Adam and I recently started a Facebook Homestead group. We have felt quite alone and misunderstood for many years about how we live our life. We were a part of a homestead group about 45 minutes away and we wondered, “are there any people like us, near us?” Within a few days of starting the group, we had 60 people in the group with many participating and asking questions. We decided to host the first event. We had a seed swap and then allowed people to come and tour the property and ask questions. It was a busy day (and we forgot to take pictures until after) but we were so encouraged. The kids sold things they had made and we traded knowledge and encouragement. We are so excited for what the future holds with this group!

I realized that I forgot to post this at the end of January. Winter is a slow time for us on the homestead, especially January. We enjoy the shorter days and spend our evenings reading and going to bed early. It is a time of rest and quiet and it is much needed after many months of hard work. We started the New Year with a friend calling to ask if Graham wanted to skin a road-kill beaver. It was a neat experience for him; I have never seen such a large beaver! And it worked out perfectly because we studied migrating animals in January. Adam finished my bookshelf and my new pantry (phase 1) and Kathryn worked to fill it up immediately! We were able to visit family that was traveling from NC. It was a quick trip to Panama City but we made many memories. The girls and I drove to a bridal shower for our nephew near Tallahassee. We had a fun drive listening to Anne of Green Gables.

December is a busy month for everyone but we also celebrate two birthdays in our family. It is one of our favorite months of the year! It starts out with Zeb and he had at least 3 different celebrations. Then Graham has at least 3 celebrations as well. It’s so precious watching the kids give gifts to each other. It’s my favorite part of birthdays and Christmas!

November began with us finding a kitten in the shed. Her name is Midnight and she is loved by all. We took a trip to the bay bunk, Adam smoked bacon, I attended a homesteaders meet-up, we studied Native Americans and visited the local Indian Temple Mound Museum, we watched the Nutcracker ballet with friends, we boiled and canned peanuts, we dissected owl pellets, we processed chickens, we went to the Baker Heritage Festival, I bottled vanilla, Adam stepped on a rod iron Christmas tree spike, we helped process cane syrup, I canned soup and tomato sauce, we celebrated Thanksgiving, we laughed, Adam started on my Christmas gift (a new bookshelf), we picked up our Christmas tree and we wrapped the Christmas books. What a fun month!

We started school back this week and many changes have been made. Zeb is now 6 so while he sat in our school days in the past, he is now an active participant. I realized that the last few years our school days have been tailored to Kathryn and Graham and Madelynn was just along for the ride. I want she and Zeb to get my time and the beautiful stories that Kathryn and Graham had when they were younger. We still have our “morning time” all together which encompasses: Bible, prayer, scripture recitation, a read aloud, poetry, hymn singing (all these happen daily) and then a rotation of Shakespeare, artist study, composer study, folk song, and Solfa. It’s our favorite time of the day where many beautiful conversations happen and with Zeb, lots of laughter. After this time, Zeb and Madelynn have some time to play while I work on math with Kathryn and Graham. Then Kathryn and Graham are sent off to read assigned books that they will narrate, either written or orally. During that time, I dive in with Madelynn and Zeb for math and read beautiful stories about history and nature and geography. It was so special having this time with them today. We meet back up for a walk before lunch and a reading all together during lunch. Each child has a day where they get time alone with me for 30 minutes after lunch, Monday through Thursday. We wrap up our day with a Spanish lesson and they get several hours of “free time” while I focus on dinner and my to-do list. I’m sure we will tweak the schedule as we go but we are all excited for this new routine.
Today was full because laundry needed to be done and bread and yogurt needed to be made. I am hopeful that tomorrow will be less busy with those large tasks done for the week! I also refilled my homemade taco seasoning today (I love the art it makes in the process), I pickled carrots, cooked two rabbits, made a seminole pumpkin soup and finished yogurt.
Some fun things that happened: About an hour into our school day, Zeb looked at me with weary eyes and said “When is my play time again?” Then I asked him to narrate what I read and he told me about the previous reading. He was so confident and it was quite funny! Madelynn acted out what I read in 50 famous stories for Adam when he got home and Graham told Adam all about the Science in It Couldn’t Just Happen. It was a successful first day back (it wasn’t perfect and there were frustrations along the way). I am looking forward to the conversations I will have with Kathryn and Graham about their independent readings and the time I get to spend with Madelynn and Zeb, curled up with beautiful stories that I love!

They finished up the evening playing Star Wars Monopoly. Tuesday we continued with the new schedule, making adjustments as the day progressed.

Wednesday and Friday are our busy days when we are out of the house more. Wednesday morning I have a precept Bible study and the kids spend time with both of their grandmothers for piano lessons, crafts and sewing. We are back together for lunch and a few school items and then ballet for the girls and chess club for the boys is Wednesday afternoons for an hour. We come back home to finish up any school before heading to church for our small group meetings.

This past Wednesday we had a community service project instead of ballet/chess club. We have an environmental center in town that has 100 native trees, all labeled. In honor of Florida Arbor Day this coming Friday, they were relabeling the numbers on the trees and they asked for help. It is one of our favorite places for nature study so our co-op volunteered to help. It was a beautiful day and the kids worked so hard with their hammer and nails.

Friday is co-op and this month we are studying local hibernating animals and how they differ from hibernating animals in colder climates. It was a blustery cold January morning with wind gusts 20-30 mph but the kids were troopers.

I know it has been awhile since I have posted. I’m hoping to be more consistent going forward! Whether it’s the mundane of day-to-day life on the homestead or specific things I am accomplishing, I would like to post more often. The kids and I recently traveled a little to see different sets of family: after Christmas we went up to my parents cabin in Warm Springs. We had fun playing Christmas Olympics with 2 sisters and their families and my parents. I took more videos than pictures but here are a few. I wish I could show you the video of my Mom sliding down a hill on a piece of cardboard and couch cushion. She narrowly missed a tree.

A few days after the New Year, we drove to Panama City to visit my Aunt and Uncle who live there as well as my other Aunt and Uncle who were visiting from NC. It was a day trip but we made many memories.

Yesterday the girls and I drove to Sneads (near Tallahassee) for our nephews’ fiancé’s bridal shower. For those of you that know me, I’m done traveling for a long while!

We start school tomorrow and we are all looking forward to getting back into a routine! Here are a few more pictures over the past few weeks and I’ll post soon pictures from the last three months.
Kathryn is almost as tall as me and is quite the young lady. Zeb always has a cat with him. Grandma took them squirrel hunting and they were able to tour a replica of the Pinta.

The weather has been cool in the mornings and evenings but mid-day it is still around 80 degrees. We went and had lunch with Adam at the park one day and the kids swam afterwards. The water was freezing but they had a blast.

The boys went fishing with my Mom one evening and Zeb had his first piano lesson with my mother-in-law. They will cherish these memories!

My sister and nephew came in to town recently and spent a few afternoons making memories with them. We went to the beach one day (we had a school of dolphins swim within ten feet of where we were swimming) and kayaking another afternoon. We laughed a lot.

The kids love to carve pumpkins in October and the pigs and the goats love getting to eat the flesh and seeds.