March ....here and gone

March seems to have flown by for us. We had such a variety of weather, after the long dry spell. We enjoyed some rain, loads of wind, and lots of sunshine.  Trying to take advantage of the weather we ventured out for a few activities.  

We decided it was time to educate the girls a bit on where things come from. We talked about chickens and eggs, different kinds of meat and which animals they came from, where different foods come from, gardens, grains, farms, and much much more. For this we visited a little hobby farm one of Joe's co-workers owned. Here the girl's fed chickens, cows, a horse, and other birds. They visited a small green house, work sheds, and saw various sources of water. I regret that we forgot our camera that day. 

We made a trip to Austin to visit Whole Foods and purchased several kinds of grains for the girls to try. We also purchased a compost bin. So yes now we are growing herbs and other greens out on the back porch and we are composting.  

We also set up a recycling program here in the garage. That may be nothing for you northerners but here in Brownwood, recycling consists of taking things to a dump and sorting it yourself. So we don't have the ease of a plastic bin that goes out with the garbage each week for pickup. 

Last Saturday we took the morning and made bread together. We made whole wheat bread, and a braided white bread. The girls really enjoyed this. We baked three loaves and three days later we are down to a 3/4 loaf. I think I see baking again in the real near future.  We also introduced them to home made granola. We're still working on a variety everyone will eat.

We also took advantage of the windy weather and got a couple of kites out for flying. That was... exciting.  

In school we are finishing up what is left of our books and preparing for purchase of "next years" items. We are planning to attend a home school book fair in May that will be held in Arlington, TX  http://www.homeschoolbookfair.org/.  I am hoping to have all of our books completed by then so I can plan next years schedule. Yeah! We're almost there!