We first started talking about chickens during the 2020 shutdown. I recognize that this was a trend not unique to our suburban family. However, over two years later we are still going strong!

May 2020

The chicken journey began when we ordered 10 chicks from Mt. Healthy Hatchery in Cincinnati.We picked our breeds out from a catalogue. We took detailed notes comparing the volume, friendliness, hardiness, and egg color of each bird. If I were to go back in time I would worry less about friendliness and volume and get more colored egg layers. People are looking for different things in backyard chickens, but I am starting to get really into eggs of various colors now. I still adore the hens we ended up with though.

They came in what I would describe as a little box for donut holes. There were ten little chicks and they were so cute and fluffy. I have never seen such precious little critters. I had to do a photo shoot. So adorable!!!

June 2020

The chicks were growing so rapidly but the coop was taking a really long time to build. We tried to let them get as much outside time as possible during this season, but they slept in the brooder in our laundry room.

September 2020

The chicks were all supposed to be hens, but we were ahead of time that the sex is usually only 90% accurate. In our case there was one rooster that started crowing at 15 weeks. Wild Style was an Olive Egger and I really wanted those green eggs, but he wasn’t going to lay any and we aren’t allowed to have roosters in our neighborhood. We ended up rehoming Wild Style to someone on a Facebook chicken group that I am a part of and we ended up making a very special friend in the process!

October 2020

My dream chicken coop was officially done and we got our first egg. It was a big project that required all hands on deck, but it turned out so nice.

November 2020

Before we went out of town my incredible, talented, genius husband built some game changing features to the chicken coop. He installed a rain barrel that is temperature controlled so the water will run if it gets cold enough to become frozen.

He also built a chicken feeder that holds 100 pounds of pellets so we only have to fill it once a month. I never did a blog post about this, but I need to! I have had requests so hopefully that will be coming soon. 

December 2020

We hadn’t even been chicken owners for a year yet, and somehow we were already hooked.

We got lots of chicken gifts for Christmas that year including this painting that I absolutely love!

August 2021

When hatching season rolled around in the summer of 2021 I had the chick itch. Our dear friend Dennis who adopted our rooster actually brought his incubator down to our house and helped us hatch 12 chicks and 5 ducks!

It was such a cool learning experience. I don’t think any of us will ever forget it and I would actually love to do it again sometime. We didn’t keep the chicks or ducklings, but the process of seeing them hatch and raising them those first two weeks was incredible.

Not all of chicken life is glamour and causes warm fuzzies, but we have loved having what we refer to as the “fine nine”. Although spoiler alert, we may go back to having 10 hens again. There are potential surprises on the way!!!

Just when I think I’ve seen it all my youngest daughter, Elle, comes in from playing in the back yard and looks like some one dabbed her with a black permenant marker.

I asked her what was on her face and she was oblivious to it. I tried really hard to wipe the spots off. I looked at pictures of her to see if I was going crazy and these moles were there all along.

Then I found another black spot only this one looked like what I would describe as a “smear”.

Other than a little itchiness she didn’t seem bothered by any of it, but I was! So I took it to Google and after much investigating I finally found something that described EXACTLY what my daughter was dealing with. The name of the condition was “Black Spot Poison Ivy”. Pub-med.gov describes Black-spot poison ivy dermatitis as “a rare manifestation of a common condition.” If what I was reading was true Elle must have come in contact with a plant that had high concentration of urushiol (which is the oil in the plants that causes poison ivy rashes). I was self diagnosing here, but it seemed to align with what we were dealing with. These are photos from the web.

So day one through six nothing changed. Then on day seven the black spots either fell off like a scab or changed to more of a pink spot that looked like a bug bite or something.

I thought that was a good sign and that we were pretty much out of  the woods. Except on what would be day 10 she woke up with one of the worst poison ivy rashes I’ve ever seen and I have seen some awful ones!

This concerned me enough to call the doctor. I didn’t like that it spread so suddenly or that it was getting worse instead of better after a week and her face was a little swollen. For us poison ivy tends to run its course in about seven days. This was another beast.

