I know this might freak some people out but snakes can be wonderful additions to your homestead. In our area there are two types of snakes that are the “good guys” to have around. The California King Snake and the Pacific Gopher Snake. Both are good for hunting mice and gophers but the king snake is my favorite because they also will deter and eat rattlesnakes. Since we also have rattlesnakes in our area, I welcome king snakes on our homestead. In fact, if we find a gopher snake or a king snake on the road somewhere we will catch it and bring it home to our property. Both of these snakes are usually docile. I have never met a mean King snake but I have encountered angry Gopher snakes.

I have always had a love for snakes. Yes, I am that strange girl that always jumped at the chance at holding the snake at the zoo field trip. I am not sure why I like them so much. They are easy pets to take care of and they don’t require much attention.  Growing up I had a gopher snake I named Gilbert. He was a nice snake. He ended up getting lost in our house once. I was so upset. Then my sister found him, caught him and put him back in his cage. It was very daring of her since she did not like snakes. I was so happy but Gilbert wasn’t. He turned mean for some reason. He would strike at me when I went to pick him up. I thought maybe he had gotten a taste of freedom and just didn’t want to be in captivity anymore. My mom and I took little Gilbert to a nice spot in the desert  and let him go. A few weeks later, I find another snake in my house and it was Gilbert! Turns out that snake my sister so bravely picked up wasn’t even my snake…lol. I love that memory. We lived across the street from a vacant field and sometimes critters would get into the house. Maybe Gilbert was really a Juliet and her Romeo was trying to find her .

A few days ago my husband was mowing and nearly ran over this guy.

I am still that strange girl that jumps at the chance at holding snakes. While my husband starred at him from a distance, I grabbed him carefully out the hole he was trying to escape in to. My husband thinks I am strange too. I picked this guy up by the head because even though Gopher snakes are usually docile, I didn’t want to take a chance. A bite from him would have hurt. This is biggest Gopher snake we have seen in our area. A definite keeper for the homestead. I expect he can eat a lot of gophers, mice, squirrels and rabbits.

After taking a few pictures, explaining to our youngest the difference between a gopher snake and a rattle snake (reminding her to never pick up any wild snake because they can still bite) we measured him and let him go on our property. I hope he stays close by.

What are your feelings on helpful predators such as the gopher snake? 

It’s spring and I am so excited! I love spring! I really do. There has been much happening at Fair Weathers Ranch. Gardening season is in full swing. Poppies are starting to bloom and chicks have been hatching. That sure does sound like spring to me.

Tulips in the garden.

The Garden

Garden Area #1 is growing up very nicely. The garlic I planted last fall has proven to be a success. After researching how and when to harvest garlic, I planted for a decent harvest for this year. I also planted some carrot seeds a few weeks back and have onions growing. I have tiny Asparagus shoots coming up from the 12  crowns I planted a few months ago.

I planted a few seeds of German chamomile last year. I let all the flowers go to seed instead of harvesting any. I think just about every seed from that plant is a seedling now. I think I will have a good amount of chamomile this year if I can keep my chickens from eating it all. They love that stuff.

Tomato Seedlings

I have my seeds started indoors. So far I have tomato, broccoli, cabbage, artichoke, tamatilo,  bell pepper and cayenne pepper seedlings growing very nicely. My goal for this fall season is to have lettuce mix growing throughout the winter. I am sick of paying for lettuce. It’s one of the easiest things to grow and I don’t want to pay for it anymore.

Onions and garlic in the snow.

The weather has been changing back and forth. One day we will have sunny summer weather next it will be snowing. Thankfully,there are lots of plants that are not affected by it.

Strawberry plant blooming.

The Farm Critters

"I'm a chicken too!"

