Changing with the Seasons

It’s Not You That Needs to Die — It’s the Life That’s Killing You

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Sun, 04 May 2025 20:19:00 +0000

It’s Not You That Needs to Die — It’s the Life That’s Killing You

When the pain feels unbearable, it’s not your end — it’s your invitation.

Let’s get real.

Most people who say they want to end it don’t actually want to die.
They want the pain to stop.
They want the suffocating version of life they’re living to finally be over.
The survival loop. The disconnection. The ache that doesn’t quit. The reality that doesn’t reflect who they truly are.

It’s not you you’re trying to kill —
it’s the life that’s been killing you.

I remember my moment.
I was cut off from my children — suddenly, completely, with no way to reach them except a phone that barely rang.
I was still breathing, but I wasn’t alive.
The grief was unbearable. The silence? Deafening. I didn't know a life outside of my children. I didn't know what to do with myself. I had been raising babies since I was 18 and here I was at 43, traumatized and devastated. The pain didn’t just break me — it tried to erase me.

For a moment, I thought maybe the only way out of the pain was to unplug.
Just... disappear. It weighed so heavily in my heart.
But something innate and fierce in me rose up and said:

"No. This is not the end. You are a fighter. Not a quitter."

That was the moment I began again.
Not because anything outside of me changed — but because I did.

From a regenerative lens, that desire to die is never about death.
It’s the body, the soul, the nervous system screaming for release.
It’s trauma trying to evacuate.
It’s emotional toxins rising to the surface.
It’s cellular overwhelm.
It’s blocked energy demanding to flow.
It’s your spirit rejecting a life that doesn’t match your truth anymore.

That voice that says, “end it” may be the enemy —
but it’s also an invitation from your higher self.
The call to break the illusion. To rise. To transmute.
There is always light in the darkness — remember that.

You don’t need to check out.
You need to check in — to your truth, your body, your power, your path.

You are not your trauma.
You are not your past.
You are not your pain.
You are an electrical, light-filled, sovereign being —
and you have the power to regenerate.

Let the life that doesn’t serve you die.
Mourn it. Burn it. Bury it.

And then get to work building the life that does.

Another Season of Change

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 02:35:00 +0000

Last year,after my last post,I decided to take a break from blogging.Well,I suppose the decision was somewhat of a forced one.Back in March 2010 I had been reunited with my father,who had abandoned me at the age of 7.With promises of keeping in touch,he slowly slipped out of my life again.Yes,it hit hard.But,being 38, and not 7 this time, helped.Although it took away the desire to write,kind of felt a tad empty,maybe just speechless. It forced me to refocus on the important things going on in my life and also drew me closer to God during my moments at His feet asking Him the why's of such a short and brief reunion. It strengthened my faith and my love for my God,my Father.Understanding that some people do change and some don't ever and that they can give all the lip service that they want to,but in the end,it's their actions that will speak volumes on whether or not they have truly changed. It also made me take a good hard look at myself,to see if there were areas that I was giving "lip service" and not following through.Ahh,the teaching moments.I won't go into a long drawn out story of how sad I was as a child,yes,my childhood was a painful one,due to the abandonment,but God had a plan for me and as I grew older I was able to see Him throughout my life.I know that He does all things for my good and I am so ever grateful for the path He has me on.So, with that said,I'm back.Time to get my groove back on!!!

Mama, Do You Like Your Children?

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 18:14:00 +0000

I woke up this morning to this post (Mama, Do You Like Your Children?) in my inbox.I really enjoy subscribing to this blog and reading their posts,really encouraging.When I read this one,it struck a cord.A cord,that I believe,we all know very well as Christian mothers or any mother for that fact.But,I've realized myself that it IS what our world view is when it comes to raising our children.Are we looking to God to guide us or are we seeking the world for the guidance.I have been there before when my children were younger and when I was working outside the home.I clearly remember how much time I had for MYSELF,embarrassing to say,the selfishness of seeking ME-time outside activities because I was too overworked,the children demanded too much from me and there just wasn't enough time for ME,ME,ME!!When I came "home" to stay home with the children(2000),it took me several years of praying that God would change my heart towards my kids and to weed out most of that selfishness,about 6 years to be exact,ahemm...Yes,I needed work,reconstructing.The 7th year God even presented the opportunity for us to move across the country,1600+ miles away from where we had grown up,a job opportunity for my husband within his company.With that,we decided to remove all outside activities and concentrate on the family for a while.We believed that the whole family needed a new outlook on what FAMILY should mean and look like.The children even needed to learn how to enjoy each others company and '"like" each other.It was the best thing for our family.God has brought everyone closer and I just love being at home.In fact,sometimes I find myself questioning whether I like it too much,because,I don't have any desire to go anywhere.The Devil really likes to make us question the things of God,doesn't he?Even through outside influences.I have heard people say to me,that I don't know what it's like to have to go to work and try to take care of kids and that I have it easy because I am at home with my children.I've been on both sides and I do have to say that I know that going to work outside of the home while someone else takes care of my children is far easier than having to do it myself.On the contrary,it would be "easy" to stay home with my children than to go to work,IF I didn't make any effort in the upbringing and training of my children and just did the minimal like so many out there do;make sure they are clothed,fed and put to bed!That is not what God intended our job of keepers at home to be.It is far more than that and work!Work like I have never known in my life.I will be honest and tell you that it is HARD.Yes,I'm tired,yes,I'm stretched,yes this is knew to me,no I don't have it all figured out,no I am not perfect.But,God has given me His strength,peace,comfort and change of heart to do it.I am thankful that my children will have this family model to live by(not a perfect one),when my husband and I did not have it growing up.I pray that God will use it for His glory and my children's children's children will continue the legacy of a God centered family.

Got an Old Pair of Jeans Laying Around??

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:47:00 +0000

Here's an idea for you if you have old holey jeans laying around. I happen to have several "old" jeans or worn out jeans that have holes in the knees etc...,laying around in my "I need to patch those up or make some sort of use out of them" pile! I tried patching Craig's jeans without success.The patches kept coming off.These holey jeans are just everyone's "work" jeans and I hate to have to go out and buy something for them to "work" in and ruin anyway. So,I still have my pile thankfully because I was taught a better way to patch those darn holes up.But,before my learning session occurred,I had a brilliant idea that came to mind when I was going over my pile of jeans.I had remembered one time being at a friends house and noticing a potted plant that someone had given to her.It had the top part of a pair of jeans on the outside of the potted plant.Kind of a cute idea, I thought to myself.For several weeks prior to this new found idea,I had been looking for some potting material for my hanging baskets.I had used spanish moss before and some other types of basket material,but,my plants always seemed to dry out really fast and,well,die on me....
I kept hoping to come across some "new" innovative idea in the garden centers for these hanging baskets and kept coming up with nothing...soooooo back to that moment,with jeans in hand....
I thought,couldn't I just use the jean material on the inside of the basket?Wouldn't it help to retain some moisture and yet provide drainage AND look really cute at the same time??
OF COURSE!!I got right to work and "tried" on different sizes of jeans for my different sized baskets and found ones that seemed to fit the best.I wanted to be able to have most of the waist part of the jeans folded over the edge of the basket,so when I put the dirt in,it wouldn't cave in and also it would add to the "cuteness" of the basket.I made sure I cut the jeans off in shorts style and overlapped the insides of the leg holes and then cut up more jean strips off of the remainder of the jean legs to fill in any gaps.It worked wonderfully.
I was so pleased with my little baskets and glad that I was able to do something with some of the jeans that I felt hopeless about.Also glad that I didn't use all of the jeans and learned how to patch properly....now I just have to get into my sewing room and put the good knowledge to work!!

Titus 2 Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:44:00 +0000

Here is a lovely giveaway that I just entered. Raising Homemakers,The Beauty of Titus 2 (& giveaway)

Hard Work Sometimes Pays Off When It's Hot!

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 19:44:00 +0000

This is what summer (and family) is all about,hard work and a little play to go along with it! What happened was,Craig was doing some watering in the garden and he didn't realize that Matthea was near him,so,when he swung the hose around he accidentally sprayed Matthea and she went off to grab the other hose to spray him back........That is how this fun water fight began.

Matthea wouldn't quit either!When Craig was "done" she kept on squirting!!

Oliver stood nearby laughing.He was tickled to death watching his daddy get wet!

Butterscotch's Babies!

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0000

Well,one of our rabbits has kindled today.From what we are able to count,there seems to be 10 baby bunnies.We are still waiting for three other female rabbits to kindle any day now.I'm thinking we will probably wake up to some more babies in the morning...

Heading to bed,goodnight.

Grandma's Summer Visit and More!

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:09:00 +0000

My mother and Aunt Mary came to visit us this past week(13th-20th).What a blessing it was for all! My mother hasn't been out here to visit us in almost 3 years!I know this visit really made her happy,as you can tell from the smile in the photo.My mother never smiles in photos.The children pointed out a couple of pictures,including this one, where she was smiling.This made me happy just to see how happy she was!

Seven days was definitely not enough time for all of us.We were all sad the day that they had to leave for the airport and fly back home to St. Louis.We are now trying to make plans to have grandma come out more often and stay longer.We miss her and her company.

During their stay,one of the many blessings that were bestowed upon us,Jade and Matthea learned how to sew.They made a couple of outfits and have projects started that need to be finished.Aunt Mary was kind enough to give the girls beginning sewing lessons.They took to it very quickly and would not stop.They sewed from morning to night,every chance that they got!!

By the time the week was up,the girls were so tired.But,now they are very thankful that Aunt Mary has given them a good start and a great love for making things with their own hands.

We did a lot of things while they were here...took a drive up into the mountains and stopped at a picnic area where we encountered many flies and some really fat American chipmunks,went to Miracle Hot Springs and had a really nice soak in the mineral water,went to Cloverleaf Creamery for some ice cream and cheese curds,YUM!Walked along the Snake River Canyon and saw a few waterfalls and vultures,went to Shoshone Falls,shopped at some local thrift shops and found a large,square ottoman for my walk-in closet for only $5!!! and fabric stores for the girls' sewing projects,re-upholstered my dining room chairs(thank you Aunt Mary), made homemade bread and fed them our own free range chicken for supper one night,which my mother could not stop commenting on how good the flavor was! :) We also spent a lot of time relaxing in the back yard enjoying the cool air in the evenings after we would go on our walks after dinner.I think my mother fell in love with the weather more than anything and was dreading having to go back into the Midwest's humid heat. :( Hope to see them soon again.

