February 2014

It's been crazy around here....but I'm not sure that that's anything new for us. Just when Joe and I start talking about stepping back and doing less....opportunities arise that draw us in the exact opposite direction.

We are trusting the Lord that He know what we can handle and that His hand's are on all the activity around here.

Over the last few months, I have been using Young Living essential oils in our home. I'm pretty much a natural fix things the cleanest way possible kind of girl, but the essential oils have added another level to my adaptability here and we are loving what they are doing for our family. Check out my new Facebook page here - Holly's Healthy Homestead.

My kids are sleeping better, I'm happier and less crabby, we have gotten over colds quicker and we are cleaning the entire house with 1 bottle of cleaner.

In this transformation, I had come across a course of study to become a Certified Natural Health Professional (CNHP) and I am beginning the seminars for it next month. I love studying about nutrition and how the body works and more natural ways to heal it from the inside out, so this just seems to be a great fit for me. I can't wait to be able to share even more of what I learn with everyone.

On top of me taking on more goals and activities personally, we are also going through some employee shifts with the business and we are looking into acquiring some more rental properties. We have purchased a few rental properties over the last few years and would like to add to that portion of our investments. So....if you know of a great deal, a foreclosure, a duplex, etc for sale....let us know.


And the kids....so busy and growing up entirely too fast for this mama. A few highlights from the last few weeks....

Charlie (6 1/2 years old) has lost her first tooth....both from her mouth and now has lost it in our home somewhere. She also has completely taken over doing chicken chores. Two or 3 times per day, she goes out to the greenhouse where the chickens are and feeds, waters and collects eggs for us. She is doing a fantastic job!

Arthur (almost 10 months old) is a walking machine. He started walking a few steps here and there at about 8 1/2 months and now at about 9 1/2 months, he is walking everywhere and has completely given up on crawling. He is our earliest walker by far.

Cori (4 years old) is working on learning her alphabet and is still my biggest mother hen around here. She is a great help in taking care of her brothers and always finding ways to help everyone out ans make them happy. One of her favorite things to do is comb daddy's hair at night....and he doesn't mind the pampering at all.

Joseph (3 years old) has mastered his colors in the last few months and is now working on learning his numbers. He can be a helper around here....when he feels like it. He loves to vacuum and can unload the dishwasher by himself. He is also the child that is always into something....on the counter digging, in my purse digging, at my desk and on the computer, etc.

Even the littlest ones help around here....and then can when we are using non-toxic, chemical-free cleaners around here.

Big girl, Charlie and her missing tooth.

Note from Charlie!

Cori at the Children's Museum. We went last month.

Joseph 'helping out'.

Happy Monday! May the Lord bless your day and week friends!

Holly

Camping - September 2013

I'm so far behind on the updates. Little Arthur isn't so little anymore. He's 9 months old and walking and I'm pretty sure the last update on him is his birth story. Soon, hopefully soon I can get caught up.

Back in September, we went camping for the weekend with Dan (Joe's brother), Susan and their family. We went to a campground near Caledonia, MN that they have enjoyed for years. It was a blast and a very nice quiet little place. The campground is set down in a valley....no cell service...it was a perfect peaceful weekend.

God bless!

Us - October 2013

Not even sure where to start...months behind on updating and I'm pretty sure there is no way I can remember what we did even last week.

A few low-lights and high-lights from the last week or so...

* I paid a $20 fine for overdue books at the library...seriously $20

    

* We did finally make it to the library and for story-time even

               

* Joseph pooped on the couch, pooped on the floor and wrote on the dining room wall with a  sharpie...all in the span of 2 days

* There is no worries about any of my children not being 'regular'

* One of my laying hens accidentally drowned herself in the cow's water tank...must have been pretty thirsty

* Joe's brother has 3 more hens for me...just need to go and pick them up

* We basically haven't done 'school' at all in the last few weeks

* I just ordered new curriculum that hopefully will get us all back on a better schedule and back in the swing of things

* We are still canning away here. The last week we have managed to put up - 56 quarts of grape juice, 30 pints of bbq sauce, 5 quarts and 6 pints of tomato soup

* Arthur is sitting up all by himself and doesn't seem too far away from crawling. The last 5 months have gone by way too fast.

* I have managed to bag up and get rid of about 20 garbage bags full of clothes...a lot donated,   some bagged up for friend's that are expecting a baby girl and some for the 2 of our youngest nieces.

