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.

~~Luella the Cow~~

It's official, we are dairy farmers. 

We bought a cow this year that was ready to calf, we thought this was a great idea because we wouldn't have to bottle feed a calf, or endure the expenses of buying formula for a calf. Little did we know, this mama calf tandem nursed the last time she had a baby, therefore she produces way to much milk for one little calf to keep up with. In order for mama to avoid getting mastitis, we would have to milk her. 

So, we reluctantly stepped into the world of milking a cow.

To back tract a minute, we were given this book a few years ago by my sister-in-law. The kids LOVE this book. It's all about milking a cow named Luella. The cow we bought looks just like Luella in the story, so that is what we named her. 

 Dusty milking Luella.

We are getting about 2 gallons of milk a day.

She is very tame and calm. She is use to being milked. 

We did have to buy a special bar just to make sure she doesn't kick. 

Austin's turn!

Baby is never far away from her mama. 

A family affair.

The guys just milk the back teats, leaving the front ones for the baby calf.

 Dusty and our neighbor assisted in the birth of the calf. 

Maybe assisted is an understatement, they had to pull her out! 

Luella was struggling and needed some help. 

 Dusty and Grandpa Fitz milking in the rain.

We bought Luella with Grandma and Grandpa so it's a joint effort 

in milking and raising these two girls. This is our first joint livestock adventure. 

~~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?

The Davis kids.

December 2011

~~2nd ANNUAL PIG HARVEST PARTY~~

 We raised 7 pigs this year! 2 for us and the rest for friends.

The pigs had about an acre of land to graze on grass. The pigs were purchased by friends and taken to our house at 8 weeks old. We raised them until they were 6 months old.

 We got an early start on harvest day, and it was cold. Dusty and the kids built a fire outside to keep warm while last minute preparations were made and while we waited for the sun to rise. Our goal was to harvest 4 pigs by the end of the day. That means everything is done right down to the cuts, individually wrapped and put in the freezer. A pretty ambitious goal.

 We feed the pigs some grain and got the guns ready.

 Yep, it's dead.

 Where are the kids you ask?

The ones that wanted to be a part of it watched while I explained to them what was going on and how great it was that we had pigs that lived a good life, free from hormones, vaccinations and concrete slaps. We also talked about knowing where your food comes from.

 We killed 2 pigs at a time.

The next step is to hoist them up on the tractor and take them to the butchering area.

 All hoisted up and ready for transportation.

 Austin was the driver.

 Here's the butchering location.

Next is to hose them off and start butchering.

Ready, set, go!

We had to work fast in order to get 4 pigs done in a day. We need to get these pigs quartered and on ice before we start with the next 2 pigs.

We kept the fire going since it was still pretty cold.

Here's Dusty skinning.

Quartering.

Then on ice while the guys go get the next two pigs.

After the pigs are chilled we start making the cuts, package and freezing.

We had stations.

2 butchering stations, sausage making station, packaging station and labeling station.

Followed by runners placing the meats in the freezer.

Josiah makes sausage!

Austin does some labeling and running to the freezer.

One of the families figured out the approx price per pound to raise these pigs ourselves.

They figured that it came to about $1.70 per pound, that includes every cut, so hams, bacon, sausage, roasts, pork chops, steaks etc. 

In the recent past we've purchased roasts from Costco for $1.99 per pound and it wasn't organic or anything special, just plain ole Kirkland pork roasts.

So, in our opinion it's cost effective to raise our own.

(I believe we shared with you in an older post that we didn't think raising our own chickens was cost effective for our family, but pork is!)

The End.