Our area has had a late start to summer,which was not good for my garden,nor my cherry trees.Each day that I go out to my garden,I find myself sulking/pouting.My garden depresses me.It isn't full of "green" stuff overflowing, pressing through my gates crying out "pick me! pick me!" there are only a few things that are growing well...the potatoes,the onions,a cucumber plant (notice that I say A cucumber plant,yes,one lonely cucumber plant)and my sage.I am the most proud of my sage because it is 3 years old...but,the tomatoes are just now getting their flowers on them and the carrots,lettuce,radishes,beets,basil,peas,and green beans are wimpy looking things.So,yesterday,while I was watering and realized that I was pouting again and I decided to have a different outlook and I was going to just LOVE my garden.By that I mean it in two ways,LOVE it the way that it is and also show it LOVE.I put the hose down and went to each section and meticulously plucked every darn weed that I could find and tended to each and every tiny or big plant that I have.When I was through,I looked around and realized that I was smiling...and my plants were smiling back at me!We'll see how long I can hold onto this new outlook.There is roughly a little over a month left of summer and we'll be looking into winter's eyes in no time,ugh!

I feel bad that I have not posted my two precious babies birthdays on here :( . I haven't posted anything since March,as you can see.I will post a few pictures later of Oliver and Charlotte's birthdays.

The children have been really busy.Keeping up with homeschooling,animal chores and their house chores.They are all doing so well. Craig,Sebastian,Jade and Matthea volunteered last week with Paint Magic.It's a non profit organization that helps senior citizens to have their home painted.The children really had a lot of fun doing that.I stayed behind at home with the babies.

The Lord has been pressing me to kick it up a notch with our biblical studies.You know,as a homeschooler,we are always feeling as though we are never doing enough as it is.But,I know in this area,you can never do too much and we all need the spiritual nourishment,not just once a week,or once a day as a routine.But,throughout the day.We ought to be praying without ceasing,thinking of His ways and commandments... waking,walking,sitting,laying....all day long! Just feeling somewhat convicted lately,thankfully.I have been trying to work on gathering some ideas for bible studies with the children.I know I want to do a study with the girls such as Polished Cornerstones
and most definitely do a proverbs study with all of them,we already have purchased Hidden Treasures for that study.I have a couple of books for a father/son study for Craig and Sebastian to do as well,but,there is one or two more that seem to be grabbing my attention more.Oh well,we'll see what we decide for that one.On top of all of that I have been trying to re-organize our school system and get MORE organized and MORE focused,needing to prepare for next years curriculum.I do have to mention here that we are so very thankful for our new school computer that was given to us as a gift!!This will help us tremendously with all that we need to do and all that we have been wanting to do to improve our homeschool! God works through so many people!! Praise God!

Whirlwind of Change and Blessings

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:49:00 +0000

Where on earth do I start? I haven't been on here to write in months! I will probably leave out a whole lot of what has been going on around here,but, I will do my best.

I have been on auto pilot since November.God has carried me for pretty much most of this winter.Since Charlotte has been born, I have had 2 solid good months of sleep.The first two were typical newborn months,waking up every 3 hours or so and then when she hit 3 and 4 months of age she was sleeping 9 hours a night for us.But from about 5 months she went back to waking up every 3-4 hours again.We realized that a lot of it has been from teething issues.Needless to say,my dark circles are horrendous without the use of make-up to cover them up.I'm too tired to go anywhere that would require the application of it anyway.The children have been a big help with letting me get in a nap here and there .This sleep deprived season will soon give way to more restful nights,yes,I have hope.

So, our Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations went well.It was another peaceful, family bonding time again. For Christmas, Craig got three rabbits, as a gift from the children,to start raising meat rabbits,something he's been wanting to do for some time now.Soon after that Jade purchased a few,Matthea bought a couple and then Craig bought a few more as well.I'm not sure on the count, but I think that we may have 9 adult rabbits and now about 9 baby bunnies as well. Jade has just posted her bunnies on craigslist for sale.Jade and Matthea have been planning this bunny business for a couple of years now and are eager to get their bunny business off and running.Sebastian is still in the beginning stages of getting his goat to make money for him.But, all three have their chickens laying really well now and they now have a couple of regular egg buyers.Pretty cool! Our buckling,Firecracker, is on his way out soon.We have a buyer and we'll be sending him to the butcher.Tough business when you have a majority of the household emotionally attached to the food! We just purchased some new baby chickens,ducks,a couple of geese and 3 turkeys to add to the menu around here.Most of the ducks are already spoken for.We just need to fatten them up and they'll be on someone's dinner table soon!Of course we have our name on one of the turkeys for this years Thanksgiving.This will definitely be a first for us!So exciting!

January and February were our typical slow months...Jade and I had our birthdays and Johnny's birthday soon followed in March.I got news right before his birthday that he was coming out to visit us for a couple of weeks.We hadn't seen him in about 18 months,so,this was a real blessing to have him come out for his 20th birthday and spend some time with us. Another surprise soon followed.My half sister Rebecca,whom I had never met before,contacted me,my sister Wendy and my brother David.Everything kind of went so fast after that.My father,who I hadn't seen in 30 years, got into contact with us as well and within days,Wendy flew out here and we drove to California to meet Rebecca,her sister Lupita and to be reunited with our father.I am still,I believe,in a state of shock.Soon they both will be coming out to visit with me and my family and also they'll be visiting Illinois to reunite with my brother David and possibly, my dad's sister,Aunt Karen.I,truthfully, had thought that God,had,for whatever reason,decided that my father just would not be a part of my life,ever.I never thought that this day would come and here it is,very surreal.I remember how I prayed for years that God would bring him back into my life.Now,the saying that "God does things in HIS OWN TIME",really hits home hard.A lot of mixed feelings goes along with all of this,of course.I've found myself questioning God's timing and asking why? Why now? Why not 10,13,15 or 20 years ago or even 5 years ago? Then the selfishness of thinking that I didn't have him for 30 years,am I going to get 30 years more or will it only be 10 years? Or what is it that you're doing with me now? A lot of prayer and succumbing to his will is needed. God has been good to me and His blessings upon my life have been overflowing these last few years, truly amazing.I am thankful.I am thankful that I have my "new" sisters,step sisters/brothers..nieces and nephews...step mom...and thankful that God has answered my prayer and brought my father back to me and has shown His love for me in so many ways.It took me a long time to realize that I had always had my Father,my heavenly Father,all of these years.I guess I had to acknowledge Him first,in my heart and in my ways before I could have my earthly father back,I don't know.I do know that He is perfect and his timing is perfect and I can rest in that. Another season in my life that will most definitely bring change to all of us.

Well,Johnny was here from March 9-23 and those weeks went by way too fast.The kids are still mourning his leave.I feel like I need about,at least,3 months with him.It really makes me sad not to be able to be around him as much as we use to be.The other day we all sat around the TV and watched our wedding DVD.Johnny was only 6 years old then.It really puts things into perspective when you see your little boy jumping around on this video and you know he's a grown man now and isn't right here with you to hug you or ask a million questions.SAD...:(
But at the same time,I'm so glad that he was here and I have a picture of all of my babies,big and little ones, together!! Now that makes me happy! :)

I can't believe I actually have finished this post! I put Charlotte to bed around 8,Oliver down at 8:30 and the older 3 went down at 9:30.I need to get into bed and hope that Charlotte doesn't wake up soon.Now that I feel somewhat caught up with my blogging,maybe I'll be able to get on here more often with short and quick posts.

May God continue to work in me and bring good change,for His glory and may He bless my family now and for generations to come.Goodnight all!

Happy 9th Birthday Matthea!!

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:59:00 +0000

Happy Birthday Matthea!!!!!!!!!!!

We celebrated Matthea's 9th Birthday on Friday,November 6th. She's growing up so fast.

Chili Cook-Off and More!

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:34:00 +0000

I entered a chili cook off today. I entered it in the hot-n-spicy category first,but,they decided to move it into the vegetarian category. It was,after all, a no meat chili!! Well,I won. Whoo hoo!! I'm excited,and the kids are thrilled too!! What a fun thing to do.I have never really entered anything,ever,in my life! (I don't think I have)Well, that was fun....

A quick update....I got my cloth diapers this past Thursday (22nd).They have been a success so far.We all love them and they really are not hard to use at all. With our diaper sprayer attached to the toilet, cleaning poopy diapers has become a fought after job!! Matthea is always wanting to use the sprayer and hoping that a baby has a poopy diaper so that she can clean it! Funny.

Here are some of the garden goods that I canned.Boy,this had me tired by the time we were all done with it all.

The tomatoes kept coming in,day in and day out until we were left with just one small bowl.I even made barbecue sauce with our Large Cherry Red Tomatoes! That turned out really good.It was kind of by accident too. I sliced and de-seeded all of the cherry tomatoes and set them in a bowl in the refrigerator for a few days.I was just going to make tomato sauce out of them.So I went to cook them down on the stove and instead of being a bright red sauce, it took on the color of barbecue sauce...So, I took a quick break and looked up barbecue sauce recipes and quickly added the ingredients and presto(!) we had barbecue sauce, a sweet,onion sauce.mmm-mmm good.
The 41 1/2 pounds of apples that we had picked from our neighbors all went into jars as apple butter and apple pie filling. We actually have had a few tomatoes still coming in from the garden in spite of the chilling temps. The plants will be cut down in the next week and the garden will be shut down, for the most part,for winter.

The bread baking has now become part of our weekly chore.I am proud to say that I have not bought any store bought bread now ever since that first batch of goodness came out of my oven.I will say,however,that it is harder to keep around,because the kids just love it!!

Fall has come so quickly.Where on earth did summer go? Where did this year go? It seems like only yesterday that we were anticipating Charlotte's birth and now she's here and the summer's over,the crisp air has replaced the hot and dry air and before you know it we will be done with Thanksgiving and celebrating Christ's birth and anticipating another new year!!!! Wow!

We bought pumpkins for the children the other day and for the first time in years,we actually let them carve out their pumpkins.Probably not something that we will continue to do, in order not to be partaking in Halloween with the pagans, or to portray that we are.But, I think that carving pumpkins or other types of gourds/squashes is a fun activity.You can get pretty creative without having scary,ghoulish faces on your pumpkins.These are their pumpkins...(from left to right) Sebastian's, Matthea's and Jade's...

We even roasted all of their seeds too, with a cinnamon,sugar and pumpkin spice seasoning added to them.Deeeee-lish!!!!

