Chicken Coop Renovation

 So we made a chicken coop, and I wanted to document some of our process even though I wasn't great at photographing the steps and Max did a whole lot of the work. We had an old shed between our house and the rental property behind us. It was full of a family member's stuff and it was falling apart and rat infested as far as we know. It hadn't really been opened in the time we have lived in this house. So we got the idea that we could use it as a chicken coup, and much to our surprise, that family member came to empty the shed within a week! This is after a huge load was already taken!

Max cleaning out all the rat poop. So notice those 3 trees on the left, they were growing into the side of the shed and causing a lot of damage. So the next step was to move the whole shed over which was the trickiest step in this process. 

 We (Max) ended up taking off all the rotten siding and floor, then we needed to move those 5 beams to the needed location. Which included a lot of digging, gravel spreading, and trial and error to get it right.

But once it was finally in the right position, Max built a beautiful sturdy floor and put some leftover flooring down on it to make cleaning easier. The Max replaced some rotten boards and added the siding.

 And then the framing started for the door. We were kinda just making the plan up as we went.

I added the chicken wire...notice the little helper locked inside....separated from the sharp power tools. 

Then that dreamy man built these doors out of old closet doors from one of the properties, and leftover siding pieces. He had never done this before and figured it out as we went, we are both very pleased with the results.

 I planned and cut the wood for the roosts and Max helped me install them on hinges so we can lift them to clean. My silly roosters like them, the hens prefer to roost in the ceiling rafters.


Well these hens liked to roost on them. but when they died and we got the 2 new hens, they started roosting in the rafters. 

Then I needed to make some nesting boxes. I found a bunch of scraps of wood and Max gave me some tutorials for his power tools so I could build them all by myself. The chickies were very interested.

Ok, I had a tiny bit of help...

 I was really happy with how they turned out. However the chickens don't use them. They have been laying eggs on top. Hopefully the younger chickies will be interested and show the older ones.

  We have a doggie door that opens into our chicken run. It is a pretty good size run but doesn't take much space from our yard because it includes a bunch of our bushes.
 

 

And our younger chicks who are about 7 weeks old just moved out of their big box and into a section of the coop. When they are bigger, they will be able to move in with the larger hens.

And that is how our coop evolved, sorry it's definitely not a pinterest worthy tutorial. We are super happy with it and I still need to do some painting on the coop and predator proofing in the run.

All the celebrations!

Many weeks ago we celebrated Max's 32nd birthday! We tried to make him feel extra special on his birthday, and then the celebrations kept coming. 

Max wakes up before the rest of us so the day before the boys and I had prepared little notes for him with one of his favorite candies.

I set them out after everyone went to bed. Then I left the rest of  the costco sized bag of candy in his car with a note. haha!

The boys were all up early because they were so excited so we were able to walk Charlie to school.

Once Charlie was at school, Miles and I started making Max's traditional apple pie. We change it up a bit each year. This year was a Dutch Apple Pie with a crumble top. Miles was an excellent pie-maker and could have probably made it all on his own. And I never photographed the pie, but it was amazing!

We then went to Max's work to go out to lunch with him, and there was a very photogenic puppy there.

We made our way to a fun little Italian restaurant! Here is 4/5 of our family.

And there were crayons! So that was exciting!

We left Max back at his work and made our way home...to make one of his favorite dinners (food is the way to his heart)

And once he got home we did some birthday celebrations.

The boys hid the presents and giggled while Max searched for them.

After dinner, presents, and pie we all went out and jumped on the trampoline to wear the kids out then we put them to bed! So perfect, low stress and simple...but the fun wasn't over.

2 years ago, for Max's 30th birthday we threw him a Minute to win it pie exchange birthday party. We decided to do this again, (Charlie has been begging to do it again for a long time) Instead of it being a birthday party...because let's face it, that's just awkward to invite people over to celebrate you. I made it a birthday gift to him that I would plan and throw this party, because it's pretty much one of his favorite things ever. Anyway, the boys helped with a lot of the prep work....

My pictures are random but we had 10 games and I helped the kids do their games while Max coordinated the adult games. We were worried that no one would show up since we had some last minute cancellations but it turned out perfect!

It was a thrilling night and we hope to continue this tradition each year. (we have a box specifically full of minute-to-win-it supplies now) Max just raved about how much he loves these types of gatherings where people young and old are social and get a little bit out of their comfort zone to do silly things.

But the fun didn't end there. Max and his brother-cousin, Justin have birthdays 2 days apart. So there was going to be a family get together at his Uncle's house and Max decided we were going to make all of the family do minute to win it games. But I naturally had to take photos of Edwin in his old man clothes under the dogwood tree.

 And then there's my little tree climber.

 Anyway, I'm getting good at throwing these parties together...

Emma, showing us how it's done!

This was seriously the funniest thing to watch, 2 very old men doing the popcorn game. (finding the 3 blue kernels within a minute) There was mild cursing involved.

Annette being a good sport!

 

And there you have it, the perfect celebrations for Max. And I probably should write something sentimental here but I don't really know how. Hooray for being born Max, we really love you!!!