Skate Day!

Another homeschooling year begins at Davis University. We've been homeschooling for 7 years now, wow! I'm not sure where the time has gone, really. It's weird to be teaching Kindergarten and High School.
The kids have been working hard and earning money for some extra outings, one of them being
Homeschool Skate Day. (Thank you to Grandma & Grandpa for supplying all those extra jobs and paying good money for them.)

 The Davis boys have gone skating, but the girls haven't. 

Today was Alanah's first day on skates. A sweet friend of ours took these pictures for us. Austin is the tall one closest to us and he's holding Alanah's hand. 

 Here she is being saved by the sweet teenage boys. 

Almost a wipe out! 

Austin and Sam were so sweet to take her around and around and around. :)

~~MOTIVATION 101~~

I found this on our kitchen chalkboard this morning.

I look around and see kids with bibles in hand. 

Some of the things I've heard today: 

"Dad won't be able to work on this while he's at work, that means I'm going to win!"

"Mom, can you listen to what I have memorized so far??"

It's not clear to me if they are more motivated by the candy bar, or by beating Dusty or both. Time will tell.

Our weekend~

CHOIS CONVENTION 2012

Homeschooling Conference

Dusty and I were able to attend the annual homeschooling conference this last weekend, together and without kiddos. (A big thank you to Grandma & Grandpa Fitzpatrick for watching all of them.) We listened to some amazing speakers, drank lots of coffee, had lunch dates for two days in a row, and we walked away ready to take on another year of homeschooling our kids. (I still can't believe we've been homeschooling for 7 years.) The conference was two very full days. Friday from 8:45 to 6pm and the same for Saturday.

The keynote speakers were great and we got lots of tips to prepare us for homeschooling through high school. 

Thought this was funny.

I thought this was funny. When people ask us about socialization I know for sure that they have never meet my kids. I usually give them a weird look and say, "Have you meet my kids??" Socialization is never an issue, it's more like jockeying for air time. LOL

~~36 Weeks~~

The big day is getting closer and closer. We can't wait to meet this little baby girl. 

The kids are just as excited as Dusty and I. At bedtime each night at least 2, if not 3 of the kids, ask if they can kiss the baby good night. They come up to my belly and say good night Daisygrace, I love you, and then kiss my belly. It's really adorable, such sweet, loving hearts.
We were immensely blessed with 2 baby showers this last month and we are feeling much more prepared for her arrival. I'm planning on this baby going the full 40 weeks, we've never had an early arrival, and I don't think that will change with this baby.

As spring approaches, we continue to make plans for the growing season. We are planning on doing a little less this year with the new baby coming and all, our plate will be full enough. We are currently in the market for a new Angus calf & 2 pigs. We've ordered a few more chicks for the year, turkeys have been ordered as well, but only 5.
The kids are making plans as to what each child wants to plant in the garden. We are going to add 5 more trees to the wood lot and a few more fruit trees. The trees are a one day project so that's not to bad, and the reduced number of livestock will be a nice break. This should free up a little more time to work on finishing the Cob structure.  

~~Christmas in January~~

Maybe not Christmas in January but the pictures anyway.

We went to Northern California for Christmas this year. This year marked the first year we left Idaho for the holiday. Between the warmer weather, the traveling and seeing all of Dusty's family, it really didn't feel like Christmas at all. The drive was 12 hours each way, and being 30 weeks pregnant, I needed to stop for more potty breaks than the kids!
Anyway, here are some pictures from the trip. Compliments of my brother-in-law, Luke and my sister-in-law, Ruth. I seemed to have forgotten my camera.

Christmas Day campfire at Uncle Luke's house.

Dusty leading a bible study on Christmas Day.

 The tight squeeze around the dinner table. Kids first. Adults second.

 Kaianah and cousin Jaden playing Patty Cake

 Austin and his new iPod Touch

My brother-in-law, Jed, pulled his camper trailer close to the house and this was the boys sleeping area.

Austin, Noah, Josiah & Jaden's Campout 2012

Dusty's dad came up and joined us all for Christmas.

Here's a picture of "Papa D" and Alanah 

Uncle Luke catchin' a game of Old Maid

 Uncle Dusty and Adia

 The girls!~

~~Cousins~~

 Papa D and Kaianah

Josiah and Jaden doing some Lego building together. 

 Coming back from a Christmas Day walk.

Noah and his Mp3 (just like big brother)

 Bumps on a log.

~Austin~

What 40 acre property is complete with a pond, a boat and a giant rope swing?? 

Adia and Kaianah wait patiently for 

someone to take them on a quad ride. 

The cousins have the BEST wooden ice cream, EVER!!

Sumptin to think about...

