Don't Let Me Color My Hair at 9pm!

I've been busy and stressed lately.  I've had papers to write for English and Pschology classes.  I'm working full time and I've had to add on almost 2 hours of commuting per day 4 times a week that I didn't before.  Add on to that meetings, children, cooking, animals, etc, etc, I just haven't had a chance to get to the hairdresser to have my hair colored and my gray was REALLY showing!

I had to be at a function for my daughter's high school on Saturday and Friday night I decided there was no way I could step foot out of the house with my hair looking the way it did.  So at 8 o'clock on Friday after a loooooong stressful week I went to the drug store and picked up some color.  So in that frame of mind I decided that my standard medium warm brown was boring and that I needed something more exciting.  Soooo now I'm a red head!

I don't hate it but I also don't feel like it's *me*.  I think the actual color is more of a darker burgundy then it appears in the pictures.  I'll enjoy it for a bit and then go back to my normal color I guess.

I've re-realized that I shouldn't be allowed to make permanent changes to my appearance when tired and stressed though. : ) 

Cursive Decision

Son: Mom, do you like cursive?
Me: Yes, I think it looks pretty
Son: Well, I don't think it's for me.  I think I'll just stick with regular English.




Working on HW with Dad.  We don't time his homework, the timer was left out from a game. : )



Guest Post on a Chicken Blog - Yeah!

I'm excited to have been asked to share my experiences at Community Chickens a community from the publishers of Mother Earth News and Grit (two of my favorite magazines). 

If you're interested in chickens you might like to stop by and check it out.  Follow the blog to get updates when new posts come out.

Thanks for reading!

Karla

http://communitychickens.blogspot.com/
http://communitychickens.blogspot.com/search/label/Karla%20T

A completely unrelated photo of Henry. Just for the fun of it!

Strawberry Popcorn Harvest

My husband LOVES popcorn and he decided to grow his own in the garden this Summer.  Not one to go with boring normal corn kernels he decided to plant strawberry popcorn seeds. 

They grew quite well and he harvested them and we've been letting them dry.  Isn't it pretty?  Maybe we can decorate with them and then pop them. : )

More Chicken Pics (for Busy Working Mama)

Aleksandra, since you asked so sweetly : ) here you go.  I love having a lot of different colors and types of chickens.  They're a lot of fun to watch!

Chicky Wordless Wednesday

Linking up at Miller Racing

There's not many thing cuter then chicks in a box.  Well, maybe puppies in a box. : )  This is how baby chicks are sent from the hatchery.  They arrive within one to two days.  This takes advantage of the fact that they can live without food and water for several days after hatching because of their yolk sac. 

These are my first chickens. They arrived in the Spring of 2008. 

Beware of Little Boys Asking for Tape

Today I was sitting in the computer room chatting with my daughter and my son (8) pops his head in the doorway and asks if I know where the tape is.  I advised that I didn't and he then asked if he could use his sister's duct tape.  She immediately said no.  I was thinking that it was odd that it didn't matter what kind of tape he needed but I thought if he only needed a little duct tape, I would talk her into sharing.

So I asked him what he needed it for.  A sheepish smile flitted across his face before he quickly straightened his face and shrugged (he rarely lies but isn't above hiding info). Oh NO!  Alright buddy you might as well tell me now.

It turns out that he was trying to get into some cupboards and pulled on one of the antique cast iron hooks we had in our wall.  The screw snapped in half and it broke off part of the board that it was attached to.  Not a huge deal and he didn't get in trouble.

What I find hilarious is:
1. The innocent question:  "Mom, do you know where the tape is?"  Sounds harmless right?
2. What would his "fix" have looked like?  These hooks are pretty heavy!  I almost wish he'd found the tape and given it a try!  : D

Here are some pics of the damage.

My Musing: Isn't it counterpoductive to Twitter a giveaway you are entering?

