Puppies and kittens and lambs! Oh my!

Welcome to our farm! :)  If you are coming for a visit soon, you will get to enjoy our flowering Crab trees. They smell like candy right now and are buzzing with bees. :)

Puppy meets lamb!

Peekaboo!

Hi!

Two all-white kittens. :)

This mama had her lamb on Tuesday.

Cutie!

This mama had her lambs today. :) It's busy on the farm!

Monday's Happenings

Time to till. Ben is putting the compost on the garden.

One of Callie's puppies. :)

This one looks so comfortable! :)

Two can stay warm better than one! ;)

Some of Beauty's puppies. They all went to see the vet today - standard vet check. These cuties will be going to their new homes soon. One of them gets to fly on an airplane! :)

This is Gentleman. Our Ragdoll farm cat. We got him a number of years ago...I bet you didn't know they could be farm cats! :) He has adjusted very well and seems very happy to be living on the farm.  

Happy Birthday to our dear friend Brenda! Emily and I took her out for breakfast this morning. Brenda has been a huge blessing to both of us! She is a God-fearing woman and a prayer warrior who has taught us a lot about prayer. We are so thankful for her friendship! May the Lord bless you, Brenda! You are such a blessing and encouragement to so many!!!

Spring on the Farm

I worked outside with my boys today. We had a good day. (Mike and Em are at a conference together.) How did we get blessed with such great kids? :)

Ben and Jonny put cedar mulch on our blueberry patch today. They are such good workers! Over our lunch break I was telling them that they will never have to worry about having a job because people who work hard and have a good attitude are always needed.:)

Nap time! Here you can see Miska, Rosie, Sasha, and Sergeant all taking their afternoon rest.

It's beginning to look like spring, but it sure was cold and windy today!

Emily was hoping for some goat kids, but our goat is not looking too pregnant. 

We are awaiting some lambs!

And kittens!

Bath Day!

"Puppy pick-up" is a special day! Our puppies receive a bath that day, and for most, it's their first bath. We get them all fresh and clean for their new home. Some of them are very cooperative and others, well, not so much. :) Getting sprayed down with water for the first time or having to get dried with a blower can be very scary stuff for a little puppy. But a clean, fluffy, Pyr puppy is totally irresistible! They get lots of loving and cuddling on bath day; it's our last day with them. :( 

Jonathan gave nine baths last Saturday. Whew! What a job!:) Here are a few photos ( some blurry) for you to enjoy. :)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from the Housman Family!

News from 2015

January

Emily met her boyfriend, Joe. :) I turned 44. Mike and the boys went on an ice fishing trip to Lake of the Woods and stayed at Sportsman’s Lodge.  Mike started taking guitar lessons and bought another rental property.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February

We bought another rental property and spent many hours remodeling, painting, and cleaning our two new properties. In our free time we enjoyed a few more hockey games before the ice melted. At this point the adults can still keep up with the kids - barely. :)

Old people hockey team (Mike and I (middle) and two other couples)

Working on the rental house

March

Emily started working at Papa D's coffee shop and soon became manager.  Brandon and Sam have been dating for one year now. We tapped our trees and enjoyed another season of making maple syrup.

Ben tapping tree

Stoking the fire in the sugar shack

April

Emily is continuing to teach piano lessons, which she really enjoys. Our first batch of broiler chicks for 2015 arrived at the farm.  We raised a total of 750 chickens for customers this year (that includes a few for ourselves too. :) We finished remodeling rental properties.

 



May

We said goodbye to our wonderful dog, Jackson.  He was run over by a truck and had to be put down.  He was 11 years old.  It was a very sad day! :(  On the bright side, Jonny’s dog, Rosie, had her first litter of puppies—7 in all, and Sally also had a litter of puppies. We planted the garden.  The boys had a piano recital, and Ben had a violin recital.  In the video they are playing a duet.  Mike turned 45, and I took my final and finished the Herbalist program with The School of Natural Healing.

 

Jonny and Ben with their music teacher. Jolene has been teaching our children for the past 13 years.

Ben planting potatoes

Em and Joe cleaning the coop

June

Mike and I celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary by taking a 3 day trip to Grand Superior Lodge on Lake Superior.  The turkeys arrived on the farm.  This year we raised around 80 turkeys.  Emily turned 19. Jonny had a mandolin recital. We butchered our first batch of chickens.



Lake Superior, Duluth

Jonny looks very serious when he is concentrating.  He does actually enjoy playing mandolin. LOL!

  

July

We celebrated Independence Day with friends, playing lots of games.:) Jonny made an awesome cake for the celebration!  We butchered our second batch of chickens.  All the puppies when home with their new owners, except Little Lady.  She was a puppy from Rosie's litter that we kept for our breeding program.  Gardening is in full swing!

The dads are trying to beat the boys in tug-of-war. :)

August

Ben and Jonny were in the play “Pinocchio” at our local performing arts center.  They were vermin brothers and had a blast.  Emily and I helped with makeup for the performances. The boys also hosted an Airsoft party for their friends (actually, I hosted it!) :)  Brandon started selling cars on the weekends at Porsche, where he has worked for the past few years managing
inventory.  He is really enjoying it. In the pictures, we are touring the new facility which is really close to where he lives.  Canning season started!


  

   

September

We butchered our last batch of chickens for the season.  We participated in the Red Rooster Day parade for commissioner Housman. :)  This year (2016) Mike will have to decide if he wants to run again. Ben and Jonny started 9th grade at Housman Academy:), and I started the Master Herbalist program with the School of Natural Healing.  We had another litter of puppies.  The boys and I got to tag along with Mike to a conference he had at Breezy Point Resort.  We played for a couple days while he attended meetings :), and then we spent an afternoon skating the Paul Bunyan trail before heading home. 




 

At Breezy Point

October

We spent two weekends butchering turkeys for customers.  Brandon turned 23.  Jonny turned 14, and Ben turned 16.  We hosted another Airsoft party for their birthdays.  In preparation for the upcoming deer season, we spent a day target practicing. 

Scary looking family! :)

Happy Birthday to my boys!

Airsoft party

November

We had a great hunting season this year!  The kids and Mike all bagged a deer. :)  Mike, Em, and Jonny all got nice bucks.  Ben got a nice doe, but he would have preferred a nice buck. :)  Joe (Em's boyfriend) also joined us, and he got a nice doe too.  Mike canned many quarts of turkey and venison.  Thanks to a wonderful farmhand, we were able to get away for a one week vacation to Breezy Point in November. My parents joined us up there too.  The day we got home from vacation, we had another litter of puppies. Whew!  That was close! :)

    

Hunting with my hubby :)

December

The last month of the year brought two more litters of puppies!  Emily's dog had her first litter and so did Ben's.  We currently have 28 puppies on our farm! :) The boys had their Christmas recitals for piano and violin.  And finally the ice has frozen over in Minnesota (It has been a warm winter), and hockey season has begun!  Yay!!! :) 

Christmas breakfast at Grandma and Papa's

  

Emily is in the purple coat and white helmet.

  

Hockey on New Year's Eve

We praise the Lord for his goodness and mercy towards our family in the past year, and look forward to seeing His hand of blessing and direction in this coming year. 

Blessings to you and your family in 2016!