I didn't even notice that Farmer Jason was on fire in the background in this one.
Our family appreciates a good fire underneath the stars. It is one of our favorite things to do together.
We often find ourselves sitting around the pit Jason and I built together. The pit turned out much better and larger than I expected. But, when it comes to fire, my husband doesn't skimp.
KK usually won't sit still long enough to enjoy the fire, but Jason and I sure enjoy sitting by the fire and talking about life. Fun times!
I don't know about you, but I *heart* my Swiffer Wet Jet.
I've loved it since the day I purchased that thing. We've been through a lot- 7 moves, 1 hubby, 2 kiddos, farm life (equals lots of poop), among many other things.
But, my Swiffer has been there with me through it all. I still own the same one. I think I'm going to name him 'Biff'.
'Biff the Swiff'. I like that. It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?
I think an inanimate object deserves a name after it has been with you that long.
My interest in Swiffer all started when my dis-interest in mop water and buckets increased. I hate mop water. I don't know what to do with it. It grosses me out. And I get so grossed out the darker and darker the water becomes, that I end up making 3 batches of mop water just to finish mopping my house. And the idea of mopping something to get it clean when the water is clearly not clean is a contradiction of ideals.
Since I mop my kitchen 3 times a day, I wanted my system for mopping to be easy and toxin free. I'm not joking about mopping that much. This is the price I pay having an 11 month old who loves food and lives in her high chair. You saw the spaghetti pictures. It isn't pretty.
In comes 'Biff'.
I've been happy with 'Biff' up until now. I recently had a Swiffer epiphany after making a trip to Wal-mart just to buy the Swiffer goods. This is the only time I even go there nowadays.
The refill pads cost roughly $5 to $6 for a box of 12. The cleaning solution costs roughly $3 to $4. I know that the pads aren't the most environmentally friendly things because they aren't a reusable source and the solution isn't as non-toxic as I would like for it to be having a bouncing baby crawling around everywhere. Over time, this really adds up especially if you use yours as much as I do.
I decided to take this epiphany and give 'Biff' a makeover.
I bought some of those Gerber cloth diaper packages. I got mine at Wal-mart. They cost around $11 for a 12 pack. And the beauty of it all, is I get to use these and then throw them in the wash together at the end of the week. They will, of course, be washed in a small load all by themselves and in extremely hot water.
Here is what I did:
I cut up the cloth diapers. I cut off the sides of the diaper to where the thick part in the middle was the only thing left.
The thick part sticks to the bottom of the Swiffer just fine for me. And I like that it has great absorption and I can flip it over and use the other side also (a feature not offered in Swifferland). ****Tip: Instead of throwing away the side of the diaper, I will use these as my dryer sheet that I talked about in the detergent review. Just dab a few drops of essential oil to them, and you have instant dryer sheets.****
Dryer Sheets
Another thing I did was have my incredibly strong hubby twist the top off of the Swiffer cleaning solution so that I can make my own. Don't throw the bottle away! Re-use it.
You have to have a strong human being do this for you. I have the arm strength of a small mouse, so it is NOT possible for me to get dreaded white cap off the top. I've got all kinds of mad over this in the past. I know my limits.
If you can't get yours off or find someone to do it for you, we can hook a sista up and you can borrow my man's arms to help you. He is a pro!
Also, once the cap is removed initially, it can be removed from that point forward easily without the assistance of a human with super human strength.
Here is the cleaning solution I use. It smells incredible and has antibacterial qualities in it as well.
Floor Cleaning Solution
Fill the bottle 3/4 full of warm water. Add 3 tablespoons of Peppermint scented Dr. Bronner's. Add 10 drops of Sweet Orange Essential Oil. Add 4 tablespoons of white vinegar. Shake it around a little. Attach it to your Swiffer and enjoy!