That's it for now. God Bless my family and all of you out there! Have a happy Autumn.

I've Entered a Free Cloth Diaper Giveaway!!

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:26:00 +0000

I have ordered my cloth diapers and am waiting for them to arrive.They should be here by the 22nd, we'll see. I am so excited to be starting this new adventure. I also have found this website that has a cloth diaper giveaway held every Friday.I'm hoping that I will be able to win at least one time and add to my diaper stash.

Having both Oliver and Charlotte in diapers has us all rethinking the cost of disposables as well as the fact that they lie in dumps for so long SLOWLY decomposing. My daughters are excited to try this out too. I am so glad that they are enthusiastic about taking care of the babies right along with me.

When we had Sebastian and Jade in Diapers, I tried to cloth diaper Jade,but was very unsuccessful.I realize, now, that I didn't have the support NOR the proper information that I needed to do it.There is so much info out there now,via the web, that it can be overwhelming at first,but, a tremendous help for those who are looking to try it out for the first time, or like me, to re-visit cloth diapering.

here we go...

Harvest

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:05:00 +0000

Well,here I am,finally putting up pictures from the garden..We have been drowning in tomatoes for the last couple of weeks,as you can tell from the picture above.I am preparing to can these, hopefully tomorrow.
Sebastian, Jade and Matthea all have enjoyed their garden this year. Each one of them planted sunflowers to place in their garden beds. Above is a photo of Matthea's sunflower. We'll be gathering the sunflower seeds and storing them for next year. Jade has already collected seeds from her morning glory and her dill plant.We will collect seeds from select tomatoes as well. They are all so proud of their accomplishment and how their food has been a part of most of our meals!
This photo, of the two carrots intertwined, is from Sebastian's garden.Pretty cool.
We had a few other veggies that decided to grow "together". One of Jade's tomato plants had several tomatoes that did that. The tomato plants were about to overtake our garden. They grew so fast and so big.I have been out there,I don't know how many times, to stake and re-stake those darn plants.Jade has been a big help with that. I had Craig out there too the other day. Unbelievably, it really takes a toll on your back.I think Craig's back is still hurting him,well,mine is too.
Jade has a cucumber plant that really took off.She's had a lot of cucumbers already and there are several more that are maturing.I don't know how much longer we will have for production.The weather is saying that we are going to have some cold weather here in a couple of days.Wednesday is suppose to get down to 30 degrees overnight and only have a high of 45 degrees.Yikes! That may just kill everything.

This photo, above, was taken before the other ones. This was when the plants almost overtook the garden and we were at war with the tomatoes, with stakes in hand!! It's been hard trying to keep up with all of this without Craig here. Yes, he's been in Jackpot this whole time working on that trailer.Poor guy,I had to take away his help,(Sebastian), because of school. So, he works on the trailer a little before and a little after work and then he comes here to do some more back breaking work on his off days.He is wore out,let me tell you. Hopefully this is his last week to work on it.He should be done with it. We have several people interested in buying the place.So, hopefully we won't have to hang on to it too long.

Now that school has been well under way, every minute is precious around here. There just isn't enough time in the day. I finally have Oliver into a schedule.It just had to be done. He's never really been a good sleeper for us. So, when Charlotte arrived, things got a little out of sorts here.Craig and I were not getting enough sleep.Charlotte was sleeping for us just like you would expect a newborn to.But, Oliver was still a problem trying to get him to unwind and fall asleep.He would be up,sometimes, until 11pm or midnight!!! Charlotte would already be asleep,but then be getting up around 1 or 2am for a feeding.So we decided to just put him down in his crib when it was bedtime and let him cry it out. We started putting him down at 9:30 at first and then each night move back the time a little bit.He's now going to bed at around 8 or 8:30.It worked like a charm. We did that with his naps as well.Because we would have the same scenario during the day. He would get so tired and cranky,but had such a hard time falling asleep. We just couldn't have that going on during school,for our sake and especially his sake.

This photo below of Oliver was taken during all of that transition time.You see,for those of you who don't know, Oliver has NEVER liked a pacifier.It wasn't even a little dislike for him. It was a major "I don't like that thing put into my mouth" kind of thing. He would scream and gag if we tried to put it in his mouth. But, when we started to put him to bed at a normal bedtime and I also weaned him from breastfeeding at that same time, he started to use one of Charlotte's pacifier's. Initially we let him do it. I guess because we felt bad for him. But after 2 weeks of using it.We realized he was beginning to use it ALL the time. He even developed a little sore spot on his upper lip from it.
He would take it out to say something and plop it back into his mouth. Here you can see him giving Charlotte a kiss in her swing. He has his pacifier in his hand. He took it out, kissed Charlotte and plopped it back in. It didn't take too long for him to say goodbye to the pacifier. We just had to be firm with him and after about a week, he was over it. I think he may have been just finding his place within the family. He was no longer the baby,but, yet still a baby.
What a cutie.I think you can actually see his little sore spot on his upper lip in this photo of him with me. Now, his interests are picture/word books. I still have some of Johnny's picture books that I used to teach Johnny how to read with. Oliver just absolutely loves them.He's been watching the other kids with their books and he wants to "read" too. It didn't take him long to remember some of the words to the pictures and now he'll point and say a few. He even likes to mimic the kids doing school. So we've taped a roll of brown paper to the table for him. He likes to sit there with a pencil or crayons and scribble away. Matthea and Jade even showed him how to erase! We had the paper taped to the coffee table at first.But that wasn't the same as being at the big kids table! So he's with them at the dining table. If I can figure out how to post a video on here, I will upload a video of him having a meltdown because we were putting away his crayons.We told him that it was nap time and that we had to pick up the crayons and put them away. OH MY! Did he fall apart!!!
and well, I couldn't make a post on my blog without adding some newer photos of Miss Charlotte! She is such a joy! She has started sleeping through the night now.The first night, that she slept through, she slept 12 hours! But, she has been sleeping for about 9 or 10 hours every night now.What a relief,to actually be getting some sleep around here.
The funny thing,after having 6 children, I am actually considering trying cloth diapers. I think I tried using them with Jade.But, I didn't really have anyone show me HOW or even look into anything NEW out there.So I gave up. But, networking with other people, I came across someone using cloth diapers and a whole new world of cloth diapering IS out there. So, I may be doing it with both Oliver and Charlotte. We'll see. I'm going to order a try it out kit and, well, try it out! I've had two in diapers before. Doing it again, makes me think twice about how much this is really costing us!
Anyway, Charlotte is almost 3 months old now and she is a TALKER!! She loves to make her cooing sounds and she'll let out a few squeals that will hurt your ears! If she can engage you for a moment she will be happy to "tell" you a few stories.She will talk away! It's so cute.
She is also, officially, our only thumb sucker! This may turn out to be a problem if this continues and turns into a hard to break habit. She doesn't mind using a pacifier,but, when she is really tired and in bed she'll just spit it out and stick in the thumb.
So much time has gone by since we have moved to this part of the country. It's been two years now that we have been out here. God has done so much for us and we can sometimes lose sight of what our focus should be. With all of our "busy-ness" we have not made enough time for our spiritual growth. This has been weighing heavy on my heart. My prayer for this week is for my family's spiritual well being,to be nourished by the Word , to re-connect with God and for us to strengthen our relationship with Him on a daily basis.
We've had a successful harvest so far, this year, in our garden. May I be as diligent with the garden within my family and take extra care so that there is a more abundant harvest for generations to come. For His Glory......

Just Another Day...Working, Weeding and Harvesting

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:16:00 +0000

Charlotte has hit her one month mark and is approaching 5 weeks of age this Friday. I hate how the early days go so fast with babies. It makes me and Craig so sad to watch it go by so quickly, with all of them. They are all growing like the weeds around here!

Well,we have postponed the start of school for a couple of weeks.The virus that had a hold of Oliver had spread to Jade, then me,Matthea and Craig. Thankfully,as of now,Charlotte and Sebastian have been spared. So as we all slowly recuperate things will get back on track.

Craig and Sebastian are away for a while,working on the trailer.They are already terribly missed. The girls and I are working together here with the animals, garden and of course home. It has been really dry here and all of the watering that we have been doing is tiring and time consuming.We are constantly going outside to move the sprinklers. We are also being invaded by weeds! You would think that since it is so dry the weeds wouldn't grow.Wrong! They seem to thrive anywhere.Weed pulling is not everyone's favorite thing to do around here. But, it has to be done. I will say, that not all of the weeds get pulled, so, there are areas that we have just given up on for now.

I keep saying that I will put up pictures of the garden.But, I haven't taken any yet,since we've planted. I really need to do that. I will just have to tell you that the children have planted so many tomato plants that I'm afraid we will be drowning in tomatoes. I need to hurry up and get some more canning jars.Because when it's time to harvest, I don't think we will be able to keep up. Matthea's garden is the largest as far as how many plants they all have and then it's Jade's and Sebastian's is the smallest.He didn't want to plant too many. He says that he's glad that he didn't because there would be too much work to keep it watered and weed free! I told him that he's lucky that I am not making him grow his own food for survival,because he would starve. He quickly replied and said that he wouldn't because his sisters had plenty and if they wouldn't share he would just eat the eggs from the chicken coop!!! Oh my goodness..what can you say to that. A work in progress, a work in progress....I have to keep reminding myself that he is a work in progress, we all are. I really need to be a little more pro active in his progress. Oh boy!
Anyway, Matthea has been providing delicious salads with her lettuce and so far Jade has been bringing in her Basil and Dill for certain dishes.I have had several tomatoes from my plants, so far, to go with Matthea's salads. mmmm... it's so much better when it's fresh.
Our cherry trees have finally been completely harvested. I had Craig pit the last batch of cherries for me. His hands and fingers were stained,but he got to eat some cherry pie afterwards.I also made cherry preserves for the first time. Something that I don't believe that I have ever had myself. It turned out really well. The next thing will be the tomatoes.Something else that I have not done before.

I will post pictures of the garden next time....:0

Time to feed everyone around here and get things shut down for the night.....

The Birth of Our Precious Charlotte - 07/03/09

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:27:00 +0000

Well, after waiting 5 more days after my due date,Charlotte made her way into our lives on Friday, July 3, 2009. Her poor little face was all bruised, but, of course, all of that has dissipated.