My two “baby” LaMancha’s are growing up so fast. They are technically yearlings but we still call them babies. They seem to be taking advantage of my daughter more and more. Their size and the stubbornness is making them hard for her to handle. So I have decided to start working with them to get them ready for showing. Not sure if we will be able to show them this year but I still need to get started on that. They are both very sweet but they ARE goats.  I am probably going to sell my little Kinder. As much as we love her we have too many goats and she is not really producing much milk anymore. With three LaMancha does in milk I will never be out of milk. Unless they are all pregnant at the same time which I hope to work it out so that never happens. I am still getting around two quarts a day from Bo Peep.

The horses are enjoying the little bit of grass to graze they have right now. Our grass season is very short because of the dry climate we have. It would be nice if we could graze them year round but then that would be we would have rain all the time and I really like our sunny California weather .

I recently decided to let the ducks free range. I found out recently that free range duck eggs are more nutritious than chicken eggs. I am not exactly sure why but I think it has to do with the what the ducks forage. The reason I hadn’t let them free range before was because I was worried that they would fly off or roam the neighborhood. After remembering why I chose the Ancona duck, I remembered one of their good traits was that they stay close to home. They seem to be staying on our property and have no interest in flying.

The chickens are chickens and they are everywhere. They follow me everywhere and the poo everywhere. Since we don’t have fencing in our backyard to keep them off the porch there is always little chicken poos all over the place. They wait for me to come outside and feed them some goodies. They look through the french doors to see if I am coming. It’s quite comical but I could do without the little packages they leave for me by the door. We hope to get some kind of fencing up this summer.

Hatching chicken eggs.

To my surprise we successfully hatched out nine chicken eggs. We had gotten such a rough start with the temperature in the beginning I thought for sure we were not going to have any success. The first six chicks hatched looked great and are doing fine. For some reason the last three chicks that hatched all had some kind of defect. I think it has to do with how long it took them to hatch or maybe they already had problems and that’s why it took them so long. I don’t know. Anyway, we had to put down the last chick that hatched because it was in bad shape.  The second to last hatched chick might not make it as well. It’s having a lot of problems with it’s legs. Oh, I guess that’s the way of the farm. I have lost chicks before and it’s always sad.

Mixed breed chicks.

The Healthy Living Journey

Over the past few weeks I have changed my diet a lot. I am dealing with some tooth decay issues that I am trying to resolve naturally. I am currently reading the book, Cure Tooth Decay by Ramiel Nagel. His book follows the research done by West A. Price and other dentists who believed that it is possible to heal tooth decay with nutrition. I am just about finished with the book and it’s fascinating. I have already noticed a difference in my teeth since following the diet recommended in the book. I removed grains and sweets (including most sweet fruits) from my diet. I also added or increased highly nutritious foods like liver, heart, raw milk, duck eggs and butter. The nightly pain I was dealing with before changing my diet is gone. I am so excited! I will keep you updated.

It was a real test for me this past weekend to see how committed I am to healing my teeth through nutrition. I went on a weekend women’s retreat with the ladies at my church. As you can imagine, there were all kinds of sweets and breads. I was able to eat the meats and vegetables so it’s not like I was starving but I should have brought my own snack foods. There were times it was very difficult to resist the food temptations. However, I did resist.

That’s about all I have to share today. There is lots more happenings I could share but I will have to do some other time. How are things going at your homestead? Are you enjoying spring?

This post was originally published in November of 2010. I thought it would be nice to re-post some of my old writings. This idea of being nutrition motivated instead of taste motivated has kept me on the path to better health. I no longer look at food in the same way. I have come a long way since I first wrote this. It has become easier to resist food that I know is not good for me because my desire is to give thanks to God through my food choices. I am now more than ever convinced that our eating habits are more than just a case of the “munchies”. Our eating habits are a direct reflection of how we view God’s provisions. 

