Christmas was wonderful, busy, and a perfect passage into the new year. Our kids were very giving and creative (as always), and they totally deserve the gifts that they received. We spent our Christmas Eve at home, together. Tiffany arrived in the evening and is staying for a few days, and we enjoyed David's (Kait's boyfriend) company from Christmas Eve through breakfast. On Christmas day, we visited Grandma's house, then Shelby's family, and, finally, my parent's home to wrap up the night. It was a happy and exhausting day! Now we rest and prepare for a new year. We have gone through so many changes this year and look forward to even more during 2012. One of the family gifts from us this year were two alpacas that we are scheduled to receive next month from Spruce Hill Farm. The kids are so excited, and we now have a defined start time to our livestock farm. We will put up temporary fencing until we can put up our barn in the spring, and then we will also add shee...

Life is an amazing thing. You think you know where you are going, or what you want, and so you guide the reins in that direction. Yet, somehow you arrive in a totally different place. When I was divorced from my first marriage, I assumed that I might find someone some day, but that kids were probably not going to be a part of that relationship. Then I met Shelby, and my world changed drastically for the better - we have three beautiful children together, plus the fortune of having our two girls from my previous marriage in our lives as well. When we moved to Florida, we were ready to settle forever and buy a house close enough to the beach to be able to go after work whenever we wanted. And now, here we are, planning the livestock and garden of our new home in rural Ohio. Our journey would make a great book - our adventure has always been to move forward, strive to reach our goals, but to never, ever lose the fun and love in life and our family! The difference of our life between Jan...

Oh, my goodness! So long without a post so I need to at least throw a few lines down! We did get our house, the Blue House, after a drawn-out closing that included the new septic (which we still need to get the down-low about from the Health Inspector). Or, I guess I should just say WE GOT OUR HOUSE!! We love every inch of it, from the curvy driveway to the poor back yard. We closed and moved in on June 29th and have been SO busy ever since with moving, Aullwood, life, etc. I had a great summer teaching at Aullwood's summer camp, but the drive ends up being around an hour each way, which will have to be a consideration next year. We are mostly moved in and the space is very comfortable. Our crap-ton of living went from the tightly packed apartment and flowed into the open spaces of our two-story home, garage, and yard with much relief. Like pouring a five gallon bucket of water into an empty tub. Like releasing the air from a balloon into the atmosphere. Like cutting the ropes of t...

I've gone through so many papers tonight - ideas, worksheets, and themes that I've used and collected over the past five years. It's been a great look backwards at the experiences I've had in this process towards becoming a teacher. I SO need a classroom of my own and need to get this party started!Looking forward to watching my teaching develop and grow with my career, hoping for that opportunity at a school soon! Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.9

My back is achin' after a very busy day yesterday! We packed, packed, and then packed some more! Mostly in the bedrooms - Shelby and I played keep or toss and cleared off the over-stuffed shelves in our bedroom and closet...then we took down the shelves. The kids, all of them, started packing their stuff and put a pretty healthy dent in that process. We worked pretty much all day, made a trip to KFC (drive through) for an 8pm dinner, and managed to finish up for chillin' at around 10pm. Then Shelby kicked my booty at Skip-Bo (again) before we collapsed in bed for the night. Hopefully Grandma won't check her garage/our storage for a little bit...at least until we can tell her that it will be out by ______ :)  Gotta do it all over again today, this time in the dining room (shelves), pantry, and hopefully, closets. Then I'll start on my Aullwood teaching prep tomorrow. It's gonna be a busy week, and a busy summer (hopefully). I think we can, I think we can, I think we ...

 Summer break is finally here! At least for the kids, that is...they are out of school, but things are (hopefully) ramping up for our move! As it stands: the appraisal was performed last Wednesday and we should hear the results early next week. If that went well, we're looking at moving on the week of the 20th :)  If it did not go well, then we're delayed. That would be bad. We're now to the point where we have to move forward with the moving process in order to be ready in time to move. We've started packing, and Kait gave her notice at work in to transfer to Richmond July 1. Tiff has decided to move in with a friend in order to stay in Dayton - not sure that I agree this is the best for her, but she feels that it is and I hope that it is. We canceled the paper and will be canceling cable, so that we can be sure they both definitely stop before we leave this apartment. Most of our potted trees and bushes are doing great, but a few did not make it through the winter. I ...

So, I realized that it has been nearly two months since my last written post, which is not what I wanted from this blog. I get busy, or frustrated, or blah, and the blog settles to the bottom of my list. So here I am to bring things back up to speed and to catch up. First of all, we're still here. So there's that. We remain a family of seven, dreaming and creating our life together, and supporting each other through the frustrating times. We are all lucky in that respect. Shelby has finally received her promotion and is getting paid the appropriate salary for that jump! She is so awesome and has deserved the title and paycheck for so long - we're all so proud of her, especially me! It looks like Annie will be her Field Coordinator once she gets through the admin process, which will be a great help. So we pretty much have the green light for the Dayton area (unless fate changes that), and also Indiana, which Shelby will also allegedly have both hands in. We're looking a...

