2nd week of June!

Since we moved out to the acreage, Gairod's been just dying to start getting some "toys"! LOL! We already have two kids sized quads, but he needs to do some work on them, as they aren't working properly. A couple of weeks ago, he bought a little dirt bike for the kids!! It's a bit big for the little kids yet, but it fits Jade perfectly! :)

Another thing Gairod got for the kids, is a trampoline!! I always swore my kids would NOT have a trampoline. I know far too many people who have broken arms by falling off of trampolines. I know that the newer kinds have the safety nets around them, but I'm not a big fan of those either! ;) So we have a rule of only 2 kids on at a time (this picture is from right after Gairod got it set up, and yes, all the kids were jumping on it, but we were right there supervising). I am happy to say that they actually haven't spent nearly as much time on it as I thought they would, and have only used it a few times. Gairod only paid $60 for it, and it's just another option of something to do when the kids are playing outside! :)

This Spring has been VERY wet! We have not had a single day without at least a bit of rain for the past several weeks!! It is however, neat to be able to see the storms roll in from the west!

Our grass is starting to fill in nicely! :)

We had a week straight of rain, and I was not able to start weeding my garden. By the time I was able to do it, this is what it looked like!! Yes, those are mostly weeds and grass! Because the garden was made from fresh turned sod and dirt from the old garden, it was more full of weeds and grass then I would have liked!! Plus, I had to wait until things started to come up to be able to start weeding!

After 4.5 hours of weeding, it was starting to look a little bit better! lol!

After talking about it for months, finally, on Monday June 11th, we took away Sage's soother - cold turkey! For months she had been cycling through only having it at night, to having it more during the day when she was cranky or sick. She repeated this cycle over and over, and finally, after a week of her being cranky and having her soother WAY too much, I decided enough was enough! Gairod took it from her in the middle of the day, and when she asked for it 2 minutes later, I told her Daddy threw it in the garbage! I quickly gathered up and hid all of her soothers, and decided I was going to stand my ground. She whined and cried for her soother several times that day, and she cried quite a bit at bed time, but I just kept telling her it was gone, in the garbage, so she couldn't have it any more! The next day she only asked for it a couple of times, and I reminded her it was gone. She went to bed fine that night - no crying or whining for her soother, and we haven't looked back since!! :)

First week of June!

I almost had my blog caught up, and then I got behind again! lol!

I forgot to mention in May, that as of May 1st, Sage is potty trained!! It was a total spur of the moment decision to start training her, but I am happy to say she caught on right away, and we haven't looked back since! :)

The kids and I have been spending as much time as possible outside this Spring! We have had quite a bit of rain, which has made it a bit more difficult, but as soon as that sun comes out, we are outside playing, working in our gardens, and enjoying life on the acreage! :)

Hunter and Sage ♥

Hunter and Koda - Hunter is getting SO big!

Eleanor and Charlie are getting big too!!

Waiting for our garden to start growing!

Waiting for our grass to start growing!!

Jade's garden

The little kids gardens :)

Eleanor and Charlie are getting bigger and stronger every day! Charlie especially, is such a sweetie, and the kids (particularly Sage) love hauling him around like a doll. He's so laid back, he just lets them carry him around, and never gets mad :) At just 14 weeks old, we watched Charlie catch his first mouse!! I couldn't believe it! I thought it would be a few more months before they would start catching mice!


 On Monday June 4th, we got a new little kitten. We debated whether or not to get any more kittens, but eventually decided that death is a part of reality on an acreage, especially with outside pets. So we decided we will get a few more kittens :) 

 This is Charlotte. She was approximately 6 weeks old when we got her. She was from a farm, and quite wild at first! Gairod's parents knew we were looking for another kitten, and some friends of theirs said that they had kittens on their farm to give away. When we went to pick up this kitten, it took their teenage grandkids over an hour to catch this kitten!! If I had known their kittens were this wild, I would not have agreed to getting one! We want nice, tame kittens for the kids to play with - not feral cats!!


