Homeschooling, Homesteading, Life

Lots to catch up on today! I have more pictures to share...I just don't know where to start.
I guess I'll work my way backwards...

First - chicks: They're getting big, very strong and healthy. They got kicked out to the barn last week because they were outgrowing the horse trough I had transferred them to in the pantry. One day I noticed 2 of them were getting their poor little back-ends picked bloody raw by the more dominant hens : ( I was so sad! So I got out my trusty blood-stop powder (that a kind friend was very good to give me!) separated those two and had them in the smaller bin - I thought it was cute how they sprawled out in there - all symmetrical; also found it decidedly ironic that one of them pooped on that guy in the newspaper ad... (all the pics are clickable)


Here's a closeup of one before I moved them into the horse trough:



Anyway, they've settled in nicely in the barn. I still can't integrate the above two back in with the rest. I tried and they just got picked on again... I think these chickens just get bored and don't know what to do with themselves - and now they've made a bad habit of picking on the ones with the scabby rear ends. : (

This was a pic I took this morning - so you can see how big they're getting:


Kids: Bruce is still slowly getting better. One of the issues we're working on with acupuncture and C. Herbs are his often volatile emotions which, according to Harmonie, are very closely tied with lung dysfunction. We had a small breakthrough the other day - Bruce used to freak if he fell in grass or got his hands dirty. But the other day, I was milking the goats while the boys were playing outside in their pen - well I came out to find Ezekiel throwing handfulls of dirt on Bruce's head! And Bruce was just loving it and throwing dirt clods right back (along with some sticks and goat berries for good measure). I would have been upset that they were dirty, but I didn't mind since it was such a huge step for Bruce. After we came in, I turned the boys loose outside with their water pistols - I figured if I was going to have to give them a bath anyway, may as well let them live it up! You might be able to see the dirt in Bruce's hair here:



Overall, he's beginning to be a bit less sensitive and actually have a little fun with life.



Desi is beginning to stand up with support - It's exciting to see her so happy about her new-found mobility.



Sewing: I've been on a sewing rampage the last few weeks...my living room has turned into a temporary sewing room - I've been working on lots of things, including my friend's wedding gown (the wedding's in less than a month).

I had to share this pic - of the life-sized voo-doo doll I made out of my dressmaker's dummy while marking where the buttons should go (I really wasn't thinking horrible thoughts, Carrie - I promise!):



Here's some of the beading detail we did a couple weekends ago:



Last Saturday, we celebrated our 6 year anniversary! The years are just flying by - and I feel so blessed to have the hubby I do! We left the kids with some friends (first time trying Desi with a bottle of pumped milk - she slept the whole time though) and we went into town. I really didn't feel like seeing a movie, but we just couldn't think of anything to do in addition to dinner. I told hubby on the way down the hill "it's funny...you wait so long to have a little bit of a break together *alone*, and then when you finally get that break you don't quite know what to do with yourself." LOL. We had a nice dinner at Macaroni Grill though and then went to Walmart to just browse a bit. Ended up buying a DVD double feature of Gods and Generals and Gettysburg, a covered butter dish (coffee grounds get in the ones I was using since they didn't have lids), and a few other little bitsies.
For our anniversary, I also got to do a dry run of my newly-altered dress for Carrie's wedding - this was the dress I made for hubby's company Christmas party but I've since shrunk several sizes. I'm now down to my highschool weight! Yippie!



Homeschooling: I'm so excited to homeschool the boys - our back yard is literally a huge biology lab! Ezekiel was out with me yesterday and all the bugs we got to see were just fascinating to him. I showed him grasshoppers, then took him up the driveway to see some ladybugs, but we got distracted on the way by an anthill in the side of the driveway. Ezekiel just loved watching the busy little ants and I made it into not only a lesson in biology, but a Bible lesson as well - based on Proverbs 6:6. There were a few ants trying to move a boulder-sized (at least to them)
rock out of the entrance to their hole. It was just amazing to watch them work - and I explained to Ezekiel (using the Scriptures) that because they work hard all the time and are not lazy, they are able to store enough food to last them through the winter. Then we went on to see some ladybugs and taught him what they do and why they're good bugs.

When we came inside, I did a couple coloring pages showing him the spelling of their names and such - He felt it necessary to scribble on a couple more aphids on the ladybug page : )





I think that's it for now...