Our Week in Review (July 2nd-9th)

Where did the week go?  I think maybe with the 4th being on Tuesday it made the week feel much shorter then usual.  We did not have anything too exciting happening at our house this week.

Monday was out 4th because Art had to go back to work Wednesday morning and did not want to stay up late on Tuesday night.  Lily, Christian, Emmie, and I made a flag cake for dessert.  We also set off fireworks at out house.  The children really enjoyed it, the dog not so much.

They also made a hay feeder for the goats.

It amazes me that Anthony will go out and pet the goats.  Ever since he had an allergic reaction to rabbits he has been afraid to touch new animals.

Tuesday we roasted Smores.  We did not stay out very long though, the mosquitoes have been horrible, especially at night!

Thursday we went and picked up Chelsea and the baby and brought them to the house for the day.

Liam looks like a toy when Alex holds him

Then we all went grocery shopping. 

Friday we had to take a goat to the vet.  One of our goats has been coughing since we got her.  She is eating and drinking and not acting sick, but she coughs like crazy!  I was told to give her a few days to see if it may be some kind of allergy from the move (but really she coughed in the van on the way home.)  Friday it had been almost a week since we brought them home, so I made her an appointment.  It was the first time we had taken a farm animal to the vet.  Her temperature was normal and they said her lungs sounded good, but they gave her a shot of antibiotics to help clear up the cough.  We were told if it didn't get better to bring her back this week.  We have seen no improvement in the cough.

Christian and I made some Strawberry Freezer Jam.

Saturday we started working on a new chicken pen.  Our old pen is starting to fall apart.  I can't remember how long ago we built it ( I should look it up on this blog!) but it needs to come down.  All of the rain we have been having lately has not helped.  One day last week we had to dig a hole under the pen because it was flooded and there were several inches of water in the bottom of it.  I will be glad when we can move the birds to their new home this week.  The chicken pen will be beside the goat pen.  The goats were very curious about what we were doing.

We found horn worms in the tomatoes!  I hate those things!  The boys killed them for me and I sprayed.  I hope we got rid of them.

I meant to have the children do some math this week but we did not get to it.  We are working on learning the Greek alphabet.  Anthony and Christian did some work on their Minecraft Coding from Codakid.  The girls did an art project, making butterflies using rigid wrap.  We also watched a DVD about caring for and showing goats.  After watching the whole thing I thought, "What have I gotten myself into?" but the children have really enjoyed the goats so far.  They are very sweet.  Hopefully we can get the one well, and the boys know that they are responsible for all of the care of the goats and so far they have done a great job.

I hope you had a great week!

Happy Homeschooling!

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Review: Sweetbriar Cottage by Denise Hunter

Book Description

"When Noah and Josephine Mitchell discover their divorce was never actually finalized, their lives are turned upside down.

Following his divorce, Noah gave up his dream job, settling at a remote horse ranch in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northern Georgia, putting much-needed distance between himself and the former love of his life. But then Noah gets a letter from the IRS claiming he and Josephine are still married. When he confronts Josephine for the first time in months, they discover that she missed the final step in filing the paperwork and they are, in fact, still married.

Josephine is no happier about the news than Noah. Maybe the failed marriage—and okay, the botched divorce—was her fault, but her heart was shattered right alongside his, more than he would ever believe. The sooner they put this marriage behind them, the better for both of their sakes.
But when Josephine delivers the final paperwork to his ranch, the two become stranded in his cottage during the worst spring snowstorm in a decade. Being trapped with Josephine is a test of Noah’s endurance. He wrestles with resentment and an unmistakable pull to his wife—still beautiful, still brave, and still more intriguing than any woman he’s ever known.

As they find themselves confronted with each other and their shared past, old wounds surface and tempers flare. But when they are forced out into the storm, they must rely on each other in a way they never have before. Josephine finally opens up about her tragic past, and Noah realizes she’s never been loved unconditionally by anyone—including him. Will Noah accept the challenge to pursue Josephine’s heart? And can she finally find the courage to trust Noah?"