* All the purging and it is evident that Charlie needs new shoes and Cori needs new pants and Arthur needs a winter coat and everyone may need winter boots.

* Grandma Lu and Papa Joe babysat our kids today...even Arthur...everyone survived and Arthur even drank breastmilk out of a bottle (a first for him). Joe's parents are awesome!...sure we will keep the baby though you never leave him anywhere, sure we will give him a bottle even though he has never had one of those either.

* Arthur has taken a liken to real food and is loving eating a meal with everyone else. So far he has eaten everything we have tried...squash, sweet potatoes, avocado, peaches, pears, peas, carrots...and probably something else I'm forgetting.

* Children...all of them...have been sleeping horribly. They all think they should be in our room and sometimes in our bed. Joseph comes in around 2 am pretty consistently.

* I keep reminding myself that some day I will get to sleep.

Arthur - 5 months old

Charlie - 6 years old

Joseph - 2 3/4 years old

Cori - 4 years old

Hopefully more posts to come - summer weddings, summer and fall camping trips, both girls learning to ride bikes without training wheels, kids all growing taller by inches in a few short months and more and more.

God bless!

A Little Monday Update

Hello Monday!

These little ones make my heart sing!

Yes - I'm still pregnant. No - I won't be forever. 

The kids were able to spend Saturday night and part of Sunday with grandma Lu and papa Joe. They had a blast...got to go out for supper, out for breakfast and got to spend the night at uncle Gene's cabin.

I was able to get carpet shampooed and a couple of closets cleaned out...and was able to sleep in a little Sunday morning.

Between the middle of last week and over the weekend, we were able to get the rest of the greenhouse planted. Hopefully soon I will be seeing little seedlings popping up - potatoes, green beans, peas, sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, celery, dill, cucumbers, melons, and more.

My hens are loving that the snow is gone and the weather has been warmer. They are making their way all over the lawn and loving that they can get close to the deck and to my compost bucket.

The cats may drive me crazy - I'm always kicking them out of the garage...but this morning they redeemed themselves. One caught and killed a rat overnight. They of course didn't eat it, but brought it to the front door to show off their handy work.

The pup, Hershey, may just be part cat. He seems to have 9 lives. After Joe dropped a post on him earlier this winter, he managed to feel better and be back to himself in less then a week. And over the weekend, he got into something and was looking very sickly - wouldn't eat or drink and just laying around. Two doses of penicillin and extra rest and he seems back to normal this morning.

We also butchered a 2 year old steer last week. This time we had a local man come out and slaughter him here on the farm, then he hauled him into the butcher for us. It was a great deal and we didn't have to spend a morning getting him loaded ourselves and hauling him in. I can't wait to refill the freezer.

Nothing is really scheduled for this week...maybe a baby??

Stay tuned.

God bless!

Saturday Snapshots

Daddy came home with a load of hay today.

After lunch, his little helpers headed outside with him to help unload.

 Charlie did a great job of rolling straps up tight.

 Joseph hauled and put away straps.

(...and yes, he does have pink boots on...)

 They all found some mud.

God bless!

Six on Saturday

A few quick updates...


1. My not-so-little boy has been sleeping in a big boy bed since Wednesday night and is loving it! Now, if only I could get all three of them to actually sleep through the night.


2. Same little boy is also sort of potty training. If I let him be completely naked all day long, he would never have an accident. Just like the other little ones I've trained, he can go 8 hours with out an accident and then have 3 in a matter of an hour.


3. I'm in a cycle of over-doing it all day (nesting??) or not feeling like doing anything at all. I've managed to go through all the kids totes of clothes, cleaned out and organized both Joe and I's closets and donated about 8 bags of clothes in the process. I also pulled out the bassinet and a few baby clothes. But at the same time, I can't stay on top of the laundry or the dishes.


4. Puppy has been renamed by daddy - Hershey. Daddy also dropped a post on him last weekend and he was a limping hurting little guy for a few days. He is doing much better now and I'm guessing shortly you won't even be able to tell that he was injured.


5. I have gardening on the brain, even though it's been snowing off on on for the last week.  My plan is to get some seeds started indoors this weekend...it has been on my to-do list for a few weeks already. I also need to sit down and plan out where everything needs to get put in the ground once it warms up. I do have some help lined up for this gardening season, but it will be a lot easier if I have a plan somewhat set up. It's kind of hard when you think of throwing a newborn into the mix.


