A Nice Sunday Morning, Needing a Little Motivation for the Afternoon!

The kids and I went to church today.  Wyatt wasn't so sure about something new, where he didn't know others who would be with him.  Bailey was excited, but then backed out of going into the youth group, and stayed with me.  It turned out to be a good fit, she has been reading a lot of Genesis, and that is what the preacher was discussing today.

In the end, the folks were friendly, and as Bailey and I turned to head out to find Wyatt, he came into the back of the church with a big grin and a doughnut in his hand, ready to tell us about the fun he had had.  And there was a boy he knew from 4-H in the next age group down, whom he had spent time with during county fair, so he hadn't been completely without anyone he knew.

We headed out and ran into the same man we had met on the way in- his name was Don- thanking us for coming in, and I heard a deep hello, looking up to see another 4-H parent- Sean-  saying welcome as I said Hi.  As we walked away, and Wyatt told us about tortillas and candy in a lesson about Joseph- I still don't quite understand the whole thing, maybe he will explain again over dinner- we said hello to a few more 4-H youth on the way to the car.

Bailey said she liked the service, and as we got into the car, Wyatt closed his door and asked, "Can we go again next Sunday?"

Hmmm...

All in all, a pretty good Sunday morning.  I am glad we are taking our time to find our way back to ourselves.  One step at a time with our hearts.

On that note, with animals fed and watered, and new recipes downloaded from Facebook, I suppose I had best get to some cleaning so I can get to bed early tonight!

Hope your weekend is blessed with family and friends and those nice little steps in the right direction.

Love to all.
me

Happy Friday!

Last night, after teaching in town, I got bust on round three with the animals for the day- they need a lot of fresh, cool water this time of year, especially since they are pretty indiscriminate about which to use for drinking and which to use for a standing pool (they use both for both.)  

Since Wyatt was still at football, I double checked his, too, and gathered his eggs with mine, and guess what I found? WE HAVE  ANEW LAYER IN THE BRAHMA PEN!!! Those new Brahmas that did so well for Wyatt at fair this year are growing up!  We cannot wait to see what we get from them!  For now, the hens are learning, and this little egg is barely larger than the d'Uccle egg it is sitting with!

Shadow ran around with Bailey and I, trying to be a good farm dog (outside of getting in the garbage once before I caught her).  She was helping me water when the boys got home from football.  We had stepped inside for a moment, and when she heard Charlie's car she went CRAZY!  I am glad those two have each other.  They are quite the duo together, even if he does spend training time on log rolling instead of long sits and stays sometimes.

You know me and those beautiful sunsets!  I cannot help myself.  But there is a special reason for a photo of this one.  Those clouds, which make the colors streak so beautifully across the sky- do you know what those mean?

Moisture! The humidity is finally arriving.With historic temperature highs in the forecast the rest of this week and into the weekend, I am so glad to see the first glimmer of hope for our monsoon season.  The first the isolated showers appear int he forecast is Monday, and usually the East side gets the rain long before we do.  I am so thankful to see the hope!!!

Well, happy Friday to you all!  This is the best time of day to work outside, so I had best get back out there.  Have a greet day!

I Rescued a Human Today...

I saw this adorable poem online, and thought to share it.  Our dogs have all been rescue dogs, all being essential members of the family who taught us a great deal along the way.  Hope you enjoy!

I Rescued A Human Today 

Author:Janine Allen CPDT 

I rescued a human today. 

Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels. I felt her need instantly 
and knew I had to help her. I wagged my tail, not too exuberantly, so she wouldn't be afraid. 

As she stopped at my kennel I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage. I didn't want her to know 
that I hadn't been walked today. Sometimes the shelter keepers get too busy and I didn't want her to think poorly of them. 

As she read my kennel card I hoped that she wouldn't feel sad about my past. I only have the future to look forward to 
and want to make a difference in someone's life. She got down on her knees and made little kissy sounds at me. 

I shoved my shoulder and side of my head up against the bars to comfort her. 

Gentle fingertips caressed my neck; she was desperate for companionship. A tear fell down her cheek and I raised my 
paw to assure her that all would be well. 

