Beginning Our Gluten Free {GF) Journey

by Meghan // October 26, 2016 // Comments off

Well, the day has come. I’ve avoided it for a while, against my better judgement; but avoiding it seems to no longer be an option.

Max came into the world with a dairy protein allergy & with his little belly all a mess. He was a pretty miserable baby, despite a few periods of happiness. In general, he cried a LOT and was uncomfortable, suffering from reflux. We searched, prayed for direction, and through amazing circumstances were able to heal his gut through a homemade baby formula. (And make a few wonderful, life long friends along the way-so many blessings.)

As he has grown older, he has suffered from a non-stop stuffy nose and allergies to his environment. His immune system tends to be much weaker than the rest of ours; he is always sick worse and longer than we are. If we have a cold for a week, he has it for 3. If we have a stomach bug for 2 days, he has it for 5. I do everything I can to keep his immune system up (probiotics, bone broth, nutritious food, no dairy because he IS allergic to that, VERY limited sugar, 90% real food diet, etc).

But the one thing I haven’t done is remove gluten from his diet. He eats an egg sandwich every morning, and usually a sandwich at lunch right now (because with a newborn and 3 other tiny humans, I don’t have time to cook 3 hot meals right now). Dinners aren’t usually very wheat-filled, unless it is homemade lasagna or something with pasta, which isn’t often. We actually don’t consume a lot of wheat anyway.

But to substitute and change the wheat we do consume intimidates me. =/

But, in July our dentist (who is a holistic practitioner) was very adamant that we get Max off gluten; he was concerned about his lack of breathing through his nose, and how it is affecting his m0uth, and could further impact his heath. I told him if he told me to do it, I would.

But then the baby came, and life IS hectic at home, and I just let it go for a bit.

Then at our doctor appointment this week, she also recommended we get him off gluten. She said that a major cause of his symptoms could be not only a gluten intolerance, but lowering the inflammation caused from the gluten could greatly help his healing, breathing, and allergies in general.

Basically if gluten causes MORE inflammation in his body, then removing it can limit the immune response he is having to environmental allergens like dust, pollen, dander, etc.

Inflammation is inflammation- regardless of the symptom it shows itself as (in this case allergies and being unable to breathe with a constant congested nose).

His lungs are clear, there was no wheezing, so she doesn’t feel like it is asthma at this time.

So, here we go- beginning this journey. If going gluten free gets him back to his normal health, then I will just learn to make our lives gluten-free! I’ve found a lot of lovely recipes that I’m going to make for him if he is allergic to gluten but I haven’t made any of them yet. There is actually a lot of great gluten free foods available at the minute and I can’t wait to try some of them out if he does test positive.

Are you gluten free in your home? Please share any/all tips and info you can! I would love to learn from you. =)

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Friday on the Farm: Canning and Harvest

by Meghan // September 16, 2016 // Comments off

So far this year we have harvested: 14 jars of salsa, 7 jars of spicy carrot salsa, and 10 jars of plain tomatoes in their own juice, PLUS what we have enjoyed eating. =) We also now have more peppers in the freezer than we have beef!

We are waiting on our bean harvest to come in, and the tomatoes are still going pretty strong, especially our cherry tomatoes.

I am almost certain the baby chickens have started laying; I am trying to keep count of the big girls’ eggs so today will be the true test. If I get 7 eggs, OR 3 brown ones I know they are laying. So exciting! I can’t wait to add more girls to our flock in the spring.

We are VERY ready to add goats and hogs to the farm, but with a new baby we just don’t have the time for milking and tending them right now. So, they will wait until baby is older and I have more time.

Have you been canning and freezing for winter?

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Our Homeschool Curriculum Choices 2016/2017

by Meghan // July 28, 2016 // Comments off

Aaaah Every homeschool mama’s dream- getting the new school year’s supplies and curriculum all planned out and organized.

As you all may know, we *love* Sonlight’s curriculum as our core- Bible, history, and read alouds. We also love their readers (books children learn to read on their own).

This past school year (2015/2016) we used Sonlight Core A with the intention of stretching it out over two years- I planned to do that by reading sequels to books, adding in lapbooks and other units, while alternating weeks of SL and these other things, etc.

Yea … so we still flew through it! The kids asked all the time to read our “learning time books,” and did not like me alternating some weeks of all the great read alouds and history books from SL in an attempt to stretch it out.

