Gwen turns 10!

Gwen turned Ten! Wahoo!! She had planned for us to go roller skating with the Fogle's as her special birthday outing, but they caught a case of covid and had to quarantine. So, birthday shenanigans are still pending, but we tried to make the day special nonetheless. She had her #10 pancake, and then  since it was a school day, we skipped core school and instead opted to go on a hunt to see how many Free Little Libraries we could find. We drove to 6 addresses, and found 4. Some had a good selection, others were so-so, but it was a fun way to spend a morning. We listened to "Where the Red Fern Grows" and snagged some pizza on the way home. That night she requested cauliflower Alfredo for dinner, and then she wanted this ice cream Sunday cake we saw online-with orange sherbet ice cream. We opened presents and her big gift was a balance beam, so she can practice her Acro moves more. That night she and I stayed up late to watch a movie of her choosing: "High School Musical". It's hard for me to slow down enough to just sit and watch a show with my kids. But it's so wonderful to just snuggle with them and give them my full attention. 

Gwen is awesome. She is brave, she is a leader, she is confident, she is sweet, she is capable, she is smart, she is sassy and exercising some pre-teen attitude-including shortening her words (as in: "obvi" for obviously, and "T-Y" for thank you). So far everyone is pretty annoyed with it. :) She's a natural at so many things. Math is giving her a run for her money these days, but she is really learning how to deal with the struggle- and that's good for her. She usually presents herself so strongly (which is great), but I also love when she lets her guard down a bit and is extra tender and lovey. We love our Gwenny so, so much. 

Second Half of March 2021

 St. Patrick's Day! We had Lucky Charms and a green smoothie for breakfast, a fruit rainbow for lunch, I whipped out the green kinetic sand, and for dinner we had corned beef and cabbage, roasted potatoes, Irish Soda Bread and pistachio pudding.  The kids asked why leprechauns never visited our house (cause that's a new thing now I guess. Growing up, setting up leprechaun traps and the like were not even an option.) I told her we don't do that kind of stuff at our house, because it's too much work. Well then Gwen took it upon herself to make sure there was a leprechaun treasure hunt in the afternoon and it was a huge hit! 

The most exciting thing that happened on St. Patrick's Day was that Miles got his cow. He has been wanting to buy a cow since we got here and he finally found one he could afford. It's a holstein bull that he named Buddy. It took us a day or two to get the hang of bottle feeding, but Miles is a pro now and takes charge of feeding him twice a day. Its been so fun! 

Homestead scenes. We were on got kid watch for a while, anxiously waiting to see when our goats would give birth. Also I don't think its been documented here that Lindy bought herself 2 rabbits. Link and JuJu. She's doing a great job taking care of them on her own. JuJu is due to have her kit any day now.

We had a pretty epic homesteading day here. It started with Richie butchering and processing a lamb that our neighbor gave us. He helped him slaughter it on Monday, and then he spent most of the day on Saturday grinding it up etc. It was an interesting process to watch, including directing the heart. And then in the middle of that and regular Saturday chores, our neighbor who was over checking her horses, let us know that Gladys was in labor. The girls had been watching her and suspected that it was coming, but we weren't sure. I was relieved to have Audry there to assist in the birth, seeing as I've never done anything like this before, and she's at least helped deliver foals. 

It was a surreal experience. The we were all around watching, and I couldn't help but think, "This is why we moved here." We watched Gladys birth 3 healthy kids, and we helped clean them off and help them nurse. Later that night, we went out to check on her to see if her placenta was completely delivered by now. Richie had to assist her a bit in trying to get the rest out so she wouldn't get sick and die from it. As he was helping her, it became apparent that Daisy was going into labor. I ran to the house to find more clean towels and we sat at watched. It we were in the barn from around 11-12:30. Her first kid was stillborn and that was sad to witness. But afterward, she had 2 healthy kids. Same routine where we helped clean them up and helped them nurse. Richie and Henry helped put together a 2nd stall in their pen with heat lamps. 

I really felt like we earned another homesteader badge that day. What an experience! Turns out, witnessing a birth-even a goat birth-makes me a little weepy and realize over again that it's all such a miracle! They are doing a great job as first time mamas!

All the kids really are so responsible and such troopers. They take on all of their animal jobs with little to no complaint. They are starting to make some pretty good money from their egg business. 

Lindy Turns 7

 Our sweet Lindy Lou turned 7! No friend parties this year, but we did other things to make her day special.  She had her #7 pancake, and then did her Savvy reading on the computer and wore the birthday hat the whole time. :)  We decided to skip core school that day and do our kiwi crates instead. It's always nice to mix it up a bit. Lindy's crate that day was constructing a treasure chest and learning how to draw maps. She loved setting up treasure hunts for people all day. For lunch, we drove to Middleton to pick up Emma for a lunch outing. Emma is Lindy's best friend and I love that they get along so well. We found a pizza place nearby and splurged on soda and the pinball machine. :) Then Miss Lauren let my kids stay over for hours afterward to play, which was super nice of her.That night she requested sweet and sour chicken for dinner and an Oreo farm cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream. Delicious and Rich! She opened a few presents, and then as a special treat she and I stayed up late to watch a movie together after all the other kids had gone to bed. She chose to watch "Anastasia" and we played with each other's hair and rubbed each other's hands and feet with lotion. When the movie was over, Lindy cried because her birthday was officially over and she would now have to wait a whole entire year for her next one. 

This girl...So much sweetness and personality, and sass, and empathy, and grit, and anxiety, and silliness etc rolled up into one gal. I've known few people in my life who desire to attend to other's needs as much as Lindy does. She is a treasure to our family. 

First Half of March 2021

 We are still working on building up our egg market in the area. We need lots of customers because our girls lay around 50 eggs per day.  So when our weekly customers aren't enough, we are getting into the habit of setting up "shop" on a street corner and trying to sell the surplus. The kids are awesome little entrepreneurs. 

The starts aligned and my old college roommate Hattie and her family were able to come by for dinner the other night. She was on this side of the state visiting her sister and we got to steal them away for a few hours. It was so fun to reconnect! She and Shaun started dating the same time Richie and I did.

Can you handle this cuteness??? He has a very specific nap/bedtime routine these days.  He likes to be wrapped in his car blanket, have me sing "Let me Call you Sweetheart", then be laid down with "Merica" (captain America), Sakah-Bah (soccer ball), Foxy, Meow-Meow, and Rawr-Rawr. Then a heavier blanket is put on top. Then he whines twice until I say, "I'll stay here for a minute", he says "ooooh kay" and then he plays with his friends and gets comfy while I lay on the floor just out of sight. 

Homeschool scenes. What would we do without group days with the Fogle's, Kiwi crates, and the incentive of park days if school work gets done early.  We're all so happy the weather is warming up!

We spent a lot of time this Saturday burning the weeds in the pasture and trying to spread manure into beds so we can hopefully maximize our land. Slowly but surely! Richie thought the kids deserved something special for their hard work, so we picked up hot dogs and amores stuff and finally used our giant bbq thing in the backyard. 

We spent a Sunday evening at the duck pond by Grandma Linda's house. Richie grew up coming to this duck pond area every time he came to visit Grandma Linda, so it's been fun taking the kids there are few times.