Charles Towne Landing - Field Trip

Prior to leaving the South, our family was blessed to go on multiple field trips.  One such field trip was set up for a the EFMP for the military to the Charlestown Landing Animal Landing.  The Animal Forest consists of animals that once inhabited the area.  Perhaps the best part of the tour was the animal keepers and volunteers were at each exhibit, so that you could learn more about the animals.  Many of the keepers also had furs, skulls, claws or other artifacts that we could look at and touch.

When you first come out of the visitor center, you cross over a bridge.  It is a perfect opportunity to look into the water and find turtles and alligators!

We then walked over to the Animal Forest and started at the bird exhibit.  These waterbirds are all there due to not being able to live in the wild any longer.  Many of them are unable to fly any longer due to wings that were injured due to vehicles.

We also saw some red wolves.  There is a hope to eventually increase the population of red wolves in the wild in South Carolina.

The otters are a favorite of our children!  These fun critters will follow their hands as they walk along the glass.  Feeling the otter fur was a really neat experience!

They have two bears in the Animal Forest.  Both were PETS at one time!  The one poor bear was chained to a tree!  Why anyone would want to own a bear as a pet is beyond me!  They fed it candy and pizza!?!?

The cougars, also know as mountain lions or pumas are fun to watch.  Often times they will be in the tree, though there are times you can see them walking along the perimeter of their exhibit.

A newer exhibit is the farm animals that the first settlers are believed to have brought with them.  This includes goats, sheep, and pigs.

The children also never tire of seeing the deer and buffalo/bison.  The fact that these translate to food in my children's minds might have something to do with that.  Just saying...

The skunks are some of my favorites, as it is not too often that we get the opportunity to be so close to a skunk, without getting sprayed, that is still alive!

The bobcat is a hard animal to spot!  We finally found him in a corner and were able to get a picture, and then the keeper got him to come out.

When seeing the turkeys, my children kept talking about how they would make a great dinner.  I think they missed the point of the exhibits being for education and preservation, not for raising food ;)

As an extra bonus, as we were leaving, we spotted some wild raccoons eating food set out for the other animals.

We had hoped to have the opportunity to go to the history portion of Charles Towne Landing, but sadly never had the chance.  The landing is where English settlers first landed in 1670 and began the colonies that would eventually become the Carolinas.  The historic site is extremely educational, and there is also a replica sailing ship from the 17th century.  Overall, it is an absolutely lovely place to visit!  My suggestion is to plan a full day and bring a picnic lunch!

2017 Goals

With the word of the year for us being intentional, it puts an additional meaning and umph behind our goals.  We want to be intentional with our goals in order for us to be intentional in our every day lives.  With this in mind, we have spent more time than normal focusing in on our goals, and still need to further specify what our plans for the year are, in some areas of our lives.

2017 Goals

Family Goals

• Family movie night once a month, that includes a themed meal and possibly activities
• Family game and/or puzzle night - Friday nights at 2000
• Family Bible time - every night at 1930
• Celebrate a "holiday" once a month

Homeschool Goals

• For the children to become more independent and "own" their schooling
• For us to stay more on schedule (hmmm may be more accurate for me to change us to me)
• To complete our studies of Asia for Geography

Homesteading Goals

• Plan and plant a garden in the Spring, with hopes of providing 50% of our vegetable needs
• Build a chicken coop and start a flock of 30-50 laying hens, providing 75% of our egg needs
• Start our herd of nubian goats, providing 50% of our dairy needs
• Continue observing our property over the next year, and start planning our future orchard, bees, rabbits, and other animals

Farmgirl Goals

• Plan a monthly badge challenge for each month for the Wildflowers
• Write a snail mail letter to a fellow Farmgirl once a week
• Participate on the forum at least 4 days a week

Crafting Goals

• Work on Christmas presents each month, finishing at least one every other month
• Make Gingerbread houses (plastic canvas) for decorations (I would like to get at least three completed this year!)
• Teach S7 how to work with plastic canvas 
• Work with K13 on scrapbooking and sewing
• Get S7 and K13 established as Young Cultivators for MJF

Reading Goals

• Read at least 12 books from my reading list (coming soon)
• Read a chapter of The Life Giving Home, participate in a blog hop regarding the book, and implement ideas from the book (more info coming soon) 

2017 Word of the Year

After praying and talking things over with Brad, he and I have decided that we too will come up with a word for the year... however, it wasn't really "we."  WE did not come up with this word.... rather the word was laid on our hearts...  and it is daunting!  Our word for the year is...

Yup... intentional....

For us, this refers to being intentional in EVERY aspect of our lives... in our prayer time, our worship time, our parenting, our schooling, when interacting with others, in our health, in our homestead, etc.  As we formulate our goals together, it with this word as our focus... Last year I made goals that would have been lovely to accomplish, but they had no central focus.  This year is different... there is so much more focus!

There are two key verses our family are going to focus on....

Proverbs 6:6-11 (NKJV) "Go to the ant, you sluggard!  Consider her ways and be wise, Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler, Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.  How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep?  A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep - So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man."

1 Timothy 4:12-16 (NKJV) "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.  Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.  Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you be prophecy wit the laying on of the hands of the eldership.  Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.  Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine.  Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you."

