I'm a wannabe in every sense of the word. I wanna be good enough to make it to heaven, but Jesus died because I will never be. I wanna be a mom of ten living on a farm in the middle of nowhere, training my girls to honor God & their husbands, by being content, happy homemakers...yet God has seen fit to bless us with the opportunity to help rear for Him two boys (22 and 12), in the middle of suburbia ;) I wanna be a helpmate to my husband in every way possible, yet more often than not, I'm in his way, lol. I wanna be the perfect parent, that raises perfect children, yet I am constantly humbled by the fact that only He is perfect, and I must allow him to lead. I wanna be the ultimate caretaker of my temple, and the pinnacle of health to all around me, yet no amount of healthy eating/exercise keeps me from dropping to my knees often, in need of healing from the Great Physician. I could go on and on about the the things that I am trying to be, but I invite you instead to come and join me as I travel on my path toward virtue... ~Proverbs 31:10-31~ http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:04:00 -0600 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:04:00 -0600     Doing church work is by no means a walk in the park.  As servants of God, we are automatically required to attend numerous group meetings, do our appointed duties every Sabbath, or spend hours organizing and delegating works that we are responsible for.  We are constantly busy making sure that we can resolve issues that arise in church and can assist others where possible as we are all one family in Christ. While all this is admirable, has our calling to be a living sacrifice for God in Christ’s family compromised our time and energy we spend with our own earthly family?  Have we been able to strike the right balance between our family commitments and serving God and His church? Our zeal for God in doing church work should not cause us to overlook our family commitments.  In fact, providing for our family is part and parcel of doing God’s work.  It is the starting point and the basis of godly service in the church: “[F]or if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?” (1 Tim 3:5). Caring for our small [or large!] family unit should not be seen as a burden but should naturally stem from our concern and appreciation.  Start from the small things: a simple greeting can brighten up Dad’s day before he goes to work; making a delicious breakfast for your kids can fuel their attention for school; praying together as a family at the end of the day can bring the whole family together to God.  In doing this, do you not know that you are also doing God’s work? Doing God’s work is not merely faithfully fulfilling our responsibilities as group coordinators, leaders, or members.  It is also about using our time and energy to make a better spiritual, emotional, and physical environment for the whole family,  just as we do for the larger community of faith in the church.  God’s work really starts at home.             Question for Reflection: Is there any work at home that you’ve neglected?         Devotion adapted from www.tjc.org http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/752593/ Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:04:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/752593/ About a month or so before our trip (when the weather was still cooperating), my hubby started on his newest outdoor project: painting the house.   He got about 1/4 of it done, and then fall weather began to kick in full force.  Along came the nor'easter and other random storms (one which included a tree falling on our shedding and demolishing it), and then our big trip to Phx... Sooooooo, the weather hasn't gotten any better (another nor'easter and two weeks of storms and wind later), the days have gotten shorter, DH is surprisingly busy @ work for this time of year,  and thus, the house painting has been put on hold.    And as I sit here and take a peek at the calendar, next week is the first day of winter.    I know that he started this project thinking that work would be painstakingly slow as it usually is in Nov/Dec, and I'm EXTREMELY grateful that he still has work, (let alone an overflow of it!).  But,  I got a feeling that I'm gonna be stuck w/a half painted (well, umm 1/4 painted, lol) house until spring.  And even that is iffy, considering our spring weather is about the equivalent of this fall: rain, and rainier.  Oh well, at least he got the whole front of the house done, so when you're standing directly in front you can't tell, lol.  But the sides and back...a whole different story Here's some pics of the project, so far... Can you even tell the difference? Well, I'm sending prayers up for a couple of decent weather days...  If not, I'll show you how it turns out next spring/summer ! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/752105/ Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:20:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/752105/ We just watched the movie "Gifted Hands" last night and thought it was really good. It's a very touching and inspiring story about neurosurgeon Ben Carson.    It will be airing on TNT in Feb. for those that have cable and don't mind waiting.  