Soon my kennel door opened and her smile was so bright that I instantly jumped into her arms. I would promise to keep her safe. 
I would promise to always be by her side. I would promise to do everything I could to see that radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes. 
I was so fortunate that she came down my corridor. So many more are out there who haven't walked the corridors. 

So many more to be saved. At least I could save one. 

I rescued a human today.

Operation: Our Life, Our Way

Forgive this very long post.  I have been asked several times of late, why after moving Bailey to home school, and finishing the year with Wyatt, we are still not out and about like folks expect us to be.  After so long of trying to tow the line of other folks, we are taking some time to recapture our life and set things back on our own path.  So here is the reality, folks...

Sometimes it feels like things break faster than you can fix them, doesn't it?  For the last several years, I have made the commute to take the kids to schools in town, and working in a different part of town.We really just thought that was the way things had to be when you live outside of town, and want the kids in a school which has really good opportunities, and with our oldest in High School she was going to have to go that far now regardless, right?

Well, after all of these years of other people's demands wearing on us and driving until there was no energy left, and our daughter going through some incredibly intense bullying- we pulled her out of school.  I was fortunate enough that in the process of trying to keep the kids an an extra-curricular they loved, but get them away from some negative influences, we found our way into a 4H group full of home school-ers, who have been so very welcoming and gracious in guiding me along the way.

When I pulled her out, we were all worried about her AP program, and another mom calmly informed me about just how many things I could provide here at home, and that I didn't need to be at the mercy of the school.  I have certainly had my eyes opened to the options in the last year!

When I learned that the interventions Wyatt was supposed to be involved in for his processing issues weren't really happening, and I was driving all that way and leaving him exhausted, and still trying to make time for for extra work with him at home, and feeling terribly guilty about how little time he spent being a kid, I started thinking seriously about keeping him home, too.  I wasn't really sure it was what he would want, so I left it open ended and told him it would be a lot of work and that he would have to start in the Summer and be able to listen to me as teacher and Mama.

At the same time, it all sounded so simple, which is where you know it will be hard, right?

So Bailey and I went to the home-school convention.  I had already been picking up curriculum here and there, and knew the really expensive stuff would be the really good language program I wanted for them. (Nope, haven't shelled out for that one yet.)  And that I would have to track the grading and get through the work with them, on top of working and keeping the farm going.  We also had a little under our belts, working through three plus months of the year at home with her.

I gave Wyatt the first week after school was out off from school.  It seemed fair- everyone needs a break, and then I have added one subject each week.  It isn't all smooth sailing, but here is the thing...

When those folks set Bailey up for the bullying, they made her first give up her Sunday mornings.  If she really wanted to learn anything she had to do it their way.  Much of life went that way, conforming to other folks until the way we wanted to do things seemed lost, and time for ourselves was a struggle to squeeze in.

So part of home schooling, and this new approach to life is really about putting the values of our family front and center again, and putting our life back together.  We are far from perfect, but the kids need a good strong educational foundation, and Bailey needs to fill in the gaps from the behavior issues in the school  she had attended, and Wyatt needs to do the work for his processing issue, and be challenged instead of grouped with the kids who don't care.

I would love to say that the first week off, we went to church.  We didn't.  In fact, we are still planning, and still trying to dig out from how behind we all felt here.  The kids are growing healthier each day.  We are still quite busy rearranging chicken groups and rebuilding coops and roofs and doing some much needed cleaning.  Last week we cleaned the kids' carpets and bought a new desk for the family, though while we were doing that a wind storm came through and did this to Bailey's doe barn.

So, we took a break from other chores, and Charlie helped us put it back to where Bailey and I could work on it again.  Next up for today is reattaching the fence to the barn at the far right corner.  Then getting the new upright support in to the wall you see slumping on the left.  The plan had been for the Buckeye pen expansion to share a common fence wall where the fence will reattach to the barn, but will still be in progress while we work on the repairs.

We took some time this weekend to enjoy a fire and the Super Moon.  Charlie thinks I should still use a flashlight during watering even with the beautiful moon because of rattlesnake season.  Bummer, he is likely right.  I just need more hours of daylight after sunset =).