****Tip: Go out and get some Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap. It is Concentrated Liquid Castille Soap that can be used for making all sorts of products to clean your home with. I detailed my car the other day using this stuff diluted in a small spray bottle. It is great and smells wonderful. I use the Peppermint scent a lot when I'm cleaning. And Jason and I use the Almond scent to bathe. It smells YUMMY! The writing on the bottle is a bit wacky. I don't even know what half of it even means really. I think they might have been inhaling hemp when they were coming up with label ideas for the bottles. I was able to find it at Kroger in College Station in the organic section. I think the big bottles are roughly $8 to $9. Which is pretty good considering you can dilute this stuff and it will last a while.****
You could also experiment with Murphy's oil soap for those of you out their who have wood floors. I happen to LOVE Murphy's as well and use this often when cleaning. It is also a safe non-toxic cleaner and smells wonderful!
....Biff....
I love my new and improved 'Biff' even more. I loved it before, but now that it is cost effective and I can make my own floor cleaner, it's perfect! I love that IT has a name now.
What are some things in your home that you have revamped in order to make them more cost effective and environmentally friendly? I'd love to hear what you have done. I KNOW we have some creative readers out there.
I've been busy updating my photo blog with some pictures of some sweet friends and family and updating their pictures for their walls and photo albums in the process too:).
It has been a while since I've updated it. There are 3 new posts on there. You can go and check those out HERE!
Today is my 27th birthday. It is also my beautiful niece's 6 month birthday on this earth too. Thus, the reason for a cute picture of her at the top of this post. I figured people would be more inclined to read this with an adorable baby girl at the beginning of it.
What a JOY she is. You can see more of Ava HERE! I had the opportunity to snap some pictures of Ava when she came to visit us in Brenham this passed weekend.
I have already lost track of how old I am. That is bad. Not that it bothers me in the least getting older, but I just forget the actual number. I'm also blessed to have a husband who happens to LOVE gray hair too, so I think I'm good to go with the aging process. Bring it on!
I guess since we are surrounded by college kiddos living in a college area, I still feel like I'm their age for some reason. But, the reality is I'm almost 10 years older than some of the college freshman. Wow!
I didn't have the "normal" progression of high school, college, career, marriage, then kiddos. Mine went more like high school, college for 6 long months, marriage, mommy. I got married at 19 and had Kaylyn at 23.
Today started off really rough for me. I stayed up late baking a cake (sounds domestic, doesn't it?) for Jason to take to work. I didn't get in the bed until 1:30 am. That is not a good thing for me. I am one of those people who actually do need 8 hours of sleep.
Lately, I've been consistent in waking up at 6:30 in order to spend time with the Lord, plan my day, get adequate caffeine, and ready. This has made the biggest impact on how my days have played out. My heart towards serving my family, loving my family, and discipling my girls has been a heart that started off the day focusing on the Lord. You can read more about the impact of having a quiet time in the morning HERE. There, you will find insight from several wise women on spending time with the Lord.
All of this is to say, I didn't do this this morning. I slept in and Kaylyn was my alarm clock. She woke me up to the tune of "Mommy, can you please get me some juice?".
It is a lovely song to wake up to.
Have you heard it?
When I looked at my clock and it said 8:30, I knew this was not a good thing. Holy Cow!
To save you from this post being ridiculously long, we are going to bullet-point format for sake of time to convey to you lovely people all of the things that went wrong today.
I woke up extremely late which then didn't allow for any time with the Lord.
Laney Rae threw up 3 times in the course of an hour.
ALL 6 of our pigs got loose and headed for the highway. I chased them down in my bathrobe, hair in a towel, rubber boots, and feed bucket. Not a good moment for me.
I had some not-so-good moments with the toilet myself. Sorry! That is just the reality of letting stress get to you.
I went to move our heard of cows and the heavens opened up and it began to rain hard.
I had to cancel my Olive Garden lunch with my girlfriends because of incidents mentioned in the above bullets. Sniff, sniff!
I went into battle this morning, with a robe on and a feed bucket in my hand instead of my breastplate of righteousness and my shield of faith (see Ephesians 6). This was my 'day of evil' that is described in Ephesians 6. And I wasn't ready for it.
It is easy to battle the 'days of good times'. But, how we deal with the 'days of evil' are crucial to our growth as believers.
Instead of wallowing in this day of awfulness, I am choosing to laugh at the previous incidents and see the things that came out in my attitude that I did NOT like nor did they honor the Lord and let the Him change me. So, that when the next 'day of evil' comes, and it will come indeed, I'm fully prepared.
