My childhood was spent exploring mountain sides. Building forts out of fallen branches and chasing minnows in the nearby riverbanks. I owe much of who I am today to these simple experiences.
My young adult life lead me out of my home province where I settled into a career and began the unsustainable juggle of extracurricular activities, pizza & pink shirt days and ambiguous 15 minute parent/teacher meetings.
Knowing the joys nature provides, I did my best to load the mini van and drive my littles to the least populated provincial park as often as I could. As the city and our family grew and gymnastics meets, dance recitals and equestrian lessons exhausted our weekends, these quiet, refreshing green havens seemed to get further away and further apart.
In 2021, after two decades of noisy, concrete jungle existence, we fled the bustling Canadian city to a large, bit-out-of-budget & way-out-of-date home on a rural, serene acreage in southern Alberta.
Here, I strive to naturally, organically and wholesomely raise, nurture and homeschool our eight children.
Technically falling into categories such as; Biological, Adopted, Foster, Permanent Guardianship, and Special Needs; each grants me the privilege of being called “Mama”.
The categories are seldom mentioned, however daily, each require a unique role and style of parenting.
We chose to teach our heart for the young, innocent and vulnerable to our next generation through livestock.
The fences, coops, hutches and shelters are going up (a huge shout out to my husband!) and within them we are raising small herds of adorable four legged friends.
Nigerian Dwarf Goats, Bearded Silkies, Angora Bunnies, Mini Jerseys, Valias sheep top the bucket list. And of course, a livestock guardian, specifically a Great Pyrenees (or three) is a must have!
Dare I say, “The journey has just begun.”? I’ll sure enjoy your company along the way and am grateful for the opportunity to share, beyond our table, and over the fences, the treasured tidbits this life has taught us.
“The mud will wash off, but the memories will last a lifetime.”
– Author Unknown
