Farmer in Training

 What a busy week! 

Last Saturday, we headed out to a fellow homeschooling family's home for a back to school bonfire. 

The evening included pony rides - Little Bean's favorite pony being Pippen :)

 ~ Bonfire or future forest fire? ~

~ Up to mischief in the dark! ~

~ Daddy on duty ~

It's always been a daddy job to do bedtime.  I highly recommend it for all who haven't tried it yet :)

Keeping in mind that our family is naturally different from yours and all suggestions need not apply - definitely consider making bedtime daddy time!

As you can see, it's a big hit at our house.

As a stay-at-home mom, I spend a lot of time with our daughter.  My husband formerly worked a job where if he didn't put our daughter to bed, he wouldn't have spent any time with her from Sunday to Wednesday. 

From an early age, he's put her to bed at night to make sure that they have time together each night.  From a nursing baby who got handed off for a book and a lullaby to the 5 y/o getting chapter books read nightly, they have their own shared experiences and special time built into each day. 

They start with prayers together and move on to a book and finish with a lullaby.  We've been on this routine since we stopped co-sleeping at 8 months. I like it not only because I have guaranteed downtime each night, but also because that 20-30 minutes each night over the last several years has added a beautiful dimension to their relationship.  Consider giving your husband and children the gift of a special bedtime routine.....well, it would be a gift for you too :)

Continuing our Friday night pizza and family night, I made a frozen pizza this week.

Apparently it tried to turn into a space ship and fly out of the oven.....

~ Space pizza cleared for take-off! ~

The majority of our memory-making fun happened this Saturday.  We headed out to a wonderful pumpkin patch.

Here, she's pictured cuddling a feather in front of the chicken coop....gotta let the germs go and enjoy the moment :)

~ My very own ram ~ 

~ Mannequin for hire ~ 

~ 2,000 lb horse - meet 40 lb girl ~ 

~ Process improvement specialist - streamlining the handful of oats operation! ~

~ Visiting Bunnyville ~ 

~ Nothing goes better with "farmer pants" (aka overalls) than a tractor ~

~ "Mom, this picture means I didn't want to take anymore pictures" ~

~ Her first driving lesson ~ 

~ The surprise at the end of the corn maze ~ 

~ Soon she will get things off high shelves for me ~ 

~ Love to the bunnies ~

~ Feeding the goat and sheep ~ 

~ A star pupil with Farmer Jean learning about how pumpkins grow ~ 

~ Yeah, he's silly ~

~ Don't be surprised if our Christmas card looks strangely familiar ~ 

We had a great time at the farm together.  For those of you that have seen "Fiddler on the Roof", you might remember the part where everyone is talking about where they will go now that they are leaving the village.  The old matchmaker says that she's been saying for years at Passover, "Next year in the holy land, next year in Jerusalem".

Well, our family's saying would go something like, "Next year in the promised land, next year on the farm". 


Little Bean got to practice her farming skills and someday we'll get to feed our own goats and chickens.  Until then, we'll keep saying next year every year :)

~ I like this ruler - I look 5 1/2 ft tall! ~

~ Nope, still haven't grown.....maybe next year! ~

 I had an action-packed week.  Besides the usual schooling and chores, I helped a friend prepare her house for sale three days this week.  While it took time and energy, it was nice to help out a friend.  By the end of the week, I was really admiring her calm demeanor.  With an entire household to put into boxes, she was remarkably calm.  

I also discovered a treasure trove at my local library.  I was tutoring a statistics student (I'm tutoring - if you know any students - pass them on!  Voice lessons, math through algebra 2 and anything English, reading, writing related....ok plug finished!) and happened to be in a different section of the library than usual.

What did my eyes behold but an entire bookcase labeled, "Homeschool Resources".  Well, what homeschooling mom is going to pass up a peek in that direction?  I've read The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Bauer so many times that I finally purchased a copy of the book.  

The library had not only The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (by Jessie Bauer), but the entire The Story of the World (by Susan Wise Bauer) series; two books I've been contemplating buying.  We worked out of the reading guide this week and I loved the lessons so much that I had to do an Amazon.com order this weekend.  

We also started reading the history book and I'm enamored.  This too was added to my order.  The parent's reading guide teaches alphabet sounds through fifth grade reading skills.  The history book reads like a storybook and we've enjoyed looking at the maps and reading them as a read-aloud before rest time.  

Perhaps once I return them to the library, you too can take a look :)