The Homestead Journal ~ Week 55~ First Snow of the Season

Homestead Happenings

  We have been settling in to the new place. When we first learned we were going to be moving, it looked like we would be going out of state, so I began purging. Now that is a fairly local move, 80 miles, I have decided the gas money is worth the trips for a bit more of the stuff, mostly books and furniture. I still need to purge a little more tho, we sure do have a lot of stuff! I have been organizing it as it comes in, but I still spent Saturday finishing off the kitchen and laundry organization. 

We have an outside clothes line, but I also wanted an indoor line. I don't know about your house, but we can loose 100 clothes pins in about 3 days.. So I had a brainstorm... and it works perfectly. The line is thin, but strong, so I may do this for a few outside lines.  I strung the string through the spring ( what a fun phrase!). Its working great. 

We have a huge closet here so I am taking advantage and going back to the family closet. As you can see, all the boys pants, are hung on the back end, then all the boys shirts. The girls clothes are paired and hung, then our Sunday sets and ties, then suits and dad's clothes and mine are on the end, and I also use the pockets for underclothes and pajamas. The children pj's are in the orange buckets, and sweaters in the corner, socks and undies are in the white baskets on the floor. The totes above are clothes storage, and the grey totes below are photos and etc.  

Everyone is excited we have an oven now. The electricity was on when we moved in, so we just needed to transfer into our name. We weighed it all out and decided to do so, instead of living "off grid" as we have been. It is well water here, so the only utility is the electric. We are going to hook the wood stove up on Monday and only use the electric heat only as back up. Since this is a modern home, it will be a bit more to run off solar/generator. We will work on that when the days are longer and the weather is warmer. We hope by next winter to be sustained by a solar panel system.  I will say, we have been a bit spoiled by it all, and my husband and I are back to the walk around the house shutting lights off. We will be going through the breakers and labeling them and shutting off the ones we do not use. 

Back to the oven. Baking. That is the 2nd biggest thing I missed. We did not have an oven, only range type cooking. Quinten did try cookies on a campfire, and they came out great. This week Quinten made french bread and cookies, Abigail made cookies an Jacob made banana bread. 

 Lucas was helping Quinten, I tried to sneak a shot, but he has mommy radar in full power.. He was sifting flour with his hands, like Quinten was doing. It was really cute. He is wonderful about just getting in there and doing what everyone else is doing. Like in the photo below, he had spilled some water, and he went and grabbed a towel and started cleaning it up, without being asked.

Jacob's yummy banana bread! Sans walnuts because A, I do not like them and B, they are not cheap! But daddy has requested them, so next walnuts are on the grocery list. I have to learn some things are worth the extra, not only does my family enjoy them, they are good for us too. 

 Zachary insisted on making cookies as well. We had found these on Pinterest a few weeks ago and had saved them. Well, he decided to find them on his own, I learned that day I need to be more cautious when letting the children use the site, Zachary stumbled on a few photos that shouldn't have been on Pinterest, when he misspelled cookies......... I do not think he actually realized it was there, or how long it was there, as I found it when I went back. I had called him right as he sat down, so I think the Holy Ghost was protecting him, by having a nagging mom who kept taking him from the computer LOL..... he probably typed it up, hit search and walked away before it popped up. Lets hope any how, I asked if he saw anything weird, and he said no.... That's good, cause this was REALLY WEIRD!! 

He was so proud of himself, we made a mental list and I gave him $6. He checked out the groceries and made the treat himself. I did have to help him because he misunderstood the adding the cereal to the bowl, and tried to dump a whole box into the pot!! He made S'mores Rice Krispy treats. You use cinnamon toast crunch cereal instead of rice krispies and you add chocolate chips at the end. Oh, they were good. It cost $2.29 for the cereal, $1.99 for the chips and we used maybe half. The marshmallows were .99 and a stick of margarine is about .25. It made 12 good size squares, as you can see how deep the pan is in the photo.

Last Sunday afternoon, Daddy took the two older boys to get a load from the old house. The Littles and the Middles horsed around a bit in my room, you can see who the wild child here is LOL.. Lucas loves to sit on heads!! While Daddy was out, he picked up an impromptu Christmas gift. I would only say half impromptu. He has wanted a Pyrenees puppy for years, and most recently has had terrible puppy fever. A friend had this little cutie. He got car sick so when Daddy brought him home late that night, I gave him a bath.. Thank the Lord for grooming tools. It was easy peasy and I even blew him nice and dry and fluffy before bed! Ezra, being extremely fearful of dogs, was very leery. Daddy felt it best if he chose the name. Alma is what he chose, so the puppy's name is Alma the Great. We did have fun with some banter of name suggestions.. Snowball, Dakota, Falcore, Utah, Mosiah, were among a few of the suggestions. Being that is was near Christmas, They also suggested Egg Nog, our last name being Naugler (pronounced Nog-ler). There was a car full of giggles on that on as we ran errands last Monday. They had a few other silly names, but I cannot recall them now.

