Mountain Prairie Homestead Kids' Blog

by James  age 11 I am getting ready for a Boy Scout powwow and one of the requirements is to keep a fourteen day log that records what my family and I did to reduce energy use.  About a week ago our dryer broke so we hung our clothes up to dry.  We reduced  energy by line drying. Now our dryer is fixed we stil line dry to reduce energy use. We hang the clothes with clothespins and clothesline in our family room by the wood stove. The heat helps the clothes dry. I needed to do that for the powwow.

By Chase, age 13 Two years ago, James and I bought a female Malamute named Juneau to breed with our pet Malamute, Dakota.  Juneau Dakota The first year, Juneau had three puppies but two of them died. Even though I'm kind of used to death living here, it made really sad because they were the first Malamute puppies we had ever had.  When we sold the living one (who we named Tanana), Dad, James, and I decided that Dad would get two-thirds of the money because he owns Dakota and bought the food. James and I would get the other third because we own Juneau. For the past year or so, we haven't gotten any puppies because Dakota is so old.  We bought a new Malamute puppy for breeding a few days ago and he is so awesome!  He's a really friendly dog. Kodiak We named him Kodiak because it is a location, like Dakota and Juneau, and he is really big just like Kodiak bears are.  Plus, we can call him Kodi for short (one of Dakota's nicknames is Kota)....

By Lizzy age 5 I love cross-stitching.  It's really fun.   I learned how to cross-stitch from my momma.  Lucy was using the sewing machine so I couldn't use it.  My mom said that I could learn how to cross-stitch instead of using the sewing machine. We went into the living room of our house and my mom taught me how to do it. We just make an "x" with the string.  We put one line each box like this: /.  We counted the boxes on the pattern and put in the number of lines we needed. Then, we make lines like this: \ all the way back. This makes the "x" in each box. I'm making a flower.  It's light pink and dark pink with yellow in the middle. It's like coloring on fabric.

By Lucy age 8 We got looms.  I am working on a scarf and a hat with the looms.   It is so much fun.  My sister is working on a scarf, too.  I am almost done with the scarf so then I can start the hat.   It has been so fun. I started last night and I hope I finish the set.   I love working with yarn.  It is so much fun.

by Chase age 13 I have liked the cello ever since I saw the Piano Guys for the first time when I was really little.  When most of my siblings started taking violin lessons I, of course, wanted to learn the cello. But Mom and Dad wanted me to learn the violin first, so I started taking lessons with my siblings. I didn't like it very much, though. I like the sound and feel of the cello a lot better. Because of that, they said they would let me switch to cello if I paid for it myself (which I was able to do because of the money I get from the dog sledding business ). So I rented a cello from a music store and started taking lessons. It is so much fun!  At first it was really hard and I almost quit. But it got easier as I kept learning and playing.  I just started to learn some music from Lord of the Rings and it is a ton of fun!  I love the cello!

by James age 11 Two or three years ago we decided to hatch chicken eggs in our little incubator.  Everyday until they hatch I check the water that is under the metal grate. It takes twenty-one days for them to hatch.  When they hatch they are wet and they cannot stand.  When they are dry and can stand, we put them in a box then we give them food and water. We put fencing on top of it so that the cats do not catch a chick.  When they are bigger we put them in the chick yard. I go outside everyday and feed and water them.  When they are full grown we put them in the chicken yard and we slaughter most of the roosters for food.

            By Lucy age 8 We had four bucklings born this week .  Two almost died.  We got them inside before             they died.  That night the little one died.  This is Bubbles and his brother  The bigger one is still alive and ever since              he was born I have taken care of him.  So now he thinks I am his mom.  Every time             he is hungry he calls and then I warm up the milk we get from his mom and feed it to him.   We named him Bubbles because he makes bubbles on his mouth   When he is  full             he doesn't eat.  Now he can walk but he can't stand up on his own and so I have to             help him every time he wants to get up.  We spent three hours and we got ...

by James, age 11 Our family was outside and we watched the sun set in the west and in the east the mountains glowed with pink light.  When the sun was fully behind the mountain the light of the sun went orange, then red.  Then the sky darkened and we saw the stars and the moon. A few weeks later there was a fire up in the mountains so there was smoke in the air.  The sun was red because the smoke covered it.  During another sunset the light turned golden, then red, orange, yellow, green and blue because "molecules and small particles in the atmosphere change the direction of light rays, causing them to scatter and resulting in colorful sunsets. The colors of the sunset result from a phenomenon called scattering'' says Steven Ackerman, professor of meteorology at UW- Madison (I looked that up on the internet.)  It makes me feel happy because in the country there are no buildings in the way of the sunsets.  I love sunsets because...

By Chase, age 13 Every time a dog rips a collar or harness, we put it in a bin in the garage to be fixed. Then every spring and fall, Dad and I sew them back together. We need them in the spring because the dogs are coming back from the ranch. We need them in the fall for dog carting.  (You can hear about the dogs from my  little sister  or from  Mom .) Dad and I each have our own sewing awl and wax thread. sewing awl The wax helps to keep the thread from slipping out of the stitches. I have to make sure the stitches are tight and that the collar/harness isn't twisted or it will turn out wrong.  When it's finished, I burn any frayed edges of the collar/harness with a candle so it won't unravel. The  material is made out of is plastic so it melts together.  the candle the new stitches It's really fun to work on these things with my family.

By Lucy age 8                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         ...

By Lizzy age 5 Lasagna is yummy and all you do to make it is use sauce, noodles, cottage cheese, cheese and egg.  Lucy and I made lasagnas on Saturday because we had a lot of extra spaghetti sauce to use up. It's super fun to make it with my big sister. I like to wear an apron when I cook because it's really comfy and I like the bows in the back. We are on chairs because there were not stools.  We are too short for the counter. First, there is sauce in the bottom of the pan.  Then we put noodles on the sauce.  We don't have to cook the noodles because they get cooked inside when the lasagna is baked. The cheese is very yummy when you put it in the lasagna.  In the cheese mix there is cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, egg, and parsley.  The parsley is very yummy when you put it in the lasagna.  We grew it out front and we dried it by hanging it on the wall between the dining room and family room. We put sauce...