We brought her home in a cat carrier (all of our other kittens Jade has held on her lap for the ride home), and she would growl and hiss if you even looked at her! I was honestly scarred to try and touch her! lol! It was Monday evening when we brought her home, so I just stuck the carrier in the sunroom, blocked off the entrance, and opened the carrier door. The next morning, she was still sitting in the carrier, and growled at me when I looked at her! lol! So I put on a pair of gloves, got her out of the carrier, and started taming her! By the time we ate breakfast Tuesday morning, all of the kids had held her. She was no longer growling or hissing, but was still very timid and scarred. She spent much of the first few days hiding under our couch! But within a few days, we had her tamed up quite nicely! :)

Charlotte had no problems with Charlie and Eleanor - in fact, she liked them better than she liked us at first! lol!

BAD week.

While most of May was good, the last week was NOT good.


On Thursday May 24th, our sweet little Lucy kitten died. She was only 10 weeks old. 


When we got the kittens, we made sure to keep them inside full time for the first couple of weeks. We then started letting them outside during the day, but bringing them in at night, and then finally we let them stay outside full time. We put a shelter for them on the deck, with their food and water in it, and they can also play and hide under the deck. Our plan has always been for them to be outside "farm cats", but tame, nice ones, that stay close to the house, and that the kids can play with.


We were also careful to slowly introduce them to the dogs. Since Koda is 6 years old, and has never been around cats before, we weren't sure how she would react. Surprisingly, she reacted quite well to them. She just wanted to sniff them. She would walk towards them, they would hiss and run away. Hunter, at 4 months old, wanted to play with them. He would move towards the kittens, they would hiss and run away, and he would bark and try to pounce at them. It was really quite cute! Before long, they all started getting used to each other, and we all started to relax, maybe a bit too much.


The dogs and kittens were "playing" with each other. The dogs would chase the kittens, the kittens would submit and lay down, then the dogs would lick them. Eventually the kitten would decide enough was enough, and would jump up and run away. We were confident that the dogs wouldn't intentionally hurt the kittens. Unfortunately, we didn't think about the fact that they might unintentionally hurt them. That's how Lucy died. The little kids were in bed, and Gairod, Jade, and I were watching an episode of "Little House on the Prairie". Hunter started barking, and Gairod went outside to see what he was barking about. He found poor little Lucy laying on the ground, barely breathing, and unable to move. Since none of us were out there, we don't know exactly what happened, but we think Hunter may have tried to pick her up by the neck (Gairod saw him do this to Eleanor a couple days prior, and scolded him for it!), and broke her neck or something.


Jade and I were both devastated. I know that they are "farm cats", and I know that the reality of having outside animals in the country is that they don't always live for very long, but I honestly didn't expect to lose one so soon, OR to have it be killed by another one of our animals! To make things even worse, Lucy was our favourite of the three kittens. She was the first one we got, and the sweetest. She was so tiny and cute. I had even said that if we were going to keep one to be an inside cat, I would keep Lucy in, because she was the nicest kitten, and the one who liked to snuggle in your lap. It still makes me sad typing this, to think that she is gone. 


Since this happened, we have been keeping the dogs on a much "shorter leash" so to speak! They are only aloud out of their pen when Gairod or I is outside (don't worry, their pen is plenty big for them to have ample room to run around in - it's as big as our entire backyard at the old house!), and they aren't allowed to go anywhere near the kittens. This is how it will stay until the kittens are big/old enough to defend themselves better, and the dogs learn that they are not toys to play with.


The following Tuesday, May 29th, I woke up at about 12am, to one of the most horrible sounds I have ever heard in my life. It sounded like it was coming from in the dog pen, which is right outside some of our bedroom windows. At first I thought it was just Hunter barking, a split second later, I realized he sounded really weird, and a split second after that, I thought something must be TERRIBLY wrong!! Gairod jumped out of bed and ran to the entry way. I layed in bed shaking, thinking Hunter must be dying, and that we were going to lose our second pet in less than a week! Gairod came running back into our bedroom, and I asked him what was wrong. He said that there was a coyote RIGHT outside the dog pen! He grabbed his .22, but couldn't find any shells! He finally decided to just use a shot gun, but as soon as he opened the door, the coyote took off. We got back into bed, and tried to fall back asleep. A few minutes later, it was back! Gairod jumped up and ran to the entry way, but again, as soon as he opened the door, the coyote took off. He decided to just bring the dogs inside for the night to be safe.


