I have my own flock (7 hens) also...but I do agree that pastured hens lay the best tasting eggs...they don't necessarily need to be organic. I know plenty of people that feed organic feed but the chicken never sees green grass. Some organic eggs from the store have a yellow yolk. Most pastured (non-organic) eggs will have a bright orange...those have the most vitamins. Search craigslist and feed stores. My mom's feed store sells eggs right from the store from local pastured hens.

We actually pay for storage so everything is going in there. We (I) am going through this house room by room and relentlessly getting rid of, boxing up or donating loads of just crap. It feels so much better in my house (which stays cluttered). My mom is coming down in a month to help me in the back of the house which is worse than the front. I'm so ready to be done with this already. We have been 'moving' for 12 years now. My husband has been dragging his feet for that long. I have a bull whip in my hands now and we are GOING to get this done and move. I'm reading these moving threads with open eyes and ears and making a list of what needs to be done. I have 2 dogs and a cat (and 7 chickens) and getting the house *sterile like* is going to be SO hard. I have no idea how I'm going to do it.

Great thread! We are planning on listing our home in late spring. We still have SO much that needs to be done, paint a garage (separate from house), paint 4 rooms, touch up wood in kitchen, rebuild an entire master bath, new carpet, new bay window. OMG...it'll never get done. I'm decluttering now in anticipation of painting and removing non-essential furniture. I have a large built in desk/book case in my dining room (it's a BIG dining room) that I'm debating on removing/leaving in. I get mixed reviews from friends. I may post a picture here to see what we should do. I don't feel like we'll ever get done. :(

Wow..great advice! I'm about to list my house and you made me think of things I had not thought of! Thank you!

No, but I DO have one in our homeschool room. We do have gnats that fly out when we open the lid. I haven't figured out how to fix that problem yet. They aren't fruit flies though and really seam harmless. We are loving this project. Santa brought the worm farm to my DD for Christmas.

I'm curious too...only I need one on the 8 year old level..lol

I have not read all of the responses, but this happened in my family. I understand it more now as and adult than I did as a child. My grandmother was dating a married man. He never moved into her home, but he visited every night and went back to his home. When I was 14, I asked why they never got married. I was told the story then. Rod (her boyfriend) was married to a lady that had a massive stroke. She could not fend for herself at all...was not in any kind of functioning mental capacity. Rod fed her, bathed her, took her to the bathroom, put her to bed, etc. She was not the woman he married, at all. However, he said he married her in sickness and in health and he would not leave her but loved my grandmother. He was in both relationships for the long haul. And he did....for 25 years, dated my grandmother, saw her every night (when the evening nurse came to help out, or their children), but went home to his wife. The wife died about 5 years ago and a month later, Rod married my grandmother and they are living happily ever after. Right or wrong, I respect the fact that he didn't leave his wife and cared for both ladies (financially and emotionally).

Bumping for you. I'm using AAS and am looking for something a little different now.

My dad types with his two middle fingers..hunt and peck method. People rag him about it all the time. His response? "Most people type with 10 fingers, I type with just 2" as he holds his two fingers (his middle fingers) up at the person. It shuts them up..lol

How do your kids do with mama cloth? I only have an 8 year old now but women in my family are notorious for starting around 9 years old. :( I need to start talking about it now and I would like to do mama cloth for her but don't know how she would handle it...are your girls ok with it? I've never used them myself, but I do use the diva cup. I would like to keep her away from tampons or store bought pads. Sorry for the hijack!!

Ok, I'm about to get a new stove top. The only kind I can get is electric drop in. Is a glass range not ok for canning? That is one of the big reasons I'm getting a new one!

Nothing is healthy anymore...seems that way anyway. :tongue_smilie:

Awesome!! We live close to a Bald Eagle's nest and see them all the time here. It's a little different when you are standing in your backyard with your chickens and one swoops down though. I was ALMOST willing to sacrifice one of my 'girls' to get a more close up look...rofl

We are looking at moving up there...West Siloam Springs is one of the places we are considering. Can you tell me a little more about homeschooling there? What resources are available to you there? What about the nearest big city? We are also looking at towns that are 20 minutes from Tulsa because I like Tulsa so much and that's where my parents live. Thank you! Stephenie

Whatever you decide, make sure the one she uses has a 'turtle' or slower setting. The machine my dd7 was using did not and she really really needed it. I finally put hers (a really nice brother) away and let her sew on my viking that has a slower setting and that works great. Stephenie

In my home growing up, and even now (always have Thanksgiving at my mom and dad's house) as adults, my mom and dad's home has always been 'the more the merrier'. We always have had misc friends that had family out of town, Coast Guard friends that have no family in town, friends of friends that needed a place to eat, not-so-significant others, etc. My mom's only request was that we needed to give her a little notice (but that didn't always happen) so she could make sure to have enough food. She even accommodated friends with special dietary needs (vegetarian, food allergies, etc). I loved that growing up..knowing that my home was the 'go to' home for all family and friends. My mom and dad have been living abroad for several years now. 2 years ago, I spent thanksgiving with them and it was the same way. Instead, it was a little tiny apartment with 7 different nationalities there and roughly 15 people. It was wonderful. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. With that said, I think you need to host this year then bow out next year. It's not fun for anybody if the hostess is burnt out. I like the idea of taking a nice vacation for thanksgiving next year!