I learned a valuable lesson today. I sat in bed using the excuse of,"Lord, I don't need to spend time with you this morning because I was up so late being a good wife and it IS my birthday after all." The moment that I made the decision, I had no idea what the future had in store for me today. I am reminded of an incredible verse/s that pertains to this very thing.
"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." Ephesians 5:15-17
How foolish I was! I know what the Lord's will is.
"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
I was none of these. I only wanted to sit in the middle of the pasture and cry.
I crave and desire that time with him in the morning even more so now. I need it! I know after the events of today, that I DESPERATELY need it. Every single day. No matter what day it is. I don't know what is in store for me or my family that day. I need to be prepared with my armor fully on.
Thank you Lord for my special birthday gift from you........the knowledge of my complete dependence on You and your Word! If nothing else, today I'm thankful that I'm yours and you have placed me here on this earth for such a time as this. Help me to make the most of every opportunity you give me.
If you would have told me that I would be making my own detergent 2 years ago, I would have laughed in your face.
Recently, I got my hands on a great book about toxins in the home. The book is called, The Naturally Clean Home. I'm sure there are others out there that are similar, but I happen to stumble across this one first.
The book focuses in primarily on the cleaners we use everyday when it comes to maintaining our homes. I had no idea some of the stuff was that bad! Some of the stats and information in the book will shock you. But, don't take my word for it. Check it out yourself.
I have found this book to be an excellent tool especially for a newbie like me. I didn't even own an essential oil last week so I was basically starting from scratch. The author does an incredible job explaining things and has tons of recipes to offer. I like that a lot of her recipes are scented and she helps you create the smells that you are trying to achieve. A lot of the recipes online don't have essential oils added to them. I can't wait to try out more. I did make my floor cleaner a few days ago also, but more on "Swiffer goes wild" in another post.
I've heard that making your own detergent can save you lots of money. Although I think it will save you some if you are used to buying the expensive high-dollar stuff (I wasn't), my reason for making the detergent stemmed more from the idea of knowing what exactly is in this white powder that I use daily in my home.
Honestly, I dreaded the whole thing. DREADED! I was completely out of detergent and was not letting myself go out and just buy some more without trying this out first. I was committed to the idea of making my own.
I knew that I wasn't willing to settle on a few things. The first being the all-important smell. I am a huge 'sniffer'. I love good smelling detergent or anything for that matter. You name it, I probably sniff it. My husband laughs at me all of the time because I usually sniff my fork before I bite into my food.......almost every time I take a bite! Weird.......I know. You get the drift. Smell is important to me and I wanted my stuff to smell good.
The other thing that I wasn't willing to settle on was the clean factor. I wanted my clothes to come out of the wash stain free and bright white. Thus, the importance of detergent to begin with. But, you and I both know that not all detergent is created equal and some clean better than others.
The last thing I wasn't willing to do is spend a whole day making detergent. I was prepared for it to take more time than just picking it up off the shelf and sticking it in my basket, but I wasn't willing for it to take hours or even an hour for that matter. I doubled the recipe below and it took me all but 20 minutes. I really don't think it would take longer than 30 to make a ton! I started off small because I didn't want to make a batch of detergent big enough for 1ooo loads of clothes and totally hate it. Kaylyn had fun helping me make it too which is also the beauty of using non-toxic cleaners. Your kiddos can clean with you!
I must say that after my first day of laundry I was sold on making my own detergent. It exceeded my expectations. I wanted to try it out first for a week before passing the information along to you guys and gals.
The first thing I loved about making my own, was creating the smell that I wanted. I did this by experimenting with some essential oils. I love woodsy citrus smells so I scented mine with sweet orange oil (which also helps remove stains and brighten laundry) and patchouli (for all of you hippies out there). The smell is totally different than store bought detergent so don't be expecting that. I wanted to live in my laundry room that day it smelled pleasant and naturally good. I really can't describe it other than 'fresh'.
I didn't pre-treat a load of my girls' clothes on purpose because I wanted to put the detergent to the test. The clothes came out perfectly and stain-free. I felt like my whites were even brighter than if I were to have used OxyClean on them. And trust me when I say that I was a firm believer in 1/4 of a scoop of OxyClean in every load.