Gairod was on night shift for the next three nights, and I was paranoid that the coyote would come back when he wasn't there! I kept the dogs inside for those nights, and we haven't heard another coyote since.


I had never heard a coyote up close before, and had NO idea that they sounded like that! I've heard them howling in the distance, but I thought up close they would just bark like a regular dog, not yelp like a wounded puppy!!   

First few weeks of May!

Since we only ever have a few months of really nice weather each year, we've decided to focus on fixing up outside stuff for the Spring and Summer, and start back on doing inside house stuff in the Fall and Winter.

The first thing I wanted to do, was to get rid of this flower/rock/tree stump garden that the previous owners had, right at the bottom of the stairs, and start a vegetable garden to the left of it. I know that this is kind of a crappy "before" picture, but it's all I have! I didn't think to take a picture before the kids and I started pulling posts and rocks out! :)

 We got all the posts out, and all the rocks out (except for a couple of really big ones that we couldn't get out, so they will stay there for now!).

 Next we needed to move a bunch of dirt, pull up all of the landscaping cloth that was underneath it, and dig out the rotten tree stumps! It was a lot more work than I had originally thought it would be, but we finally had it ready to put down some grass seed! :)

 This is the spot I staked out for our vegetable garden. It is to the left of where the other garden was. We are going to make it 20 feet by 25 feet this year, but next year we will expand it, or do a second garden!

Gairod rototilled up the grass for me, and it is now ready to plant! :)

 May 21st, was Jade's 10th birthday. I honestly can't believe she is 10 already - How have the past 10 years gone by SO fast?!? I couldn't have asked for a better daughter. She is wise beyond her years, and she is always so helpful and kind. She is a true blessing <3

 Every year it's hard to plan stuff for Jade's birthday, because it always falls on or around the May long weekend. This year it was Monday of the long weekend. The little kids each drew a picture for Jade, which they were thrilled to give to her that morning. Gairod had to work the day shift, and Jade didn't think we were really going to do anything for her birthday. I even had her convinced that I had forgotten to pick up her cake when we were in town the day before! Actually, several days before, I had called all of our parents and siblings, and invited them out for dinner. Jade was definitely surprised when Grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles started showing up! :)

Starting another beautiful day! <3

 Living out in the country means living close to wildlife - and we have definitely seen our share! We've watched deer and moose graze in our yard (I'm gonna need to put a high fence around my garden!!), and we've seen elk across the road. A few days ago, we saw an owl sitting on one of our fence posts!

 Next year for homeschooling, I plan on doing a lot more nature/animal studies. We are living in the perfect place to learn about many things first hand - and the kids are certainly interested! This last picture is of them slowly walking closer to the owl, to get a better look! :)

April Recap - Part 2!

In the middle of April, we had a big snow storm, that dumped 8 inches of snow!! Of course, it had to happen when Gairod was working nights, and the kids and I were all alone. The snow was SO thick and heavy, the power kept flickering in and out, and I was paranoid that the weight of the snow was going to pull down a power line, and we would be without power for who knows how long!! Luckily the power stayed on, and the snow all melted within a few days.

I do have to say though, after the bits of snow we have seen this Spring, I am looking forward to next Christmas out here. It looks SO beautiful when the trees are all covered in snow - it honestly looks like a Christmas card!! :)

In the third week of April, we finally started finding some kittens! We got Lucy (girl) on April 18th, and she was 5-6 weeks old. 

We got Charlie (boy) on April 22nd, and he was 8.5 weeks old, born on Feb. 22nd 2012.

We got Eleanor (girl) on April 26th, and she was 6 weeks old, born on March 14th 2012.

So within just over 2 weeks, we got 4 new pets - 1 puppy, and 3 kittens! lol! We kept the kittens inside for a few weeks, then made a home for them outside, on our deck, so that they can grow up to catch mice! :)

April was our first full month on the acreage. I can honestly say that we all settled in right away, and are loving acreage life. We are already looking at getting some chickens, and possibly a calf or two, in the future! :) 

April Recap - Part 1

April started off great!! We had everything moved out to our new house, the renters moved into our old house, and we could start settling in! 

