Birthday Bonanza

Turning 44 has it’s perks.

I had the birthday of all birthday’s this year!

It was actually a week of “birthday bonanza”!

Do you get to experience your birthday for an entire week?

Mine started with a gift from my mom about a 4 days before my birthday.

She is spoiling me with new mugs…and lots of fattening gourmet foods….

Then she expects me to melt it all off with all these wonderful scrubs, gels, and lotions.

The vanilla scrub and vanilla gel is …heavenly……

 

And if that wasn’t enough…my husband must be hinting at something….did I ever tell you that I really would rather clean than cook? Honestly…I can cook….but would rather clean…

Maybe my rooster thinks that if he gets me these two beauties that I will take more of an interest in cooking…..hmmmmm……

Isn’t that stove just peachy? It gets me all giddy to turn on the 15,000 btu burner! And for it to be kinda old fashioned and new all at the same time….a little like this chick.

Would you be more inclined to cook a scrumptious meal outa these puppies? I would hafta say I am becoming more motivated with all this finery! The coop never looked so good!

To top off my birthday week we flew over to my soul sista’s coop and had a birthday bonanza! We share a birthday in the same week and the same year…..although I’ll always be 3 days younger….

 

It’s been a whirlwind of a birthday…but oh so enjoyable!

I kinda like getting older.

 

Farmhouse Chicks

Technorati Tags: birthdays,sisters,friends

The New Header

Okay...working on the header...

As you can see it's not quite what I intended size wise.  Having issues with Picasa.  I can't seem to get this uploaded straight from Picasa...only from My Pictures on my computer. I resized it and now can't get it into My Pictures to correct it on the header....uuugghhhh!

It's late and I will fuss with it later.

You kinda get the idea.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Farmhouse Chicks

Hanukkah at our house

Hanukkah was just here! We celebrated 8 days of the festival of lights in our home!

Some of you may wonder….why are they celebrating Hanukkah?

Well, let me tell you.  Growing up my husband and I each celebrated all the traditional holidays and we have very fond memories of them.

As children we loved this time of year and relished in all the decorations, presents, and good cheer.  (Not to mention that my birthday is Dec. 24th!)  So, this time came with a lot of great memories!

When the rooster and I got married we continued in our childhood traditions for about 8 years. With the addition of our 2 young roosters we began some of our own traditions within the framework of those holidays.

About 6 years into it we became disenchanted with all the commercialism centered around certain holidays, but didn’t quite now what to do about it.

Within that 6 year period we also began to research the Hebraic Roots of our faith.  It was during this time that we saw the richness in God’s Biblical holidays and began to honor them in our home.  Our experience with God’s holidays and His calendar became so meaningful in our lives that our enchantment with the man made holidays began to lose it’s appeal.

Thus we began to make memories with God’s Biblical Holidays and they became our focus each season. 

Don’t get me wrong…I loved the holidays I grew up with, but I could no longer enjoy them when they were put into the light of the Biblical holidays…..(and after looking into the origins of them)….that is a whole other post.

It took a few years to get into the swing of God’s holidays….but it has now been over 15 years and we have made some wonderful memories.

This Hanukkah we read from the Book of the Maccabees, The Biblical Holiday book and walked through the Messianic significance in this holiday. We talked about letting our light shine before men that they may see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven.  (Matt 5:16) We sang praises to our Lord, played driedel, ate way too much chocolate, shared wonderful stories of how God had used us during the week to be a light, and drew ever closer to the Light of the world.

We let each child from the oldest still with us to the youngest light the candles each night.  We each said a prayer for one another as we lit the candles.  And one night we spent a good 20 minutes praying over each other…kids and all!

My little chicks decorated wonderfully. Our house is still in the festive mood and will probably stay that way all winter.

 

We constantly have our twinkle lights on as we just love to sit by the fire at night  and in the morning and enjoy the sweet memory of those 8 nights.

How are your holidays shaping up?

Farmhouse Chicks

How to dress a turkey

We have a mighty hunter in our home…he even hunts his own kind. 