I began having contractions early that morning around 1am.They were 20 minutes apart up until about 5am. They then were anywhere between 10-15 minutes apart until 7am. I called my midwife, Connie, and said," Can we have a baby today?" and she said, "Sure! Are you in labor?" I told her what our status was and said that we were going to hang out at home for a little while longer until I felt that I needed to come to the birth center. From 7 until 8am they got closer and closer. I kept asking Craig or Jade,(my clock watchers), "What time is it now?", or, " How far apart was that one?",or, "How long did that one last?". They went from 5minutes apart, to 4, and then to 2 minutes apart. I finally called her when they were 2 minutes apart. I told her that I wasn't in my panic mode or even felt like,"Hey I need to get somewhere", but, MY CONTRACTIONS ARE 2 MINUTES APART! and we are just going to come on over anyway. Earlier in the morning,I asked Craig to get the camcorder out and video tape our morning...

He said,"Okay, but it is going to be on the back end of our Grand Canyon tape".

Now, everyone has to have a "story" to tell about their labor day, well, this is where ours comes in....I had reminded Craig several times in the weeks prior to this day, to go and get more tape for our camcorder for this occasion. I was reassured "several" times that I shouldn't worry and that he would take care of it. Now back to the story...

Michelle: "Where is the tape that you were suppose to buy?"
Craig: "I just thought that I would pick it up on the way to the birthing center"
Michelle: "WHAT??!!! You mean we have to go to the store while I'm having these contractions? Are you crazy?"
Craig: "No, we don't have to go to the store if you don't want to. We can just video tape the birth on our Grand Canyon tape."
Michelle: "No we can not video tape on our Grand Canyon tape! We're going to the store!" *I'm the crazy one* "Well, we better hurry up and leave now before I have this baby in the car!" *sheesh! Of all times to be going to Walmart!*

Now, thinking back on this whole scenario, it is quite funny.In fact, reading it here is hilarious. Craig and I always have something like this going on, during a time when it isn't very convenient. It makes our life story quite interesting though.

So, there we are, rushing to get out the door with the children around 8:30am. Craig and Sebastian are sitting in front, Matthea is in the middle and Jade and Oliver are in the very back with me. I wanted to be in the back so that I could lean over the back of the seat during my contractions. For some reason, I just felt better in that position. The drive to Walmart is about 10 minutes, maybe, from our house. During that time, my contractions became a minute apart, lasting 60-90 seconds and I had a few that were right on top of each other without any break in between! I thought for sure we were not going to make it on time.... Craig finally gets to Walmart and runs in and runs out with a tape! And we were on the road again, to the birthing center. We get to the center at 9am. My midwife and her assistants are at the door waiting for me. We all get in and settled. They already have the birthing tub filled and ready for us. I was checked for dilation and I was already at 6cm.I labored in the tub until about 10:20am and had to have a bathroom break, of all times. I couldn't make it all of the way to the bathroom since my contractions were so close together. So, we had to make use of the birthing stool in the room and a bucket. (too much info, huh?) Well, my midwife asked me if I wanted her to break my bag after I was done and before we would get back into the birthing tub and I told her "yes, go ahead". My bag of waters was bulging this whole time and causing a lot of pressure and this would provide some relief. Well, at 10:43 she broke my water and as we were preparing to move back into the tub, I said, " No, I can't go, the baby is coming!" Everyone was kind of thrown off a bit. I was having trouble sitting on the birthing stool to begin with because it was a bit large and Craig was trying to hold me up so I wouldn't slip through and Connie,my midwife, looked to see if the baby was coming and said, "yes the baby's head is crowning! I need gloves!" So we have, Craig struggling to hold me up, the assistants scrambling for gloves, Connie gets one glove on and is struggling to get the other one on and doesn't have time to....the baby is making her way out and so Connie just lays the second glove on top of her hand just in time to catch the baby. She removed the cord from around her neck and we noticed a knot in the cord, they had to move me straight to the bed to cut the cord right away. Our initial "plan" was to deliver the baby in the water, bring in the children so they can see her come up out of the water, and Matthea wanted to be the one to cut the umbilical cord. Obviously, that didn't happen because of the circumstances. The knot, we were told, was a rare occurrence and was usually only found in still births. Our midwife had only seen about 3 or 4 in her whole career, which were all still births. What a miracle to have our baby born alive! She said that the knot was "loose" enough to oxygenate and nourish her apparently. As soon as we cut the cord and I got comfortable on the bed, the children were able to come in to see their new sister. Charlotte Geneva Faith. They were there for the weighing and measuring: 7 lbs. 6 oz. and 19 1/2 inches long.

I was able to nurse her right away and then she was off to be passed around to her father and siblings while I rested for a bit. We were at the birthing center from 9am - 4pm and then we were headed back home for family time. It felt very awkward to be leaving after only about 5 hours after giving birth. But the experience was great! An all natural childbirth without the drugs, hospital staff and interventions etc... was definitely an eye opener for me.If we are blessed with another child, we are hoping to be able to give birth at home with the next one.

The first night home with Charlotte, I noticed her becoming a little jaundiced around 2am. Connie, our midwife, was coming over in the morning (Sat./4th) to check on me and Charlotte to see how we were doing, so I would mention the jaundice to her then.
When she came in the morning, she said that Charlotte did look a little jaundiced and she wanted us to go over to the lab and have her blood drawn for a Bili level check. Craig and I went over to the lab at the hospital and had the results within an hour. Her Bili level was an 11. Which is high for an infant who is only a day old. So we had a Bili blanket ordered to use at home, supplemented the breastfeeding with formula every other feeding and we would have her levels checked again in the morning...The next day (Sun./5th) her Bili level was at 15! Our midwife, and a pediatrician that she was consulting with, decided that Charlotte needed to be in the NICU with an IV and under some stronger lights to get this under control. They admitted Charlotte that afternoon and started her on an IV and got her under the Bili lights. I stayed over night with her in a recliner and Craig went home to be with the other children. Charlotte's Bili levels were checked throughout the night and the next morning. They slowly came down from 15, 13, 11 and then it was a 10 by the afternoon and they released her.(Mon./6th) We were to continue using the Bili blanket at home and have her levels checked on Tues. the 7th.
We went on Tues.,had her levels checked and they were at 9.The pediatrician told us to discontinue the Bili blanket and bring her in the following day,(Wed.,8th). On the 8th they officially said that she no longer was in danger, was looking good and pink and the jaundice was resolved! Everything has been going great with her,the breastfeeding,the sleeping, the waking etc...She is a very "good" baby. We all felt as if we really didn't get to "know" Charlotte until the 8th,when she was home and there were not any more trips to the hospital.Everything was a little crazy until that was all over with. Thankfully Craig was able to be at home with us during this time.

Then, just 6 days later on the 14th, Oliver starts to have diarrhea. By Thursday the 16th we decided to take him to the doctor, he hadn't had diarrhea that day but he had other symptoms that came up.He was falling asleep just about anywhere and all the time, poor appetite,very fussy, and he was falling down a lot. It was kind of like, when a baby just learns how to walk and they loose their balance and fall back on their behind. He just seemed to be getting real weak. Well, the doctor said was that whatever was in his system is making it's way out and the sleeping and balance issues are probably a result of low sugar from not eating a lot and the diarrhea. He wasn't dehydrated otherwise they would have wanted to admit him and hook him up to an IV. The Doctor said that we should bring him back if things don't clear up or if they get worse.Well the diarrhea started up again Friday the 17th,it's not as bad as it was,but it is still enough to make anyone cranky. His appetite has returned slightly,he's not as sleepy as he was but he's still very fussy and falling down still. This all has been within the last week. So, we will be heading back to see the doctor . Hopefully they will have an answer.

So much has happened and I wanted to have baby announcements made up and sent out to everyone by this time. But,it looks as if I may be late. I also need to send the thank you cards for the "shower" of gifts Charlotte has received.
When it rains it pours....other minor things that have happened:Garage door broke, washing machine broke($800+ to fix/might as well buy a new one huh?),garbage disposal broke, Craig's Bronco was towed to the house and the top flew off and broke the windshield, one of our bucklings, "Independence", died from a pallet falling over on him and crushing him, oh! and the transmission is going out in the van! YEAH!!!

With all of the trials that God sends my way, I need to be reminded that:

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ⁶But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

⁹The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. ¹⁰But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. ¹¹For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.

¹²Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

James 1: 2-12

With all of that said....we are still living life. Craig is back to work, the kids have been faithfully taking care of the animals and their chores,the Llamas get out sometimes and head down the street to visit the neighbors(without permission of course!), we have sold some chickens, Craig, Sebastian and Matthea have been butchering roosters, the kids and I have been working in the garden (I will post pictures of the garden soon), we are preparing to start our school year on August 1st (I am praying that that will come together smoothly) and Craig will be taking some more vacation time in a couple of weeks to finish working on the trailer in Jackpot in order to sell it before the cold weather hits.

Thank you God for this life you have given me.... blessing me with a wonderful husband and the restoration of a fruitful womb.

Cherries and More Cherries!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:11:00 +0000

Well,we've made it to our due date!.....But, nothing is remotely telling me that "it's time".So, in the meantime, I had the children out this morning picking some more cherries! This hasn't even put a dent into the trees yet.So, they have another chore, added to their morning chores, picking cherries every morning! Matthea wanted to know if it was okay to eat some while picking.I told her,"yes,of course!" and then she proceeded to tell me,"Good! because I have been eating a few here and there while picking". Funny how they ask after they have already given themselves permission to do something.
I forgot to post our "desserts" on my last post. The girls are proud of them and we are still eating leftovers.mmmm....I also forgot to mention that we made homemade ice cream last week.I had Craig get our ice cream maker out and he did most of the work.I just pureed my canned peaches and added it to the mixture and he did the rest. Nothing like homemade ice cream! The children say that it beats Baskin Robbins and all those other fancy ice cream places out there. I agree!

We did our grocery shopping the other day and I really need to chop,bag and freeze all of those veggies that I bought.I also bought more flour and yeast to bake bread.After baking that last loaf, the whole family,including myself,feels confident in my bread baking abilities. It really turned out well. So, I need to get some loaves of bread made as well,before baby arrives,and put away. I also need to figure out what we are having for dinner tonight. I didn't sleep very well Friday night and was pooped all day Saturday.So when he came home Saturday night after work,there wasn't a meal. Sebastian and Matthea made themselves (and Oliver) leftover stew around 4:30 or 5:00,but,Craig doesn't get home until around 7:00. So when he got here,Jade and I quickly decided to do bake potatoes for dinner.Craig was satisfied with that,especially since there were 4 different desserts to still choose from afterward. Phew!!! Poor guy, I've been spoiling him lately with all of the cooking and baking that I've been doing and then he comes home (expecting yet another feast) to a baked potato.He was actually starting to call or text me before coming home just to ask,"So,what's for dinner tonight?". Just because we've been doing something new and different lately. I better not disappoint him tonight. Although,I'm not feeling very creative. He may have to settle for something regular and normal.