But for the rest of us, it's available now on DVD from your library, local video store, or Redbox (this is where we got it - but you'll want to check online first for which one in your area will have it, because it was checked out of all but one in our town).  I would recommend it for families w/teens, as some of the surgical scenes may be too much for young ones (the tv rating is TV14).  Here's a short clip of it from Johnson & Johnson: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/751226/ Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:27:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/751226/ Remember back in elementary school,  each new school year would prompt the infamous "What I did on my summer vacation" type of writing assignment?  Well, here it is..all grown up, blogger style. High: Phoenix is still absolutely gorgeous.  I'd totally forgotten how much I love that place. Low:  The water is still as hard as ever, and my entire family's skin and hair are paying to price for it now.  Hello eczema and dandruff High:  My Grandma's nightmares of not having enough food were completely unfounded.  We had WAY more than we could have imagined. Low:  Apparently people aren't as in to leftovers as we are, and people were literally tossing out food by the pounds!  What kinda thankfulness is that?!  My hubby and I were begging family members to take home the food, freeze it to have throughout the year, anything!  No such luck.  People would take a tiny plate of food, wrap it up and turn their nose up at the HUGE army size helpings of food that were left.  It really hurt our hearts to just toss the food (we were in a hotel and couldn't take it - though we took as much as out little fridge could handle!) .  My hubby just had to walk away he was so upset...  High:  There was SO much family there, some I hadn't seen in maybe 8-10 yrs. Low:  The main family we were going to see didn't make it (my parents, bro, and sisters).  Also my aunt (that was coordinating the whole thing) from Cali, and her fam didn't make it either... Low:  I..your faithful "make-everything-down-to-my-family's-seasonings-from-scratch" wannabe...are you ready for this?..made a cake......... from a box mix ...OH THE HORROR!!!!   Anyone who knows me, knows that this is not an exaggeration of my feelings, lol.  I haven't made a box cake, brownie, etc, anything in years!  However, I was also cooking for people I hadn't seen in years, and this is what they wanted...*sigh*  Gotta give the people what they want, right?   I couldn't bring myself to actually eat the thing, on Thanksgiving though.  It just sat there taunting me as people kept complimenting me on how "good" my cake was...Yeah, whatever, thank Betty, not me.... High:  We vegged out watching TV Land, Animal Planet, & History Channel w/AJ, and he actually enjoyed all the oldy type shows, like Bonanza, Sanford & Son, Andy Griffith, etc... Since we don't have TV this was truly a treat for him, and with it being narrowed down to those being the "acceptable channels"  he even felt like he had a bit of a choice in what to watch,  and he enjoyed "choosing" to watch some very educational shows. Low:  It was confirmed to us that even w/unlimited TV watching being available, one will never be satisfied.  He would stay glued to that thing for hours and still have a touch of aggravation w/us when asked to turn it off.  Oh well, it was good while it lasted... Low:  My aunt who is known for her Black Friday, doorbuster, shop-til-u-drop, sun up to sun down extravaganza's, and doesn't take no for an answer, recruited me this year as her shopping companion. High:  She decided to go at midnight this year since the local malls were opening then, and also declared that she was only looking for a particular thing and didn't want to be out forever.  She was true to her word!  We even took the kids w/us (her daughter and my son) and were back home by 2:30am.  It really wasn't bad, and I actually enjoyed spending the time w/her. High:  I finally got to meet my brother's girlfriend, and I really like her (we actually even look alike, lol)! Low:  I wish he'd come to his senses and marry the woman! High:  I did all my laundry at the hotel, so that I wasn't overwhelmed when we got back home. Low:  Unpacking still stinks, no matter how you slice it. High:  My SIL offered to keep our dog for us the entire time we were gone (a little over a week) Low:  She secretly despises the dog, and called us daily asking when we were coming to get her.  And she (the dog) was infested with fleas when we finally did pick her up. High:  We also had a neighborhood boy watch our chickens for us while away. Low:  They appeared to be starving when we got back, like no one had checked on them in days, and they haven't laid an egg since we've been home...(7 hens, no eggs in the last 2 days) High:  We caught a red eye flight home (1am-9am), so that we were able to enjoy every last minute of our trip, and sleep on the plane. Low:  The sleep thing never happened, a poor lady had her screaming baby 1 row in front of us.  I felt more sorry for the mom, and how embarrassed she seemed, than I was for myself not getting any sleep.  (BTW remind me if I ever have a baby, DO NOT FLY, lol) .  