Thursday, May 26, 2011

One day at a time

Life seems to pass by so quickly.  Here we are into the month of May, almost June and it seems like just yesterday it was January.  We have been busy at work here on One Blessed Acre.  There is always an abundance of daily chores to be had here on our growing farm.  Every morning the gang gets up to let the chickens out, change the beds and feed chickens, ducks, bunnies and a cat.  Sometimes they can even entice Georgie to help out.

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Our newest additions to the family, happen to be two Muscovey ducks from a good friend of mine from high school.  Lindsay has appropriately named them John and Vanessa and has profusely told everyone in the family that she will be doing ducks next  year for 4-H.  I can't wait to see how she feels about this when her Dad decides to begin to wake her at 6:30 a.m. to take care of the ducks each and every morning!  Right now, she has the luxury of sleeping in!

Another hen has decided that spring has sprung and she must give us some more baby chicks - how sweet those darling chicks are to watch with their momma.  It is so much simpler when they are hatched and taken care of by momma than by artificial means through the incubator!  She currently has 14 eggs under her, so we'll wait a few more days and see what happens.  This just adds to the General Manager's farm list of things to do - "Build Permanent Nursery" in the chicken coop.  It will be a blessing to have that built for the many years to come of momma hens giving us baby chicks.

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The General Manager and my father enlarged my garden, double the size of last year, when we added $500 worth of organic dirt to the soil.  This year we will be able to plant more, harvest more, and store more over the winter.  Once I began the task of hoeing up the rows, I quickly realized just how much work is involved in maintaining such a large area.  I wish I could say that my nerves and attitude were always meek and quiet, but alas, I can say that we have worked well as a family unit to maintain this new area, even though I may have raised my voice a time or two.  My Anne usually takes Georgie and Abby when they have tired of helping water the garden everyday; Hannah and Lindsay also have taken turns with them on the tire swing to keep them occupied.  We've slowly over the last month been able to get all the vegetables planted.  Now we just need some SUN and HEAT to get those beautiful sprouts sprouting.

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Some summer plans we have for the yard is a hedge row in front of our main entrance.  This hopefully, will help keep the chickens in the yard and out of the busy country road,  as well as keep the younger children from being tempted to get too close to the road.  We also want to grate and re-rock our driveway so that next winter it isn't a giant mud puddle.

On a more restful note, my Dad's 75th birthday celebration is this weekend.  It amazes me that he is turning 75 because I can remember back when he was my current age.  I pray for his salvation daily; I want him to know Jesus and to be comforted by His love.  He is such a wonderful and talented father - I gave him a picture that I had seen in a magazine, in which he was able to build this beautiful chalkboard for our front kitchen wall.  I no sooner had put the shellac on it and this is what was to be had with the chalkboard.    I know that the girls will be able to enjoy this for years to come and it will be a family heirloom to be passed down for many generations.  Family is about memories and it is those things that I cherish the most.

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Saturday, May 21, 2011

Circle C Beginnings Review


Author Susan K. Marlow, has written a prequel series entitled Circle C Beginnings.  Last year, while serving on the TOS Homeschool Crew, I had the opportunity to review one of her other books in her Circle C Adventure series, entitled Trouble With Treasure.  She recently sent the next two books in her Circle C Beginnings to review. Susan is a homeschool mom, freelance editor and teacher.  

The girls were excited to begin the next two books after remembering how fun Andi's adventures were in Andi's Indian Summer and Andi's Pony Trouble.  


In Andi's Fair Surprise, Andi wants desperately to take her pony Taffy to the 1874 California State Fair, but her older brother and mother disagree.  So what possible fun could a fair be without her favorite pony, Taffy?  Her attitude begins poorly, but she finds once she is there that the fair turns out to be very exciting.  Even though she doesn't get to keep the prize she won, she still manages to win a "blue ribbon" from her mother for her decision to give away her prize to another little girl!
My middle girls are ages 6 and 8 and they enjoy this series.  Susan writes at a level that is easily understandable for children of these ages.  When we got to the ending of the book, I quickly realized the character trait that Susan was trying to teach her young readers; generosity.  Andi learned a valuable lesson that it is better to give than to receive - and even though we are not to look for rewards for good deeds, Andi is rewarded in the end with much praise and adoration from her mother.


   In Andi's Scary School Days, Andi wants no part of school.  She doesn't want to be away from the ranch, Riley, Taffy and Coco all day.  School means wearing dresses, sitting still, sitting next to a boy who puts a lizard on her head and watching him smoosh a fly between hands. Ewww!  To top it all off, she gets sent to the corner for something she didn't even do.  She quickly finds out running away from school is not the answer and hiding in trees doesn't help either.


Once again the girls enjoyed this book and from the book they learned about humility and apologizing for wrong doings.  We also saw that it took a change in Andi's attitude for things to begin to turn around. 

Book three and four sell as a set for $9.98 on the Circle C webpage.  Be sure to check out Susan's other books in this series, as well as the Circle C Adventure series.  They are truly a fun read for children.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

My heart aches



My heart is aches .. . . . . .

She grew up too fast - her father and I envisioned her not leaving our brood until she was given in marriage to her future husband, we longed for more time to strengthen the bonds between us . . to better prepare her for life

but alas,

the world beckoned and she flew with her wings spread, ready to test if the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

She left today for Nevada to live with her grandparents. .  to experience the world. . . the one we've tried to protect and shelter her from.

As she ventures out into the world, we pray that we gave her a strong foundation to stand upon, that we raised her to love the Lord, that she'll make wise choices, and that she'll find whatever she's been missing while living under our care.

She may have severed herself from our authority, but she won't be severed from our thoughts and prayers

Monday, May 2, 2011

Another teenager in our midst

She turned thirteen today. . . Photobucket

a milestone achieved in a young girls heart

to call herself a teenager.

Most of today's society would cringe at the thought of having a teenager in their brood; when society thinks of teenagers often words like ‘problem’, ‘trouble’, ‘attitude’ and ‘lazy’ come to mind.

But that could be further from the truth, for I say "Praise the Lord for teenagers," especially the ones I have been blessed to raise!  It is an encouragement to me to see Anne step up in responsibility and be able to successfully embrace life and handle many situations all on her own accord, with little or no supervision from her father and I.  We are watching her grow into a very beautiful, godly woman right before our eyes. 

She loves her sisters and brother and it shows everytime she spends a moment with them.  She is more than helpful around the house taking over many chores to unburden my shoulders - she can cook an incredible Golden Ribbons Pasta dish.  She is completely gaga over couponing and has a strict "hands off - MOM" policy when it comes to her coupon binder!  Raising teenagers is challenging at times; so many mixed emotions running rampid inside of their bodies - they have to come out somehow.  It's how I chose to respond to all of that emotion and the question I keep on asking myself is, "Do I have their heart forever?"  If I have their heart, I can manage through the worst of the emotions.

I wasn't sure if she was going to make it through her "pepperoni and gold fish" stage when she was two, the stage of carrying around a bucket because she thought she'd be sick and throw-up, the stage where she sucked her fingers way too long , the stage where she just had to wear glasses even though she didn't need them because her eyesight was perfect, or even her twelfth, or eleventh  birthday, but she did and now she's going to enter another stage of her life - being a teenager!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!  We wish you so many more wonderful years.  Love, Momma, Dad, Sarah, Hannah, Lindsay, Abby and George