Boys Of Fall

Jake and Owen are playing football this season. I usually try to keep a cool facade when my kids express interest in a sport so I don't unduly influence them. When the boys came and asked me I couldn't help but start shaking my internal pom pom's and reflecting on my days as a Pop Warner cheerleader. I have to say there is just something about a boy in a football uniform! My heart be still!



We have an awesome league here. It is all about the love of the game. Pop Warner has even teamed up with The University Of Nevada Reno for a special day of training. It was so cute to watch these big boys of football get down on the ground and run plays with even the littlest guys in football (by this I mean Owen at 36 lbs and 5 years old, he is the smallest)


After practice they players all posed for photos together and even signed some autographs.



The boys are looking forward to UNR's season opener, when they get to be down on the field to cheer on the players.

This weekend was Jamboree for both boys. Owen's was first on Friday night. I do have to say that the Tiny Might teams are unfairly stacked. Our team was a last minute pull from other overly full teams. Of course the other coaches sacrificed their youngest and smallest players. Our team, Wolfpack Powder, is made of the smallest, youngest, first year players. That being said these boys are full of heart and will be a force out there on the field. After the first two scrimmages I saw the animal in Owen come out. He really started to get it and was all over his man. I was ecstatic.

Here is my little stud! All geared up!

On the sidelines with the offense. Just in case you misunderstood SMALLEST player.


Owen is number 33 and here he is blocking that huge kid in the right of the frame.


When you cant push them over backward just pull them down on top of you. This poor number 34 never knew what hit him. Owen would tackle him, the play would end and he would get up and Owen would tackle him again. He got so frustrated he started stomping his feet and crying! I was so proud!!!!!

Here is the cutest victory dance ever created on a football field. You think he likes the game?


Jake's Jamboree was this morning. His team is huge so out of three games he only got to play one.


He is number 78.









The VICTORY dance! Jake got a holding call and he was bummed but I was proud of him. This is his first year and he did awesome. I can't wait for all the games this season. I did try to kiss the boy and he said "awww..MOM", so we all know I will be kissing the heck out of him all season. I think Rob might even get in on the action.

Fargo Farms Elementary: Our Classroom

I have been working day and night to revamp our classroom and get ready for the new school year. Last year we had difficulty keeping things moving. I have one little chicken that is a challenge and he could stretch one days work out for a week. This year we are trying the workbox system and loving it. It is keeping us on track and motivated.



This side of the room is the little guys. They all have their own desk and set of workboxes.



If you are not familiar with the system, each drawer gets a single assignment and all the tools needed to complete the work. I redesigned the system a bit and instead of stacking the completed boxes as they work through them, my guys remove the numbered tag on each drawer and add it to the chart above their desk as they complete the work. I searched the Internet for personalized the tags for fun. Little princess here got princess tags and Big O and Wyatt got transformers. I finally figured out how to make them on my own and so I also made holiday tags for all the kids.


Each one of them gets two help tags for work they need help with and two potty tags for extra potty breaks if needed. The little guys don't need the help tags yet because I am working with them the whole time but it does cut down on interruptions when they are working independently. If they start to interrupt Wyatt's lesson I ask if they need to use a help tag and they get very quiet (they initiated a contest to see who can keep their help tags)

Wyatt's desk is on the opposite wall so he won't be distracted by all the ruckus over in kindergarten.


His number tags are on the left and "work with mom" tags are on the right for the boxes I need to instruct him on. He uses his helps no problem, but it is keeping him going because he slaps a work with mom tag on the box and moves on instead of waiting for me.


Our bookcase holds all the books and some games for the year. We also have a cabinet there for our manipulative's and a rolling cart with our file folder centers, listening centers and nap mats.
I decided getting them up and moving would break up the monotony so I set up a center desk where they work on any projects or center work.

As we work through Kindergarten we get two letters to focus on a week. I will be reinforcing those with our favorite letter of the week curriculum. I did this curriculum last year and over the summer with Owen but it is fun and he loves it so it will be going in our boxes again this year. Emma will be doing it along with us for Pre-K. As they master each letter they will add that letter to the tree in their color, blue for Owen, Pink for Ava and yellow for Emma. If you have not seen it check it out at http://confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/ Erica is amazing and all her printables are free, although you can buy them for $10.00, which I did after borrowing from her for a year!

Last but not least is my desk. It is a big mess as I try to get all the worksheets organized for so many kidlets. I need a few shelves up above there I think.

So there it is our classroom 2010. I am really excited for the year and will be posting our curriculum choices this week along with some action shots of our first days. Hope everyone has a marvelous school year!

