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The wonderful life the Lord Jesus has blessed us with
Jun. 15, 2009
A Garden Moment: Part 2
With things so a-buzz around here I can hardly find the time to post! I have been wanting to write up another garden moment post and so, finally, I am able. This will be brief because at any moment Little Man might start bellowing for me! LOL. I think I will just post some pictures and captions (for the pics). Enjoy!
Here's "Sissy" planting a tomato plant in the "square foot garden" area.
Rows of lettuce, onions (from seed), and spinach in plot #1, the "single row" area.
 Plot #2, this is our "wide row" area. You can see the green beans and onions (from sets) and way in the back two rolls of peas.  Pappy, the boys and a neighbor friend pick peas from Plot #2. 
Pappy and the boys mounding the dirt up on the potatoes.
 One of the boys took this picture of a beautiful looking head of romaine lettuce, one of hundreds in our garden LOL. We have so many neat pictures, I hope to share more in the weeks to come. The Most High has truly blessed our efforts thus far and we thank and praise Him! |
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Jun. 14, 2009
Nature's Candy
I've been trying to find a bit of time for updates. The garden is in full swing. We've harvested LOTS! I can't write up a total update today, but I just had to find the time to post these precious pictures of "Missy" eating nature's candy. You see, we all have the good habit of wondering out in to the garden, plucking what's good to eat and chowing down LOL.
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May. 22, 2009
Can I still do it???
May. 5, 2009
A Garden Moment: Part 1
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might. Ecclesiastes 9:10
That is our intention this gardening season! For all you avid gardeners, avid gardener wannabees (20 hands raised over here LOL) or folks that just like to look at other folks' gardens... we have some pictures of our garden from the beginning of the season. Mind you, it doesn't look like this right now. We have food up now! We'll try to post more garden moments through out the spring and summer... however those who know our track record when it comes to posting to this blog will probably not be holding their breath! LOL!
Anyway, on to the pictures! 
You can only see about 1/3 of the area here. We have lettuce, spinach, beets (both regular and sugar), radishes, carrots, onions, and sugar snap peas planted here. Lord willing, green beans will be planted here as well in a couple of weeks. 
Here we have planted shell peas, spinach, onions, lima beans, carrots, and lentils. Again, Lord willing, this area will be home to more green beans.
Lettuce, onions, green beans and zucchini make it's home here. 
A couple of the children's square foot gardens. Not exactly sure what all they have planted in them. Guess we'll see as the season progresses! 
Behind our childrens' sand box is the potato and corn patch. Btw the sand box is between the first garden area that we posted and the potato and corn patch. It's very nice to have an area for the little ones to play in after they help a bit in the garden. 
One of our compost areas, in the background you can see another angle of the potato and corn patch. And if you look way out past the potato / corn patch you can see the chicken's coop. There are about 6 other areas that are not shown. We will try to get more pictures and post them as the spring and summer progresses. So far, things are looking good, we are praying that the Lord will send the sun and rain in the amounts needed and bless our efforts. If you are a gardener and you have pictures of your garden, big or small, please leave us a comment with a link to your blog so we can check it out! |
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Apr. 22, 2009
REcyCOOP REvisited
Pappy and the boys just finished our new (and improved) RecyCOOP. We decided to take the old one down in order to expand our garden in that area. The area looks much nicer and the coop is a much nicer coop too. The only things new on this coop are the screws! LOL
Sorry, no pictures of the construction of the coop... our camera was out of batteries. 
Pappy and the boys salvaging wood from a barn close to our neck of the woods that was torn down. This wood serves as the outer walls, while pallets serve as the frame of the building.
Nice large fenced area for the chickens to range.
This smaller area is fully fenced to protect our girls from hawks, a sly fox or other animals who might think them a tasty treat.
Sissy, showing everyone how the dutch doors work.
The girls' boxes are built from some old book cases we no longer needed...they were just the right size!
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Apr. 11, 2009
We're back...and with great news!!!
John 16:21
A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
I woke up at 5:30 yesterday morning with a hard contraction that I thought was just me needing to move my bowels. I went to the restroom, but I couldn't seem to move them. While sitting in the restroom, I started having regular contractions about 5 mins or so apart and fairly strong. Dh gets up at 6 to get ready for work, so I was thinking "I wish my water would break or something so that I'll know for sure if he should stay home." Well, my water didn't break, but the contractions did get VERY strong... I knew it was time.