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. Genesis 1:29

Why is it that we think of food solely on whether it tastes good or not? We all do it. Maybe not all the time but most of us choose to eat something just because it tastes good but not necessarily good for us. I honestly think it’s the reason for the decline of health in our country to be taste motivated rather than nutrition motivated.
photo credit: mr.bologna

The funny thing is, our tastes change when our bodies are happy. Recently, I had a conversation with a good friend of mine about how I view food now verses how I viewed food a few years ago. Just a few years ago if you would have given me a slice of sprouted bread I would have looked at it and thrown it to the birds because obviously it had birdseed in it. Now I love sprouted bread. Did I loose my taste buds somewhere between then and now?  No, it’s because my body is telling me it’s good for me and now I crave better food. Did I crave better food the first time I eat better food? No, I thought it tasted like bird food and fed it to the birds. But over time, taking small steps toward eating right my body recognized the good food and my mind changed as well as my taste buds.

God created food that is good to eat.

The journey toward healthy living has been a slow process for me. It all started with a idea seed planted in my brain years ago and since then has grown and grown. I know there is still a lot for me to learn but just last year is when I really started thinking about what God’s perspective might be on food.

One thing I know for a fact is that God loves us. His love for us is sacrificial, tender, caring, disciplinary and perfect. God shows us His love through many areas of our lives. No matter what your situation in life is you can always identify God’s love. His love is in the night sky with it’s bright stars or in the sunrise with it’s brilliant colors. His love is in the design of our cells and organs and the mysteries held within the design of our brains. His love is in the food He created for us. photocredit: Elisabeth Voglsam

A perfect creator has designed food to fit our bodies. Why then do we take it and transform it into something that is so far from it’s original form.  I am still as guilty as anyone when it comes to how I eat food but my mind is changing. My mind is saying “Eat food that is closer to the way God designed it and it will be good to eat“.

Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; Genesis 2:9

From the very beginning God setup for us a way to be nourished physically as well as spiritually. Our physical nourishment comes in the form of  nutritious  food.
I am so thankful that God has not only created food for us to eat but that we can enjoy so many different types of food. Have you ever stopped and thought about all the different types of fruits and vegetables there are? So many different colors, shapes and sizes. Let’s not forget the wonderful tastes that comes from these nourishing creations. Then there are the wonderful breads that can be made from a vast number of grains. A caring Father has created good food for us to eat, so let’s thank Him by choosing to eat it. God is truly a loving Father.

I have acquired a new obsession. If you are not a fan of Healthy Homesteading’s facebook page you might not know about it yet. A friend of mine introduced me to a English television series called Tales from the Green Valley. The series is like a reality show and  history show all rolled into one and it’s fascinating.

Tales from the Green Valley is only one of a series of great films about farm life of long ago. There is also Victorian Farm and Edwardian Farm. All three of these shows have the same three people living the life of the time (Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands, Peter Ginn ), wearing period clothes and using period tools. Tales from the Green Valley also has historian Stuart Peachey and archaeologist Chloe Spencer but for some reason they are not in the other shows.  Ruth Goodman, a domestic historian, is my favorite of the team. I just love watching her work with period tools for cooking and cleaning.

I didn’t think I was going to like Victorian Farm and Edwardian Farm  as much as Tales from the Green Valley but I ended up liking them just as much.  Watching the films in order helps to see the progression of time and industry. Throughout all of the films they refer to books of that period. In the Victorian Farm, the book of reference for farm related tasks was The Book of the Farm. I made sure I wrote down all the book titles mentioned on the shows. I was excited to find out that most of those books are still available. Even better, I found The Book of the Farm Henry Stephens available for free download from Google books. I also found for free download a book called Manual for the Apiary by Albert John Cook. This book was not mentioned in any of the films but is very similar to book that was mentioned in the Victorian Farm called The Apiary: A Book of Bees, Beehives and Bee Culture by Alfred Neighbour. I also found a book that Ruth referred to called The Family Save All by Robert Kemp Philip in the free download section of Google books.

