Random Thoughts (Yet Again)

Random Thoughts seem to be a trend around this blog lately. My sense of organization isn't always top notch these days. We're busy. For some reason, having our first child was definitely a life-changer. Then, when the second came along, juggling wasn't a big deal. Our third child was hard because I was really outnumbered. I was used to being an "on-the-go Mommy" always at the park, playgroup, or what-not.

When Isaac came along (see stinker above...grin), I remember it being more difficult to get out of the house and it was definitely a change that took time getting used to. We were in a more serious home school schedule and I was definitely feeling pressure and struggling with detoxing from a traditional school's education model. Now that we have five under 8, we're home A LOT, but we also get a lot more done. Not always accomplishing all the projects/goals I'd like, but our time together is priceless.

 

Anything ring a bell with this picture? Yes, this is the result of 1,000 red wiggler worms after they've done their thang from Molly's "gifts" to us. Beautiful peat moss ready for the garden. I'd like to say that this is our normal routine in using up the manure, however the extraction process for the worms was very time consuming. While fun, we'll be using the method of letting our chickens break it down instead. Faster, easier, and less time consuming. The worms took about 1 month to break things down vs. the chickens' 1 week. Chickens win. {grin}

Lincoln was my worm extractor buddy. He threw on gloves and sat for a good 30  minutes helping me take the worms out of the peat moss. We found eggs and worms, placing them in a separate container and in the end, wound up putting them into the garden. No doubt, they'll be helping out in that area.

(Sweet Titus)

Rob's "mini-me"

We hit the pumpkin patch this year (as always).

They had a hay maze. The kids wanted to go back home and make one out of Molly's hay, but they received a firm "no" as she needs it for her sustenance.

A sweet friend in our milk co-op brought me some kefir grains. I had always wanted to try my luck at them, but never did. They're so EASY...

...and nutritious!

We bagged and froze a lot of pumpkin (this is just a glimpse of what we froze) and it made for some great pumpkin chocolate chip bread.

Experimenting with muffins.

Sprouting legumes

and pintos (I threw a bunch in some container pots for the garden and they're coming up nicely).

 

A visit with Great Grandma.

Dad's birthday

And who doesn't love playing with olives?

Isaac loves being my helper during morning Bible time.

Drawing out while learning our verses has been a great help for our non-readers.

 

What have you been up to this fall?