How about Unit studies for science and history/geography? Who out there uses these, which ones have you tried are there any good ones?

I haven't had much time to blog lately, I have been really busy with farm life. It isn't always so romantic around here. I have a milk cow that poops all over me at every evening milking. Gotta love being covered in green! LOL It makes for alot of extra clean-up. This week not only do I have all my chores, milk the cow and 2 goats, feed wethers,calf, 3 pigs, chickens, dog, a bazillon cats, cook, clean, & refere 9 children do laundry, trying to keep ALL the grass watered with one faucet, and MOW but I said I would take care of thingsd at my friends while they were out of town for a week so now I am carry for their 2 bottle calves, horses, 5 pigs, chickens, milking their cow, and watering everything in her green house. I'm a little wiped out to say the least!

My dear sweet husband is coming to take the kids again and this time for a FULL week. The bummer is he is taking Olivia with him to help and also let her visit with friends. I really hope to get alot acomplished while they are gone. I am a really big chicken though. Day time will be GREAT but nights I'm not so sure about.

It's late as usual and chores will be calling as well as hving to get Jesse, Micah & Sarah packed & out the door to the church by 9:30 am. Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it!

Blessings,
Alaina

I am prayfully considering home schooling the majority of of children come Fall. I have no clue what to use. The last year I did it I only taught 3 and we totally went with Alpha Omegas life packs.There were things I really liked about it and other things I didn't care for at all. So PLEASE share your wisdom. Curriculum choices, ages and why would be great! I will have an 11 yr, 10, 9(needs help) 7, and  6 yr old I will need to teach to read. SCARY! Hope to hear from anyone!

Thanks,

Alaina

Well, I'm back. I have blogging issues it seems that if I take pictures of an event I want to share and the pictures are unable to post I quit blogging. I am so far behind right now It's ridiculous. Please bear with  me. Here is what we were up to in March & April.We drank our first goats milk. YUM!we picniced with our GrandmaWe watched Liv play alot of baseball. Here she is playing 2nd base. She got an award for being the All league 2nd team 2nd baseman. For those of you who don't know (and we didn't) that's pretty good!She also do some relief pitching.Liv went to prom with a friend from our Wednesday night program at church.They met up with some other friends and rode together.Cinderella after the Ball had enough energy to play a mini concert and talk for awhile then,feel asleep on the couch.We went to a friend's bithday party.The kids playing touch football in the field at K  & W's house.Olivia & her friend's practicing for Wednesday night service.Two of our Momma cats had kittens. A total of 10 to be exact. Anyone need some barn cats?We do ALOT of laundry. I think Liv is trying to sing it away. I don't think it's working! LOLOne of first casualties on the farm. Somethig got one of our chickens in the sick pen. Later Daddy accidently hit and killed our precious Dottie pup. That was much harder on all of us. We still really miss her.G. showing off his new wether, Taffy.Hannah playing with SasafrassKids, goats & more kids!A true Hog farmer if I ever saw one!Micah working with his pig.

I better go for now, Iwill try to down load some pics tomorrow. Have a wonderful evening.

This is our old milking area. The kids and I cleaned it out Friday and on Saturday Roy and our Pastor worked all day to put in a floor and new cow milking stanchion. Ella is making a bag so it should be soon.This is all the junk we pulled out.

TA DA! LOOK how AWESOME!Gordon(our pastor) built both of these himself. It will make our milking experiences much easier.

Our Dog Quinn blessed us with 5 (one died) puppies right before Christmas. I don't like boy dogs so Jesse had to give up his favorite which was this little brown/white.He got $40.00 for him to go towards his pig. Not bad.

Here's another one he liked but $40.00 is pretty sweet. So Good-bye to you too!We did keep one little female her name is Dottie. Not real original I know but That's what I called her in the litter to tell them apart and it just stuck.

But it's not my cow. We purchased 2 milk goats! One is 3 yrs old her name is Grace or Gracie depending on wether or not she is making me mad! LOL The other one is just a yr. and her name is Mercy. We also got 2 wethers and are waiting for two more. Once all 4 are here we will divi them up and let the kids name each of their own. These will be for Fair. We were able to move our pigs over here to our house. WHEW! in less than 48 hrs we became pig & goat farmers! Olivia is a natural. I cried the first day I had to try to milk. It was not going so well. The next milking Liv was there to help and she was AWESOME! She can strip those goats out like no one else around here. I am enjoying them but enjoying the time with my sweet girl moreI also have a camera that works now so I will be posting pics soon I hope.

I had down loaded some old ones into my photobucket account but can't seem to get them to post. A red X is all that comes up when I do it. Got any suggestions? We had wonderful Wednesday at chuch tonight. I have started helping the teens with the worship time. The lesson was very poignant. It made me ponder. I hope what I heard will change my daily life. I get so caught up in the day to day I forget where I am going. I so appreciated a friends blog today with a quote from Ann of Green Gables about fresh starts and new days.

We got some more snow during sring break so that put  a little damper on my spring planting and outdoor clean up. Late April and May I think are suppose to be more consistantly nice. We will see.

It is late so I better go for now. Blessings,
Alaina

this is one I found of the little boys on moving day sitting on the end of the trailer. Precious or DANGEROUS UMMM I'm not sure which

Roy is over here this week and that is good. I keep wandering around and that is bad. I want to get so much accomplished while he is here to help but get so over whelmed I don't know where to start. Here just a few things I can think of right now that NEED to be done:

Old metal piles in and out of the soon to be milk parlour loaded and hauled off

Decide where to build permanent hog pen and do it

line old corral with new wire, reroute fence line to covered pen for goat area

get HUGE pieces of concrete moved out of the horse corral

build or buy a goat milking stand

clean out and detail my nasty van and put new car seats in and wash and clean old ones I plan to keep

Clean shop/barn area put away holiday containers fix area for animal food and stuff

put away micellaneuos items laying around the house in weird places

hang a few more pictures on the wall

clean the office/sewingroom

finish Alaina & Josie's quilts

sew new spring pillow covers for livingroom

figure out where and when to plant my new strawberry plants my friend Debbie sent over with Roy this trip

Clean out and put down fresh chips in the chicken coop

well that's all I can think of right now. See my delema?

We had to go into Baker tonight for a LATE WIC appointment and to pick up some fencing for the pens at D&B farm supply. We got McDonalds and came home. Olivia is at her friends tonight so I think I will go ahead and get to bed early. I should have a busy day given my long list! LOL

Have a great evening,
Alaina

I just popped in for a minute. I'm headed out this am to Nissa for Olivia's first softball game! It is supposed to be VERY cold there so I will be dropping off my yougest 4 at my sister's house. I haven't had family around for quite a few years so this is really nice.  I cleaned out the van. GROSS! Now I am riding herd on the youngins' so they get chores done. I am trying to decide if I will brave getting into the shower before I go or just go stinky. It is always crazy if I leave the kids unattended even just for a shower. Maybe they will suprise me.

Roy is heading back over this way today or tomorrow for Easter & Spring Break. We have alot of preping to do for our Spring animals coming. I need to go I am running a bit behind. Have a Fabulous Friday!

Blessings,
Alaina