If you are the least bit interested in homesteading, farming, gardening, animal husbandry or domestic living, I would highly recommend watching these shows. In this technology age it is very easy be unaware of simplicity at it’s finest. Generations and generations of people functioned very well without many of the things we “can’t live without”. It’s not like I want to go back to using outhouses or wood burning ovens but I do appreciate seeing how things were done in a simpler time.  By understanding skills used in the past, I can understand why we do things they way we do them now. Not only that, some of the skills and methods used 400 years ago are far better than the methods we use now. Learning about how farmer’s wives prepared and preserved foods when there we no refrigerators or freezers is fascinating to me. Most food preparation and preservation methods were healthier and safer than our modern factory processed food industry. Did they fear having “pink slim” in their meat ? I think not .

Tales from the Green Valley

The Setting

Tales from the Green Valley, explores life on a British farm in the 17th century. This 12 x 1/2 hour television documentary, produced and directed by Peter Sommer, attracted large audiences and wide critical acclaim. Tales from the Green Valley follows the five as they labor for a full agricultural year, getting to grips with period tools, skills, and technology from the age of the Stuarts, the reign of James I (1620).

Everything must be done by hand, from plowing with a team of oxen using a replica period plowing and thatching a cowshed using only authentic materials, to making their own washing liquid for laundry and harvesting the hay & wheat with scythes and sickles. Each of the 12 half-hour programmes, made by Lion TV for BBC Wales, follows a month in the life of the farm situated on the Welsh borders. Source

Victorian Farm

The Setting

Historical observational documentary series following a team who live the life of Victorian farmers for a year. Wearing period clothes and using only the materials that would have been available in 1885, historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn are going back in time to relive the day-to-day life of the Victorian farmer.

The project is based on the Acton Scott estate in Shropshire – a world frozen in time, lost in Victorian rural England. Its buildings and grounds are cluttered with antique tools and machinery collected by the Acton family, who have lived on the estate since the 12th century.

Working for a full calendar year, Ruth, Alex and Peter are rediscovering a lost world of skills, crafts and knowledge, assisted by an ever-dwindling band of experts who keep Victorian rural practices alive. Source

Edwardian Farm

The Setting

Following life on the farm over a whole calendar year, Edwardian Farm goes deep into a lost rural world where life was tough and working together was the only means of achieving anything.

Setting up home at Morwellham Quay, in Devon, the trio have to get to grips with the trials and tribulations of life at the turn of the 20th century. This was a time of great social change and tumult – a time when farming was becoming increasingly mechanized.Source

1900 House

Texas Ranch House

Frontier House

Are you a history lover? Do you have any historical fiction books you would recommend me starting with? 

I am soooo excited about the 2012 gardening year! How about you? This year will be my 5th year of gardening and I think it’s going to be a good year. There are several reasons I am so excited about gardening this year but first let me bring you up to date on what’s going on in my garden.

Last year I shared with you my garden plan with a diagram of how I wanted our garden to look and where I wanted everything planted. There are some things that have changed in my plans so I decided to make a new diagram.

We added a water-less duck moat to the plan after realizing how much I like the ducks by the garden. We also added an entertainment area. Right now all we have is a ceramic fire pit in that area but hope to add some things to the area this summer. Right now we only have one T-frame in Garden Area 2 but plan to build at least two more this spring.

I am so excited about getting our small orchard started. We have two peach and two cherry trees planted. We also have two plum trees that we have not planted yet.  I hope to be able to add two apple trees this year as well.  Garden Area 1 has lots of garlic, onions and asparagus planted. I decided to use this garden area for perennial  and cool season veggies.

The reason I am so excited about this year’s garden is because for the first time I feel like I am ahead a little. In years past, I have felt like time was not on my side and just barely getting things planted on time or not at all.  I also have 4 years of gardening experience behind me. I am by no means an expert but I have learned a lot about gardening in those 4 years.

If I could only offer a new gardener one piece of advice. It would be to start a garden journal. I use a simple composition book to journal in. In this journal, I record my goals and plans as well as successes and failures. I also draw diagrams and paste articles from magazines. It’s really helpful to have a journal of my experiences and goals.

