Some Shots Around The Homestead And A Farm Update :)

I'm so used to doing a load of laundry every day that this morning I decided to hang out our bedding to air out because I actually didn't have a load of laundry to do. It's such a beautiful day I didn't want to waste it. I did end up doing a load of laundry anyway as I decided to do our bedding while the blankets hung. 

While I was hanging laundry Papa cut a hole in a pallet and got it ready to fill up the laying hens bulk feed storage.. more on that later. Doesn't Peggy Sue look nice in the sunshine?

Big pigs and little pigs having breakfast. The littlest piglets are 6 weeks on Monday. They will be weaned soon, maybe even Sunday night which will give us three days while Papa is off to deal with any that escape  and try and find the Momma pigs. We'll be taking the big pigs out and leaving the littles in. The big pigs will follow Papa and a bucket and Papa will lead them all the way down to the butcher pigs at the pond. 

My crazy rhubarb plant which doesn't seem to realize it's fall! 

The yard and play area. There are at least two kids in this picture :) 

A zucchini plant I found that reseeded it's self in the cow pen. 

An empty wire cage. It kept the chickens out of the horse radish all summer.. and for a couple days it kept the cows out too.. but Isabel figured out she could move it and she moved it around and ate the whole thing. Sometimes I wonder why I bother! 

 Fluff :) and if you look very carefully you can see Hunter, orange tabby, in the background. I didn't even know he was there when I took the picture.

The ladies.. Isabel in the center, Norma Jean to the right and Star bringing up the rear. Papa and I tied Star, on her tether, close to the electric fence for several days until she learned to stay on one side of it :) Then we put her in with the cows. She learned her lesson really well and the two older cows are teaching her some cow manners. They have about 2 or 3 days of grass left then we will start feeding hay.. probably for the winter now. We've already fed one large square while we waited for grass to grow but the season is ending and we still aren't getting the rain we need to keep the grass growing.

Filling the layer feed storage. The pallet he cut a hole in is under the feed bag. There is a hole in the bottom of the bag that ties shut. So he locks the bobcats forks in place, opens the hole in the bottom of the bag and fills up the storage thing.

Here is our tarped hay stack, compost pile, bobcat parking, pallet storage area, and camper parking. I also got Papa's chain saw in the picture I see :) We should have almost enough hay for the winter.. We were expecting more grass so we might need a few more later on. 

My little garden area :) The onions and strawberries and the lettuce did wonderfully! 

Now all we need to do before winter is get firewood done, it's at about a 1/3 done, butcher a bunch of pigs and a steer, bring Maggie (our other milk cow) home, sell a whack of piglets and a couple of butcher sized pigs and move the keeper pigs into their winter barn, getting the hens to their winter barn with a light and winter pen, winterize the trailer/hoses/trucks/milking machine, and I'm sure several more things that just aren't coming to mind right now.. thankfully just looking at that list is making my eyes cross. 

And the good news is? Papa is now on 4 tens so he has three WHOLE days off every week and doesn't go to work until noon thirty the 4 days he works. :) :) :) So we finally might have time to get working on that list.. and the house.. and everything else :) 

Oh and Papa's back is MUCH better!! He's off morphine totally and is only going to the chiropractor every second week now!! YAY!! He's even been seen sitting!! 

So now you are updated on the homestead and Papa too :) 

My next job over the next few days is to update the kids pages :)  

What's Happening On the House?

We get this question about once a week sometimes more, sometimes less. 

I realize I've not been keeping you updated on the house building, partly because I've been very busy

 and partly because I'm very busy :)

 Actually we started a new schedule which is helping with our general busyness! 

But I went out this morning and took some pictures for you. :)

Here is the back half of the new addition. This will eventually become the master bedroom! 

The ceiling joists are all in, window frames are ready for windows, insulation and wiring is mostly done. Instead of trying to find the ceiling joists while putting the ceiling up we've decided to do strapping inside on top of the vapor barrier so that is next! Then we can nail the 4x4 sheets that make up the ceiling right to the strapping there fore making our lives easier. We are waiting on bales or the walls would be finished. The farm we get bales from should have some very soon. 

Here you can see the rest of the ceiling joists are finished and Papa is working on wiring, insulation and vapor barrier. The front does not have ceiling joists as it will be a vaulted ceiling. This area is missing three window frames as we are unsure of the sizes we want/can get. This area will be two bathrooms, side by side, another bedroom and the pantry. Then under the vaulted ceiling the dining room and kitchen! The middle area where the trailer is now will have a laundry room, half bath and two LARGE bedrooms :) The space between the trailer and the new addition will actually be the hallway! 

So now you can consider yourself updated :) 

L's Teeth!! *Warning may gross you out!!

L has the worst teeth for pulling! They get a little loose then never fall out! SO we wiggle and wiggle and twist and pull and FINALLY they come out!! The 2nd last tooth I pulled, and I believe I've pulled all of his teeth so far!, I turned completely around in his mouth and it STILL WOULD NOT COME OUT!!! This one was easier! After I twisted it half way round it pulled out easily! 

