Homesteading, homeschooling, animal loving, adoption loving, country living family
I just thought I would post a couple of books I have read lately that I really enjoyed.
Serve God, Save the Planet: a Christian call to Action by J. Matthew Sleeth
The Total Money Makeover: a Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey
Both were great books. I just checked them out at the library.
Have a great day!
For those of you who have never had the opportunity to be the proud owner’s of a blue heeler….well you just haven’t lived. This little girl has given us more headaches and laughs than any of our other animals put together.
Her list of catastrophes is endless, but here is a quick rundown of what occured the other evening.
I got home from work and let all three dogs inside as usual. I started getting stuff around for supper and putting things away from the day. I kept getting a wiff of something not-so-pleasant. After searching and searching for what I thought might be an accident in the house (which hasn’t happened in FOREVER) I bent down to pick up my purse that was laying near our blue heeler, Ash. Eh hem, I found out what the odor was. She smelled somewhere between a dead animal and animal poo. I hurried her outside to wait for Randy to get home to deal with her. She’s techinically his dog by the way!
When he got home he tried to wipe her down (with a wash cloth I (used to) us to wash my face with, it was promptly disposed of after (I threw a fit) he wiped our poo covered dog down with it) to no avail and deteremined a bath was in order.
And so it begins!
Poor thing!
And finally, when she knows the end is near, she forgives her dad with a kiss.
This did NOT, however, rid her entirely of the smell. She was definitely more pleasant to be around post bath anyway.
Just remember, when your dog is bad, we probably have one who is worse if that makes you feel any better at all. Have a great day!
I thought I would post some pictures of what we have been up to lately.
The pumpkin soup did not come without casualties.
Notice the pumpkin puree splattered across her back. heehee
This is a fun little area by the pool. We like to sit here in the evenings after we do chores and give our two cats some attention before putting them in the pool house for the night.
Randy throwing corn for our sheep.
We just recently fenced in our pool. My dad and brother were nice enough to help, along with a friend of our’s not pictured.
The progress.
A gate in progress.
Randy and I after church a couple Sundays ago.
Here is a quick tour of our home. Where I spend most of my little life… the kitchen.
The next two are of our living room. Our bad little dog likes to curl up in a ball on the back of this particular chair. He can see out the windows perfectly and no matter how much we scold him we he continues to perch here when we are not around.
This is our family room. We like to snuggle up back here with our heater cranked up in the wintertime and relax.
Hope everyone has a wonderful week.
For those of you who have never had the opportunity to be the proud owner’s of a blue heeler….well you just haven’t lived. This little girl has given us more headaches and laughs than any of our other animals put together.
Her list of catastrophes is endless, but here is a quick rundown of what occured the other evening.
I got home from work and let all three dogs inside as usual. I started getting stuff around for supper and putting things away from the day. I kept getting a wiff of something not-so-pleasant. After searching and searching for what I thought might be an accident in the house (which hasn’t happened in FOREVER) I bent down to pick up my purse that was laying near our blue heeler, Ash. Eh hem, I found out what the odor was. She smelled somewhere between a dead animal and animal poo. I hurried her outside to wait for Randy to get home to deal with her. She’s techinically his dog by the way!
When he got home he tried to wipe her down (with a wash cloth I (used to) us to wash my face with, it was promptly disposed of after (I threw a fit) he wiped our poo covered dog down with it) to no avail and deteremined a bath was in order.
And so it begins!
Poor thing!
And finally, when she knows the end is near, she forgives her dad with a kiss.
This did NOT, however, rid her entirely of the smell. She was definitely more pleasant to be around post bath anyway.
Just remember, when your dog is bad, we probably have one who is worse if that makes you feel any better at all. Have a great day!
I thought I would post some pictures of what we have been up to lately.
The pumpkin soup did not come without casualties.
Notice the pumpkin puree splattered across her back. heehee
This is a fun little area by the pool. We like to sit here in the evenings after we do chores and give our two cats some attention before putting them in the pool house for the night.
Randy throwing corn for our sheep.
We just recently fenced in our pool. My dad and brother were nice enough to help, along with a friend of our’s not pictured.
The progress.
A gate in progress.
Randy and I after church a couple Sundays ago.
Here is a quick tour of our home. Where I spend most of my little life… the kitchen.
The next two are of our living room. Our bad little dog likes to curl up in a ball on the back of this particular chair. He can see out the windows perfectly and no matter how much we scold him we he continues to perch here when we are not around.
This is our family room. We like to snuggle up back here with our heater cranked up in the wintertime and relax.