Right now,Oliver is up from his afternoon nap,Sebastian is weed eating(weeds are growing like crazy),the girls and I are in from taking care of the animals' food and water and weeding and watering the garden.

Life is good and life goes on......maybe we'll enjoy some of that ice cream today.It's a good hot day for that! Sebastian will appreciate the cool relief of ice cream after weed eating in the hot sun.

Counting Down the Days and Livin' Life....

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:25:00 +0000

Well here I am at 39 weeks and 5 days pregnant and no signs of labor beginning yet. I had an appointment with my chiropractor today for an adjustment that was way overdue.I have been seeing him every two weeks,except I had to cancel my last appointment,which was two weeks ago.So,it's been a month since I've seen him.I wasn't going to reschedule until after the baby was born.I just thought that I would be good until then.Boy was I wrong.Within a day or two of missing my appointment,I started having a lot of pain in my pelvis and it just got worse.The past two or three days have reminded me of what I felt like in past pregnancies when I couldn't walk,roll over,get up etc... without being in any pain.I finally called this morning and said that I needed to come in.He told me that I was definitely in need of an adjustment.Everything was out of whack.Thankfully I felt a lot better when I left the office.I'm just a little sore from letting it go so long.It should make me feel a little better while in labor too.
We also had an appointment with our midwife.Everything looks fine,I'm still measuring at only 36 weeks and lost a little weight(which is normal).So, we all are just playing the waiting game....on top of dealing with my ever increasing nesting instinct! I enlisted the girls to help me with my urge to bake the other day and we ended up baking 4 desserts and some bread.We finished harvesting the last of the Rhubarb and made a Rhubarb Strawberry-Lime Kuchen,Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp,Rhubarb Strawberry Cream Pie,Sugar Cream Pie and a loaf of bread.They all turned out delicious!

We've had 5 chicks hatch from our incubator and 2 so far that have hatched from our hen who went broody on us.She was setting on 11 eggs and so far we've only seen 2 chicks.But, tonight we snuck in the 5 chicks that we hatched,hoping she will accept them as her own.We'll see tomorrow morning if they have been rejected or not.

Our goat,Jane Doe, hasn't given birth yet.But she is still getting larger and a little more crankier.LOL. Craig and Sebastian have finished her kidding pen and she has been in there,but,has figured out how to jump over the wall!!! I can't believe that she would even attempt to do that in her condition and just the fact that she is so large,you would think that she couldn't possibly get over it.Oh boy.

Anyway,Craig and Sebastian butchered a couple of roosters last week and well...we ate them for dinner. Very good indeed.Those two guys are getting the hang of it.We have a whole lot more to butcher and freeze now.

The garden was finally weeded and tilled.Unfortunately the kids and I did it the old fashioned way,with our hands and some shovels.The tiller is still not in working order...But,the garden was finally planted with all of our plants and the kids each have their own plots to work with.We still have plenty of room for more.It's a big garden.Matthea has,by far, the most tomato plants.She went a little nuts with the seeds when they were picking out what they wanted to grow.But,now we are thankful that she did,because there should be an abundant crop from her!!!Another cool thing is that we have two Cherry trees that have produced a huge crop of cherries.The kids just started harvesting them today.I will have to get photos of all of the cherries on here soon and the garden.Also,sometime last year,someone had told us that Asparagus grows wild out here and you can find it almost anywhere near water,especially the canals.Well,Sebastian was out by our canal the other day and found some!! Pretty cool! We steamed the asparagus and had it with our dinner last night.Yummy.

We have also given Oliver his first haircut! He did so well for me and sat there very patiently while I used the trimmers and scissors.Now he looks older and not like my baby anymore. :(

We've had a lot of things breaking on us around here too. You know the saying "when it rains it pours",well I was already thinking of that when the first thing went....when the tiller went out,that was what I was saying,"what next,you know something else is going to go"....then it was the lawnmower (twice!!)....then the garage door...then the reverse in the van (ughhh,that is the worse thing so far)...then our washing machine ( which turns out to be more expensive to fix than to buy a new one).So,the first thing on our list to fix is the van.Luckily,when we had the technician out to come and look at our washer,I was mentioning how everything just keeps on falling apart around us.I mentioned the latest thing was the van.The guy asked what was wrong with it and said that he use to be a mechanic.So I told him and he went into detail on what was probably wrong with it and what we should do before the whole transmission goes out on us.We took it in to run a diagnostic on it and the tech was right about what could be wrong.But,something else was coming up with it.Well, we have ordered the part and Craig is hoping that he will be able to put it in himself.If not we'll have to take it somewhere and have someone else do it.If that doesn't fix the problem then, it's the other problem and it will cost us a couple of thousand dollars to have a new transmission put in.Oh BOY!
So,in the meantime,we will be washing our laundry at the Laundromat and not opening the garage door until we can fix the van and move on to the next item on the list.

Hey,life could be worse. One day at a time, one thing at a time and still praise God for what he has given us.Even when "bad" things come our way.

Another Year For the Two of Us.....God is Good

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:40:00 +0000

Last week, Craig and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. The girls and I made a special dinner and we finally cut some of our Rhubarb and made a strawberry rhubarb pie, for the first time! Unfortunately we all ate dinner and then ate the pie so fast that we forgot to take a picture of our pie! It was actually the best pie that we have ever eaten and the best pie that we have ever made.But,on the bright side, there are still some more stalks left on the plant that we can still make another pie and "share" it with everyone in a photo.

We were just reminiscing about this time last year...when we were celebrating our 12th anniversary....We had been planning an anniversary vacation for some time and it happened to coincide perfectly with our trip to Illinois.After watching my son John graduate from high school and visiting with friends, we started our anniversary vacation.A road trip,back to Nevada....we also had a newborn baby along for the ride.Which made things a bit challenging. But,we took our time and made our way through Missouri,Kansas,Colorado to spend time with friends,then south west to the "Four Corners" Colorado,New Mexico,Utah and Arizona(the kids loved that),then we headed to the Grand Canyon for a couple of days (that was the highlight of the trip),next was Hoover Dam and Las Vegas (Las Vegas was the worst part of the trip),we drove North to Mesquite,Nevada and stayed at a resort for a few days and relaxed by the pool before making our way home to Jackpot! In between all of those stops were of course a lot of hotel stays.The kids still talk about our "trip" and we all hope to be able to do another trip with just the family again. I thought that I would post some of our vacation photos from last year.

Here we are a year later and we are expecting another new baby to join our family! God has grown our family and blessed us with these precious gifts.Craig and I are just filled with happiness and joy and can't wait to see what else He has in store for us this coming year! We have just 13 short days left to the baby's due date and everyone here is just so excited and wondering at every moment if today may be the day.God is good....so very good.

Life is Good....

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 21:05:00 +0000

Well,the last time that I had posted I was almost 33 weeks pregnant,32 weeks and 5 days to be exact.Here it is already June 14th (Flag Day!) and I am at 38 weeks.The last month has gone by way too fast and a lot has happened here too (and not happened...ahemmm).
We are still having GREAT weather,thankfully.We have not had to use our heat(for low overnight temps) or our air conditioner yet.I turned the heat off about 4 or 5 weeks ago and the day time temp in the house hasn't been over 81,which was the hottest it has been.It usually stays around 71 inside,so far. That should change for sure by next month.I should mention that that is the temperature for upstairs.Because downstairs is a different story,the temperature is usually about 15-20 degrees cooler and the kids love that. I think we will all be lovin' it when it does get unbearably hot outside and we can go downstairs and cool off.

Our flowering trees that I had mentioned last time have been replaced with their summer foliage,still just as beautiful.All of the tulips are done blooming,we have a group of Iris plants that have only produced one bloom :( and the summer blooming bulbs that we planted in the flower bed in front of the house are sprouting along with the Lavender plants that we planted with them. I spent 3 days weeding that bed! The weeds had gotten to be as tall as the leaves on the Iris plants! Jade helped me out on all 3 days,but, on the third day I enlisted the help of EVERYONE! My body said,"No more Michelle!".We bought five bags of mulch and couldn't believe that that wasn't enough! That isn't the only area on our property that needs mulching either! We have decided that we will call and have a couple of truckloads of mulch delivered instead.But,for now,that flower bed looks pretty good,if I should say so myself!The kids and I have been trying to keep the flower bed in the backyard weeded as well.That is a chore,let me tell you.It is larger than the one in front and goes around the sides and back of the yard, along the fence line.The children loathe that chore,well just two of them. I love to weed, to me it's a good way to relax, and luckily,Jade doesn't mind it either. She and I could sit out there for hours and just weed and talk! Unfortunately,during all this time that I was "working" outside it was causing a lot of pressure and contractions and my midwife finally said enough is enough.She cut me off of all laborious work at my 33 week appointment!She had a talk with the children and Craig and they were told to "watch" me and not let me lift a finger until I reached my 37 week mark!!Understandably of course,we didn't want a preterm baby.Oliver came 3 weeks early and we didn't want a baby any earlier than that. I was not happy,ONLY because I was in my nesting zone and I was on a roll.I had "things" to do to prepare us all for our new addition.Right??? I wanted to scrub our wood floors and polish them too and now I had to wait to do that after week 37???? UGHHHH..... and the Boise fundraiser walk,I was also banished from.I was instructed to,well, instruct....instruct everyone else to do things for me.I'm not wired that way so this was a challenge for me.I did get caught several times doing things that I should not be doing and then being chastised by my own children and then they would "tell" on me.LOL. Well, we all went to Boise for the walk,but I had to stay at the pavillion and wait for them to finish.Beautiful day trip and I didn't mind so much having NOT to walk. As soon as I hit week 37 I was back to "work" and scrubbing the wood floors and moving heavy furniture.I'm at week 38 now and baby is still doing fine.Although it went from being in a face down(towards my back) to a face up position(looking out right below my belly button)within the last week.There is still time for it to turn around so that I don't have to endure back labor. We have decided to go ahead with a water birth and use the birthing tub at the birth center.This should be exciting.I am still doing some mental preparation for having a med free birth.Out of the other 5 deliveries I have only had 1 epidural,the rest I was on Demerol or Stadol.So knowing that I don't have the option of "crying" out for some drug "help" is a mental hurdle that I need to cross and I am moving towards a more confident state of mind.Thank God! I was really wavering a few weeks ago and very unsure of myself.But I'm better now...I think.LOL. The kids helped me go through some boy clothes and girl clothes to wash, we've packed a baby bag, we got a snack bag (I should say bags) ready,my things are ready to go into a bag,we took a TV and DVD player to the birth center and donated it (the kids will now have something to watch their movies on while they wait)We've secured a girl name and are almost certain on a boy name.We found our crib hardware,Craig put the crib up right away. We also found the girls hardware to their beds.Matthea's bed is up,but Jade's bed needs some repair with wood glue before that can go up.Everyone has their bets on what day the baby will arrive and now we just sit and wait.

