Can You Have Too Many Sisters?

I asked my daughter to give the baby a bath.  When I went to check on them this is what I found.

He was having his hair and teeth brushed at the same time.  I'm sure he was very happy to have two big sisters.  Hannah styled his hair in a ponytail after the brushing was over.

Poor baby, I'm afraid that there is more of this treatment ahead for you.  You have survived the Tinkerbell dress, girl hats, and ponytails so I know you will make it.

The chicken or the Egg?

Well, in this case the eggs are first. 

And hopefully in about two weeks the chicks will be next.

These babies-to-be are in my bathroom.  I have to turn them three times a day, check their temp, and add water to keep the humidity level right.  My hubby mentioned that this was as bad as waiting for a baby.  If all goes well we will add some new layers to the chicken house and some homegrown meat to the freezer. 

I'm a want to be farmer.  I am too lazy to be a real farmer but I can handle taking care of chickens.  Well, actually, I direct the work more than anything else.  And that's all I got to say about that.  Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of the...  Ah, forget it, I do hope you come back again soon. 

A Walk Through the Garden

I love my new veggie garden and I'm going to show you a bunch of pictures.  I go outside to visit the garden a few times each day.

I am standing next to the section which will soon be filled with growing corn.  I left a little square in the middle of the corn so the children could use it as a hideout.

I made support pillars for the beans to grow up.  I trimmed an overgrown shrub so I had lots of tall branches in the burn pile.  Instead of burning them I buried their ends in the ground and wove them together at the top.  We've had a few windy days and they have stood their ground so I don't think I'll have any problems with them falling over.

I love the way the paths crisscross and draw your eye to the center of the garden.

I just can't resist walking through it and looking for seedlings emerging from the soil.

The bricks below are next to tiny tomato plants to keep them warm at night.

Potatoes are going in the thin strip on the right.  I hope they get enough sun to grow.

Five little gardens in a row for the children.

Onions are growing along both sides of these squares.

I planted the herb garden in the center circle.  There is a pink rose in the middle.  I have the hardest time getting herbs to start from seeds yet I try again each year.

And here is the pot I bought when we visited my parents last year. I planted mint in it with salvia and sedum for color. 

I made a little arbor out of branches for some morning glory to grow on. 

Thanks for visiting my garden.  I would like to call it my family's garden or our garden but I don't think I can share that much of it.  They did help me and everyone seems to enjoy walking through it.  It will be fun to see how it changes throughout the spring and summer.

Kittens

Our female cat went into heat before we were able to get her spayed.  Unfortunately she got out of the house and came home pregnant.  Here she is with her babies on their birthday.

They are two and a half weeks old now and super cute but too small to play with. 

Here is a little black and white one.  We'll come back to it later.

A calico?

This one looks like it will be a grey siamese.

Tiger!

I thought this one was pure white but in the photo it looks like it has orange on its ears.

Another striped one.

And here is the little black and white one again next to our neutered male cat.  They both have a black spot.  Interesting!

A basketfull of cuteness.

Overheard At My House

 Elijah, the 8 year old, asked "Do you guys have dentures?"

Thanks E!  I know you think we are old but I didn't think you thought we were THAT old!

Review: Help, Lord, I'm Getting Ready to Start Homeschooling My High Schooler!

Help, Lord, I'm Getting Ready to Start Homeschooling My High Schooler!, is in e-book format and is available for $12.45 from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's Schoolhouse Store.  A sample is available from the Schoolhouse Store website.  This product is for anyone who is contemplating the journey of homeschooling through High School.

This e-book is a series of articles written by families who have homeschooled through High School.  Most of them were written by moms but there were a few written by others.  I really enjoyed the article written by someone who was homeschooled through High School and is now homeschooling her own children.  This is a very encouraging book and has many ideas for homeschooling a High Schooler.

I need to print this book and read it weekly to stay motivated while homeschooling my older students.  There were so many learning philosophies presented in the articles.  It was intersting to see how each family tailored their student's education to his individual needs.  Many different outcomes were represented, from the special needs student to the college bound student.  I learned how families relied on God for answers to problems and for the strength to continue homeschooling even when it seemed impossible.

