Obsessed Much? Mondays: A new summer-time series

Mondays are a bit of a bitter-sweet pill to swallow. And even though it is summer, they are still hard. Sundays are family days, and really the only day we have Daddy home...the life of a construction man!

 I am starting a little summertime series here on the blog called 

There are so many things that I obsess over...and I can just here my teenage daughters say, "Obsessed much, mom?" These are fun things that I either obsess over at home , while shopping, eating, crafting, etc.

To start things off...this week (actually, EVERY week), I am OBSESSED with:   COWS

{my favorites: Clover and Carly Jo}

This was a NO-BRAINER for anyone who knows me. You all know how OBSESSED I am of my cows. My Instagram feed is full of pictures of Carly Jo and all our other cattle here at Irishman Acres! 

Growing up in a bigger city, and even have lived here in the country for most of our marriage, I am still amazed by the beauty and personality of our cows. We do tend to spoil them....our vet has even teased us about probably giving our cows bottled water. (I wonder how expensive that would be?) 

I do know, that being around them, giving them attention, brushing them, giving them baths, keeps them extremely tame. 

Tame cattle are important when a vet comes for checkups

{Carly getting an ultrasound}

When they give birth, and are as tame as Carly, she doesn't mind me being right there taking pics and helping her baby stand! 

{minutes after giving birth}

Meet baby Carolina! She was born on Friday...and I got to witness it! This is Carly Jo's 4th calf, it is funny how she has had a heifer (girl) every other year. So we were hoping that this was a girl. 

{almost all clean and dry}

{trying to stand}

Shortly after being born, the calves try to stand up (with the Mama's help and encouragement). Carolina was having a tough time on the concrete in the barn...so I moved her outside. 

{so much easier outside}

{Mama's watchful eye}

I think that I stayed down there for about 2 hours watching this miracle and documenting this with my camera. 

{baby's first meal}

I know that many farmers just laugh at me when they find that I am totally obsessed with my cows...but these are more than just cows to us....they are our pets. 

And Carly Jo was the first farm animal that I have ever had to pleasure of loving...she was our bottle-fed baby, and has the personality of a puppy! 

{Carly- when she first came to live at Irishman Acres}

So, when people will ask "obessed much?", about our cows...I would answer YES! And so glad that I am! :) 

I think this will be a fun series every Monday..and hope you don't get too bored listening to the rambling of this Baileywife! It won't always be about our farm animals..I am a home-loving-obsessed-wanna-be-designer, so some weeks I'm sure it will be about home-y stuff. 

Linking up to: From the Farm Blog Hop

A thrift shop re-design

Recently, I spent an afternoon (alone!!) shopping. I found myself at a thrift store and snagged a ton of great deals! This tray was one of them.

It was in decent shape, besides one of the handles being cracked, and was a very sturdy piece...just not my style. 

I know from experience that Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP) covers ANYTHING, so I thought that I would try an experiment. You see, that black and gold pattern was actually a paper covering. Seeing that I have no patience...NONE, ZERO...when it comes to crafting, I want something done fast! So ASCP it was! I used Old White, it is my go-to color for everything. I just painted over it all. 2 coats and it looked like this:

It looked too plain, so I came up with an AZTEC-Y design on paper

After cutting it out, I couldn't decide what I wanted to dominate, the black or the white, so I laid out both ways

And ultimately decided I liked seeing the white more. I traced the pattern on

I did this project while drinking a pot of coffee, so my unsteady hands and black paint were not a good combo, but think it turned out alright anyways. Perfection is never my intention! :) 

I just used black craft paint, then I did put clear wax over the whole thing to help seal and smooth the chalk paint.

Next, I used some black leather strapping that I had on hand, this can be purchased at any craft store. And just hot-glued those things on...super simple!

I love how this tray turned out! Aztec designs are so popular right now, and I like how they look in our home. 