If I could offer a second piece of advice. It would be to gather gardening information through books and websites. I do realize this can become overwhelming with all the books available on gardening. So, start by purchasing The Mittleider Garden Course and then watch the film Back to Eden. Mittleider will explain the required nutrients plants need to grow healthy. Back to Eden will offer you a way to grow your plants that is affective and sustainable. Right now I am doing the Mittleider method but I’m trying to move toward the gardening principles described in the Back to Eden film.

How are you gardening plans coming along? Do you have a garden journal? 

I am working on writing a garden update post where I was going to share this video. But thought it would be a good idea to post this video now because who knows how long it will take me to write my garden update.

This film is very good. I will talk about my plans for implementing this method in the next garden post. I thought you all might benefit from watching this film as soon as possible since planting season is fast approaching.

Click on this link to watch the 1:46 minute film > Back to Eden Film

Since the start of our journey toward healthy living, I have been searching for ways to save money. Most of us are aware of the fact that organic foods are usually more expensive than non-organic. The price of organic foods is usually the reason people choose not to buy them.  With a little bit of searching and planning I have found that our food budget is usually no higher  than it was before we started this journey. Even if I had not found ways to save money and did pay a little extra, I would. My husband and I have decided paying a little extra for healthy whole foods is much better alternative to paying doctor bills.

For the most part, I no longer shop at my local grocery store anymore. I do get a few things here an there from the grocery store but most of my shopping is now done online. I buy a lot in bulk but not everything. The key is not to buy snack foods. You should avoid buying snack foods for two reasons. One, snack foods are addicting. Two, even organic snack foods are usually heavily processed and not healthy to eat.

Most of  our produce and meats  are purchase from local farmers. I also trade eggs for beef  from my neighbor who happens to be a grass-fed beef farmer. Trading is great way to get food healthy food for your family. Local farmers markets are also a great place to find organic foods at reasonable prices. At least that has been my experience.

There are two places I shop online on a regular basis- Azure Standard and Amazon.com. Azure is our main food shopping source but I have found better prices for some things on Amazon. For instance,  Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil from Amazon is at a great price, especially if you buy it through subscription. The prices do fluctuate though. Sometimes by several dollars but the prices are always better if you buy through subscription and many items qualify for free shipping.

Since Azure Standard delivers only once a month, I needed to find other online companies where I could purchase items between Azure orders. Azure also doesn’t have everything I need.

Where We Currently Buy Our Organic Food and Natural Products

Amazon- We only order every few months from here.

What we buy :  Nutiva coconut oil and natural organic peanut better.

Azure Standard- We pick up a once a month order but I do believe you can have them deliver to your home but have to pay shipping costs.

What we buy : Hard white wheat berries, organic dried fruits and nuts, organic frozen berries, butter, raw cheddar cheese, spices and oatmeal. This is not a complete list but just some of the things we buy regularly.

Frontier- They have a great wholesale catalog you can shop through if you want to start a Buying Club. I will probably be purchasing items from here more regularly. Probably once every other month.

What we buy: Organic black tea, herbal teas, vanilla beans and essential oils.

Other Online Stores

I haven’t purchased from any of these online stores yet but plan to.

Vitacost- Free shipping on orders over $49

iHerb- Free shipping on orders over $20

Nurticity- Free shipping on orders over $25 and earn 5% back on your purchases. This website also sells bulk items and cases.

Cultures for Health- This is where you can buy great products for making your own cultured foods like cheese, yogurt and lacto-fermented foods. They also offer some great videos on how to make your own cultured foods. They have flat shipping rate of $3.95.

LuckyVitamin- Free shipping on orders over $100.

Do you purchase organic food online? If so, have you used any of the websites I have mentioned or do you know of any other website?  

I am a young child sleeping next to my big sister. I am wild sleeper. My legs wrapped around her’s. Arms unintentionally smacking her across the face. I feel LOVED by my family but life and it’s meaning confuses me.

