Dusting

A whole new challenge in the house ;) 

Verse of The Week

I drug out Papa's white board the other week and we've started using it for a verse of the week and our to do lists. Verse on the top, to do lists on the bottom. It lives right by the fridge and is in a good spot for reminders. Papa picks the verse every week and I write it out. The kids really enjoyed wiping off their school work as it was finished for the day and it was a great motivational thing while we still had lots of school to do. Levi drew the flowers on this one.

A Rare Look

At the back of the house. 

And a closer look at the three steers. Ivan, Patch and Milton. Ivan is one year old and Patch and Milton are two last month. 

Papa The Sleep Master.

This was Easter Sunday during church :) He's the sleep master all right! 

A Piggy Post.

Pigs in the bush in the back. See the two strands of hot wire that keep them in? 

The two gilts we are breeding this spring. The red one with the black mark on her face we think we will call Daisy and the all black one is Blackie. This was before we separated them out and brought the boar home. 

A better picture of Blackie. You can also see our pond and a few more pigs. 

Lots of pigs lined up by the hot wires. They are super friendly and I'm too big of a chicken to go in there and give scratches so I talk to them over the fence and the follow me that way. This is a better picture of our pond area in the back. Lots of work to be done back there yet. Pretty low on the list at the moment. 

Some of you might remember Big Girls one surviving piglet. Here she is on the left in the above picture. She's still a bit smaller then everyone else but she has lots of character! These two pigs are less then two weeks different in age. She's the runt for sure! 

Big girl sleeping in a nest by the lagoon. She managed to hurt her front foot, yet again, and wasn't moving around as much as the others. She's much better now but this may be her last year. It's her last chance to raise a litter, of her own, as she has so many problems with her feet and lost all but one piglet last year. If you remember she raised Gillys piglets last summer with her one survivor when Gilly didn't have any milk. Gilly is gone now and hopefully that will change our farrowing out to the better and everyone will be able to raise their own piglets this year. 

Oh and these pictures are a few weeks old. Daisy, Blackie, Big Girl and Little Girl are all in a new pen up front now with the boar, Big Red Tamworth. We should have piglets mid/late August. Daisy's piglets will be 3/4 Tamworth, 1/4 Berkshire. Blackies will be half Tamworth, 1/4 old English black and 1/4 Berkshire. Big Girls and Little Girls with all be half Berkshire and half Tamworth, like last year. We are very happy with their piglets from last year! 

Spring Soccer. Thankful Thursday.

P.E. Outside today consisted of laps with the bike and running up and down the driveway and some fun soccer! We are about a month ahead in snow melt and spring growing! Yay! Beautiful day! 

While T did this 

Tobiah's Newborn Pictures And Name Reveal.

My friend Jen came over a while ago now and she took these great pictures of T for us! 

We had SO much fun with them!!  

Hugging Papa's Bible. 

A little scholar. 

Love the Glasses :) 

This one Jen named 'Grumpy Hunter' and we love it and call him that whenever he makes that face.

                                                             Been farming long?

Napping on a cloud. 

Gonna be just 'like Papa!' 

My favorite one! He's wearing J's old glasses and leaning on Papa's Greek books and his new Bible. 

AND NOW FOR THE NAME REVEAL!! 

As some of you know we name each of our children after people we love, respect, and have impacted our lives in some amazing way. Each child gets two middle names. 

For example. J's middle names are Morgan Dixon. Morgan is Papa's middle name and Dixon was Papa's maternal grandfathers name who died the same year J was born.

Normally we reveal the first name after the ultrasound and the two second names after the birth. This time we announced the names but never announced who he was named after. I kept meaning to do it but I never got there, hence this post :) 

Tobiah James Joel 

James. This one is multi persons.

My grandma had 8 kids. The 8th goes by the name of Jim (and there has been some confusion over whether his name is really James or if it's Jim. I imagine I'll find out soon after I post this). I heard recently that he was my grandma's biggest baby at around 10 or 11 lbs so I think it's very fitting that my 8th child, who is also my biggest child at roughly 10lbs at birth, is named after my Grandparents 8th child who was her biggest baby :) 

Papa's Aunt M married a fantastic guy, before I knew Papa, by the name of James :) Jim, as he's mostly called, has been a great encouragement to both of us over the years and we love you both! 

Then there is this fellow who once changed our lives in ways we still are amazed at. It was one of those GOD things and amazing!! Just a simple dinner conversation which lead to a life change that literally changed our lives. Thanks again David James :) (Note: I had quite a time sneaking around trying to find out your middle name :) ) 

Joel 

Before Papa and I got married we spent a year apart. I remember it well, it was terrible but it was strengthening for our relationship. Papa remembers it well too.. he mostly remembers working his tail off for a certain Joel Salatin and learning the methods of farming that we still follow today and that have changed the way we look at food and agriculture. So Joel this ones for you!!   

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for

A baby that enjoys sleep.

Friends who make me laugh, spoil me and feed me ice cream cake ;) 

A husband who loves to cook.

Kids who enjoy helping around the house. 

Snow that is melting. 

Spring that is coming. 

The dishwasher. The dryer. The washer. 

The tub that has arrived for the master bathroom. 

New photos.

Time to blog..with a very happy baby sleeping on me :) 

This picture is from yesterday. T sleeping with Buttons the bear, made with love from Myra, and a very cool little pillow with his name and a verse on it, made with love from Melanie!!  

What are you thankful for? 

Motivated Monday!

Papa and I are planning and scheming :). A process that involves a lot of coffee, several lists, and a calender. Papa still has several weeks off so we are figuring out a to do list, a materials needed list, our hatchery order, and several other appointments. It's gearing up to be a productive spring. :) 

Yup finishing the inside walls are on the list :) 

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for.. In no particular order.

Kids who want to do school...even if it's only so they can play computer games :) 

New baby that seems to enjoy sleep as much as I do :)

Hay for the hay burners.

Papa being at home :) 

The tote of Farm to keep the little 3 well entertained. 

Pork ribs, rice and green beans :) (Yup, it's what's for supper.) 

Swimming lesson plans 

6, maybe 7 weeks of school left :)

The vainty for our master bath should arrive tomorrow with the tub soon behind it! 

Online piano lessons are now working! Yay! 

Baby T @13 days old. Today at 14 days old he weighed 10lbs 7.6 oz :)