Because we didn’t stretch Core A over 2 years as planned, this left me with an extra year to fill- a year known in the homeschool world as a “gap year.”

As it turns out, SL revamped their cores for 2016, which means Core A has some new books added and some old ones removed! They also separated their language arts from the core itself. This helped me create a new plan for our next few school years.

Here is what we will do for the next few years:

2016/2017- Gap Year using Beautiful Feet Early American History as core (ages 4 and 6)
2017/2018- Revisit Sonlight Core A (ages 5 and 7)
2018/2017- Begin Sonlight Core B (ages 6 and 8)

Why is this helpful? Because it means I can keep my two oldest in a Core together, and my two youngest (who are toddlers and a soon to be born baby) will core together when they are ready to begin. Inserting a gap year here puts my two oldest at the best possible ages for the Cores; with Sonlight it is generally better to be in the top of the age range than the bottom because book content is heavier as you get to Core D and the farther in cores you go the more chapter books you encounter.

Break Down of What We Will Use for 2016/2017

Last year my 3 year old tagged along for Core A, as I have mentioned, and learned to count to 100, ID all his letters and their sounds, and just found a love for learning (slooowly but surely). My oldest, 5 years old, loved every minute of Core A, and began reading anything she could get her hands on, including books on 3rd-4th grade level. She seriously just picks up any book and read it.

They both LOVED the pioneer era, so I thought for our gap year doing an Early American History study would work out well! We chose Beautiful Feet Books Early American Primary Jumbo Literature Pack for our curriculum this year. I am truly 100% excited!

We have done 2 years of other cultures/world history so I thought this year we could take a break from that (though I think I may have a couple of future ap world history students!) while we enjoy a little bit of studying closer to home, before we jump back into world cultures/world history with Core A again.

2017 Curriculum Choices (Kindergarten age 6, Preschool age 4)

Together we will all enjoy:

History/Core– Beautiful Feet E.A. History- this also incorporates copywork and writing
Bible- Reading from Egermeier’s Bible Story Book
Memory work (Bible verses, poems, etc that I have chosen)
Science- Apologia Science Astronomy second edition (oh my goodness we are LOVING this-review to come in September) used with the Jr. Notebooking Journal for Kindergartener, the preschooler will tag along/color pictures as we read
Art– Artistic Pursuits- we love this program, hands down

Kindergarten (age 6)

Reading– AAR Level 2/3- we are about half way through Level 2 now, so we will continue on to Level 3 once we are done
Readers– we will continue using Sonlight’s readers, as well as other first and second grade readers from the library
Spelling– AAS Level 1- we did not being AAS last year as I had planned (mama was just too sick/exhausted with pregnancy to add in anything else at the time) so we will begin it this year. Lexie is very concerned about how to spell her words and because her reading level is so advanced I figured this is a good time to gently introduce spelling.
Math– Saxon 1/2- we will finish Saxon 1 and move on to Saxon 2 this year. Max, the preschooler, will tag along using manipulatives to understand concepts instead of writing
Handwriting– we will use our faithful copywork, as well as A Reason for Handwriting book B
Writing– copywork, journal, and modeling (I plan to introduce more formal grammar/writing at 2nd grade level)

Preschool (age 4)

Reading- All About Reading Level 1 (mixed with some games from the Pre Reading level because he loves them)
Math- tag along using manipulatives to understand concepts instead of writing, learn to write numbers
Handwriting- Handwriting Without Tears Preschool or K book (I haven’t decided yet… he is still very much at the pre writing level, but I know Lexie flew through that stage once she got started, so we may just go to the K book first)
I plan to use lots of hands on and games with him; he loves puzzles and mazes, building things, and sports right now so there isn’t a ton of interest in paper and pencil learning just yet. I don’t want to burn him out or push him too young. He is excited about learning to read and write letters, but short of that it will be a lot of play.

Miss Tot (2)

Ila will tag along, get some one on one time with mama, and enjoy independent play during our school time. She is learning her shapes, colors, ABCs, and how to do puzzles right now. Really, she has mastered her puzzles and counting to 10, so we will just continue with songs, finger plays, and other tot-time learning for her. =)

In addition to our curriculum, we will do LOTS of play outside, work on the farm, and learn through nature.

So, as for now, these are our plans for homeschool this year! If things change or I add something (haven’t yet placed my last order..) I will do a part II and let you know.

What will your school year look like for 2016/2017?

