New Life on the Farm

Recently our daddy brought home something really exciting. New baby chicks!!! We tried very hard to raise chickens last year, but sadly all our best efforts failed. Our poor chicks kept disappearing. We think between maybe the cat and a raccoon we know what happened. This year we are hoping for better results. As far as we know we have them safely concealed in a large dog house. My vision is to produce our own farm fresh eggs, but we will see............

Getting READY!

Psalms 104:14
You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth



It is that time again.....spring is in the air! The children and I made a big trip to town today. We went to Sam's to buy some raised/box garden beds. Wouldn't you KNOW it started raining while we were shopping and we did not have an umbrella. :( Let me just tell you that is not a good scenario when your Sam's cart is loaded and five children are with you. I was so thankful for the sweet lady at the door who called some help for me. A nice guy came and stood with my three older children at the door while I pulled the van up front. Then he helped me to load up the van. Times like that really make you thankful for help! After that we dropped off some things at a donation drop off and then headed to the garden center. We were able to buy some flowers and some garden vegetable plants. They still do not have everything in stock but we got a start. We also came home with eighteen bags of dirt in our van. I could feel the weight of the loaded down van as I drove home. The children helped me drag the bags of dirt out of the van and found creative ways of getting the bags where we wanted them. They used the red wagon (ONE OF THE BEST PURCHASES WE HAVE EVER MADE!!!) and the Barbie jeep to get the bags around. Lauren even propped up bags on the seat of a tricycle and pushed them. It was fun to see them so excited and working hard as a family team. We are all excited to get some things planted!!!

A Bitter Sweet Goodbye

Our family has had the joy of watching a litter of baby kitties grow up. Our cat, Luv, delivered them in our attic garage where they lived until they were several weeks old. She did not want us bringing them down. We would try and she would pick them up and start putting them back. She was not a happy Mama when we moved her kitties.
Then the day came when we tried again and she was o.k. with it. She just wanted us to keep them in the garage, but they did not have to be hidden in the attic. The fun really began at this point when we all started spending lots of time watching them move around and get more and more adventurous and playful.
Eventually Luv decided that we could carry them out of the garage as long as they stayed close by. Also, I have noticed that she has spent less and less time hovering over them. As a mother it has been interesting to see her gradually release her hold on these little kitties. It made me think about parenting and how I am in the process of training my children and very gradually loosening my hold on them. The goal is to launch them out one day to do great things for God's kingdom. It has been interesting to see how that our cat has had this instinct to discern when the right timing is for releasing her kitties. I have to admit that I do not trust my own instincts about when to let go of my children. In fact I know I would like to hold onto them forever. I am thankful, however, that I do not have to rely on my own instincts, because I know I could be wrong. I am thankful for God's Holy Spirit and that I can boldly come to the throne of grace and find mercy in time of need. When I do not know what to do in parenting, which is most of the time, I can ask my Father in heaven and He will guide me each step of the way.
Well, today is a bitter sweet day for us. The children and I have been praying every morning for good homes for these kitties. We are thankful that the Lord has heard our prayer and that some of them are going to be picked up by some friends in our church later this evening. We have decided to keep the light colored one and are naming her Peaches and Cream. It will be sad to see this precious little family split apart, but we are very thankful that some of them are now going to have a good home. God answers prayer.

Growing Chickens

One of my young man's evening chores is to feed and water the chickens. As stated in an earlier post we originally had four baby chicks, but two of them became dinner for our cat. Since that time our Daddy replaced the two we lost thus we have a size difference between our four chickens. The original two are getting really big, and the newer two are growing fast. We will be glad when they can permanently live in the chicken pen and not in the garage anymore. We will be really glad when we start getting farm fresh eggs. :)

A Sad Story

Our Daddy brought home some baby chicks a few weeks back, and the children were ecstatic! There were four, so Lauren, Gabriel, Annagrace, and Abbie Joy quickly claimed and named one to be their very own. We have been carefully nurturing these little fluff balls and watching them grow. It has been a big priority to make sure they were carefully kept out of the reach of the cat. Unfortunately, we do not know how, the barrier separating the cat from the chicks was moved a bit allowing just enough room for the cat to get into the chick's lodging space. Much to our grief two of the chicks are no more. Our sweet cat made dinner out of Lauren and Annagrace's chicks. Let me suffice it to say that there were many tears at our house last Saturday. On a happier note, our Daddy is planning to get new chicks when they become available at the feed store again. Hopefully that will be Wednesday morning.