I wonder about this each time I see an option to Twitter a giveaway for an extra entry or two.  If even one other person sees your tweet and enters the giveaway haven't you negated the benefit of your additional entry?  And if two or more people see it, haven't you lowered your own chance of winning?

I can see twittering to promote the product that is being offered.  That's basically free advertising for the sponsor and it seems like a good way to earn more entries.

I can see twittering a giveaway to promote a friend's blog.  But I just don't see how it makes sense for the person entering a giveaway.

I love entering giveaways and I actually enjoy going to the sponsors site or shop to check out their items.  I like supporting the host and sponsor by following and liking them.

I'm interested in your opinion.  Is there something that I'm missing?  Does it make sense and I just don't see it?  Do you Twitter giveaways?

Horsey Wordless Wednesday

My daughter (10) has been riding a little less then a year.  I'm so impressed with how hard she works and how she doesn't give up.

How to Make a Dog Barf and Why I Needed to Know

While the title is light-hearted, I did need this information today and it may have saved my dog's life.

What I learned:

• Call your vet first.  There are some things that dogs should NOT regurgitate. They'll be able to help with the dosage as well.
• Keep Hydrogen Peroxide and a medicine syringe on hand
• Preferably a syringe that will hold a tablespoon of medicine. Giving tablespoons of medicine one teaspoon at a time is not fun!
• Administer the dosage every 1/2 hour until the dog vomits. The secretary didn't tell us that the first time we called and that could have been a huge problem if I hadn't called back. (Check w/ your vet)
• Share this with your friends who own dogs.  I've read many books and articles about dogs and had never heard this.

Here's a couple of sites that helped me w/ info too.
http://www.twodogpress.com/healthy.html

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/how-to-induce-vomiting-emesis-in-dogs/page1.aspx

The stupid beginning:
I toasted myself a slice of Ezekiel 4:9 raisin bread for breakfast this morning.  It was a new loaf so the crust (which I don't like) was on the end and so I left it out to thaw thinking I could give it to the chickens or the dog later.  It's healthy stuff and I wouldn't want to waste it. 

So an hour or so later my husband noticed it near the toaster and asked me about it and I explained.  So he leaned down to our Jack Russell Terrier, Emily, and offered it to her.  She took it and went to find a comfy place to enjoy it.  About 15 min later DH asked if she finished it, I said yes, and then he suddenly had a horrified look as he realized that it was RAISIN bread. (Raisins and grapes can kill dogs)  We knew that but we just didn't think about the raisins in the bread. We both felt awful.  We are very careful to not give her harmful foods even in small amounts and we normally only give her healthy things (fruits and vegetables).

The horrble middle:
We called the vet and they said if (IF?) we were worried about it we could give her Hydrogen Peroxide to induce vomiting or we could wait and see how she felt.  (Hmm, we can wait and see if she dies OR make her barf?  Let me think.) I was SURE that my husband had heard wrong because I had never heard of using HP to induce vomiting.  Well, I was wrong.

My husband ran out to the store (thankfully it wasn't the middle of the night.)  I'll spare you the details.  Suffice it to say that the dog was extremely unhappy with the whole process and it broke my heart.  I'm still sick to my stomach and exhausted hours later.

The reasonably happy ending:
After several hours she finally regurgitated and it included bread fragments and raisin goo so I'm reasonably sure she's fine.  She's also behaving normally and actually seems to have forgiven us.

Here's my little sweety!

My daughter says Emily is cowering in this picture.  To me it looks like she's saying
"I love you, may I lie by the fire now?"

A Few Things I Love

I was planning on writing a whiney post about how hard it is to go to school, work and parent.  But I've decided to write about a few things that I love instead.

I love my children!  Here they are heading off to their first day of school this year. 

I love Summer and fresh picked berries that are still warm from the sun.

I love making cards, stamping, and crafting.

I love to read, I love my animals, and last but definitely not least... I love my husband.

I feel better after reminding myself of the good things in my life!

Thanks for listening!



One of my favorite homemade cards



Mmmmm!