Family Time

 Yesterday afternoon, feeling a bit rushed, I finished filing my oldest’s schoolwork for the day and cleared off the kitchen table while dialing my husband’s cell phone.

Ever mindful of the time, I whispered orders to my two oldest daughters while waiting on dh to pick up. We’ve been getting a later start each morning these days, now that we have a bucket calf to bottle feed (traded a colt for it!) and with my oldest daughter’s many rabbit trails (ie: wanting to do an extra page of math, wanting to read 15 pages of history instead of 3, handwriting 3 long verses in cursive instead of 1–aren’t I blessed to have such a motivated child?) the end of our school day has been edging closer and closer to 4 o’clock!

I’d promised dh to get to the courthouse (he finished putting the ’76 Ford cab on the ’74 Ford body and it passed inspection–yippee!) and drop his two truck titles off, and I had less than a half hour to get there before closing time!

Now, when you live in the country, you are ever-mindful of the gas in your tank. Every trip to town must count. It’s even harder during the homeschool year, because I try not to run errands during school hours. So with most businesses closing at 4:30 or 5 P.M., things can get hectic!

4:10 P.M. ~off the phone, having finalized plans to meet dh at the park at 5 (great way to make the most of a trip to town, as he’s headed through town on his way home from work at that time). As I pulled my toddler’s sneakers on her feet I asked my oldest if she’d want to get one of her puppies (yes that’s her and the two cutest of the pups in the pic above!) on a leash and load it into the back of our Suburban. (The park is ever so much more fun with a dog along!) Her face lit up, and she hesitated briefly before asking, “Could I take Heart instead?” (For more on Heart, read Heart Story) Heart is her border collie, mother of the pups. Made my day that she’d choose Heart over the pups! They’ve got such a special bond…

So, we (minus dog) sailed into the treasurer’s office at 4:29 P.M. Whew. Met my hubby at the park at 5 P.M. and had a grand time chasing the border collie and 3 girls all over the play equipment. Fall in all its splendor surrounded us…felled acorns begged to be stuffed down my dh’s shirt (hey, he was using me for target practice from clear across the playground!), leaves filled the air like floating feathers, and the breeze was just enough chill to need a jacket if you weren’t already warm from showing off on the monkey bars!

We came home to our bustling acreage…fil has started soybean harvest and the main grain bin storage is housed on our property. So while fil was here anyway (augering beans from the big semi into the bin) he and dh decided to bring the horses (around 13) in from pasture. I’ve mentioned before that the pasture we rent is adjacent to our land…accessible by a gate in this ancient rock wall to the south of our house. So, pretty simple to bring them straight across our place from the pasture gate to the corral at the horse barn.

Meanwhile, my 8 yo is dragging our two nanny goats on ropes to tether them in the grass on the hillside. This way, while weed-eating, their 5 offspring will stay close vs all of them finding their way into the soybean field!

The girls and I have been turning their ponies out every morning to graze, so each evening they need herded back to their horse pen. Our menagerie of stockdogs need fresh water and food, and their turn to run and stretch their legs. By 8 P.M., the little black angus bucket calf had been fed, supper was on the table buffet-style, and the hide-a-bed was sheeted up and ready for…..

Curious George!

Yep, our favorite kid’s movie was released on DVD two days ago and we snapped it right up!

My family, my world. Couldn’t resist capturing a bit of the blessedness and bottling it up on here.