Helpful hands - homeschoolers learn on the job

It was cold today. But not too cold for my four Tuesday homeschool helpers. They arrived in the morning and spent most of this frigid day outside, in the barn, working on the farm.

We started out by picking up a load of grain -- around 20 50-lb bags -- at Rural King. Michelle, Hannah, Jonathan (the birthday boy) and Kristie helped unload the bags of grain, and eventually fed the grain to the llamas and alpacas.

They caught Eagle Eye -- and we spent part of the time beginning her halter training. She wasn't happy with the plan. She leaped and twirled, sort of like a ballerina who just got a jolt of electricity. She even made a feeble attempt to spit on us. It was pretty funny. Little sputtt, sputt, spit! What a riot.

We had a load of hay delivered from Jeff and Frank. It was carefully placed inside the barn to be used over these next cold winter days. I also put out three big round bales for the three groups in my barn -- the big boy herd, the little boy herd -- and the girls/babies.

We had a delicious lunch of spaghetti, provided by Becky in honor of Jonathan's birthday. It warmed the tummy and heart.

We loaded four cans filled with fertilizer -- to be used in the spring on local gardens.

My homeschool helpers are such a great addition to this farm. My barn has never looked so good -- when Michelle took it upon herself to sweep/move all that loose hay from the middle of the barn into nice, organized spots inside the herd areas. Wow. It is impressive.

In the photos: Some of the critters by the big round bale; Eagle Eye gets some lead training; Jonathan is in charge of keeping the brake on the truck -- as Jeff unloads a big bale.

Thank you to my helpers -- you made a cold winter day a productive day of fun and learning at the farm.