The HomeGrown Mom

This is my 9th (I think) year of homeschool.  I have now graduated my older 2 and my youngest is now a junior in high school.  We have been a part of a homeschool co-op for most of the time we have homeschooled.  When we first got started, we joined a co-op that was about an hour away.  They had a lot to offer from extra curricular classes to academic classes.  It was a great group of parents and they were very welcoming and helped us a lot as we were just getting started on our journey.  However, we only stayed with them a short time due to the drive.  Not long after that, a group of friends in my area were all homeschooling.  We decided to get together and form our own co-op.  It was a group of 6 moms with our kids.  I don't remember how many kids we had total, but it was between 15-20.  It was quite the group!  We tried doing some of the core subjects, but it wasn't always that easy to get the job done with a bunch or rowdy boys, and I might add...stinky lol.  One of the places we met was in a house (owned by the church next door and not being used)...to close pre-teen/teen boys up in a small bedroom just to have a quite place to teach a class.  Let's just say it was less than pleasant.

Fast forward another year or 2...we found a co-op close by that was just starting to open up their doors to "outsiders".   A couple of the moms from our group of 6 were going to try it out and since it was only a 20 minute drive, I decided I would give it a try too.  I'm happy to say that I'm still with this co-op.  I don't even know how many years its been.  We have all made some great friends in this group.  Moms, let me tell you...the comfort you have when you know the parents of the kids your kids are hanging out with is amazing!  My kids were never (even in public school) allowed to go to a friend's house without us first knowing the parents.  Being a part of a co-op, it's like a built-in bonus.  

Now, let me bash one of those homeschool myths: Homeschool kids are unsocialized....ummm, really? My kids, as well as many others in our group, can carry on a conversation with people of all ages.  I've seen it time and time again. We have all ages at our co-op, from babies all the way up to grandmas.  The adults are respected, the kids know how to engage with others, the teenage boys are helpful and know how to open doors and help carry things.  All of the kids pitch in on their designated days to help clean up when we are done.  They learn responsibility.  They grow up to be respectful young adults, willing to lend a helping hand.

Even with a great group, as most homeschool moms can relate, I'm always happy when it comes to the end of our co-op semester and we get a break.  But, if I'm being honest, I also miss the time together.  Realizing that I only have 3 more semesters with my youngest is a bit bittersweet.  I enjoy the time with other moms and love watching the kids grow and learn.  Most of my time with this co-op, I have taught the "littles" crafts.  I love seeing all of their individuality.  This year I'm also teaching a yearbook class with a few of the teen girls.  This will be our 2nd time offering a yearbook.  I did yearbook in high school and it was one of my favorite classes.  So to be able to offer it to my kids has been great!  It's always so fun to see it all come together and have memories to last a lifetime.

With that being said, it's time for our holiday break...don't mind me as I spend time with my family and also sneak in a little bit of time for some fun crafts of my own or maybe even working on our homeschool yearbook.

Enjoy this time with your loved ones!

After a bit of trial and error trying to keep the goats where they belong, I'm happy to say that they are now happily staying put where they are supposed to be.  We fixed a few points in the fencing that needed more reinforcement, adjusted the electric fencing, and made sure they had plenty of feed.  No more wandering goats!

Last night when we went to check on the goats and our guardian pups who were just moved beside the goats (more on that later), we noticed that one of the expecting mommas had given birth to twins.  We knew some of the goats were expecting when we moved them a few weeks ago.  But we weren't quite expecting them just yet.  

When it came time to feed the goats, my son herded the goats to the feeding station, but the new momma wasn't ready to make the treck with her babies.  They just weren't able to keep up with the herd.  So my other son and I headed over and carried the babies, making sure momma saw them in our arms and knew they were safe.  She then followed us to the feeding station.  Since she was late getting there, we gave her a little extra feed to ensure that she had enough.  

My husband then walked the land to make sure all of the after birth had been disposed of.  Good momma goats will take care of it, keeping the area clean and safe.  But not all mommas know to do this so we had to be sure. If it isn't all cleaned up, it's an invitation to predators that we don't want around our goats.  Thankfully, our momma had taken care of it all.

Once we made sure all was well with the goats, we headed home.  This morning my son checked the goats and fed them, but didn't see the new babies.  The momma had come to feed so my son was concerned about the babies.  I headed over to help with this new game of hide-and-goat-seek.  Thankfully he found them safely hidden away.  Once again, momma took care of things and made sure her babies would be safe while she headed over to the feed station.

