On the Farm

I hope all of you are having a great New Year! My #3 son was born on New Year's Eve, and he just turned 6!  Caden is my sweet little man that loves to be a big helper.  So a late Happy Birthday to him! 

 

On the farm, we got rid of all of the ice!  It all melted off and was only muddy for about a day.  Which is very do-able!  Then it froze up again, and was very nice!  The night before last night, it started to snow again.  And now we have a thin layer of snow on the ground. 

Our Farm, this morning

Temps have been in the teens at night and the 20's during the day.  I can deal with that as long as it isn't windy!  We had some windy days, and combined with the cold, it was NOT nice to work in!  In fact, it is hard to BREATHE in!  Ugg! 

All of the animals are doing good, and we have been getting more eggs!  Even though it has been so cold, and many people in our neck of the woods aren't getting many eggs right now.  Our feed seems to be working well, and I am going to keep mixing that up for them as long as it works!  Prices did just go up at the mill again, so there is a bit of a pinch, but hopefully with egg production UP, we can make up for some of that...

Our baby Layers

Our baby layers are still in a "brooder", but when I open the gate to it in the morning and evening, they LOVE to come roaming outside.  So while I do chores, they wonder around outside.  And DON'T want to come back in when I'm done!  We actually also have some meat chickens still!  They are almost 14 weeks old!  They are ready to be butchered in 8 weeks, and usually die when they get to a certain age, because things just start giving out.  Hopefully their life is a testament to how good of care they are getting!!  My hubby has been going out and butchering 4-6 at a time, but it is just SO cold, and some of them were a bit smaller, so we are letting them eat to get a bit bigger.  The ones we butchered last week, the one was so big that I couldn't fit it in a gallon baggie.  So we cooked it up for supper.  The meat was still very good!  There are 4 more, I think, to butcher.  And they are currently living with the baby layers.  Everyone seems to be getting along just fine!

Puck, our Jacob male, is getting HUGE!

 
Well, instead of just chatting about it, I need to get out and take care of them this morning!  Time to bundle up!  Brrrr!  It's a chilly, SNOWY 18 degrees out right now!  :)

Down on the Farm

Sorry about the small break folks! My little guy is better, and is back to his rowdy, crazy little self!Oh yeah, and he is ALMOST potty trained!!! YAY! YAAAAAAYYYY!!! Can you tell I am SO PUMPED about that?! :)

There is so much to catch up on!

First, my oldest son, I told you that he wanted to get baptized and he did it on Sunday. We were so very proud of him! And so glad that he was ready to take the step of "stepping it up" and showing people how much he loves Jesus!

Here is BEFORE:
And AFTER:
YAY!

My 3rd son, Caden lost his first tooth! He pulled his own first tooth AT SCHOOL! Here he is, milk mustache and all... He was MOSTLY excited about the money! :)

Here he is all dressed up... Park ranger? Policeman? Not quite sure...


We have been working on different things around the homestead, because it FEELS so much like Fall... Hubby was tired of looking at the dead and dying garden... SO we yanked much of what we had. Tomato plants were still producing, BUT the tomatoes were horrible! So I know not to plant those next year! Lesson learned!


We still have our sunflowers, but those will be coming out soon, before the birds get them. I'm not sure if we will dry them to eat or if those will be dried for the chickens, for a mid-Winter snack! We also have sweet peppers. Some carrots, that are JUST about done. We also have pumpkins (the pie kind!), YUM! And we have our strawberry plants that have spread like wild fire! Can't wait for THOSE next year!!!


We harvested a bunch of Winter Squash, hopefully those will be good! I have never grown them before! I should be able to just stick those in my basement (similar to a root cellar- temps are never higher than 70 or lower than 55...). I look forward to those and the potatoes! :)

With Fall on it's way, and the temps being cooler... I am already thinking about my garden next year! I KNOW I am going to do more cool weather veggies, like peas, onions, and carrots. We don't really eat peas or onions, but I think if we had them we would! We all like them, but just don't ever BUY them... hmmm... Maybe I should start on my seed order now...

Another change that is coming, is that we are going to be getting another milking goat! Her name is Black Iris. This time, I did my homework on the seller! We will hopefully get her in the next week or so! Pictures to come! :)


Also, with Fall coming up in less than 2 weeks (yikes! already?!!), I am REALLY in the mood for baking and trying new recipes! Of course, most of them (knowing me!) are for different types of bread product! :) But next Thursday, we will be starting back up with "From Scratch", where we share links or just recipes that we love! AND share what you have been making that week! I'm ready! How about you?

Still lots of great things to come! You'll want to stick around for the fun! See ya later, alligator! :D

First Day Back to School!