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Friday on the Farm {May 20, 2016}

by Meghan // May 21, 2016 // Comments off

So this is titles Friday on the Farm … but it is actually Saturday on the farm.

This morning was full of lots of chores- watering the meat chicks in their brooder, weeding the garden, moving the tractor coop to the backside of the fence (the big white horse fence), and prepping everything to put the meat chicks into their tractor coop. This operation is only on a very small scale, but as you can imagine, some chicken farms will have tractors from sites like fastline to keep up with the workload.

I was able to get the meat chicks all caught, put into a box (it took about 5 trips from the brooder to the coop), and unloaded into the tractor coop.

BOY were they some happy little chickens!

They are going through 5 gallons of water in about 12 hours! Hopefully that will change since they are now outside where they will get moisture from the ground, grass, air, etc. Their brooder was in the barn tack room … let me tell you that was NOT pretty and I won’t be doing that again. There just wasn’t enough airflow, even with the window, and the ammonia built up SO quickly, I couldn’t keep enough fresh bedding added to it.

The tractor coop, provided they can keep warm, will be MUCH better! They are mostly feathered out, with a few bare spots which they will likely have for some time, as the last meat chickens did. And some still have fuzzy heads… then others are completely feathered out. We will see it goes.

This afternoon after naps, we all loaded up for a trip to H~~eaven, e-hum, I mean~~ Costco. After we got home the kids played a while outside, then I started my chores.

The big girls gave left me some eggs in their nest boxes. They free ranged all day, and their feeder was empty so I gave them their new feed-which they LOVE! It is a custom, soy free mix. I will give details on that via another post, but I am so thankful to have found a feed mill that makes a custom feed. And inexpensive to boot! Woo hoo! It can also be used to finish the meat chickens off the last 3+ weeks! How great is that?

I took a few shots of the garden- I can’t take credit for its beauty, other than for choosing the lovely 6 seater patio set;
my husband is the gardener! He gets it tilled, planted, weeded, etc. I just help with a bit of weeding, and of course harvesting. =) The potatoes, bell peppers, and tomatoes are looking great! The asparagus has given us a large harvest this spring, and we have let some go to seed. The peas look like they need a wee bit of help, but I think that is cause we have not weeded much the last week in all this rain.

The electric fence has worked out well; one of the calves got out and went straight to the garden. When the fence zapped him he didn’t bother returning. =) It also keeps Thora and Charlie from trampling through it, killing the plants, as they play and romp. The brown box there is full of marigolds my husband started from seed; we will plant them in the garden later, just for some pretty color.

We also have a smaller garden that we have not planted, but is full of strawberries … we had intentions of killing everything in that bed and planting some squash, watermelon, corn, and okra. But all the strawberries are coming in like crazy! So hopefully the hubby will choose to let those be; our oldest is allergic but so far the other two don’t show symptoms of strawberry allergies. =)

After we got the kids in bed, we looked up and saw our Great Pyrenees, Thora, herding the calves from the front pasture, back to their pasture. Apparently they have found a high spot they can easily slide under the fence. She got them all the way to their gate by the time we made it out back. Thankfully they easily went in.

You can see they are gaining well! We were hoping to just turn them on grass (you know … cow-newbies and all), but because they need extra protein and carbohydrates you have to feed them feed until a certain weight, or it will stunt their growth and cause other possible problems. I am going to see if my custom chicken feed lady can do a custom cow feed, too!

They are BIG babies- I have finally gotten the big, obstinate brown one to warm up to me. Now he begs for rubs and scratches; they both like to be brushed and will take scratches anywhere you are willing to give them! That shorter black one, Ketchup, is my buddy though. He has never been scared of us and is super friendly. (Yes, I love my cows. No, it won’t be hard to send them to butcher next year to feed my family).

After that, my husband rigged up the heat lamp in the tractor coop for the meat chicks. Really they are a week or so too young to go out, so we are just praying for a good outcome. But I couldn’t handle them being in that brooder any longer! It was just too much extra work and thus wasn’t fun for me, and didn’t seem like the healthiest option for them starting out. So, he hung a heat lamp that we will keep on at night, and plug into the barn. There is also a tarp acting to protect them from wind and rain. It is supposed to be warm the next 2 weeks (80 degrees and above) but of course, rainy!

I think he has decided to get some more metal panels and place around 3 side of the coop so we can just start brooding them in the coop and no need to worry about wind/rain/etc.