I ran some water in the bath and got in to try to slow the contractions and bring me some relief. All the while praying and praying that the Lord would be with me during this time of travail.
Dh got up at 6, I got out of the water and I said "Honey what did you want to do. Home or Hospital? If we are going to the hospital we need to leave within the next 3 mins." Dh started getting out the directions to the hospital, but at the same time he was getting out supplies so that we could stay at home LOL. I urged him to make up his mind because the hospital is almost 30 mins. away and I didn't want to be in the van with TOO strong of contractions (but honestly they were already TOO STRONG). Dh took his supplies downstairs to sterilize them (clamps and scissors). My contractions started getting REALLY strong, so I took some Arnica, got back into the water and began to pray for mercy, for the Lord's grace to be able to relax and let the contractions do their work.
Dh came up to check on me. I hadn't had a contraction in what seemed like a long time, so I started to think maybe we could make it to the hospital if he wanted to go and that's what I told him. He didn't say anything, so I figured that he was deciding that we weren't going. He went back downstairs to check on his supplies and that's when my contractions started back up again, but this time I was pushy. With the next pushy contraction, I started to go with it, I let my body do it's thing. Baby started to crown (which I really was not expecting). I called dh, but he didn't hear me. By now some of our children were woke so they let him know that I needed him. Baby's head was almost out during that second contraction. I waited a couple of seconds and another contraction brought out the rest of baby's head and body. Dh walked in the bathroom just as I was pulling baby up out of the water. All was well praise the Lord. My little midwife came in (my 7 yr old daughter... she wanted to help so badly, it was all she kept talking about towards the end of this pregnancy) and brought me some ice water and more Arnica. I announced "It's a boy" and everyone was happy. After a bit, dh clamped and cut the cord and a little later I delivered the placenta. Dh cleaned everything up (which was easy since everything was in the tub).
I got cleaned up and went to lay down with baby. I started having bad afterbirth pains so I called my midwife. I told her that I had my baby and she said "Where did you have him????" I let her know that I had him at home. She then asked me if I planned on coming to the hospital. I didn't want to say no (although dh already told me that he really didn't have any intentions on us going unless there was a problem) so I just said "What do you suggest that I do?" She was really good about it. She advised me to do whatever I was comfortable with. If I wanted to come in, come in, if I wanted to stay home, that was fine too. She was really nice and we chatted a bit before I got to the real reason that I was calling. I wanted some pain meds for the afterbirth pain I was having. I had already tried Tylenol and that wasn't touching it. The pains were worse then the pain during labor! She said "No problem, I'll call in a prescription for Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen to your pharmacy" She also reassured me that it would be fine to take them since not very much passes through to baby through my breastmilk. Other then the afterbirth pains (which are so bad that I can still feel them a bit every once in a while DESPITE the pain meds.) I feel pretty good. I'm not swollen where baby came out in the least, not even tender. Bleedings good. No more heartburn.  I'm truly thankful!
Baby weighed 10.8 and from start to finish, labor was an hour (5:30 - 6:30). To all those who prayed for me, thank you so much! Please continue to pray that my recovery will be a speedy one!
 My little midwife and her 6th brother |
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Aug. 15, 2008
Checking in briefly
Wow, how terrible I am to my blog. I'm sorry I just don't seem to make the time for it. We have been really busy this summer and honestly my blog is down low on the list of "Things to get done". I figure once it starts getting colder, then I'll have more time for this.
Jfamily highlights:
- Got milking goats in April, 7 of them to be exact... they are doing well
- Caught 2 med. sized swarms and combined them into one hive
- Butchered 22 chickens this summer so far
- LESSONS, LESSONS and more LESSONS... we "school" year round
- Had 1 niece, 2 nephews and a little cousin stay a week with us
- Garden did horrid thanks to the goats... we had to replant in a WHOLE different area. The corn did fairly well though.