When I took her in I showed all of my photos to the nurses and doctor. They were baffled and called her the mystery girl. I told them what I had found online about Black Spot Poison Ivy. They left us alone in the exam room for a minute and when they returned I was told I was right and that it appeared to be an accurate diagnosis. They had never heard of or seen another case of this but it seemed spot on (sorry that wasn’t meant to be a pun). The treatment was a low and slow dose of steroid medication for the poison ivy and some topical ointment to treat the black spots, which the doctor referred to as lesions.

It’s been five days since Elle started her medication and she’s doing great. The rash lightened up extremely quickly. The lesions are still lingering which is a little concerning, but I think they are starting to fade. I’ll try to do an update once they are completely healed. *Update- a couple days later she was back to normal as if nothing happened!*

From her sister’s account Elle had pulled on a vine in the back yard. Maybe that’s what made this such a crazy severe attack. Who knows. It’s such a rare phenomenon. Anyway, maybe it will never happen again. I did want to share our story though because some day there may be another persons desperately searching the internet after finding what looks like a new beauty mark on their skin after being out in the woods. I’m not a medical professional, but you might be looking at Black Spot Poison Ivy. If so, the treatment is probably going to be the same as regular poison ivy. Your doctor can tell you if this web search led you in the right direction.

Today was a really special Sunday. SJ was water baptized.

I was crying before we even made it to the platform. My family was there to watch and support her. One of her best friends was there to give her a hug immediately after she came down from the stage. I got so many encouraging text messages from friends and loved ones speaking words of truth over SJ. I am so proud of her and thankful for what God has done in her life.

At our church they do baptisms as part of the worship service. SJ was the first one to get into the tank this morning and the song the worship team was playing was “Who You Say I am” by Hillsong Worship.

We haven’t sang that song in a really long time so I know it was the Lord that orchestrated the whole thing. I wrote a blog post back in 2018 called “The Healing I Never Saw coming“. In it I shared how I was asked to do sign language during worship on this one particular Sunday because we had some deaf individuals in the congregation. I don’t want to shine a spotlight on me at all, but I can’t help but share how good God is so here is an excerpt from that blog post from October 5th, 2018-

That Sunday I stepped up to the x on the stage and as the band began to play I took that music that I heard and I formed it into a visual with my hands. It was incredible. The beauty behind American Sign Language is amazing to me.

I was completely overcome with emotions as I felt the Lord healing me in areas that I didn’t even know it was needed. He did though. This was a full circle moment that I would have never envisioned in a million years. I let my hands sing as I signed the words

“I am chosen, not forsaken. I am who you say I am. You are for me, not against me. I am who you say I am.

Who the son sets free is free indeed. I am a child of God, yes I am. In my father’s house, there’s a place for me. I am a child of God yes I am”

When we were in a dark place after leaving our home in Texas we felt lost and confused about who we were.

When we had to choose how to help our daughter by either fully emerging in the signing community or having the cochlear implant surgery we felt lost and confused about who we were.

When I was asked to sign in worship but felt completely unqualified those same emotions were back, but as I motioned my hand back and forth to form the words “I AM WHO YOU SAY I AM” I knew it to be true.

No matter what obstacles or lies we are up against we can stand firm on the truth about what His word says about who we are and who He has called us to be.

I am chosen!

There is a place for me!

I am a child of God!

Who knew how this story would play out, the daughter of a worship leader profoundly deaf did not receive the supernatural healing prayed for.

It sounds bleak, but instead, God took us on a faith journey like no other. A journey that at times seemed so dark I felt like I had accidentally stumble into a pit. I had no idea where we were headed.

That Sunday as I stood next to my husband while he played the guitar and led the congregation I interpreted the words into sign language and it was like I had an aerial view of the journey and I saw how God’s hand was at work all along.

Here we are almost four years later and you can imagine how blessed I was to hear that song as J baptized SJ in the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. I know that at 12 years old God is already using SJ and I can’t wait to see what all He has in store.