 I am not sure I have ever really done a post about it, but we no longer Celebrate Christmas in the traditional sense. I guess its not quite like the JW's, but we stopped doing big birthday celebrations years ago, we backed off of other secular and non secular holidays, and even Christmas now. We are not anti-Christmas, how ever, we have de-Santa-tized our traditions. We do not do big celebrations for the most part, however, we do let our children receive gifts from family. And they make gifts for others, tho usually they are just because gifts. I will try to do a blog post on that later... ( remind me!) 

The puppy was a "gift" from Nana ( daddy's mom) and my mother hand made gifts for each child. Quinten got this super soft scarf. And he loves it. (Look you can even see a smile!) Lucas got a crocheted tie, but I think the photo of him quite puzzled by the gift wrap is adorable. Jacob and Isaac also received ties, Zachary a scarf and Urijah a hat. The girls have crocheted flowers and Olivia got a head scarf. Ezra's is in the mail! 

 Quinten teaching Lucas "Go Fish". Lucas repeats all of the cards, but if you ask him what it is, they are all Jacks. And Ezra got some snazzy jammies.. He kept asking me what was on his shirt. I finally told him they were like church clothes. 

The big excitement here..... SNOW!! Just like the rest of our life, a day late and a dollar short.. It snowed firs on Dec 26 and again on the 29th. I braved the cold on the 26th and went out on the property and took some photos. 

(more photos below)

Our Adventures 

On Sunday we went to church in our new ward. We have been there before with friends, but this time, was a little different. The primary president was looking at the 7 little new primary students. Primary presidents love my family, we usually make up 1/2 to 1/3 of their classes LOL. 

We have been crazy busy this week. Monday we "ran into town" ( we have 3 towns, each a 30 min drive) to get a few last minute groceries...We got to Walmart, and well, welcome to small town America! It was not a super Walmart. I was happy and Sad at the same time.

Thursday we went back up too the old house and finished packing and cleaning. One big load left! 
Friday we went back "into town, to check out the Library. Cute new little building. Bless the lady who had to assign 7 new library cards! 
On the drive home I noticed this.... 

He was having a grand ole' time writing on the bottoms of his feet! ( he had made a mess of his pants and the car was super warm) 

Home School Notes
I suppose we are on Christmas vacation of sorts. With the move and such, the books have been returned or packed up. They have been doing some baking now that we have an oven, and they have been identifying the trees on the property, not such an easy task in the dead of winter. 

Additional Photos

 Thor and Alma are great friends. I love having cats who enjoy the company of dogs. Joe took this photo of them wrestling..

 This is our "spring" cave.

 Our old Pyr loving the snow, she turns into a puppy. I have a video I will try to post later.

 Sweetie

Alma playing in the snow, he had a blast!! 

That's our week! I am sure there is plenty more, but I am exhausted! Have a great week. 

(note: to see photos larger, click on them)

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Family Meetings

I have had several people inquire about our family meetings. We hold three types of meetings here. It really helps to keep everyone up to date, it helps teaching the children how to make important decisions and everyone feels like they have a say in how we run the household. We have been doing these meetings for several years, I feel they are a very important part of running any family, especially a large one.

Impromptu Meetings: These are a hey, everyone gather round, type of meeting. We may call one before we head out for the day, or maybe at dinner to discuss things. They are informal, and usually pretty short.

Family Meetings: These are scheduled twice a month, on the 2nd and 4th Sundays, or the following Monday evening. We start with a prayer, and Mom usually addresses things first. I usually go over new rules, changes in chore schedule, etc. The management part of the home. Then each child has the opportunity to bring up and discuss anything they feel is important to them. Dad ends the meeting with his final words and thoughts and wraps it up with a prayer. We are very open about things in our meetings about such as finances, jobs, and other major decisions. Even with our recent move, the children were consulted and we openly discussed things. We usually don't hold back too much, as this is their life as well. We have the final say, but they are very involved in the decision process.

Personal Meetings: We hold these as needed. Dad and I each do one on ones, and we do them differently. Dad usually only has meetings with the older boys, and he runs them very similar to the Personal Priesthood Interviews the LDS church has with its male members. I talk with each child about every 6 weeks or so, if we haven't needed to sooner. . I will first ask them to tell me how I can improve as a mother. At first I would get a lot of "oh, nothing mom" but they are more open with me now. Its a humbling reminder of my faults, and the most common criticism is my yelling. I then tell them what I need them to improve upon. I ask them where they are at with their lessons. We discuss them and see what is working and what isn't and any changes they want to make. They choose their lesson plans and agree to follow through and complete them. If they do not, I will choose it for them. I do have a parameter the have to fulfill some portion of what I feel is necessary, but they have done quite well, and I have not needed to alter their decisions. We then discuss the family as a whole and address any issues they are having. If need be, it will be brought up in the next family meeting.

