Choosing Home: Recent Episodes
The Kelleys
Our weekly conversation focused on how we Intentionally Choose Home in our lives. Whether it be our homesteading, homeschooling or general homemaking, our lives are centered around one place, Home.
There is no such thing as bad weather in the summer time as well as in the winter. On this week’s podcast we discuss how we approach summertime and some of the complaints people have when it comes to summer.
Lambing season wrapped up and was quite the success with 15 new lambs joining the flock. This week we discuss how everything went and what we learned in our 3rd lambing season.
On this week’s episode we take a look at an article written in the NewYork Times that is giving some advice to parents, and we freely give our unsolicited take on the author’s thinking. Link to the article is below;
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/28/opinion/culture/children-parenting-good-decisions.html
It’s lambing season, with the hope of all 8 ewes being pregnant we are in for a busy few weeks. This week we discuss the arrival of the first few lambs and the excitement that surrounds lambing season.
After a few weeks hiatus due to an inured foot and sick kids, here we are again saying, “We’re back!” This week we discuss what’s been happening, the state of the homestead (Garden and animals), as well as discuss our new approach to the Sabbath and how we came about to this result.
The first part of the much need kitchen renovation has finally happened, removing cabinets, counter, sink, faucet and dishwasher, then replacing with a new counter, reinstalled sink, new faucet and new dishwasher, all in one very long day.
This week on the podcast we sit down to discuss what investing means for our homestead.
On this week’s episode we talk about despite the fact that it is January and there is snow on the ground, work around the homestead is still taking place. We are putting plans together for what the 2022 growing season will look like and we have a new addition to the farm that will be a huge help moving forward.
Part 2 of our previous episode on how we have found the healthiest ways to eat all the things we say we avoid.
This week we discuss our history with math ; one of us struggled, the other played calculator games, both didn’t fully appreciate math until needing to teach it to others.
Talking this week about flock planning and why this will be important especially as we look towards lambing in the spring.
This week we spend time talking about teaching manners to our kids and how we handle bedtime.
We’re back from vacation with lots to share....mostly stories involving kids getting sick.
This week we discuss our reasoning behind owning sheep and why we find sheep to be such great homestead animals.
This week we discuss what kind of skills are needed to take a on homesteading and some myths surrounding the idea of homesteading.
It’s time for fall activities around the homestead; homeschooling, meat chickens, eggs layers, sheep and the garden all have some type of fall action that’s needs taken place as we prepare for the cooler months.
Life with Kids
Skills we wish we had been taught
The importance of including our kids as we learn new skills, build and create, in order that they may learn what we know
This week we talk about the satisfaction that comes along with looking down at your dinner plate and seeing that everything on it was grown or raised by your hard work.
This week we discuss how we as parents can fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to other to other parents, especially as we start down the homeschooling path.
This week we discuss the often-times frustrating fashion particularities of one half of the podcast, and it’s not the female half.
Trash cans, laundry rooms and moving sheep all have one thing in common; with just one slight change, these activities became a whole lot easier. Why does it take so long to make a change? This week we talk about changes we have made that make life easier.
This week we talk about our approach to technology when we are at the dinner table, at a restaurant and in the car. We are playing the long game when it comes to technology use and our kids. Can it be tough at times? Absolutely. But it’s worth it.
Summer through the eyes of our kids causes us to slow down and take time to literally smell the flowers.
Midsummer update on the homestead; more chicks, moving the sheep every day (MIG), and a growing, yet not quite producing garden.
On this week’s podcast:
How do we deal with our kids when they are being picky about their food?
Do we fight? What does that look like? What have we learned over the last nine years of being married and how have we worked to improve handling conflicts in our marriage?
This week we talk about what we think are the biggest benefits for us and our family when we get outside.
We would say we are laid back parents except in at least one area, teaching the Bible to our kids. This is one area where we are intensely defensive and protective about who, how and what is being taught in relation to the Bible. Listen in on our conversation this week and enjoy.
This week we discuss how the garden is coming along, both the vegetable and flower gardens, and why gardening is important to us.
We have learned a lot of things over the years as parents, many from trial and error, but many others from observation and the wisdom of those who have gone before us. We discuss on this episode how we have been shaped by our parents as we have grown as parents.
Not every part of homesteading is sunshine and roses, there are times where it is the total opposite as we have discovered in the last few weeks. We have come across small irritations like difficulties growing seedlings for the garden and larger heartbreak unexpectedly losing lambs and our friendliest ewe.
We give an update on the lambing that is currently happening as well as discuss our approach to caring for our kids when they are sick.
The term “Prepper” may mean something to you, or not, it can be a loose definition, this week we discuss whether we would fall into the category of being considered a prepper, and if not, what would be then be?
We tend to do things the hard way, sometimes by choice, other times by necessity. This week we talk about why we do things the hard way and of those things we do, would we change anything to make it easier, or is the hard way the better way.
In this episode we get into discussion on whether we would classify our house as small or large. What really makes a house big or little, does square footage matter, or is more about how the home feels?
