Tag Archives: busy family

How to Find and Use a Farm Sitter to Enjoy Vacation as a Homesteader

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We don’t go on vacation much. Hardly ever, really. And our version of a vacation is usually just a 3-day weekend visiting family. Between all the packing for five people; all the prep (and cost!) to leave the animals in someone else’s hands; all the stress of getting there and getting home–and worrying about everything while you’re gone!–then all the unpacking, washing, cleaning, and catching up when you do get home…blah! There’s nothing relaxing about it! Besides–we like being at home! But we also like our family. And we like adventuring … Continue Reading…

Daily Learning Routine for Non-Homeschooling Moms

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Boy, the world is quite a mess lately, hmm? Our kiddos are home full-time until September and Mr. Fix-It and I are both Essential workers at our off-homestead jobs, so our house has been kinda reeling lately. A little bit of organization goes a long way! We have always done summer home-learning activities, but I had to look over my previous activities and make some adjustments for this new phase of Crisis-Schooling. It’s not really the same as homeschooling. I’m not trying to cover a complete school year or curriculum. … Continue Reading…

How to Organize Family Electronics for Easier Travel

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I was recently had to travel out-of-town for work. Our family’s preference for traveling light meant my ninja packing skills fit 3 days of business-casual clothing and traveling-office gadgets into our old Kelty Redwing 40 backpack. (BTW, the new design looks even easier to travel with!) Some of my colleagues were amazed–as they wheeled their full-sized suitcases down the hall. As a pick-up-truck family, packing light for travel has always been our thing. We just don’t have space for stuff.  Our Spring Break Road Trip really had us paring down to … Continue Reading…

Great Football Movies for the Family

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Well, we registered the boys for football this Fall. Practice doesn’t start until August, but we’ve started accumulating their gear. And they are so excited that they’ve started wearing it around the house and to do their chores, especially walking the dogs. You know, just to get used to it. {smile} Speedracer is particularly excited about it and has been filling all his extra summer minutes with football movies–which then inspire him to throw his gear on and run around the backyard like a gridiron superstar. When it comes to sports … Continue Reading…

Easy DIY Luggage Tags

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As I wrote last week with our Summer Camp Packing lists (did you download your FREE copy?) our kiddos have been adventuring away from home a lot this summer. They visited my sister, my mother-in-law, and now church camp. This is Speedracer’s first year at church camp and we’ve developed several little rites of passage for the first year. One is that they get their first toiletry bag (or shaving kit bag for the boys) and one is that they get their personalized luggage tags. This is an easy and … Continue Reading…

Building, Rebuilding, and Getting Dirty…the Daily Farm Adventures {109}

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Thank goodness after a long round of antibiotics and other meds Mr. Fix-It and I are feeling better. Not great. Not quite back to normal. But definitely better. Because Spring is in full swing around here and there’s just no time to be laying around in bed! The Dodge has been in pieces in the garage for weeks now and that situation had to be corrected. First we had to take it apart to figure out what was broken. Then we had to find and order the parts–from Montana of … Continue Reading…

How to Have Real Food for Dinner on Crazy Busy Weeknights

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We have been in the midst of a very busy season around here. The kiddos have a summer full of family visits, sports practice, and fun camp experiences, against a background of our two full-time jobs and managing the homestead. I’d love to be able to say that eating a healthy dinner in the midst of all that running around is our number one priority, but can I be honest for a moment? Our #1 family wellness goal in this season has become just not eating fast food every night! … Continue Reading…

Sailboats, Birthdays, and Blue Chairs..the Daily Farm Adventures {63}

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Usually the Daily Farm Adventures are filled with…well…farm adventures. {smile} But this weekend our days were filled with sailboats and shopping for the Ladybug’s birthday. She turns 10 today, ya know. And she celebrated in grand style by winning the church’s first Sailboat Regatta! The kiddos and Mr. Fix-It have been working on their first sailboats for a week now. They sanded, and sanded, and sanded, and sanded some more, and then painted. This was the first time they used spray paint. There were a few runs, but mostly on … Continue Reading…

Coal Mining Communities Unit Study for Middle Grades (5th-8th)

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Resources for a Unit Study on coal mining communities, including FREE Amazon and YouTube video list, website links, book lists, and templates for student projects and reports. Perfect for grades 4-8, but could easily be aged up or down to suit a general family unit study as well. via Walking in High Cotton

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Possums on the Porch…and Other Daily Adventures

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What does farm life look like around here this week? It looks like hissing egg-suckers that couldn’t resist a grease-coated t-bone. This ugly critter may or may not have also been responsible for one or two of my recent chicken loses. I hate losing hens–it makes me mad and sad all at the same time. But I really hate seeing the poor Ladybug’s face turn red when she tries not to cry over one of her beloved birds. I’m beginning to think that being a “favorite” is a curse around … Continue Reading…

Fuel for the Finish…the Daily Farm Adventures {39}

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Are you familiar with the Auto-B-Good series? They’re these fun DVD shows for children that are kind of Veggie Tales meets Cars. We found them at a local Christian bookstore and the crew really enjoyed them a few years ago. (Definitely a good buy!) This post reminded me of one of those shows a little bit. {smile} The weather was gorgeous this weekend, other than all the wet and mud from the storms we got on Friday. {sigh} We were a little limited on what farm work could be done because … Continue Reading…

Run While the Sun Shines…the Daily Farm Adventures {44}

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This weekend it was sunny and 70 degrees and we were on the go all weekend. We woke up well before the alarm clock on Saturday to a cow bellowing in the driveway. There’s no fencing in the driveway, so there should not be cows in the driveway. Ha! Turns out he was the least of our troubles. He was bellowing for the rest of our little family herd–who were across the street grazing in the neighbors front yard. The good news is that right now the animals are used to … Continue Reading…

Building Puzzles…Activities for Busy Families

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We stay pretty busy around here. Especially during the school year. Between school, work, the farm, church, and just trying to bathe, eat, and sleep, we don’t find much relax and hang out time. So we work pretty hard to make sure that we set aside some special “family time” activities to do together at home. This usually involves a lot of compromises. Maybe the house is a mess but we ignore it. Or we let everyone eat dinner in the living room so at least we’re still eating together … Continue Reading…

3 Simple Amazon Shopping Tips

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Are you a super-savvy, coupon clipping, smart phone app, pre-planning, list making, bargain hunter? Then this post is probably not for you. You probably know way more tips and money-saving strategies than I do! {smile} Are you a busy momma that tries to make smart choices and spend your money wisely, but just can’t fathom how all these ladies manage to bring home $600 worth of groceries for 28 cents or get their entire Christmas list at 92% off? This post might be a help to you. I’m more like busy momma … Continue Reading…