Let's see.....we haven't had our consultation yet for Oliver.But he is doing dramatically well.We actually took him off of goats milk too,it was causing alot of diarhea.He's been drinking rice milk.We noticed another reaction after he had some of our snow cones.It was on a Saturday and we had given him just a few bites and his eczema flared up a bit.Then three days later we went out for snow cones again and he had consumed a large quantity this time.He had some of Craig's snow cone,Sebastian's,Jade's and mine! His eczema was the worse that we had ever seen it was all over his face,legs,back,stomach,arms...everywhere and he cried for HOURS.So,we were now down to a couple of culprits,dairy and food dye allergy.The dairy,we have been slowing reintroducing that recently and he has not had any reactions.So we think that the main culprit is a food dye allergy.We checked out the yogurt that we thought was the problem in the beginning and low and behold,it has red food dye in it!That was the last thing on our mind.Our initial reaction was that it has to be dairy.Because that is a common allergy.Our chiropractor suggested to reintroduce the dairy to see what happens and then try the food dye.We are afraid to try the food dye at this point,only because of what happened to him when he had the snow cones.So,for now,we are staying clear of anything that has food dye in it,for his sake.Poor boy.He also has been nursing more frequently,he was just nursing here and there,once a day maybe and then he'd go a few days without nursing.Now it's back up to about twice a day.But we feel that it has been an added benefit to his condition.The fact that he's been getting a lot of colostrum,we feel, has helped to clear up his skin and given him some more enzymes and antibodies.He definitely is a different child now that those symptoms have waned.A much happier boy.He has been walking all over the place and getting into things.Trying to talk,picking up after himself,finding bits of debris on the floor and throwing them away,even throws away his own dirty diapers (I'm hoping he's got the neat gene from me,he'll be the only child so far),and telling us when he has a dirty diaper.He still loves being outside. He will cry so hard if someone goes out and leaves him behind.We bought him some new sandals and tennis shoes and he loves having them on and going outside to walk in them.He has fallen in love with flowers and wants to smell them ALL!!! We even had to give him some fake ones to walk around with inside the home.He makes us all smell them over, and over again.

As for Matthea,we took her to see the chiropractor and YES she was definitely a "Crooked" child!!He said that her whole spine was out of alignment and asked her what kind of acrobats had she been doing?? He put her on daily supplements for some gastrointenstinal things that were going on and just to make sure she was getting a daily vitamin,told her to drink more water, and "straightened" her spine out too! She was shocked that she could stand and feel that both legs were "even" again. She doesn't need to go back unless she starts having problems or we notice her alignment off again. Overall she's doing well,has way too much energy,a bottomless stomach and legs that go up to her neck!!!!

Jade is doing very well. She is becoming more and more of a responsible young lady.She helps me out so much with everything.She is getting the hang of how to run this household with little help from me and the way she takes charge of taking care of Oliver is just amazing.Craig and I are so proud of her. She has blossomed right before our eyes and has transformed from a little girl to a young women in just a few months!! Even people from our area that see her on a more regular basis have made comments on how different she looks from just a couple of months ago.Our midwife's assistant just saw her a couple of days ago and didn't recognize her.She asked us,"Is this your daughter Jade? Oh my gosh,I don't even recognize her!! She has changed so much". She has. She's grown several inches (4 feet 11 1/2 inches tall,almost hitting the 5 foot mark, she was 4 feet 7 inches) in just a few months and "lost" her little girl look.

Sebastian is growing just as fast as Jade is,he's 5feet 4 inches now.He has been working so hard along side his father.I don't think I have ever seen him this tired before, or sore!! They have been working every spare minute that they have.They have even been working before Craig leaves for work and after he gets home,until it's too dark to see anymore. It is helping to mold Sebastian into a totally different boy/man.He's learning some hard lessons on working hard and turning away from laziness,but it has been well worth it.More for his sake than ours, for sure.It's a work in progress, I see the light at the end of the tunnel.He has been working with the Llamas the last few days,trying to get them use to being handled.Noel and Bess will now will let Sebastian pet them and brush them,but only if he's giving them some grain while he's doing it.But,it is progress.They wouldn't allow anyone to touch them before.He's helped his dad put up some more fencing for the goats and chickens,they've been building a chicken coop,they just started on a kidding pen for our doe,he's been keeping our grass cut,he's been setting mouse traps out in the potting shed and showing us his kills (loves that),they are still working on the garden...we've had some problems with our tiller,but that should be close to being done soon too(luckily their plants are still alive and waiting).The other thing I should mention is Sebastian's ingenuity! It amazes us each and every time when we are out there scratching our heads trying to figure out the best way to "fix" or "do" something and can't,Sebastian comes up with a way.Or Sebastian will build something during his "free" time and come in to show us,and we are just astounded at his ability to build something from just his head without plans or anything and it works!!! He's cut out an airplane from styrofoam,put it together and it flies! He's made some arrows from twigs and chicken feathers that work with his cross bow! Those are just a couple of examples of what he's done.Just amazing.....

Craig has been doing well too,though tired,but a good tired.In just a few months he's gone from working a night shift,which he has been doing for years, to a twelve hour day shift(6am-6pm) for about a month and now to a normal 8 hour day shift 10am-6pm.We all are adjusting well to this schedule,even though he is working like a dog from the time he gets up until he lays his head down at night.But,he's happy that he does have this time now to work on things around here,when he didn't before.Before he only had his off days and felt as though it was taking forever to do the things on his list.Which it was taking a long time and he wasn't getting enough rest.Now he can at least sleep 8 or more hours and still do something everyday and as a bonus we get to see him before AND after work AND have breakfast AND dinner with him AND..there's progress at home...life is good....

Also, the eggs that we were trying to hatch in the incubator didn't hatch.They all died.Most of them looked as if they made it to full maturity and possibly died a few days before they were suppose to hatch.So we tried again.This time only with eggs from our hens who were fertilized with the Polish rooster and a few eggs from our Rooster "Cocktail" and our hen "Dorothy".(Before we had purchased 6 fertilized eggs from someone and used some of our own too)Cocktail is no longer with us due to his increasingly vocal,all day,communication! I don't remember how many eggs altogether,but,we've had a successful hatch finally.Four chicks from the Polish rooster,so they are a mixed breed except for one.We got two Buff Orpington/Polish chicks,one Golden Laced Wyandotte/Polish mix and a full blooded Polish chick! And only one chick from Cocktail and Dorothy which is a Buff Orpington/Silver Laced Wyandotte(we think) mix,this one is by far the cutest. The Polish chicks all have the "crest" of feathers on top of their heads.It will be very interesting to see how they all turn out.Probably very funny looking.
Our Doe (goat),Jane Doe,is suppose to be giving birth this month as well.So, we've been keeping an eye out for the "signs" and hoping that she doesn't kid while we are "kidding" at the birthing center!!LOL...

Again, life is good,God has blessed us and continues to do so.
Thank you Lord for my blessings....

Happy Mothers Day! "In Honor of Godly Mothers"

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Sat, 09 May 2009 19:57:00 +0000

In Honor of Godly Mothers

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Brent Nelson
May 8, 2009

Mother's Day was first initiated by a mother grieved over the carnage of war, after having visited a Union army camp during the "War Between the States." Her name was Julia Ward Howe. Howe was so struck by the incomprehensible contrast between the rightness of the cause: unity of the states and abolition of slavery and the unrighteousness of violence against those bearing the image of God, that she penned these lines:

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
He is trampling out the wine press, where the grapes of wrath are stored,
He hath loosed the fateful lightnings of his terrible swift sword,
His truth is marching on.

I have seen him in the watchfires of an hundred circling camps
They have builded him an altar in the evening dews and damps,
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps,
His day is marching on.

I have read a burning Gospel writ in fiery rows of steel,
As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal,
Let the hero born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Our God is marching on.

He has sounded out the trumpet that shall never call retreat,
He has waked the earth's dull sorrow with a high ecstatic beat,
Oh! be swift my soul to answer him, be jubilant my feet!
Our God is marching on.

In the whiteness of the lilies he was born across the sea,
With a glory in his bosom that shines out on you and me,
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
Our God is marching on.

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is wisdom to the mighty, he is succour to the brave,
So the world shall be his footstool, and the soul of Time his slave,
Our God is marching on.

(published as "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" in 1862 in the Atlantic Monthly).

Ward Howe, among others, some years later in 1870, called the nation to observe a day of peace and honor for mothers bereft by war of their sons and husbands. A tradition that continues today and many will observe this Sunday.

What struck me in the poem, was the interpretation of the carnage she witnessed in the war: it was the coming of the glory of the Lord, barefoot and trampling. Bodies are grapes. What stark and faithful terms to describe true reality behind a smokey, corpse-strewn battlefield.

Few believers take Howe as an exemplar. But no matter her divergencies theologically (Howe was a Unitarian), the poem attributed to her echoes the truth of Scripture as she raises her bereaved mother's voice with Naomi: "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the Lord has brought be back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?" (Ruth 1:20-21).

Naomi, and all mothers who follow in her footsteps, know well that God rules over war and peace, life and death and in it all, he pursues his own glory supremely (Isaiah 45:6-7).