My new laying chicks don’t even have a blog post yet! Aaaah! They’re already 3 weeks old, and feathering out nicely. We lost 2 of them-1 barred rock, and 1 rhode island red, right after they arrived. I quickly moved them into the garage where I could better control the airflow and temperature-they are brooding in a big (empty) metal water tank. They have done much better ever since. We have not been handling them very much, but starting this next week I think we will- I just didn’t want to stress them and lose anymore babies. But they seem more sturdy now, and they need to start earning their names!

So, that is pretty much it for today. This week J.Tom cut the yard and my walking path around the pasture. Gotta get back to regularly exercising before it is time to have this baby! (8 more weeks til due date!) I worked on getting what seemed like 25 loads of laundry done- Oh my goodness I am ready for sunshine again- I need my clothes line back! It makes things so much simpler.

Thanks to the tons and tons of spring rain, we have a full pond, blooming flowers, growing garden, and happy animals. So, it has been a beautiful, blessed week on the farm!

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Accomplish ALL The Things {Simple Woman’s Daybook 23}

by Meghan // April 20, 2016 // Comments off

Outside my Window …
It is gray, cloudy, and the sun isn’t up. We have had rain for 3 days now! YAY

I am thinking…
About all the things I need to start fitting into my day: more floor time with Ila, more violin practice with Lexie, more ironing of J.Tom’s clothes (one day I will be able to afford the cleaners!), more walking, more pregnancy exercises … oh. And more menu planning (really not doing good menu planning), and more blog planning.

How’s that for thinking 😉

I am thankful…
That my husband woke up before me to make coffee and feed the baby cows. =) We have started weaning them from their milk (a little late), and boy are they pushy! We don’t let them boss us, but the taller brown one sure tries.

In the kitchen…
There is bone broth that needs to be jarred up and put in the freezer.

And coffee!

I am wearing…
A maternity dress- it is one of the really old ones from my pregnancy with Lexie. It doesn’t really fit well, but they make great house dresses now, and are comfy to sleep in. Old Navy, $10 6 years ago.

I am creating…
probably a mess of everything. I have so much to do; today is cleaning day, but I also have to work in the basement (ugh) and get ironing done. I have dresses to finish sewing before baby comes, I want to put together a small unit study for the kids on Little house in the Big Woods, because we are about to finish that, and then we are going to grow crystals. That’s creating stuff, right? =/

I am going…
I need to go to Costco this afternoon; if the Mister takes a good nap we will go get groceries and then meet the daddy for dinner out.

Did I mention I have done a really bad job about menu planning lately?

I am wondering…
If it will continue to rain and fill the pond up. We thought we had a leak … thankfully the hubby had access to a few tons of kitty litter so we spread that out where we thought the leak may be. However, it may in fact just be that we didn’t have a wet winter and our runoff is blocked a bit, and there is a huge pond next door that has to fill before ours will.

Hoping the hard heavy rain we got last night started the process. We have had slow, steady rain for 2-3 days now. It has been wonderful!
I am reading…
Oh gosh! Okay, so I have a few books on my shelf, but have only really started one. The first two are homemaking books from the library, though I think I would like to own both. and the rest are books about raising boys. Cause … my little Mister is the only Mister and I am a girl. Therefore I really know very little about raising boys.

The Hands-On Home
Little House Living
Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing young Boys
Shepherding a Child’s Heart
I have a few more specifically on boys, but haven’t started them yet and am unsure of the titles.

I am hoping…
really more like praying God helps me find me the patience and energy today to accomplish all the things!

I am looking forward to…
Not having a mile long to do list! It seems to come in phases, sometimes I feel like I have it all done and everything is great (obviously, it probably really isn’t). And then sometimes I am SO. Far. Behind. Like now. =)

I am learning…
That my Mister needs freedoms, and boundaries, and more reinforcement of consequences when he breaks those boundaries.

Also, that I have let a LOT of time get by me before this baby gets here! I am 27.5 weeks already, and we have a TON of rather big things to do.

Around the house…
dusting. vacuuming. switching season clothes, packing kids clothes that are too small to save for baby, and I am always decluttering. Which right now I think we are in a pretty good place with that. Minus all these girl clothes I have to hold on to! I know I should throw them away, but I just can’t do it. We’re throwing enough away though, leaving us with a lot of space now. If anyone else needs to declutter their home, it might be worth contacting a company like 1300 Rubbish to make sure they can take the rubbish away from your home. That always makes the job easier.

