The only animals making the move with us are our three pretty farm cats and our loveable pooch! Too bad the rest of the animals were not small enough to fit into a vehicle with all of us!
These three below are looking sleepy, aren’t they?
Archive for Family Stuff
Moving to Nova Scotia
We are looking to move back to the Halifax region, but realistically could be anywhere in the center sections of the province.
For many years I dreamed of moving back to Nova Scotia, however, my husband always had a job here in Illinois and his mom and brother were here. When we moved here to the farm three years ago, I had pretty much settled into life in Illinois. Then another death in my family occurred. My husband’s second bout of unemployment in six years was encroaching upon a year and we threw the idea of moving back to Nova Scotia out there. To my surprise EVERYONE was on board…everyone but me. I was the least excited person in our family. ME!? My husband wondered why we had not thought of this back in 2013 when he lost his job and so did I. We got our passports, started researching moving back, farming, housing, etc. with the intention of visiting Nova Scotia in the fall of 2014. When we visited Nova Scotia in November/December 2014 we checked out some farm properties and I worked on our children’s proof of Canadian Citizenship and getting other paper work started. Let’s just say it is not a simple or easy move! When I moved here to the United States, it was just little old me with a few pieces of luggage and boxes. Now we have a boat load of children AND stuff! We are in the process of selling our animals. It is rather bittersweet. We thought these were our “forever” animals. There is a lot of paper work and expense to transport animals across the border to Canada. We held out hope we might be able to take them with us, but finally decided it was just too much. We have a buyer for our cows, a farmer friend, thankfully. It is a relief to know they are going to a good home. We have a buyer for the 33 chickens we have left, they will be picked up soon. We have a buyer for our compact Kubota tractor. Our horse is returning to his owner, he was just with us on a free-lease (meaning we paid for nearly all his upkeep for the privilege of “owning” him). If we had of been moving within Illinois, his owner would have allowed us to keep him. He is nearly 31 years old and she couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing him again, plus a three day drive would have been rough on an older horse. Only the goats and sheep left to sell, plus a few odds and ends such as a goat milk stanchion, cow panels, t-posts (though we priced them in N.S. and are thinking we might take them with us!) and things like that. It is a bit surreal and I do not think it has really sunk in yet. I have not even seen all there is to see in Chicago, let alone Illinois. You do not know how many “if onlys” we have been voicing! Guess we will still have lots to do when we come back for a visit. Meanwhile we have sooooo much to do to get ready for a major move across country.
This beach is in the Pictou section in the map at the beginning of this post. And no, not all beaches in Nova Scotia are rocky!
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Week #42 Saturday Top Five Laughs
I think I am finally on a roll for Saturday Top Five Laughs posts. Woohoo! Once again, joining The Mommyhood Chronicles for Saturday Top Five Laughs – week #42 (for us)!
4. Hubby slipped in our hallway and knocked over the water cooler. You would have thought that World War III broke out.
3. Our oldest wanted our youngest to come and give her a kiss goodnight and Jr.’s response was, “No, you didn’t call me ‘the chosen one‘.” Oh my!
2. I am sitting here and I hear a voice groan, “I’m pregnant!” I look over and one of our daughters is sitting next to me with a ball beneath her clothes. Then another daughter does the same thing with another ball, but bigger ball. The first daughter goes, “How many children do you have in there?” Then a third daughter does and and the second daughter asks here, “How many children do you have in there?” I think they have lost it! Now the first daughter just exclaimed, with the big ball beneath her shirt, “Ahhh I am having quadruplets!”
1. Watching children learn to use the yo-yo is funny!
And I cannot think of a fifth one….brain is fried or frozen. Take your pick!
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Hermes the Guernsey-Jersey Bull Calf – Wordless Wednesday
Remember our Guernsey-Jersey bull calf? We sold him in December. He was closing in on nearly 300 pounds at almost 3 months of age. We had to take some photos before he left for his new home. Of course, he was not very cooperative and moved quite a bit. Hopefully these photos show how big, healthy and cute he was/is!
We did not even advertise Hermes was for sale. Someone had come to our farm for something else and asked to buy him and we decided to go for it. He was picked up a few days later. Comet, his mama missed him for a while and still does at times, but she is adapting now that we have her mama, Miss Moo back from her date with the Jersey bull.
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Week #41 Saturday Top Five Laughs
Hey, a second week in a row, I’m on a roll for Saturday Top Five Laughs posts. Let’s join The Mommyhood Chronicles for Saturday Top Five Laughs – week #41 (for us)!
5. A son, “I think I have high blood pressure because of the dishes.” He happens to be on dish duty this month. 
4. Hubby through a paper this week and it landed in the bushes. Being a sly wife-y, I took a photo! lol!
3. Our oldest daughter told our youngest that he is the chosen one so now when you ask him, “What are you?” He says, “The chosen one.” He even told our daughter when she wouldn’t give him some candy that he was “The chosen one!”
2. Jr. was eating pizza and this is what he did with the cheese…
1. Oldest son accidentally upset youngest son and when he went to comfort him, youngest son bit him in the shoulder. Ouch and ugh!
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How To Pick The Perfect Swim Instructor
How To Pick The Perfect Swim Instructor
by Kaitlin Gardner
When we started a family, I wanted my kids to learn how to swim. It was a skill that they would use for a lifetime, and our family would be around the water many times. Just going to the local pool and signing them up for classes didn’t feel right for me. I did homework to find the best instructor I could for my kids.
