{HALL FARMS // CHICKENS AND EGGS}

No matter how long I've had chickens, collecting eggs will always be one of my favorite things!! Especially when you finally have a flock of hens that leave you beautiful eggs!! 

{A SWEET SATURDAY WITH THE NEPHEWS}

This morning we went to our nephew's soccer game. That's always a fun time! After the game, Nate's parents had the boys over and since we live right behind them, we got to visit with them too! We had a sweet little time playing outside, holding the chickens, gathering eggs, and even a little frog catching. 

{St Patrick's Day Chicken Coop // 2022}

 A few weeks ago I shared my chicken coop all decorated for Valentine's Day. Well, I just updated it for the next holiday...St Patrick's Day!! 

{Valentine's Day Chicken Coop // Feb 2022}

 One of my favorite things about my coop is being able to change out the decor for each holiday! I have two window flower boxes that I switch up the flowers in and I usually hang a decorative sign on the door. I recently decorated for Valentine's Day and I am loving the pops of pink and red! 

{Fall 2021 porch}

 One of my favorite things about our home is our front porch! While I wish it was a wrap-around porch, I do love the space we have. I enjoy decorating our front porch with every season...especially fall and Christmas-time!! I kept it pretty simple this year, but I love it all the same. 

{All things Chickens // an update // chicken eggs & a coop update}

Who in the world ever thought I would be a crazy chicken mama? But here I am...and I am loving it! They are so much fun to watch and learn. I am enjoying getting to know each one a little better. 

{Weekend Wrap-up // Movies, Benefit with the Jeep Club, Church, Coop work}

 I've been so busy catching up on the blog (since St Patrick's Day) but I wanted to post something a little more recent. A weekend wrap-up! It used to be a common thing around here and I miss posting a little of our day-to-day. I love weekends with my favorite people! 

{A chicken update // All chickens are named}

 I have finally named all of our chickens!! I've had a list of names in my phone for the longest time, but have been waiting to learn their personalities more before assigning them to the chickens! It's been so much fun to watch them grow and watch their little personalities develop! So, without further ado, here's our chickens by name! 

{A sweet day with the nephews}

 Nathan's mom had the boys on Saturday and brought them over to visit. We just so happened to be outside working on the chicken coop and they wanted to help! They are the cutest little farmers ever. We had such a sweet time with our nephews! 

{Mother's Day 2021 // Maggie the Magnolia's first blooms}

 Mother's Day 2021 was pretty amazing!! We started it off with church and ended the evening with Nate's family. I visited with my Mama the day prior and it was a treat! Church was amazing, as always. Nate made me the cutest little card. I will never tire of homemade gifts!! 

{Chicken Run}

Now that our chickens have gotten acclimated to their new home/coop, we can let them free range in their run. Just one more step before they're free to roam the full 2 acres. Nathan and I ordered a safety net to put over our chicken run to keep out predators, so that makes me feel better! There's only a small part of the coop area that is not covered and that's so that we can open and close the coop door! Our chickens are loving this new freedom and we are enjoying watching them! 

{My Irises have bloomed and the garden is growing}

 Have I said lately how much I love Spring? My purple Irises have started blooming all around the property! They are such pretty pops of color! We have white, yellow, and purple around here. 

{We moved some of the chickens to the coop!!}

 April 13th was a big day here at Hall Farms! We moved our biggest babes out to the coop. They love the new space to run around and the little littles love having more space in the brooder! It will be a couple more weeks before our 2nd round is ready for the coop. I can't wait to have them all out there!

{Sophie the blue Silkie}

 When I first decided to get chickens again, I knew I wanted a Silkie or two. I had two, but only one made it. My little Sophie girl! She's the cutest little thing. Every time I bring her out in the warm sun she goes right to sleep. It's the funniest thing! It's either that or she doesn't like photos and pretends to be asleep. ha

{Chicken Coop // Update}

 A few weeks ago, I shared our Chicken Coop Reno. We've added a few things to the coop since then. I added a solar lantern on the coop itself, some solar lights around the bottom, and some cute little fencing. I am loving the way this coop has come together. 

{Our first set of baby chicks // March 2021}

 I mentioned in the previous post that after our spring break celebrations we went and picked up something exciting! What was that exciting thing I'm talking about? Our first set of baby chicks!!! (well, first set this go-'round! - we had chickens about 12 years ago) We went to Atwood's and Mason and I picked out 10 sweet little babies to bring home with us!! 

{Chicken Coop Reno // 2021}

 For a while now, I have been wanting to renovate our chicken coop and get chickens. I knew that it was probably a big undertaking because our coop was in bad shape, so I kept putting it off. After we had chickens the last go-'round, we had a miniature donkey back there. He wasn't so gentle around the coop and tore it up. Well, on Saturday, March 6th we had a friend over with his tractor to till up the garden and do a few other things around ours & Nate's parent's properties. We were out working around the coop and I mentioned to Nate's mom that I wanted to renovate the coop & get chickens. She was excited and gave me just the amount of encouragement I needed to get started. I told Nate I was ready and that's all it took...

 

{Jake makes the escape...}

Happy Thursday friends!

