Cas got some great photos this year for her board and I can't wait to see how it places. Aravis tried her hand at sewing and will be judged Tuesday. Nervous!
Aravis also got her first taste of the runway this week after being asked to page for one of the queen contestants. Both girls are interested in competing now. only 5 more years until Cas is eligible. Caspian drew this great picture of a goat in a pasture and Nathan built a homemade frame for it. It looks pretty cool. We'll probably hang it once it's back from the fair. They haven't worked as much with their chickens as they should've, and knowing some of the defects their hens have, I'll be surprised if they even place. The garden is looking pretty good and the weeds are about 50% gone. Last night's rain will probably bring them all back though. The squash and zucchini are coming on strong and we've been able to share. Aravis and I actually took a ruler out there yesterday Trying to find some to fit into her fair exhibition requirements. This is her first year in "real"4-H and I'll turn around tomorrow and they'll both be graduating High School.
In other news, I am still enjoying our new truck, the weather has been hot, and our garden is doing well. Bell peppers are coming on and soon maybe the tomatoes will turn. Our laying hens are now in a pen and we are getting at least 4-5 eggs a day sometimes 8. I know that's not much, but we rarely use over 4 a week, so it's good for us.
My mom seems to be healing well since her femur broke last month. Dad is literally killing himself caring for her and neither of them will accept help from "professionals" Nathan and I have been doing a lot of their running and work around the house. It can be frustrating too when out of 8 kid only 3 seem to be fully willing to help anyway. Between that and doing another friend's running and shopping we haven't had time to enjoy our summer. This friend even told me out right She'd rather us do it than other people. She will go without things she needs until I can get them rather than ask somebody else. How can I turn that down knowing She may go without medication She needs because I wasn't availble right when She needed it. The answer is I can't turn it down. It gets old watching other people get to hang out together and do things while we go and pick up prescriptions or groceries. They've even stopped asking us to join them. Even if they did, the extra trips to town are taking a real tole on my gas money and making me have to cut back on my expenses just to make sure I have the gas I need to do my family's things. The sad thing is all of my friends are hours away in other cities and there's no one here I can go hang out with and just step away from reality for awhile and be 100% comfortable. There are a lot of times I look around me and think I really don't belong here. I'm glad to do it though, don't get me wrong. There is a special joy from being the type of person people rely on and in being the type of parent who can teach thier children that it's a blessing to help someone. Just sometimes I want to be a bit selfish and take a break to hang out with my kids instead of just having them there while I do other stuff. I'm just VENTING not complaining. Maybe I should just run away from home and join the circus.
Enough of that. In money news, Nathan and I aren't doing as well as I'd hoped with our $$$ issues. We purchased the kids Abeka books and that was over $700. Ouch. We're going to do our best to take good care of them. That way we can sell Ravi's 4th grade stuff to pay for 5th grade and then we'll try and pass Cas' on to Ravi. We've given up eating out, and we're trying, at least for the summer to reduce what we eat anyway (which means gruel twice a day, everyday for a month..."Please sir, may I have some more?" = / ) Okay it's not that bad, but we are having to make some decisions, though it's not as difficult as I thought it would be. We've totally been cooking more at home doing some good old fashioned baking, cooking and gardening. The cool thing is that any rotten or spoiled garden items go straight to the pigs and isn't considered a waste. I will be glad to get the hogs gone before winter though. They are eating a lot now and the boy is growing well, but it will mean an enormous drop in our feed bill once they're gone. If Nathan decides to keep hogs again next year I hope we plan better for it. For now I'm anxious to see how we do with these 2.
Sorry....can you say Negative Much??? It feels good to get things off your chest. Helps you to clarify things a bit.
Not too much more than that going on now. Just one day at a time