A favorite quote for today…

One of my favorite things…
that Ila has FINALLY this week, started saying more words: red car, Lexie, mister, bear, more animal sounds, hair bow, and she pretends to read the words in books by speaking her own little baby Japanese. It is really cute.

I also LOVE that Lexie begs to take Ila outside while I am prepping meals, switching out laundry, etc. I do let her take her on the porch or to the back concrete and Lexie just loves it. So does mister- he drives Ila around in the back of his little pick up truck. She is so loved.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
I think ALL the lists above should cover this one. =)

A peek into my day…
This was the other day

Pre K and Preschool Weekly Wrap Up {April 1, 2016}

by Meghan // April 8, 2016 // Comments off

This is a Weekly Wrap up from April 1-this past week. I am a bit behind =)

It has been a very long time since I wrote a Weekly Wrap Up Post. Wow.

Well, I can say towards the end of winter we finally found our homeschool groove, as I came out of the first trimester nausea and exhaustion. Now we have a simple, and effective routine just like we had before, which means we are back to much smoother days! *thank goodness*

You may remember me posting about struggling with a rut, which I don’t think was school related, but certainly affected our school time. We (I) came out of that and whew, life is better!

What a School Day Looks like

As we finish the school year (we will be schooling until about July 1st I think, maybe not that long if I can really bust out some chapter books!), we are finishing strong. We have recently stopped driving 35 minutes every Tuesday for gymnastics, so that has freed up an entire morning, and makes our lives less hectic. We will continue extra curricular activities with swim lessons, but they will be closer to us!

All that to say, we don’t have specific days we are doing school right now, with this new change. But I think we are mostly back to Wednesdays being cleaning/no school day, and schooling 3-4 days a week.

On days we school it looks something like this:

7am wake/breakfast/morning basket- morning basket includes: prayer, Bible, pledge, calendar, songs and finger plays (my son loves them), memory work verses and poems, possibly reading part of a read aloud depending on time
8 Begin morning chores- Lexie empties dishwasher, Mister helps with laundry, I load dishwasher
8:30-9:30 Depending on the weather the kids usually go outside for fresh air here, and then we begin school after that. Sometimes it we go straight into school and they play outside afterward. School begins with our Sonlight read alouds and history.
9:30-10:30 Toddler joins us for as long as she can be relatively quiet, but usually goes to IP during this time so Lexie can read aloud and focus on harder material
11:15 lunch
12:00 toddler down for nap
12:00-12:30 Lexie, Max and I wind down for nap with books
12:30-3:00 everyone is resting/napping (this actually is more like 1-3 by the time everyone has had their nap time books read)
3:00 up for the afternoon/nature walks/play in the woods/cook dinner/run errands
- This is also when we go on nature walks specifically to support our science topic, read science books, cook and bake together, and

That’s a typical school day.

What we “do” During School Right Now (3.5, 5.5)

Right now school has been such a pleasure! Lexie suddenly just started wanting to read everything. EV * ER * Y * THING! She picks up books and reads them-doesn’t matter the level; she asks for help when she needs it. She reads words off the Netflix screen, she reads words off magazine covers, she asks Mister and Ila several times a day if they would like her to read them a book, and of course they do, so she does.

Our daily activities for school include:

Morning Basket for everyone (see above)

Lexie (5.5 yo)

Lexie’s All About Reading Level 1- either a lesson, reading from her readers, or reviewing fluency pages
Lexie’s Copywork/HWOT/Journaling-
- To make her copy work, I simply write it out on a lined dry erase board like this one while I am sitting at the table. Copywork usually comes from one of the books she is reading and includes lots of quotes, commas, etc. In the future, (read: after baby comes) I am planning a bit different set up for her to do more work independently, so I will probably have copywork printed out for her to copy from.
- Handwriting Without Tears is really just her doing the pages on her own. I tell her what page, she completes it and I make sure it is nice and neat. Again, my plan for fall is that this will turn into her independently working on the next page from an assignment sheet without my help.
- Journaling is me simply giving her a topic, which she writes on freely in her own style. I try to remind her of capitalization, punctuation, and spacing, but otherwise it is her own thoughts, spelling, etc.
- She loves doing ALL of these things
Lexie’s Math- Saxon 1. We pretty much just stopped doing the K book because it was too easy and although she still enjoyed it, I was bored (ha). She really likes the Level 1, there are lots more sheets for her to do (which she LOVES) and she reads the directions to herself. I check them and have her fix any mistakes or fill in any places she skipped on accident. I feel like it is a great way for her to work independently, feel successful, and also learn about double checking work, etc. We like it!

