We're back!

It's been years since this blog has seen action....but based on the huge DEMAND from everyone we know to "write a book," or "make sure you keep track of all this" I'm bringing the blog back.

So here's today's news and update to catch you up to speed.

I quit my job.  It was a wonderful job that I felt I was good at and brought benefit to, but we were starting to notice that the long hours and high stress level were not resulting in the kind of parenting successes we believed were what God called us to produce.  So after nearly a year of planning and transitioning, my last day at Vision of Hope was May 31, 2013.

My first day as a stay at home mom was June 1, 2013 and what a month it has been so far!

We've spent the past month working in the garden, taking care of our animals, getting a puppy, transitioning to me being in charge of the finances, and simply learning how to be together.  We have accomplished so much, and we have said at least a million times "This is the best summer ever."

Here is a rundown of life on our tiny little homestead farm:

• We bought chickens in February and we've raised them from babies to mature birds.  The roosters have been cock-a-doodle doing for about a week now.  That means eggs are sure to be near!  The kids and I cleaned up an old fenced in section of the yard, and Brian built me a chicken coop out of old pallets.  We have 43 chickens, about 7 of whom are cockerels.  We have a mixture of Buff Orpingtons, Barred Rock, Rhode Island Reds, and Aruacanas.  We also have about 20 straight run, breeder's choice, which are mostly a mixture of Cinnamon Queen Sex Links and Black Australorps.  About half will be butchered and put up in the freezer for winter eating.  We also have 2 White Pekin ducks and one fawn and white Runner duck, none of which will be eaten.  They're Brian's pets, but I do hope they'll produce eggs.
• We also got meat rabbits last fall, and we spent the winter trying to figure out how to breed them well enough to get a little to live.  On May 31, 2013, my last day of work, 7 kits were born to Ethel, our New Zealand rabbit, 4 of which survived.  There are 3 broken and 1 black kit, all of which were just weaned from their mother this week.  Ethel was bred again last week, so she should be having another litter here in about 3 weeks.  The 4 kits she had in May will be butchered in about another month, and they will be used for meat for the dinner table.
• On May 30, Brian picked up two pigs for us to raise to butcher.  He fenced in a smaller part of our barnyard and built them a home out of recycled pallets.  They are getting big.  Their names are Ham and Bacon.  We got sick of them digging up the barnyard so much, so this past weekend Brian and I ringed their noses.  Brian had to wrestle them to the ground, shove their faces through the fence, and I clamped down on their nose with the piercing tool.
• We have wanted goats for a long time, and just recently we found an Oberhasli Alpine Dairy goat farm locally.  They raise only registered goats, and their buck got to an unregistered doe.  We got to buy two little twin girls for a great deal.  I bought one and named her Clementine, and Shelby used her savings to buy the other twin, Penelope.  We're teaching them to walk on a lead, eat at their stations, and hopefully one day we'll breed them and milk them to make cheese for the family.
• We recently picked up our little English Shepherd puppy, William.  We searched for months to find just the right breed for our homestead farm, and he seems to be perfect.  We're so excited to have him!
• Last, but not least, Hailey's cat, Carolina, had kittens on June 3rd.  Not that we need any more cats, but it was cool getting to let the kids watch new born kittens.

Also on our property are 2 huge gardens.  We have lettuce, spinach, zucchini, green beans, pickling cucumbers, dry beans, sunflowers, cantaloupe, watermelon, carrots, radishes, beets, sweet peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, brussel sprouts, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, wheat, and turnips planted.  We are planning to can and freeze a lot for the winter.  Brian built me a little greenhouse this past winter, and I started most of those plants from seed.  

So, things on our little homestead farm are going well so far.  The transition to being home full time is going better than expected.  There have been a couple little bumps along the way, but overall I think this has been an overwhelming success.  There are little adjustments that needs to be made to our daily schedule, and how we have the kids spend their day, but those adjustments won't be hard to make.  The kids are playing a little more video game and watching a little more tv than we would prefer, but we did warn them that this week we're going to be making some adjustments.

I am so thankful to God for the amazing life He has given us.  This is better than we ever dreamed it would be.  We are so grateful, and we are so excited!  God gives good gifts to his children!