Reptiles....

We took in a new reptile the other day. A person was giving away a Russian Tortoise to the first person who could prove they knew how to care for one properly and would provide a good home. I've owned box turtles and water turtles in the past, but never a tortoise. But I've always liked them. A little googling and I figured out the care requirements pretty quick. Proper heat, UVB lighting, diet, enclosure, etc. The nice thing about them is that they LOVE dandilions. And I happen to have PLENTY of those annoying weeds... :) They are actually very healthy for them, and they cost me nothing to feed. And I already had the plastic tub and other supplies.

Anyway, meet Timmy, the Russian Tortoise:

The boys enjoy these non-standard pets. They come very handy when homeschooling, too. We get to teach them many lessons related to them: where are they from? What is it like there? Can we find that on the map? What is their life cycle like? How do you care for them and why do they need the things I give them? Why is specific food good or bad for them? Why do they need UVB and what is it? They really help to make learning fun. And it also gives them a chance to start taking on responsiblity with our pets. Daily care and maintance, chores, etc. All good things for kids.
Here are a couple other pets of ours. These are Water Dragons:

Adoption update

I'm doing a terrible job of keeping this blog going while Becca takes a break...

Well, the adoption will be FINAL next Monday. Less than a week away!! We will take pics of course :)

We'll have friends\family join us and all the kids will be there. We'll sign the papers, have names officially changed over, and then breath a big sigh of relief. We are sooo thankful for these sweet little blessings in our lives!

The girls are growing so fast too. Talking and running around. Being silly. The other day I came in the house after getting home from work and I had Hope sprint to me yelling "DADDEEEEEEE!!!" and running right into my arms as I bent down to hug her. Then right behind her was Halle "DADAAAAAAAA", running and squealing with glee. The Ryalnd, Ethan, and Aidan - all calling out to me and piling up for a big welcome home hug! Usually I get one or 2 at time, but it was great to have them all at once :)

Our mini-farm progress!

So now we have 5 rabbits that will be bred. These are our 'pets'. Their offspring will not be so lucky... But that is farm life...

After 'chicken little' died (the stunted runt of the flock), we are down to 13 chicks. We have 3 ducklings and the 2 Pilgrim goslings will arrive at the end of the April. The are a med sized breed that are very docile compared to other goose breeds. But hopefully they will be big enough and fiesty enough to keep the raccoons away this year. I've had it with those raccoons, and the gloves come off this round...

Anyway, the ducks, chickens, and geese will give us plenty of fresh eggs. Soon I'll be able to tell who the roosters are in the bunch. Roosters turn into roasters. Yep, farm life...

Then last week we picked up our little goats. Emily and Ashtyn. They are super cute! We have to bottle feed them. Emily was a week old and Ashytn was 4 days old when we got them. Ashtyn had been having some trouble taking the bottle, so we were a little anxious... It is hard to believe that they will be bred this fall and have kids of their own next year, and be milking for us so quickly! We are considering getting an adult milker soon so we don't have to wait a year + for our milk. Raw goat milk is SOOO much better for you than store bought, homogenized, pasturized, commercial grown milk...

The goats love chasing the boys around the yard. They are so fun to watch - playing with each other and the boys. Discoving the ducks and chicks. Tenyson, the big 100+ lb puppy really wants to play with them, but he'd accidently kill one for sure!

We have a section of yard fenced in with chick\rabbit proof fence. We had a blast the other day with chicks, ducks, baby goats, bunnies, and the boys out playing. The boys thought it was so great having a farm\zoo in their own backyard!