Hope everyone has a wonderful week.
1. Photos
*6 reflect family life
*1 of us together
*1 of Randy
*1 of Me
*6-8 of the interior and exterior of our home
2. Passport Photos
3. Letter of Intent to Adopt
4. Dossier Family Profile Summary Form
5. Police Clearances
6. Marriage Certificate
7. Birth Certificates of Applicants
8. Home study
9. Health Examination
10. Physical Assessment
11. Psychological Assessment
12. Employment Letter
13. Financial Statement
17. Taxes (most recent 1040 federal tax form)
18. Bank Statement
19. Copy of CIS Approval, or I171H
20. Photocopies of Passports
21. Resume
22. Reference Declarations
23. Post-Adoption Agreement
24. Guardianship Designation
25. Guardianship Statement
Below is what I have completed so far (they aren’t notarized, but we will do almost all the notarizing at one time):
1. Photos
*6 reflect family life
*1 of us together
*1 of Randy
*1 of Me
*6-8 of the interior and exterior of our home
2. Passport Photos
3. Letter of Intent to Adopt
4. Dossier Family Profile Summary Form
5. Police Clearances
6. Marriage Certificate
7. Birth Certificates of Applicants
8. Home study
9. Health Examination-scheduled for Nov. 19th
10. Physical Assessment-scheduled for Nov. 19th
11. Psychological Assessment-scheduled for Nov. 19th
12. Employment Letter
13. Financial Statement
17. Taxes (most recent 1040 federal tax form)
18. Bank Statement/Bank Letter
19. Copy of CIS Approval, or I171H
20. Photocopies of Passports
21. Resume
22. Reference Declarations-still missing 1:4
23. Post-Adoption Agreement
24. Guardianship Designation
25. Guardianship Statement
We also received the packet for our Homestudy. Below is the checklist and our progress on it.
Initial Packet for Fingerprinting/Background Check:
1. Fingerprinted at local police department
2. Signed Information Release Waivers
3. $49 check
Second Homestudy Packet:
1. Personal Data Information (these are long answer questions for the social worker)
2. Financial Statement
3. Medical Reports-scheduled for Nov. 19
4. Directions and map to our home
5. Statement of Insurance
6. Authorization for Release of Information-Employment Verification release
7. I600A form
8. Parents in Process Adoption Preparation Classes-scheduled for Dec. 6-7
A lot of these items just need to be notarized, we are waiting on someone to return them from us, or are waiting on our appointment times. With the holidays creeping up on us I am very concerned we won’t get our homestudy done before Christmas like we had hoped, but who knows.
To our understanding the I600A and the PIP Classes don’t have to be completed in order to do our actual homestudy where the social worker visits our home. So there is still hope we can have the social worker visit before the end of the year.
Holt International has received its license for adoption in Nepal. This is a pilot program meaning we will be one of the first families to journey to Nepal for adoption since their laws have been revised. It’s exciting and scary all at the same time.
Our medical exams are scheduled for Nov. 19th and our classes are schedule for Dec. 6-7. We are hoping to be able to have our social work visit between the two, but not sure if this will be possible yet or not. We are probably asking a little too much with the holidays, but a girl can dream, right?
I have decided if Randy and I are going to keep up with our evening chores we are going to have to make some changes to our evening meals. Cooking from scratch is healthy and yummy and all of that good stuff, but it is also time consuming. With both of us working full-time it’s going to take some doing to eat healthy and get everything done that needs to be done.
So, I am working up a menu plan, fairly general, to make our evenings more open to taking care of our animals (especially with baby chicks on the way).
Monday: Crockpot
Tuesday: Soup and Sandwiches (usually egg or grilled cheese)
Wednesday: Crockpot new or leftovers (add tortillas, cornbread, etc.)
Thursday: Grill (from the freezer)
Friday: This will be our big meal of the week because I am off on Fridays. I also hope to do some cooking for the freezer so we have casseroles in the freezer to get us through the following week.
We will probably have to implement some rice and beans back into our menu to allow for some bulk cooking.
Our menu this week isn’t on track with this new menu plan, but here is what I have planned for the week.
Monday: Egg (homegrown) sandwiches on homemade bread
Tuesday: Link Sausage cooked over sweet potatoes and turnips in our cast iron skillet.
Wednesday: Stir-Fry (bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, turnips, and sweet potatoes over brown rice). The rice is soaking as we speak.
Thursday: Pork chops on the grill and veggies of some sort.
