Spring is Here!

 I See U!

 Pretty as a Flower

Helping Mommy weed the flower beds

All in a days work!

Bridge Building 2011

Thomas decided to enter the bridge building competition this year much to his father's delight. lol.
They didn't win grand prize however still placed.  Not bad for 1st year. 

Highland View Farm Announcement!

It's a Boy!

Highland View Farm is proud to announce the birth of their first calf born on April 29th at approximately  8:30am.  He is a brown, fuzzy and very cute Highland calf.  He is currently enjoying spending time with his mother and getting to know the other cows.  His mother is really protective of him and would rather people not get too close.  Last night we had to catch him and do his well-baby check.  Everything is looking good.

Like any good family we had names picked out for our new addition.  If it was a girl it would be called "keepher"; if it was a boy he would be "t-bone".  Well he is now here and "t-bone" it is. We will keep you updated on his growth and antics.  Pictured below is T'-bone with his mother and Bessie.

Goat Update

We have had lots of excitement in the goat pen.  Annie's goat Jasmine delivered 2 male kids...one is pictured here.  There names are spot (in picture) and Aladdin.  Nic's goat Daisy also delivered 2 male kids named Freddie and Eddie.  Nic's kids are pure white.  The kids are doing well and growing big.  The boys will be really sad when they are sold.

Hard to believe but Annie has not had a hair cut since they gave her a mohawk at the hospital, which will be 5 years in May.  Her mohawk was a result of her veins blowing from IVs.  They then came up with a brilliant plan to shave both sides of her head to find a spot for the IV.  I guess they had to do it...but really...shave a little girls head and leave her with a black mohawk!
This experience in hospital caused us lots of nightmares but obviously the hair thing was lasting.
Annie has been showing interest in cutting her hair much to her Daddy's dismay.  We thought it would be better for her to experience a hair cut at the salon rather than in her room with her favourite Hannah Montana scissors.  The picture below is her favourite hair dresser Jessie cutting her hair.  She let Jessie take about 3 inches off her hair.  We brought a baggie of her blond curly locks home for Daddy!

New Additions To "Highland View Farm"

Today we added 4 new additions to our farm.  Below you will see 4 meat goats.  I'm sure we will be posting more antics of these newcomers.  They enjoy getting into trouble!  So far we have 3 females (all expecting babies this spring) and one young male.  The male is Thomas', which he named "Billy" as in Billy goat gruff.  Nick has named his "Daisy".  Nic chose his within the first 10 minutes of being there.  Nic's goat came over to him and just stood beside him...Guess it was meant to be.  Annie has named her's "Twinkle"...Annie is really hoping that she has some girl babies.    As Ty Pennington says "Welcome Home Goats!

Highland View Farm

As most of our family knows "farming" is in the Martin blood.   Since we are not millionaires nor did we inherit a free ride....we need to take the road most travelled but less fame....beef farming.
Steve has the natural gift for animals and farming and wisely chose the breed of "Scottish Highland" for us to include on our farm.  Our goal for our farm, purchased in 2009, was to allow ourselves to be as self-sustainable as possible.  Our second goal was to provide our family with the healthiest food we could.  Don't you hate it when you are watching TV after supper and a food recall comes across your screen.  We got tired of wondering if we had ate something recalled or worse had our kids.
We are still not exactly where we want to be, but our accomplishments so far are posted in the pictures.  We are currently looking in to adding some new animals to our paradise this spring.
We sell to the community fresh produce, fresh brown eggs, chickens, turkeys and more products to come!!!!
We couldn't be happier with our life on the farm!

Annie's 1st Valentine's Day Party Pic

Annie's 1st Valentine's Day Party

Annie asked to host her own Valentine's party this weekend.  We began planning 2 weeks ago by taking a long trip to the Dollar Store.  We were able to accumulate decorations, plates, napkins, tablecloth, cups and much more.  Our menu was lasagna, salad and bread.  Annie invited her Nana and Jim to join us for the party.  As you will notice a party is never complete without dressing up for the occasion.
Happy Valentine's Day to Family and Friends....and Happy 13th Wedding Anniversary to Steve and I.
See Picture above...

The Martin Family

The most beautiful girl in the world!

Am I Really Blogging?

A Big "thanks" goes" out to my friend Rebecca who introduced my to blogging.  Rebecca sent me a link to her blog that would update me on her family status...especially on Sophie.  I spent at least 2 hours exploring all of the great things on her blog.  I must admit....I laughed, smiled and cried.  Rebecca is such a special person and most importantly a awesome mom.  We met in May of 2006 while Annie and Rebecca's daughter Sophie were roommates at Children's Hospital in London.  Most of my family and friends are aware that Annie spent the first month of her life there recovering from spinal surgery.  What you might not know is the great families we met. 
Annie loves to look at her photo album which includes a picture of Annie and Sophie as babies visiting at the Ronald McDonald house.  We were just looking at it the other day and she asked about Sophie.  As Annie and I were talking about it I began thinking about Sophie and how she was doing.  Connecting with Rebecca again through blogging makes things so much easier to stay in touch...thanks for the great example.