He is very determined to give us wild turkeys for Thanksgiving this year.  So, far we have one.  And 6 days until Thanksgiving.

One fine turkey laying on the ground just a few minutes after the kill.  May he rest in peace.

 

Let the plucking begin.

 

 

Brings new meaning to clipping your wings.

 

We’re getting’ there!

 

MMM…a little corn or grass anyone?

He is now in the freezer and awaiting some friends. 

How is your freezer lookin’ for Thanksgiving?

 

Farmhouse Chicks

Winning Insights

I just had to post this because it is such a winning article.

Enjoy and learn~

Winning Insights
Stop Whining and Start Winning
Redefining the Competitive Advantage
Winning Tips:
1.    Focus on your long-term potential instead of your short-term results.  Short-term results will vary but if you keep your eye on the prize, you will win.
2.    Find the person who is tops in your field and learn from them.  Most often, jealousy blocks us from leveraging the proven tactics of industry leaders.  Instead, redefine competition as an edge that can catapult you into the lead.
Once I made it into the trees and out of sight, I took the ski pole that was in my right hand and broke it over the snowy trunk of the aspen pine that was four feet in front of me. With snow falling from the branches and most of the pole still intact, I took another step closer to that tree.
Winding up for another healthy baseball swing, I split what remained of my pole in two. In my hand was less than a third of my once intact pole; this third was just long enough to break over my knee. I proceeded to do just that.
I was still breathing the hard, short breaths of intense anger. Somehow, breaking one pole just wasn’t enough to dispense with my frustration. I grabbed the other that lay innocently beside me in the snow and repeated the entire procedure with it. With ski pole shrapnel scattered around me, I looked next toward my skis.
By now though, my sadness had started to surpass my frustration. Falling to my knees, I began sobbing into my gloves.
You see, I had already spent more than half my life and a great deal of my parents’ cash on the dream of being a world-class downhill skier. Up to that point, I had felt that my energy and parents’ investment were well spent; but the results on the scoreboard that day told a different story.
I had just finished a Canadian Alpine Series ski race on Silver Star Mountain in Vernon, British Columbia. My race was average, at best. I was disappointed with my result, but I was able to console myself with knowing that there were many experienced racers competing that day, some even as old as twenty-five. Fifteen was the youngest age of any racer allowed in the race and I was only sixteen.
After my run, I hung around the finish line watching the balance of the skiers post their results. Most of the racers that remained were younger than me and posed little threat to my positioning. The scoreboard showed me in seventeenth place; although seventeenth was a bad result I figured the race would finish this way.
You might be asking yourself “Cary, was seventeenth place what sent you into a pole breaking rage ending in tears?”
No, what caused me to question my dream of being a world-class skier was watching fifteen year old Edi Podivinsky come down the slope and finish third. At sixteen, the gap in our age felt huge – he seemed like a child. That day, however, third place put him on the podium with the big boys.
What was worse was that Edi had finished a full three and a half seconds ahead of me. In ski racing, a one-second difference in finish times is like a full lap in a foot race around an Olympic sized track. Young Edi had virtually lapped me three and a half times.
First, came the shock of it all and then came the pole busting rage. Having my clock cleaned so definitively by someone junior to me caused me to question my dreams at such a core level, my guts started to tighten to the point that I thought I was going to puke.
For the first time in my ski career, I was seriously considering calling it quits. I thought to myself “Who was I kidding (other than my parents and myself) that I could be the best in the world when I was being lapped by this boy wonder. Edi’s results confirmed the message of the one skeptical voice within me that told me that all my efforts were pointless.
If you’ve ever experienced giving something everything you’ve got and losing – horrifically – you’ll understand my devastation. As I looked at Edi, I now knew what a future world champion looked like.
There was no question that he was a world champion in the making, and if I continued to ski, I would have front row tickets to watch how the whole thing would unfold. What could be worse?
Then a thought hit me, “Hmm, do I watch Edi win the world cup on television or do I learn from him and perhaps someday stand on the podium with him? What if Edi is a gift, a gift that no coach, cash or training camp could replicate?”  
As amazing as this may sound, in less than five minutes, I went from wallowing in the snow over Edi’s exceptional ability to beat me, to recognizing that having his talent so close to me could be the single greatest tool for my development.
Even though Edi and I continued to compete against each other, over the years, we were able to help each other get better and better by sharing best practices. Edi did end up becoming the best training tool I could have asked for as a ski racer.
Several years later, it happened: both Edi and I stood side by each on the podium at a World Cup Race. We achieved the monumental milestone of placing first and second for our nation: it had only been accomplished once before.
I credit Edi with much of my success: without his fantastic abilities I am confident that I wouldn’t have made it to the top of the world. So, you can imagine my shock when at the press conference announcing my retirement from professional sport, Edi shared with the reporters that “Everything that I have ever learned in this sport and everything that I have ever achieved in this sport is because I was chasing Cary Mullen”. I always thought that I had been chasing him, not the other way around!
Looking back, I realize what a profound lesson fifteen-year-old Edi had taught me. You see, in that very first race with Edi I had made a fatal but very human mistake: I was using that one race to define my ability and potential.
My lack of belief in my ability to reach my dream was quickly projected onto Edi. His superior results made me feel as if he was the one that would crush my dreams. What I didn’t immediately realize was that he could actually help me win. I was a big fish in a small puddle, and competing with Edi would give me the momentum to become the biggest fish in the ocean.
What if those that we believe are standing between us and everything we’ve ever wanted are not in our lives to prevent us from triumph, but instead to catapult us to our goals? I now believe that success in life is more about being involved in a grand game of leapfrog, where I leap over you towards my goals and you leap over me towards yours. At the end of the game, we both win.  
I wonder if you have ever (or currently) blamed your lack of belief on someone close to you. How could you start to see this person as a gift? Is this person someone that you could play leapfrog with? What could that game of leapfrog do for your results?
Until the next edition of Winning Insights, I wish you EVEN Greater Success.
Conquer Doubts, Lunge through Fears and Find Focus,
Olympian, World Cup Downhill Champion, Author & Oceanfront Resort Developer, Cary Mullen was recently recognized by Successful Meetings Magazine as one of the hottest speakers of the year.
Cary promotes healthy living, chasing your greatest dreams, and training your mind and your instincts to Lunge Forward & achieve your next level of success.
For more info. from Cary Mullen visit: www.CaryMullen.com.