Baby Goats Are Here

This post is a long time coming. It seems with trying to squish a year of fun into a summer, running the farm, having a baby and getting ready for a new school year with seven kids, I just ran out of spare time! Anyway, we had been waiting on pins and needles for these girls to go into labor. I thought I knew when they conceived. I was wrong! So, after much back and forth between Robert and I on whether they were actually pregnant, we came out early one morning, to find this little guy. He was only minutes old. I was a combination of thrilled he was here and sad I missed it. I forgot what a brat his mama was though until I went in to check him over. She is SASSY! He is a good sturdy boy and she is just doing her job.


Sarah and I started Goat watch 2010 at that point on our second mama to be. We went out every 15 minutes to see if anything was going on. It could have been days or weeks but lucky us it was only hours. I want to send out a warning that the photos to follow are graphic birth shots.

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Between pushes Delilah and her new baby would come over and Gretyl would kiss on the baby. It was the cutest thing I ever saw.



She would push and then she would look over and check to make sure I was there. She would bleat at me as if to say "HELLO...A little help"









Right about here I think I went into sympathy labor. I caught myself breathing through a few contractions. Thank God we don't have neighbors...can you imagine! Can't you just feel her determination. She was amazing.



The kids were glued to the spot. They whispered , quietly cheered her on, asked a lot of questions and were very concerned. They were so good! Ok, ok so they were slightly grossed out too!





It sounds weird but it was so amazing and beautiful to watch.






Finally after about 45 minutes of hard labor the baby was born.








Gretyl was very generous about sharing her baby and letting me check him out. He is another beauty. We were a bit disapointed we did not get a girl (boy goats are stinky and not cuddly) but then she sneezed and this fell out.



I kid you not! She just fell out onto the ground! I was completely shocked.



I looked a little like this I think!


I stepped in at this point and cleaned and dried the baby and got her nursing. Mama was a bit overwhelmed and seemed to appreciate the help. She kept giving me little kisses. She is a sweet goat by nature but this experience really was special. Baby girl's name is Cleo but the boys need names. Any ideas?

As we celebrate Anna's 2 month birthday and it seems a good time to reflect on her birth.

I was diagnosed with diabetes at 24 weeks after failing my glucose test. I had been feeling awful so it was no surprise. Every time I ate I would get all sweaty and faint feeling. The doctor tried having me control the symptoms with diet but it quickly became clear I would need insulin and lots of it. I do not like needles so the finger sticks were really horrible for me. I dreaded them and would have to work myself up to it. When I found out I needed insulin I really panicked. Insulin meant giving myself shots in the belly every day, my worst nightmare. Funny enough the shots were easier for me than the finger pokes. Even with the insulin I did not feel well. I was nauseated all the time and I had trouble keeping my meals down.

I woke up the morning of May 13 and went to my normal doctor appointment. I had to go every other day for fetal monitoring because of the diabetes. I guess on top of the physical ramifications for mom, diabetes is very dangerous for the baby. Still birth and SID's are not uncommon in babies with diabetic mothers. As I sat on the non-stress monitor that morning I realized it was measuring contractions. My doctor was off that day so his partner came in and checked me for dilation. I was not dilated so they sent me home to wait it out. I was fine with that because according to my dates I had at least 2 weeks to go. I went home and braced myself for a long night of contractions spaced about every 5 minutes.

The following morning was a school day for Jacob and Sarah so I got up and started getting ready to take them to school. I got in the shower and got hit with the worst chest pain. I can't explain how bad the pain was. I could not breathe. I fell on the shower floor and screamed for help. I was sure it was a heart attack and I was going to die. I screamed for help. The pain would subside and then hit again. I had gone through gall bladder problems with Robert a year ago so I figured that was what it was. We called a sitter, took the kids to school and went to E.R.

We got to E.R. and really long story shorter, I was diagnosed with lots of gall stones and a rupturing gall bladder. Our options were limited because as the day went on I got sicker and sicker. Finally our doctors decided they had to operate. I was going to have to be put under and have a c-section and then the doctors would remove the gall bladder laparoscopically. It was really emotional because Robert would not be allowed in the room and neither of us would see our precious daughter be born. I was also personally terrified of being put to sleep and intubated.