I am a teenager with my own bedroom. A path from my bed leads to the my door. My cloths, books and everything else occupies the rest of the space. I meet a boy that changes my world and my outlook on life. I meet a God who gives me hope, meaning and shows me true LOVE.

I am a very young  wife and mother. I am worried the wild sleeper in me will hurt my baby. I am worried my messy habits with overwhelm me. I am overwhelmed with life but I want to be a good wife and mother. I know that God LOVES me but I don’t fully understand how to be close to Him. Watching the television comforts me and I decide I can never give it up. My temper is short because I don’t have enough control.

I am mother of a teenager, pre-teen and a toddler. Over the years I have learned that the wild sleeper in me stayed with the child I once was. I never grasped organizational skills so my messy habits did follow me from childhood. I have learned over the years that my God comforts me so I gave up the television for comfort. Life experiences have shown me the depths of Gods LOVE for me. My temper still gets the better of me.

I am a 38 year old mother of a young adult, teenager and 7 year old. I am a wife of 20 years to that same boy that changed my world and my outlook on life. I can see the lessons God has been trying to teach me. The closer I get to knowing God the more everything else falls into place. My cleaning and organizational habits are changing rapidly. I spend time with God everyday which is making life and it’s meaning clearer everyday and His LOVE is overwhelming me. The desire for control that I have finally handed over to God has curbed my temper. Knowing God more intimately is my desire for myself, my family and my friends. I look forward to the future and embracing a life full of continual changes, experiencing God’s LOVE and sharing it with others.

Happy Valentines Day!

I hope you know how much God LOVES you.

I apologize for all the crickets you’ve been hearing around here lately. It’s been one of those time. I just can’t seem to let my thoughts come together enough to write them down. The longer I stay away from this blog, the more difficult it is for me to write on it. It’s a strange thing. Somehow I make it much more complicated than it needs to be. Hohum

Even though I can’t always find  find the words to share, Fair Weathers “mini” Ranch has been booming with activity. Our chickens have been looking better than they have in a long time. I have come to the conclusion that they were probably lacking protein during the summer. Last summer, many of my chickens had featherless backs. I believe they were either pecking their own feathers out or other chickens were doing it. Feathers are high in protein and sometimes chickens will eat them when they are lacking. Since the summer is time of high egg production and eggs production also requires protein, I believe that was the cause of the lack of feathers. This summer I am going to be sure to supplement with more protein in their diet.

Little one riding by herself for the first time.

The ducks are doing very nicely in their temporary home in the garden. We decided the garden was great place for them to spend the winter months. It’s also nice because they are fertilizing the garden as well. We were just given a really nice wood dog house that we are going to make into a duck house.  I am hoping this will solve the dirty egg problem. Which by the way, did I tell you we are getting three eggs a day from my three female ducks? It’s been really nice having the eggs but the girls lay in the same house they sleep in so every morning when we go to pick up the eggs they are very messy with dirt and other stuff. The “other stuff” is the part I could really do without. So, I am hoping we can build a nice egg laying compartment in the new duck house that will keep the eggs cleaner.

The two roosters challenging each other.

The three turkeys we have left are doing nicely. No eggs yet from the two females. The tom is not such a nice bird unfortunately. Like the roosters, the tom thinks my little girl is some kind of varmint waiting to snatch his girls up. She has to carry a big stick to smack him with if he tries to attack her.  She has learned some great lessons from the “evil roosters” we have had. She never turns her back on the mean birds and walks slowly with stick in hand. Needless to say, since turkeys are much bigger than the roosters, I don’t let them out much.

The baby goats, Olive and Whisper, are furry and fuzy cuties. They are technically yearlings but they will probably always be “the babies” to me. Their winter coat makes them look so cute. We have been working on getting these little doelings used to being on the milking stanchion. They have been doing really well with it. I have my daughter brush them and touch their teats while grooming to get them used to being handled. We decided not to breed any goats this year. But next year we will probably breed one or both of young ones. Not sure yet what I am going to do with BoPeep. I have grown very fond of that goat. She might end up being the goat my daughter uses first for 4H. She handles really nice and has been shown before. Right now she is our main milk producer. Our other goat, Cinnamon, is also in milk but she doesn’t give much at all.