- JMaMa crashed the newer computer a couple of weeks ago trying to fix it.... so sorry, no fun pictures :(
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I hope all that read our blog are well! The Lord's blessings on you all! |
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Apr. 8, 2008
Getting Busy on Spring Days
"RecyCOOP"
Here's our "state of the art" chick coop made almost strictly from recycled pallets. We try to save money anywhere we can (a penny saved, is a penny earned, right  ) and a good way to save is to use recycled materials when possible. Estimated cost of coop: 2.00 (for screws and nails) The coop has two sides. One side for our Rhode Island Reds (5), Barred Rocks (5), Buff Orpingtons (6), Red Sex-links (5), and Americaunas (16) and the other side for the Cornish Rock broilers that we will butcher in about 4 weeks. The reason the Cornish Rock broilers have to have a separate side is because they have a special feeding schedule due to their rapid weight gain in a short amount of time. They are not allowed feed for 12 hours each day so they won't gain toooo much weight toooo fast. If they were to gain too quickly, they would be at risk for heart attacks.
"Need the oil changed on the ol' bus??? Get the 10 year old to do it!"
Pappy announced to the boys that it was time for one of them to change the oil. He was actually talking to the older boys, but Son3 was the one that started gathering all the needed items. He wanted to do it by himself. He's done it before with Pappy's help and he was sure that he could do it by himself. Sure, why not? Pappy had him tell him each step just before he went to it, so he basically did it all by himself. He did a great job! Praise the Lord. It is such a blessing to see my young men growing up.
 
"Our 20.00 solution"
In order to save space, Pappy, Son2, Son3 and I built this really nice loft bed for Big Sis to go over Baby Girls' bed. We opted to use new wood because it looks nicer, it's easier to work with for this type of project and it was still inexpensive. We estimate this project to have cost about 20.00, athough we only actually spent about 12.00 because we already had some of the materials that we needed to make this job a smashing success. Big Sis just loves her new loft bed!
"Mulching the garden"
We were praying that the Lord would provide us with plenty of hay or straw this season for mulching and that he did! We are truly thankful for this wonderful gift!
"Son3's Squarefoot/No Work organic garden"
Son 3 has been re-reading both Square Foot gardening (SFG) and the No Work Organic Garden (NWOG) in his spare time. He decided to try to plant a couple of things early using the advise he read in the NWOG book. He planted seedlings (beans, I think) that he germinated inside a couple of weeks ago and mulched them well. We'll see how his little experiment turns out. He also intends to use some of the techniques he learned from SFG a couple of years back, namely, close space growing.
Well, that's all for now! Love to you all in the name of Jesus! 
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Apr. 3, 2008
Quick update
 The chicks are doing well, the dogs were captured (long story) and now they are all back home safe and sound (I'll try to post about what happened to them next time), the goat search is on, the garden is waiting....
And that's just the stuff outside! LOL...
Inside, we have been working to switch many rooms around to best serve our needs, there was MUCH work to do in this area, lessons are coming along, laundry is behind... I think the house will be in order by the end of this week (at least I *hope* it is!!! )
Pappy's business is being blessed. He currently has two contracts that pay well. Still praying about doing the farmers market as well. 
more to come... |
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Mar. 25, 2008
CONTEST
| Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE!
This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian.
This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking. Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included! For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports.
To win this most excellent program -- in the language of your choice -- copy these (blue) paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post -- then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page HERE: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/ and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it. And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it. The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg. And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances to win. Yay for free stuff! |
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Mar. 24, 2008
Spring is HERE!
Ah Spring, how I love Spring,
the flowers are blooming and the birds, they do sing.
The air is now warmer and the chill chased away,
now all my little ones may run out to play.
The dirt is not frozen nor yet full of weeds
Easy to prepare our garden for seeds.
Spring, what a blessing the Lord has blessed
After the cold frozen winter's rest
Tis time to start working outside to prepare,
for the rest of our "blessed of the Lord"... year.
We are so excited that Spring is finally here! We got some more of our square-foot garden (SQG)plank made today after Pappy and Son 1 came home from work. By the way, for those who like contests, Mel (the author of SFG) has been holding a contest for public, private and the home educated. The last couple of years it has been won by homeschooling families (what else is new). I guess they caught wind of it... and that was that. I almost feel sorry for the pubic educator who tries to enter his/her class in this contest. I mean, it's against all odds for them to win. They only have what, 45 mins a day (give or take some minutes), 5 days a week (providing there is no holiday) to concentrate on this project. I almost seems unfair for homeschoolers to be allowed to enter... BUT of course it's fair! Is it our fault that we have more time to devote to projects like these??? ANYWAY, if you are going to enter the contest, you'd better mosey on over to Mel's site because the deadline for reg. is April 25th. Follow the link above for full details. Here's some SFG photos:
 
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Mar. 24, 2008
Push the "Save As Draft" button
Have you ever written a great post only to have the whole thing erased because you failed to save it and by some glitch of some sort the screen goes away??? What was one of the first things you were taught when it comes to using a computer or a word processor with a computer like brain??? Was it not to be SURE to save your work from time to time??? (Pushing the save button now) Ah, that was so easy and painless, it only took a couple of seconds! Now the first portion of this entry can never be erased! (Pushing the save button now).
