Alright, I will have to confess I have dreamed of living on a little farm with our own chickens, goats, and sheep BUT I know myself and I know I need a mall, a Target and a Walmart to survive. I know, I know that is so pitiful! I also know I don't want to clean a chicken coup, yuck! I don't want a rooster to be my alarm clock. I don't want manure to be the smell that drifts into my windows on a cool spring day. Yes, I guess the suburbs are for me.

Today we went to a real working farm! It was a dairy farm with 1500 cows! It was quite impressive. The kids had a blast. We actually witnessed a calf being born, how cool is that! The kids fed baby calves, watched pig races, and watched hundreds of cows getting milked. There were goats, sheep, chickens, roosters, turkeys, rabbits, and even a stray kitty all at this farm.

As we were touring this amazing farm I witnessed the cows who relieve themselves at any given moment or place. My dear friend ended up with cow poop on her shirt, eeww! The smell of the molasses the farm uses to sweeten the cows' food was completely nauseating. Horse flies were everywhere. I was ready for the tour to end by the time we got on the itchy hayride. SO you are probably thinking I had an awful time. Not at all!! It was incredible to see how this farm works. The farm was owned by christians who work very hard for their living. I truly respect the hardworking farmer. These farms are the heart of America.

I am sure the kids learned plenty today but I also learned plenty too. My biggest realization is that I am just a girl from the suburbs and I am okay with that!

The cows being milked!

This is a picture of the baby calf being born. It's not a great picture.

The baby calf after it was born (not a great photo either)

The kids are looking down and watching all the cows getting milked.

The cows walk through a "bath" after being milked .

Yes, this is really a picture of a pig race!

The kids justed finished playing in the coolest haystack! The haystacks were made into fort with a tunnel. The kids are dirty and tired here but they had a blast.

We ended our fun day at McDonalds with ice cream

March is the annual spring pickin' time for strawberries! This year I went with my dear friend "T" and her kids. We picked 18 quarts each! Oh, the joy of washing, drying, packing, and freezing all those strawberries. It was worth it! After strawberry picking we went to the coolest park. These trees were on top of hills with their roots exposed. My pictures don't serve it justice for how amazing it was.

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My Father's World, our favorite curriculum

 When I began homeschooling 3 years ago, I was looking for the perfect curriculum for every subject. In my first year I was so full of new ideas and excitement. I wanted to try everything and boy, did I. I had a separate program for bible, geography, history, art, art history, music, science,  math, grammar, spelling and and and........... 

Our two youngest were up at the crack of the dawn!

Our little girl was so excited about her new petshop animal toys.

Easter Morning at our house. Notice the sleeping college student in the background.

Hello family and friends!! It's been well over a year since I have blogged. These years with my kids are so precious. I hope to get some of these memories recorded to share with you.

In the picture above my little angel is making a recipe from her first cookbook. She was so excited.

The recipe was called Ham'n Cheese Bites.

My little angel rolled ham slices and cheese sticks around a piece of bread and it was yummy!

My daughter, my baby turned 7 years old! I made her a mermaid cake as requested by her. Seven is a fun age! I have pictures of her cake, my daughter the birthday girl, one of her brothers (other one at college), my hubby (he is so handsome!) and myself.

Last night we were coming home and it was dark. Our front porch is home to a few tree frogs. The light on at night attracts moths and so the frogs hang out for the meal. I don't mind having the frogs just don't touch me, ewww! My daughter sees a HUGE tree frog as we are unlocking the front door. So the good HS mom in me makes it a science lesson. We get a flashlight and look at it. To back up a bit, animals love my daughter. The cats always lay next to her. Our dearly beloved lab who passed away, would lay at her bedroom door until she fell asleep, so sweet. Anyway, this frog turns around, sees my daughter and decides he likes her and wants to check her out. I knew what was going to happen. I ran away, I didn't even protect my kids! The frog jumps on my daughter, she screams, the frog freaks out and jumps next on my son. More screaming by both kids now. I've ran away because I'm freaking out. My poor husband is trying to take control of this ridiculous scene on our front porch at 10pm! The kids manage to run in, both are crying. My husband is looking for the frog, afraid it was killed or injured in the maddness. The frog is safe, just some frog pee left on the porch. The kids calm down and we are all rolling on the floor laughing.

The next morning, I get our bible study out. Guess what story is for the day. You guessed it, the plagues of Egypt. So we talked about the plague of the frogs. My daughter was especially grossed out due to the previous night's incident. So that morning they wrote wonderful and funny entries in their bible journals.

I think God has a big sense of humor!

If you look carefully, you can see "Brownie" one of our turtles on the "Nile River"

Turtles are now residing at our house! CP was catching lizards outside. She would keep them in a container until they almost die of fear or of starvation. Daddy had to convince her this isn't a good life for lizards, God has a better plan for them. She reluctantly released them into our rain gutter for a better life. So that started "Mommy, I want a lizard for a pet." So off to the friendly neighborhood pet store where you can buy a lizard for the low price of 89.99! Still need a cage, special light, lizard food, and whatever else needed to create a good lizard life. So I convinced her that the turtles for 3.99 would be a better pet. So we bought Brownie and Hulk (Yes, these are know as common turtle names) for 3.99 each. Then we bought the aquarium, turtle food, colorful rocks, a special rock to keep germs away, and a decorative log. All to create the perfect turle life for a low price of.... this is where I say it is priceless! Yeah, right! Anyway here is some pictures of our "priceless" new pets. Oh, did I mention how fun it is to clean the aquarium very week.

CP lost her front tooth and I love to hear her say "lizard" now.

Our dog and her attachment to her bone. She sleeps with it!

Today we made mummy bears! We were continuing our studies of Ancient Egypt.                                                       

Today we learned about the Ancient Egyptians. We learned how the farmers used the seasonal flooding of the Nile River to water their crops. So we built our own Nile Rivers and we will flood our river every couple of days. We put grass seeds in the soil so in time we will have grass growing around our own Nile.

My darling husband surprised us with a little getaway to Orlando, to the kids favorite hotel. We took the kids to Bass Pro Shop. Daddy had as much fun as the kids too. CP and I did a little shopping in the mall. JF met us at the mall and we had lunch together.

Poor CP was knocked down by a another boy at the hotel in the pool. He was playing rough and jumping in the pool. He jumped right on top of her and knocked her underwater and against the wall. I immediately yelled at the boy with a mother's rage. CP was crying. The boy did not even apologize. Where are his manners!

We spent labor day around the house. We ended our day with a picnic in a tent in our living room and classical music in the background. What a nice way to end our weekend!

Today we made sugar cube pyramids! We are studying Ancient Egypt. Did you know if your cat died in ancient Egypt times, you would shave off your eyebrows to show you are mourning your beloved cat. I love my cats but not that much, sorry Oreo and Rosie (our beloved cats). It is funny how our personalities show in our work. My daughter, the free sprirt, easy going just enjoyed the building the pyramid. It didn't matter how symetric it turned out. My son, the thinker is taking his time and has not finished his pyramid yet.

  Myself, Hubby and JF, my oldest at his graduation. His contacts give him the mummy look but still handsome.

 I finally posted a picture of myself. I just finished working all night so I look tired!