Grooming for Success

We have a saying in our house.  It goes like this:  “Is that going to set you up for success?”

EVERYTHING my children do is measured by whether or not it will help them to be successful in all areas of life.  I’m not talking about being performance based.  I am talking about a mindset; a way of thinking.

Our thinking patterns determine our success or failure in life. Success or failure in relationships, work ethic, leisure, business, etc.

I want my children to be successful in ALL areas of their lives.  So, I invest in them with those words…..Is that going to set you up for success? I want them to be mindful of their thought patterns because this will determine their actions. (As man thinks in his heart so is he)

We have a point system in our home.  God says that all hard work brings a profit. So, we reward for all hard work…and hard work shown with initiative.  Initiative is important in our home as well as a job done with a cheerful heart.

So, we started a chart.  It’s a really simple one actually…made by the little chicks. They earn different points for different activities…for example…school work, chores, secret service, initiative, character qualities, etc.

When they reach a certain point level…say 100 points…they receive a special gift that they determined was appropriate for the amount of points. 100 points gets them an extra 10 minutes of Webkin time.  200 gets them gum, 300 pencils, and so forth.

When they show initiative I reward with an extra 100 points.  When they do a secret service they are rewarded as well.

About secret service….this is where they might make their siblings bed, or dust for them, or do their laundry, or show any kind of act of kindness in secret.  They aren’t allowed to tell the other sibling or me that they are doing this, that disqualifies them from the reward as they now have their reward….recognition.  If the other sibling sees it and comes to tell me then they both get rewarded.  (Let another man praise you not your own lips.)

If they tattle they get points taken away.  It’s really all about training the mind to think outside of the 98% and into the 2%.