Well, I don't make a habit of explaining myself very often, but I did today.  We will keep sharing pictures as we move forward toward our goals for the farm and as a family.  Hope you all have a great day!

Back from the Home School Convention and Busy as Ever!

Bailey and I had lots of fun learning at the Home School Convention last weekend.  Saturday night after it all wrapped up, we were energized and excited but also overwhelmed.  We loaded into the car and drove away from home instead of toward it, heading to Buckeye to pick up a new friend for our little herd.

In that crate is a sweet little doe, name Aqua Patch Across the Universe.  I do promise a few good photos to come, once this little doe is fully settled in to the swing of things at Patriot's Dream.  Also, Bailey is looking for a nickname, because Across the Universe is way too long!

On Monday, Wyatt and I pulled out the scale and weighed the little three week old Black Java chicks. So as of 17 June 2013:

#99: .67lb

#96: .52lb

#97: .43lb 

Wyatt and I played guess which are boys/ girls.  We had been thinking one roo, two pullets, but now with the tail feathers starting to grow in, we are not so sure.  We are enjoying trying to figure out while we wait and watch them grow.  We are also enjoying the weight comparisons with other heritage breeds we have raised and tracked through the growth process.

This one looked me straight in the eye, and was ready to go pack to her pen and play with the others.

I had to get the little requisite scale shot!

Well, this week, Wyatt, Bailey and I have lots of plans.  We are working on dividing one pen to keep a couple of roosters happy, fixing and doubling the grow out pen, and tomorrow we have plans for a field trip to the aquaponic store to see if we really do have most of the supplies needed for a special project Wyatt wants to try!  Wow.  Seeing as how it is already Thursday, we had best get busy!

There has been an herbnapping,,, and other ranndom goings on around here...

With the heat so dramatic, I have been waiting until the sun is down before watering the plants in the evening.  It is truly funny, just how little I can notice.  In the number of times I head off the back porch, that I hadn't noticed until watering time that the entire dill plant had been completely removed, with just twigs left in its place.

There has been an herbnapping!  Seeing as how my sister is a police officer, shouldn't there be a formal to-do here?  Hmmm... top suspect include the squirrels, little grey birds and rabbits.  So busted, they are, so busted.

 

 

Well, seeing as how there is really not much to do outside of plant more dill, I guess it is good we have lots of pickles made!  As I was continuing with working, I couldn't help but take a couple photos of the beautiful solar gazing ball Charlie and the kids brought me for Mother's Day. The colors of the solar leds reflect beautifully off the wall, and the tomato plants on either side of it leave beautiful streaks.

 

This is the new farm stand sign I have been working on.  It still needs a little work, with leveling and being visible and a few details, but all in all, it has the old time feel I was looking for, and I will keep at it until it works. I think the leveling will be first, and raising it up just a bit higher, and then a few more details. Any thought to make it better?

 

This is a close up version of the same photo.

 

Well, I am pretty tired, so I guess I am off to get a few things done tonight before bed.  Have a great night!

 

 

A Couple of Little Steps in the Right Direction

Still plugging away around here! Forgive the very long post, but evenings are tiring!  I am going to try to get things all caught up...

Thursday morning, I went to teach a strength training class, then got on the elliptical for a while.  Feet are still pretty slow and fussy, but hoping to keep making a dent in it all.

I finished sealing the farmstand sign, and talked with Charlie about where to put it.  Hope to have it up shortly.  Then I worked on putting up this shelf on the back porch, so the plants can all get good light now that the tomatoes are growing so well.  A little worried about the lavender in the middle, though, it doesn't seem to be draining well, but would like it to dry out a bit before I re-pot if possible.

Wyatt's pretty excited to see the pichu plant flowering now. The littler  plant is finally growing now that it is established in another pot away from the big one.  I sure hope that leads to a good yield!

For the most part, the tomatoes are doing beautifully.  We have had several meals off the plants so far, though a couple of the plants aren't thriving as well as others.  

The pomegranate tree has lots of fruit coming along, if they all make it as the appear so far, there will be lots of these available!  But the birds do tend to be good at sneaking into the crop there!