I tell you, you would have thought that I would have learned my lesson by now. I myself am always chiding the children "don't forget to save your work, it would be terrible if it were all to be erased now, after all the hard work you've done... yada yada yada". WHY would I not save MY own work??? (Pushing the save button now).
I shall attempt to rewrite the post that just got erased, which is why, by the way, you, my friend are now reading a post about "saving one's work". Please, the next time you are blogging or doing any work on your computer or processor, DON'T FORGET TO SAVE YOUR WORK! (Pushing the save button now). |
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Mar. 17, 2008
A break to honor a loved one
Today we took a little break from the busyness of life in order to honor and attend the home going of a dear sister in Christ. I am so sadden by her departure. Not because we were very close, but because I never had the chance to get very close. I didn't get the "years" with her that many of her loved ones got. Even though we were not very close she touched my life and was always a good example to me. I suppose she will continue to be that good example even though she is not here with us physically. I will miss hearing her pray during the prayer time in our meetings. I will miss her smile and greeting. I will miss her asking me how me and my family are. I'll miss seeing her quietly move about serving others. I will miss her.
The home going service was a beautiful one. She was a true "Proverbs 31" woman and as such, her children arose up, and called her blessed; her husband also, and he praised her (vs. 28). May her witness forever remain in the forefront of the minds of those who knew her.
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Mar. 15, 2008
Propagating Plants
  In our efforts to get a jump on this year's growing season we thought it would be neat to experiment a little with propagating by planting cuttings. Over the next week we plan on trying to propagate several organic herbs that we bought from Trader Joe's
We hope to report on our findings as soon as we have success or failure (we are praying for the former). |
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Mar. 14, 2008
Starting Seeds
   We started some seeds today. 36 seeds were planted.
Melon, two types of tomatoes, Cucumbers, Watermelon, and Zucchini. I'm too tired to type any more, plus I just got some very sad news.... I'm going to sleep now.  |
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Mar. 14, 2008
The fun starts now!
Mar. 12, 2008
Granola time!
Our family really likes crunchy granola! I like to make large batches of different kinds. Today, I whipped up many different "flavors". Since I have been making granola for a long time, I don't use a recipe, I just use "about this much of this".
Today I used:
Oats (of course), Vegetable Oil, Raisins, Dried Pineapple, Banana Chips, Walnuts, Almonds, Cranberries, Black Currants, Pumpkin Seeds, Cherries, Sunflowers seeds, Cashews, Cinnamon, Flax Seed, Honey, Maple Syrup, and Brown Sugar (in some batches). I used unsulfured dried fruit (organic when possible) and I try to use raw seeds too (again organic when possible). YUM! |
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Mar. 11, 2008
Some of our seeds have arrived!!
Some of our seeds have finally come! We are planning to begin starting a portion of them beginning tomorrow and then once weekly there after. Here's what Pappy ordered that has arrived so far:
- Blue Lake Bush Beans
- Nantes Carrots
- Nutri-Bud Broccoli
- Sweet Marketmore Cucumber
- Gourmet Blend Lettuce
- Paris Island Romaine Lettuce
- Walla Walla Onions
- Renegade Spinach
- Dark Green Zucchini
- Crimson Sprinter Tomatoes
- Chadwick Cherry Tomatoes
- Roma Tomatoes
- Hales Best Jumbo Melon
- Sugar Baby Watermelon
- True Gold Sweet Corn
The seeds came from Garden's Alive and are all organic. We plan to save seeds this year to avoid having to buy again next year.
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Mar. 10, 2008
Two days in a row!
Well what do you know, two days in a row! :)
What did we do today.... well, let's see, we met with our insurance agent to finalize Pappys' contractors insurance policy. Now we only need to fax all of our paper work to the company he will be sub-contracting for. I suppose I'll do that after I'm finished here. After meeting with the agent, we went to our local grain and seed store to get the chickens some mesh and some chick starter for the chicks that are soon to arrive....