These meetings strengthen our bond as parent/child and it also helps strengthen the family. If you hold family meetings in your home, I would love to hear how you organize them!

The Homestead Journal ~ Week 54~ Surprise!!

Homestead Happenings

  It has been one intense week. As I wrote last week our van broke down. The van got a new transmission for Christmas thanks to the generosity of a wonderful saint.

The week was long for me. I was blessed to borrow a friends truck for the beginning of the week. Tuesday evening I stayed with a friend, so I could get to work a little easier. I really missed my family, especially the little one who nurses!! I was pretty tender come Wednesday evening. I really enjoyed getting to know my friend a little better. We stayed up talking till 11 pm which is late for me since I have been on an 8 pm bed time schedule lately. The van was ready Wednesday evening so I rushed home and grabbed the family to run and get some groceries and get them out of the house. We bought s'mores ice cream and some cones and had a treat on the way home. Thursday was back to work. Friday I was off, as we had an appointment to see a house.

And the good news is....... The homestead is moving!! The Lord has answered the prayers of not one, but two families.... And we'll maybe a few others who were praying for us!! The owners of the home were praying for a family to take over their home, an we were praying for a new home. It's been vacant and a little neglected by the previous renters. They are looking for someone to just take over payments, but we also have  a rental option. The home is a large modular home on 23 acres. There is a spot in the back where we can build our Little Homestead Cabin that we have dreamed of. We have a natural spring that has never run dry that anyone has known of and it has tested perfect for drinking. Lots of answered prayers! 

For those that have been following my issues with my church, I will not delve into too many details today.  I will say that I still feel that what has been done is unfair, and I hope to have the issue reconciled and not swept under the rug, just because we have moved. I feel that while I may be a bit bold in my outspokenness, it does not give my priesthood leaders the authority to punish me based on a difference in political opinions, nor should it prevent me from speaking out when I see things that contradict the gospel teachings. 

There is another part of my week I think that weighed on me extra hard and I didn't realize it at first. I was still trying to reconcile the issues with my church family, trying to balance work and an out of commission vehicle, a pending move and many dead ends, and the other everyday busyness of life. I was just feeling this overwhelming feeling of sadness, an emptiness I could not identify. When I had a chance to sit and have some quiet time, it came to me. It was a sense of urgency I have, but so much more intense. This past Tuesday my first born turned 14. This also meant that our first angel baby would be 18. Jacob was born 4 years to the day that our first baby, who we miscarried at 9 weeks, was due. I usually don't experience such sadness in remembering our loss, maybe the overwhelming sense of urgency in getting Jacob the opportunity to experience the things I had hoped for him such as raising animals and working a family homestead. I think I realized how soon Jacob will be an adult and it all hit me. I find it very interesting that is was that very day we finally got the opportunity we had been praying for. 

I am very grateful for the love and support from our family and friends.

Our Adventures 

This was a really neat marker we passed on our way home. Its the 3 corners of KY. 

Saturday I was blessed to borrow a friends grooming shop to give our Big Dopey Dog a bath and to groom my friends poodles. Jacob bathed Taylor, although I was disappointed in  his work. I know I trained him better than that. I also realized how old she is getting, loose hips and all. Our big family dog is going to be 12 this spring. I also enjoyed grooming my friends poodles. People often ask what my favorite dog to groom is, they also ask my least favorite, my answer is the same.... Standard Poodle. I LOVE to do beautiful scissor cuts on them, I just really don't want to brush them out LOL. One day I will have a Standard Poodle of my own! 

 Additional Photos to Share

 This is the house. It needs a little work but is still in great shape and will be a perfect place while we build our house. I do wish there were some older trees, there are quite a bit as you can see in the back ground.

Our view across the street

This is the layout of the property (think black line I drew). There is a hay pasture in the top left corner of the photo, and a fence that splits the property in half. There is also a small animal enclosure in the  bottom left corner, perfect for a small  horse or some goats or sheep. There is a large garden area near the garage, and a huge grapevine!! So much more potential. I think my trees look like the American Continents LOL

The room I am in has the fireplace and where the wood stove will go. We will put a wood stove in on the other end, at a later time, for now, we will use electric back up if needed. There is a laundry room on that end as well. Great for mudroom type area as well. This will be our family room

 large open kitchen area

 master bed and bath. HUGE closet for all of our laundry/storage

 This will be the office/library off of the master. It has a huge front window I will make a reading nook
or two in there as well.

 out into the rest of the house. There are three bedrooms and a bath down the hall.

 This is the "second living room" but I will make it an extension of our dining room for now and have several tables and eventually more shelves and seating.

 Dining area.

 view from the bedrooms, the boys have decided to continue to share a room so we will make
the extra room a play room for the little's or a scout/craft room.

 view off the back porch. The roof is fine, its fairly new, they had used extra to close in the back porch, so
its hanging from the side, not the roof. Lots to clean  up!

This is our homestead crew! Trying to keep them still for a few moments!

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