It’s been several weeks since I’ve posted and I hate that because this blog is such an incredible outlet for me and I usually get to write weekly. I have a really good excuse, or two, or TEN. Life has been very busy. 

I love the quote about how
“Adulthood is saying “But after this week things will slow down a bit” over and over until you die.” That’s a joke obviously, but I relate so much to that statement. J and I were exhausted after spending two weeks in Texas for the holidays and on the way home we talked about the next few months and how we wouldn’t have that much going on. Insert major eye roll here because Z’s robotics competitions started in January so almost every weekend was booked.

Add to that we decided to start a kitchen remodel. For context here is a picture of our kitchen at the beginning of the year.

What was originally going to be a new sink, countertops and a quick and cheap flooring cover-up turned into astronomically more. I’ll get into the details of  that another time, but trust me it was and IS a complete overhaul.

It’s still under construction, but phase one is complete and the kitchen is functional. J and his brother have been working around the clock for weeks, but it was time for a break. So for now I have  a new ceiling, new LED lights, new butcher block counter tops, new garbage disposal and farm house sink, and new flooring. What you can’t see is the updated electrical wiring and subflooring. We weren’t planning on getting in that deep at the time, but it was desperately needed and I’m glad it’s done now.

So that’s the biggest thing, but we also had a birthday in the house recently (SJ is TWELVE. What!?).

I know it’s crazy. I thought I just announced her birth here on Messy Mom. Also, she is getting baptized this weekend. YAY! And Z’s robotics team is going to the state championship… also this weekend (thankfully not at the same time). As you can see, we’ve been spinning some plates. It’s all good things though, thankfully.

Hopefully I will get to start blogging more after this week when things slow down a bit (wink wink).

I recently watched a movie on YouTube called Childhood 2.0.

A lot of the information shared was a reminder, but some of it was new and eye opening to me. ALL of it was very important. I have been recommending this free resource left and right since I saw it. Honestly, I feel like every parent needs to watch this!

I know it looks like it’s a fear mongering documentary, but it’s really about awareness and how to be on guard. I can’t shield my kids from everything, but I can be proactive about some of the imminent dangers that they face as kids and teens that I never did. Also, some of it helped me to see where I am struggling myself with addiction and insecurities that are social media based.

The video is an hour and a half long and I know how hard it is to carve out time for something like this, but to me it’s worth it. So much so that I watched it again and took notes. Side note, there are some “icky” images that they put in there to show how bad things are. Some of them are blurred, some aren’t. I could do without seeing that stuff personally, but it’s no different than what you would find on billboards or magazine covers.

My biggest takeaway is that most parents of teens grew up in the 70s or 80s (like myself) and it was a different era. We lived in a world where we spent most of our childhood playing outside. We learned about stranger danger and physical threats. Many parents are now using devices to keep our kids safe from those physical threats by location tracking or having 24/7 connection to them, but statistically speaking our world is much safer outside than it ever has been. Those physical dangers in most neighborhoods are much less likely to happen than the dangers that are happening online. As is stated in the film “We have traded a false sense of safety and security for actually putting our kids in riskier situations”.  

The movie talks about cyber bullying, suicide, pornography, depression, anxiety, addiction and more. One eye opening analogy that was shared was about pornography online. 27% of all video content on the unfiltered internet is pornographic. Imagine a coffee table that had four magazines on it and one of them was pornographic and three of them weren’t. Now imagine a parent had this in their home and just hoped that the kids didn’t look at the wrong one. That is what the unfiltered internet is today, only it’s in their pockets and it’s far worse than anything the former generations were ever exposed to.  

Again, this isn’t about fear or helplessness and I am not anti-technology or screens. My husband is a computer programmer who works on apps for a living. I am a blogger/influencer and it’s been my passion and side hustle for 14 years. My oldest son is a programmer in VEX robotics and competes in Esports which are video games!

