It's 12:30a.m. and I'm....

It's 12:30a.m. and I'm up looking at the Farm & Garden section of craigslist and googling milking machines. Ha!  I can honestly say I never expected stuff like this to be on my mind in the middle of the night!  James and I are SO anxious to get our farm going.  Our goal in farming?  Well, to sustain our family - provide enough milk, eggs and produce for us and if we have extra we can sell it.  Maybe beef, pork, and chicken too.  I don't know how I feel about eating animals that I personally took care of... I'm afraid I'll have the "it's my pet" mindset but maybe not.  Oh, and bees!  We might get brave enough to get a beehive.  That would probably be James's baby though. I'm terrified of getting stung.  We have so much work to do to get things going.  It feels like it is taking FOREVER.  Partly because it took so long to find land and partly because we're excited and wanting to do everything N-O-W. We have some secondary dreams, too.  A petting zoo.  And a baseball field. Yep.  A baseball field.  In our yard... er... pasture.  We have 24 acres to work with.  Half of it is already cleared and has a garden on it.  The other half is heavily wooded and COVERED in poison ivy and poison oak.  I don't know what poison sumac looks like but it's probably there, too.  We also have dewberry vines, ant hills, and what I think is coastal hay.  Well, I am going to try and force myself to sleep now.  G'night!

Ballpark Nachos... yum.

Kash has been on again off again when it comes to sleeping in his own bed all night long.  The last few days he has stayed up and wow... what a great night of sleep I've gotten!  I hope it sticks with it.  Another exciting Kash thing... he has told me TWICE this week that he needed to go #2 BEFORE he went in his diaper... we actually made it to the toilet! Yay!!!  Wiping a baby butt that has used the toilet is way less messy than one that has used a diaper.  I cannot wait for this to be consistent.  He has been using the toilet for #1 a lot lately but only when prompted.  He hasn't told me yet that he needs to.  I am ready to be out of the diaper stage ONCE AND FOR ALL! 

Jack has had so much personality coming out.  I love this age.  Except for the part where he thinks he's bigger than he is... he hasn't quite finished the transition from baby boy to little boy and he gets really upset when we put him in the "little boy" category.  He wants to do everything Nelson and Henry does and has meltdowns when he can't.  BUT.... he is getting so funny, so full of personality... He jokes and teases us. He is also becoming protective and helpful with Kash.  It's really fun to see them interact. 

Henry is going through some change that I can't quite put a finger on yet.  He's.... spirited.  :)  He's been testing me with his attitude lately and is really hard on himself when he doesn't or can't do something just right.  He's a pretty loving kid, though.  I still gets lots of hugs and kisses from him! He also likes to joke and make us laugh. 

Nelson is definitely entering that preteen phase.  He's kind of moody sometimes and trying to be grown up but is definitely still a kid.  He is loving that it's baseball season and is trying so hard to be a great pitcher!  He is really turning into a responsible young man..  He is so helpful to his little brothers and to me, too.  He is very talkative and loves to share what all he has been reading. 

James is in the middle of a bathroom remodel in addition to his paying job. :)  It's been a good learning process.... he's good at it and could definitely do a lot to build our future home but he's learned that he does not want to. We'll definitely be having someone else do the work for us when the time comes.  We are both super excited about our land... the kids too... and spend a lot of time dreaming about what we want to do with it.  We have lots of ideas.  We can't do much until we get this house finished (the bathroom remodel and some touch up painting throughout) and we put it on the market. 

I have been learning alot about doing things (in the kitchen) the homemade and traditional way.  I really enjoy the process of grinding flour and making bread... and learning about fermenting.  So far the carrots are the only thing I've fermented (besides the wildly unsuccessful garlic) and I LOVE them.  I'm still trying to perfect making bread from fresh ground whole wheat flour.  Everything except one batch of biscuits has been edible but could stand to be improved.  My kids don't always enjoy the learning process but we are all eating healthier so it's good.  I will admit though.... sometimes it's a lot of work and I'd rather go buy a loaf of bread or, like we did this week, eat two meals out at the concession stand during baseball practice.  Wow.  I do enjoy the taste of and benefits of healthy eating but I don't think I'll ever stop enjoying my ball park nachos!  Everything, even junk food, in moderation... right?

First Ever Giveaway!

Okay, I just bought this amazing planner called The Ultimate Homeschool Planner by Debra Bell (and sold by Apologia).  I have not started using it because I'm saving it for planning our 3rd/6th grade school year (coming up).  I have looked all through it and can tell it is going to be great!  It has tips for planning the year out, teaching tips, places to record field trip info, weekly praises and milestones and anything else you want to remember, goals for each student (up to 6 students), yearly planning page, monthly calendar, and weekly calendar pages.  Everything you need!!  Because I am so excited about it, I am going to do a giveaway!*  Not sure if you are interested in this planner?  Check out this site for description http://art.apologia.com/landingpages/DBPlanner/ AND this site for sample pages http://debrabell.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Ultimate-Planner-Sample.pdf 

This giveaway is not sponsored by Debra Bell or Apologia.  It's just because I like it! :)  I do recommend checking out their websites though for more awesome products. 



To enter*......  a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Open to US residents only at this time.

It's been an eventful few days...

Boston Marathon bombing.  West, TX fertilizer plant explosion.  Tragic.  Heart breaking.  Too close to home (the explosion).  This makes me weepy and emotional and I don't like that.  It also makes me thankful and reminds me to count my blessings and hug my hero (firefighter/medic husband) and my kids close. 

There have been some exciting events this week, too.  We have been praying and looking for land for a long time.  We finally found some a couple of months ago... again.  We made an offer... again.  We weren't rejected this time like we were on every other piece of land we found.  We closed on the land yesterday!  One of the many blessings I'm counting!