The smaller pichu plant seems to finally be coming along now that it is not living in the shadow of the large one.  Funny how that works, isn't it?

The honeydew I planted will have to be separated to more places.  Hope Wyatt's REALLY likes his honeydew...

These are the cantaloupe... should be interesting to see what the yield is from each!

The two little tomatoes in the middle are a concern. I ended up switching them with the lavender I was worried about, but the lavender seemed to dry out overnight.  Balancing things out in 108 degree heat is such a challenge!

These tomatoes are the same variety and age as the ones I was worried about, but are on the North side of the porch instead of the East, hence my feeling about switching them with the struggling lavender.

Bailey and I worked on a homemade calorimeter experiment for Chemistry.  It was fun, and everyone got into it, especially with all of the foods we were working with!  Gonna play with density a bit tomorrow.

After spending much of Sunday in bed sick, Wyatt cleaned two pens and did his first home school science lesson today.  He was supposed to have had Earth science in 5th grade, but the class only completed a small portion of the chapters, and half of them in the last quarter of the year when he was sick so much.  So I figure we need to work through some Earth science before the biology for next year, and today was the first lesson.  He did his first science blog post, and this earned him the movie he was wanting to see.  He so loved War Horse the book, and even the sequel book, Farm Boy, even though he was frustrated that so details were inconsistent.  After seeing the movie, he may begin a book review/ movie review blog.  We shall see. But he did select the lesson/ experiment for tomorrow, we are alternating which of us teaches ( hee hee, sneaky Mama). 

I got a little of the structural work I needed to done on the big pen today, then promptly came up against a wall in a pen project to keep the goat waters cool that I was working on with Bailey.  The pumpkins and honeydew that I started in the new planter last week have begun to sprout as of this afternoon, too.  You win some, you lose a lot, right?  I am trying to learn to be thankful for every little step in the right direction, especially after the way the last year or so has been.  I know the injuries and ups and downs are a part of life, and I plan to keep getting up and trying again.  

Today's five miles after step class went better than the ones on Friday, so maybe I can try running a little tomorrow, especially if I can get in early enough to run before I teach yoga.  Well, time to give thanks for another day, and each achievement, and head for bed before tomorrow begins.  

Love to all.

me

Busy couple of days!

Wow, for being Wyatt's first week off from school, and not homeschooling him for another week because I figured he needed a break and to get his room clean and his feet back under him, things haven't slowed down!  But I guess we always did like to keep life a little crazy around here...

To kick things off, Tuesday was Wyatt's birthday.  Not being up to making hte fancy ice cream cake decorations amidst the end of school malaise with Wyatt and the school resource lunacy, I saw these beautiful cookies that my friend Tammy made for Memorial Day, and ordered some AMAZING custom cookies for Wyatt's birthday cake and birthday day.  Here are a couple on the custom ice cream cake he had me make...

Tuesday mornign, these were his first present, which he selected from for his cake, and then got to have one with his morning smoothie.

Then we piled in the monster truck.  Okay, not a monster truck, and F250 extended thing that is our farm truck, and that I only drive when I have no other option.  So we piled in and headed to north Marana to pick up these hutches I had found on craigslist for a great deal.  We had been wanting to have something like this for some time, so that sick bay and babies could be outside, rather than the living room!

We got everything loaded up in the truck, then got in to head home and it promptly wouldn't start.  We suspected battery issues, but quickly realized that we had no tools, they were all in other vehicles, and we didn't even have anything for cleaning the connections- oops. Seven kindly passersby later, and we skipped our other destinations (the feed store, the movie theater, etc) and headed straight for home so Charlie could look at the truck when he got there!

Charlie got off early to help us, and he got working on the monster, so we got to disinfecting and setting up the hutches.  Here, the larger one has the Black Java chicks.

The White Faced Black Spanish hen who is in sickbay got the other crate.  Gonna give her something better for her feet today. though.  She is definitely not a spring chicken, and needs the extra TLC while she is recovering.