And just because the inside of my home doesn't have good photo-lighting, I tried to prop it outside, you can see that my paint job isn't perfect...who cares, right? It just adds character! :)

Did you see that little arrow in the photo above? I had aztec/Indian on my brain and happened to find the perfect feathers in our yard yesterday! 

This is where it ended up....for now

I'm sharing this on: Jennifer Rizzo and Liz Marie Blog 's Linky parties

Class Dismissed!

Summertime is officially here, and I feel like my A.D.D. is kicking in BIG TIME!

Just like any busy mom, there are 40,000 things on "the List" that we would like to do or accomplish over the summer. And since I work for a school, the summer is my time off. I am so excited that I don't even know where to start on "the List"....so I just sit and read or play with our new puppy instead! 

This is the newest addition to Irishman Acres...meet KODA....and if you know us at all, this was the furthest from any creature we thought we would ever own! But just look at that face!! He was 3 months old when he came to love live with us, so almost potty trained....and we are completely smitten. He is a "designer breed" called a Teddy Bear. (A Shih tzu and Bishon Frise mix.) 

So for now, I have a list of things that need accomplished, and I thought it would be fun to write them out here and see if they will get done....and hopefully I can share them as I go! 

1. My niece is moving in with us at the end of the summer because she is going to a local college. I am over the moon excited about this, but have to get a room ready for her!! And the only room we have is currently being used as a craft/ decor storage room...actually just a messy catch-all, but storage room sounds better. So I have my work cut out for me....moving things around and getting REALLY creative with my storage! 

2. We purchased a really cool work bench at an auction last fall and have been wanting to bring that into our home somehow, I think I know where we are putting it, but have some re-arranging of things in the room where we are putting it and maybe some painting....CANNOT WAIT, but won't share any more info until I know for sure that it's a GO! :)

Working on my outdoor spaces: 

3. The chicken coup and enclosure has been on my radar of needing some TLC. I have started on some interesting things there and will share those soon. (and when I say "interesting", I mean it is interesting to me and maybe other onlookers, but I really think that the chickens could care less. But I think it should look pretty, and so it shall! :)

4. I have some additions to our back porch this year, and am almost done getting it camera ready....but it still needs some sewing projects completed, lucky me that my daughter took a textiles class this year and will be my little design intern! (hahaha, said in an evil cackle) 

5. There is a water feature that I have had on my honey-do list, well at least my honey-help-me-please list! Baileyhusband is extremely busy with work these days and I feel so guilty asking him of things, but hopefully sometime before our big 4th of July bash we can get this thing accomplished. 

6. We have added a strawberry patch and herb garden to our farm, and it is so cool! 

I posted it on our Instagram page, you can follow along HERE. So, we have quite a large amount of crops to tend to and will keep my boys and I busy this summer! 

And there are a slew of projects in my brain for our home, and our new-ish camper. We purchased a 1998 Dutchman RV the night before we went to the county fair last year, so we really only have used it that week. And now I am in the process of making it our own by getting rid of the 90's mauve look, and adding in our style. This is a fun project that I will be sharing. 

So I will say adios for now...I need to get my A.D.D in check and get something started (and finished) around here!! 

Spring Break Shenanigans

When you work for a school system, and all your children are BEGGING for a little vaca 

for SPRING BREAK.....why not?

Last year, it was just me and my girls heading off to Chicago. What a fun experience that was, and a huge eye opener that we needed more little get-aways in our life!

So, this year...we took the whole fam-bam to Minnesota. This was a little closer option and more appealing to the boy-folks in our family. The lure of an indoor waterpark/ hotel and a mall that had a amusement park inside was too much for all for us to deny! 

{the all-too-original family selfie}

I left the ol fancy camera at home for this trip, and so all pics were taken with cellphones.

But sometimes the stress of worrying about taking pictures and keeping a close eye on your camera is not my idea of vacation....so not-so-good-pictures it is!

