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!