First half of June 2021

School is out for the summer! We are hitting up lots of parks and splash pads. I've reached a new level of parenting where I don't have to be right next to kids the entire time on outings like this. I can take turns with my olders as we play with/watch the Youngers. It's amazing! My olders are so willing to help out in this area, for which I am grateful. It also is awesome because Miles especially is at this age where he's getting a little old and "too cool" for parks etc, but they're also still fun for him. Having an assignment to take care of a younger sibling gives him permission to still play on the playground etc. :) When he doesn't feel like it, he hangs out with me on the sidelines. 

Richie and I are trying to be better about weekly dates now that our older kids are capable of babysitting for longer stretches of time. This week was my turn to plan and we headed to an amazing greenhouse in Boise and then to get a treat.

Scenes from the Homestead: We got another round of meat birds to harvest and hopefully sell this time around.  We have been a tiny bird hospital for a while now. Some chicks weren't accepted by the hens and were pecked etc, so for the last month or so, we've had tiny chicks in the house we're trying to doctor up.  Garden is in full swing! The kids and I go out every morning to weed for 10 minutes. anymore and it becomes dreaded. We sold the 2 male goats. I wanted to get more milk from the mamas, and without a real way to separate the mamas and babies on our property, we decided to at least sell off two of them. Since most Americans don't eat goat meat, the calls I got were all from "out-of-towners". This couple that came to look at the goats were middle eastern of some sort. It was obvious this was not his first rodeo and it was a little shocking to watch him stuff the two goats in the trunk of his beat up Honda civic. I tried not to attach human emotion to it...but I still made them pause for a picture. On the plus side, I'm definitely getting more milk these days! We are drinking it now, but I hope to buy the supplies for soap making soon.  

 

Second Half of May 2021

Trying to get lunch dates in with all the kids! This day it was Lindy's turn and instead of lunch, we went and got ice cream. :)

 Benson graduated from pre-school! Some days he liked/tolerated it, some days it was a little tough getting him to go. Once he was there he always seemed to have a good time. I think overall it was a really good experience for all of us. The graduation ceremony was hot, short and adorable. I'm crossing my fingers to get him into a different preschool next year. He's technically old enough for kindergarten, but I think more preschool would be a good thing for him ( and me). 

We last minute decided to invite friends over (the Baxters) for an Oreo taste test experiment. I bought 6 different varieties and they all voted on their favorites. The adults favorites were the lemon Oreos, and I think the kids favorite were the mint Oreos.

Scenes from the homestead: We had a bunch of hens go broody, we decided to try it out! Some of the hens have hatched eggs on their own, and some eggs we have put in the incubator and then slipped the new chicks under the mamas. It's been amazing watching the new chicks hatch right before our eyes! Mama hens are my favorite animal now. Also pictured, the bunnies at peak cuteness, and pesto made with spinach from our garden!

The First Half of May 2021

 Scenes from the homestead. Buddy's health was deteriorating. Long story short, we bumped him up to 3 bottles a day and more feed, and he's back to being a happy cow. Richie planted something crazy like 30 fruit trees to create our mini orchard. :) It's gonna be so beautiful once they're all grown. We plan on stringing lights through the trees and putting picnic tables in the rows. The biggest homestead news was that Duchess had piglets! We didn't even know she was pregnant! I don't think the people that sold her to us knew either! ha! So Gwen got herself a sweet deal. She will earn quite a bit of money selling the piglets off, and she didn't have to pay a stud fee. It was a really cool experience. 

Finishing up the homeschool year! At least trying to! Finishing up all the curriculum we had on our plates and feeling proud of our accomplishments. Pictured are the littles at homeschool group going on a letter hunt. Also, hosting homeschool group here to learn about plant cells. The lesson took a little longer, but because we made a model of a plant cell out of cake and candy, the kids were mostly ok with it. :)

Uncle Chuck, Aunt Laura, Aunt Nancy, and Great Grandma Garner all came to check out the homestead. We had a nice visit and they were really sweet and way overpaid for a bunch of eggs to support the kids. :)

Our ward put on a 5k for all the girls and women in the ward. It was superhero themed and so fun! The girls took off at full sprint once the race began and I never caught up again. So they had a nice time chatting with people at the front of the race, and I had a fun time chatting with people at the back of the race. We caught up with each other at the end. :)

I kinda like this guy.

This kid...My little Curious George boy. Now that the weather is warming up, I can't keep clothes on him. On this particular day, we had our first watering turn of the season, and for whatever reason, there was a lot of water coming our way. This made for great puddles. I stopped trying to keep him out of the mess and just let him go for it. He was tired and messy and happy by the end of the day. Sounds like he's living his best life to me!

The lilacs are usually in bloom around Mother's Day. And lilacs seem to be a thread that all of us Crosby girls connect with in relation to the story about my Grandma Hinckley weeping by their lilac bush after finding out her mother died. So on Mother's Day, Lindy came with me to clip some gorgeous lilacs from generous neighbors willing to share, and we delivered 3 jarfuls to women I minister to. 

April 2021

 We are slowly but steadily building up our egg customer base. We take orders on Fridays and then the kids help me deliver eggs on Saturday. We charge $4 per dozen, so at this point, Miles, Gwen and Lindy each get $1 per dozen we sell, and then $1 comes back to us to buy food etc. It's been working well so far. When we didn't get as many orders that week, we will head to the end of our street, or a park on a busy road and try and sell a few that way. It's usually not super profitable, but it's usually a pretty enjoyable way to spend an hour. 

Got to help cute Benson's preschool class on the day they did an Easter egg hunt. :)

Homestead happenings. Gwen seems to have the best luck at catching chickens to cuddle. The picture of Miles and Lindy is my favorite! Miles has his bottle to feed Buddy and Lindy has a mini bottle to try and feed the only bunny in the kit that survived the mother. Sometimes the mother attacks her own babies, but one survived and we named it Lucky and kept it in the pantry. :) Unfortunately, we were too novice and didn't take care of it properly, and it ended up dying. 

Proof of Mom. Here I am, waiting in the car for Gwen to finish her piano lesson. :)

Look at this picture perfect cutie!!

Movie Nights, homeschool group days and field trips to the Zoo are essential for everyone's sanity! Thank goodness for the Fogle's!