Disclaimer – this is NOT a religious post.

My husband and I sometimes look through the real estate magazines when we are happily munching away on our vegan grinders at the local sub shop.  Recently, I saw not just one, but two churches for sale for a reasonable amount of money in a nearby town.  Immediately my mind went into overdrive with all the creative possibilities that could be derived from such buildings.

One of the churches was advertised as having a large fellowship hall with a large kitchen on the first floor and seven bedrooms on the second floor.  In addition, it had three half-baths.  Although I’m not a good church-going person, I do however, appreciate the architecture of a church building, specifically for all the non-churchy things I could do with it.

Seriously, think of all the cool things you could do with all that space!  I told my husband we could figure on at least two of the half-baths being back to back, most likely a Men’s room and a Women’s room, which we could join as one huge bathroom and install a jacuzzi tub or a hot tub if it was big enough.  With the huge kitchen in the fellowship hall, we could have all the family over for family reunions with big pot luck meals.  Everyone could stay over with all the bedrooms we would have upstairs.  The parking lot would be big enough for a basketball court/tennis court not to mention all the parking that would be available for functions.

Our two cats would love all this new indoor room to play in.  We could build two story high scratching posts for them, with little platforms going around the upper part of the larger rooms.  I’m sure they would appreciate the bell tower too with all the bird watching they could do up there.  I know they would do their part to keep out any church mice.

For the actual church building, I had some really cool plans.  I would take out most of the pews and install an indoor track along the outside of the whole larger part of the room.  This would be for rollerblading or running so there would be no bad weather excuse for not exercising!  I think the stained glass windows would already add some atmosphere so all I’d have to do is add a little disco ball or some strobe lights and we would have the “party” room.  Might have to replace any old pipe organs with a more recent stereo system though.  No problem.

I’m sure that since it is no longer a church that the proper officials have been called in to “un-holify” the place in a separate ceremony so that you wouldn’t have to worry about curtsying everytime you rollerbladed by the front part of the church.  All the kids in the family could use the pulpit to put on little plays.  I would put the font (the thing that holds water for baptisms) in the back lawn as a bird bath.    I could put most of the pews outside for outdoor projector movies or slideshows.  Seriously, how much more fun could we have with this place?

To sum it up, I figured we would live for the most part in the fellowship hall area and use the church building more as the fun party room that we could close off when not in use.  Hubby has other ideas though.  He had totally different ideas for the uses of the buildings.   He would of course want a large screen television in the church area, for example, and thought the total opposite from me as far as the living arrangements and fun areas.

And since we have not yet come to any agreements on how best to use our new home, we have not purchased it.

**sigh**

But it IS fun to think about.  What would you do with your own church?  

The post My Own Church appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

I’ve got a prenatal appointment with the OBGYN next week and I am sure she’ll make a comment about the lack of weight gain this month but N and I aren’t worried. According to all our reading Tater is just starting another growth spurt so I’ll probably pack on several more pounds shortly.

It seems my weight gain is not really a gradual thing, I pack on a good amount one month which puts me over what is deemed normal then the next month I stall out and don’t gain much… It is hit or miss really. Good news is I am still eating like a mad woman and I’ve put on 20 pounds since becoming pregnant, I think gaining another 20-30 pounds in 3 months is not going to be a problem.

This morning I was happy to see it was again a warmer day and we were able to open up all the windows and enjoy the fresh breeze. We are fresh air and sunlight people. We love our windows to be open so winter is sometimes a downer for us, especially when we don’t get enough pretty snow.

The morning email checking was nice with the cool breeze blowing through the house. Andrew one of our cats climbed in to my lap and took a nap as soon as I got up. These days all the pets have been less interested in hanging out with me, probably because they sense Tater is coming. So it was nice that Andrew came to see me today.

N snapped a photo of the love fest on my lap so everyone could see how the belly is looking…

It is kind of funny how Tater responds to the cats purring. She can totally hear them and she will kick when ever they are purring near my belly.

I told N she is either going to be super soothed by the purring when she’s born or she’ll go crazy wanting to play with them when they purr. What do you think?

The post Purring Cats on Pregnant Bellies… 24 week pregnancy thoughts appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

I thought it would be cool to try recording some of Tater’s movements so I can show her once she is older. I captured a few short/ good videos of her. You can see them here and here.

Last night we had thunderstorms, which N and I both love very much. We had windows open enjoying the fresh cool breeze and we loved hearing the rain/ thunder. Unfortunately the pets decided the weather was their cue to act completely insane all night.

Once N and I finished watching our recorded episode of American Idol at around 2am we went to bed (by the way tune in to American Idol next week to see my old choir buddy Scott MacIntyre’s performance).