It's that time of year again - time to reflect on what I did and did not accomplish last year, and time to prioritize what I would like to accomplish in the coming year. I should preface this blog by saying that my resolutions are goals. I use them as guidance, but they are not law or reason to punish myself should they not work out. This works out better for me and my ego! So here they are.  My New Year's Resolutions for 2011: Get a job! Looks like we are good staying in the SW Ohio region for Shelby's work, so we're running with that. Which means I can seek employment, preferably teaching, or something somewhat in the education field. Get a house!! Oh, how we've waited for this! We should be ready and able to get our family farm sometime before the kids end this school year! We're forecasting our buy using Shelby's paycheck only, but we're definitely going to need to get my career going, as well, to keep up the pace.  Fruits, veggies, chicken...

We're getting a home. Soon. Like, first half of 2011 soon! It all seems a little surreal and, as usual, I am cautiously optimistic, but very excited nonetheless. Extremely excited! We have been working towards this goal for so long and it feels so good to be so close to the dream. We have an idea of what we want, what we don't want, what we are willing to, and not, tackle to make our home...well, our home. The hardest part is telling people about this venture. Somehow the news turns on the lecture in people, like we haven't been discussing this for the past fifteen years. We are 46 and 36 years old, people - we value your opinions and advice, but what we really want is your excitement. We're happy to talk about our dream - we welcome the opportunity to share! But please don't try to give us a reality check by telling us how hard it is to own a home or what we should buy or how we should buy it. We don't care about resale. I know, it's crazy! We want this hom...

It's the eve after a wonderful Christmas! We enjoyed our traditional at-home Christmas Eve with a nice variety of snack food (healthy and not) and Christmas movies - this year we watched our pick of favorites: Christmas Vacation, Elf, and our traditional end-of-the-night movie, It's a Wonderful Life. (We started this at-home tradition while living in Florida and realized that it greatly reduced the stress level of Christmas, compared to the running around to both families and then laying kids down and THEN finishing Christmas preparations that needed to happen before Christmas Day! So we decided that this tradition is a necessity, even upon our return to Ohio.) Christmas morning came fast, and it was a great beginning to Christmas day with all seven of us home, and each of us fully aware of the gift that our togetherness actually is. Our kids enjoyed this Christmas with giving as much as they enjoyed receiving, which is a wonderful thing to see in your children. The day foll...

Christmas week is upon us, school break is here, and the kids are enjoying their mega extended weekend. I love this time of year for our family, but I'm finding myself more excited to begin the New Year and begin what I hope will be our transitional year to our new life. As the end of this year approaches, Shelby and I have developed our plan to make things happen...as we realize things may also change as we begin our strategy! #1 We have determined that it is most likely that we will remain in the SW Ohio/Indiana area unless some awesome twist of destiny is bestowed upon us. But the likeliness that Shelby's job will evolve and continue for at least a few years here is good, so we have decided that our best location for our home will be Preble, Darke, or Mercer counties. We are going to start our quest with open houses, and find a realtor that we're comfortable with and who can help us to do the things we need to do to make this happen. #2 Get a job. I have an appointment...

It seems like forever since I've written a blog, and it also seems like there has been a whirlwind of activity in my at-home-dad life. I'm not sure exactly where time goes, but it has been going fast. Shelby and I have been running store visits, which are nice drives spotted with trips to Family Dollars, Home Depots, WalMarts, and Ace stores. There are the never ending chores of dishes, laundry, cooking, and cleaning, which are...well, never ending. But nothing extraordinarily time consuming. We watched our son Drake perform in the Greenmont fourth grade play last Thursday, and hosted two school Halloween parties at school yesterday. Which, as a side note - what the heck was I thinking there? I'm an at home dad and want to help with school things, but being a homeroom parent for two classes means trying to be two places at once for EVERY school party day. Thanks to Shelby and Kait for helping! So, anyways, it has been busy-er, but feels like a can't-catch-your-breath ki...

Living in Clearwater, Florida definitely tops the list of places we have lived. The two years that we lived there gave us so many more memories than seems possible for that amount of time. Being water people, we know of nothing more powerful than the call of the ocean, more peaceful than toes sunk into the sand, water overlapping occasionally, and nothing more exhilarating than watching the sun singe the horizon as it sets in an explosion of oranges, reds, and purples. Spectators applaud these sunsets...literally. The Pinellas County side of the bridge is laid back with no worries, and there are always, always plenty of activities going on for everyone to enjoy, often for free. When I close my eyes, I can feel the humid and salty ocean breeze, the dried salt on my skin and in my hair left after from a dip in this endless pool, and the cool fine grains of sand surrounding my feet. So, why are we here? Why, oh why did destiny bring us back to Ohio? I've heard some say that Ohio is a ...

