Where to start?

The Boys or The Littles

Clay and I decided to keep our two youngest at home to school them this year.  One of our boys has dyslexia [...]]]> Okay, sorry I haven’t called or written.  I’ve been kinda bus-ay…k-k-k-kinda bus-say (I know, right?  I’m all Lady Gaga on ya right now.)

Where to start?

The Boys or The Littles

Clay and I decided to keep our two youngest at home to school them this year.  One of our boys has dyslexia and the other has a bit of an auditory language barrier.  They have been working with a tutor for the last two years and we decided they would benefit much more from her and myself working with them so we can focus on the areas where they need the most help to be successful and we couldn’t see putting one in school without the other, they are sort of package deal right now.  The techniques we’ve incorporated into their learning have helped both our boys tremendously.  The tutor we use is a Brain GymCoach and she uses a lot of the movements with the boys to get their little brains clicking.

The Homeschooling and The Job

I’ve been out of the homeschool arena for a couple of years and I have to admit I wasn’t too eager to get back in the game, but it’s going much better than I ever thought it would.  The boys are really excited to get to work everyday and so far I haven’t made anyone cry which is a miracle if you ask my two older kids.  Kansas offers a virtual school through the public school system and we are taking advantage of a few classes, so far I like the system, but I hate the paper work that goes with it.  We added a Science/Geography co-op once a week with other homeschool families and the rest of our curriculum I had on hand.  So, I’ve been focusing much of my time on getting the boys situated in their schedule.  The rest of my time is spent working at my job which is in full swing until late November and taking care of this here farm where everything seems to be breaking lately.

The Dishwasher

We couldn’t open our dishwasher for a couple of weeks because the handle broke, we tried EVERYTHING!  So, I called a repair man and he got it opened, but now it will be at least $200 to repair it.  We not sure if it’s worth it.  So, I’ve been washing dishes by hand and I kind of like it.

The Hydrant and The Well Head

The hydrant that we use to water our animals broke and we couldn’t shut it off so we had water running for two days, which wasn’t bad since we haven’t had any rain, but guess what?  It rained the two days that the hydrant was running, which was over the weekend and I thought for sure our barn was going to flood.  I lost a lot of sleep over that stupid hydrant.  But, our orchard has had a nice drink of water now.  We had a man come fix it and our busted well head.  He’s going to mail me the bill.  I’m scared to see how much.  But, the good news is he’s a good old guy and he used the parts off an old hydrant to fix the broken one instead of digging it upand replacing it with a new one.   So, he saved us a lot by doing that.

The Dog

Preacher decided to get sick during the Coal Creek Farm repair extravaganza weekend  He was coughing and running a fever, so I took him to the vet.  I love our vet he’s a great country doctor.  He did a stool sample, heart worm check, antibiotic shot and pills all for $79.  To me that’s cheap.  We love Preacher, so I would spend more on him if I had to and I’m sure I will because he still needs to go back and get his shots.

The Biggs

I’m a bit overwhelmed with all the things that need my attention.  I haven’t mentioned my two older kids.  Ellen’s a senior this year so we’ve been planning more college visits and filling out the financial aid forms to see if she can get any sort of aid (we’re NOT taking loans, calm down Damn Ramsey fans) and scheduling pictures and what to wear for them and all that business.  Ellen’s been great about doing a lot of it herself, but she still needs us to help her navigate through the steps. Seth is a sophomore which means he can’t drive yet and still needs us to take him everywhere, which if you’re the parent of a teenager, you know that pain.  We’re still a two car family with three people working, it’s a juggling act, but we manage to make it work.

The Blog

That brings me to the blog.  I’ll write as much as I can.  I love this blog.  I’ve signed up to do a couple of reviews that you’ll see on here.  I need to take advantage of those more to help build up our emergency fund which just got sucked dry from the weekend’s repairs.  I figure I might be able to buy a new dishwasher if I do enough of them or repair the porch or buy a used car or pay for the therapy sessions I’m going to need when my daughter graduates or get really crazy and pay off some more debt!  Have patience with me.  I won’t review anything that I wouldn’t use or be able add some humor.  I’ve discovered that if I can’t make it funny….then it’s just boring as Hell and who wants to read that?

The End

Okay, that’s it from here.  I have about forty things I should write about and probably never will.  You can keep up with us on Facebook, it’s much easier for me to post a little something there and much easier for me to ‘converse’ with you all.  Thanks for sticking with us here on the farm.  I do adore you all and love your fun and sweet comments, heck I even love the comments that tell me I’m full of it.  You all keep me humble.

Standing on the decaying porch steps are my two oldest children heading out to conquer their first day of school.  They had zero interest in posing for a nice photo for their dear old mom.

One thing I noticed was I could make a children’s book from all the photos I took and [...]]]>

Standing on the decaying porch steps are my two oldest children heading out to conquer their first day of school.  They had zero interest in posing for a nice photo for their dear old mom.

One thing I noticed was I could make a children’s book from all the photos I took and call it, “Find the Barn Cat!”

The sophomore is more excited than he lets on about returning to school.  His goal in life right now is to not draw attention to himself at any cost and for his mother especially not to draw attention to him.   Anyone want to guess who gets in trouble for talking too much at school?  Anyone?

Surprisingly, it is NOT the girl.

Where’s the Barn Cat?

The girl is a senior this year.  She has spent the last five years at her school being a very quiet mouse.  She NEVER wants to get into trouble which is very admirable, but at the same time she stifles herself.  This year I said to her, “Ellen, you’ve gotta let your freak flag fly.  And be late to a class for once!  And could you try to get just one detention before you graduate?  “   I know!  What mom says that to her kid?  The mom that raised a really good kid….too good of a kid.

When she is at home, her Freak Flag is at  full mast and the blabber mouth has a hard time coming up with anything to say.  Why are they so different at school?

Barn Cat!

Maybe it’s because they have extraordinarily strange parents.  A post or two ago, a commenter called me a phony.  That’s a first.  I still can’t figure out what the person was referring to, me or the blog or what I write or the photos????   This is us, we really are this ridiculous.  Even though my children don’t ever show it at school.  Come to think of it…my kids are total fakes at school! They are the big phonies!

Barn Cat!

I recently heard Ellen tell a stranger, “My family laughs a lot.  I mean… a lot, a lot.”  This is not fake.  This is my life.  This is the part that I want to share with people, the part that makes me happy.

Cat…BARN CAT!!!

We aren’t happy every second of the day.  We have crap that brings us down.  But, we have been given a gift that helps us survive all the yuck in this world.

The gift to laugh.  To make each other laugh.  To make fun of the stupid, idiotic, dumb things we do and say.

BARN CAT!  BARN CAT!  BARN CAT!

I think I’ll keep doing what I’m doing even if someone thinks I’m a phony.  Because I think living life this way is okay.

Live today, Love today

BARN CAT TODAY!

And for crying out loud….LAUGH TODAY!