Max (3.5yo)

Max is doing All About Reading Pre Reading, mostly because he always asks to do school and he wants to have activities like Lexie. This is a PERFECT fit for us because it isn’t time consuming, and he really enjoys the games, they’re developmentally appropriate for him (mostly rhyming and logic right now), and did I mention he enjoys it? We only do this like 1-2 times a week, depending on what he is in the mood for.

More phonics- Mister knows his letter sounds, so sometimes we work on beginning letter sounds. Yesterday, after we did a hands on activity and while Lexie worked on a few math sheets, Max sat in my lap and I drew pictures. Beneath each picture I wrote letters- I asked him: what each picture was, what each letter was and its sound. Then I asked what letter he heard at the beginning of the picture word (ex: what sound do you hear at the beginning of “flower?”) He then gave me his answer and circled the letter. He got every single one correct without any prompting from me!

Math- Mister is tagging along with Lexie’s Math and so far he is doing great! He loves it, they take turns answering questions, and he loves the hands on activities. This week he helped create a vehicle graph and answered questions about it. While he is doing really well with his letter sounds and literacy development, math is really his thing right now!
Other Activities- While I am working with Lexie on a reading lesson or giving instruction for her work, Mister really enjoys doing the Kumon workbooks and a Big Preschool activity book. He has a book of all mazes and will literally sit there the entire time we do school and just do mazes. Some days he just goes and plays trucks or looks at books, or plays independently with something else, and I am totally fine with that.
Writing- some days I will write letters on a piece of paper and he traces them; other times he just doodles and tells me about his pictures.

They both love art, listening to read alouds, talking about history, and learning about the Bible. This spring homeschool has become such a blessing again! Somehow, we just found our groove for now … Yes, it is surely to change, but there is a season for everything. =)

What is best is that it’s all relaxed. My word for the year began as joy. And it definitely continues to be my word of the year. 😉 However, my mantra has become relax. I can’t find the joy, or rather feel and see it in front of me, if I can’t relax. And that’s just what we have done.

I don’t dread any part of our school time; I don’t wish that we were doing something different. There is a peace about it, a joy in it, and we all love it! Even Mister tells me, “Mama, I love learning time!” And that’s just how it should be. I can’t tell you how thankful I am for the friend that encouraged me to step back from everything, that introduced me to podcasts (I will do a WHOLE ‘nother post on those!), for my husband encouraging me to wake early in the mornings to start my day with coffee and Jesus … it has all just played into a perfect part of our day, of which the morning is school.

So. until July when we are done with school and a newborn is in the house, I think this is going to continue working.

What does your homeschool with your littles look like?

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

On The Farm: Calf and Chicken Update

by Meghan // April 4, 2016 // Comments off

The calves are now 2 months old. They are still on milk, but I think we are weaning them soon. That should be interesting, since they are BEYOND obsessed with their milk- much worse than any 12 month old human baby. haha

The chickens are all good and healthy. They gave us our first eggs on Easter, and give between 3-5 a day, depending on how much we disturb them during the day. As they mature and get used to laying, that number should level out to about 1 egg per chicken per day.

We had many more chickens, but it turned out 6-7 were roosters, so we culled 4 or 5 (I can’t remember) and are left with two roosters and 6 hens.

I will tell you- buying straight run is just not worth it in the end; we ended up with way too many roosters. I will do as I did in Arkansas, and purchase form McMurray Hatchery from now on (that’s where my next batch are coming from. Can’t wait!).

J.Tom is still working on completing the new coop; it has been on the back burner for a bit while we prep the garden and flower beds. They are find in their little coop for now.

Below is a pretty terrible video I shot spur of the moment yesterday of the calves and chickens.

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Homeschool Bible Study with Grapevine {a review}

by Meghan // March 9, 2016 // Comments off

This year as part of TOS Review Crew I was ecstatic to see Grapevine Studies on the list! Last year we used and reviewed one of their Bible studies and truly enjoyed it, so I couldn’t wait to try their next study, New Testament Overview Part I: John to the Apostles. We received the Beginner and Beginner Traceable levels.