I have read several books by Denise Hunter (my favorite was Falling Like Snowflakes!), so when I saw she had a new book releasing I was excited to have an opportunity to review it.  Sweetbriar Cottage was not at all like I thought it was going to be.  Denise Hunter usually has a character in her books that have some kind of difficult past or something traumatic that has happened to affect that character, but they also usually have a sweet romantic aspect to them as well.  Sweetbriar Cottage was different.  Josie definitely has major trauma in her past, trauma that even her husband did not know anything about.  Their divorce was not caused by a misunderstanding or minor problems but a major , heartbreaking betrayal. There was no lighthearted romantic moments in this book, but a wrestling between love, pain, and forgiveness.  The entire book felt very intense to me. Sweetbriar Cottage would not be a good book for teenage readers as it deals with some difficult topics.  I read it very quickly because I really wanted to see how everything could possibly be resolved.  I think the author did a great job bringing to light the idea that things are not always as they seem and there is nothing that can't be forgiven . 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review.  I received no other compensation and all opinions are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance to the FTC regulations.

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Our Week in Review (June 26th-July 2nd)

Chelsea and Liam stayed with us through Wednesday of this week, so I got to enjoy lots of newborn baby snuggles.  All of the aunts and uncles were very happy to help with the baby in whatever ways they were able.

Monday I took Chelsea and Liam to the doctor for his first checkup. It went great!  Heart was good, lungs were good, and he gained two ounces since we left the hospital. 

The girls had gymnastics camp this week.  Monday-Thursday they went for an hour in the afternoon.  They really enjoyed it, but I have to say it was hot in there!!

Wednesday, Christian and Alex went to Cossatot River with 4H for Citizen Science Outdoor Adventure.  They had a series of programs including: skins and skulls, live animals, and migration madness.  They also had an opportunity to snorkel in the river.  The boys had a great time, especially snorkeling!  Since I was not there I did not get to take pictures, but I did get a few that the boys were in.

Friday Chelsea and the baby went grocery shopping with us.  We managed to get food bought for two households, gas put in the van, and the baby fed in an hour and 15 minutes.  I didn't think that was too bad!

That evening we started working on the goat pen. 

 The girls kept themselves busy.

Saturday we worked on the pen from 8-2:30.  Then it was time to go get the goats!  I was not feeling well so I stayed home while Art took the children to get the kids ;)  They were home just in time to unload them before it started pouring down rain!

We picked our first two squash from the garden on Saturday too.

We did do a little bit of summer school this week.  We worked on our HomeSchool in the Woods State Study.  We did a few lessons of Fascinating Education Biology and a lesson of Dr. Aviation.  We are also working on a review of Greek N' Stuff and started looking over those materials, and English on a Roll arrived and I read through those materials.


I hope you had a great week!

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Goats!!

We have been involved in 4 H for about 10 years now.  One of our very first animal projects was poultry.  Chickens are fairly inexpensive, easy for young children to take care of, and provide a regular benefit to the household by providing eggs (and meat in some cases.)  We have continued on with the poultry project as the younger children became old enough to take on an animal project.  We have done a few different types of birds and have even hatched some of our own chicks.  We have 27 chickens.

We also have done rabbits for many years.  We started out with one New Zealand rabbit (who lived a good long life!) and have had other rabbits over the years.  We bred our rabbits a few years ago and had some sweet baby rabbits.  Right now we have one New Zealand, a mini rex, a mini lop, and a cross between a New Zealand and a Half Lop.

For several years, the children have asked if we could show goats, but I kept saying no. I did not want a project that I would have to be heavily involved in.  I also wasn't sure about the financial investment.  And I know nothing about goats!  But, they really wanted to give it a try, so I said yes this year we would get some goats.

It almost didn't happen.  I did not start looking for the goats early enough and had a hard time finding some.  And then we ended up at the hospital for almost a week with Chelsea and the baby and could not get the goat pen completed.  But, I was able to find 2 goats and we got the pen built in around 12 hours from start to finish.  So the goat project was a go.

The pen we built is 20x20 with 6 foot high fencing and a 4x6 shelter.  We were told one of the most important things about having goats was to build a good strong pen they can't escape from.  My amazing and talented husband designed and built a sturdy, and strong pen.  Hopefully they will not be able to escape!

The goats are around 4 months old and are females.  Christian and Alex will be showing them this year.  Lily wanted to show a goat too, but I told her maybe next year if all goes well this year.  Lily and Emmie will be showing chickens and rabbits this year. The boys named their goats Jessie and Bessie.  Jessie is a little bigger then Bessie and Bessie is a bit skittish.  Hopefully she will get used to being around people soon.  Christian will be showing Jessie and Alex will be showing Bessie.

I did not get to go pick up the goats but the children said they did pretty well on the hour drive home in the back of the van.

Jessie

Bessie

We got them unloaded and in the pen right before it started pouring down rain.

Let the goat adventure begin!

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