GOOP

Today we made goop!!!! It was a fun and easy project and the kids loved it. :)
I found this on the internet while looking for fun homeschool projects. We are also going to make homemade playdough.

Aaaah, Ranch Work

When we bought the house, we knew it would be a bit of a fixer-upper...one of the major projects is mostly in the bag now. The previous owners did not landscape or maintain the property and after ten years or so we had a lot of sagebrush. Unlike the eastern states, beautiful green trees and natural grass do NOT grow around here. Instead...we get giant sagebrush. We also had to move literally tons of manure. The piles you see in the picture are actually piles of composted manure. The tractor is my Dad's John Deere 4300. It is a 4 wheel drive diesel and I love it! I can't wait to get my own. I cleared about an acre and created a road.

for a example of how it used to look...click this link:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGoN7GtJlPg6Bjv1csImUx7mIyKKXDsW9igrV2O8BP4iVUFMEKRbf_FP83arsaXvn6WERlrBqssoTt6nX3s1JCZtZryl8xJ3Z3BRs_YlSNDSSbWRTagJOvjE2p9wGNeQZ7NX7kxe4Hm_k/s1600-h/kids+summer+Pictures+057.jpg

Singing in the Rain

This picture really speaks for itself. We had a few warm rainy days over the memorial day weekend and they kids really enjoyed it.

Everything and the Kitchen sink

This is super exciting for me. Our kitchen is almost done. We have been slowly getting things done over the last 8 months. This is our latest edition the sink and faucet and also new lighting. Not only have we been working on the kitchen we have been removing sagebrush out of the fenced part of our backyard. We removed 6 heaping truck loads over the last two Saturdays. We also trimmed all the beautiful evergreens that were already on the property. So that has been our latest projects.

Next we are going to attack our bathrooms and we are working on getting our house as energy efficient as possible. We are currently researching all that right now.

Art Work

Gracie loves to draw cute pictures and especially ones of her favorite hippo "Mary Christmas" and her mommy, daddy and her favorite brother Ashy. This one was so cute we had to take a photo. Hippo is in the middle. Keller and Gracie on the right and me and Ashten on the left. =) This was a wonderful Saturday morning.

Ceaderville and the Suprise Valley

A few weekends ago we went to the Surprise Valley with my parents. My dad wanted to take us to see his favorite hunting spots over the last thirty years. His cancer is now terminal so he is trying to fit in some of those last minute trips.

We went 3 hours north of Reno to the Surprise Valley. We stayed in a cute town called Ceaderville in at a natural hot springs. I was very cold the weekend we went I think the high reached 45 degrees and had a bad wind chill.

We drove around the mountains and saw Antelope and wild horses. Also the campground that he always stayed at. We went and had lunch at this neat cabin that the BLM manages and it is first come first serve in the rustic old cabin. My dad and friends spent many a night there. It was a nice place to stop and have lunch.

We also had dinner with some family friends who have lived in Ceaderville for the last 7 years. They have a nice 5 acre ranch they call "Rancho Relaxo". It was wonderful company and wonderful food.

Keller's Birthday weekend

This was a wonderful weekend!!!!!!!!!!! We were able to rip out a bunch or sagebrush in our fenced backyard area and also around the barn. We also trimed some trees in the back yard that were so overgrown they looked like bushes. It is slowly coming together. The hard work is very rewarding. We hope to have some grass and seeds for flowers planted in the next few months. Trees are also in the plan. We hope to plant them around the property.

We also had a little pizza dinner on Sunday evening with friends and family.

I will post some pics in the next day or two. =)