Today was the big day, the day every little child waits for all of their 5 years... The first day of school! Caden was the happiest!

Today was Caden's first day of Kindergarten. Austin is now in 3rd, and Deklyn is in 4th. Austin and Deklyn were a little LESS enthused about school... though I think they were excited to sport their new shoes and book bags...

Here are the boys getting on the bus!


And here is my favorite picture from this morning, Caden saw the bus coming and ran to the end of the porch and back, so excited! BYE, MOM AND DAD!


I started off years ago homeschooling, but put them into public school when I was having trouble getting my oldest (possible ADHD?) to concentrate. I didn't want his education to suffer, so I put them in school. I loved being able to teach my own children, BUT the break that I am getting right now is allowing me to get SO MUCH done...

Including a successful day (so far) in potty training!

Have your children started school yet? DO you homeschool or do they attend public school (or other)? Were they excited? Were YOU excited?

Mini-Vacation Pics

I'm Back!!!

And busier than ever. You leave for 5 days, and have 3x's the chore when you get back. Everything waits for you! :)

But we had a good time with my husband's family, biking, swimming, fireworks, eating, birthdays, hayride, eating, campfires, did I mention eating??? ;)

Here are a few pics that I took during our mini-vacation:


Vacation isn't complete with out sugar overloads from grandma!



We went on a hayride, which was fun. Check out the driver in this pic:Here is me, Koen and Caden on the hayride.


Then some fireworks!!! Here's Deklyn:

Here is Caden and Austin:


Now back to the ol' homestead. The weeds popped up and grew like crazy, there were storms that blew off part of the roof of our barn and off part of our chicken coop. All bedding got so wet and is now breeding bugs, got some cleaned up yesterday, more to do today! Yard waited to be mowed. Lots to do, and a birthday party to prepare for on Friday!!! Lord- give me energy!

Lots happening- more to come soon!!! :)

A Few Days in Pictures...

My boy is better this week, we just have to break him of his PURE SPOILEDNESS... Some would argue that he was spoiled before this ordeal. And to that, I have no argument.

So while I was around the homestead this week, I took some pictures. We actually have some new additions to the Muddy Boots family! This is NOT the addition that I was talking about earlier in the week. We still have another addition coming on Friday... Probably evening, so keep your eye on here to get the info! :)

I also am going to be having a giveaway that you won't want to miss! Coming up soon! Watch for it! :P I know, I'm ornery sometimes...

So roll the pictures!

Here are the 10 new additions, at least for a while... 10 Broiler chicks. These are for Deklyn's 4H project this year.


We have finally taken our chicks, now 2 months old on the ones we hatched and 1 month old on the ones we bought. They were THRILLED to be in grass, and it is so much fun to watch them find new treasures! :) Here is their temporary set-up. At night, we put them back in their brooder to protect them from the stray cats...


They are getting so big! Before we know it, we will have a LOT of eggs!


Speaking of eggs, here is the self-proclaimed Egg Man, with one of his "future" layers...



Our Jacob Sheep are now almost 2 months old! I can't believe it. And they really are growing fast! I think soon we will have to separate the little boys from the ladies, before they start getting any "ideas". Here is our little 4 horned ram, who I think is going to turn out very nice, Jack:Well, it was a hot day, and he was keeping himself hunkered down in the grass to keep cool... And here is Jack and his sister, Charlotte. With Charlotte, she is a 4 horned ewe, BUT I think 2 of her horns have grown together, so she is 3 horned! I'm not sure what this means for her future, but she is awfully sweet...



The other day, when hubby and Deklyn went to check on their bees, they found them building up through a hole that they shouldn't be building into. THe piece got knocked off, and they put it in a jar. After examining it a bit, they saw bee larvae! Which is a little gross, but a great sign that our hives are doing what they are supposed to! Check them out! I made it so you can enlarge the pic when you click on it, though the camera mostly focused on the jar, not the hive:

Can you see them in the comb? It is truly amazing how bees work!

And last but NOT least, last night, we attended the graduation of Caden from his Preschool! He was SO proud. Look how cute this little guy is:


I am a little sad because I will be losing this guy to Kindergarten next year. He is SUCH a good boy, and always so loving and helpful. I TOLD him to stop growing, and he is OBVIOUSLY disobeying me.

I will be sure to be posting again on all the other stuff going on around here!!! See you soon!

Enjoying Spring...

I love Spring. I love when the trees turn green and the flowers start blooming. I love when my garden starts to get those little sprouts of green. I even love doing barn chores. Not that I HATED them before, but they are MUCH more enjoyable when its warm and you don't have to try to keep your fingers from freezing off...