I can see myself reading slowly through this book year after year for encouragement.  I'm sure different ideas would stand out each time as I work with the different personalities of my children on each of their High School journeys.  Many of the thoughts in the e-book are relevant for those homeschooling students in middle school and even younger.

The main message I gathered from this collection was to do the best with the circumstances that you are facing even if the path is different from the typical homeschool path and that there really isn't a typical homeschool path.  Children and families are unique so the choices made for each student will not be the same.  We should enjoy the journey each day instead of living only for the goal of graduation.

I received a copy of this book gratis to review.  All of the opinions expressed are my own and were in no way influenced by the vendor of this book.

Getting to Know You Game

To play..copy the questions..answer them..post them..come back here and link up.

The questions..

1. Showers or baths?

2. Do you have any crazy urges?

3. What is one thing we don't know about you?

4. Exercise..love it or hate it?

5. Do you think you have a good body image?

6. Flour or corn tortillas?

7. How do you celebrate Easter?

8. Hard boiled Easter eggs or plastic eggs?

 

*****************************

 

1. Showers or baths?

Showers everyday, baths for pampering if I have a big tub to soak in.

 

2. Do you have any crazy urges?

To eat chocolate and only chocolate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  

 

3. What is one thing we don't know about you?

 I was married before I graduated from High School. 

 

4. Exercise..love it or hate it?

Don't really like it but I need it.  It burns my nervy energy so I can be a nicer person.

 

5. Do you think you have a good body image?

No!

 

6. Flour or corn tortillas?

Neither, flour tortillas made into quesadillas were one of my addictive substances before low carb.

 

7. How do you celebrate Easter?

With family.  Egg hunt and a nice dinner.

 

8. Hard boiled Easter eggs or plastic eggs?

To hide-plastic and we always dye hard boiled eggs.

Links For Rose Gardening and Poultry Management?

Links for the week.

When we were in California my mom bought me an old rose from the mine we visited.  When I was searching for info on it I found out that it could be grown as a pillar.  So that's how I'm going to try to grow it.  I have it planted in the center of the veggie potager.  I think it will be a pretty focal point in a few years.  Here's a link to how to build a structure for the rose to grow up.

We ended up with two roosters when we bought our chickens last spring.  They have gotten to be too much for our dozen hens.  One had to go.  I needed to find info on how to do it.  We have him soaking in a brine solution in the fridge and will get to cook him on Monday or Tuesday.  I respect my food a lot more now that we went through the whole process of growing, harvesting, and eating something from our own land.  We are thinking about raising chickens for the table this year. 

I didn't find anything else that was interesting enough to share.  I hope everyone had a great week.  Best wishes for a warm and flowerful spring!

52 Books Week 25

31. The Bible

32. Jane Austen by Peter Leithart

33. Tasha Tudor's Garden by Tovah Martin Photographs by Richard W. Brown

Flower and Vegetable Garden and Record Keeping

I love this daffodil.  I don't know what it is called but I think it is very pretty.

My flower bed coming back to life.

Kinda boring right now.  I need to find some plants that flower in March.

We finished making the paths in the veg garden and planted a pink rose in the middle.  I want to try growing it as a pillar. 

And now to the record keeping.  I always have high expectations for keeping notes on what I do each year.  I draw a map of the garden and then write down what I plant on the map so when it sprouts and my memory fails I know what is growing.  I also have a page with a list of what I want to plant and a space to write down when I planted it.  I just started planting today and I already forgot to enter the date next to what I planted.  I will do that after I finish this post. 

I think it would be a nice idea to write down when I harvest the plants and any notes on how they grew.  I seem to have a problem following up on my plans.  Well, at least all of my children have survived, so far.

And now here are some of my compost bins.  These are mostly leaves and ashes.  We get a nice harvest of leaves each fall.  I can't wait to dig into this stuff and spread it around the yard. 

I have a thing about checking out compost piles so if you have one take a pic and send it to me, k?