I am so excited about the garden this year. It seems every year gardening gets easier and more exciting. I remember early summer last year worrying about whether or not I was going to get anything from the garden. I was overwhelmed with produce by the end of summer and beginning of fall. Our freezer and pantry are still stocked with food from last summer and fall. I love it and I am so thankful to God. I am also excited about a new garden group we are starting in our community. I will give you more details about it at another time but I really think it’s going to be great. Also, Amy introduced me to a film called Back to Eden. Have you heard of it? It is definitely worth watching if you have the time. You can watch it for free online.  I am excited about implementing some of the things discussed in the film.

Our kids are doing great. Our youngest’s favorite thing to do of late is to dress up our cat in doll clothes. I was really surprised our cat, Dutchess, actually let her do it. Normally this cat is a bit skiddish but I guess when she feels comfortable and loved on she is willing to let her do anything. Our son is going to be starting the track team at his school this week. He’s excited about finally getting the opportunity to jump hurdles. Not sure if this will encourage more jumping over everything else. The other day we had the french doors open to our front porch and he said, “Mom, hold the doors open, I am going to jump over the rail.” What on earth is that boy thinking? He was going to jump from the outside, over the railing, into the house. I shut the doors and locked him out . Our oldest daughter is also doing great. She is hard at work at school. We have been having some great phone conversations lately. I am glad for those conversations but I do miss seeing her face.

Husband has been hard at work at his job and also at the homestead. We have been tackling some of the big projects around here which has been nice. He just came back from a weekend retreat with the Jr. High kids from our church. I wish I could have gone too but I stayed home with the little one. He really loves working with youth and I love that he loves it .

I don’t think I mentioned it here yet but something huge has changed in my life. I am actually a morning person now. Never thought I would be able to say those words. The Hello Morning Challenge offered by Inspired to Action has been the driving force of this change. It’s been a wonderful thing to have mornings where I can have alone time with God and His word. I have also found that having my days more organized has been motivation for me to do more things. I am so loving this new found morning productivity! Hallelujah! And I mean Hallelujah ;) I will have to write more about this at a later time.

So, there you have it. I little bit of an update. I hope you are doing well at your homestead. Please share some of your updates

Nineteen years ago today I gave birth to my first child. Nineteen years ago today I was only a nineteen year old child. Sometimes I feel I can remember moments so clearly other times I get glimpses that I so desperately want to see more clearly.

I remember looking into the face of a baby I carried inside me for 9 months. Her face was perfect. She struggled to open her eyes to see the faces of her parents. The lights were too bright. Open and shut, open and shut. She was persistent until she finally opened them. Wow, what a memory. I LOVE that memory.

Years later I look into her face and see the same beauty, not only on the outside but so much more beauty is on the inside. Her smile will light up a room and her voice with draw you in. We named her Kaylena. Clueless of it’s meaning until recently. Kaylena is form of the Greek name Kayleen which means beloved, sweetheart. She is our beloved, sweetheart. God knew the meaning of her name even though we didn’t.

Mothering for the first time brought all kinds of trial and error experiences. I wonder sometimes how she came to be so normal with all the mistakes I made as a first time mother. Thankfully the Lord has been faithful to fill in the gaps. Her strong desire to seek God’s will has shaped her into the compassionate, passionate person I always knew she could be. My heart aches with  JOY when I think about her relationship with God. The only true desire I have for my kids is to have a strong relationship with only one that truly understands them, our CREATOR.

Half my life ago I gave birth to a baby girl. I did not know how much my heart could love. I am so thankful to God for making me a mother. Happy Birthday my Kaylena! I love you!

Kaylena Singing  Silly Fly by Josiah Leming

Kaylena Singing  Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen