New Puppy

For the last few years, we have told our kiddos that one of the first things we would do once we bought our own place would be to get a puppy.

Last week, we were able to achieve that dream!  This beautiful little girl is Penny, a 9 week old Golden Retriever. Isn't she adorable?!

The kids are completely in love with her!  She has a sweet temperament, and naturally has good manners.

 Kristi 9, Penny 9 weeks

William is probably the funniest to watch with her.  He has no fear of her, but is gentle (most of the time)

Often you will find him sneaking her food, or laying on her tummy while she is trying to nap.  My favorite is when he lays down next to her to give her kisses.

Penny is very patient with him, and lets him "mug" her without complaint.

She will be a great addition...as soon as she is fully potty trained! ;)

The first couple of weeks.

Our first weeks here were COLD.  We are talking negative numbers with a windchill of even bigger negatives!  And if you haven't heard me say it before, there is a LOT of wind around here!  So we kind of just layed back, caught up on some homeshool, and made as few trips as possible outside.  Lately though, the weather has been almost beautiful again.  Temperatures were up in the 50's, which felt like a heat wave.   So with better weather around, we were able to get a few things done around here.

First off... Getting the bunnies transfer into their new homes.   Our oldest son helped me drill a whole in the top of one of the cages so that we could insert a mini heat lamp for the smaller of the bunnies. I showed him how to calk the edges so that it stays weather proof, and he was excited  to give it a try.  It might not look professional, but there wont be any water getting in around the hole LOL.

Eventually, I plan on having an area at the edge of our lawn (we don't even have any grass yet, so this may be a while) That is similar to this:

    Where my bunnies and ducks can have an area to play.  But, first things first.

Like a chicken house....Ya thats its own story.

So, we bought this DIY shed kit from Menards.  We knew it wound't be anything fancy, but thought it would be a quick and easy shelter for the chickens we hope to soon have.

RIIIGHT!  That thing has a gazillion pieces, and once you get most of the frame pieces bolted together, guess what the instructions say..... This next part may take several hours to complete and must be done all at once.  DO NOT attempt these next steps if any wind (even a small breeze) is present or expected. ...  Ok, those aren't the exact words, but that is what it says.  We live in WYOMING!  There is always a "slight breeze" present or expected!
Anyway, the other morning is was actually fairly breeze free, so i gathered my older three kids, and we headed out to tackle this project.   We were going along pretty good.  After about 45 min, We got all four corners attached correctly, and propped up so that the breeze wouldn't bend them should it decide to come along before I could get the braces put on.

Thats when the trouble started.  See those lovely braces on the inside of the shed in this photo? (this is a stock photo, I only wish mine had looked like that)  Ya, mine wouldn't fit! None of the holes would line up, and even the lengths weren't quite right.  I tried them every way possible. I even rechecked the corner pieces to see if we have put them on upside down or something. NOPE.  It was together correctly, but still wouldn't go.  Hmm.  So i sat down with the instructions (anyone who knows me knows i prefer not to use instructions unless necessary) and read through them step by step from the beginning. Everything was done right, those braces just would not fit.   Of course by now my kiddos are losing interest in the project, and of course, our breeze starts turning into a much stronger wind. So guess what, we tore it all back apart.  1hr and 30 min worth of work.  Needless to say, I was none to excited.

Next time, (because I WILL get that thing put together) it is going to work, one way or another!  Even if it has to be a three sided shed instead! LOL

Settling In

We had this wonderful plan.  We decided that instead of moving everything all at once and having a huge hectic weekend, we would hang onto the rental house for another month, and slowly move items over.

My parents came up and helped me and the kids load up the "heavy" items. ( Jeff has this tradition of always having to work on the day we pick to move, I'm beginning to think he just goes and hides out somewhere...) The beds, couches, tables, that sort of thing.   We also moved over about 1/2 of my kitchen items, and clothing for everyone.  Great! Now we could officially sleep at the new house, and move over the other household items as necessary, or as fit in the back of the suburban (which isn't as much as you might think since it is always full of children).

That was 2 weeks ago. Now I am wishing we had just loaded everything up and moved it all at once.  I am never sure if things are here or at the "town house".  Every time we go into town, I feel like it is my obligation to stop and pack up more things, but, if you couldn't guess, packing with 6 kiddos around, no matter how good they are, isn't an easy task. Everything takes 5, no 6, times longer than you think it will, and the little one is always going around behind pulling out the items you JUST got packed.  Grrr, Its a good thing he is cute!

On a good note, we have gotten everything (mostly) out of the upstairs and brought to the county house, but we still have the basement and the dreaded garage. Now, I am not much of a pack rat.  I don't hang on to very many extra clothes for the kids, or knick knacks in the hopes that one day i will be able to put them somewhere and not have little hands breaking them.  I am not a hugely sentimental person, so I don't keep a lot of momentos, BUT WE STILL HAVE A LOT OF STUFF!  I mean really! What are we going to do with it all?  We do not have a garage or out building yet to store it all, and yet most of the stuff is nessesary (really, it is!) sooo, if you read the previous post you know that we put all the kids into one room to sleep (yup, well all but the baby, whos not a baby anymore) so that we could use the third bedroom for "other things". Well guess what, that "other thing" is storage.  I will have to post a picture once we get it all in there. Lets just hope that it all fits, AND that we will be able to put up the barn we want sooner, rather than later!

Well, I better get to unpacking boxes, my hubby is supposed to be bringing the next load with him soon, so maybe I will be able to find that other box of school books that im missing? After all, it is so much easier to move it a little at a time....... RIGHT?!?! Lesson Learned!

Special thanks to my Cheyenne Friends and MOPS group for being extra patient with my the last couple of months. I might look like I have it all together (wait, who am i kidding, even a stranger could tell I dont lol) But i promise that I will return to my normal self soon....  next month maybe, or perhaps by the new year? ;)

Its a start.

We finally did it!  After 10 years of marriage, and 6 kids, we finally bought our first "country" home!  36 Acres of bliss *happy sigh*.

 Having their first meal in the new house

Well Ok, so it isn't too blissful yet.  As a matter of fact, it is simply a small house placed in the middle of a big, dry field.

 See that yellow rectangle? yup, that is our land!

Front of house

I think there used to be grass around the immediate house, but now there is only a small patch where the downspouts of the gutter have kept it watered enough to survive.  The kiddos are sad that there is no basement, though they are sure we will be digging one out this summer just for them to play in, with shovels! LOL.

There is a "lean to" but it is in desperate need of some fixing up and a new coat of paint.

 But you know what, it doesn't matter.  It doesn't matter that all the kids have to sleep in one room so that we can use the third bedroom for other things,

 it doesn't matter that I can't have my chickens right away because there is no place to house them yet, and it doesn't matter that there are no tree in sight and we live in windy WY (did i mention that the wind almost tipped over our camper trailer the other day!), or that we now live 30min from any "real" town (having a post office doesn't make Carpenter a town, just say'in) This is OUR place. The place we have prayed about for years. The place God has blessed our family with, and I for one am EXCITED about our new adventure!  Bring on the farm life, we are ready!

Sunset from our living room window - breathtaking