About The Study

This study is at the beginner level, but there are levels for every student. Each study consists of 22 lessons total; we used these 2-3 times a week to supplement on bible study. We reviewed the digital downloads which we are able to print at home and use for the entire family; Grapevine also offers physical book options.

I like the layout of Grapevine’s teacher book. It is color coded so I know exactly what I am looking at, which is especially great it you are an “open and go” homeschool mom (or dad).

The teacher’s guide also offers

Teachers Goals and Students Goals section (which are broad goals for the study as a whole)
supply list
Lesson Goals and Key Points for each individual lesson

Included in each lesson is (for the teacher) are which passages of the Bible to read for study, some explanations for the teacher, section and review questions to ask the student(s). I like that they include a picture of the student’s page so I don’t have be right next to my children or see exactly what they’re doing.

The difference between the Beginner Student and Beginner Traceable is just that- one student’s book is traceable and one is blank. The traceable is great for those just starting out with Grapevine that need help understanding just how to stick figure.

How We Used The Study

These studies are so great for all types of learners; my children are young so they are still very wiggly and need something to do with their hands while they listen and learn. Drawing through the Bible (Grapevine’s studies) is just perfect for us; they really liven up Bible lessons and keep those hands-on learners minds’ busy! My son is 3, and so far has shown me he is most definitely in need of hands on learning with lots of visual explanation and demonstration. While he traced along the best he could (or wanted, rather) with his older sister, I can most definitely see this being a perfect fit for him when he is really ready for school!

As I mentioned above, we used these lessons 2-3 times a week (usually just 2 because we only school 4 days a week) to go along with our Bible reading from our curriculum. These could be stand alone studies with no additional Bible study needed. The lessons took us a little longer than it probably would take most families; we spent about 25 minutes each day to complete 1-2 lessons. My children ask tons of questions so we re-read some scriptures a few times. My daughter likes to explain back to me what we have read, so that also adds some time to lessons.

What We Think

I love that Grapevine includes their statement of faith (every homeschool should have one, if you don’t a simple google search will take you to some great blogs that can help you nail one down), their inspiration, their mission, and method in their teacher’s books. It really helps set my mind on what I am working towards also, so I say don’t skip reading that part if you use their homeschool Bible study!

Grapevine is a big hit in our home, again! We enjoy these lessons, the discussion they bring into our home, what the kids are really getting out of the Bible, and how simple yet effective they are. You can go as deep or stay as simple as you’d like. My children ask to do “history Bible” which is what they call Grapevine. My son just in the last few weeks has become adamant that he does exactly what big sister does,and with Grapevine that is so easy for ME- because he can sit in while I read the scriptures, then trace the pictures to make those connections concrete for him, although he can’t yet draw detailed pictures. My daughter is enjoying the Beginner Level and I can’t wait to see how she progresses as we continue to use Grapevine.

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Preparing for Spring on the Farm {Daybook 21}

by Meghan // March 7, 2016 // Comments off

Outside my Window …
Spring is here … about 6-8 weeks early. It is warm, there are buds on the trees, the perennials in the flower beds are blooming. J.Tom and I spent the weekend cleaning out the asparagus bed, and pruning roses. Then we cleaned out the flower beds around the house, cut back their bushes, mulched the beds, and fixed/replaced the sprinklers that needed work. We have purchased the hot wire to keep animals out of the garden, and will get that installed before we plant in the coming month.

The chickens are free ranging in the back and Thora is laying on the stoop. The wind is blowing crazy-hard so we called it an afternoon for now.

I am thinking…
I can’t believe spring is really here! I know we will probably get a cold snap (over night freeze) between now and Easter, and if we don’t the bugs are going to be killer this summer! But, man. I LOVE SPRING

I am thankful…
for SPRING! Oh, did I already mention that? Okay, then I am thankful for a husband that loves working in the yard and making things pretty, mostly because he knows it makes me happy. It is much more fun doing it together.

In the kitchen…
It probably still smells like bacon from this morning. But everything is mostly cleaned up from lunch and ready for dinner.

I am wearing…
Denim shorts and an Old Navy maternity tshirt. It is warm enough for shorts- whew I love the sunshine!

I am creating…
Dresses for the girls. I just finished Lexie’s, and I am almost done with Ila’s. Then I will start on their next few sets.

Pages in journaling bible. I will do a separate post with those details. It is so much fun!

I am going…
to Walmart this afternoon for a few random toiletries and sewing notions.