So, my window in my home office overlooks the front of our property and our street...I look out to see something casually strolling down the road away from our house. I couldn't make out what it was at first. I went on the porch to get a better look...

JAKE!!!!!! Our family donkey is out of his pen and walking down the road. He'd walk, stop to get a bite and then look back and I am almost certain he was laughing & smiling. Like haha, I got out and am getting away. 

I text and then call my brother in law who is usually my hero in times like this, but he was a couple of towns away. 

I grab one of Gunner's collars and leashes & my keys and hop in my car. No way I am about to walk down there and end up on a wild goose chase in 100+ degree weather. Oh and in my pajama pants, too. Hot Mess Express, Hello!! Oh and don't even ask me what I was going to do with the collar and leash from inside my car. I have no clue.

I got to the end of the road where he was feasting on a neighbor's yard, park my car and get out and head towards him. He starts running back towards our house. So I turn my car around and follow him. He makes a pit stop at a neighbor's house who's horse is at the fence-line {watching the free circus show, I am sure} so I have to get out again and chase him off. I finally get him in our yard and at the back of our property. I came in to put my keys and the leash up and rushed  back out to make sure he wasn't having a buffet lunch in the garden. 

He wasn't. But, he was plotting his next escape plan... I am sure of it. So, I run around the other side of the house to chase him back closer to his area/pen, laughing at myself the whole time. I finally get his stubborn self over to the other side and look up only to see one of our elderly neighbors (who's property backs up to ours) on her back porch watching! 

This kind of stuff only happens when Nate is gone, I tell you. And anytime I am doing anything embarrassing my neighbor is sure to be out. 

I guess I should just be thankful I had on a bra this time.

Alas, all is well and Jake is back in his pen.

Just a typical work day....eh? 

What's a day in your life like? ;)

{It's the Little Things - Snippets of Summer}

linking up with Ashley and Jess for It's the Little Things! Summer time is in full swing and we are loving it! These are just snippets of our Summer so far.

How has your Summer been?

{Weekend Wrap-up}

We had a very nice and festive weekend!!! We opted out of Black Friday shopping and went to the gun range with some of our best friends instead. Mason stayed with his Nana, Papa and Uncle T-Ty. We shot for over 2.5 hours and had a complete blast. Nathan and I laughed on the way there about how many guns and ammo we had in the back seat. It looked like we were going to war! We shot everything from pistols to ARs. We shot at pumpkins, targets and Pringle cans. It was also nice to just hang out and catch up.    {warning! this is going to be a picture heavy post}

I fell in love with this place across from the gun range. They had the greatest setup complete with a Blacksmith barn and the neatest stables. I'm a huge fan of all things rustic!!

After the gun range we took Mason a burrito {his favorite} and visited with the inlaws for a couple of hours. We were perusing Pinterest and found the cutest little Rudolph made out of wine corks. My MIL had everything on hand to make them...so I whipped up a few. They came out so cute!!! I'm in love with them.

That evening we just hung out. I tried for almost 2 hours to get Mason to take a nap, but he just wouldn't fall asleep. Although, we did relax and he was nice and still for 2 hours. We headed to town to grab a pizza and movie and Mason fell asleep {at 5:45pm}...right in the middle of a major jam session to Aaron Watson's new cd! Seriously...one second he was nodding his head and singing as loud as he could and then he was OUT! It was the craziest thing. If you know Mason then you know that he doesn't just fall asleep!    Before we left...  

  And when he crashed...

He was still asleep when we got home, so we put him in bed. We were so nervous. We didn't know if he would sleep all night or wake up at 8, 10, 12...ready to party! BUT - he slept until 8:45 the next morning. Can you say growth spurt? Seriously! He was pretty great on Saturday, too. Well rested. That's for sure. 
Saturday afternoon we went to eat at Oma's one of our favorite little town diners. Then we went to get a {real} Christmas Tree. Mason had a lot of fun! We picked out a really nice Frasier Fir - somewhere between 6 and 7ft. It's huge! And beautiful. And smells divine!
Oh, and Mason picked out his own tree, too!

Cute, right?
I tried to get some better pictures, but he wasn't having it. You get what you get with a toddler.
And our huge tree...

Nate is standing on the tailgate of a 4x4 pickup, if that helps to visualize the size of the tree!!
Trimming the tree...

One of my best friend's mom made that hat for Mason his first Christmas back in 2010. I'm so happy that it still fits. And he loves it. I told him that Krista's mom made it for him...so every time we pulled out a new Christmas decoration he would ask me if it was from Krista's Mommy! So cute.  

 
Sunday Nate went to the gun show with his dad and brother so Mason and I hung out a couple hours. Then we headed to town to get ingredients for ornament making! Mason was pretty fussy all day on Sunday. It was quite exhausting. He threw a HUGE fit in Big Lots and I had to leave...with a screaming toddler in tow. Then he proceeded to kick, scream and cry when I tried to put him in his carseat. I'm sure people thought I was kidnapping the poor kid!! It was an epic fit, let me tell you. We went home and just hung out the rest of the day. We made ornaments and played outside. It was a beautiful day!! 

How was your weekend? I hope it was amazing!