31 days of Halloween

Ok, October this year around here was more like a December. Melody made me this really great advent calendar with her sewing machine. But in each day slot, I made up different fun activities or crafts to do that day. Although it was a lot of work, it was worth it. I had so much fun doing things with the boys that I wouldn't normally do and it made the month so festive and fun and spooky.
Here are just a few activities we enjoyed together:
*Glow baths
*Pumpkin carving
*Jumping on the trampoline with our costumes on
*Pumpkin bowling
*Made our own trick or treat bags
*There was also a grab bag choice about once a week. I really really had fun with this and we are looking forward to doing it next year too!

Charley turns 4!

This is late too, but our big boy Charley turned 4 at the end of September! Oh I just love and adore him. I let him get away with way too much, he is often times a little spoiled booger and that's because I dote all over him all day long. He has finally started to enjoy learning his letters! Yeay. That is huge because he was always so defiant with anything having to do with learning before now. He is shy towards other people, he plays really well on his own. He plays with Colt so well (most of the time). I wasn't able to get charley in preschool this year which was a bummer. But I am enjoying him being home one last year with me. Charley is a super picky eater. Be literally complains that his tummy is too full every time we sit down to eat. I really think he lives off of scrambled eggs and granola bars. He loves this new cartoon called Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, he also loves curious George and this creepy cartoon called courage the cowardly dog. Well here are some pics...

Update

Whoa its been a while. But that always happens. We are enjoying our new home and new location so much. I hate that we like it so much, seeing as how we are still in California. And things are only beginning to get worse. But onto happier things. Here at this house we haven't been focusing as much on becoming self reliant like we did at our last place. Right now we are sown to five chickens and a horse. And we all know horses are big black money holes. So last wknd we did get a beautiful pair of meat rabbits. Meat rabbits are such a great thing to have because they don't eat or drink much, but in an emergency, they can breed, have a ton of babies and you can then have months of rabbit meat. Rabbit meat is lean, full of protein and very low in cholesterol. Now if only it tasted a little better! So we want to build up our chicken supply. Mostly dual purpose chickens that can lay and be good meat chickens. Our plan is to have about 15 of each. Them when the meat chickens come of size, we spend a day butchering and processing them. And wallah! Tons of chicken in the freezer. Also need a rooster so that we can replenish our supply. We also sold my beloved sweet heiffer, Molly. She was such a sweet cow and we loved her. And SHE LOVED US! BUT looking at it in a sustainable way, she wasn't even pregnant yet. I'd we got her pregnant, it would be another 11 months before she had a baby, then we'd be getting 8 gallons of milk a day. Hello! Also, in a pinch, cows go through a ton of water and food. If we had an area for her to roam, it would be different. We do have 6 acres here, but we didn't have the means right away to section a couple acres off for pasture. And finally, we are getting a garden area ready for a winter garden. We bought TONS of great heirloom seeds from a sees co online last year so we are set with being able to grow our own food. Also important is out water supply. We have a well that runs off of electricity and if need be we can jimmy it up to a generator when times get tough. We also have a 10,000 gallon holding tank full of water and we have 2 550 gallon water tanks that we are constantly refilling with fresh water. Now we just need to get off the map! Wahaha. Here are a few pics in no particular order from recent months. SH