The hardest thing to do right now is wait...I'm kind of done researching and planning until we know what we're researching and planning for, and I'm ready to live life like we love to do. But...the benefit of limbo is the reflection  of who we are and what we want. Today is a dreary, hum-drum day, and I feel like doing nothing. I will, however, take a moment to sum things up. What I want for us: At least 5 acres Off grid A well Awesome vegetable garden - totally organic Berry patch started with the raspberry, blueberry, blackberry bushes and grape vine we have now Fruit orchard including the apple, peach, and nectarine trees we have now Lots of trees, including the starts we have now (sycamore, hickory, tulip, maple, and pine) Water gathering and recycling features Composting and recycling capabilities - I'd like our trash to be minimal Bees 2 Goats, lots of chickens, 2 sheep, a cow, and maybe a pig Lots of outdoor living space Space for living, workshop...

It's Monday morning and I'm hustling to recover from a weekend away with Shelby in Pennsylvania. We were only away for three days, and Kaitlyn did a great job of taking care of the kids and keeping up on house chores. So, a little bit of laundry to catch up on and some other odds and ends, including a trip to the grocery, is all I need to get back in gear. The weekend was awesome, once we got past the suck traffic jam on I-70, which added three hours to our trip because everyone was detoured off of the highway (eastbound and westbound) around some sort of an accident. The source of our trip was a work event of Shelby's with Duquesne Light. We were able to help with a bulb giveaway at Home Depot on Saturday, which was a lot of fun and happened to coincide with some beautiful weather. Besides the event, we were able to visit  with the Duqquesne and surrounding Pa. ECOS teams for pizza, a cookout, and drinks - everyone was awesome :) We also were able to  have a little "s...

Now, where was I? Oh, right - I was on a rant about my neighbors...snapped a little... Since then, the guy next door (same apartment of said rant) drop kicked a kitten into the yard after fighting with his girlfriend. My boys happened to see the kitten hit the ground, or it may have been just after it hit the ground, twitching and dying. He did it in an angry moment, and he apologized to me and my wife, who upsettingly let him now how horrible his action was. The kids were upset, and so was Shelby. The police were called, but of course the neighbor fled before they got here and the sister's baby daddy refused to help - he is now (legally) banned from the apartment. The guy next door eventually came home, and he is in jail. Lesson: killing is killing, and death is death, animal or human, angry or not. The abandoned apartment next to theirs is squatter free, for the most part, except I know that people have been in there, to sleep or hang or whatever. Animal control will be in to gat...

Unbelievable how some "parents" can behave and treat their kids. The neighbors next door have taken over the bottom floor, using an abandoned apartment across the hall from theirs as a boarding house/party room. There are any number of people staying there or hanging out with them, their sister, their sister's kid and baby daddy, the brother, random drunken strangers. This morning I got to hear them teach a two-year-old to say f@ck you...and it's not the first time that has happened. Feel free to join my 1901 Hazel fb page for more interesting info about the ghetto! Can't wait to get out of here! In the meantime, any ideas or contacts that might be able to resolve this situation will be greatly appreciated!

Dusk is approaching on our farm. Cool weather settles in on the clear evening, revealing a bright full moon and, already, the sparkle of many stars. I carry our coffee out onto the deck, where Shelby thanks me with a smile over her laptop. She finishes up her work as I tend to the fire in the pit, and settle into my chair. Blue runs around the yard, dodging chickens, and keeps Drake busy with the ball. Occasionally Drake stops to pick up something off the ground - his discoveries have not lessened since we moved here last year. Cora is tending to her garden and gives Rusty the attention he craves by petting his fat, feline belly. Gage sits under the apple tree, drawing the landscape of the land from his perspective, and Kaitlyn studies for her test by reading to Henrietta, one of our goats. Henrietta listens intently to Kait, making eye contact and occasionally bleating her comments. It's a strange relationship that has developed on the farm. Shelby closes her laptop, places it und...

I believe we'll have this weekend to relax and chill. The weather calls for rain later today, hopefully, because the plants need it desperately. Shelby is still feeling bad after a week of this bronchial infection, even with the meds that we got from urgent care last Sunday. Besides the cough, sore throat, exhaustion, and occasional fever, her back ache and sciatic nerve issues have gotten worse. We have a doctor's appointment set up for Tuesday, so hopefully we can get things squared away. Work-wise, it looks like gears may be turning at Ecos, which will hopefully bring about some changes for us. I feel like a broken record with the "hope something happens soon", and "waiting, waiting, waiting"...but our next steps are so hinged on making home in that new place, away from this apartment and hopefully Dayton. I have ideas in my head about ideal locations for home, but it's really all about the hand of fate. And, as far as locations go, I only know what...

Well, I am sitting in the lobby of the dentist office waiting for Shelby to get her teeth filled/refilled by our amazing friends at the Dayton Dental Collaborative . This will wrap up visits from me, Gage, Drake, Cora, Kait, and now Shelby...yay! This office is awesome and has made every experience very pleasant – SO glad we found them :) Anyway, I figure it is a good time to catch up after a brief time away from my blog. School has started for the kids. Today they are ending their second week and I've got to say that they've been doing very well getting up and going in the mornings, and doing their homework at night. So far, so great. Kait starts back to Wright State after Labor Day, and the fall routine will fully kick in at our household. Looking backward, we had an incredible week-long working vacation a few weeks ago in Philadelphia. The kids and I tagged along with Shelby to do many, many store visits, and we somehow managed to fit in visits to Hershey World, Historic Phi...