Updates from my Homestead

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It has been almost 2 weeks since I have blogged. We have had a lot going on here on our homestead and I have not had a lot of extra time. 

 

Last week I took several trips into town; all necessary, but more than I usually do. I had a nice day with my daughter Emily. Her and I went to the mall and shopped and had lunch and frappuccino’s and just had some nice mom/daughter time. Tobin and I made a trip to town and then there was another one for some grocery shopping.

 

The biggest highlight of last week was my daughter Leanne’s birthday! She turned 16 and of course I ask myself the same question.. Where have all the years gone!!  We celebrated her day with family. It was very nice.  I am thankful for the love of family. We were all so blessed by the visit from my brother in law and his new bride and her children. It made Leanne’s day even more special. 

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I made some peach jam last week too. I have bought 60#’s of peaches this summer and the first 40#’s were all eaten by the family.. which is great!! I love serving in-season and locally grown fruit to them.   But I really wanted jam as well. Finally with the last 20# box the eating slowed down and I had enough to make 6 batches of jam.

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The south side of the house that Tobin has been working on is almost painted!! It should be done by this weekend. We are finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel on this project.. it has been a huge job this summer and Tobin is about wore out.. he is looking forward to the end of the project (at least the outside) and taking a break. He has taken extra days off for the last several weeks and now this week we go back to our regular schedule. 

 

I have also been spending time cleaning and organizing and preparing for school. I usually don’t start school until closer to October but felt like we need the routine and schedule back around here. I love the free-ness of summer but there comes a time when I say “enough is enough” and it is time to get back into a better routine. 

 

After many years of using the same curriculum and vowing I would not do anything differently, I have finally decided to make a change. I have used ACE Paces for a long time (except for math, we have always used Saxon and will continue to). I purchased the Robinson Curriculum. One of the things I appreciated about ACE is that it is a self directed curriculum. I set up the weekly schedules for my children, help them when they have problems, check over their work, etc…  but for the most part they work independently. I like that a lot and one thing that appealed to me about the Robinson Curriculum was that same independent learning. I have eyed this curriculum for several years and finally decided to go for it. So we will see how this year goes. Over the summer I began printing books for my children to read and they have read a lot of them and enjoyed them quite a bit. So they are eager to get started this year. I need to spend the rest of the week and weekend printing and assembling books. 

 

Now for the picture of the week.. here are “Ellie’s Kitties” sitting on the birdhouses that Jacob and Isaac made while on their camping trip. They were napping and it was just sooo cute I could not help but to get my camera and snap a couple of pictures!!

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I have more to blog about.. but am once again short on time! I will be back to share some of the organizing things I have been doing to help my household ease into our fall routines and help me manage my time better..  

 

Have a great day on your homestead! 

Comments

  1. meme21713September 13, 2007 at 6:08 AM

    Your daughters are beautiful and the pictures of the kitty's napping is just to cute...Thanks for sharing and wish your daughter belated wishes...Debbie

    ReplyDelete
  2. abundantblessingsSeptember 13, 2007 at 12:23 PM

    love the photos of the kitties!

    That jam looks yummy!!!

    And Leanne looks like a happy birthday gal!!


    Thinking of you, my friend!!!


    Love ya!

    Laurie

    ReplyDelete
  3. CathySeptember 13, 2007 at 12:25 PM

    Crystal,

    LOVE all the pictures.

    Leanne is beautiful. Those precious little kittens!!

    ~~ it's always a pleasure reading about the days on your beautiful homestead ~~

    Love ya,

    Cathy

    ReplyDelete
  4. RobertaSeptember 13, 2007 at 12:29 PM

    Your piano caught my eye - it looks very much like an old Steiff that belonged to my grandmother. It seems to be the same size which is an unusual height for an upright. I have never seen another like it.

    Your daughter is beautiful

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousSeptember 13, 2007 at 11:40 PM

    Glad to have you back and am looking forward to more!


    Rachel

    www.homeschoolblogger.com/deovolente

    ReplyDelete

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All messages are moderated. After approval your message will be posted. Thank you for your comments!! Crystal :)

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