Once our nation did well to listen to the voice of such strong, God-saturated mothers with Naomi's character and faith. We would do well to hear the same God-enthralled mothers among us again. Far from mere nostalgia, godly mothers are a treasure always. Because God remains the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

It's Spring, Down on the Farm!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Fri, 08 May 2009 21:15:00 +0000

I am soooo happy to be living here in Idaho,where I can actually enjoy a "REAL" spring.Last year we had a longer than normal winter and when spring weather finally came,well,we drove to Illinois for my son John's graduation.I should say that we drove right into HOT,HUMID,SUMMERTIME WEATHER!!!! YUCK! We did,however,come home to some nice warm weather but that lasted only a couple of weeks before the summer heat kicked in.Still not as bad as the Midwest.We have had some beautiful weather for the past month,minus the couple of weird snow days,but overall we have had temperatures between 60 and 75 degrees every day and it looks like we will continue to do so for some time.Yippee!! We have been pleasantly surprised at all of the perennials in the yard.Just beautiful.We have trees in front and in back that have flowered.We also found some Rhubarb growing.I have never used Rhubarb and was planning on growing some this year.So,this should be exciting.

Our "chicks",who are no longer considered chicks but Pullets,have grown tremendously.They look like miniature chickens now. I went out to check on them and they seemed sooo excited to see me.They ran after me and followed me and then started to peck at my feet.It then dawned on me that one of the children must have forgot to feed them this morning.I checked their feeder and,of course, it was empty.So, it wasn't me that they were excited to see,it was me hopefully bringing them some food.When I re-filled their feeder they quickly went away from me and straight to the food.

We just added 2 Llamas and 3 goats to our barnyard critters. The Llamas are a mother and daughter team.Bess is the mother who is 6 years old and her daughter Noel who is 16 months old.They are our guard animals for our goats.Our goats are- 1 year old Jane Doe a Boer/Spanish goat cross, 1 year old Surprise a Boer/Angora cross and 2 year old Zipporah full blooded La Mancha dairy goat.Zipporah just lost a baby recently due to eating a poisonous weed and it caused her to abort the kid.But she is in milk and providing just a little.Not enough for our family.But, it is enough for all of us to practice our milking skills.
Our neighbors dogs got into the corral on Tuesday and one dog kept the Llamas away from the goats while the other one attacked them.The injuries were minor,only because the kids and I were at home.I was napping when I heard the goats and jumped up,yelled for Sebastian(of all times he was in the bathroom),I grabbed the shotgun(that we borrowed from a friend),ran outside barefoot and pregnant and holding this gun!!! I have shot guns before in my lifetime.But I had not shot this one nor did I get myself acquainted with it.So, there I am trying to figure out how to cock the darn gun and thought I did and aimed and "shot",nothing.I looked at the gun again and again.Tried to shoot and shoot and nothing.The dog had a good 2-4 minutes to run around the corral to try to figure out how to get back out while I stood there like an idiot trying to work this gun!!! I was mad!!!The dog got out and went on his way back home.UGHHH!!!
When Sebastian finally made his appearance we decided to have him staked out near the corral with the gun,because he has shot this thing with his dad for just this reason.So, the dogs were watching me,they didn't see Sebastian where I had put him.I went inside and stood at the window.Within 40 minutes the dogs were running at high speed towards our corral and I went outside.They got into the corral and Sebastian shot at them,he missed and the dogs got away again.The neighbor,after all of this ended up getting a ticket.Both times that his dogs attacked he sat there and watched.The law here allows for dogs to be loose,but,they cannot harass through the fence or come onto the property and attack the animals.This man's dogs have been a problem to other neighbors as well. Craig came home from work early that day because of the attacks.He and Sebastian went to work to secure our fencing even more so.Now the next thing on our list is target practice and we should have some bad dogs dead soon.Hopefully.

The children have their seed starter trays going and they have sprouts.They should be going into the garden in a week or so.We still have some cooler nights so we can't do it just yet.

and an update on Oliver's eczema...We got the hair analysis back and there are some things that are alarming to me on there.Actually his hair test was worse than all of ours that we had done a few years ago.The three top things that were of concern were toxic levels of Cadmium,Arsenic and Lead.We just got these back and now we have to schedule a consultation with the Chiropractor who ordered it in Illinois.We consulted with our current Chiropractor and also his former Pediatrician.Our Chiropractor here is going to work with us with whatever the test results are as well as with what our other Chiropractor in Illinois suggests.They both use the same methods of treatment. However, his pediatrician dismissed the whole thing and blamed it on the dry climate and told us to put some more moisturizer on him.We told her that we had taken him off of dairy and put him on goats milk and withing that week his eczema cleared up.She says that she doesn't believe in foods causing eczema.She doesn't really believe in any of the things we believe in and we have been butting heads with her from day one.So...we fired her.....with much relief. Once we finish with our consultation for Oliver and have a game plan on how to detox his body I will publish more then.
Matthea will be the next one in to see the Chiropractor.She has been bothered by one of her legs for the past month and it isn't getting any better.One leg is definitely longer than the other and it is making it difficult to stand or walk.She had to have injured herself during her jumping and climbing escapades and not realized it.That girl has way too much energy.She goes in on Tuesday.After the appointment the girls and I are off to Boise to have our hair cut.It's a two hour drive from here.But the stylist is well worth it.
The whole family will be in Boise on May 30th for the Treasure Valley Heart Walk fundraiser.It's a 5k walk with a 1 mile option.We will be doing the 1 mile walk for many reasons;that's what the group is signed up for,the kids may not want to walk any further,and I will be 36 weeks pregnant. Let's hope that I can walk the full mile without putting myself into labor and that I make it full term this time.
I just had an appointment with my midwife and everything looks good so far.I'm measuring at a little over 31 weeks and I've gained 19 pounds!I've also have been continuing to see the Chiropractor and he is doing wonders. I wish I had seen one with my other babies.I see him every two weeks and just in time for an adjustment.I am able to walk without pain the moment I leave his office and that will last right up to within a day or two of my next appointment.Amazing.
We are still unsure of any baby names at this point.It is driving us crazy.I don't think that I have ever had a problem with this.I usually know a boy and a girl name by my fifth month at least.And we still have not found our hardware to our crib!!! I'm starting to panic.It's in one of our many boxes....but which one.Every time we go through one it seems as if more appear.We are still looking for the hardware for the girls beds!!! and they were not even in storage! The beds and hardware moved from Jackpot to Twin Falls and now the hardware is missing....somewhere in the midst of our "stuff".Thankfully the girls are not complaining about their mattresses being on the floor for now. My nesting instinct seems to be setting in so maybe I can get more done around here and hopefully "feel" ready enough before this baby decides to show up.

At the Park

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:03:00 +0000

Jade and Oliver at the park

Oliver's 1st Birthday!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 03:44:00 +0000

Today was Oliver's first Birthday! Like most one year olds, he had no clue what today meant.He actually did what most of us adults would love to do on our birthdays,which is sleep in.He slept in until 9:15 this morning and I went in to wake him up.But, as for the rest of us,especially his siblings,we were all excited and couldn't believe that we were already at this milestone.One whole year has past,and so very fast,just like we all say when our children age another year.

Craig had to work today,so until he came home we all kind of just had a "regular" day,with the exception of a "throw down".Sebastian and Matthea decided to have a Bobby Flay style throw down and test their food on Jade.It was divided into 3 categories; burritos, salads and then desserts! That was exciting to see them in the kitchen tripping over each other trying to get their food to Jade first for the taste test.Jade was not holding any cutting remarks back either.I won't mention whose dish,but,one of the dishes Jade made the comment,"it's cold and disgusting!" OUCH!!!! They all were great sports about the whole event.

Matthea decided to make spaghetti for dinner and a nice salad for her dad.She did a splendid job,the noodles were cooked to perfection!! She and I were anxiously waiting for dessert....the birthday cake.Which I had discovered at church a couple of weeks ago.Someone had brought in a store bought cake,which I normally loathe,that was to die for.It had a strawberry mousse filling inside that was delicious.So,I had to ask where they bought this great cake.To my surprise it was from our local Costco Bakery!!! We all have been waiting for Oliver's birthday to hurry up and get here, just so we could have this strawberry-mouse-filled cake! We actually almost ate it yesterday.None of us had the patience to wait another day.We were trying to find reasons to celebrate his birthday the day before,just to eat his cake.We are terrible,aren't we?Thankfully we all stuck it out and had our fill this evening. Matthea asked who's birthday was going to be next and when,just so she could know how soon or how long she would have to wait until we were able to have another cake!!!

It was fun watching Oliver trying to understand why there was something in the middle of this cake with a flame on top of it and everyone was singing this song that he just learned a few days ago AND they all seemed happy!!! The puzzled look was a very cute moment.

Anyway,we let him poke his fingers into his cake,and kind of got the same bewildered look.But, as soon as he figured out that we approved of this,he had fun licking his fingers and of course, was a happy kid! Then it was off to opening the gifts! After he had opened them all,he couldn't decide what to play with.He kept going back and forth between all of the toys and stayed up until 9:45 playing with them!!! I hope he will sleep in a little later because of it.

Life goes on..........

A Day,A Week,A Month in the Life of......

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:51:00 +0000

We have been so busy this last month! I am getting sooooo tired of saying that. Since my last post we have lost Clover as well,due to bloat.A condition that is fairly common with goats.Unfortunately we dismissed what we thought looked like a problem and put her away for the night,and she was dead by morning.Of course we all were very upset,but,I think it was me and Jade both who have grieved the most for her.I still well up with tears when I think of her.She was buried the Sunday before Easter.......

We still have our 5 hens and rooster,and also we kept one of the 28 roosters that were given to us.He just looked too nice to kill.He is a happy sight to see in the backyard and is always on time with his crow at 6:10 am. What a lovely sound to hear in the morning!The hens have been producing about 4 eggs a day now.One of the Orpington hens is a slacker though,she has not laid a single egg since she has been here.We keep hoping that things will change with summer approaching.It doesn't look so great for her though.

Craig and I got the kids started on their seed trays.They each will have their own plot in the garden this year.Growing their own plants will also serve as part of their science.(botany/agriculture)The fun part is that they can't understand how this can be school,because it's so much fun.Ah Hah!!! That's what learning is all about,isn't it?
We've also incorporated some life science into their day.We went ahead and purchased some fertilized Silkie (a type of chicken) eggs and borrowed an incubator from a friend.The children were extremely excited about this project! They have to make sure the eggs are turned at least three times a day,and they take turns doing this.Also, they have learned how to "candle" an egg to see whether or not it is a fertilized egg and to check on the growth of the chick to make sure it hasn't died.Before we actually put them in the incubator,the kids wanted to know if we could put our chickens eggs in there as well.Since they are most likely fertilized because there is a rooster among them.Craig and I gave them the okay and they each have their own hen's eggs in the incubator too.So far, we have had one egg that was a dud,it wasn't fertilized.Another egg was accidentally dropped during one of our candling sessions and there was a chick in there.Both of the eggs were cracked open so that the kids could study the contents.Both of those eggs were of the Silkie batch that we had purchased.Darn! But,we are definitely curious to see what our own hens chicks will look like,since some of them will be part Polish and the others will be full Polish.

