Homeschool Prom 2013

It was a wild and fun weekend in Huntsville.
I took Journee and Quinn and their friend Jack to attend the homeschool prom.
We have life long friends there and they invited us to go have some fun with them

Of course we got there early enough to do a little shopping at Harrison Brothers downtown first.

The weather was rainy and cold but we made the best of it, although we did think of ways to make the ground hog pay for his poor prediction of an early spring. Darn rodent!

They were a great looking group all dressed up and ready to eat dinner and dance. This here is a picture of my girls and their friends who live in Huntsville. They have been friends since they were 2 and 3 years old!

This friend here has also been in this friend circle since he was a little tyke. He drove with us to join the fun.

The theme of the prom was "The Phantom of the Opera" and the group of ladies who organized the event did a fantastic job with the decorating and the organizing.

Of course we couldn't leave the family Yoda at home, so we brought him along. He dressed up to the theme and was more than willing to pose for pictures with the teens.

Here the kids and Yoda made their grand entrance to the prom festivities!

This is the table where I worked and helped to "sign in" the kids and take their prom tickets.
It was a very organized event and I could not have imagined a better format for such a huge dance. Over 200 kids were in attendance!

The gym was decorated as if it were a set of the broad way play and there was a layout of desserts and included a chocolate fountain. The end of the dance was marked with a huge balloon drop as well!

Who says home schooled kids must miss these fun high school events?

Thank you so much to the Huntsville Homeschool Prom organizers and to my sweet, dear friend Monique for including me and the girls.

Thank you also to the wonderful and fabulous Andrew and Logan for inviting the girls!

We had a blast and so did our Jedi Master:-)

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Later this week I will post about another omnivore dilemma and some of the complexities that go along with family farming.

Until then enjoy this wonderful week!!!

Dog Adoption

***A special thanks to Quinn for all of the following pictures!***

There is no doubt that we love dogs here on our farm. We have 4 and we would have more if we were just a little crazier.
There is also no doubt that Journee, our oldest, loves her dog Zelda. Zelda is an American Bulldog that was bred by Journee's uncle. He has fantastic dogs, by the way.

Journee and Zelda are constant companions and Journee has done a great job raising and training Zelda.

Well, Journee has a best friend cousin Jordan. Jordan lives in Arkansas but when he comes to visit those two are always together.
Jordan has been wanting a dog for a very, very long time.

Yesterday was his lucky day!!!! My sister started looking for a good family dog when she got here in town.
She looked at a local animal pound in my town but she hit the jack pot with a fabulous animal shelter in Chattanooga. The McKamey Animal Center is a very nice center that cares deeply for the animals in its care.
When you arrive they have you fill out a pet personality survey to help decide what animal personality fits your needs.  My sister didn't want a high energy dog, as this dog will be hanging out at her bicycle shop most of the day. He will be there to greet customers and to visit the staff, as well as bond with my nephews after school.

We really liked that the staff at McKamey was able to give us a fairly detailed history of this guy
named "Kirby" and that the vets had checked him over, updated his vaccines, and neutered him. He is also micro chipped. All of these services amount to a very low cost adoption fee.

Journee and Jordan decided to take their dogs for a nice long walk today.  Since "Kirby" was not attached to his name, nor did he respond to that name, Jordan changed it to Axyl.
He enjoyed the walk and he has adjusted to his surroundings and the new dogs around him very well.

Jordan started teaching Axyl to walk with a leash and to NOT walk in front, which is important to training a dog.

Axyl taught Jordan how to stand attentively when listening and looking for small critters in the woods, which is important to training an owner. :-)

I cannot say enough great things about this animal shelter, and I cannot express how happy my nephews are to have a dog!
This dog is so very sweet and calm and loving, and he is a perfect fit for my sister and her family!

A girl and her dog.

Now a boy and his dog.

It's a happy ending, ya'll!

 

****If you live in the Chattanooga area and are looking for a new pet, please check out McKamey! 8000 pets go through their system a year and they have cats and dogs! Thank you McKamey for a great dog!

Hope your weekend is a happy one!!!!

Mother Nature Wins

As always, Mother Nature periodically rips through to make sure we all know she is still in charge.
Here in North Georgia she has shown us her strength and fury with tornados.
Tonight she is dancing in with strong winds and a freeze.
It had been really nice here this week and my trees decided it was time to bloom. My peach trees and plum trees I had so carefully pruned are blooming quite beautifully.
Tonight it will dip down into the upper 20's, freezing my blooms and robbing me of a nice fruit harvest. I sure hope the weather man is wrong with this prediction.

                                      ***First signs of spring are the dandelions***

At any rate, I made sure the sheep were locked into a cozy stall and the baby ducks and chicks are back in my basement, safe from the cold wind.
The heat has been turned back on, and the kids are tucked into bed under warm quilts.