I am wondering…
If this wind is going to die down, it is so windy!

I am reading…
My Bible a lot more. I have been Bible journaling (it is so fun) and it has me constantly wanting to get into the Word.

I am hoping…
This week we get a good spring thunderstorm.

I am looking forward to…
My chickens laying their first eggs! The girls are almost mature. Their combs are just starting to get really red. They’re about 22 weeks old, so in the next 2-6 weeks we should have eggs!

I am also looking forward to our newest addition! Well, newest additionS.

We have:

-15 laying chicks on the way

-50 meat chickens on the way

-and my most very exciting announcement: A little heifer on the way! We should hopefully be picking her up next weekend and I cannot wait. Hopefully we can get her tamed and easy to handle so she will be the resident pet heifer and one day mama cow of the homestead. We are really excited, and haven’t told the kids yet since we won’t get her for another week. She is a Hereford/Dexter cross, and needs a name!

I am learning…
how very addictive farm animals really are, how much I *love* spring on the farm and am truly amazed at God’s world, how fast my children are growing up. We look at our babies and see them learning new milestones and turning into toddlers. But it seems like now that Lexie and Mister are almost 4 and 6, they’re really en-truly so different than they were until this point. It is amazing.

Max went out with J.Tom today for a boys morning out and I swear he came back more grown up than when he left. =/ Lexie has her daddy daughter date this afternoon to the orchestra.
Around the house…
Things are mostly picked up and done. We have spent so much time outside that it is hard to make messes inside (YAY). But, I can say ALL the laundry is DONE! bahahaha

A favorite quote for today…

One of my favorite things…
SPRING!

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Get the tags on my car, sign the kids up for swim lessons, truck on through school with the kids, prepare for the heifer, enjoy the weather, pray for a thunderstorm.

What is your favorite season? How do you prepare for spring?

On The Farm: LGD {Great Pyrenees} Sleeping with the Chickens

by Meghan // February 27, 2016 // Comments off

If you are a friend or family member you have probably already heard this story .. because it was so insane I had to tell everyone I knew.

I affectionately titled Thora, “the protector of all things farm and child,” in hopes that one day she really would be.

After the loss of a young chicken to Thora’s playfulness (ehum, chasing the chicken, killing it … then proceeding to eat it), and then continuing to chase the chickens at times for a few weeks after, I wasn’t entirely confident in the title which she had been given. We did zip-tie the dead chicken to her neck in hopes that would help deter her.

Because we couldn’t completely trust her yet (she is still a 1 year old puppy, despite her 80lb status, and wasn’t raised the first 9 months around chickens), we would tether her to a tree while the chickens were free ranging if I wasn’t able to keep my eye on her for a few minutes.

Slowly, I became less and less worried, and over the last week we have been leaving her out with them all day long with no concerns about the chickens’ safety.

Okay- on to the story …

Last Monday night I went out to put the chickens in their coop-it was pitch black, I forgot my phone for a flash light, and Thora didn’t come to greet me. She always, always greets anyone who opens a door on the house. I thought it was strange but maybe she had found and dug up the calf we buried? (we lost a calf) So I locked up the chicks and went to bed.

The next morning JTom left about 4:00am for out of town travel, and I went out to feed the baby cows at 5:45am. Again, Thora didn’t greet me. So at this point I was concerned, so I texted J.Tom. He hadn’t seen her either and was also concerned, but had the same thought I did the night before- maybe she was eating a dead cow in the woods ….

So, I got dressed for walking in the woods, and set out to find her, hopeful she was rollicking in the disgusting dog heaven of a dead animal. On my way, I decided to go out the north gate, to walk past the calves in their stall, and as I did a chicken ran out of the barn!

I couldn’t understand how I had missed a chicken the night before, but went around back to let it into the coop. As I approached the coop there was this ruckus, and when I opened it I half expected a fox and 12 dead chickens … instead

Out bounced Thora! The dog had apparently gone into the coop the night before and was in the run when I locked up the chickens in the dark. One chicken didn’t go in with the others because she was in there, and he found me the next morning.

*whew* I started counting chickens and assessing the aftermath of Thora’s slumber party. Every single chicken was untouched. She had laid in the run, digging and sleeping. The chickens were fine. =)

So, it is safe to say, we now trust Thora with the chickens, and mostly with the calves. She tries to pounce with them a little but I don’t think it will take long and she will see them as something she needs to protect as well.

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