Our other chicks, that we have kept in a brooder, are all growing and doing well.No fatalities there.They have all started to get their feathers and don't look like the cute little chicks that they once were.They're still cute,just not so little.

We had a nice Easter,dying our "own" chicken eggs made it so much more fun,we made a nice meal and hid the eggs for the traditional "hunt".I also found some edible green Easter grass that I put with the kids candy and surprised them when I grabbed a handful and put it in my mouth! They didn't know what to think.As soon as they found out it was edible...well...they were all grazing on the green stuff.Little did I know, the grass had aspartame and some other cancer causing stuff in it.There was even a warning label,in red, on the back of the package.Hind site! I am usually really good about reading labels.But this was one of those times where I just grabbed and purchased.ughh!Craig even put a small piece in Oliver's mouth and then apologized to him later for doing that.Oliver just stared at him and wondered what his dad was doing.

Oliver has been,well,like all babies,CUTE! We started teaching him some sign language when he was about 7 or 8 months old.At first he would imitate some of the hand motions,but after about a month he gave up,so we thought.We have kept on signing to him though.I guess he just didn't put the two together, hand motion = word. Until recently he has started to use what he had learned earlier and has put them with an actual object or word.Yeah!!! He understands what he is doing!!!! He says,"more","all done","eat". Last night Craig came home from work and had to go to bed about an hour after he got home.Due to his new schedule,he's been working 12 hour shifts and only has time to sleep eight hours and then he has to get up and go to work.So,we only have about an hour with him after he gets home.Anyway,Craig was saying "good night" to everyone and Oliver was upset and his lower lip came out and he started waving "bye-bye" and then he did the sign for more and said "da-da" along with that! "More Da-Da!" AWWW!
Craig took him to bed with him and he fell asleep with his Da-Da. So cute!!
He hasn't started walking yet,although he cruises around with no problem and sometimes you can catch him standing unsupported until he himself realizes what he is doing and then grabs onto something.He also has had some eczema that started about a month ago and this past week it has gotten really bad.So at the recommendation of our wonderful Chiropractor, in Illinois,he has had a hair analysis and we are waiting for the results.We have cut back on a lot of "foods" and are giving him just the basics that he was on when he started solids.That has already made a huge difference.The spots are starting to dry up a little,they aren't as RED as they were,yet they are still there.We are thinking it may be yogurt.He's had Gerber baby food yogurt before,but we started giving him regular yogurt about a month ago.Not a lot we bought two big containers,one strawberry/banana and the other was mango.That's when we noticed the eczema starting.Then he got some yogurt melts,that are made for babies,and ate the whole thing in like 3 days!The eczema went from like 7 spots on his body to like 30 or more,covering his chest and back and some spots on his legs.He also started nursing less about a month ago too and has been drinking more formula.We've cut back on the formula as well.It will probably come up as something completely different.But,you know how parents are,"was it that one thing?" or"Maybe it is the-----?" or "what if it's the----?"
oh boy.The good thing is that he doesn't even notice it.It isn't itching him or bothering him in any way.It bothers us more than it does him.Poor thing.We should hopefully find out something in a couple of weeks.

Well, we have had some beautiful weather here until yesterday.We were getting so use to the 65/70 degrees,which is what got us planning for our garden.Then we were hit with a severe "winter" storm that brought 3-4 inches of snow and 34 degree weather as well.Now the forecast is saying that it was just for those two days and starting tomorrow we will be back to the "heavenly" weather.We will even be getting up to 79 degrees,I think by Sunday. With all of the warm weather we were having before,it was bringing out the garter snakes.We have finally pinpointed where they have been coming from and the kids just keep checking to see how far the snakes have made it out of their hole before they go out to make their kill! The largest snake so far on record in 2 feet 7 inches long!Yes, they are also taking measurements of the reptiles! Most of them are a little over 2 feet long.One day we had 8 snake kills and Sebastian had them laid out on the sidewalk by the front door,next to each other like sardines.Luckily we don't have too many people stopping by the house,otherwise we would have had some frightened folks! I was concerned about the mail lady having to bring any packages up to the door though.She didn't have any that day.whew!

Happy Spring to All !!!!

A Day in the Life of Homesteading

noreply@blogger.com (Changing) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 21:05:00 +0000

Well, alot has happened here since we lost Carmen. We got another goat on St. Patrick's Day. She is a Boer goat that was born on February 18th. We all thought that a name pertaining to St.Patty's day would be nice for her. So, after going through many name ideas we all settled on "Clover". She was one of three triplets born.Her mother is notorious for only wanting to take care of one baby and shunning the others.So, her owners had to raise her. She was raised in their home and bottle fed. By the time we got her she was down to three feedings a day and only during the day. We were pretty thrilled about that. She is being kept in a large kennel in the garage during the night and let out during the day, for now.

A couple of days later we got 20 baby chicks! This was part of Jade's Birthday present. We told her that she had to wait 3 weeks for the rest of her birthday present to arrive. Because the D & B feed store here in Twin Falls weren't getting their supply of chicks in until then. Sebastian and Matthea also get to raise some of the chicks. Let me think, we have some Golden Laced Wyandotte's, Auracana's, Barred Rocks, Brown Leghorns, and Rhode Island Red's. It was a straight run purchase. Meaning, that the sex of the chicks are unknown.So, we are hoping that at least some of them are hens that will lay for us. Unfortunately, with a straight run purchase you usually end up with a larger percentage of cocks (roosters). But, that would only mean that they will end up on our dinner table in about 2-3 months. Which is the ideal time to butcher your chickens. Anything older than that isn't worth eating unless it's stewed or used for making broth.
Which brings me to our next adventure.....

The very next day, some friends of ours, brought over some roosters. Craig sees them at his work on occasion and they have a large farm with cattle, goats and chickens. They have been wanting to help us out with a few animals once we had our land. Well, they called Craig and asked if we were ready for some roosters to butcher.Craig thought they had said 3 roosters, so he told them to bring 'em on over! They showed up with 30!! As they were unloading they had realized that two stowaway's were hens. So, we were left with 28. Craig didn't know what to say except for thank you and off they went and there we were wondering if Craig could have them all butchered by the end of the day. HA! The next day, Craig and Sebastian picked out the lucky rooster who was going to be their guinea pig. It was a large Rhode Island Red. They both did a fantastic job with the whole procedure, that was carefully studied beforehand. The bird ended up looking rather scrawny when it was all over with. But, these birds are for practice anyway. We roasted the bird and...well....it was rather tough. I believe these birds are around 10 months old. The flavor was there, in fact the flavor was great! You just needed a lot of time on your hands to chew your meat! Like I said earlier, the best time for butchering chickens is when they are between 2 and 3 months old. They will be tender instead of tough. So, the chicks that we have now will probably end up in our freezer in a couple of months.
We had the rooster's in another outbuilding separate from our other flock of chickens. Something that you need to do as a preventive measure to not spread disease, before introducing new birds to your old ones. Plus, we didn't want any roosters fighting with the Polish rooster who isn't use to being housed with other roosters. After a couple of days I made the guys take them out and put them in the backyard. They were making quite a mess out of where they were. And if we were not keeping them for long I didn't want the housing mess to worry about. They roosted in our Pine tree that first night.We were down to 27 since we cooked one. That night I caught our neighbors dogs in our backyard.The roosters made enough noise for me to wake up. The next morning we were down to 24. Craig found one of their carcasses in the neighbors back pasture. That was enough for him to go and have another talk with him. (I forgot to mention that, after the killing of the first goat, he talked to the neighbor about his dogs. The guy told Craig he would keep his dogs locked up at night.) Well, he went back again to just give him the facts of what his dogs have done and that if the dogs are caught harassing animals on our property they will be shot. So, a co-worker has let Craig borrow a gun and he is ready. The dogs were not out last night though. Not sure if it was because we had a lot of rain last night or if the neighbor took Craig seriously this time. There are way too many roosters for us to butcher,just for practice.So, we will try to give them away or in the meantime, they will be dog bait so that Craig can use the borrowed gun. We have talked to other neighbors that have had a problem with these dogs and would love to find a way to stop this problem. Hopefully, we can get this resolved.

On a brighter note, our hens have been laying about 2 eggs a day for us!!! I keep meaning to take photos of them. But I don't remember until after we have eaten them. I did however take a picture of the eggs cooked! Today, our hens have laid four so far!!!! Very exciting! We're wanting to maybe hatch a few eggs in an incubator as part of their science class. I don't know if we'll do that this year or wait until next spring.

The snakes have come out of their winter hibernation. I believe we have found between 8 and 10 so far. The kids enjoy taking out their machetes to go snake hunting! We have been cutting back some brush near the canal and have a huge pile of branches that we have been burning little by little. Sebastian takes the snakes that have been killed and throws them on the fire. Roasted snake anyone???? yuck..... We have made a huge dent in the brush clearing. We are all suffering from sore bodies. Even the kids are moaning and groaning before bed and complain of backs hurting and sore legs and arms. But by the next day, when they see all of their hard work, they are very proud of how much we have accomplished and they comment on how good it makes them feel.

Changing with the Seasons

It’s Not You That Needs to Die — It’s the Life That’s Killing You

It’s Not You That Needs to Die — It’s the Life That’s Killing You

Another Season of Change

Mama, Do You Like Your Children?

Got an Old Pair of Jeans Laying Around??

Titus 2 Giveaway

Hard Work Sometimes Pays Off When It's Hot!

Butterscotch's Babies!

Grandma's Summer Visit and More!

Whirlwind of Change and Blessings

Happy 9th Birthday Matthea!!

Chili Cook-Off and More!

I've Entered a Free Cloth Diaper Giveaway!!

Harvest

Just Another Day...Working, Weeding and Harvesting

The Birth of Our Precious Charlotte - 07/03/09

Cherries and More Cherries!!!!

Counting Down the Days and Livin' Life....

Another Year For the Two of Us.....God is Good

Life is Good....

Happy Mothers Day! "In Honor of Godly Mothers"

In Honor of Godly Mothers

Brent NelsonMay 8, 2009

It's Spring, Down on the Farm!!!

At the Park

Oliver's 1st Birthday!!!

A Day,A Week,A Month in the Life of......

A Day in the Life of Homesteading

Brent Nelson
May 8, 2009