Welcome to what I hope becomes a weekly series.  Each week I plan to give you a brief glimpse into our life as a farm family through photographs.  I'm sure there will be weeks with interruptions but for the most part I hope to be here.  If you have questions about the photos or what is going on in them please read the caption and ask any questions in the comments section below.

Farmgirl all dressed and ready for church.  I'm not sure about other parts of the country but in the South we love smocked outfits and big bows! 

Farmboy2 helping Nana feed calves at the barn.  Our 2 youngest go to the dairy each morning to help while our oldest goes to school and I head to my town job.  

Farmboy showing one of his heifers (with a little help) at our local livestock show.  Fall is full of shows, shows and more shows.  To help balance everything out we limit the number of shows we attend.  This year we are doing 2 lambs shows and 4 cow shows.  

Farmboy had a great day at our local sheep show bringing home 2 grand champions.  Now if he would just pay attention to the judge we might take showmanship too. 

The Farmer and Farmgirl enjoying themselves at the Cub Scout camp out

Reasons like this are why we decided to limit shows.  This allows the Farmer to get away and relax.

The Farmer and Farmboy2 got to enjoy sunrise on the beach during our camp out,

since "we are not all dairy farmers". 

My morning calf greeting.  Each morning as I'm leaving the barn this calf comes out to greet me.

Farmboy and his registration papers for his "first official" heifer.  Purebred animals are registered with their respective breed associations.  These animals get an official name and number.  Then we use those names and numbers while showing and then again when the cow has a calf.  

The farmboys helping to gather feed from bulk storage for calves.  Farm kids learn early in life how to work and that on our farm every one has to pitch in.  Our boys love to help out.  Sometimes I think it's just to get dirty.  

Farmgirl and I after church waiting on the Farmer to feed cows.

Yes it's September and we are already feeding hay due to the drought.  

Until next time may God bless you real good,

Caci

It's important to us to set priorities.  In doing so it helps to put life into perspective. 

Our family priorities mirror that of the Farmer

1. God

2. Family

3. Farming

Everything else is just extra God has blessed us with!

God Bless,

Caci

10 generations

Being the 10th generation of both families to be involved in production agriculture, we value our history.  That history includes the land we farm.  If we desire to have the 11th generation join us on the farm then we must do our best to improve our resources not deplete them.

God Bless,

Caci

"Learning by doing" 

10. Do you have a blog, a farm Facebook page, twitter, etc where people can find out more about you and your farm?  

We love what we do, and we care more about the land than you'll ever understand.  It has been in our family since the late 1800s.  Good soil=good crops.  We feed our family what we raise.   We don't like all the governmental regulations that interfere with food production, especially disconcerting is WOTUS, where the EPA will gain control of virtually all the waters in the U. S. 

10. Do you have a blog, a farm Facebook page, twitter, etc where people can find out more about you and your farm?  

No, I don't have a blog yet. 

Farmboy's hens started laying their first eggs.

Since they have started laying the hens need more room so

the Farmer & Farmboy have been working on building a bigger coop.

The Farmboy has also been working with his show lambs and calves 

to get them ready for the upcoming shows

Sunday afternoons have been devoted to catching up on naps

and hanging out with the Farmer at the barn.

These farm kids really love to help during milking times as well.

We are winding down our last few precious days of summer,

hoping to grab a few more afternoons at the pool before school starts back.

So what has your family been up to? 

Until we meet again!

Caci

It seems like I only post on Wednesday...

maybe because it's easier to share pictures than words at times

This past week I was #blessed to find some photos our favorite photographer had done for us.  She had dropboxed them to me and I didn't even realize it!!  

Farm Boy #2 loves to walk up and down the calf rows and inspect each calf

Farm Boy #1 has gotten into the habit of helping feed calves more regularly, which is good since starting next week he will be feeding every morning

The boys have also been fascinated by the 4-H pullets they got.  

It's nothing to drive past our house and see at least one of them playing in the front yard with the chicks.

Farm Boy #2 loves the kitten as well... he has picked up a new word "KitKit" 

which he will yell until you find the kitten...who is probably hiding for safety 

We have been enjoying sweet strawberries and some yummy blue berries as well from some local farms.  We actually have had berries from Bush-N-Vine, Black's Peaches, and Cotton Hills Farms already this year.  We consider each of these farms to be owned/operated by dear friends which makes deciding on the best berries very difficult.  Let's just say we enjoy them all! 

