Coop and Yard Work

Man we have had a yucky spring. We worked more on the coop this week but with the wind and snow it has made progress difficult! Looks like summer starts next week though (temperatures supposed to get in the high 70's), so that's something!

Monday...😖

Tuesday we had some nice weather in the afternoon giving Justin a chance to get the coop door installed. I liked the natural wood look on the door and the nesting boxes, but ultimately decided to paint it because up close the wood is really beat up. 

I also busted out the porch paint to fix some spots that [stupid] Teddy chewed up over the winter. I cleaned out the shed as well and we took a LOT of junk to the dump.

Wednesday was finally sunny but still COLD. We managed to make it to the park with friends. That night I gave my kids summer buzz haircuts. 

Thursday was finally a nice day! Justin took advantage of the good weather and sprayed Round Up all over. That made being outside difficult for us, so we spent a lot of time at the Park. That afternoon we decided to zip over to Idaho Falls to get some yard supplies. We hit Home Depot and Costco hard, filling up the back of the minivan with supplies. We better enjoy the space while we can because once that third row goes up, we will be limited!

Friday I set out some plants/flowers I bought for the backyard. I haven't planted yet because I'm waiting to have bark to put down with it immediately after planting, so probably next week we'll get that done. That day was also our track meet in Shelley. I did some coop painting in the morning and then went to CAL Ranch on the way to the meet to get some chicken supplies. We are SO close to being done with the coop. As soon as it's done I want to be able to get my flock. I think I bought enough pine shavings for a year 😂 

The girls did well at the meet. The anchor on our 4X400 ran the 400 open in 1:01! She came milliseconds away from breaking Butte's school record. The boys have been frustrating to work with and I think we're going to dissolve their 4X400 relay.

We had LOVELY weather for our meet

Saturday came with clouds and wind so we got out early to do yard and coop work before the 20 mph winds picked up. I finished painting the main body of the coop and Justin did all the bark in the front flower bed. We purchased alllll the bark Diers had, so we'll have to wait for them to restock before we continue to the backyard flower beds.😂 Now if we could just have nice grass...

We finished everything we could (minus painting) and headed to Mom and Dad's so Justin could help them with their new laptops.

I need to finish painting the chicken ladder, the chicken side door (it's laying there on the bottom-left cinder block), and the roof. Then Justin can install the mesh wire in the ventilation and we should be done.

I got hanging plants as my Mother's Day gift. 

Hello 33 weeks.

Coop Progress

We had pretty terrible weather all week which put us behind with coop building. Monday Justin got out when the weather wasn't SO bad and wrapped fencing around the fence posts. I'm not too concerned about making the enclosure predator-proof as I'm not concerned about racoons/foxes/etc. during the day, especially with Teddy around, and I'm confident the coop will be secure for night time. But hawks could definitely be a problem so we'll just have to see how things go.

I insisted we wrap the fence after this roost so our chickens will be able to enjoy it...much to Justin's displeasure (much of this entire project is much to his displeasure #truelove).

funny boy

Tuesday I went to see my midwife to check on baby. Her son has surgery coming up, so for my next two appointments I'll be going to her backup midwife. The next time I see her, I'll be 37 weeks! In other words: officially safe to deliver!! That is crazy to me. But I doubt I'll be lucky enough to be anywhere close to delivery at that time. Lately when people ask me about when I'm due I say, "I'll probably have a baby by June 30th." 😂 Mom took both my kids so Emmett could go to preschool for his last day, so I took advantage of the kid-free time and got new tires on the van. That evening Chase Nielson came over to help Justin move the coop to the enclosure so we could start putting walls up. 

Hello 31 weeks

He got it nice and level!

When I'm watching Survivor, I like to have the kids join me w hen they have the food challenges. I love their reactions!

Wednesday I had Emmett take my dentist appointment for cleaning/check up. I was convinced he had some cavities in the back but the doc told me it was just discoloration. So now I get to wait until June to get my turn. 

Angie showing Emmett all the tools she's going to use ahead of time.

Even Logan got some souvenirs from the dentist office

I just love his little voice

Thursday was preschool graduation. Justin was able to sneak away from work for a bit to come. We spent a lot of that day putting up walls on the coop in the miserable wind and SNOW! Spring in Arco is the worst.

This song had my pregnant-self crying😭

yucky weather

Proud of the window I cut - this is for the nesting boxes.

When you go to check on  the kids when you've been working outside... 😱 In their defense they just wanted to feed the animals...

yummy pork tacos make everything better

Friday Dad came up to get some measurements from Justin for the roof. We needed help with the angle/cutting it straight. Justin got the water box and nesting boxes on and worked on the front door (which is still not quite right).

Saturday we worked the whole day because the weather FINALLY cleared up. It was still a bit windy,  but sunny and warm. Justin got the framing done for the roof and Dad came over with the right cuts for the angle. I started on the painting and was able to get two coats on everything by the end of the day. The first was the hardest getting paint in all the nooks and crannies of the plywood. Justin and  I even managed to get sunburned. We had Mom and Dad over for pizza for dinner. The final coat was dry on the side we wanted to do hand prints of the family, so we broke out the black paint to give it a go. Without a stir stick the paint was NOT right and it dripped everywhere! Fail! I'll paint over it and  we'll try again  later.

"Mommy, paint a rainbow!"

Don't mind me snapping at Emmett for flinging his paint everywhere 😂

Exhausted boys after a full day of playing outside

When I finished my last coat I went out to get the mail and marveled at the beautiful sunset. I love these peaceful country evenings.

Sunday walks with Granny n  Gramps