Sooo, we got home about 11am and slept til 5-6pm.... Well, that just about sums it up.  We had a great time, and truly enjoyed seeing so much family.  It was kinda sad leaving again after being able to spend so much time w/my brother, especially.   But, I'm praying I'll get to go back again soon for his wedding (*fingers crossed*).  I'll just leave you all w/a pic my hubby took from my bro's apartment of the brightest rainbow, ever. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/749766/ Fri, 4 Dec 2009 11:30:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/749766/ I received comment from another post, about kids earning money, and teaching them how to spend it properly.  The commenter had some good points.  She brought up the fact of how fatal it would be to let a child earn large sums of $ and be allowed to spend it however they see fit.  I would definitely agree with this, especially if the child has not been taught how to manage their money properly.  I thought that I'd share a general idea of how we handle this situation (w/a child who often makes larger sums than many kids his age), in hopes that maybe some of you ladies will chip in and give more ideas as well. Before AJ started making extra money from his current yard work ventures, we (meaning my hubby, lol) paid him an allowance.  I know many families differ in how this is handled, many choosing to not give allowances at all.  Because of this, I'll go into additional detail about what I mean about "allowance."  In our household, each member is considered part of the family community.  As a part of this community, we all have certain responsibilities that must be handled, and we all share the privileges that come along w/those responsibilities.  These privileges include food, shelter, and clothing, to name a few.  They also include some perks, i.e. a share in the family finances.   Just as in the stock market, this share is subject to change, and can raise or drop drastically.  Sometimes it is nothing (as it has been as of late), sometimes it can be a couple of bucks ($1-2 when he was younger), sometimes $5-10 ($5 in more recent years, $10 say, Daddy gets a bonus of some sort).  This $ is not guaranteed if it does not exist.  This money does not determine whether or not chores are done, chores are a responsibility, allowance is a perk.  The two are not interchangeable.  One cannot say, "since I'm not getting allowance this week, I'm not doing my responsibilities."  Not an option.  These rules apply to Mom as well (though the amounts will differ a bit more, but not always, lol)  Sometimes Mom/AJ will go weeks/months w/o any allowance, but we rest assured knowing that this is a family time of dry pockets, not just an individual's. With that out of the way, I'll say how exactly he is expected to behave w/said money (whether from $5 allowance, or $30 from yard work job).  First and foremost is tithes.  AJ has known from the time he rec'd his first allowance (around 6-7yrs old) what tithes was and how to calculate 10%.   Second is savings (usually another 10-20% depending on the amt, but minimum 10%).  AJ has two containers (old coffee cans) that have designated uses for these two purposes.   My parents engraved it on my heart at a very young age to always pay God first, and I truly thank them for the fact that it became second nature, and I see the same trait in my son.  My husband and I both worked from very young ages, and learned to pay our way in life out of necessity.  Because of this, we do believe in allowing him to spend some $ on himself, as long as it is spent wisely.  So after tithes, savings, and any "bills" (library fines, repayments of "loans" from mom/dad, etc) are paid, he then places the rest of his $ in the "bank" (mom's wallet, usually) for safe keeping, save a few bucks that he'll place in his own wallet for the occasional splurge (the random piece of candy/ bag of chips in the grocery aisle).  With the $ that is put in the "bank", he gets to decide how to use it.  This sounds like it could be fatal, but in actuality it is not.  He has watched us closely in our own spending over the years, and mirrors our habits almost identically.  He puts much thought into each purchase,  looks at multiple stores, does price comparisons, gives himself time to think on it (sometimes hours, sometimes weeks/months), asks us for advice on his final decision (do you think that this is a wise choice for me to spend my $ on?), and then, finally makes (or doesn't make) the purchase.  With so much care being put into each decision.  If he decides to purchase the item, we do allow it.    Of course, just like many adults, he has felt the sting of impulse buys, the regret/forgetfulness of letting a really good deal/sale pass you by, or of purchasing something purely for looks w/o considering quality, and buyer's remorse.   But, these are few and far between.  More often than not, the purchases (and the process) bring about more of an educational opportunity than any book ever could. Case in point:  Last year, AJ had been eyeing a particular Lego Set in his monthly Lego catalogue.  Month after month, the new catalogue would come in, and there it would be, taunting him.  Because the set was pretty pricey (around $100), he kept saving and saving, and asking us if we thought it was worth it.  