                               ***This free range rooster follows the horse and scratches the horse manure, leaving the grass better fertilized and free of "poo clumps"***


This past weekend we celebrated the birthdays of my number 2 and number 3 kids.
We had a nice family party complete with an ice cream cake and a homemade cheesecake. Earlier in the week we took each one out for lunch and a little shopping.

                                                ***Indiana turned 13****

                                                      ***Quinn turned 15***

This weekend I am taking my two oldest to Huntsville so they can attend the Home School Prom with some friends. I will be sure to update Monday and let you all know how our first prom goes:-)

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For those of you who are local, we are still taking pre-orders for pastured chickens. They will be ready in late June. The deposit is $5 a bird and the remaining $10 is due when you pick it up.

I also have one more slot open for the Bee Keeping Workshop on April 13th. The cost is $50 but you will take home a fantastic bee keeping book and the confidence to keep your own hive. As a bonus you can meet the new lambs and give Lucy a nice scratch behind the ear.

Contact me via email: mybarefootfarm@catt.com


I hope that spring is showing itself where you are and that if you are getting this cold, blistery weather I hope you are tucked into a warm house.

Have a fantastic day!!

Sami Has a Little Lamb

This morning we woke up to new life on the farm!
Sarah had lambed sometime this morning and to our surprise she had not only one lamb....

but TWO lambs!!!! They are both boys and I could not be more thrilled!

They both appear to be healthy and are both nursing very well!

This little guy is a little smaller than the other. They are both friendly and Sarah doesn't mind us checking them out. Now, the ram who fathered these two is named Whiskey Creek. We wanted to name these two guys along those lines, and we decided to name the little one Tiger Creek. This is an actual creek that runs through our property.

Then there is this guy, whom we have yet to name. We are thinking carefully though for the perfect one. He is more spunky and much more curious. Gosh, look at those ears!!!!!

Sarah has spent the day tending to her babies and getting them cleaned off.
We moved the ram out to another paddock, out with the horse and calf. The horse guards the calf like she is his mama, but overall I think the three will adjust to one another.
We had to put a sheep halter on him and lead him out across the drive with a bucket of feed. It really does pay to have your animals "bucket trained."
He will come back to see Sarah in the fall when it's time to breed again, but meanwhile he has much more room and more grass.

To say this has been an exciting and fun day is an understatement! These sweet lambs have tiny, tiny curls in their fleece. They are also quite soft!

Tomorrow we will band their tails and their "jewels" so that they can be castrated. The tails need to be docked for health and hygiene reasons.

 

But for now we will just enjoy watching them. They are such sweet animals! Great job Sarah!

Sam's Club FAIL

Chivalry is dead at my local Sam's Club. Maybe it's dead at ALL of the club warehouses.
Perhaps they just don't care about customer service.
 I have had a membership there since I can remember, maybe 19 years, and until a Costco opened in my town a couple of years ago it was my go to place for large family stock up.

I  love Costco. It's organized, clean and friendly. The bonus is that in Georgia the sales tax is lower than across the border in Chattanooga.
I kept my Sam's membership though for a couple of reasons, and one of the reasons is my sense of loyalty. I did, after all, shop there for many years. They also have a few items that Costco doesn't carry, at least I haven't inquired at Costco to see if they *could* carry certain items. That might be next on my to do list.

This afternoon my oldest and I decided that while we were out we would pick up a new trampoline. Our old one finally got taken down last fall because it was worn out. My kids have missed that trampoline greatly, and I promised them a new one once the weather was warmed up.
Today was the day.


I had thought about Academy Sports since a good friend suggested that would be the best place, but I decided to check out Sam's Club. I had not been there in a while and thought I would check out what they had to offer.

They had a nice trampoline with the enclosure so Journee and I were able to drag it from it's shelf down onto the flat bed cart.

We stood in line and we paid. I told my cashier I would need help loading and she reassured me that they would. She said I needed to tell the receipt checker in front. We passed a couple of male associates as we walked to exit the store.
I asked the nice lady about getting some guys to help me load the trampoline. She said she would send someone out.
I walked to my van and started it up.
I drove into the loading area only to see my daughter standing by herself with our item. There was nobody there yet.

We waited. Waited. Waited.

Finally we decided that chivalry was dead at Sam's Club and proceeded to load the darn heavy thing ourselves.

                           ****Sam's Club in Chattanooga, TN****

It. Was. Very. Heavy.
Not a single associate appeared to help us.

We had to turn it a bit this way and a little bit that way, but we managed to get it loaded.

If my elbow injury wasn't irritated enough this morning, it's sure irritated now.

All I can say is that I am so happy I didn't have only small children with me, and I am glad my oldest is a strong girl.

That Sam's Club card? Well, It going back into my top dresser drawer. I don't think I will be needing anything THAT badly from there.
I had thought about returning it and going to Academy, but I don't feel like unloading the darn thing twice!


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On a happier note, spring weather is arriving into my area! I plan to spend my weekend outside!!!!

What plans do you have for the nice weather!??