Friday: Roasted Chicken, Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Turnips, and a salad.
Cook ahead:
Bierocks
Hopefully I will get some tortillas made, but we’ll see how the day goes. I also have a lot of housekeeping to do. One day a week just doesn’t cut it when you are trying to cook for 4 days and clean for 7 days worth.
Hope everyone has a great week.
Randy will be working late tonight, so I am on my own with chores. I thought this might be a good opportunity to give a little rundown of what our evening chores consist of as of right now.
The first thing I do when I pull in the driveway:
Let the cats (2) out of the pool house so they can get some fresh air and stretch their legs.
Unload the car
Let the dogs (3) inside, and take off collars.
Feed them and add cod liver oil to each bowl. Give them fresh water inside and outside. Let them back outside after they have all eaten.
Change into work clothes and head outside.
Cats: feed, water, change litter box, and feed our stray kitty
Chickens: collect eggs, feed, and water, give kitchen scraps, and check oyster shell
Sheep: feed grain to three separate groups, fill stock tanks for three separate groups, give a handful of grain to the llama, move protein tubs around, check salt and mineral and fill if needed, look over well to make sure everyone is healthy, and close pasture gates.
Get the mail.
Head inside to assemble dinner, eat, hand wash dishes, and wash the eggs that have just been collected. After dinner it’s back outside.
Before dark:
Lock up cats in pool house.
Close up the chickens.
Let the dogs out again (and back in).
Change into pajamas. Snuggle with the dogs for awhile. Read. Go to bed.
This is daily. Rain or Shine. Hot or Cold. Sick or Well. This doesn’t include the extras when someone is sick and in need of doctoring, lambing, bottle feeding, baby chicks (which should be arriving in a week or so), etc.
Luckily, although my workload will be increased significantly without Randy there to help, I will not have to make and clean up dinner.
The “simple life” isn’t always easy, but it is rewarding.
I was just talking to a co-work about lambing and having to pull lambs. She said the usual, “I could never do it” (pull a baby lamb). I told her I never thought I could either until there is an animal who counts on you to take care of them. They look at you with those eyes saying, “help me” or “I don’t know what to do” and you know you have no choice. I told her I have two baby lambs (not really babies anymore) walking around our farm that would not be here today if I had not pulled them (mamas either). You do what you have to do, for their sake and for your sake. It’s not for everyone, but it is the most rewarding way of life I have lived so far. I hope to be able to live this life for a long time.
Randy will be working late tonight, so I am on my own with chores. I thought this might be a good opportunity to give a little rundown of what our evening chores consist of as of right now.
The first thing I do when I pull in the driveway:
Let the cats (2) out of the pool house so they can get some fresh air and stretch their legs.
Unload the car
Let the dogs (3) inside, and take off collars.
Feed them and add cod liver oil to each bowl. Give them fresh water inside and outside. Let them back outside after they have all eaten.
Change into work clothes and head outside.
Cats: feed, water, change litter box, and feed our stray kitty
Chickens: collect eggs, feed, and water, give kitchen scraps, and check oyster shell
Sheep: feed grain to three separate groups, fill stock tanks for three separate groups, give a handful of grain to the llama, move protein tubs around, check salt and mineral and fill if needed, look over well to make sure everyone is healthy, and close pasture gates.
Get the mail.
Head inside to assemble dinner, eat, hand wash dishes, and wash the eggs that have just been collected. After dinner it’s back outside.
Before dark:
Lock up cats in pool house.
Close up the chickens.
Let the dogs out again (and back in).
Change into pajamas. Snuggle with the dogs for awhile. Read. Go to bed.
This is daily. Rain or Shine. Hot or Cold. Sick or Well. This doesn’t include the extras when someone is sick and in need of doctoring, lambing, bottle feeding, baby chicks (which should be arriving in a week or so), etc.
Luckily, although my workload will be increased significantly without Randy there to help, I will not have to make and clean up dinner.
The “simple life” isn’t always easy, but it is rewarding.
I was just talking to a co-work about lambing and having to pull lambs. She said the usual, “I could never do it” (pull a baby lamb). I told her I never thought I could either until there is an animal who counts on you to take care of them. They look at you with those eyes saying, “help me” or “I don’t know what to do” and you know you have no choice. I told her I have two baby lambs (not really babies anymore) walking around our farm that would not be here today if I had not pulled them (mamas either). You do what you have to do, for their sake and for your sake. It’s not for everyone, but it is the most rewarding way of life I have lived so far. I hope to be able to do it for a long time.
A Simple Prairie Life 