The boy got to ride the FIRE TRUCK

Last year the boy watched as his sisters rode on the fire trucks from our local fire department - he was too little. . . .   Last year the horns and sirens made him cry. . . .  Last year the boy could barely walk two feet in front of himself without falling


BUT



This YEAR the boy got to ride the "Fire Twuck!"







This year the boy was sitting next to his sisters on the fire trucks. . . . .  this year the boy was NOT too little. . . . .   this year the horn and siren scared him still - but only on one of the engines. . . . . 

This year the boy could walk and very well I might add - he was very anxious to get to the General Manager to help him out with the BBQ at town square.


This YEAR the boy got to ride the "Fire Twuck!"  Memories that will last forever.

Learning the lessons of animals

No manuals come with animals. . .  No manuals come with humans, but somehow we muddle through in raising both.



In the midst of all of the busyiness of summer days we had to learn a hard lesson with two of our animals.  Shadow and Jingles, Hannah's rabbits for 4-H, we got them when they were just weeks old.  She carried them home in her lap, stroking their soft, black fur, envisioning many special moments with her new bunnies.  She began rising early to care for them, feeding, watering and cleaning a cage - she was truly dedicated to her work, always rising without delay.  Her care became more involved when she found out she had not two girls bunnies, but a buck and a doe.  She watched them grown, practiced her showmanship routine and anxiously awaited the upcoming county fair where she would get to show them for the first time.

Tragedy struck shortly after she got their ears tagged for showing - Shadow became sick quickly and died.  No one in the house knew what happened, until a week later, Jingles experienced the same sickness.  Jingles was brought inside the house, hydrated and feed with a syringe for several days.  Seeing improvement, she took him outside on a beautiful sunny day to play in the grass.  Everyone thought Jingles was on the mend, until last evening when he took a turn for the worse and died in the night.  GI Stasis is the culprit for both of their deaths.  Learning lessons the hard way is not always comforting, but does it not say in  Psalm 23:      Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.   
Hearts are broken, tears have been shed over and over.  What a mess we've made, but we need to chose to take today in its stride. . . to learn from our mistakes. . .  to see the fingerprints of God in the midst of this mess.    All life is fragile, both human and animal. . .   Job 1:21 the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

Weekends are for picnics

Best friends are made at picnics



Swinging high in the sky happens at picnics



Hopping on one leg can sometimes happen at picnics



Hamming it up on the swings is always possible at picnics



Once a year awards always happen at the Year End Picnic for our home school group.  Even though it wasn't sunny, we were blessed with no rain (which is amazing here in Northern Cal.).  We enjoy this picnic as our final fairwell to the school year and the beginning of a rather too quick summer vacation.  Good food, fellowship and fun times always accompany this picnic.

Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Fathers -

For the man who hand reaches for mine in the middle of the night, whose arms are strong enough to carry children, whose tender words can melt my heart.

For the man who dedicates his life to providing for his family, many moments of reading Captain Pajamas, playing with puzzles, hours of hauling trash and unpluging sinks, many heartfelt talks with his children.

For the man who selflessly takes care of our home and farm animals, taking on the stress of paying the many bills, building rabbit cages and chicken coops and often mowing the lawn late into the evening.

For the man who leads our family, with God's grace

along the journey

to growing our lives more like our Father God.

Happy Father's Day!  We are so blessed to have you in our lives.

21 - French Onion Soup Anyone?

She said that when she turned 21 she would buy her first bottle of wine, not to drink, but rather to make authentic French Onion Soup, so sweetheart, enjoy your day tomorrow.  We we wish we could share it with you and enjoy some yummy soup.

Happy Birthday from all of us!

French onion soup

1.15kg yellow onions, halved, and sliced 0.5cm thick

110g unsalted butter

1 bay leaf

125ml medium-dry sherry

125ml brandy or Cognac

375ml good dry white wine

1L beef stock

1L veal stock

1 tbsp salt

½ tsp freshly ground white pepper

Freshly grated Parmesan

1) In a large stockpot on medium-high heat, saute the onions with the butter and bay leaf for 20 minutes, until the onions turn a rich golden brown color.

2) Deglaze the pan with the sherry and brandy and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Add the white wine and simmer uncovered for 15 more minutes.

3) Add the beef and veal stocks plus salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf, taste for salt and pepper, and serve hot with grated Parmesan.

Soon to be summer vacation

School books put away, pencils dull and worn, paper all gone and file boxes ready for storage, BUT

there is always time for one final field trip of the school year.  

Bancrest Dairy, just seconds down the road from our house, long time friends, my very first sewing teacher in 4-H and the best neighbors. . .

Bumpy hay ride to the barn, squeels of delight from the rear of the second trailer, seems we got the bumpiest ride.  First stop, the barn to milk a cow.

For some this might be the first time ever milking a cow, or even coming close to one. . .  for others this is second nature living in our rural community.  Either way, everyone took away a special understanding of all that goes into getting fresh milk.