My giant mason jar came in handy to store the detergent in my laundry room. I got this jar as a gift from Aunt Debbie and Uncle Durward and finally found the perfect thing to put in it. I LOVE cute jars and containers. It really makes doing laundry even funner to me. How silly is that, right?
I really think you will like it and enjoy the cool smells you come up with. Not to mention the satisfaction you will feel in knowing that you made some stuff that is not only good for the environment (the water waste coming out of your washing machine has to go somewhere, right?), but also good for your family too.
Here is the recipe I used. I sort of combined a few to fit my needs. There are tons of recipes online if you looked it up. Okay, so enough of me talking. Go make you some detergent and give it a try.
*If you have experience with this as well and have some more tips to offer to us newbies, feel free. I'd love to hear what you have to say!*
Powder Laundry Detergent (Lynsey-Style) This will do approximately 12-20 loads depending upon how soiled clothes are.
2 cups washing soda (found on the detergent isle at grocery store) 2 cups of scented baking soda (by scented, this means mix 5-8 drops of essential oil of your choice with the baking soda first and stir really good) 1 bar of grated Ivory soap (use your food processor- will look like feta cheese) 1 cup of Borax (use this if you have hard water especially) Container/Jar
Mix all together really well and store in a container. Use 1/2 cup for an average size load. Lavender-scented Fabric Softener (from The Naturally Clean House)
I used lavender for my fabric softener, but again you can choose your own smell.
1 gallon of vinegar 20 drops of lavender
Add lavender right into the container and shake. You've got instant fabric softener. Add this to the rinse cycle in your washing machine.
Lynsey Tip: I will be using the Downey ball that dispenses it while the washing machine is washing to clothes so I don't have to remember to add it in.
Dryer Sheets
Here is a quick tip for dryer sheets for you. Take a scrap piece of fabric (I used baby washcloths) and add 3-5 drops of essential oils on the fabric and throw it in the dryer with your clothes. Be careful not to use too much or it might put oil spots on your clothes.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35
For all of you precious people out there who don't feel loved today, READ THIS (my sis-in-law). There are some amazing truths here that I pray will resonate in your heart.
Jason was brought into this world today 28 years ago and our lives will never be the same because of him.
Jason, you are the most incredible man to me. The way you lead this family with strength, honor, integrity, love, and compassion blows my mind.
So balanced and so right.
I love and look forward to the times of laughter with you.....my best friend. There is no place I'd rather be than living this life by your side as your helper (and farmhand:).
I'm so blessed to have a husband who makes it effortless to submit to, respect, and love. Thank you for enabling me to be the woman the Lord has called me to be. I cherish that I get to be a stay-at-home wife and mommy!
I went outside today to do some stuff and stumbled across these lovely blossoms. They give me much hope that Spring really is right around the corner. For all of you northern folk who read this.......so sorry! This isn't meant arouse jealousy within you.
Texas is very blessed to have shorter winters and longer growing seasons. I guess it is a trade off because we will never get to see the sight of beautiful snow falling (and sticking).
We planted a small late winter garden a few weeks back. Jason also planted some yummy fruit trees. I don't think we will have any fruit this year, but in the years to come we should have a good variety of them.
......Peachtree Blossoms......
Every time we go to the grocery store we find ourselves saying,"We can't wait to have our own insert veggie." Or,"We should grow our own insert veggie." That was mostly the reason for the late winter garden. Hopefully it will do well and we will have cabbage, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, and a few other things before it gets too hot.
......our garden......
......rosemary......
......lettuce......
Our spring and summer garden is going to be huge and hopefully great! Stay tuned for more information on that and how you can get your hands on some farm fresh veggies and have your family come and help out a little on the farm too.
Jason is working at the fire station today and has entrusted me with the cows. He started rotating them once a day to get them on our pastures and eating the good rye grasses that are coming up. My dad came for moral support and helped me move them the other day. So, for the first time today I moved the herd all by myself.
It went pretty smoothly. Jason has everything set up for me in the next paddock over. All that I do is move the water hose, disengage the wire fence so I can touch it, drop the fence line so that the cows can come through, and hook the fence back up. I've been very fortunate to never have been shocked by the fence. I think I would cry!
