June

:-) It's been another month and time for another update.

Life at our house is settling into a more livable rhythm. Our homeschool co-op is out until next September. 4-H is gearing up for fair (only about six weeks away, yikes!). The kids appointments have now become more streamlined so that I can get everything out of the way within an hour instead of spending most of a day in town.

The sheep are looking fabulous. This year Chris bought lambs from a family who we've known forever. They're gorgeous little lambs and the whole experience of going out to choose them was something that the kids really enjoyed. The family set up viewing times for each potential customer. After we got our time we got another call from them inviting us to join them for lunch. The kids in their family helped Chris select his lambs... and I'm pretty sure he listened better to them about what he's looking for than he ever has to me. It was a very enjoyable afternoon.

We still have one market lamb from last year who hasn't been butchered. This week we have some friends coming out to help us butcher him ourselves. I'm still not entirely convinced that I'm going to love this... but it is MUCH less expensive than sending him to a packing plant and the people who volunteered to help have a lot of experience. Hmm... I wonder if I should invite my 4-H kids over for that event.

Our puppies have all gone to their new families. I miss having them all here. We did keep Aztec, who was the largest puppy in the litter. He was the kids' favorite. Aztec is going to be a new adventure for us. The plan is to get him a vest and train him as a service dog. My hope is that if I can get him working with Chris it will help Chris be able to go to camps and leadership retreats without me. So far the puppy has been exactly what we want... except... he barks. His mother never barks without a very good reason. Aztec is chatty. He likes to talk to us. When he's bored and wants someone to play... he barks. If he's outside and wants in... he barks. If he needs to pee... well, that's a good time to bark. I think I'm about to get him some harness bells to hang on the inside and outside doors and see if we can train him to use tools rather than barking for some things. He is incredibly smart, and incredibly mellow. The puppy's favorite people (other than our family) seem to be toddler boys. He likes when they pull his ears and use him for balance. He likes the screaming joy they exhibit (which probably is a lot like his chatty barking thing, in his eyes). All in all, I am VERY pleased with the dog and his behavior.

The boys are getting a little adventurous now that we have less school oriented things going on. I should spend some time putting together lessons and activities for them... because they keep inventing their own and that sometimes doesn't end well. Yesterday they made salt dough. They've made it before... somehow they decided they didn't need the recipe this time... and they didn't ask for help. Yeah, so... I should get off the computer and go continue scraping stuff off the kitchen floor.