We are the quintessential tech family, but I’m in the trenches trying to send out a signal flair to other families and younger generations. The hazards of kids and the internet are real but there is hope! There were several different experts that shared in this documentary. One of them was Patti Agatston, PhD, LPC who said “The best [content] filter that your child will develop  is in between their ears. So having an adult that they can go to that they trust is critical.”

Also Detective Richard Wistocki who works specifically with cyber crimes said,

“There is no bigger God’s gift than a mother’s intuition. When a mom knows something, feels something- there’s something wrong with their kids. God has given this gift to moms to protect their children.” 

I smiled at the end of the movie when it was noted that we have so many more resources than we did even five years ago! Many of the logos that popped up where resources I am very familiar with and can personally vouch for.

Protect Young Eyes

Bark

Fight the New Drug

Common Sense Media

Wait Until 8th

Also, the childhood2movie.com has a great community and discussion guide. Another one not mentioned but I get their newsletter and have one their books is Defend Young Minds.

I’ll end with a quote that is alarming but hopefully a wake up call. It comes from Joel Stoddard, MD MAS Pediatric Mental Health expert, he says

“Right now we’re effectively living in an experiment. How is this going to affect us? We’ll find out with the current generation.” 

My word for 2022 is Gratitude.

I felt the Lord dropped it in my heart when I was feeling extra grumpy. It was a dreary day at the end of December and I was thinking about how I had such high hopes for redemption in 2021. What I was specifically hoping for was that the pandemic would be over. I thought for sure with the vaccine being out and so many people having natural immunity we would see most of the news, rage, and restrictions subside, but not much changed. I even went to my first Covid related funeral. So it’s been pretty gloomy year. In that moment of despair I also felt like I was personally failing in all kinds of ways. So I started in on the whole “woe is me” bit that I rehearse in times of weakness. I was ready to just cross off the past year and consider it a dud. Then I felt a little spark of gratitude in my spirit and the Holy Spirit give me a nudge to make a list reflecting on what was good about 2021. So I pulled out my phone and began to type out some of the good things that I accomplished in 2021. Here is what I came up with

1. I finally got my hemoglobin on track after years of being anemic. This was huge!
2. I successfully concluded a year of homeschooling and my kids are doing great (I was so worried that I was failing them).
3. I finished the first draft of my memoir. This was also a major breakthrough for me!!!
4. I launched a successful life group that is still growing strong and building lasting, edifying friendships.
5. I got to see Guy Raz at a leadership conference which was kind of bucket list dream of mine. 
6. I threw four super special birthday parties (to make up for a year of no big parties). 
7. I upgraded my camera and photo editing software. It was expensive but I’m grateful for a side hustle that can cover those costs and capture beautiful memories for my clients.

Those are just some of what I feel like I accomplished. There are so many other major breakthroughs and joyous times that happened last year. Even though the enemy tried to back me into a corner with feelings of fear and inadequacy I can see for myself that 2021 was in fact a healthy, productive, and blessed year!

I love the song “Gratitude” by Brandon Lake. According to Spotify it was one of the songs I listened to the most in 2021. I really wanted to learn the sign language to the song and usually what I do for worshiping in ASL is google a video of someone that has already interpreted it. Only, in this case there weren’t any videos! That’s when it occurred to me that maybe I should be the one to fill that void. So I interpreted it over Christmas break and even got some help from a  dear friend of mine who is deaf and ASL is her first language. SJ and I have both been practicing and hopefully next week we’ll be ready to record a video and post it.

After all this focus on gratitude I got a belated Christmas present from a friend in the mail and I got choked up when I opened it.

It was a candle with the word gratitude on it. She had no idea that was my word for this year. The candle smells amazing by the way. It’s from a place called Thistle Farms which helps women survivors of trafficking, prostitution, and addiction. Definitely go support that ministry! It’s amazing. But sorry, as of now (01/20/22) the gratitude candle is sold out!

So there is one more 2021 recap while we are still in January. I know I already shared my goals, but I wanted to share my word. Gratitude. It’s significantly shaping my outlook for this year.