My Love From Home: 2016 April

Springtime 2016

On April 1st we picked up a newborn (3 week old) miniature potbelly piglet for Skylar, but also for our year old potbelly pig, Cookie to have as a friend. We named this piglet Boots.

We had to bottle feed this baby for 3 weeks, and oh my, that was the most precious thing!

Calhouns is one of our favorite local trips and activity. This large family owned farm is a petting zoo and a "you pick". We love picking the strawberries.

Our own backyard sometimes feels like a petting zoo. We frequently get large gopher tortoises like this one that wonder into our yard.

This mamma hen surprised us this spring. She went missing for about a month, we thought she was dead, that maybe a predator got her, but instead, she had snuck off to the woods to lay and sit on her eggs, she reappeared just after Easter with 12 baby chicks!

I love this cow painting that I did in April!

At the end of the school year, the 4th - 6th graders in our homeschool group put on a program called Faces of History. The kids have spent weeks researching and writing a 5 paragraph, 3 topic reseach paper on their person of choice from ancient history (last year's history lesson was on American history, this year was Ancient, next year will be the Middle Ages). The kids dress up as their person of choice and read their paper in the first person as their character, at the end of their presentation, they ask the audience to guess who they are.

Skylar's person of choice was Demeter, the Greek goddess of harvest. She enjoyed studying the ancient Greek gods and goddesses. And Maddox was John the Baptist.

After our homeschool group let out for the school year (in April!) we took another (not so spontaneous) trip to the beach. This time, we went to Jacksonvillle FL.

While in Jacksonville, we also visited the Jacksonville zoo. We were especially excited to go because of their seasonal dino exhibit.

If you'll look closely below, you'll see one of the most exciting things that was spotted on our trip to the zoo, which was a man whisker on Maddox's cheek! LOL

Shortly after our beach trip, we met up with our homeschool friends for a field trip to the Agrirama. I love that the kids were able to dress up. So precious!

On April 24th, weeks after joining our church, Maddox and Skylar were baptized!

One of the local public school hosted an Ag day and Skylar was invited by her horseback riding instructor to bring one of her pigs. Skylar was more than happy to show off baby boots.

Mitch and my dad built a chicken tractor for our meat chickens to grow in. This tractor keeps them contained and protected, but with us moving the tractor everyday allows them to scratch and eat fresh grass and bugs for the 8 to 12 weeks they are with us.

finished fresh chicken, plucked, cleaned, packaged, and ready to eat

For Maddox's 10th birthday, we had a small family celebration at my parent's house, and then the next day, Mitch and I took Skylar, Maddox, and his friend Ethan to Wild Adventures. We left Mason and Josiah with my parents because we thought they wouldn't have much fun watching the big kids ride rides that they were too small for. I really struggled with that decision before we left, but once we were at the theme park, I knew that we had made the right choice. Mason and Josiah would have been too small, but they'll enjoy future trips I'm sure!

For my birthday, Mitch and the kids gave me this adorable Pioneer Woman cooking collection. For mother's day, they gave me her plates. I love her stuff!

In this hot south Georgia heat, we're able to jump in the pool early in the season. My parents have a pool, and as long as they'll have us, I swear the kids will be in the pool from Easter until Thanksgiving.

Mitch was killing it at work in 2016 and they rewarded him (and I!) with several fun trips. Below, we are at the Atlanta Braves game with our food and drinks taken care of! We were also put up in a nice hotel in Atlanta and we had a fun romantic kid-free weekend together!

2016, the year of the bees! Mitch purchased and is raising bees! My dad built these really cool bee boxes for us, and we are keeping our bees on my dad's farm where he has cotton, and blueberries, and many other things. I am looking forward to the honey!

A third trip to the beach! I should say that 2016 was the year of the beach! We headed back down to Jacksonville FL because we had so much fun the last time, and because through Mitch's work and hotel points, we were able to stay for free! Gotta love the perks!

June 3rd

Jojo checking out this fishermen's hammer head shark!

Back home, the library put on a Dairy Event, where they brought in a cow and the kids were able to see how a cow gets milked. Very cool!

In June, our neighboring small town Fitzgerald put on a summer art camp for the kids. (Thanks mom for sponsoring this cool gift!) At the end of the camp, the kids put on a dance.