Anyway, The cats stayed up all night bouncing off the walls. There were several times when they jumped on our faces/ pillows as a means to “springboard” up to the headboard where they like to perch. Also, there was all sorts of fighting between them for access to the fresh air coming through the open window in the bedroom. Basically they kept us from really falling fully asleep which means we awoke unrested and grumpy today.

N went to pick up a vacuum that was offered up on freecycle this morning (since ours has melted and the manufacturer wont replace it) but the person giving the vacuum forgot to leave it out for him to pick up. So we still have dirty carpets… I was hopefull vacuuming was going to be possible soon, oh well. One less chore right?

By the way all the cats are laying on or near me right now in bed snoozing as I write this. Hang on I am going to yell and jump on the bed a bit to wake them all up…

Okay, I am back now!

I was gifted Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth(among other things that I’ll share about soon) and am already hooked on reading it. Also my newest Mothering magazine just came in the mail so I am reading like crazy today, I was missing having good stuff to read so now I am excited to read again. Yay!

Our letter goes off to the landlords tomorrow so keep your fingers crossed that they let us out of here early! We are also looking at several other possible rental homes tomorrow. Hopefully we find something!

The post 23 weeks pregnant: baby kicks and stormy warm nights… appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

I mean I made myself a bowl of Ramen and was followed all through the house by Andrew, our noodle loving cat. He would try to get in my face or on my lap while I was eating. He would reach out to grab my arm or leg as a reminder to share some with him. I would move from one seat/ computer to another, back and fourth to get away from him and his begging. Everywhere I went he followed!

When we have milk and it is placed on the table the cats will literally help themselves to it, sicking their entire faces right in the glass. Oh and now another one of our cats has an obsession with getting water the easy way, from you on demand.

You see, their food and water dishes are downstairs in the basement so they can be gated off. If they aren’t gated off the dog will eat all the cat food and also will eat the cat shit too… so kitty food/ water and litter pan are separated with a kiddie gate from the rest of the basement.

Well Mr. Guy refuses to go down the stairs to drink water. He will jump up in front of you as you walk in to the bathroom, then he procedes to scratch the sink (signaling you to turn on the water for him to drink). Now he is nearly tripping me when I walk in to the bathroom every 5 minuites and it is getting old, fast!

He also jumps up in the kitchen sink to get water which is a big issue. Kitchen counters and surfaces have ALWAYS been off limits to the cats. We don’t want pet hair and paw prints coming in contact with food, dishes or cooking surfaces!

Ugh I am just annoyed in general with the pets. This house is too small and too crappy for us to all feel good living in it, the pets don’t have room to roam, they are all up in my taco and so on… We need a bigger/ newer home, ASAP. Send chocolate.

The post Hey pussy, you don't get everything you want all the time! appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

However, I have received much information from readers about the potentially harmful side effects of Colloidal Silver and I did want to disclose this information to all my readers.

I do not want to give anyone bad advice or only provide one side of the story so I feel it is appropriate to update this post to include some of the potentially harmful side effects of Colloidal Silver. (I added all this stuff to the original post also)

As with anything you should consult your doctor before hand and you should get all the facts! To help you with this I want to share some of the useful information about how Colloidal Silver, when used in excess, could harm you.

I did some reading online today and found a site that explains “The best known consequence of over consumption of silver is argyria. Most authorities state that argyria is disfiguring because of the discoloration of the skin but has no other harmful consequences. With argyria, silver is taken internally in excess and the excess is deposited in the skin, organs and other tissues. This causes the skin to turn a gray or bluish gray color. Upon exposure to strong sunlight, skin of the affected individuals can turn a dark brown or black color. This coloration is permanent. In addition to argyria, the intake of very large doses (far in excess of the amount that causes discoloration of the skin) of silver can cause neurological damage, organ damage and arteriosclerosis.”

Fore more reading on the risks of Colloidal Silver check out:

• From the National Center for Alternative and Complimentary Medicine- Colloidal Silver
• Colloidal Silver Toxicity – How much is harmful?
• Another person turns blue from colloidal silver
• Colloidal Silver- Safe or Scam?

If you have something to share on this topic please don’t hesitate to post a comment below. Knowledge is power, I want to be informed and to provide helpful information to my readers so they can make the best decision for themselves.

Oh, I have a video of my sick kitty that I am posting to help other pet owners recognise an upper respiratory infection in their own pet. Some animal owners actually don’t know what an upper respiratory infection looks like! Basically lots of sneezing, maybe some snot bubbles coming out of the nose, wheezing, watery eyes you know all the symptoms of human respiratory issues would indicate a possible respiratory infection in your furry friend.

[youtube r5rXgAkLfbw Sick Jack]

The post Upper respiratory infections in pets- Day 1 update appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.