First stop: CABELA'S

Giving the kids a small budget each could use helped in moving things along faster....

I think they enjoyed the taxidermy animal displays more than anything :)

We stayed at the Radisson Hotel which has "The Waterpark of America" attached to it, for an additional fee of course. But well worth the money paid, endless hours of play for all of us! 

{Took this image off of Google, this was a much better photo than any I took}

My kids didn't really play in the "Kiddie" area too much, they have graduated to the big kid areas, and so have I, hence the NO PHOTOS AT ALL OF US ON ALL THE FUN STUFF! :(

Except the surfin...my boys all tried it, but Baileyhusband doesn't want his photo posted :)

{Gunny}

{Wyatt}

Our hotel room was perfect for a family of six. We slept on a queen size bed, and there was a bunk room for the kids...I highly recommend bunk rooms, so much entertainment to hear them all together in one room....there is a little sarcasm in that comment, but it was a perfect setting! And better than someone sleeping on the floor and having to share our bed. 

Us country folk, staying in a big city, is something to behold! And getting to shop at all the places that I only see online is something else entirely!! My dear Baileyhusband amused me in a little couples therapy time in IKEA! People, I felt like the Mothership was calling me HOME!!

I am going to do another blog post about all the fun things acquired in that round of shopping!!

The Mall of America, aka the MEGA-MALL was our next stop. 

I felt a little guilty of all the fun home-decor-y stuff that I was fortunate to purchase at Ikea....so the mall was mostly about the kids getting to play.... and eating......

Getting away with the whole family is a very rare occurrence once one goes off to college, so even though this was only for 2 1/2 days, this was much needed!!

The other days of our break have been alot of movie watching....hello?! Frozen anyone? Seriously the cutest movie ever.

And craft making: 

A great friend came over, and we made these barn wood beauties for her sister. I forgot how fun and relaxing that crafting can be! And this big D is going on a new gallery wall for my friend. Can't wait to see the final result, I love a good gallery!!

And one night we heard lots of giggling and general girl-y loudness coming from the basement....and I am so impressed with the result....made from crayons, ya'all!! So impressed with my daughters!!

Now, I am going to spend my last day of Spring Break in my sweats, making cookies, and watching Frozen....again! I hope spring shows up soon, it snowed again this morning.....UGH!!

~Kim

A dream come true: Bailey Barn Sale

ahhh, DREAMS, they are tricky little things aren't they? 

Since I was a little girl, I have dreamed of having a little "shop" of my own. As I have grown older, and life's responsibilities have taken over, the dream was forgotten. Then the internet happened, and I saw bloggers that I love and that I follow, pursuing their dreams by opening little Brick and Mortar shops ( like Shaunna did), hosting large sales (like Layla did), or even writing a book (like the Nester did). This sparked something in me that was long forgotten. 

So, along with my sister-in-law, and a lot of research....we hosted a BARN SALE! 

You see, I am married to a very creative man, and my mind is ALWAYS busy thinking and dreaming up all things decor. 

Our family business has a "barn-like" shop that is quite large, and was the perfect space to house all of our displays. We worked as busy little bees for several months....building, painting, gluing, staining, buying, styling, wood-burning....and hosted a ONE-DAY sale in October.

A few of our family members and friends also contributed some of their homemade or antique goodness to the sale. Which made for such an amazing day! All of these pictures were taken the night before, when all of the setup was complete. I so wish that I had taken pictures during the sale, but so much was happening, and we were having so much fun, sadly, none were taken! (insert sad face) 

The husbands built us these large pallet walls, which I LOVED! Our old shop had put on it's party clothes and looked dressed to impress! 

Along with homemade items, antiques and furniture, I cleaned out a lot of my well-loved decor items. And most of it sold! 

The things we contributed that didn't sell, (i.e. the amazing Queen-sized bed Baileyhusband hand-made) look great in their new home....ours! Actually that bed now belongs to our daughter, Sierra. She is one lucky girl. We joked that she secretly told everyone that looked at it during the Barn Sale, that it was already sold. 

