Another week gone...

Time sure flies by:) I worked Friday - supposed to be 10 hours, but got sent home after 8 due to parts problems or something. So, I got a little more sleep! Friday morning, around 10am, I was laying in bed with a pillow over my head, seeing if I could get a little more sleep when my husband came in and lifted the pillow up, put a piece of paper/letter in front of my face - a temporary job offer for Truck and Bus in Flint!!! He is to start this Monday:) YIPPEE and Praise the Lord! I told him I can't wait for him to be as miserable as I am! Don't get me wrong, I am thankful to be working, but oh, so TIRED! This shift is hard for me to get used to. But, this week was better! I believe they'll be laying the group I came in with off the second week in August. Just in time to get ready for school again!

The summer is flying by! In the mornings, the girls go outside with Daddy so mom can get some sleep and it's so sweet to see them out there with him! Lyndsay will go out there in her PJ's and mud boots! This morning, she went out there in her sundress and princess shoes. I went to check on her and 4 of the hens were following her - too cure! Daddy gets a lot more attention now that mom's been working!

Wednesday we had the broiler chickens butchered. We started with 107 and ended up with 66:( That was in part thanks to the dog! Oh well, the experience is invaluable - right? Jeremy, Brooke and Curt ended up bagging them all and weighing each one. They ranged from 5lbs to 10lbs! Nice birds!

Hubby's been busy mowing (he also mowed the pasture) after putting new spindles, blades, etc. on the mowing deck - the rocks are torture on our lawn mower out here. No matter how many times we go over the area, rocks keep popping up! He is always doing something in the garden - tilling, weeding, fertilizing, watering! Definitely the biggest garden we've had to date! He fertilized and put roundup on the corn out back as well. Next, the hay fields need fertilizer! Looking into a moisture tester for the hay to insure the dryness before baling. We hope to make some money from this venture! Half of the time, he's not in from working outside when I call on my lunch at 10pm!

Today, we had an open house to go to. I hung a few loads of laundry on the line today, cleaned house a bit more, watched the kids playing with some friends who came to get some chickens, then supper, and too tired to go see the fireworks at some dear friends' house tonight - really missed the fellowship, but knew the kids would fall asleep on the way there after getting a lot of fresh air today! Saturday nights, it's easier to get the kids bathed and in bed early to make sunday mornings go easier! Tomorrow is church, then a birthday bash for an 80 year old Great Uncle! Then, Monday monday again! So, have a great Lord's Day!

Hay is done... just in time:)

Well, we baled 219 bales today. Brooke and I handled the trailer and stacking at first while Jeremy made sure the tractor and baler were all working properly and didn't need any more adjustments! Then, I got to drive the tractor (but I think it was hotter in there than outside), while Jeremy and Brooke loaded the first trailer. Halfway through, we hit a bump (wasn't even going that fast) and off went a bunch of hay and Brooke. She's fine - just hit her leg on the corner of the hay wagon on the way down. But, she got right back up and helped restack everything! While trying to help, Lyndsay says "potty". I checked her and she didn't even have a pull up on - when did she take that off??? So, we had to trudge all the way back to Dad's house and get her a pullup, take off the wet shorts, make sure the insides of her rubber boots weren't wet and leave her in Curt's care in the shade, playing with toys at the picnic table! We had already taken a break for lunch, so when we loaded the first wagon with 109 bales, we took it home, put it in the barn, got the neighbor's wagon, left Curt and Brooke at home cuz they went to their Dad's this weekend, and headed back with me driving and Jeremy loading the trailer. We took a much faster pace and finished around 7:45pm with 219 bales total. Not too bad for 4 acres! Our 15 here at the property that we planted this spring should be ready to bale for the third cutting this year. They say you can get 100 bales per acre per year so that should be interesting! Hard work, but rewarding! We have fun working together, bruises and all! Builds character, I hope:) We came home, took clothes off the line, put another load up, got cleaned up and went to dinner! Lyndsay fell asleep on the way there and slept all through dinner and is now sleeping in her bed! Hope she doesn't wake up in the middle of the night starving! So, now I am off to put a boy to bed that doesn't like to sleep alone when Curt is gone... poor Isaac! I let him sleep with Erin and Missy when Brooke and Curt are gone! So, off to 3 open houses tomorrow and hopefully the rain will be gone before I leave the house! Have a great Saturday!

Hay time...