As I am writing this I am actually getting the idea for an eating chart.  When they choose something green they get a certain amount of points. We already instituted that to instill in them the habit of drinking water. Every ounce of water they drink gets 1 point. They each racked up 32-48 points today!

So, to take it further…for every green eaten they can get maybe 5 points and for every piece of candy or soda pop they might lose points. 

My kids are really competitive.  They like to compete against themselves and better themselves all the time.

This chart has proven SOOOOO successful that I may continue to think of other successful habits to add over time.

I would love to hear how you are training the next generation for success.  Bring on those creative ideas!

 

Farmhouse Chicks

Painted Peacocks, Wrestling Prayer, Good Will Fashions, Sunsets, and fabulous fellowship

Wanna know a secret? 

I abandoned my family…husband, kids and all!!!

I did! I really did! Now don’t you judge me…you know you wanna do it too!!

My friend did too.

We ran away!

We told them we would write if we found work.

 

This was our first stop.  Anyone can work at Goodwill…right? 

We worked alright.

We worked r.e.a.l. hard at spending….we spent $104.00 and and then asked if we could GO TO WORK to pay it all off….

We lifted bought all these adorable, can’t live without, fashionable clothes :

 

We found a 50’s outfit for the chicken little who is going to a 50’s church social. Remember those plaids?

Goodwill didn’t know what hit it!

Two bargain starved runaways!

Goodwill will soon recover from our shoplifting err…bargain hunting and we will hopefully never recover!

It was a lovely beginning to a giddy girlie weekend.

Giddiness would be remiss without painted toes, colored socks, and of course carrots chocolate…

 

Who can resist peanut M&M’s? You can not! You know you want some!

Once we got all our giddiness out; we studied.

Really we did…

Stephen Covey and the & Habits of Highly Effective People.

We listened to his CD’s, journal-ed (my new word) our insights, and realized that we fall VERY short of being effective communicators! In some ways we were doing great…but in others…sheesh!!!

We decided that E.V.E.R.Y PARENT ON THE PLANET should have to listen and learn these 7 habits before having kids and even before getting married.

WOW!! How enlightening. We made a chart to put on our fridge, office wall, school wall, mirrors, dogs, and maybe even one for each kid to wear on their chest! It’s a snap shot of the 7 Habits.

We shall become effective communicators…I promise!

After all the brain and heart work we took a walk on the

 

Staying at the Cottage…thanks Robert and Christine!

Lived among the animals…and no they weren’t our kids!

Enjoyed beautiful sunsets.

Wrestled in prayer until we could hear from the Father and worshipped until we wept.

And just plain ‘ole loved bein’ girls.

How can I describe this weekend?

Refreshing, rewarding, intimate, giddy, deep, and full.

Day 9-13 of Lean In 13

Well, life has it’s way of telling us to slow down every now and again.

My last few days of the Lean In 13 program had me in bed with a cold. I wasn’t able to get up for my workouts or even my fast walk. I spent time healing instead.

BUT, I want to tell you ….

 Read More...

 

Day 4-8 of Lean In 13

Wellllllllll…..I had this post finished and almost published and then *poof* it disappeared never to be seen again….uuuggghhh!

So, now instead of day 4 and 5 posted I have to do days 4-8…

I was hoping to post yesterday, but the computer, phone and I were having a date doing follow-ups with those of you who have jumped on the Lean-In-13 program, the 24 Day Challenge, and those of you who have begun to see a sizable Plan B income from Advocare! Woo-Hoo! Keep me busy!!!

So, we had to interrupt the previously scheduled post for some real world business….:)

Read More…..

Mantle Moods

 

I am jumping on the mantle bandwagon…

I have a mantle that begs attention…it awaits a large family portrait from the beaches of the south.

But, until that happens it speaks to me to line it with some fall decorations.

The beginnings of a new mantle

I actually took the green bottle and changed it with a clear one and I like it better.

So, there you go…another mantle to add to your mantle moods.

Now to figure out what words to put into those picture spots?

Whaddya think?