Multitude Monday

Blessings overflow here at the Neaton ranch.

Everyday brings new challenges and new victories and we rejoice in it all.

777. New schedules, new plans, new organizing

778. Getting inspiration from others.....

779. .....Quinn, Stephanie, Nic, Lindsay and more

780. Smiling babe.....clapping hands

781. Growing and exploring babes

782. So close to crawling

783. "Chocolate ice cream"

784. New tooth smiles

785. Happy kids

786. Kids sleeping through the night.....even the babe

787. Parade watching in some shade

788. Hanging out with cousins

789. Hanging out with uncle Trav

790. Mill Pond Mile

791. Little ones getting big enough and strong enough to help with more chores

792. Big aprons on little girls

793. A great week at VBS

794. Hearing Charlie explain to Travis about Jesus and the path to everlasting life

795. Friday on the Farm

796. Meeting sweet new people

797. Talking chickens, raw milk and Jesus

798. Husband working hard

799. Getting hay up before the rain

800. Sweet notes in the mail for Miss Charlie

Praying a blessed week for all!

Stats

Stats as of today -

Joseph.....

.....has his first tooth popping through
.....had chicken for the first time yesterday
.....has already been eating sweet potato, chicken broth, avocado, applesauce, pears, bananas, and peas
.....slept through the night for the first time (from 10pm to 6am and went back to sleep after nursing at 6am)
.....does not nap well
.....seems close to crawling
.....his skin is looking a lot clearer (will post more later on what has all been happening)


Cori.....

.....did not sleep through the night last night
.....still won't say more than the few words that she has been using forever
.....pooped in a swim diaper twice in the last 2 days
.....is my best napper (almost always get 3 hours out of her)
.....loves driving their little battery-powered car around the yard, but does not let off the peddle when she runs into something
.....is deathly afraid of the chickens
.....has scrapped up both knees about 10 times in the last week


Charlie.....

.....wants the training wheels off of her bike
.....is loving VBS this week
.....is learning to drive the gator all by herself (just steering with dad running the pedals)
.....spent about 2 hours over the last couple of days in a time-out
.....talks constantly, always looking for the last word, always wants to read 1 more book or hear 1 more story
.....loves feeding the chickens scraps (and also a little scared of them)
.....can buckle herself in her carseat


Joe.....
.....is working his butt off, definitely will be pretty busy for at least the next month (4 fence jobs lined up, along with haying and other smaller jobs that always come along)
.....has put 500 miles on the Gator since we bought it in May
.....is thankful his wife has been making homemade bread again
.....has been taking great care of chores so I don't have to venture out in the heat with the kids to do them
.....does not like taking cod liver oil, but does because his wife wants him to


Holly.....

.....bought a new ice cream maker (can't wait to experiment some and will need to since I'm not eating dairy)
.....is starting a new schedule next week (cleaning, menus, school, work, etc)
.....is still not eating many things in an attempt to keep Joseph's eczema under control
.....is blessed with the extra weight that has come off because of it, but has almost no clothes that fit appropriately
.....needs to get in the garden - to weed, to mulch, to cut lettuce
.....is too lazy to get up and load photos to add to this post (will get them for the next one)
.....is thankful it's not soooo hot and humid today


Have a blessed day!

Multitude Monday

Counting summertime blessings with Ann.....

764. Clothes drying on the line

765. Flip-flop tan lines

766. Early sunrises

767. Late sunsets

768. Hammocks

769. Sisters pushing sisters on the swingset

770. Gator rides

771. Slip-n-slides and kiddie pools

772. Supper from the grill

773. First raspberries

774. Farmer's baling hay

775. Early morning rain

776. Tractor pulls

Have a blessed week!

Como Zoo

About a month ago, the kiddos and I headed out, picked up Travis and headed to Como Zoo.

It was a fun afternoon and a nice chance to visit with my brother. Como is the perfect size for a short afternoon outing and nice for little ones to walk around and you can't beat free.

God bless!

Holly

June at the Neaton Ranch (Part 1)

I have such a hard time knowing where to start when it's been a few weeks since I blogged last. I have no idea what happened to June, but here is a little bit of the happenings...those I can remember at least.

1. We finally got the garden planted the first weekend of June after a very wet spring. And by we I mean me. It wasn't that Joe wouldn't help, but when he was available it was raining and when it finally dried up enough to plant he was crazy busy with work. And still is busy-busy.

Once things started coming up, I was able to weed and mulch the majority of it. It is very clear that I do not make straight rows, but things are looking good. We planted cantaloupe, watermelon, potatoes, sweet corn, green beans, onions, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, and tomatoes.

2. We took both steers in to be butchered last month. Good thing since we were completely out of meat here. Two steers is a lot of meat. We had hot dogs and summer sausage made as well as the normal hamburger, steaks and roasts. The butcher, Knaus Sausage House, did a great job, were reasonably priced and made the sausage, etc. without any added nitrates.

The same day I picked up the meat from the butcher, I also picked up 40+ butchered whole chickens from Dan & Becky's Market. We have purchased birds from them the last few years and they are yummy. Needless to say, we had to plug in another freezer here. I have 3 freezers in use right now. I guess if the world is ending, we will be good for awhile.

 

This is our new mama cow and calf. She came from just down the road and seems to be happy to be here. The little calf has gotten out of the fence once. His mama was still in the fence and she feeds him, so he didn't venture too far.

More to come....

God bless!

Holly