I had originally planned to take the last 2 weeks of March off of homeschooling, so that we could move and get settled. I figured we could start back at it the beginning of April. We ended up taking the first week of April off too. We really needed that extra week off, to continue unpacking, and start getting into a new normal routine.

During that first week of April, we also decided to paint Jade's room! My mom was off work for Easter break, so she came out and helped me. :) I am a big believer in letting kids pick the paint colour for their room. They are only young once, and it's not hurting anything to let them pick cool colours for their room!! So, Jade picked purple and teal! :)

The first "holiday" we celebrated in our new house, was Easter! The Easter Bunny did something new this year, and hid plastic eggs all over the house for the kids to collect! Each kid had a certain colour to find, that way Jade's eggs could be hidden in harder spots, and Sage's in easier spots! The kids had a blast!! :)

 

 Since the beginning of April, I had been searching kijiji (local online classifieds), for some free kittens. We had decided to get a couple of kittens, to be outside cats, to keep the mice population down. I had no idea how hard it would be to find kittens!! As soon as free ones would come up, they were all gone within hours!!

In the second week of April, while looking for kittens one day, for some reason, I decided to start looking at puppies. We have a 6 year old female yellow lab, and have talked about breeding her with a chocolate lab, for a few years. It's just never worked out to get someone elses dog over, when she's been in heat. Suddenly I thought: Why don't we just get our own male chocolate lab, and then they can breed whenever they want to, and we could sell the puppies for a bit of extra cash?! So I found one on kijiji, picked him up that afternoon, and surprised Gairod with him when he came home from work that night!! It was a TOTALLY rash decision on my part, and SO unlike me, but it was all worth it to see the joy on Gairod's face!! He likes dogs much more than I do, and was quite sad when we had to get our male yellow lab (the father of our female) put down in the fall, because he was old and sick. 

So now we have a new little boy, "Hunter"! He was 10 weeks when we got him, and a bit small for his age. But he is growing quickly, and we are hoping he and Koda (our female) might be able to breed when she goes into her next heat in the fall!! :)

   

  

March Recap!

Okay, so just in case you don't remember, we got possession of our new house on Thursday March 15th. We spent the first week taking out a load or two of stuff each day (well, each day that Gairod wasn't working!), and did our big move on Friday March 23rd. It was an exhausting week, but I am so proud of how well the kids did, and I am also proud of how much Gairod and I were able to do on our own! 

We then had another week to clean, do some painting, and fix up a few things at our old house, before the renters moved in. By March 31st, we had everything done and moved out of our old house, and the renters were moved in! I was SO happy to finally have all that stress behind us, and just be able to focus on getting things unpacked and organized at our new house! :)

Front view of our new house :)

 Garage #1

 Garage #2

 "Barn"

 View to the South

 View to the North-East

 View to the West

Back On-line!

Well, after a month and a half of no home Internet, we are finally back online!

I can honestly say that I enjoyed our time with no Internet, and I am already stressing out and worried about slipping back into my old bad habits!

I got SO much more done in the house, and around the yard, without the distraction of the computer! I checked Facebook and email a couple times a day, on my phone, but that was pretty much it. Now I am already tempted with catching up on blogs I used to read, posting on my own blog, and "googling" stuff about homeschooling, gardening, acreage stuff, etc.

I LOVE the new lifestyle we are easing into, and I really want to share it with anyone who still reads this blog (if anyone actually does!). I honestly feel happier right now, than I have in a long time, if ever! I feel like I am finally where I am supposed to be!

So I will continue to blog, but I am really going to cut back on the blogs I read, and focus more on enjoying MY life, instead of constantly comparing myself to other people.

I am happy with the person I am becoming, and I want to continue to grow and change. :)

No Internet

I swear I am still alive, and doing very well! :) I have SO much to update on, but we still have no home Internet, and posting from my phone sucks!

We have been in our new house for just over a month now! Things are going great. We are all LOVING it here!! We are hoping to get home Internet soon, and then I promise I will start posting again, and fill you in on what's been happening in our lives! :)