First Half of October

 Homeschool group that day included a Fall walk to play in the leaves. Gwen is my little tree climber! She and Kennedy made it super high up in this tree that I looked at and thought, "that's not a climbing tree." She proved me wrong. Lindy of course was upset that she wasn't tall enough to grasp the lowest branch to begin her ascent. Miles was willing to help in between initiating chasing games with the little kids. Determined Lindy eventually made it up pretty far until a bee made itself too friendly next to her up in that tree and she came down. Basically my 3 oldest kid's personalities summed up in one story. Oh, and we found a pumpkin stand on the way back! Score! 

We're really getting to know the missionaries for our ward this time around. Because of the influx of state side missionaries, our ward has an entire companionship to itself! This means meals every week. We sign up as often as we can, and as a result have had the missionaries over more since we've moved here than ever before in our married lives. Elder Despain and Elder Kelley are simply the best. We love having them over! One Friday they came over for pizza night and then came the next morning for conference waffles and to watch the first session. 

I post this picture only because I want to remind myself what my house looked like when I had 5 small children and I literally worked/was busy/never sat down for most of the day. By the looks of this picture, you'd think I sat around eating bonbons all day. But this is the reality of what it looks like to homeschool 5 young children and homestead. At least on some days.

We (and by we I mean mostly Richie) have been working very hard to goat-proof our fencing around the property. As is most always the case, these projects take way longer than you bargained for. We had to pick up the 2 goats before the fence was finished. Luckily, our neighbors are letting the 2 does mingle with the buck in their pasture for a while. That way we will hopefully have baby goats this spring, and then start milking them! I'm anxious to learn how to make goat's milk soap! These 2 goats are an Alpine, Lamacha mix. They're sisters named Daisy and Minnie, but Richie want to change it to Daisy and Gladys. The buck they are breeding with is a Nubian. All of which are excellent milk breeds, so fingers crossed!

Davy is such a good helper

One of the horses staying in our pasture had her foal! She had it too early in the morning and too quickly for us to be there to witness it, but we got to see it only a few hours old. It even stood up to nurse!

It's all about who you know, right? We have been very blessed this year to find produce, despite our lack of normal connections. Apparently, an older couple from our ward has basically a hidden vineyard behind the church. After the commercial buyers come in and pick, they open it up if you're "on the list". I hope I make the cut next year. The grapes were gorgeous!

I had the kids take turns with me cleaning out the chicken coop. It needed it badly. It took about 13 full wheelbarrow loads to clean it out. It looked great for about a day, and now it's abundantly clear that we need triple the amount of pine shavings we put down. It's a learning process!

While playing in a friend's backyard, Benson accidentally (?) jabbed Davy in the face with a curtain rod, giving him a nice shiner. We were just glad it missed his eye!

I was having a rough day and it doesn't take much for Lindy (or any of my kids for that matter) to clue in on my emotions. She quickly put together one of her tried and true "Oooh-la-la Beauty Spas" for me, including makeup, foot rub, hair playing, snack, playing with toys, drawing and snuggling. 

More unrelated scenes from the first half of October!

Second Half of September

 I spy a Benson

Davy loves Mr. Foxy

Grandma and Grandpa Garner came up for a super quick weekend to attend a funeral. Even though it was fast and furious, they were able to help us with some canning and playing with the kids.

We have loved attending the Tampa Farmer's Market almost every Saturday. Sometimes we buy food, sometimes we just walk around and enjoy the music etc. Pictured here are snow cones, and also drinking hot chocolate in the super cool double decker espresso bus. :) They declared it the "best farmer's market day ever"

School stuff: Sensory play with fake snow, making Gnocchi for a language arts lesson, playing hooky and heading to the River to enjoy the fall weather/leaves. 

We are "renting" our pasture to some neighbor's horses. The kids have loved having horses nearby! Richie also built an automatic feeder for the chickens to make the job easier. Homesteading little by little!

I spy a Gwenny, who built herself a hammock on her bed.

I think they love each other

Beauty on the homestead

First Half of September

 Our Benson Bear turned 4!! Wow! What a sweet kid. This is the 3rd year in a row he wanted a dinosaur cake. I built up the idea of an exploding (dry ice) volcano for his cake, which he loved. Unfortunately we never got the dry ice for it...We were so busy that week. He didn't seem to mind. He loved the dinosaurs on it that he got to keep and was completely thrilled. :) 

He got his #4 pancake in the morning, and got special privileges throughout the day. In the evening, he asked for Chick-fil-A for dinner. We opened his presents: A cool sit-on digger for the sandbox, a stomp rocket, and a dinosaur puzzle. I love that he is SO easy to please. Later on that week, we were down in SLC area and Richie took he and the kids to the dinosaur museum. A tradition 3 years in the running for Benson's birthday. :) Love this kid. 

I had been feeling that pull to get down to SG again to see if I could help my mom. The past few times visiting has been different because of her health. We haven't wanted to overwhelm her or bring more germs with her compromised immune system. So this time we decided that just Miles and I would go down, and Richie would go to SLC to visit his family with the rest of the kids. Turns out, my mom turned a corner and was doing SO much better. Miraculously better. It was wonderful. So even though I wasn't as helpful as I wanted to be, Miles and I had a great time visiting and Richie and the kids loved seeing everyone in SLC. Miles especially had lots of one-on-one time with Grandpa Crosby. They really seem to have a special bond and I love it. 

When Miles and I came back from SG, we stayed another day in SLC to break up the trip. We celebrated Benson and Makenna's birthdays and picked pears in the garden. We have been so blessed with food this year, despite having no garden space. I also tried to set up hangouts for the kids with old friends, but it ended up only working for Miles. He played video games with his buddy Parker one morning. It made his whole trip I think, but then he was sad all over again about moving. I miss having  them hang out too. 

The day we got back, we we able to host some friends of ours who were on their way through. It was so fun to see the Andersons again! 

Science Co-Op with the Fogle's! When it's one of our turn's to host and teach the science lesson, the other one will usually try and teach a handicraft, and entertain the littles during the science lesson. This day I brought ingredients to make pizzas as models of cells, and I brought "magic  colors" for the littles out back. Since I haven't done a joy school/preschool thing for Benson, and probably won't, my mom guilt gets to me sometimes. I have done something for each of the kids for 2 years each. I don't have the money to put him in a preschool, and I don't have the energy to pull together a group. With Miles and Gwen, there were lots of people who wanted to participate. With Lindy and Benson, every time I asked around, it was like pulling teeth to get a group together. So, I'm working on intentionally pulling together activities for preschool for Benson's sake, and the sake of my mom guilt. :)

The big kids are a great help to me during homeschool. When I have to work with one kid, I can ask the other one to entertain the littles. This day, Gwen found the dress-ups and entertained the younger 3 forever! She took pictures of them all and was so proud.

Miles became very motivated to haul wheelbarrow loads of manure onto the pasture when we told him we'd pay him $1 per load. He has some video games he wants to buy. We think we picked out a good spot for our garden, so we wanted to get it ready for the spring, he wanted money, done! It's been so good for him. And he's worked so hard! 

Chickens growing, Davy picking blackberries, Davy+Mama, Davy loving his tea (he only drinks water, milk and tea. Absolutely nothing else)