Ask around. I asked a number of parents with older children about their swim instructors. I heard some good things, and some parents steered me away from programs where they didn’t feel satisfied with the results. I was glad I took that time, because it helped me narrow down the choices before I went any further. I’ve found some great resources with more detail about swim programs for kids:
● Learn To Swim: The Importance of Swimming Lessons
● What Every Parent Should Know About Choosing A Swimming Instructor
A personal visit. Once I narrowed down my options and had a list of swim schools that sounded the strongest, I made visits. I talked to the manager of the school, to get an impression of how professional the person was, because I felt like his approach would filter down through the school. I wanted someone who took the job of teaching my kids to swim as seriously as I was approaching it. I was really impressed by the commitment of the school managers, and knew I was on the right track.
What’s the plan? I wanted to know how the teaching would be handled – would they just have the kids jump in the shallow end and start showing them the Australian crawl? I wanted classes that would work through a plan where the kids learned basics and moved forward building on that foundation. I found several schools that had similar lesson plans, and I felt really good about the thoroughness and approach of the lessons.
Check instructor credentials. I asked the school managers what certifications were required for a swim instructor. I had looked online and found the required levels of certification, and in every case, the swim schools followed those standards. I was feeling really good about the schools at this point. Some people might think I was going a little overboard, but with the lives of my kids at stake, I was willing to take extra steps.
Watch a class. I asked the managers of the schools if I could watch a class. I had read that if they don’t want you to do that, it’s a warning sign that the school is not a good one. In every case, the schools I was considering encouraged to watch their swim classes. I sat and talked with other Moms who were watching their kids in class. I got a couple of names of great instructors from them, so I made sure to sit in on those classes. I had narrowed my choices to a couple of instructors by this point.
How’s the attitude? I didn’t want my kids to be taught by somebody who was just going through the motions, so watching the class, I was checking for the attitude of the instructor. I was amazed at how calm, caring and thorough the instructors were. They made sure each child demonstrated proficiency with what was being taught before they moved on. I was astonished by how well mannered and orderly the kids were. When I made my final choice, I was confident I had found the perfect instructor for my kids. It made me smile to watch them learning how to swim, and how their confidence in the water grew with each lesson.
Kaitlin Gardner started An Apple Per Day to explore her passion for a green living lifestyle, and healthy family living. She and her husband have just moved to rural Pennsylvania, where they enjoy exploring the countryside to discover interesting and out of the way places. She is also learning how to paint watercolors.
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Halifax Seaport – Wordless Wednesday
Halifax Harbour
While we were in Nova Scotia, we visited the Halifax Seaport farmers market. We went on a Sunday and I was surprised that is was not very busy. All the boys wanted to do was look out the huge glass bay doors at the Halifax Harbour! The water was quite choppy that day. Not sure this photo does it justice. It was a cloudy, cold day so we did not walk down on the boardwalk near the water or I could have taken better photos. I took this one from inside.
Halifax Seaport Farmers Market
The Halifax Seaport farmers market is a year round indoor farmers market, which I thought was great! I would have loved to have visited every day of the week just to see how much traffic it actually generates. My sister said that when she and her husband went on a Saturday, it was packed, which led me to believe that probably is the busiest day for the market. I was too busy looking around to think to take photos INside the market.
Do you have a year round farmers market near you?
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#40 Saturday Top Five Laughs
I am trying to get back into the groove of writing a Saturday Top Five Laughs post. I am still trying to find my blogging barrings after a month off, plus the holidays and so on. Without further delay let’s join The Mommyhood Chronicles for Saturday Top Five Laughs – week #40 (for us)!
5. When we were at Victoria Park Nova Scotia, our son said the water looked like root beer! 
4. Last week would have been Elvis Presley’s 80th birthday. I grew up listening to Elvis because my parents were Elvis fans. When I mentioned Elvis to the children, some of the younger ones asked who he was so I told them briefly who he was and then I shared a couple of music videos. As we were watching the first video, Jr., our three year old goes, “He can sing.” Just matter of factly. I forgot to tell my mom this when I was talking to her. She will get a kick out of it!
3. Jr. called a red pom pom a pimple and when I chuckled, he goes, “What’s this called again?”
2. One of our son’s bemoaned, “Ohhh, I think I broke my tailbone.” Not the funny part. The next part is…A younger son responded, “But you don’t have a tail.” He said it seriously.
1. The children were all reading Calvin and Hobbes…need I say more? It was fun listening to their pure-hearted laughter.
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Washing Babydoll Sheep Wool – Wordless Wednesday
Our Babydoll ram has been losing some of his fleece. Our oldest son decided to collect it and wash it.
Steps to follow when washing Babydoll sheep wool:
1. Filled the sink with hot, hot water. He said he got it up to 180′ F.
2. Then stir wool around.
3. Put a tiny bit of dish soap or laundry detergent in the water. Keep stirring. Not too hard.
4. Change the water. Repeat the process.
5. Lay out to dry on top of dryer.
Here is what it looked like:
Kind of disgusting, isn’t it?
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January is Organizational Month
You may or may not recall January is Organizational Month. I have been trying for three plus years to get organized and it never fails something keeps coming up to hinder the process.
I admit I cannot seem to get our home organized the way I would like it. It is like I have a brain film over my organizational skills I used to possess. Perhaps 2015 will be my year…finally.
We are in the throes of de-junking now. We gave away several bags to charity last week and will have more to give away at the end of them month.
What do you need to organize? Do you have any tips to help the organizationally challenged?