The little ones, and the hen all seem to appreciate the better view from their new digs on the porch.  We all headed to town, and realized the movie Wyatt wanted to see had just begun, and didn't have another showing until 9:35.  So we went to dinner, where the waiter sang to Wyatt in italian- way cool- and we had a good time.  Then it was off to the movie- I will have to write about it, Epic was great.  By the time we got home, it was well after midnight, and Wyatt was the only one with energy.

Since no one could stay awake to let him have cake, I talked him into waiting until morning so we could sing as a family.  He wanted me to get him up at 4 before Charlie went to work.  Come 4:30, Charlie really didn't think I should get the kids up considering how badly we were already dragging.  So I let them sleep in, and we had cake for breakfast.  Not standard nutrition around here, but he missed it on his birthday.  Once a year won't ruin the world.  Here is the cake.  See the four cookies?  Impressive! Wyatt is Mr Camp in everything, and loves his dog, his football, chickens and hunting.  The dog even came out looking like Shadow Paws!

So for birthdays, this crew gets to order whatever they like.  Charlie always wants his favorite Sunshine cake, a specialty of my family.  Wyatt has been getting custom ice cream cakes for years.  Bottom to top- Oreo cookie crust, mint chip ice cream, Oreo layer, reeses ice cream, choc sprinkle layer, snicker ice cream layer, vanilla ice cream frosting.  Every year they are a little different, but all crazy rich.  Like I said, once a year, right?  You get to pick what you want on your birthday.

So the day really needed to keep things rolling on the catch up line.  Laundry, pens, cleaning, etc. And some workout time.  Shadow wanted to apply to be the new trainer dog.  She thought she should demo the Olympic bar.  Hmmm...

Then, when we said no fetching the ball they were catching during balance training, she fetched herself a zucchini.  No, she doesn't eat zucchini, but she does fetch anything.  Literally anything.

After workout time, Wyatt helped with watering some fruit trees to empty out the jacuzzi of water so he can clean it later this week.  I worked on my farm stand sign that I started a week or so ago.  I want it to look nice, but still like the old not quite perfect ones you would see near any other farm. It is made of pallets and a plywood board.

What do you think?  I need to get the chalkboard paint and clear coating finished today, and assemble it when I get back from work.

These are the geese, on the loose in the yard.  Then pen they are next to is the grow out meat pen, who they have taught to honk like geese.   Yep, never dull.

Well, today is a new day, and lots more to do!  What have you been up to?

Sunday Morning Takeback

One of the kids jogs up to the porch and turns up the country music station on the radio.  I can hear Wyatt and Shadow playing their way through chores.  The buzzer on the dryer goes off, good timing since I just finished some watering on the back porch.

These are the weekend mornings that I have been missing.  And the time I (and the kids)have been craving at home.  A year ago, I took on an additional part time job to help with the time between the semesters, and keep my teaching skills current, teaching aerobics at a health club in town.  I hadn't done it in a while.  They required two classes, which was good for me to fill in between semesters, but the two they had available were Saturday and Sunday.  So that really chopped up the weekends.  I had to move form Saturday to Monday when the 4-H year began, and it was only in the last few weeks that I was able to move from the Sunday to the Fridays.

I began that time in bed sick, and have been crawling my way back.  Now, with Wyatt out of school, we will begin to establish a system of chores and homeschooling, working on a positive flow of time and a balance in our lives of fun, work and family time.  Some of that is just going to take time, patience and practice.
 

Just as each new day, and each new life, bring promise and possibility, so does each new change in phase of life.We are meant to take these opportunities and reach forward and up, and make something special that glorifies all that like is, and all that we can do in our world.  After being backed into a corner time-wise by bullies, and spending all those years driving so much so the kids could attend school in town, is was more than time for a change.

So the next phase of our like will be consistently manicured, with exercise together, family time in fun and hobbies, and farm work,

Careful and thoughtful education of the kids so they have the opportunities to learn and grow, but with balance between classroom and practical learning,

and more.  I don't expect this to be a smooth and easy ride.  I know there will be bumps in the road and truth be told, the transition is slow already.  But I am more than ready to live the life I preach- balance in all things.  Watch for more updates on learning to home school and  the farm life transition.

Hope you all have a magnificent week!