Here are a few pictures from our homestead:

This is what a little boy looks like when he has been playing outside on the farm. Oh and this is what it looks like when that same little boy is ornery:



Here he is helping me with some dirt from the garden:


Now here is one I never would have believed a month ago. 12 pups. One mama. And NO skinny pups. They are all little fatty babies. I had to drop what I was doing and run to get my camera so I could get this picture or "Girl" and her pups:


Here Caden and I are trying to do a little "bonding" with our little male sheep "Jack". We have taken him from his mother, and he isn't too happy about that. SO we are trying to make friends.


Caden has already made friends with Max, our baby goat. Max is already telling Caden secrets:


In the goat world, when you surprise someone with sucking on the end of their nose, it's actually a sign that you love them. I'm glad that doesn't extend out of the goat world, don't look at me to suck on the end of your nose to show you I love you:


AND here is what we will be doing 4 days a week, for the next 2 months. Watching these poor little guys lose. They are a VERY young, first year team, and it just ain't gonna happen. Which is OK! I just like to see my boys have fun... Here is my boy Austin hitting the ball:


Well, it's garden planting day. So you all have a good day, and I will share more pics with you later!

Happy Birthday Caden!

Today, my boy number 3 turns 5 years old!!!

When he was born, he was 7 lbs. 8 oz. My smallest baby!

He has been a TOTAL JOY, and such a good boy all of his 5 years. He loves to help and make people happy. He will probably be the smallest in the bunch but he has a HUGE HEART. If I could make the perfect child, it would be almost exactly like Caden. Best of all, he is not afraid to start praying out loud. He loves Jesus, and knows God is in his heart! THAT is the best gift a parent could ask for...

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY CADEN! We LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!

The End of Soccer Season

Well, Sunday was end of our boy's soccer season. I love our soccer program because they don't keep score (I love when they let little kids JUST HAVE FUN!), because they play against kids from their own school, and because they let EVERYONE play the same amount!

I think it is SO important to not force kids to be competitive. Baseball was that way for our oldest son this year. He liked it but he never got to play because he just wanted to go and have fun. But they ended up making him dread his games, scared that when he FINALLY got to bat, the he was going to mess up. Talk about an unhappy mama!

But this soccer program is different, and I know, some people like to push their kids a little more, and give them a competitive edge... And that's OK. But I love when a kid can be a kid and have some fun. They have YEARS before they need pressures of performing "the best".

So here are some pictures of my boys, and their 'metal' that they got for playing this year:

Now I have to tell you about Caden... This was his first sport, and his very first "twophy"... HE was SO proud... You can see how happy he was to display this around his little neck:

Dang it, they are cute! Sorry... proud mama! =)

Things I Love Thursday- Back-to-School!

Thursday! I am so glad you stuck with me through our 2 week camping trip! And I am grateful you are here on this wonderful day.

It's Thursday, the day we all share what we love! Today, the thing that I love is Back-to-school! I not only love the quietness in the house, and the attention I am able to give my little one, but I love that we live in an awesome country where things like education are free (or relatively free, I guess). I love that our school teaches a Bible class, right along side gym and music! I am thankful for my boy's teachers this year, and am excited to see how much my boys bloom and grow!

Speaking of, here are my precious school boys this morning on their first day:

Caden had his first day of preschool, he is going 2x's a week. Austin is in 2nd grade and Deklyn is in 3rd grade. *sniff, sniff*

So, it is YOUR turn! What do YOU love today??? Please share with us by linking directly to you blog entry for today on what you love!!! Can't wait to read them all!

Pictures From Florida

I thought I would post some pics and a little of what we did last week. Well, my son and I, anyways.

Me, my son Caden, my mom and my niece, left for Florida a week ago Sunday. We were going to move my grandpa's things out of his place down there, up here to Indiana. We were going to try to get the realtor to re-list the house. She wouldn't call my mom back. So we worked on getting it all packed up, and at the pool there in their community, a man started talking to my mom about Caden. He has a grandson named Caden. Anyway, HE was looking for a home to buy there in this park. He asked to look at the place. Long story short, he bought the place! So God answered prayer there. We needed it to sell ASAP. We also pulled a U-Haul home behind the van, from Ft Myers, FL to Northern Indiana. Ugh!

Boy, was it a long trip, but God was watching out for us, for sure.

Well, here are some pics of the fun stuff, Disney Marketplace, Beach, pool (trying to cool down after the hard work...).

Thanks to all of you who prayed for our safety and for us to get in SOME fun time! God is good!

I will be posting more on the Wonders of Disney! I LOVE Disney, and I will post some suggestions and pics coming soon in Vacationing with Family!