Speaking of chicken, apparently, according to a Dallas newspaper food prices are going up. Chicken is up 10% and eggs 30% compared with the year before, and it's supposed to rise even more due to, you guessed it, gas prices (basically). Feed prices went up as well (over a dollar per 50 lb bag). I'm glad we will, Lord willing, be able to grow much this year!
Okay, back to our day. After picking up the feed, we went to a place that we like to call "Dumpster Dive". Actually, it's the Goodwill Outlet. That's right, those of you who have never heard of this store, there is an even CHEAPER thrift store... who knew? LOL Before we moved here, two and a half years ago, I had never heard of an even thriftier thrift store! LOL Now we have a love/hate relationship with this local money saver. Now, why would we hate a thrift store, you may wonder. Well, if you remember the first sentence of this paragraph, you will remember that we call this gem of a store "Dumpster Dive"... and with reason. It really feels like you are dumpster diving....you know, picking though trash! I wish I had a picture of this place... no wait, better yet, I wish I could show you a video of how this place operates. Especially when they bring out new bins... on second thought, I'm glad I don't have a video to show you all.... it's really kind of scary  ! People "bum-rushing" the bins like they haven't eaten in days and their only meal is located in those bins. Some of the people act like their life depends on finding something good in the bins.... and really to an extent, I guess it does... well, not their LIFE, but their livelihood. I guess many of the "regulars" there buy to resale at a huge profit (ebayers, I'm assuming).
Picture a building full of waist high 8' x 4' bins. There are about 10 rows with between 8 and 16 bins per row. In each large bin there are smaller bins all filled with what I like to call "another man's treasure". It is your job as the shopper to hunt for that treasure. Your reward? A cheap (fill in the blank) . There are also other departments. Clothes, Shoes, Appliances, Electronics etc. This store is very dusty! You can not shop here 5 mins without getting residue on your hands! Smart shoppers wear gloves (I'm serious!). While I don't really care for all the dust, I do care for the DEALS! Here's a quick list of deals we have gotten from this store:
- +100.00 Juice man juicer (with wide mouth), new condition 2.00
- 15.00-20.00 children's workbooks, new condition .29
- 5.00-60.00 adult books, new-good condition .50-1.00
- 20.00-50.00 Little Tykes toys 1.00
- 15.00-30.00 games 1.00 (today we got a game that I ALMOST bought new... only I couldn't find it in any store. Othello... perhaps it's discontinued?)
We've gotten much much more but who has the time to list EVERY good deal they have gotten.... well, I suppose some people do, especially when it is their business to (you know, those frugal websites...).
Okay, see this is why I don't blog everyday... I just remembered... I just love to go off on little rabbit trails. I have probably lost most of my readers by now LOL. Where was I? Insurance agent, chick feed, Dumpster Dive... ah yes, after our trip to the store, we went home to a supper of spaghetti and fresh spinach! I like to throw something in the crock when we are going to be away for most of the day, that way supper is supper easy (and supper delish!).
Now everyone is asleep, save Pappy and I, and we aren't too far behind the rest. I still need to wrap somethings up before I retire, so I'd better end this little blog entry here. Perhaps we will have some pictures to share when the chicks arrive! Goodnight! |
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Mar. 9, 2008
Update: Current Projects
Current Projects are as followed:
- New chick arrival scheduled for 3/15/08- Sixty chicks to arrive! Twenty meat birds for butchering in eight weeks and forty layers for eggs for us and to sell or bless others with.
- Organic seeds to arrive the week of 3/9/08- Seeds will be started immediately to get a jump on the growing season. We hope to participate in our local farmers market, though we are not certain that we will.
- We are planning to close space grow this year so we want to make walk ways out of wood pallets that we have. This will keep weeds down and help remind the little ones not to step in our growing space.
- Articles, Stories and assignments due 3/15/08 for outreach magazine- Pappy has decided that we should put out a little magazine as encouragement for our loved ones (quarterly). The first issue is to be sent out at the end of March.
- New account for our family home based business is to start the week of 3/9/08- The Lord Jesus has blessed us with a new account for which we are VERY thankful for!
- Bee hives need to be made. We want to catch swarms this year instead of buying. Out of the two swarms we had last year only the one we caught survived the whole summer/fall season. So far they look good (last we checked). We are praying that they survive the winter.
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