What a week..........

Today is the 3rd birthday of our beautiful baby boy.  He got a pony for his birthday, who he named "Harlan."  We had to convince him not to name him "Seven."  :)

We have had quite a week; including the virus "Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease" floating in our house.  And no; this is not caused by farm animals or kids running barefoot in the yard!  Just a virus that, according to our pediatrician, has been rampant in our small community.  And...our 6 year old has been giving us fits....not sure what is going on with her, but hopefully this too shall pass! 

We also tried to switch the kids from whole milk to 2% today and received a lot of flack from the 2 little ones.  However, they need to get used to change; because we will soon be switching from cow's milk to goat's milk, from our own does :)  We also have 3 baby does joining us this week from our farm that we work with in Tennessee.  Their names are Jezebel ( named by our 6 year old), Lisa (named by our 7 year old) and Claiborne (named by me).  Our big white rooster, "Kenny," went onto another home this week.  He had gotten a bit too aggressive for our kid-filled little farm.  We "lost" one of chickens this week; (a light brown hen that had originally lived with my sister and brother-in-law on the other side of our county) and she showed up today with 9 tiny baby chicks!

I have learned some lessons in canning/freezing this week.  I blanched and froze some corn that was a success; but when I tried to do the squash, it wasn't as successful because I left the squash in the water on the stove too long.  Oh well...live and learn I guess!!  My plan is to can bread and butter pickles tomorrow and hopefully some jams next weekend. 

My hours at one of my part-time jobs has been cut; so it looks like we are back to the drawing board in regard to job status...just not sure what the right answer is.  However, I do think that I am going to return to school this fall; no matter what.

We just checked on our bees and they are making honey furiously for us.  I am so excited to get our first honey out!  We are also exploring the idea of an oxen team instead of a traditional tractor. 

Until next time.....

Decisions, decisions

As I have mentioned before; Tammy and I have been together nearly 13 years; actually "met" 13 years ago July 1st...anyway..we have been on quite a journey since then; incluing the adoption of our children and this newest adventure of our farm and where our lives are "going from here."  This holiday weekend has allowed us to reflect upon what we want our own lives as well as the lives of our children.  We are again leaning toward homeschooling.  We are also (instead of) a small country store, planning to build our Grade A milking parlor for us and for our precious goats.  This is the largest part of Tammy's dream.  We are also incorporating the largest part of my dream; to have a small organic farm that sustains our family and allows

me to participate in local farmers' markets around our region to sell our multiplying produce, fresh country eggs, and fresh honey.  The last 6 months has allowed us to relfect on our lives, what we want, what we can (feasibly do), etc.  We currently get about 15 eggs per day from our chickens, eat daily from our garden, are training our pony to pull a cart, and playing with and nurturing our sweet goats who will soon make us wonderful milk, cheese, and soap (and baby goats!!)