Disibility ........ ugggg

Well, I finally applied for disability. I've had such a stigma about it for the past year. Partly because I have clients I work with that abuse the system, and partly because it's in a way submitting to the fact that I just can't function regularly all the time.

I was encouraged to read that even if you do qualify for social security disability they still encourage you to work. I didn't want to put myself in a place where employers would not want to hire me.

So I filled out the piles and piles of paperwork, and now I wait (probably a few months) and wait until they go through my medical records, talk to my doctors, and interview me.

I'll wait and see, and go from there.


It's supposed to be 101 degrees today, way to hot to do much of anything!!

Yesterday I hid out in my basement and finished making curtains for the local homeless shelter.

What's for dinner?

I don't know......go see what's growing in the garden!!

We had peas, salad, and swiss chard wth our dinner.
See what else is growing.

The volunteer squash in the corn patch

That's a seven year old's hand, not mine.



Giant beets

Lettuce

Look at those tomatoes! We had to add some extra support.

Hailey with more tomatoes, green beans behind her and the corn in the back, and of couse the sunflowers that keep on giving. We weeded a lot of them out, but I'm glad I left some.

The ducks are getting bigger and starting to lose their down.



And here's the coop aka "chicken mansion", almost done. I had to tell Keith to come in tonight when he couldn't see what he was doing anymore.

Green beans

Well, we picked the first round of green beans last night. And I was able to can up 4 quarts this morning. Not tons, but it's better then nothing.

This is what I'd like to be doing. \/ Except with a good book!

But..........the kids say I have to paint the chicken coop, and they're helping!!!!! I'll get some more pics of the coop posted tomorrow. It's actually turning out quite wonderful!!

A new home for our feathered friends

Here's the start to the new coop. 8'x8'. And look, there's our old backdoor!

One of the White Black-tailed Japanese Bantams, notice the coloring, just like the name says.

Here are the kid's young Kaki Cambell ducks

The new coop with the temporary ones to the left to compare it too.

Ok, the weather is much cooler today, so we're going to work on the coop more.

Other then that, we're going to take it easy at home this weekend.

Depoe Bay, OR

We spent the weekend at Depoe Bay OR on the coast. Little did I know it is the "place" to go for whale watching. On the way there we stopped at the Sea lion Caves. I didn't go in, I was having a nasty flare-up so I slept in the car, but the kids had a good time. We invited Keith's sister Katey and her family to come along, as they live in the Portland OR area. All the kids love spending time together. By the evening I was feeling better, not 100% but I could move, function, and walk, so that was a plus. And boy was I lucky, I didn't really miss out on much because right from our hotel deck we could see the gray whales pass and sea lions on the rocks, and not to mention and hundreds of seagulls and cormorants.

The kids also spent time playing on the beach. We had great weather while we were there. It didn't start raining until Sunday when we were leaving. We had a great time swimming in the pool and soaking in the much needed hot tub. Ahhhhh!

Sea Lions in the caves

Naomi, Will, Hailey and Sophie

Hailey and Will on a sea lion statue

The kiddos building a sand castle

Book review

"And the skylark sings with me. Adventures in Homeschooling and Community-Based Education" by David H. Albert
I had a hard time getting into this book, hence the reason I haven't finished it yet. So far it's just a story about a particular family's evolvement into unschooling and the importance of music.

"Christian Unschooling, Growing Your Children in the Freedom of Christ" by Teri J. Brown
I did however finish this book. It's a quick read and very inspiring. It's written mainly by two women, but they also compile a lot of information from all types of unschooling Christian families. I enjoyed it very much and it helped me gain more confidence about my decision to cut back on my work hours and spend more time with my kids.

Pictures from 4th of July weekend in Idaho

Slumber party in the tent. Will, Hailey, Crystal and Angela

Nightly campfires

Lot's of fishing in Grandpa Pratt's pond


The matching shorts Hailey and Will requested I make them before we left.

Some of the trout the kids caught

The kids taking a break from fishing

More marshmellows at lunch time.

Our roost under the pine trees.

And NO fibro flare ups, even with some hiking. Yeah! The key was eating no preservatives. It's wasn't too hard to stay mostly RAW on the trip as there were a lot of fresh garden vegies and fruit. Of couse I had to have some of the family's fresh huchleberry pie on the 4th of July.

One the way home we blew a tire in the Jeep and then lost the utility trailer on the freeway in the Columbia Gorge in Oregon. But we made it home safely and in one piece, just a little later then anticipated.

The new babies have arrived!!

Here are our new White Black Tailed Japanese Bantam chicks, all females (I hope). We picked them up today and put them in their temporary house (the rabbit cage) until the chicken coop is built. Here they are eating their first yummy sprouts I gave them, yum, yum!

We arrived home last night from Idaho around 11pm, so we're all pooped today. I'll get some pictures posted tomorrow and tell you more about our epic ride home. We made it in one piece, that's all I'll say for now.