On this week’s episode we discuss how even small changes to your home can end up turning into large scale renovations. Counter tops lead to cabinets, and if you’re doing cabinets then you should do that floor too... and on it goes. How far do you unravel that string before you finally make a decision and go for it?
This week we discuss what it means to “Choose Joy”. For us there are those moments that require you to make a choice, either wallow in your anger, or make the conscious choice of Joy in that moment. Not always easy, but always worth it.
Our conversation today revolves around being a stay-at-home mom. We have been a one income family for over Five years, but does that mean only one of us works? Is being a stay at home mom worth living off of one income? Are there pros, what about cons? Join us today.
This week we take time to discuss where we are in terms of homeschooling. We are in our last year before we have to officially start documenting what we are doing homeschooling wise. So we are taking this year to closely observe our children how they approach learning, as well as ourselves as teachers. If we burnout as teachers there is no backup, so we need to ensure that the way we approach teaching is a benefit and joy for all involved. We are a the starting line in this adventure and are excited about what will be in store, but for now we are protecting these Nonschooling years. Join the conversation and be sure to leave a review.
On the podcast this week we recap taking our ram to the processor, much easier than anticipated and fulfilling stocking the freezer with meat born and raised on our land and nothing more than the grass in our pasture. We also discuss the perks and ease of raising your own meat chickens. Meat chickens are an incredible way to add a large amount of meat to your freezer in a short amount of time with a minimal amount of time invested. Remember to follow along on instagram @choosinghomepodcast
This week’s episode we discuss all of the healthy things we have tried over the years from the slightly strange; homemade toothpaste? To the “double check that’s safe to eat”. The more we talked the more we realized how much we have tried, it’s A LOT. Some things we have kept up with, others fell by the wayside, kombucha anyone? Join us and enjoy the fact that you’re not the only weird one, or listen in much like you would a carnival side show, either way, thanks for listening!
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This week we are talking design; how has our design style been grafted over time, what exposure to design did we grow up with, and how has our style changed over time.
Join us for our New Year’s episode as we recap Christmas and lay out goals and items on the to do list for 2021 including; ordering seeds, meat chickens and giving our boys a small flock of their own egg laying chickens.
Cooking wasn’t always a joyful activity, in fact Carolyn gave up cooking for the two of us within two weeks of being married, so what’s changed in our lives that home cooked meals are seen as a central activity and essential to the health of our family. Join us this week as we talk adapting to a new diet, favorite go-to recipes and kitchen items, and most notably make ourselves hungry with all this food talk.
No such thing as bad weather? That’s at least what we think, though the rest of the folks in thee Midwest would disagree, complaining about the weather, hot or cold, seems to be everyone’s favorite pastime. Not for us though! Join us as we discuss our attitude towards weather and why we would say there is no such thing as bad weather.
We just received a dozen chicks and a dozen ducks in the mail as winter is right around the corner. Why would we do such a thing? Carolyn shows signs of actually being a crazy chicken lady. We get into how easy it is to raise chicks, what you need to be successful, dealing with getting a rooster and why we deciding now would be the best time to get more hens. Join us for our conversation this week and don’t forget to follow along on instagram @choosinghomepodcast
How do we celebrate Christmas? What are the things we need to have out when decorating to be in the full Christmas Spirit? On this week’s episode we are getting into the Christmas spirit. We discuss; decorating, making our children share presents and why we don’t really buy gifts for each other. Grab your eggnog, curl up by the tree and join us for a fireside chat.
We have begun the homeschooling journey, sort of. We discuss different methodologies and approaches to homeschooling, where we are on that continuum and why we are taking the slow approach to school. Listen along as two ex-teachers discuss why we will be educating our kids at home rather than sending them to a traditional school.
What’s life like without a TV? Why would someone choose to live that way? Must be crazy. We discuss our approach to a low tech lifestyle and our reasoning behind why we have chosen to live in this way.
2020 may not be over yet, but for our homestead we have already moved on to 2021. Listen as we recap our garden growing and animal raising for this year. We cover what went well in the garden, what we will not try again and our goals for next year. Planning has already begun! This year we raised more meat chickens than ever before, we discuss what it took to raise 75 “meaties” over the course of the summer. Tune in to find out what animal we took the “plunge” on just this past week and will be arriving in the mail shortly. Thanks for joining us at home this week!
Our life really switched to homesteading when we discovered how our diet needed to change. In this episode we talk about how our son’s health issues started the process of eating better food, how we dealt with the expense of eating organic, how we began raising our own food, and why we put so much value in what we eat.
Fall is here and we couldn’t be more excited to cozy up. In this episode we’re sharing the ways we embrace the season change and make home a place we enjoy, despite the cold floors, rainy weather, and darker days.
Change can be hard, but it can also be really good. Country life has really changed us. Some things we had to adapt to immediately, some were gradual mindset shifts, others we unexpected and unwelcome, while some were beautiful blessings we never would have expected. We never regret our decision to choose a simpler life, but to do so meant some things had to change.
Intro episode about us, why we started a podcast in the first place, and what the podcast will cover.
Homesteading was never our plan, neither was living in the country. In this episode we cover how two clueless elementary teaches ended up trading city life for a little farm in the country.