Happy L with a big hole in his mouth! 

School Photo's~ Griggs Family School!

J is 8 years old and in Grade 3 :) 

L is 7 years old and in Grade 2! 

E is 5, almost 6, and in Grade 2.

R is 4 and is doing some fun school this year,(coloring, matching counting) but is not in Kindergarten as she is too young. 

J3 is 2.5 and in Potty school at this time. It's taken him a while to catch on but he's getting there! 

Baby G is almost 10 months and is in house training school.. no you can't go in the entrance where the wood stove is, yes you can play in the living room.. stuff like that. Oh she's also in a bit of manners school; no you can't bite me with your one little tooth, and mobility school: walking around the couch is FUN!! 

Those are all the students in the Griggs Family school! 

Oh wait I forgot one :) 

ME!!! 

I'm still learning every single day! 

And Loving EVERY minute of it :) 

School Patterns :)

Last week Friday we had a pajama day and did some fun hands on school.

E's Patterns with blocks :) 

Crazy faced L and his patterns :) 

We had quite a fun day, and did a lot more then just patterned blocks, but this post is for Mrs. Hunt the kids teacher down south :) and these are the only ones she needs in pictures :) 

~Family Devotions~

Papa normally does family devotions after supper at the table but we started a new book and it has some really cool pictures in it so they all gathered round on the floor right before bed. 

I love this picture! We are doing Apologia's Who is God book and loving it! 

Now on our new winter schedule we'll be doing devotions right after breakfast!  

Our Church Family!!

Pretty much the whole crew!! As it were :) Missing Molly B and K&D and Thunder. 

Just the kids :) Oldest is 16, youngest is Joel at 4 months :) 

A couple of neat facts.. 

All the families with school age kids home school. 

There are only 3 adults in the picture who were raised, all or partly, in the area we now all live in the rest moved here as adults.

Our oldest person just turned 56 and his son is our youngest at 5 months.

In this picture there are 3 babies all 4 months apart :) 

There are 8 small boys 3 and under! 

Two sets of twins. 

Two families with 6 kids in the family.

Two families with 3 kids in the family.

Three families with 2 kids in the family. 

One family is missing a girl in the picture.

There are 4 three year olds.. all boys :) 

 I BELIEVE there is a child for every age from 1 to14, 15 is skipped and then 16.

There are 23 children in the picture, only 7 girls, and 13 adults. 

There are two pregnant ladies in the picture.. no I'm not one of them ;) 

Three families own and milk a cow at this time :) and a forth has done in the past.

Four families are activity house building. 

We are: farmers, truck drivers, mechanic, animal massage therapist, teachers, homesteaders, carpenters, bakers, cheese makers, musicians, nurse,cowboys, bankers, small business owners, 

seamstresses, builders, ropers, students, 

crafters, writers, fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, Parents! and people extraordinaire.

These pictures were taken as a good bye gift to Hales as they have been called away from this area for this time and so have the B's who still visit sometimes from their new home 2 hours away. The rest of us still meet weekly as a group and in Bible studies. We are truly enjoying this group and are VERY Thankful that God led us to them :) We love you guys!! 

First Cast :(

J3 fell off the play hill behind the play area on Monday night and cracked his elbow badly. The next morning we took him in to the ER as he would not use that arm. After x rays they sent us home in a sling, only to call the next day and tell us to bring him back in. I guess he MAY have a small fracture and they are treating it gently in hopes it will heal and not get worse. SO J3 got the 1st cast of the Family! I've never had one, Papa has never had one and J3 is the 1st of the kids to get one.. and I have a feeling it will not be his last! It's only a half cast over the bottom of the elbow but it has to stay on for 10 days and not get wet... yeah  RIGHT!! Actually as he hates water of almost any kind that shouldn't be too big of a deal. This summer he did play in the kiddie pool quite a bit but it's too cold for that now anyway!

 

Here he is in his sling and half cast. The sling had to stay on until bedtime and he'll only need the cast for the next ten days. I'll get a better picture tomorrow..

He's been wearing L's shirts since it happened to give him more room to get them over his arm without pain. He's super cute isn't he! He's pretty happy in this picture.. feeling better today! 

Hair 'Do' Grandma Style.

The girls and Jesse 'did' Grandma's hair!! 

What a beautiful job!! 

The big boys got to take them out! I believe there was 20 something of them! 

While Grandpa looks on :) 

Baby G... Growing Up SO Fast!!

Standing up in her playpen for the 1st time! 

Visiting with Little Miss Riata, who is 3 months younger then her :) 

First hair do :) 

Exploring the bottom of the exersauser. 

Standing up on the side of the toy box!! 

Hey J! I think I'm stuck!! 

Chilling on the trampoline! 

2 days ago she was standing hanging on to our bed and let go, got her balance, and took her 1st step!! She made it too the pillow she was going towards and acted like nothing happened!! Growing up way to fast little girl!! The very next day she turned 9 months old :)