My New Little Ones......

My new little bundles will get to come home soon.

They were born around the 19th or so and are being bottle fed and switched off of goat milk so that I can take them soon. Two little sisters out of triplets. :) 

Their mother is Boer x Nubian cross and their father is Boer x Alpine cross.

 You can see the Nubian in the first baby and Alpine in the second baby. Both are adorable. :)

Last house fell through so the move is pushed back but still on the hunt and it will be soon.

House fell through so now back to house hunting....

Sorry it has been a while but between kids school ending on Friday and graduation, packing, and now back to house hunting I have had a hard time getting on to blog.

I will try to keep posting as much as I can to keep it updated.

She did it!

My daughter walked at her graduation ceremony today.
The first one in several generations on her father's side to do so.
We are all very proud of her.

She was also awarded the Principles Award metal for being an outstanding role model in the classroom  (helping others, excelling in class, and setting a good example for the other students).

She did it!!!

My High School Graduate :) and her proud brothers.

Her oldest brother will be getting his GED this summer and the youngest is in the 7th grade going into 8th this coming August.

Amber-Lee, Raymond Sr. (Amber-Lee's Grandfather, her dad's dad), Kaylynn (Amber-Lee's cousin in back, one of her dad's sister's kids, Debbie (Amber-Lee's Grandmother, her dad's mom), Joyce (Amber-Lee's Great Grandmother, her dad's mom's step-mother), Kaylee (Amber-Lee's cousin, one of her dad's other sister's kids and Aunt -Debbie adopted her), Rick Foor (Amber-Lee's dad's best friend here in Cadillac, MI), Raymond III (Amber-Lee's oldest brother), and Ralph (Amber-Lee's youngest brother). Not pictured is mom/me who is behind the camera and dad who is working in Colorado and could not get back for it as it was held on a Tuesday evening.

Amber-Lee and me her very proud mother.

A very proud Grandfather who was starting to tear up as he saw his Granddaughter be the first out of several generations on their side to graduate high school. :)

These are some of my favorites out of the shots we took for her to choose from for senior pictures. :)

(2014 copyright laws do apply and these photographs are the property of Jodi A. Metcalf.)

My Daughter is going to make it!!!

From the looks of things my daughter has her in class classes done and passed and her online classes will be done before the weekend is over so that she can take her last tests on Monday.

Yeah!!! Woo Hoo!!! She will be walking in the Graduation ceremony. :) We are so proud of her!!!!

She will have to finish up an English credit but they are working with her on that one. Since she will be done on Monday and since there is still several weeks of school left she will have most if not all of the school day to work on it and she may have it knocked out for the most part before school gets out, though they will let her finish it, she may not have to do summer school to finish that last one for her diploma. :)

She has been hauling butt on those online classes to get them finished up in time, staying up late at night. She pushed herself so hard the other day that she fell asleep with the laptop still on and logged in but I went on to see how many she got done that day and between the ones she was able to do at school and what she was able to get done at home, she finish over 30+ assignments, quizzes, reviews, projects, and tests (which can only be done at school of course).

Crunch Time!!!!!

My daughter is a senior in high school and it is now crunch time for exams before they can see who will have their credits to graduate. :P Luckily some of her classes are online ones and she can work on them at home too. She is hauling but here and locking herself in her room so as to not be distracted. You go girl! I am so proud of her. She even to on extras this trimester to make sure she has all of her requirements done. She will be one of the few students to graduate with more credits then she needs to but she fell a little short on her requirements, hence the reason for the extra classes. But she is doing it, she should have them all done in time at this pace, and then some. :) Now if I can ever get this packing done :/

Yeah!!!! We may have a house.......

I am excited. We may have a house finally. And it may be the one I wanted from the beginning. :)

I do not want to go overboard as it is not ours just yet and until it has our name on it I do not want to jinx it...lol ..... But I will be thrilled if we get it.

It is a stick built not a manufactured home which means I can improve upon it and the value will go up. :)

It has plenty of rooms, space, and roughly 3 1/2 acres for the goats, chickens, dogs, and any other animal we want to have on it. It is in the country setting but yet only a mile from a small town where my youngest could even ride his bike to school if he wanted. :)

I'm going crazy....lol

Okay so looking for a house is driving me nuts. Trying to pack everything is becoming daunting. I have not seen my hubby in almost a month. Why are we doing this again???? Oh yeah, better pay, better benefits, better life... :)
Just a little bit longer, if I can hang on just a little bit longer before I crack we will see the light at the end of the tunnel. :)

As promised I have a few photos of the equipment that my hubby is running now. Yeah I know...he plays in big Tonka Toys all day...lol

Hubby's First Day on the Job in Colorado....

Went great, but overwhelming. With newer equipment comes quick learning of the controls and new gadgets to learn about quickly and on the spot. :)
It may overwhelm him but it is one of the things he excels at when it comes to equipment. :)
He has not sent me any pics as of yet but here is an older one from here of him tearing down an old Checkers drive-thru.

Were Back.....

