The Shire Homestead

The Shire Homestead The Shire Homestead, a small family homestead established in Feb 2025 in the beautiful PNW.

This is pure chaos… and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way 🤍🐐Just a normal day at The Shire—where baby goats thi...
03/24/2026

This is pure chaos… and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way 🤍🐐

Just a normal day at The Shire—where baby goats think kids are jungle gyms, the living room doubles as a barnyard, and laughter is guaranteed.

Homesteading isn’t always picture-perfect… but it sure is full of life.

This weekend the homestead grew a little more.We welcomed three buckling goats — Astro, Alfie, and Arlo — and six Orping...
03/15/2026

This weekend the homestead grew a little more.

We welcomed three buckling goats — Astro, Alfie, and Arlo — and six Orpington chicks (buff and chocolate) to our little corner of the Shire.

The goats are officially our “pets of the livestock world.” With plans for meat animals down the road, we wanted the kids (the human kind 😉) to have some animals that are simply theirs to love on, bottle feed, and grow up with. Astro, Alfie, and Arlo will mostly be found following kids around, begging for snacks, and causing a little farmyard mischief.

The Orpington chicks are our first step toward boosting our egg supply. With a family our size, eggs disappear faster than we can count them — so adding a few fluffy egg-layers felt like the right move.

Slowly but surely, The Shire Homestead is coming to life.
More animals, more learning, more memories being made.

And probably a lot more eggs. 🥚

Dinner fatigue is REAL over here lately.You know the kind…5pm hits, everyone is hungry, the toddler is melting down, the...
03/12/2026

Dinner fatigue is REAL over here lately.

You know the kind…
5pm hits, everyone is hungry, the toddler is melting down, the fridge somehow looks empty even though it’s full, and the question of “what’s for dinner?” feels like the hardest decision of the day.

So we decided to try something new at The Shire Homestead.

Our older kids now each have one night a week where they choose the meal and cook dinner.

They plan it.
They help shop for it.
And they make it.

And honestly? It’s been one of the best decisions we’ve made.

Not only does it take some of the pressure off me, but they’re learning real life skills — cooking, planning, problem solving, and feeding a family. Some meals are simple, some are creative, and some are… experimental 😅 but they’re proud of what they make.

The kitchen gets louder, messier, and a lot more fun.

And dinner?
Somehow tastes better when someone worked hard to make it.

Homestead life isn’t just about gardens and animals.
It’s about raising capable humans who know how to care for themselves and others.

And if it helps solve dinner fatigue along the way… I’ll take that win.

How are you dealing with dinner fatigue?

03/11/2026

If you could only choose one homestead animal… what would it be?

For me, it’s ALL of them! Give me all the baby animals!

Well… it happened. 🐓Because of the ever-rising cost of eggs, we decided our first step into homesteading here at The Shi...
03/10/2026

Well… it happened. 🐓

Because of the ever-rising cost of eggs, we decided our first step into homesteading here at The Shire Homestead would be chickens.

The original plan was simple:
“Let’s get a few chickens so we can have fresh eggs.”

But apparently there’s something called chicken math…

You start with 3 or 4 chickens for eggs.
Then you think, “Well if we’re already feeding them, a few more wouldn’t hurt.”
Then someone mentions a breed that lays pretty blue eggs.
Then the kids each need their own chicken.

And somehow you end up with… a lot more chickens. 😅

Fresh eggs, happy birds, and one more step toward the life we’re building here.

This is definitely just the beginning.

Welcome to The Shire Homestead, where life is loud, muddy, beautiful, and full.Kevin, a veteran turned IT manager, and S...
03/09/2026

Welcome to The Shire Homestead, where life is loud, muddy, beautiful, and full.

Kevin, a veteran turned IT manager, and Samantha, a homemaker, are raising their lively crew of nine kids in the Pacific Northwest: Austyn (currently serving in the Army), Anya, Christopher, Lillian, Nora, Olivia, Mabel, Margo, and little Elanor.

Our days are filled with garden dirt, growing children, family meals, and learning how to live a little slower and a little closer to the land.

This space is where we share our journey of big family life, homesteading adventures, and the everyday magic of raising a family together.

Welcome to our Shire!

📸 The Light of May Photography - Olympia Children & Family Photographer

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Conrad
Winlock, WA
98596

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