It freaks me out just a little when about 30 cows run at me full speed in order to be the first person in line at the all-you-can-eat rye grass buffet.
If you look at this picture, you can see the grass that the cows have eaten down in the foreground and the green grass that needs to be eaten in the background. This was taken before I moved them.
It seems as though Kaylyn and I both have a thing for musicals. We love them around here.
I remember when I was a little girl and the first time I watched The Sound of Music. My mom knew that I loved musicals so she rented it for us to watch together. I was reluctant at first because I thought the movie was a bit dated and old just by glancing at the VHS cover. After that initial time of watching The Sound of Music, I've been a big fan of it ever since. That is still by far my favorite musical followed by Hairspray (old and new) as a close second.
I bought Annie to add to our musical collection. Along with watching the movies, Kaylyn likes to dress up like the characters and act out what they are doing in the movie. How precious!
Jason and I like to watch Kaylyn watch movies. She is one animated girl.
Today Kaylyn came up with this costume as her rendition of Annie. I think she did amazing putting this costume together. She wanted an apron on over a dress, a sweater over the dress, and some boots with tall socks sticking out of the top. Her hair also needed to be in a bun because Annie has that bun/ponytail thingy sticking out of the back of her head. What is that anyways?
Here is Kaylyn as Annie....... Pretty genius isn't it?
Oh, and here is a pretty funny story that is KK and farm related.
Jason and I were talking about the idea of someday letting our girls be in charge of the pigs and chickens as their main chore when they get a little older.
Of course, if you had the chickens to tend to that would mean collecting the eggs, feeding them twice a day, and making sure they got put up at night in the proper coops.
If you were in charge of the pigs, you would have to brave the chaotic squeals during feeding time, feed them at night, and probably get your toes stepped on by a 500+ pound pig (literally).
We asked Kaylyn while we were talking,"Do you like the chickens or the pigs better?"
She sat there and thought for a moment. You could see the wheels turning in her head. Then it was like a light bulb flashed on.
"I like the goats," she said answering to neither one of her choices.
Jason and I immediately started laughing hysterically.
The goats are probably the easiest animals on the farm. You don't have to do anything with them. They feed themselves, they go in at night, they are calm and quiet (which was probably the biggest deciding factor for her), and are pretty much low maintenance self-helping animals.
She strategically thought about that one. I must admit. She is a little freaked out by the pigs and chickens. Meal time for them is a farm fiasco.
**if you are visiting for the first time in a while, there is also another post below explaining where we've been.**
**I would first like to start off by saying that this weekend would not have even been possible if it weren’t for my family (mom, dad, papa, tio, & tia) who took care of our girls for us. Thank you! And thanks to Aunt Debbie for sending us. It blessed us!**
I’ve been away from the blogging world for a few days because we got to be a part of something extra special as farmers. I'm still trying to process everything that we walked away with.
We went to a TOFGA (Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association) conference this weekend in College Station. The conference was jam packed with incredible speakers such as Jeffery Smith, Dr. Will Winter, Jerry Brunetti, and various others that have been key players in the holistic and local food movements. TOFGA did an incredible job putting this conference on and providing some incredible speakers from many different spectrums. The food was outstanding as well and 100% organic and local (as in Texas local).
We watched King Corn, the movie. ‘Wow’ is all I have to say! Well, and that you should definitely watch it too. If you thought Super Size Me was bad, you just wait.
I’m trying to put into words what we walked away with- the knowledge gained, the vision established, the relationships formed.
The farmers of the organic/holistic/grass-fed food industry have to be some of the warmest people that I’ve ever met. I was shocked at their willingness to bestow upon us newbie farmers their lifelong trade secrets, techniques, and skills that have taken them years to acquire. Each table that we sat at had something to offer to our experience- and these weren’t even the speakers at the conference.
We also ran into a cool crew of farmers from the World Hunger Relief in Waco. This is a Christian organization that is basically a ministry in third world countries through agriculture. What an incredible way to minister to entire villages by working alongside them creating a sustainable farm. We had a blast talking with them and learning from them. Our family will definitely be taking a trip up there to visit their farm. You should check them out too.
