My big mistake with homeschooling my younger two, was not straying away from the book work more than we did. I felt a ton of pressure to get through their work books so they would learn what other kids their age would be learning and stay on track. Each day we did chores followed by school, then I allowed myself a bit of time to get what I needed to get done done before it was time to start supper and evening chores. So, how was it a mistake not straying from the book work? We didn’t do projects! They cooked and baked with me, took care of animals with me, read books with and without me, but we didn’t do hardly any projects of any type. I felt so responsible for a good education, I forgot how important it was to put the books aside and venture into all the hobbies they love and how great that would have been to do with being in 4-H. We did run out and do photography when it was snowy, my youngest did start her sourdough starter, we made plenty of recipes, but we could have done more, and at the end of school, I started feeling how fast the fair would arrive. Not only do we love animal projects, but we love the static projects as well, the projects inside the building. Thankfully my oldest works on things year round, she’s at the age where she’s super independent and loves working on all of her hobbies, but the two I actually had at home, where I could have taken advantage of homeschooling, needed a lot of guideance on fair projects. So, since school has been out, we’ve been having lots of one on one time together to complete their project goals, a great way to spend each day in between chores, life, and the animal projects.
Things on my to-do list can really weigh on me until they are completed. I had ordered some meat birds at the beginning of the year to be delivered in the spring. It was weeks before delivery date and I get a call from the hatchery saying they had extra birds they could ship right then to cover my order, if I wanted them early. I told them sure, and knew we’d have to build our meat bird “tractor” a little sooner. The past couple of years of raising meat birds, we kind of just fit them wherever we can. I was done with that, I wanted a chicken tractor just for them, something I could move all around the grassy yard to let them forage and eliminate the mess they make in a building. I started searching for plans for just what I wanted, an A-frame. I ended up getting a cheap poultry book off of Ebay that included plans for the perfect A-frame chicken tractor. There are a lot of things on my to-do list that I can’t do, so they transfer to the honey-do list, which gets quite long. I was quite determined to get this chicken tractor done with the kids and without the help of the husband, as he has enough to do around working a full-time job. Supplies were bought and I kept looking for the oportune time to start it, knowing it’d take up an entire day at least for us to figure it out. Time went on and the husband did offer to take the time and do it, I, stubborn, told him no, I would get it completed. I knew the kids and I could do it, my son can run every saw in the woodshop, and my oldest is great at woodworking as well, but, they have their own projects that need attention and I needed the meat birds in their own pen soon. I broke down and asked if he could start on it with me. So, this Saturday, in between the random rain showers, he got everything ready to go. By the time I slipped over to help him, he had the frame well started. After a little fussing from me, saying I truly didn’t want this whole thing to be on him and that I was going to help, we got into a groove and had the thing done after the evening milking. I wasted just as many staples as the kids would have, so it looks like they helped even though they didn’t. As the sun was going down, we threw a temporary tarp on part of it, until we get tin, put the wheels on and wheeled it over to the grass. I caught the growing meat birds and settled them into their new mobile home in the last light of the day. I stepped back and admired it in the sunsets golden glow, eventually wrinkling my nose at the smell coming from me and my shirt after handling the smelly meat birds. I absolutely love how the chicken tractor turned out and I absolutely loved working beside my husband on it. It was what I would call quality time with him and way better than any date we could have went on.
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