We have homeschooled our boys now for eight years. They are in the fifth and sixth grades and this year and it is our first year of grading. The only things we graded prior to this year were spelling tests and math. However, those grades were not compiled anywhere nor kept. If they missed a […]
Doelings or Leprechauns?
On Saturday a new and already beloved friend named Raspberry came over to teach us to 1) give our goats vaccinations and 2) tattoo our new doelings. Raspberry is a long time goat owner. He started in his youth with 4-H. He is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom. For 20+ years he was a […]
December Happenings
Here is a little update of just a few things that have been going on so far in December. We found a great Christmas tree farm just ten minutes from our home. They had a lot of nice trees from which to choose. We wanted a smaller tree than we normally have. This being our […]
Delightful Doelings
Finally. We have been waiting for nine weeks to bring our doelings home. It is best to let them nurse for at least eight weeks. Our dear friend Bryn is giving us these precious girls. Two were born to her Nigerian Dwarf doe named Pippa and one was born to another doe named Peach (she […]
Nicholas Turns Eleven
My baby is 11 years old! Time sure flies when kids enter the picture. As usual we celebrated his birthday with a family celebration. You might remember his “half birthday” party with his new and old friends this summer. For this party his relatives from the Portland area came down to help him celebrate. His […]
Moving Day for Fern
Well if you thought herding geese out of a neighbor’s wheat field in the rain on Tuesday morning was enough for one day….you were wrong. That afternoon Fern was leaving our barn to go live in another barn. Who is Fern you ask? She is our neighbors pig. She was here before we bought the […]
Our Wayward Geese
About mid-morning I heard someone shooting a gun. That isn’t uncommon in our neighborhood. It continued. Then the phone rang. It was Nick our neighbor. He called to inform me that our geese were in the field that bordered his property and the owner of that property was shooting at them. I told the boys […]
A Refreshing Start to My Tuesday
I opened the barn and coop today. It was nice that it wasn’t raining. All the animals were happy to see me. Everything went like clockwork. Until the end. Since things are muddy and wet all the time now, we hose our boots off before we get to the house. It is an effort to […]
AWANA Night
Every Thursday night during the school year for the past nine years our boys have attended AWANA at our church. AWANA stands for Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed (2 Timothy 2:15). It is kind of like the Christian version of scouts. The kids memorize Bible verses and study scripture. They get tested and earn badges […]
Animals, Antics and Analogies
I find it enjoyable to notice things on our farm. As the seasons change so does the landscape, birds and wildlife. During summer the the barn swallows reigned supreme. A doe and her spotted fawns could be seen in the lower acreage in the early morning hours. The bull frogs lulled us to sleep each […]
Homeschool
As a homeschooling family we have a lot of flexibility with how and where we do school. In our previous home we mostly did school at the kitchen table and on the sofa. In our new home we do school all over the house. Mostly we do it at that same kitchen table which is […]