Our show lambs have finally picked up on eating again since bringing them home a little over a week ago.  Lambs have to adjust to their surrounding and learn the new routine before they resume their piggish appetites.  

Farm Boy #2 was loving this toy we borrowed from a friend.  He likes to make tractor sounds from behind the paci.  He is actually in a field we had just cut for silage.

The Farmer...ever working.  He is honestly the hardest working man I have ever met.  I am amazed daily by his work ethic and passion for agriculture.

I'm not sure when the last time I talked to him on the phone that he wasn't on a tractor either mixing feed, chopping silage or baling hay.

That's all for now..

Until we meet again...

Caci

Hi & welcome if you are visiting from the DDL link up!!  I hope you enjoy my little space on the blog sphere.

I'll begin with some honesty...I am a blogging slacker from time to time and honestly yesterday got away from me before I remembered.  Today we are going to do Day 4 & 5 of the Flats Challenge in one post :) 

Day 4's topic was: What is your washing routine?

Day's 5 topic: Flats experience, Fav Folds & What's working (or not).

Don't expect there to be a distinct answer for all the above.  I am going to address all the question as I go expect for my favorite folds which I will cover at the end.  

My washing routine is quite simple until we have a mishap.  Which just so happens we had on Monday evening, that really presented itself Tuesday.  Monday was a CRAZY day around the farm.  

Farmer is in the middle of chopping silage and the farm baby had to hang with him some. 

After spending some time doing that he got to haul cows with the Farmer as well...

which he loved but his unchanged bottom revolted against it.  (read TERRIBLE ammonia burn)

Why was the Farm Baby with the Farmer and not Momma...

well cause Momma had the Farm Boy...

Picking up 4-H project chicks,

Checking cows with the kitten in tow, 

Getting the barn ready for 4-H project #3 to arrive Sunday,

Playing ball,

and attending a Young Farmers & Ranchers committee meeting. Oh and did I mention I went to work for most of the day Monday as well...

You see farm life often means you divide and conquer :)

So how do I have time to handwash???

Well simply I do it all along.  I don't have one huge allotment of time each day to dedicate to washing diapers but I do have 5 minutes here and there.  

My 1st step is filling the sink with cold water. 

While it's filling I empty all the pocket diapers out and swish them around in the cold water.

(Yes there is a microfiber insert in there...the Farmer grabs whatever is available to use). 

I let them soak for a few moments while I usually tend to something else.  Sometimes this is 5 minutes...sometimes it's 5 hours...just depends.  After the 1st cold soak, I boil some water in my kettle, drain the soak water and let the tap water heat up.  

Once the water is hot (my kettle isn't ready yet) I use a broiler pan and scrub my diapers using Zote, while filling the sink with "hot" water and a little blue dawn.  Once I'm done scrubbing diapers and the kettle is done I poor the super hot water over the diapers and let them soak again.

Once they have soaked again (at least 5-10 minutes) I drain the water and rinse all the diapers clean.

I then hang them on our back porch/laundry as it gets great sunlight but is still protected from all the elements.  Typically my diapers are completely dry within 3 hours or hanging them up (expect last night due to the rain and cooler temps).  

My wash routine also took a little longer last night as well.  And in favor of complete honesty...I'll tell you we used a disposable for one change because Farm Baby's bottom was BAD...he needed some HEAVY DUTY diaper cream that I didn't want in my diapers...I was so tempted just to throw everything in the washer with some bleach and then the dryer, to fix our problem.  After thinking about the fact that I'm sure there are moms out there who face this situation without the luxury of a wash & dryer 10 feet away...I figured I would find another solution.  So I boiled all the diapers to ensure any ammonia build up was completely gone.  

Once diapers are dry I let the boys twist, scrunch, and wring them to make them soft again.

After we play laundry ball for a few...I then fold anything I am going to fold so that it's ready for the next diaper change.  

I love the......

 pad fold (because how much simpler can you get)

Origami Fold (My ABSOLUTE favorite fold)

Happy Anteater Fold 

and occasionally the Kite Fold

Overall the challenge is going well.  I don't mind the hand washing and really could see us doing away with many of our pocket stash for flats and covers over the next few months.  They take up so much less space than our pockets.  

How's the challenge going for you?  If you aren't participating are you a CD mom?

Until we meet again...

Caci