Wow - got to work yesterday and they sent us right back home - bad engine sensors so it may take a few days to straighten it out. They cancelled today's overtime so I have a 4 day weekend and have to call Sunday to find out if we even report on Monday! WOW!! So, today I have already hung a load of clothes on the line, chased Lyndsay around outside and just finished listening to an Abeka Webinar for homeschooling either streamline or DVD this next schoolyear - still trying to decide what to do! Decisions, decisions... Now off to bale hay! Here we go!!!

Been awhile...

Sorry, with facebook, I tend to neglect my blog somewhat! A lot has happened in the last 2 months. We've been working hard, cleaning up the outside somewhat, cleaning out the barn, getting ready for the horse to come home, raising chickens, etc. We had a campout here Memorial weekend - relatives came and camped out here with us - spent 2 days at the Otter Lake beach, got a tan, had lots of good food and fun! Brought Gent home from the boarding stable that thursday night - he's doing great! I thought he'd be nervous and upset he didn't have any horses here, but he loves it! We are now turning him out in his temporary pasture for most of the day - had to do it gradually so his belly would adjust to the rich clover out there! His real pasture is still growing - coming in great and we will probably start fencing that in soon! The broiler chicks are ready to butcher - will be doing that next week. We will do some of our own as well as get some done at the butcher's. We hav 70+ left! The neighbor watched our puppy one day - she'd go up to the chicken barn, come out with a chicken and it ended up half eaten and buried behind the trailer in the septic field. Then, she'd go up and get another... BAD DOG! I followed her out with a belt one morning... Now she can't just run around outside to her heart's content - we have to watch her! Once the chickens are in the freezer, we'll see if she'll behave and leave the laying chickens alone! She's been a real good dog other than that and chewing up a few things in the house she shouldn't... I have been called to work at the truck and bus plant in Flint for the summer as a temporary worker for vacation fill-in... It's not fun, but I am thankful for the work. My sub-pay will last longer now which is a blessing! I miss being at home, though and the kids miss me! I am working second/third shift. 5pm - 3am, so I don't get home til 3:45am and am having a hard time getting enough sleep. Not easy for a morning person to adjust to being a night person. Some nights I feel as if I am sleep walking through work:( Hopefully it will get better! We are really enjoying living on the property now instead of just camping out here on the weekends! All of the comforts of home, at home:) Just got my clothesline up a few weeks ago - thanks hubby! I love hanging clothes out to dry and seeing them blowing in the breeze!

Isaac just had his 8th birthday! Hard to believe -where has the time gone? Lyndsay is talking a lot now! She tries to repeat everything we say and I really need to potty train this girl! She may just do it herself if I wait long enough! She'll take the #2 diapers off right away herself if I don't get to her fast enough and tonight she threw the whole diaper into the toilet instead of just emptying it in there:( Atleast I caught it before she flushed it! Erin loves to wear the same clothes over and over everyday. Somedays I'll catch her hiding them in the linen closet in the bathroom at bathtime... some nights she'll put her pj's on over her clothes! What a nut! Brooke is still working at the horse barn even though our horse is at home. She's getting paid to feed and let horses out every morning and some cleaning a few days a week. Curt is busy - we are almost done with school! He's sitting in the rocking chair right now with Lyndsay on his lap watching Toy Story:) Amber is home for the summer, staying in our camper so she has her own space. Seems strange to me not having her in here with us, but my baby is growing up! She is madly looking for a job - put in over 30 applications so far. Praying for a job for her! Jeremy is keeping busy upkeeping everything and taking care of the garden, fixing things, projects... A few weeks ago, he disappeared to help the neighbor and when I walked outside later, he was rinsing off with the hose and said he'd just help birth his first calf:) He had to get right in there and put a chain around the legs and guide the baby out while the neighbor pulled... yuck! Attaboy!

We are currently figuring out options for our housing arrangements. We are allowed to keep the mobile home here for one year (up in Oct) and could keep it here 1 more yr if we were making progress building... But, we can't build when we aren't working... so, maybe a double wide or something that could be considered permanent and they wouldn't kick us out. Seems wierd that they could make us move off our own property, eh? Rules... Another option would be getting a foreclosure close by that we could live in until we build, then rent out after... Praying for God's will to be done. I DO NOT look forward to moving off of the property but if that's what we have to do, so be it!

Well, I need to go to bed and get other into bed so we can get up for church in the morning:) Went to our favorite store tonight - TSC! Had dairy queen and home to rest... Got a lot of mowing done today and hubby weeded the sweet corn til the rain forced him out of the garden! I reclaimed our house - it's clean again - well it was, the kids were playing earlier and there are toys everywhere, but atleast the floors are clean, scrubbed, vacuumed, etc.! Have a great weekend!! God Bless