People are constantly asking us that question, you know which one I'm taking about if you have over 2 children. Are you done yet?
Is this your last baby?
Nowadays, I guess it's a pretty common question but I must say I dread that question. It's easy to answer when you have 1 or 2 kids but when you already have 5 and another one on the way the expected answer is YES, we are done. So, when you say something like, "I really don't know, we'll have to see what God has planned for us" then you get a very distinguishable look that says, clear as day, YOU'RE CRAZY usually followed by at least 30 seconds of pure silence. Family and close friends are not excluded from this example I've just shared. It's horrible, let me tell you. This piece below was given to me, it's out of a book called The Love Dare and can be found on page 314. I thought I would share it with you, it's not long. :)  ~Love, Leia

Day 314

Love longs for children

Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, children, a reward. Psalm 127:3

Generations go through cycles where large families are either valued or discouraged. some cultures place restrictions on the number of children a couple is expected to have. But the Bible is always our determiner of truth and wisdom. God declares through His Word that children are a blessing and gift from His hand. Most of us want all the blessings we can get.

   When God speaks of children in Scripture, He often uses analogies of things that we generally want to possess a lot of, as much as we can hold. "Like arrows in the hands of a warrior" (Psalm 127:4)--does a fighting man in battle wish for only a limited amount of ammunition? Like fruit from a "fruitful vine" (Psalm 128:3)--do we prefer lots of fruit, or a little fruit? "A heritage from the Lord" (Psalm 127:3)--do most people hope for a small inheritance?

   Whether through procreation or adoption, don't let your decisions about children be dictated by the world's standards, any more than by your own opinions and preferences. Let God's Word be your guide as you trust Him to build your family and grow the next faithful generation.

Have you asked the Lord how many children you are to have? Are you reasons biblical? Are you willing to trust Him in this area?

~~Boy or Girl?~~

We had an ultrasound yesterday and it's a girl! Without a doubt. She is sooo active that the midwives had a hard time getting measurements. The due date is March 18th which is just two days before Noah's birthday, and this will make the 10th birthday in March between our families. March is a busy month.

The girls really wanted a girl and the boys really wanted a boy. When "it's a baby girl" was announced the girls were sooo excited but from the back of the dark room I heard Josiah say "boring!". He showed happiness soon after but that was his initial response. He wanted a baby brother. I laughed inside as I heard Dusty correct him for his response.  

This time of year is always sooo busy. Keepin' it short and giving you some pictures. :)

Wood for winter. Dusty, Austin, Noah & Josiah have been busy chopping & stacking.

 Dusty had to "add on" to the wood structure this year. This is holding about 6 cords of wood. The addition was done with supplies we had around the property, it didn't cost us a penny.

He loves his wood pile. :)

 We've been canning...big shocker. :)

We've got about 30 gallons of grape juice, 4 gallons of dehydrated cinnamon apple rings, raspberry jam, strawberry jam, apple sauce, peaches, tomatoes and plum jam. We are still working on canning more but here is a picture so far.

 Davis Baby #6...first photo.

Taken 3 days ago.

We wanted to see if the baby was a boy or girl but the very active, breech baby decided it didn't want to share that information with us. Could these feet be any closer together?? LOL.

~~August 2011~~

Okay, we promise this isn't turning into a pregnancy blog. With that said, one more week and we can kiss the 1st trimester good-bye. Seriously, where did the time go?
We've been a little busy in August to say the least, here's what we've been up to:

 My brother, Brandon & 3 month old puppy, Stitch came to visit. Brandon is puppy sister for our sister Trish while she is traveling in Europe and everywhere else.

 With the hot Idaho weather we spent a lot of time down at the creek.

 All the kiddos and Uncle Brandon. (and Stitch)

 Uncle Brandon heading up north to see family and Stitch is staying with us. So now we are puppy sitting until December. The kids are really enjoying having a puppy around. (Don't tell anyone but I'm kinda enjoying it to.)

Then we bought a *new to us* van after a couple months of looking. It's a 15 passenger, 1 ton so we can pull a trailer or haul firewood. Now we need to sell the Toyota Sienna mini-van. (It's weird to think that we will soon outgrown the mini-van)

 Then my cousin got married and Alanah was the flower girl. It was a 2-day event up at Bogus Basin here in Idaho. These pictures are just from the rehearsal, not the actual wedding.

                                                                          Emily & Justin

Next was Family Camp in McCall, Id. with our church. This is an annual event and our 2nd year attending.

 Miss Kaianah on the beach. She had so much fun playing with all her friends in the sand and water.

                                                                      Kids got buried.
                                               This is Riley on the left and Alanah on the right.

 I've gotta say, it was reallllly nice for me when kids were buried. I didn't have to keep looking around to make sure that everyone was okay and not getting to far into the water. :) It was like a mommy break! LOL

 The highlight of the trip!

Noah got baptised. He had told us that he wanted to a few weeks before the trip. We asked him lots of questions to make sure that he was ready. He was ready!

 Dusty is on the left and Kelly Miller on the right.

 Austin & Stitch at the campsite.

And again around the camp fire in the early morning hours. 

 Lots of kids at Family Camp, this is only a small part of them.

This was "The Big Race" as Noah described it to me.

 1st Place Winner!!

Josiah Davis

 2nd Place Winner!!

Noah Davis

 A random picture from the drive home.

Our first potato harvest.

Other things that took place in August was Dusty got the roof planted for the cob structure. So, now we have a living roof coming in. Pics to follow later. We are still raising 7 pigs, 52 chickens & 1 cow. Plus some garden items such as melons, tomatoes, berries, fruit trees, basil, rosemary, potatoes & peppers.