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!
I love spring evenings when it's pleasant to actually be outside. You don't have to worry about mosquitos and it's not too hot to grill. We recently got a Blackstone and have enjoyed using it to cook our supper. We also recently joined Hello Fresh and we are loving it. This evening we had a shrimp and steak meal and hubbs cooked it on the Blackstone!
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.
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!
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
I'm not sure if I have mentioned it on here or not, but Nate and I created a Jeep Facebook group/community a couple years ago called Jeep Around Texas. It started off slow but has picked up over the last year or so. We are at 18.5k members and growing by 2-4k a month! So far, it's been a pretty great community of Jeepers. Anyhow, we joined in with one of our favorite Jeep families to host a monthly meet at an Ice Cream shop they own right here in our hometown. We've had 4 or 5 meets so far and each one has blown us away with the amount of Jeeps/Jeepers that have come out. We had one this month and it was a blast! I never get many pictures because we are too busy having a good time. Here are the photos I did get, though!
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.
Bluebonnets are one of my most favorite things about spring! There is nothing more soothing to the soul than taking a backroads drive at sunset to see fields of wildflowers! So much beauty...only God! This spring we got out to visit the Bluebonnets several times. I'll let the photos do the talking...
I almost missed posting about St Patrick's Day! And I couldn't let that happen. Not because we celebrated in some big kind of way, but because I have the cutest pictures to share. But first, we had to be a little bit festive, so green Lucky Charms for breakfast it was!
I'm going to let you in on a little secret...if you want to win over my heart, just invite me to go chase the sunset with you! haha! But seriously. I could never grow tired of chasing the sunset. I mean, it's such an incredible gift that God shares with us every evening. And if you really think about it, chasing the sunset is quite like our walk with the Lord and spending time with Him. You get away from the world and experience something much bigger. Something more beautiful. Something incredible and so indescribable. I'm sure the exact same could be said about the sunrise, but lets be honest, I'm not a 'rise before the sun' kind of girl. There's very few things I will wake that early for! Anyhow, I am so thankful for a husband that supports my crave for chasing the sunset and I am even more thankful for that time I get to spend with him.
Back on March 26th we made our first trip over to see the Bluebonnets (< click on that link to see previous Bluebonnet posts). Driving the back roads to see these beautiful Texas flowers is one of our favorite things to do on weeknights! It's so soothing to my soul to drive these back roads at sunset and then spend some time in these gorgeous wildflower fields.
We spent Easter Sunday morning here at home. Mason opened his Easter basket and we hung out and made the foods we were taking to Nate's parent's house. It was nice to have a slow-going morning here at home. Mason loved all the things that I found for him at Canton!
We celebrated Easter with my mom's side of the family on Saturday, April 3rd. We had our gathering at my mom & dad's house. So many of our family members were able to come and it made my heart so happy! We had such a great day together.
I took off the first Friday of the month so that I could join my Mother in Law, Sister in Law, and Brother in Law at Canton First Monday. We also invited my best friend, Keri. She's off on Fridays and was able to join us! I'm so glad she did. We had the best time.
Our local Jeep club has a meet on the first Thursday of every month. This month the meet was only a mile-ish from our house, so we were able to take both Jeeps. It's a rare treat when we get to take the CJ to an event! It's a trailer princess!!
Ever since we started working at home, my coworkers and I like to get together every couple of months. We usually meet for breakfast and catch up on accounts we're working on as well as our personal lives. It's such a sweet time to spend with them. One of my coworkers still isn't comfortable with eating at restaurants (Covid) so we found somewhere else to meet. We met super early at the Dallas Arboretum!
Mason is finally tall/big enough to fully operate the mower! He's been helping Nate mow our lawn for a few weeks now. We live on two acres and with only a normal riding lawnmower, it takes quite some time. Nate mows the front half and Mason takes on the back half!
A few weeks ago, we were able to pick up Nathan's Grandmother (NeNaw) and her really good friend Nell and take them to lunch. They were so precious and so excited to leave their assisted living facility for an afternoon outing!
I love this time of year where the weather is just perfect for eating outside on our porch. There is just something so relaxing about sitting under the twinkle lights and watching the sunset as we enjoy our supper. And, I especially love that we aren't having to bat off mosquitos. Spring is such a great time of year!!
I'm sure y'all knew this post was coming! Having chicks around Easter time was too fun. I had to take some Easter pictures of them. So dang precious!!
Back in March, we were invited to an Aaron Watson concert with some Jeep friends. Not only did they have tickets, but they also had a VIP table at this concert. Nathan knows how much I love Aaron Watson, so with only a day's notice, he made it happen! We found a sitter for Mase and our dogs for Saturday afternoon/evening!
