Meet Eeyore

Shadow isn't lonely anymore!! Eeyore has now joined our family. He's a gentle, sweet goat and Shadow has taken to him immediately! He went around the yard causing a ruckus because he heard her, and when he finally found her hiding in the bushes they became instant friends. She is following him around everywhere! They are so cute together.

Our new family member

The yard is shaping up nicely! Thomas has hauled away a complete van and trailer load of trash to the dump. Our side yard that is fenced in is completely cleaned up except for a small pile of brush that we're slowly burning. My clothes-line is working out nicely as well.

Thomas has been talking about having goats for a while now, and since we finally have our own yard we took the first step. Shadow has joined our family. She is approx. 4-5 months old. We went to a local "farm" on Monday and saw many pygmy goats ranging from 2 months to a few years old. The kids had a wonderful time running around with 20+ goats, 3 donkeys, 6 chickens and a HUGE pig. I almost wish we had more acreage now after watching them have so much fun.

Yesterday, I took the kids to 6 Flags with our free tickets, and Thomas went to the dump. A friend of ours had offered a large doghouse since the only thing we needed for a goat was a shelter. He picked up the doghouse, and then headed over to the farm to pick up our new goat. He had her all settled in the yard and we surprised the kids as soon as we got home. They were sooo excited! I was afraid they would want to sleep outside with her! She seems to be settling in pretty well, except we're afraid she's going to be very lonely. I have another friend in the area that has offered us a little boy goat that looks almost identical to her. We're going this evening to see him. Thomas has agreed to help take down some limbs for her in exchange for the goat.

This morning, I was wide awake at 6:30am, and didn't want to bother anyone so I went outside to read. I washed a load of laundry and got them hung up to dry. While reading, I kept talking to Shadow to get her used to me being there. She ended up making an area under a large tree and sleeping there all night last night. Luckily, she was very quiet and settled down pretty quick. Thomas came out around 8am, and started clearing some brush away from where she was laying. We're enjoying her. She's soo adorable!

I'll keep you posted on if we bring the little boy home to join her.

A little nervous today, because we're talking about the 1st step on the house. Thomas has gone to Home Depot this morning to check out all roofing options. He has determined the WHOLE roof needs to be repaired/replaced so this is going to be more than we had first budgeted. Money is going to run out fast! I'm just going to keep trusting God that we're doing the right thing and even if it takes years, I know we'll finally own our own home.

First time for everything......

Finally able to do laundry today! Thomas hooked up the washer in the demolished bathroom, and then hung me a clothesline. Never EVER used one before, but I'm so happy to be able to have clean clothes!

God Lifts Us Up When We're Down

Yesterday, we had one of those days where we questioned what we were doing. We even went and looked at new RV's that would be bigger, but yet had plenty of room. The house just seems so out of our league and price range... So we spent a long time yesterday discussing how we should proceed. I concluded that I would do whatever Thomas felt was best for the family. I had already adjusted to living in an RV, and I would have never thought that would be possible.

This morning, our neighbor was over talking to Thomas and they were looking around the house. Thomas was showing him all the plans he had so far. Out of the blue, our neighbor said that he had several things lying around his house that he had bought for jobs and couldn't return. He has given us a tub/shower insert, a pedestal sink, steel front door, and one of our biggest issues right now...a battery for the RV! We have been having issues with keeping the battery charged. That would have been $100 that we just don't have or want to spend right now! All those items total well over $1000 that now we don't have to buy! Praise the Lord!

All Creatures, Great and Small

So, this adventure of living in the RV is never without a dull moment. Last night, Thomas chased down a Salamander. This morning, he found a huge beetle and a baby mole. The kids have been enjoying "hands-on" Science! LOL I'm ok with it as long as everything stays OUTSIDE my very small home. :)

Bless This House....for sure!

I was sitting at the park the last weekend in April for a play day, when Thomas called and told me to come see a property that was for sale. I actually arrived on site, looked around and burst into tears that he was even considering purchasing it! After his explanations of his dreams and what this house could become...I felt a peace that this was what we were supposed to do. You see, we have been renting for over 13 years!! I sat and figured out that we have thrown away well over $140,000 in rent! Thomas has always had a dream of building our own home so that we would always have a place for the kids to grow up in and come home to after they've grown. The price was wonderful and the terms were exactly what we needed. We will have an acre of land and home built by Thomas completely paid off in 4 years! Who can say that? The house currently on the property is an empty shell or "blank canvas" for Thomas to create.

I was only home 10 days the whole month of May and we were supposed to move out on June 1st. We're a little behind on that goal, but we're moving forward! We moved our "new to us" RV onto the property last night and so far we're excited about the new adventure.

Today, we had the computers hooked up. A family of gamers can't handle life without our computers!! Even in the small space, we've found room for 2 desktops lol. Thomas completely demolished the bathroom and even pulled out the nasty tub I thought I would be stuck with. Whew! The girls have been working hard on clearing the side fenced in yard. They have been pulling weeds and mowing the lawn. It's looking great! Chewy is handling the move pretty well.

I will try to keep you all updated and keep pictures posted of the before and after. What an adventure this will be!!

AOP Convention thus far....

I'm thoroughly enjoying my traveling experiences and meeting so many new people!

April 7-10 Montgomery, AL. Worked with Martie and Sarah R. Had so much fun with those 2 laughing and talking way too late. Signed up for Mary Kay again thanks to Sarah.

May 5-8 College Park, GA. Worked with Al and Kay/Sandy. Met John Ross Jordan. Al is one of the writers of the curriculum and taught me a lot about the behind the scenes of the curriculum I love.

May 12-15 Harrisburg, PA. The dream team - Linda, Carrie, Martie, me and Bree. Casey worked the AOA booth and Allex worked the Bridgestone booth. Awesome time!! Had fun at the Japanese Steakhouse. Laughed so hard we cried. Carrie got us lost in a "bad" part of town.

May 19-22 Nashville, TN. My first time being lead. Had the pleasure of working with my mom and Melissa. Met Sandee from AOA. Mom did a wonderful job! We exceeded our goals. Melissa works in Marketing.

May 25-29 Winston-Salem, NC. Worked with Carrie, Emily, Katherine and Blair. Stayed at a nice hotel with a Spa attached. Close to reaching our goal.

June 2-5 Indianapolis, IN. Worked with John Ross Jordan, Linda V and Esther. Met Jim with AOA. Actually had a chance to meet Kathy, who has been a yahoo group friend for 5 or 6 years. Had fun downtown sight seeing and taking great pics. Was a VERY slow show....not even close to hitting our goal.

Stay tuned for info on Louisville, KY and Matthews, NC!