Yes, we have had some wonderful rain today, and what a delight.  I know there are parts of the country that have had too much rain, but we have been so dry here that the ground has been craving water.  It has been cool and overcast most of the day when it was not raining, and that is a relief, too.

My delightful daughter Amanda downloaded some pictures below for me.  We still have some of little Ben to post, but we haven't gotten around to doing that yet.  Our downstairs computer is still painfully slow at times, and I just can't sit long in front of a computer that is s-l-o-w.  Anyway, you can see that the ground around the garden is dry and brown, but hopefully we will continue to get rain, and the whole area will green up.  Also, you can see our raised beds and fence posts are made out of tree logs we cut down this past year.  Some of the beds are bordered by rocks that we gathered on our property as well.  The motto is, make due with what you have, and when the land gives you rocks and trees, use them the best way you can!  There are lots more rocks that would make good stone masonry projects, and as you can see, a lot more trees!  We already have a good stash of firewood for this upcoming winter.

We have begun harvesting zucchini and tomatoes and the green beans are just about ready.  The lettuce is still edible, but beginning to get bitter.  So far, the potatoes and asparagus are doing well, and the butterfly/ hummingbird and cut flower garden is blooming and I am cheered everytime I look at the pretty flowers.

We have been doing a lot of work on the computer today and so I have something easy for supper tonight.  I put two whole chickens in my large roaster, seasoned them with garlic and onion salt, and am letting them cook for several hours.  Since they were partially frozen, I have the oven set at 375 degrees.  You can just about tell when they are done just by smelling the wonderful aroma.  The chicken comes out so tender and tasty.  At the same time I put the chicken in the oven, I put the brown rice in the rice cooker.  It will be ready whenever we are ready to eat.  I will make some green peas and perhaps some cucumbers and onions,  some cranberry sauce (I am cheating with the canned variety tonight) and  some homemade bread.  I love to make this supper because it is so easy, so tasty, so healthy and filling.  Then, I can make chicken soup tomorrow, the Lord willing and I remember to!

I was thinking today about some of the goals I made out a few years ago for homeschooling and child raising.  It goes without saying that we want our children to be well-educated - and not just well-educated, but also to have the ability and discipline to be good learners and to be able to take initiative in the learning process.  We want our children not just to be saved and be able to defend their faith in Jesus Christ, but to be wholly and completely committed to the Lord and serving His kingdom for their entire lives.  And that is to be able to "run with endurance" the race marked out for them.  So I suppose I should list committment to the Lord first and foremost and in so doing be good servants and workers for His kingdom.  Then to be well-educated and disciplined and skilled in some sort of labor that can also be done from home - both girls and boys.  Why from home?  Because home is where the family is - or where it should be.  And families that work together, learn together, pray together and love each other turn into a team that can be a force for good.  There is always someone to help, someone to play with, someone to pray with, someone to bounce ideas off of.  Is everything always wonderful and smooth sailing?  Of course not.  But that is life.  You learn how to give and take, love and forgive, be patient when wronged, and hang in there when things are difficult.  You learn to grab hands and call on the Name of the Lord at any and all hours of the day or night.

One of the things I really wanted my girls to know how to do is run a household and take care of little ones.  I did not know a thing about babies when I had Amanda 17 years ago, (even though I had taught ladies about breastfeeding as a nursing student  - isn't that laughable?)  But one of the benefits of a large family is that all the older children get the experience of caring for little ones - and from watching Mom's mistakes so that they won't make the same ones with their children!  And they can learn what does and doesn't work for certain things.  They can learn how to organize a household for maximum efficiency - which I also never learned how to do and has taken me years to figure out.  My girls are learning crafts and skills that I did not ever learn as a child or young woman, because I was too busy going to school.  I have to say also that my sons are learning to take care of little ones, too.  They have learned the buddy system.  Joseph helps David get ready for bed and through out the day when he needs it.  I am often amazed at Joseph's gentleness and patience with his little brothers - but he loves them!

One of the things Rachel is really good at is typing.  I didn't learn how to type until I was in college.  Oh I know everyone with a computer has had to learn how to type, but the point is, I took a class to learn how to type.  I bought "Type It" I think it was called, and it was laying around on a table in the school room years ago, and the next thing I know, Rachel had taught herself how to type.  Now she knows how to type -really fast.   And really well.   I think she could be a court reporter without the machine, just using the computer!  This is a definite skill one can use from home.

I think it is exciting to try to figure out what each child's gifts and talents are.  I have been praying for years that each of our children would learn how to use their giftings and talents for the Lord and in doing the things He has called them to do.  Hopefully they will grow up having more of an idea of where their strengths and weaknesses lie and what they are good at, etc. and be able to their strengths in a fruitful manner.  I remember trying to answer a career questionaire in high school about what my gifts and talents and likes and dislikes were.  I had the hardest time filling that out, because I wasn't sure about so many of the answers, and had never taken the time to consider them.  I was just following what I was told to do, deciding on a "career" that the world had said was a good idea and just doing what everyone else was, going from high school to college.  It took me 5 and 1/2 years to finish a 4 year college, and then I went to work.  I was rescued from the rat race by my husband, who was glad to have me stay at home and be a homemaker, and I was glad and ever-so-thankful for the opportunity.  Finally I could learn how to cook and clean a house.  Finally I could read some good books (I only had time to read cliff notes in high school and college :() ).  Finally I learned to sew when my husband gave me a sewing machine for Christmas (he had seen me trying to make curtains sewing by hand).  Finally I could write!  Finally I could take the time to do the things I had always felt called to do, but was never given the time or opportunity.  Now I am learning how to make a little income from home in a lot of different ways.  I thank the Lord for my husband and my children and for the priveledge of staying home and taking care of them.  Oh, the joys and the adventures and the sweetness.

Be Blessed!