We did not, lol.  But as the months went by, the desire for the set did not die.  He searched local stores (Target, Walmart, Ross, etc.), and online (Ebay & Amazon, etc) for a better price, and there was none to be had.  No matter how he sliced it, it was gonna be a whopper of a purchase, if he decided to get it.  Eventually all talk of the set ceased.  He'd decided that it was just too much $.  Well, one day in November, while in Walmart,  AJ wandered through the toy section as my hubby and I chatted away.  AJ came running up to us in a frenzy w/some slurred talk of Legos.  As my eyes began to glaze over (this frenzy slurring is commonplace when the child sees all things Lego)  my hubby actually made out a few of the words that AJ was saying.   I heard DH say, "Are you sure?. "  I came back to earth and asked what was going on, and told AJ to slow down and speak clearly.  He told me that the Lego set he'd wanted a few months ago was on sale that day for $50.  Because we'd checked @ Walmart before, my hubby couldn't believe it.  So he went to check it out for himself.  Sure enough, there it was...and that got my husband to thinking... AJ only had about $30 saved up in the "bank."  He needed a loan, to take advantage of the purchase.  So we came home that night, DH and AJ hopped straight on the computer to check one last time the prices at Ebay, etc. to confirm that it was the exact same set.  It was, and the prices online hadn't dropped.   They ran back up to Walmart (its right around the corner) and purchased two.  DH told AJ that he'd be willing to invest w/him and split the profits, if he put one of them on Ebay.  AJ listed the set, and it sold by the end of the week for $90.  He was able to pay Daddy back his investment ($70), and keep his portion of the profits ($10 - half of what was left).  This gave him a Lego set for only $20.  But they didn't stop there,  Daddy offered to take part of his original investment,  and put it towards another one, if AJ was willing to do it again (meaning he'd be parting w/the $10 he'd just made).  After much deliberation, AJ decided that instead of spending more $, he would part w/the other set in hopes of a higher profit.  Seeing that he'd already paid Daddy back his investment $, this would make this entire transaction AJ's (since he was essentially selling his own stuff).  He listed it and it sold for $95. He now had all of his money back, plus an additional $45 profit.  Now, he just prayed that he'd be able to find that set again at Walmart for that price.  He did.  To make this super long story a bit shorter, I'll just tell you that he reinvested again a couple more x's, and ended up selling 3 more (for a total of 5) sets on Ebay, which all sold for $75-95 each, before the price went back up to normal @ Walmart.  Oh, and he did get one for himself as well (at the sale price) .   So in just a few weeks time, he'd made around $200 in profits and rec'd the item he pondered on almost all year.  With the $ he earned, he payed tithes, savings, put some $ in his E-trade acct, bought gifts for his young aunts/uncles (my siblings), and still had plenty to spare.    How's that for a math lesson? So this is all to say that although he often handles large sums of $ at a time, he is learning how to NOT be a frivolous spender.  The above example is pretty typical of how most of his purchases go, being great or small.  As I said he may sometimes run into issues due to bad money management, and sometimes does not like when we suggest that something may not be a wise investment, but he truly respects our opinion and wisdom on the matter (most of the time, lol).  And more often than not, the Lord blesses his finances due to his stewardship over it.  We pray that these experiences will help him when he steps out into the world to become a steward over his own family's finances. I'd love to hear how others tackle the issues of teaching children to handle $.  I'm always looking for ways to teach him to teach him better money management skills.. How do you help your kids deal w/money?  Do you give allowances?  Are they allowed to spend everything they get, or do you just put it away for safe keeping?    http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/746799/ Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:08:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/746799/ Participating this week in The Homemakers Haven Challenge, sponsored by Stephanie over at A High and Noble Calling. 1) Begin Your day in God’s Word I've been "love dare-ing" my hubby this month.  So in addition to my regular Bible reading, I'm also trying to read a chapter of the "Love Dare" book each morning.  We pray together as a family before hubby heads out the door. 2) Complete Your Morning Routine wake up (the hardest part, lol) get coffee ground and brewing get breakfast on the table (read Bible while brkfst bakes/cooks) wake hubby and son eat breakfast pray w/family get hubby out the door, on time (w/lunch and coffee) get breakfast dishes in dishwasher and run it mom's coffee/Bible time (if didn't have it earlier) check email, read blogs, etc (basically the quiet before the storm of the day begins) 3) Have A Plan This weeks to do list: 1. Plan menu, make grocery list, & shop 2. Workout 4-5 days (Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, & possibly Fri) 3. Clean master bathroom 4. Make bread for hubby's lunches 5. Make yogurt 6. Dust chickens for mites and apply balm to their legs (yea, weird, but needs to be done, lol) 7. Begin cleaning and packing clothes for trip to Phx 8.  