Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It's St. Patrick's Day and it is also our wedding anniversary...of 8 years! I really cannot believe how fast time flies. I started blogging in 2009! It does not seem like my blog is that old at all. Or that I have a 7 year old for that matter....but anyway...we had a nice, pretty uneventful day. We took our car in to get fixed, got some lunch and then Jim had to go back to work. The boys and I made a couple St. Patrick's Day crafts. Coffee filter shamrocks and paper plate rainbow twirlers. It was fun!

Then we all went out to eat at our favorite pizza place.

We had a great time and the boys were so well behaved. Counting my blessings, big and small. ❤️

Help the Monarch Butterflies!

For a limited time, while supplies last, National Wildlife Federation is giving away a Butterfly Garden Starter Kit to everyone who pledges to help the monarch butterfly. Click the link below to learn how to make your pledge and receive your kit!

Help the Monarch Butterflies!

According to the website, your kit will include:

• A Seed packet with native milkweed or a flowering nectar plant
• A list of milkweed and nectar plants native to your region
• Ranger Rick Nature Notebook
• Butterfly Heroes Sticker and Poster

Here are the boys making their pledge

This is such a great opportunity, we just love monarchs! Last year, we found eggs on milkweed plants around our farm and raised them to butterflies. It was amazing and the boys learned so much. When I was a kid, my sister and I raised black swallowtail butterflies every year. I just love butterflies! 

Snow fun!

First post in a long time! Do I have any original fans/visitors left? Lol. Just a quick update on the boys and their schooling. We are still doing school at home and we are using the curriculum My Father's World. Jimmy is now in 1st grade and Matthew is doing k4 work. 

We have been studying ice and snow for science and since it snowed yesterday and the wind chill has been in the negatives, we stayed inside and made snow ice cream! We used this simple recipe. We also made paper snowflakes and read some books about snow. The boys had a blast!

Well, that's all for now, more to follow soon! =)

We're going Quackers!

So I have been after Jim for a long time to let me get chickens, but he has resisted. Then one day a few weeks ago he came home from his buddy's house going on about his new ducks and how they just followed his buddy around and how funny they were. Well, that got the ball rolling and once our boys started asking for baby ducks every time we went to our local farm supply store, Jim and I decided to give in and we are now officially the owners of 4 cute little ducklings! If all goes well and we decide to add to our little flock I will order some online so I know if we are getting males or females. And so I know what breed they are. I will be honest, I didn't exactly do my homework about the different breeds and what the different ducklings look like so we went in just knowing I wanted some Indian runner ducks. Well....the guy working gave me what he said was 2 runners and the boys picked out 2 khaki Campbells, but upon further research when we got home, I believe we have 2 blue Swedish and 2 black Swedish ducks. Which is fine, I will get my runner ducks another time ;-) here is a pic of the little guys (or hopefully girls!). I can't wait until they get bigger and - if any are females - we start getting eggs!

Time Flies

When I started this blog I wasn't really sure what I wanted to write about. It started as a place to share recipes and tips, photos of our farm and critters, and then it turned into a diary of what I was teaching my oldest son as a tot. 

After our dog Duke passed away and then when I had my youngest son, things changed and I think I sort of fell into post-partum depression but I was never diagnosed. I just wrote it off as a symptom of hypothyroidism which I have been dealing with since after Jimmy was born. So I felt down in the dumps a lot and I stopped blogging except for a couple posts here and there. 

Well, now my oldest, Jimmy, is 5 and just started kindergarten yesterday! And not surprisingly, we have decided to homeschool. I was homeschooled for a couple years and loved it, my step mom homeschooled all 4 of her kids and it just seems natural to me. So far it has been great. We have really been homeschooling ever since we started with Tot School a few years ago. So Matthew, our youngest who is 3, will be doing tot school type activities while Jimmy does his work. 

I just cannot believe how quickly time flies! I have a KINDERGARTENER! Sheesh :-)

 

My sweet boys, they sure are blessings. I thank The Lord for them every day and pray I can teach them in His ways. 

I wonder if I still have any readers out there lol! But really, I want to keep updating so I have a journal of my boys lives. I missed documenting Matthew's first 3 years so I want to try to stay with it now. So hope to be back soon!