we love them. However, they are quite dark for this room, so I like to add something to them for each season that breaks up all the brown. 

This picture was taken before I did a switch-a-roo with the pillows and some art on the gallery wall. But I liked it because it shows our new rag rug. This rug was originally purchased for my daughter's dorm room, but now that she is back home....it became mine! And little Koda-Bear likes it too! It's his rug-of-choice. (side-note: Isn't he the cutest thing EVER??)

After painting the bookcases white, and because we don't do a "traditional style", I have propped in some old yard-sticks in front of each shelf. I like the added color and quirkiness they give. 

A vintage quilt and denim pillow, next to my stump table that Baileyhusband made, is the perfect spot for morning devotions (and blog reading). 

We hung the "Bailey" portion of our homemade banner (from last fall's Barn Sale) above the window instead of window treatments. Living in the country, I want to SEE all the beauty outside, and this banner (recycled from our old jeans) is a great summer addition...that just might be there permanently.

This is also a music room, so our piano is a focal point...we also have a snare drum and bells hidden behind the love-seat. 

The front room will always be the most "cluttered" looking because of it's many purposes. I struggle all the time trying to quiet the room, decoratively not noisily...remember that I have 4 kids, a husband, and a dog living in this home with me!? But this is also the room that I showcase homemade artwork and family photos, all our photo albums and books, musical instruments, our home office, etc. 

But this is US, in this stage of life....so I added in some color this summer to reflect how we live. 

Sure, I am never done decorating, re-arranging, and changing things...and I am seriously thinking of changing the wall color, but that is the fun part, isn't it? LAzy daYs Of SuMmeR? Not around here.....

Linking this to: Inspire Me Please Linky Party. Check out all the fun link-ups!

A Cousin's Weekend

I have three sisters....together, we have 12 children. I thought it would be fun to share a weekend that we had over the Easter holiday this spring. 

I am so proud to say that all 12 cousins are extremely close knit, almost like brothers and sisters. We have made it a point to always stay connected, especially now that they are growing up, going off to college, and for one of the cousins that means JOINING the AIR FORCE. That nephew of mine has spent the last 2 years stationed in Japan. And came home for a month before moving to Italy where he is now stationed.

We all gathered at the airport, awaiting his arrival. And then here is the first glimpse of him....still gets me teary-eyed everytime I see this {blurry} picture. The next several that I took were completely blurry, maybe because I was jumping up and down and laughing yelling crying!?

While he was back for his visit, and because it had been 2 years since we had ALL been together, I planned a COUSIN'S WEEKEND. A very large slumber-party at our house! 

My sisters and I, along with our Mama, planned the weekend out: 
where everyone would sleep, the menu, the photoshoots, the games...

And we had only ONE RULE:

{NO CELL-PHONES or other techy devices}

We were to stay plugged- in to each other....

{My sisters and I}

{My sister and her family reunited!}

Mornings at my house were my favorite, I have a ton of (embarrassing, for our eyes only) photos of coffee time in our jammies, but here is one on Easter morning after all 12 cousins hunted and found their baskets from the Bunny.

{the Girls}

{the Boys}

Airsoft gun wars are a favorite pasttime when these 9 are together, so they all camo-ed up and spent hours around our farm and woods. 

 You are NEVER too old to enjoy slumber parties, 4-wheelin, playing games....
 

 This was truly my favorite. weekend. ever.

Easter morning at church with Grandma, and these 12 can never be serious for long.

 My sister, Kelley, was in charge of games for the weekend. She is brilliant with coming up with "Minute to Win It" type games (with prizes)!

Then it wouldn't be Easter without a good ol fashioned Egg Hunt...well, with a twist ;) Since they are getting too old for the real deal, we made a game of it.
The adults (while the "kids" were inside) spelled out words on the lawn.

We told them they needed to correctly write down what each word said, then when they thought they had it....we told them that they needed to correctly tell us how many eggs were used in each word also. 

We didn't even count ourselves, we just laughed watching them so seriously counting...we told them when they had it wrong and had to go back and recount. Seriously....funniest thing, watching them.....

Then there was the infamous "Golden Egg". Which had a very large amount of money in it. The cousins had to find it somewhere in the front yard. This is where it got REALLY competitive :)

I look back over these pictures all the time...someday these 12 will get married, and bring their own families. (which will also be fun) But this one weekend was like a once in a lifetime event that we will all cherish...just them, one last time, UNPLUGGED!