Find a chicken sitter for while we're away. 9. Vacuum house 4) What’s For Dinner? this weeks menu (attempting to keep it as simple and frugal as possible with us needing all extra $ for our coming trip): Mon B~ Kashi Go Lean Cereal & Zucchini muffins (leftover from last wk) D~ Spicy Crockpot Black-eyed peas, rice and cornbread Tues B~ Malt-o-meal D~Spaghetti, homemade french bread Wed B~Egg Burritos D~Fish patties, rice & veggies Thurs B~Baked oatmeal D~Homemade Pizza Fri B~Egg biscuits D~ TBD, probably eat out Sat - leftovers from wk Sun - Hubby cooks 5) Complete a Project! This week my projects are: 1. Sort and Store Summer/Winter Clothing 2. Finish cleaning yard from last weeks nor'easter 3. Weed garden and mulch unused sections and around fall crops 4.  Re-pot dwarf apple trees while dormant, and plant pecan tree in ground http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/745335/ Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:19:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/745335/ When we got our fencing for the chicken pen, we got it super cheap  because it was flawed.  DH didn't mind becasue he figured, he'd just patch up any loose boards and holes, and it be worth it for the price (we got it all for $10!)  Well, some places have just been "temporarily patched", and the other day AJ was out working on the fence again (this was before he made the gate latch, as you'll see the infamous yellow door stop, lol), and had removed some of the coverings (large tiles that were placed along the bottom of the fence and such) that had been over a couple of the holes, and lo and behold, one little hen was quick to discover this flaw in the system.  AJ caught her on film, and showed this to us at dinner, so I thought I'd share... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/743254/ Sun, 8 Nov 2009 09:08:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/743254/ Quite a few of our family members (from different states) got together this year, and decided that it would be nice if we could all spend Thanksgiving together.  My brother and I had been contemplating meeting up in TX to see my parents and younger siblings anyway, so this sounded like a good idea to us.  Since we're all pretty spread out, we had to decide on a central location, which ended up being AZ.  Not very central to us over here on the East Coast, but it works for everyone else who lives in CA, AZ, and TX, so alas, we were outnumbered, lol. (Plus my grandparents are in AZ, and they obviously had dibs on who gets to NOT travel, know what I mean?)  None of us are exactly raking in the dough during these tough times in our economy, so this has taken some advanced planning to try to make it work.  My aunt started sending out the list for what dishes to bring around the first week of Oct., even though the majority of us hadn't even made travel arrangements just yet.   We all agreed though, that it is imperative that we at least make this effort to see my grandparents (as we haven't been to visit for quite some time, and our beloved "Papa" is getting along in years...) For us, it has been touch and go, as to whether we'd actually be able to make it or not.  But hubby sat us down and explained that if this trip were gonna happen, it would take the work of us all..  So, we've all been chipping in and doing our part to raise/save $ for this family trip.  Since this is a slower time of year for DH's business (construction), he's trying to prep ahead of time by working extra hours, and as much as possible to be prepared (often after Thanksgiving, he goes w/o work almost until the new year) for when we get back.  In addition to this, I've reduced our grocery budget down to almost nothing, trying to use our available resources instead (thank God we are still getting a harvest from our garden, and the chickens have not stopped for their fall/winter break from laying, yet.)  I've also been selling  quite a few things on Ebay and  Craigslist, and have been able to get a bit of money saved up. But, I would have to say that the absolute STAR OF THE SHOW, has been AJ!  He took our little family talk to heart, and has taken it upon himself to attempt to single-handedly raise enough $ to go.  I'm not sure if the prospect of seeing his former "siblings" (teenage aunts/uncle that lived w/him as siblings for 2 yrs - actually my siblings, lol) and all of our family has been his motivation, or if it was a spin off of our family book study "Created for Work" (AWESOME book for ages 12+ on which I'll do another post on this book w/a review).  I'm assuming that it's both.   After reading this book together (and we still haven't finished), and hearing of our plight of lack of $ to go on this trip, AJ decided to create a "landscaping" business.  He has been maintaining the lawns (cutting, weed-eating, raking, sweeping driveways/in front of curbs, etc) of our neighbors for $20-30/yard.  