What is your word for 2017?  I'd love to hear about it!  Just post in the comments below!

2016 Recap

What a year!!!!  2016 was a year of changes!  It was a year of adjustments.  It was a year of trusting God and His Provisions!

We started our year with a visit from Brad's parents.  We had a lovely time visiting, and took a field trip to Patriot's Point.  What a fascinating place!!!! I was also honored to be chosen as Farmgirl of the Month for MaryJanes Farm  What an honor!!  We also celebrated S7s birthday (complete with another hunting trip!) and another trip to the zoo.  Then God blessed us with a little bit of snow... not much, but we were excited, nonetheless!

February started off as a time for crafting, which I love!  Then, life came to a screeching halt, when A endured through second degree burns.  This traumatic experience was life changing, but again, God saw us through!  She is now her happy self, with only slight discoloration in small areas, and vague memories of it happening.  We also enjoyed going to the Above and Beyond Exhibit with dear friends.

March was much more quiet, with continued healing for A3, celebrating St. Patrick's Day, a field trip to the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon, and another field trip to Fort Watson and Santee Indian Mound.  We were also blessed with a visit from a dear Farmgirl Sister, MaryEllen :)  We also celebrated Easter.

In April, we started the month with a field trip to Old Santee Canal Park.  On the 5th, we celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary!  K of course made and decorated our cake :)  For my birthday, we made our way into Columbia for another trip to the zoo.  It truly is a favorite place for our family to go!  We also made a trip to Bee City.  Perhaps one of the neatest things for the month, though, was a visit in our backyard by a bald eagle.

W9 celebrated his birthday with a granted request to visit Birds of Prey.  K made him a yummy strawberry topped cake.  Later in the month we visited the Charleston Tea Plantation.  Then for B5's birthday trip, we headed back to the zoo.  He wanted a blueberry cake!  The end of May, Brad was gone.  He was in Wyoming looking for our forever home!!!

In June, we headed to Charlestown Landing as well as the Charleston Aquarium.  K13 also had her last horse riding lesson at Black Bottom Stables.  We celebrated Brad's birthday, as well as A3's.  The end of the month saw us moving again... this time on to Base Housing.

In July we made a trip to the bowling alley on base.  What a lot of family fun!!!  We also went peach picking, though we did not get nearly as many as we usually do, knowing we would soon be moving out west.

August was spent primarily at home, other than working at a local goat farm once a week.  We spent a lot of time finishing up projects for school.  We also celebrated E's 1st birthday.  Only a few months prior we learned that both she and I are terribly allergic to cow milk.  As such, and since E was still not eating much food, we made a delicious fruit cake for her birthday!  And then K became a teenager.  But what a delightful teenager she is!!!  She requested an eggplant lasagna for her dinner again - which was a little tricky in that it had to be made with goat cheese.  It turned out super yummy though!

September was a month of preparing to move... again... but for the final time.  It was about preparing to start a new chapter in life.  It was about doing things for the "last time."  We made a trip up to MD to see our families, and later in the month down to see one of my best friends down in Florida, for a long weekend.  We continued to work on the goat farm and at the end of the month we made our last trip to the zoo with close friends.  Here are our thirteen children...

October was a month of celebrations and visiting.  To start the month, Katie was baptized in Believer's Baptism.  Her Grammy came to celebrate the occasion with us.  The following day, Brad had his retirement ceremony from the Air Force.  Both his parents were there for that.  The next day they left and the movers came to start packing all our belongings.  Thursday the packers finished putting things on the truck, and it was prefect timing, as we had to evacuate due to the hurricane.  We came back the next week, cleaned the house, had our last inspection, and left our life for the past 12 years for a new start... It was so hard saying goodbye to our church!!!!  We miss our friends and family from GCBC immensely!!!!

We then spent the rest of October traveling out west... the long way.  We went up to Virginia first, to visit dear friends near Newport News.  Then we headed to West Virginia to stay with more friends.  After that, we headed to Indiana where we had lunch with Wardee, then further south in the state to visit with friends down there.  After that we visited for a few days with my aunts in Illinois, and then with dear friends in Nebraska.  At the end of the month we ended our journey in Wyoming, and closed on our "forever home."

November was spent getting things ready for winter.  We knew the cold weather was coming, and with that we needed firewood, and warm clothing.  Unfortunately the military were slow about getting us our belongings, but we made do.  We were able to get a fence up for the dog fairly quickly after we moved.  Everyone was so excited when the first snow began to fall!!!  We also started exploring our new surrounding areas.  One neat thing we found was that the town of Gillette collects donated decorated Christmas trees and wreaths that they then auction off to earn money for Hospice. This was voted as our kids' favorite...

December started with celebrating L11's birthday.  K13 was pretty bummed she didn't have any of her tools to "properly" decorate his cake, but she made do with bought decorations.  The following evening we went and watched the Christmas parade with friends from the church we are attending.  We also drove around the park in Gillette to see their Festival of Lights and then later in the month went with my brother and sister-in-love and their two boys to Storybook Island to see their lights. Christmas was extra special this year as it was our first white Christmas (it even snowed that day!!!) in a really long time! 

Overall, 2016 was a difficult year for us... but a wonderful one in that it helped us grow.. as a family, as a couple, as children of God.