I totally understand how it would have gotten you down. When you are driving 1,000,000 miles a day with no end in sight it's hard to see anything but the road you drive over and over again. :grouphug: I think that it's important that we not downplay the goals we have chosen. Just because our goals aren't glamorous or money-making doesn't mean they aren't important or valuable. I also think that we often have goals but don't write them down. Seriously, maintaining sanity, raising well-adjusted adults, not crying, delivering everyone where they need to go safely and on time, those are all important goals.

And again, definitely worthwhile goals. Just because our goals don't look like Fortune 500 goals doesn't mean they are any less important. In fact, sometimes sanity and trying not to cry are essential goals.

That is a goal and it's a long term one with future impact. Who says you don't have goals?!

I love s'mores! I don't even need the campfire. Ten seconds in the microwave will do in a pinch.

I did it two weeks ago. I leave a transition outfit or two but the rest is swapped and sorted.

The largest size of wheeled carry-on is perfect for long weekends, summer camp and airplane travel. My dd8 asked for a purple suitcase last year for Christmas. It was a wonderful gift choice.

K16 got her braces off this week. Check out her smile :thumbup:

We got two puppies from the same litter with this very idea. They are a great comfort and security to each other. As tiny puppies that did make them quieter and more content. However, they are not less work because there are two. They tend to be twice the effort, not half. I love them both and wouldn't get rid of either but I won't ever get two puppies at the same time again.

Some early fall scenes from my blogs; home and farm. I need to get out with a camera now that the leaves are changing.

Thanks for the offer of tea but I've brought my own coffee. Today is a normal Monday. School work today. Football practice for ds tonight. If I could live anywhere I'd have two houses. The farm where we live now and another on Tybee Island, GA.

I force two of my children outside daily. They aren't glued to anything electronic. Usually they carry their books outside and read there. My ds will tell you he's just not an outside kid.

Not a particularly exciting week but here it is.

I like to keep my crew together. I've found that by increasing my expectations with outlining and additional reading SOTW still works beautifully for us.

First, we use the map and globe to find the area we are studying in the reading selection. Then I read the information from one selection aloud. We use the discussion questions which usually leads to more discussion. I assign reading from other sources to my older two children. I also assign selections to outline from our spine. We write a summary sentence or two in our notebook. My ds10 likes to illustrate the summary. Sometimes we pick an activity but sometimes we just move on.

I get up with dh and have coffee at 6:00a.m. He leaves at 6:30. I drink coffee and have quiet time until it's time for dd16 to go to school at 7:30. I take care of the farm animals after I take her to school. After the morning farm chores are done I take a shower and get ready for my day. At 9:00 I wake dd13, ds10 and dd8. About 50% of the time dd8 is up already. We have breakfast and read aloud or listen to a book on cd until about 9:45. My goal is to start our school day with our Bible study by 10:00am.

:iagree: We are on the Modern Age this year. DD13 is on track for another complete rotation and finishing with her senior year. DS10 will be half way through his third rotation when he graduates. DD8 started with required history last year. She'll be beginning her first full rotation next year. Keeping them all together simplifies everything. The olders do outlines while the youngers draw pictures. We add skills as they grow. There are plenty of supplimental books to read. It's a wonderful system for us.

When we bought our farm we had visions of free ranging happy chickens. Then we met our neighbor's dog and the neighbor's dog met 20 of our chickens. The outcome was unhappy. We now keep a dozen laying hens in a fenced hen house with an outdoor run. We also raise about 100 roosters for meat. We get heavy meat birds but not a cornish rock cross. Ours have less breast meat but are healthier birds. The roosters are in two tractors that we keep on pasture until the birds are about 16 weeks old.

Ask your local librarian about other homeschool families. They are a great resource.

Boston. I've been trying to get to Boston and Plymouth since last April.

We have minimized over time. We started homeschool four years ago with all the binders and most of the curriculum recommended in WTM. Now each of my children have one 70 page spiral notebook for their work. When it's full they get a new notebook. They each have their own color so it's easy to identify which child goes with the notebook. We incorporate dictation in our history lessons. Spelling and handwriting are part of writing. Reading helps us dig deeper into history. I use the same curriculum for multiple children. H13 & S10 use the same Latin. Everyone uses the same curriculum for history and science. If the curriculum works I don't go looking for something else. Whenever possible we use library books rather than buying and storing books. When we moved a year and a half ago, we traded our 400 square foot dedicated school room for 37 acres. Minimizing has been a necessity but it's also been a blessing.

:iagree:This is what we do as well. We have 37 acres. 17 are being farmed on a soybean/corn rotation by another farmer. We have a five year plan to take some of those acres back for alfalfa and grain. We have 3-5 acres that we plan to turn into a vineyard and fruit orchard. That will require a bigger tractor and more machinery so it's down the road. Currently we are using 2 acres for hay production and 2 acres for our cows. We still mow more lawn than I'd like. We have plans for increasing our cattle operation and our chicken and turkey production. As you said, with a bigger piece of property the options are as endless as your energy and income. We have a business plan for our farm that goes beyond 10 years. We won't be doing it all at once. When we began looking at property we were looking for 5+ acres. We wanted something that had lots of possibilities. Honestly, we bought this place because of the house as much as the property. The house was fully renovated and move in ready. The property was more than we'd anticipated but we knew we were planning to grow into it. Being able to spend our time and energy on the farm rather than the house was a big draw for us.

:iagree::iagree: A year and a half ago we bought a 37 acre farm. Our intention was to build a self-sustaining lifestyle that the whole family could participate in and enjoy. We had no farm experience. My only gardening experience was with container gardens and a small raised bed. The learning curve has been huge. There have been good things and bad things. The farm is so much like the rest of life. You live and learn. Give thanks for the good things and the bad and keep moving forward to what comes next. Right now we have about 90 meat chickens, 20 laying chickens, five turkeys, two cows, 100,000 bees (give or take a few), two dogs, and a cat. We sort of have a garden but I've discovered that I don't really like to garden and no one else is going to do it unless I make them. Just know that in the beginning everything, EVERY LITTLE THING, requires time and twice as much money as you thought it would.

I have my dd13 and ds10 fill in a chart for the basic literary elements of any assigned book they read. Next, they write a short summary of the story. At the end of the summary they choose one of a list of evaluation questions and answer it. Depending on the length of the book the entire exercise usually takes 2-2 1/2 pages. This is only for assigned reading. For their personal reading I don't expect any kind of written work.

Farm fresh eggs sell for $2.50 a dozen at our farmer's market. I sell mine for that price as well.

I can so relate with this! For years I have threatened to drag the MAN chair out into the yard and set it on fire. When we moved a year and a half ago I freecycled the MAN chair. I thought I was free of the MAN chair. Guess what the previous owner left in our new house? :tongue_smilie: A new MAN chair. Since my husband had open heart surgery I have a little more love for the MAN chair. Those first few weeks at home would have been miserable without it. In six month I'll be ready to drag it out and burn it again.