He has taken this job very seriously, purchasing his own gas for the mower, line for the weed-eater, bags for raking, and has checked out several lawn mower repair books from the library in order to provide maintenance to the (3) lawnmowers that we have.    The Lord has been truly blessing him in his efforts because it seems like each week, another neighbor will stop him (upon seeing him work on someone's yard) and give him more work.   I would daresay the child has earned enough to pay for his own ticket AZ!  (Although, he doesn't realize that Daddy's planning on purchasing the tickets and allowing AJ to keep his $ for spending cash and such while on our trip. )  He's worked so hard, and we are so proud of him, and the example that he's setting for homeschoolers to our neighbors.   We know that many family's are caught in a dilemma over whether or not to relay to their children how the economy is affecting them.  We sometimes feel like we don't want them to worry their young little hearts over such adult matters.  But, we also don't want to sugar coat the world so that our children grow up unaware of tough times that may lie ahead.  We have decided that we will allow our son to share in the good times as well as the bad.  So that not only will he understand how the world really works, but also be able to find joy in all circumstances.  (Being able to fully understand what Paul meant in Phil 4:11-13).  We're happy that he's learning that the family is a community, in which we must all do our part to make work.  He truly feels valuable as a part of the family unit, and sees that when the time comes, he will be "just like Daddy" in doing what it takes to get out, and  try his best to keep his family afloat, even in the toughest of economies. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/743239/ Mon, 9 Nov 2009 07:39:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/743239/ The other day, while getting showered and ready for the day, I heard some banging noises.  This is actually not unusual, because the older gentleman that lives next door, is often hammering at one thing or another daily (he breaks down metal to sell or something).  However, as I came out of the bedroom and into my kitchen, I noticed that the noises sounded a little closer than usual.  I had the windows open on the backside of the house (where the chicken coop is) and it sounded as if the banging and screeching (at this point) sounds were coming from right outside of the window!  Concerned, I went over to the window, while at the same time calling AJ's name to see if he was anywhere out there and could check on the girls for me, and investigate the source of the racket.  Then he answered, and told me that HE was the source of the racket ... All of those "motherly" thoughts began to run through my head of "oh my goodness, what is that child breaking now?" and "ugh! let me go out here and see what the damage is this time", etc...  So, I throw on my outside adornments, gave myself a pep talk of how I'd try not to yell, and even grabbed the camera (mainly to have proof of what happens when an only child is left to his own devices for only a few moments, but saying out loud, that I may as well take some pics of the fall crops coming in).   So I take a deep breath, round the corner (slowly, like a stealth ninja), and I see this... He took it upon himself to build a latch for the chicken pen, "because Daddy hadn't gotten around to it", and he was "concerned about their safety".   Here's a pic of it before (yes, that tiny little yellow thing at the foot of the gate is what we've used for the last 3 mos to "secure" the gate, lol - it only gave us security, NOT the chickens!) (and yes, that's a chicken on the OUTSIDE of the pen ): And after: I must say he did a darn good job too, but man I felt lousy for all the thoughts that ran through my head!   I was however, one proud momma!  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/740268/ Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:17:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/740268/ Soooooooooo, one of our biggest fears became a reality this  past Friday, and put a damper on our weekend.  My suspicions were confirmed after many weeks of wondering and waiting (for eggs!), when we found out that my hubby's beloved little "hen", Nugget, is a rooster!!!   So the clock is ticking as we scramble to find a place for that little guy, that is as FAR away from our home as possible.  If there is any steadfast rules we Suburban Homesteaders agree on its NO ROOSTERS!!  He has not gotten his manly voice completely,  yet, so they are just half-hearted "wannabe" crows (hey, maybe he does belong here w/the wannabe, lol), but believe me it is just a matter of days before it becomes the real thing.  An anyone that really knows about chickens know that roosters do not just crow at the break of day, and that's it.  Oh no!  They crow ALL DAY LONG!!!  And that's what he spends all day doing now, practicing for his big crowing debut.  Oh, man.  I don't think the State Trooper next door, will be too happy on that day.....     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/733328/ Mon, 5 Oct 2009 08:45:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/virtuestrength/733328/