Ok, \so I have to know what happened with the choir? LOL I'm excited to be going up to Inola in 6 days!!!

My 8 year old DD finished up 9 months of VT yesterday. (we went at the recommendation of you guys..thank you so much!) We have driven 1 1/2 hours 1 way 1-2 times a week..done all of our homework, etc. We are pretty much done with it all....very very burnt out. HOWEVER...she improved a ton on all of her tests. She went from 5 year old level and below on all of the tests to 8-12 years old on them. She's reading chapter books now. Her handwriting has improved 100%. She is getting much better at spelling, etc. It has been really good for her. So, we are done. We only have the final visit with the doctor left. My question is, what kind of post-vt did you guys have to do? We still have reflex stuff to work on and a computer program (30 minutes 5 times a week) that she is expected to do. It makes her cry it burns her eyes so much...it's in 3d and with a flipper. They check her progress via the internet. My husband says we are done and that we shouldn't do that program. We aren't paying for anything anymore...we aren't going in for sessions. Seems to me we are DONE...except for this. I know I need to ask the doc, and will...but why do we need to do this if we are essentially done with VT? What kind of maintenance did you all have to do? Did it continue to help? Thanks Stephenie

I can't help you with the cold..we live in Louisiana. HOwever, breed wise..our favorites are Buff Orphingtons. We have 7 birds total and 2 are buffs, 2 are Rhode Island Reds, and 3 are Barred Rocks. The RIR's are bossy...very. They are quite dominate and I'm not sure we will get them again. The Buffs are very docile and often seem to be at the bottom of the pecking order but really, it's quite opposite..they are just quiet about it..lol If we are feeding them fun treats like worms, the buffs hang back and act non-interested but they are the ones that ALWAYS get them. Its fun to watch. The Barred Rocks are really personality-less, but are good layers. All of mine are really. We get 4-7 eggs every day. As far as coops...you need to build as big as you can...b/c you WILL want more..lol I only have room for my 7 but I am wanting more like you wouldn't believe...lol If you look on Backyard Chickens, there should be guidelines for square footage. I'm thinking it was 4 square foot per bird in the coop itself and 10 in the run? I could be wrong though. You need 1 nesting box for every 3-4 birds. I have 2...I could probably actually use one more but we don't have room. Have FUN with it...it has been a fantastic hobby for our family. We all are having fun with them.

So jealous!!! Can't wait to see pictures. When are you getting them?

Thank you!!! I think she would enjoy Katie Kazoo. I downloaded the sample for her to read.

My DD has vision problems and has struggled to read. I finally figured out a big part of it was the words in typical books are too small (font) and it's hard for her to focus on them. I downloaded a Judy Moody book that she had previously told me was "way too hard to read" onto my ipad, made the font as big as I could make it and as much white space as I could, and she read it in no time. As soon as she was finished, she asked for the second and is now almost done with the 3rd. All in 1 month. I'm very proud of her! Anyway, she is tired of Judy Moody now and wants something else. A series preferably. I need something that is about the same reading level...shorter sentences and simple vocabulary and fun to read. I'm working on increasing her love for reading, comprehension and fluency before I introduce 'meaningful' literature to her, so I'm quite ok with 'twaddle'...lol Does anybody have any book suggestions for her? We need to be able to download it on ibooks, kindle or nook so she can read on my ipad. She's reading at about a 3.5 level. Thanks! Stephenie

My 8 year old watches mostly what she wants and mostly for how long she wants to (to an extent). She self monitors pretty well. Her favorites right now are Jessie (I'm on the fence about this one) and Good Luck Charlie. There are some days when I have had enough or I think she has watched too much TV and I tell her it's time to turn it off and do something else. HOWEVER...about 75% of the time she's 'watching' tv, she's coloring, drawing, writing books or stories, etc so that makes it better in my mind. My husband fussed one time about the amount of tv she was watching. I asked him to start paying attention to what she is doing when the tv is on. He shut up real quick when he realized she was actually writing a book and the tv was just on as background noise. :lol:

I'm just reading this. My friend does it. It IS nice b/c all of the materials are sent to you...but...it's rigid. If she doesn't get x amount of hours logged a day or a subject, she's getting a phone call or email from the state. She's tied to computers all day long and rarely gets to take a break just to go to the zoo or whatever. She has 3 kids (1st, 2nd, and 3rd) she's teaching though. That being said, if I felt like my child was lacking and needed more, then it would be an option. Good luck to you Stephenie

My 8 year old dd doesn't play with toys much anymore :( She's crazy into fairies and building fairy houses so she'll probably get a fairy book. She's also asking (as her big gift) for a multi tiered worm farm. What GIRL asks for that? ROFL She will probably get a wii game. In her stocking, she'll probably get a fun geometric coloring book, new colors, a new toothbrush, new socks (she loves decorative socks), bubble bath, etc.