I did happen to take one quick photo, this was my first customer....who arrived early, before the doors were officially open....and she snagged this barn-wood cross picture frame. I loved it and knew it would sell quickly. Actually all of our barn-wood frames were the first things to go!

{sorry, bad photo, all of these were taken with my phone}

What a fun day, what a fun DREAM this was. It was a ton of work, but well worth it. 

I think I would rule it a success, over 300 people came! When you plan these things, you kind of have to have faith. There was a FACEBOOK page, flyers made and distributed, signs made (I wish there was a picture of those, they were barn-shaped) to direct the way....and all the fun displays!

I honestly don't know if I will have another sale, or if this was a once in a lifetime thing....

but I do know that it was a dream come true to have that feeling of fulfilling a childhood dream of mine! 

I love these shirts that Layla from the Lettered Cottage has designed and will be selling to help with the adoption of their little Sweet P. 

 "Don't Quit Your DayDream" is a perfect quote for the ending of this post! And hopefully soon, I will be sporting that shirt....and I am so glad that I got to live out my daydream! 

It's almost SPRING people!! We are so close to seeing some new calves here at Irishman Acres...we are garden planning also, YEAH!! Can't wait to mow, get out our deck furniture, and even pull weeds....yes, it's been a long, cold winter if I am looking forward to weeds! :)

~Kim

...till death us do part....Marriage Takes Three

I was going to name this post "LOVE, and other mushy stuff". But I didn't think anyone would read it.

So, since you are reading this, I assume, this was the better choice in post names! :)

I wanted to take a break from talking about the farm and our home, after all, this blog is supposed to be about US here at Irishman Acres...our home, our farm, our family, our LIFE. 

The biggest part of my life, and what I am most proud of by far is......our marriage.

We started out our relationship as very young, naive, stubborn people.
Getting married did not change that...I think it just enhanced our faults.

A couple of years into our marriage we had already had 2 children, started a business, and built our brand new home on this acreage. Each of these big life events, separately, are big game changers and hardships for a marriage. But together they spelled disaster!

Since I want this blog to be "nothing but the truth", I will say that it got bad enough that we eventually separated and lawyers were hired. But to make this L O N G story a little shorter....
everything changed when I gave God the reigns in my life and a MIRACLE happened.

Our hearts changed....our goals changed.....and our LOVE grew from there.

This man, that I walked down the aisle to 16 years ago, scared to death....is THE LOVE OF MY LIFE.
My OBSESSION, my PARTNER, the amazing father of my children.

Marriage is not easy, it is anything but easy! It can be messy, ugly at times. But when you let go and actually invite God into your marriage....your world together becomes more than you dreamed.

I have a bookmark in my bible that a loved one gave to me when our marriage was saved, and I read the poem on it constantly:

Marriage Takes Three

Marriage takes three to be complete;

It's not enough for two to meet.

They must be united in love by loves creator,

God above.

Then their love will be firm and strong;

Able to last when things go wrong,

because they've felt God's love and know

He's always there, He'll never go.

And they have both loved Him in kind

with all their heart and soul and mind;

And in that love they've found the way

to love each other every day.

A marriage that follows God's plan takes more 

than a woman and man.

It needs a oneness that can be

only from Christ.

Marriage takes three.

by Beth Stuckwisch

So to all that know us, you all know that we are constantly a work in progress.

But what marriage isn't??? With the arguments that are bound to happen with someone that you live with day in and day out, it's what happens in between the arguments that matter! 

His heart is my heart....his life is MINE. Together, we are so blessed! 

God knew what He was doing, I am so glad that we listened!

Happy Anniversary Baileyhusband!

 We are definitely one of a kind, and together we share this CrAzY life! And I wouldn't change a thing!

~Kim, your Baileywife