I am not very good at this blogging stuff. It has been a while since I have been on here. Life gets busy for us. We have expanded our little farm to now include pigs, chickens, goats, bees and rabbits. Taking care of all the animals can be tough but we really enjoy doing it all. Especially when the weather is cooperating. As I write this there is a mini snow storm coming down outside. My 8 year old had enough snow to make a pretty decent sized snowman this morning. Although for Pacific Northwest standards this is nothing;) We made the switch to homeschooling this year. That has been one of the best choices we could have made!! Our sons have gotten to spend a lot of time with Dad before he leaves again which is a wonderful thing. We love being able to teach our sons good morals and values as well as the reading, writing and mathematics.  There were some challenging days in the beginning but we have all gotten into a really wonderful routine and it works. We have decided to school year round which at first can sound a little horrible for a child. We plan on taking a week or two off every 6 weeks. And while Dad is deployed we will probably not take many breaks at all so that we can take more time off when he returns.