So fare there are no more babies, but we are keeping a close eye on 3 more mommas-to-be.  This goat adventure keeps us busy!  But seeing those newborn healthy babies makes it all worth it! 

If you have never heard of a Runza before, let me just tell you...they are sooo good!  I grew up in Nebraska (well, at least 6th-12 grades, then back for college) and there is a food chain called Runza.  Talk about tasty!  Since I haven't been to Nebraska in probably 18 years, I now make my own runzas at home.  So good!!  Even my picky eaters like them. I call that a win!!  Of course, they are best served with fries.  I choose to make them fresh and bake them in the oven.  Yummy!

Now, let's get to the recipe!

Ingredients
     Dough

Instructions:

Dough

Filling

Making Runzas

Note:

I like to use the leftover filling to make another half batch of runzas or to serve over rice for another meal.

These freeze well and are easy to thaw in the fridge and reheat.

Can add a slice of mozzarella cheese if you want to add a little cheesyness.  Yum!

Once again, our goats got out.  My guys went to check on them yesterday afternoon when they got off work...only to not be able to find them anywhere.  They spent about 2 hours looking for them.  They made it almost home (about a 20 minute drive) only to find out that a neighbor on the land next to where we have the goats spotted them.  We quickly headed back out to look for them...for almost an hour before it just got too dark to see anything, even with a flashlight.  Thankfully the neighbor said it would be ok to leave them overnight.

So, first thing this morning, we got up and headed over once we had daylight.  Two of my guys were with me, which is good since the goats don't really know me yet.  We searched for almost an hour before finding them.  They were back on the right land, but not near at the right area.  So we herded them back, which took another 20 minutes.  They were surprisingly easy to herd.  It took a little bit to get them to go back into the fenced area, but once a couple of them found their way, the others quickly followed.

Now, if we could only figure out how they keep getting out.  We did some adjustments on the electric fence and hopefully they will be staying put now.  After all, they DO have a nice 20 acres to roam, lots of trees and vegetation, and 2 ponds.  They really don't need to go anywhere!

Moral of the story: We need to learn to be satisfied with what we have and be happy with what we have been given.

Don't be a goat, always looking for something better.

Next up in our goat adventures: building shelters and making an area to help introduce our livestock pups to them.

Last night was a big night for us.  We moved our 51 goats onto their new land.  We have kind of done this whole "homesteading" thing a bit backwards.  We got the goats and guardian dogs before we had any land.  And then we had to move our dogs to another piece of land, leaving the goats where they were for almost a year.  So we have been working on moving the goats for a few months now.  And, no, neither piece of land has been our own.  We have been blessed to have friends who offer up their land for us to use while we work towards owning our own property.

Now our pups and the goats are all on the same land, but not together just yet.  It will take a little bit of time to get them all situated to where they can all be together as planned.  Like I said, we have been doing this whole thing backwards.  

We had a bit of a late start last night, due to our hard working guys and their work schedules.  So we weren't even able to get things started until 5-6 pm.  All 3 of my guys went to the new land to check the new fencing and finish preparing it.  Then my hubby stayed behind to finish up while our boys went with our friends to pick up the goats in their horse trailer.  By this time, sunset was quickly coming.  Thankfully they were able to load ALL 51 goats into the trailer.  Then they made the 15 mile drive and safely delivered them to their new home.

As if that isn't exciting enough, we realized that some bales of hay needed to be moved OUT of the fenced in area.  So, after dark, after the goats were unloaded, it was time to move the hay.  In the process, the goats got out...maybe all of them, I'm not really sure...I just know there were a lot of goats to get back into the fence.  One of them, called Skittish (rightfully so), wouldn't come back.  She hid off somewhere in the tall grasses.  

We decided to stay close by the area the goats were in to make sure they didn't escape again while the hay was being moved.  When it was time to go, I drove slowly back down the drive.  Thankfully we found our missing goat!  She was just outside the fence, between the fence and the hay bales, looking for a way back in.  My two sons corralled her using the bales of hay and she found her way back into the fence and headed towards the rest of the herd.

When the hay was all moved, the fence was tested and seemed to be working fine.  So we took a chance and left them for the night.  Our friends live on the same land, but a ways off.  We live about 15 min in another direction, so we certainly weren't close by to keep an eye out on them.  Our youngest son works out on the same ranch and thankfully, when he went to work this morning, the goats were all happily inside the fence where they belonged.  I call that success!

Next up, acclimate our pups and the goats so the pups can finally enjoy roaming free and keeping an eye on their goats.  Stay tuned for the rest of the story!