Bring on the flip-flops, green grass, blooming flowers, and singing birds.
Mason and I both had a hankering for getting skateboards and learning how to ride them. So, the evening after all of our spring break celebrations & getting new chicks, we did just that! We had seen some at the mall earlier the day before, but we didn't want to pay pro board prices when we were just starting out. We went to Walmart and found two perfect boards for us.
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!!
We carried our spring break celebrations into Saturday! We took Mason to a new Main Event that recently opened in our hometown. It was spring break, so we were expecting a massive crowd. We went in with an open mind and were pleasantly surprised. It wasn't overly crowded at all.
Our last and final surprise to kick off Mason's spring break week was KidZania! We had wanted to visit last year when it came to Texas, but then Covid happened and it closed down. We were so thrilled to see that they were opened back up this year! They only sell so many tickets a day and you have to buy them in advance. So, we did just that! They did have some areas that were still closed due to Covid and they didn't allow the kids to put on uniforms for jobs. However, we still had a wonderful time.
I took off work on Friday, March 12th so that we could surprise Mason with a fun day. His spring break was the following week and we weren't traveling this year (saving vacation time for some bigger trips this year). So, we wanted to kick off spring break week with a fun day for him. He had no clue where we were going and was so excited! We only had to hear "where are we going" somewhere on the side of about 37,000 times that week! ha.
Our first stop was....LEGOLAND!!!!
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...
It's hard to believe that just a few short weeks before we were under a winter storm and experiencing below zero temps. And then BAM! Jeep topless weather. That's Texas for you! Mason and I went to grab a snowcone for an afternoon treat and we took all the backroads to/from. It was too pretty of a day to not get out and enjoy it!!
I love that it's that time of the year when God shows off in big ways with the most amazing sunsets!!! Sunsets are such a beautiful gift and I pray that I never take a single one for granted. I am so blessed that 9 times out of 10 when I ask Nate to go chase the sunset with me he is down for it! I mean, who would want to miss views like this one????
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. - Psalm 19:1
Back on February 27th, one of our favorite Jeep clubs had their one-year club anniversary Jeep meet and we got to attend. It was at a brewery/restaurant close to the lake and made for the perfect location. I love that this group is such a tight-knit group...more like a family! Some of these people are our dearest friends and we are so thankful for them!!
Mase and I were out running errands and on the way back I told Mason I would like to get some Jeep pics down at our lake. Normally he despises pictures and it's a hard no for him. However, this day he actually obliged. I gave him the remote and let him go to town with taking pictures.
During the snowpocalypse, Nate and Mason watched videos on airsoft guns/tournaments. They also played a little with what they had here at the house. It wasn't long before we were buying new (better) airsoft guns at Academy and visiting a couple different airsoft supply stores.
I love that it's a hobby they can do together and right here on our property. Although, Mason would like to complete in tournaments one day. We have a big Airsoft park (I guess that's what you call it) not too far from our house. They offer free play as well as host tournaments. They are really looking forward to playing out there one day soon.
I don't think anything could have prepared us for this storm! We live in Texas and do not see temperatures/snow like this very often. The snowstorm started on Valentine's Day and continued through 2/19ish. We had below zero temps, ice, snow, and more ice/snow. It was definitely a February to remember. A Texas Snowpocalpyse...
Valentine's Day looked a lot different this year...and for once I am not talking about Covid! It just happened to fall right around the time Texas was expecting the biggest snow/winter storm we have had in years. It was also different because it was just Mase and me at home. Nate had to go into work the night before (and sleep over) to prepare the plant for the storm (more on that later).
When we go on trips we like to find unique souvenirs! One of our favorite things to get is a geode. They are always so neat and it gives us an activity to do once we are back home. Mason has quite the stone/gem collection from all of our trips and mining adventures. He wants to pass them down to his children one day (so sweet, right?).
I always take video footage of any trip and compile them into a video for memory's sake! I love having these videos to look back on. Our time in New Mexico was so special to us.
On our fifth day at the cabin, we woke up to the most beautiful Winter Wonderland!! There were several more inches of snow all the way around the cabin!! And all of the trees were covered. It was the most beautiful sight!!! There is just something so magical about snow in the mountains. I felt like I was living inside of a real-life snowglobe!!! Or a Hallmark movie.
Hi!! I am Crystal. Daughter of the One True King, wife to my high-school sweetheart Nathan and Mama to a 13 year old boy named Mason. We're the Halls and we love to travel around Texas {or anywhere, really}. I blog about our daily life, traveling, DIY'ing, and everything in between. Welcome and thank you for stopping by!