Going into surgery was the most embarrassing thing EVER! I had a all man team. Even my nurses were men. Nothing against men, but I am a bit modest and this was mortifying for me. If you have never had a c-section they strip you down and lay you out on a tiny narrow bed with your arms strapped to boards crucifixion style, I am pretty sure my boobs melted into my armpits. It's freezing in there and I was shaking and my gall bladder had me vomiting every few minutes. I doubt even a super model would look good in those circumstances, but I am pretty sure I was at my worst. My vanity aside, I started to have a panic attack as my doctor drew his incision lines on my belly and planned his attack, I begged to be put under.



The next thing I remember is screaming how bad it hurt. Lucky for me that was short lived. I have to say with all the surgery and how sick I really was I felt amazing really fast. Robert was playing super dad the whole time I was in surgery and recovery and spent that time bonding with Anna and making sure my wishes concerning feeding and vaccinations were respected. While I was still in recovery they brought Anna to me and held her to me to nurse. I have fuzzy memories of a nurse manually putting my niples into Anna's mouth, but by then all concern for modesty and vanity were long gone.

Anna Lynn came into the world on May 15th. She weighed 6 lbs 7.5 ounces and was 19.5inches long.





When we got settled and began enjoying our new baby We looked at the camera and saw that one of those men in that E.R. had taken the time to take about 100 picutres of the birth neither of us got to see. He even took a picture of the clock the minute she was born.



Robert and I spent the night loving on the baby and enjoying time together. Robert of course did his best to recruit Anna to the "daddy" team. In the morning he went home to get the whole brood to meet their new baby sister.





I was blessed enough to feel awesome and by day 3 I was ready to go home. I missed the kids and the farm and was so glad to get back to life as usual.



Welcome to the world my love.

Spring On Fargo Farms

Spring was a little Topsy Turvey here on the Farm.



I was pregnant and feeling very ill. I had been diagnosed with diabetes but unbeknownst to me my gall bladder was a time bomb. Fargo Farm never rests though so we all strapped on our boots and hunkered down to getter done.

We had taken on a bottle baby "practice" bull from auction and he needed to be fed twice a day. The kids took to it immediately and I only had to take on bottle duty a few times myself.


Our sheep finally lambed and we had two ewe's with single lambs and one with twins. I cannot describe the excitement of going out in the morning to find new life in the pen. It seemed all our hard work and planning were paying off and we might just be farmers after all. Sadly, our elation was quickly replaced with heartbreak when we lost one baby. It was a hard lesson on the harsh reality of farm life. Through the loss of the lamb, I learned to better trust my instincts. I hesitated taking that baby from his mama even though I did not think she was caring for him, because I doubted my own judgement and did not want to unnecessarily remove a lamb from a perfectly good mother. In the end had I chosen to bottle feed him I may of saved his life.




All these new additions needed management so on Mother's Day we went out to vaccinate, worm, trim hooves and castrate the new and old, as need be. As always it was a family affair. We banded the boys which is a castration method that uses a band to stop circulation to the testicles allowing them to atrophy and fall off. We also had to slaughter a few chickens that had begun to cannibalize the other hens in the hen house. Being pregnant I was a bit sensitive and proceeded to vomit half way through the procedure. I was instantly demoted from pioneer woman to city slicker!





Spring is said to come in like a lion and out like a lamb, but ours ended with quite a roar...

Heritage Breeds

When Rob and I started dreaming of the farm we did a lot of research and reading. We decided our homestead would focus on heritage livestock. What is heritage livestock you ask? Well the American Livestock Conservancy defines heritage livestock as breeds that are threatened. Due to changes in modern agriculture practice, modern food production now favors the use of a few highly specialized breeds selected for the ability to produce lots of milk or eggs, gain weight quickly, or yield meat within confinement. Many traditional livestock breeds have lost popularity and are threatened with extinction. These heritage breeds are an important part of the American agricultural inheritance. Not only do they remind us of our past, they are also an important resource for our future.

For a smaller farm like ours they are especially fitting because heritage animals have traits that make them particularly well-adapted to local environment. Heritage breeds are generally better adapted to withstand disease, parasites and harsh environmental conditions, their bodies are also suited to living on pasture.

The benefits of heritage breeds are many, but the drawback is the expense and difficulty of obtaining breeding stock. Due to the fact the animals are endangered finding a suitable breeding pair can take years and the animals are usually located across country.

We have been lucky to find Jacob Sheep locally and also find our Myotonic Goats in California. Heritage cows and pigs are still not in our reach but we have added a few "practice" animals to our little farm. This way we can work out the kinks before we have the countries livestock genetic pool in our hands. Bacon and Sausage, the pigs, were slaughtered already. And we have just recently picked up some cattle at auction and through our friends at the feed store. Let the practice begin....