Apologies to all as we got back on Friday but I had to recoup from the trip before posting.
The trip went great. Hubby found work and we came back with him already hired in to a place. :)
Now it is hustle time on looking for a place. We tried a little while we were out there but until we knew where he was going to work it was difficult to find the location to search.
Now it is crunch time on getting the house packed and in order as he goes ahead to work and help find a place before the rest of us are hauled out there. Our daughter will be joining us now as well as the two boys and we will be hauling kids, dogs, and 2 goats with us. Daughter graduates this year and will be out in the middle of May. Our youngest wants to transfer before school gets out as Colorado gets out for summer vacation earlier then Cadillac, Michigan. He does not want his summer vacation cut shorter since they will start in the middle of August instead of the beginning of September.

All in all it went well and we will hopefully be in a place out there before the end of May. :)

1st photo: Antelope on our way back from Rush to Colorado Springs looking at a home.
2nd photo: Mountains from a distance coming into Fort Collins, Colorado.
3rd photo: On our way to Drake, Colorado up into the mountains looking at a home.

On a Role....

Sorry I have not posted in a while. I have been on a role going through our stuff and packing. We have pushed back our trip for a week and will be going this weekend instead so that we were able to get more done before the trip just in case they want him to start asap we will be more prepared for it.
Hence the reason why I have been busting through everything as fast as I can. I still can not believe how much stuff we have accumulated over the past ten years, and the dust for that matter... lol

Getting Excited........

Trip is in a week. :)
Packing is not close to being done but sooooooo need this trip. Need to get away from this craziness for a while...lol.
I am hoping this trip will re-energize me about the move so I can kick it in to high gear, when we get back so I can get the rest done quickly. :)

Cross fingers for us that it goes well. ;)

When we move I will not know right away when I will be able to get back on, but I will keep posting until the move. :P

But for now your stuck with me...he he he

Going Nuts.....

Listings, listings, and more listings.....these real estate listings are driving me nuts.
Trying to find the right one is time consuming. Which means I am not getting much packing done. :P
Hopefully we will find some for a more narrowed list to check out when we visit at the end of the month. :)
Cross your fingers for me. ;)

Moving Whoas.....

You do not realize how much stuff you have until you have to move and go through it all. Feels like I am going to be going through it all for years ... lol

My chickens will be moving to their new home soon and then I will not have any until the baby goats arrive. The trade off for my two is getting more clear now and I will get whatever Nanny drops (as long as they are alive and good health) and one of her doe babies from her goats. This was fine as it will be easier to transport babies and since Nanny is now hers and I wanted her baby(s) if there was a boy, she had no problem with it since she has her buck and her goats are bigger. She does not really want smaller goats. :)

No matter what they needed a home and I know they went to the right person. She will take great care of my girls. :)

My two girls are gone....

They came to pick them up today around 12:30pm. It did not take more then 10 minutes after they left before I was fighting back the tears. It has been off and on since. But I know I did the right thing. I am doing a trade with this lady my two for two of her babies who are bottle fed. The babies will be easier to transport then the to adults, one of which is still pregnant and would be kidding around or just before the move and I do not want them getting hurt. Michigan to Colorado is a fairly long haul and there will not be much room between the kids, our stuff, and the dogs. But babies I can have ride in the cab with me as they will be little.

Just have to get through the initial detachment, they were my babies. :(

But like I said, I know I did the right thing. :)
I did what was best for them, not what was best for me. :)
But I will miss them.

Goats May Have a Home.....

Yeah....my goats might have a new home to go to and soon. :)
Nanny has not had her baby(s) yet, she may not for another week or two even as she is not filling with milk yet.
I am so happy. I was worried that we may not find them one.
I was not asking for much to help them find one, and I only asked so that the money could go toward getting one after the move.
I am not concerned with the money though, as I would give them away if I trusted the person that they went to. This is my biggest concern, to know they were going to be well cared for.


We shall see...cross your fingers. :)

Sore Eyes......

My eyes feel like they are going to explode from looking at real estate listings for over a weeks straight.

This is going to drive me nuts yet. :P

The 2 older kids have already done some packing and tossed garbage from their rooms yet I can not seem to motivate my youngest into doing the same. I do not blame him though as he will be moving from his friends and I think it is hitting him now that this is for real. I think that he thinks he doesn't have to think about it, or that it is not actually happening if he ignores it.

He understands why we are moving but that doesn't mean he has to like it and I wouldn't ask him to.

We settled here so that they could make friends and stop bouncing around, but the Michigan economy is just not helping us stay here unfortunately.

Hopefully he will start soon.

Here we Go!

Welcome to my new blog for our new life in Colorado.

We have begun the process of packing, cleaning, and searching for a home. We plan on being moved when kids finish school.

My oldest son is 21. My middle child is 18 and she is graduating this year. My youngest son is 13 and will be the only one that we will be waiting on as my daughter can leave in May.

My husband has been offered a job with all the trimmings, but he will be searching all over before putting all of his eggs in one basket.
I may even be able to find a way of using my Interior Decorating there as Michigan is so economically challenged at the moment that I can not seem to get even a consulting gig here.

All we are doing is digging a hole and soon we will not be able to climb out of it. We have a change and an opportunity to make a change for the better. We don't want to look back and say "We should have done it" and now it's to late. We need to, even if it is just to prove that we are not scared of new things (changes). The hubby should not have to work until he is dead to support his family in today's economy.

So........here we go!