Jason and I were by far some of the youngest folks in attendance. There aren’t too many people getting into farming these days. The government has set things up so that the land is too expensive, the yield for crops isn’t enough (without subsidies….wink, wink), and it just isn’t worth it really- to be a commercial farmer that is. The average farmer’s age is 60 years old. Now that should tell you something shouldn’t it?
Farming is becoming a lost art. I’m not talking about the type of farming that you plant acres of corn in just 30 minutes with the biggest tractor planting implement money can buy, douse the fields with pesticides, months down the road harvest your field with the flick of a switch, and then take your crops to wherever and it goes into the mouths of whomever.
I’m talking about the kind of farming that requires skill, passion, and faith (plant and pray, not plant and spray). Farming that once allowed farmers to take ownership in what they were producing on their farm because they knew the mouths it would feed. The type of farm that used to be all across America, but is now hard to find and practically non-existent in some parts of our country.
It is amazing to me that society as a whole has been dumbed down by our government who wants us to believe this lie that our food comes from a grocery store. Eggs come out of a carton in a refrigeration unit- not a chicken’s hiney. You would be surprised what people don’t know about their food. Especially kids. You should ask your kids where certain vegetables or even hot dogs come from and see what their answers are. It might shock you.
However, I feel like all of this is about to change. People are caring more and more about what is in their food. We are taking notice that for some reason food is the cheapest that it has ever been, and yet we are the sickest we’ve ever been as a nation. Diabetes is on the rise, heart disease is running rampant, cancer is out of control, and autism is a threat to 1 in 166 children. We are beginning to ask “Why?” Why are we one of the most well fed nations in the world, yet one of the unhealthiest?
I’m sure the list of possibilities that contribute to these problems is as long as it is complex. But, I can’t overlook the fact that all Americans have one thing in common- we eat.
This weekend reinforced our vision the Lord has given us for the farm. We want to produce a variety of foods the way that they were intended to be. Cows and pigs are supposed to eat grass. Chickens are meant to roam freely. Vegetables and fruits are supposed to be grown in garden with good soil in the wind, rain, and sunshine.
Eating locally and becoming a ‘localvore’ is on the rise in our country. Consumers want to see with their own eyes where their food is coming from along with buying it directly from the farmers who are growing it. Jason and I had no idea that this was a real ‘movement’ spreading like wild fire across the nation. We just knew something had to change and buying food locally and directly from the farm seemed to be a real answer within our grasp.
Our desire will never be to achieve ‘organic’ status by the government’s standards. That term is beginning to get on my nerves anyways along with the term ‘all natural’. Sprite has ‘all natural’ on the bottle. Along with Del Monte peaches with peaches and high fructose corn syrup being the first two ingredients.
Oh and by the way. The government is in the process of purchasing the terms ‘Certified Naturally Grown’ and 'Naturally Raised' so be looking for those to start appearing soon at a grocery store near you too. Small farmers (the real people producing naturally grown foods) will no longer be able to use this term unless they spend lots of moolah and buy the rights to do so from the government.
This may all sound like a bunch of mumbo jumbo to you. You might think, “Those Kramers have lost their ever loving minds and turned weird on us- Austin weird.” No offense Austin-ites. I assure you that isn’t the case at all. We have simply been educated and now have a strong conviction to act.
We have been blessed to be able to get to experience the Lord’s creation of nature daily in everything that we do out here. It is hard to ignore the intricate detail of the His hand. We simply feel that in order to be good stewards of this land, this is the direction that we need to take.
We are excited to be a part of planting, growing, pasturing, and harvesting good wholesome food for those who desire this and putting the culture back in agriCULTURE.
If you are interested in reading more about some of this stuff, here are some great resources:
Welcome to "5 Chicks and a Farmer." We are a Jesus-loving family living on a farm hatching one chick at a time- literally! Jason is a passionate farmer (who has super hero capabilities wrapped around a heart of gold.....or at least I think so). I am a wife, mommy, and farmhand who loves photography. We are homeschoolers and homesteaders. We have 4 precious girls!
I didn't even notice that Farmer Jason was on fire in the background in this one.
Jason taking a photo of his masterpiece.
....The Crew....
No Photoshop involved. Jason really lifted and moved fire. He is cool like that!
I love this man!
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