“Wake up Marshal-man, its’ your day to milk with dad.”

One thing I dreamt of having was a milk cow and some chickens.

Now we have a small herd of jersey cows, a brood of chickens, four GIANT bunnies, two baby goats - Fritz and Ferdinand, Hesster the horse, a herd of kittens/cats and our Lily dog.

All of our animals are part of the fam!

Just ask my daughter all the names - she knows them all!!

Yesterday I walked into her bedroom and found all seven baby kittens snuggled on her bed…Lord help me.

In all honesty that is exactly what I did when I was little LOL I loved animals and still do!

Each morning our two oldest boys take turns going out to help daddy milk the cows. They get to walk them into the milk barn and clean out the bedding area.

They love having that little bit of responsibility. I think that’s the part I love about homesteading most.

My other younger kiddos get to help with taking care of bunnies, chickens & goats.

We all have our part to play and everyone is needed to keep it going.

I appreciate that we each are learning to love the land we harvest our food. We get to love on and care for animals that depend on us.

There are definitely days that we all take turns complaining - that’s for sure!! And overall we work through our emotions and find peace within ourselves.

Homesteading is so unique to every individual home.

There are little ways to begin. Simple and easy!

And not only do you get the nutritional benefits of having your own animals or produce…such wonderful life skills are acquired.

When a child (or adult) learns empathy, patience and love from taking care of an animal it lasts a lifetime.

It also helps with understanding that sometimes we get to do hard things - like feed the cows in a blizzard! haha I sent the hubby to do that tho ;)

Whatever it looks like, it’s wonderful to feel the satisfaction of caring for your own little homestead.

You create what you want it to be and just start somewhere and see it through to completion!

What ways have you created your own little homestead?? Leave a comment below to share.

xoxo-