6. The kids and I are off to Bible Study this morning and Daddy left to pick up a new to us big square baler for the upcoming haying season.


Have a blessed weekend!

Travis & Kelsey's Wedding - 12/21/12

A few photos from my dear brother's wedding...

God bless!

Multitude Monday - January 21st, 2013

There has been a wide variety of excitement around the Neaton ranch this past week.


There was a rooster attack. He managed to scratch my leg pretty good, even through my jeans. His days here are numbered.

Joseph has finally come to grips with being weaned. It's been about 3 weeks and just this past week he finally stopped asking for 'milk time' and stopped throwing a fit at bed and nap time. It's such a blessing to have one less battle around here. Tonight I brought him to his room and laid him down and the sweet little one says...'cover me up, night mom.'

We also brought home a cute little puppy on Saturday. Joe and the kids had went and picked him out about a month ago and Joe went and picked him up this weekend. We have been talking about him off and on for the last month and the kids kept going back and forth on wanting him and not wanting him.

I'm pretty sure everyone is thrilled that he is here now. He has seemed to have had numerous names over the last couple of days, but think everyone has settled on - Buddy.

Dirty faces make me smile!

Other blessings...meals stocked away in the freezer, the start of greenhouse prepping underway, Friday night dinners with friends, Netflixing movies and no commercials, ordering groceries through Amazon, phone calls and chats with friends.

The week ahead includes a midwives appointment (30 weeks already), a meeting with an insurance salesman and a final Christmas party.

Joining Ann...

God bless!

Multitude Monday - January 14th, 2013

So many gifts for our family over the last month or so...large and small...seen, heard, felt and experienced. Here's a few...

Children heard playing so well with each other...
...Joseph having a couple of extra 'mama's' to help him out

Chickens in the front yard

Leftover Christmas treats unearthed in the freezer

New niece, Reagan...
...held, snuggled and cuddled

Sitting and reading with my 3 favorite little ones...
...book after book after book

Fresh baked, homemade warm bread...
...and loads of butter
...and Joseph says honey too!

My partner-in-life, Joe beside me...
...working, parenting, living, loving

Winter sunshine, even with it is bitter cold out...
...stocking hats and mittens

Joseph's ever growing vocabulary...
...and the things he says

   

 He has been telling me 'hold on, hold on' when I ask for him. 

Apparently I tell everyone to 'hold on' quite often.

He is fascinated with the word 'tuna' and will randomly 

throw it into whatever he is talking about.

Children quickly getting over a stomach bug...

...all 3 were hit, but none had it for more than 24 hours

Growing baby belly...
...and just now having to break out the maternity pants

Counting with Ann today and looking forward to a week working back into a routine.
God bless!

2012 - A Little Review

This past year has flown by. I feel like a million things have happened, but can't remember anything.

The winter was spent...
               ...playing in the little snow we had...
               ...garden planning and dreaming...
               ...business and work prepping...

In March, we had this little bull calf born right here on our little farm...

Moosely ~ He looks so little here. 

He has grown into a monster of a calf in the last 9 months

By April, we had the greenhouse planted and the beginning of our massive gardening projects had begun. I tripled our garden space this year and feel so blessed that we were able to reap many rewards from it all. I love looking at all the canned goodies lined up on my cellar shelves.

Our Charlie turned 5 in May.

By summer, we added 5 new laying hens and a mama cow with twin calves to the Neaton ranch...

...and did a lot of canning...

Early August, we found out we were expecting our 4th little one and made the decision to have a homebirth with this baby (probably our last)...

...and celebrated Cori turning 3 (with pie, not cake).

In November, Joe and I celebrated our 7th anniversary. Grandma and papa Neaton were kind enough to take the kids for the night and we were able to get away by ourselves for the night.

One of the biggest accomplishments for our family happened in December - We became COMPLETELY DEBT FREE! I'm so proud of my husband and all his hard work. We planned, made changes and sacrifices and got it done.

December also brought, a new sister-in-law when my brother, Travis married his lovely bride Kelsey...

...and our littlest one, Joseph turned 2! It's so hard to believe how fast they grow and that soon we will have a 4th little one here.

God bless!