Saturday, November 19, 2016

Moments in our lives

It's been awhile since I've simply let everyone peek in on the moments of our lives. JB has had almost the entire week off. This has been really needed around here. I'm still getting used to this ER schedule which he's been doing for about two years now. While it fits farm life well, everything is so random. One week he will be gone four 4-5 full days (12 hour shifts) and the next week, like this one, he is home with us the whole week. I am not sure that lack of consistency will ever sit well with my planning-self, but when he does have long stretches off, we welcome them!

Here are some snaps from what is going on around these parts:

Lots of catch up naps and snuggles!

Enjoying our new little pigs. What is fun is that we have now put all the pigs together after having one of the moms separated for about two weeks. And our eight little black pigs and one little white pig from the other litter are intermingling, nursing together, and sleeping together. So cool! We also decided that we are going to process one of our fixed males today. We were planning on doing it sometime in January, but he is indicating that he might have a leg injury and we don't want to wait. Other than one injured sheep, we have never processed a large animal here on the farm, and I am, honestly, very nervous about it. I don't think I'll be around for it.

We had our last day of homeschool co-op this past Monday. I snapped this picture of my 3rd-6th grade PE class which Sidge is in. (You can see him in the back row, left, in-between two other kids in green shirts. He is actually only in second grade but because he is such a big kid I thought he would fit better in this class for PE than with the 1-2 graders.) Co-op is three periods long. I have the first period off to hang out and mingle with other moms and dads, and then I teach PE and a Lego Math. You do not have to teach a class. You can be an aide. But since I am a teacher by trade, I'd rather teach than aide. I LOVE this PE class. There are actually 21 kids in the class, and they are just the nicest and funnest kids. We really have a great time. Co-op is now out for the holidays. We take a long break and return for ten more weeks at the end of January. I am so humbled to be a part of this fantastic group of people. Over 200 kids participate just in the Monday co-op. (There are many other families and kids that attend field trips and do activities in the co-op but who don't attend classes.) There is a long waiting list for classes, and I'm so glad that we are in! We use the facilities at the Baptist church downtown, and I simply cannot say enough good things about these families and kids. They truly give me community!

I snapped this picture very quickly of Hannah going back up the stairs to her room. I told her to get a shirt on. She instead came back with a second pair of shorts on! I made her return to her room until she could come with a shirt on. (It was 60 degrees outside that day.) She was not happy. This child also got into those little red tablets they give you at the dentist that you chew to show where you missed when you brushed your teeth. At least she admitted and told the truth about eating them. And when I asked her how she got into the plastic that they were in, she said: "I used my teeth to bite open that plastic." Sigh ....

Here is our current WWOOFer, Leah, trying to remember what she knew from her piano lesson days. Leah has been an INCREDIBLE help to us around the farm. She takes care of all of the animals (except the geese which Dad is doing) without needing anyone checking or seeing how she is doing. She also helps with a lot of cooking and cleaning up in the kitchen. We have SO enjoyed having her here on the farm and will be sad when she leaves in a few days. Such a sweet person and truly one of the best time managers we have had.

Dad has been continuing to work on the extension at their little house about a 1/4 mile from our big house. He is trying to get it all framed in before the real cold hits so that he can work through the winter on the inside. He is adding a full bathroom, closet, and small guest room. (They have only had a half bath since we moved in and an outside shower for part of the time too.) Sidge LOVES to help, and I think he will follow in his Daddy's footsteps by learning a lot from Grampa and JB when it comes to carpentry and skills with your hands. Dad and Moms house is very small, but it is so sweet!

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