Little George, so very excited about seeing the cows, riding on the wagon and touching the big tractor UNTIL the milking machine was turned on.   All fingers got to feel what the cow feels when milked, and to test whether the fresh milk was warm or cold?  Any guesses?

She never once complained, she was as sweet as they come, waiting patiently for everyone to get a turn milking her. . . . . .

There was a baby calf, born just last week, that needed to be feed.  I don't think she minded any of the attention, or the fresh, yummy milk either . . . . . .  Afterward, it was picnic time on the front lawn, surrounded by all of the beautiful flowers in bloom, with locally made chocolate milk and ice cream served for lunch. 

 

Quick, pile back into the wagon for our ride back to our cars and then home for the afternoon.  What a sweet ending to our school year.

16 Summers

My gator driving, John Deere Tractor lovin' little boy may have 16 more summers here at home, but if I keep blinking those years will go by so quickly.

Just look how's he has grown.  Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

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.



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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Another teenager in our midst

She turned thirteen today. . .

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

Another look at Coupon Krazy

Today we had an interesting comment thrown our way during our shopping trip to Walgreens.  The ladies behind us were awed at my total bill as it went from owing over $25.00 down to only owing $1.28 after all of my coupons and register rewards.  Then one of the ladies chimed in that we were one of those "freaky couponers."




As I bit my tongue and smiled back at them, I realized that there was nothing wrong with using coupons and I was saving money for my family and wisely using the gifts from God given to our family.



As we got in the car to go home and we were talking about her comment, Anne said, "Mom, we should have offered to re-shop her purchase through the store with our coupons."    That's when it finally made sense - instead of getting irritated with those who think couponing is "freaky" or "out of the norm" - we could be helping them.  

Perhaps, somehow God will give us an outlet to be able to use our new talent to help others out so that we may "Bloom where we are planted." 

So, while we are NOT buying 72 bottles of mustard, we are saving large amounts of money and the greatest gift of all is  . . . .  the bonding that my girls and I are sharing on Friday evenings as we witness to those around us with our cheerful spirits and humble presence.  Our favorite register checkout lady is Ms. Deb at Rite Aid - she has such a sweet countenance about her and we always leave with a huge smile on our faces. 

Life and goals. . .

Life just seems to keep on ticking by, even if I want it to slow down.  My days with two rambunctious toddlers and three older ones are always full of excitement.  One never knows what fun things they will get into next.  Georgie is a bundle of energy from morning until night, only briefly falling asleep in the afternoon for a couple of hours, giving us the much needed time to work through our afternoon school subjects.  He is so sweet though, and if you can corner him for a small amount of time, he will snuggle up on the sofa with one of his favorite truck books - this week's find at the library- two favorites by Peter Sis, Trucks, trucks, trucks and Dinosaur!

We are coming the end of our school year, winding down with the last few weeks of formal studies which leads us into summer and the unschooling fun that comes with just allowing children to learn on their own while they experience life.  It got me thinking about some goals that I want to accomplish this summer.   The plans of the heart are always good to have, even if the execution doesn't always transpire the way that we want it to.

Here are some goals I'd like to accomplish over the summer months:

1.     Memorize Scripture:  Each year, as a congregation, our church reads through the entire Bible, and I am sorry to admit that I have never read the Bible, cover to cover - I must humbly admit this - but my love of scripture is growing by leaps and bounds. . . I want to know the totality of scripture and be able to apply it at a moments notice.  I feel so compelled to complete this, not only for myself, but for my husband, for my family, and for my children.   So, while I am reading through the Bible, adding scripture memorization seems just natural.   So for now, I've started with Psalm 1 and I might just work my way through Psalms this summer.

2.    Enlarge our garden:   Last year our garden included 6 raised beds and this year we want to increase the size of the garden to include, not only two more additional raised beds, but also a large in ground area to plant some of the more invasive plants (ie. zucchini, brocolli, corn, peas, beans, squash) that tend to take up more area as they grow.  We realized quickly last year that our small garden was just a start and was by no means capable of feeding our family during the summer months and beyond.    This was coupled with the fact that the weather in Northern California tends to reflect a much shorter growing season, so we have to make the best of the time we have.

3.     Paint the porch and bench - this will have to take place when the weather turns warmer and less rainy of course.  I'm thinking a barn red for the bench and perhaps a dark brown for the porch - it would hide the chicken poop which if our ladies didn't hang out by the back door wouldn't be there, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  It is so sweet to look out the back door and see them all huddled close together, relaxing on the porch.  I think the trade off of having to sweep the porch each day is far less than the hassle of having them on the porch.

4.     Read two books for pleasure - It seems as if during the school year my free reading is so limited due to putting lesson plans together and reading for teaching our unit studies.  Some favorites on my list for the summer are. . . . War and Peace,  Life Management for Busy Women, Reliving the Passion, Seeing and Savioring Christ and the Dirty Life on Farming, Food and Love

5.     Save Money:  We have been bitten by the couponing bug and so far you can see our savings listed on the side bar.  We are having quite the challenge working with our limited supply of stores - with couponing it seems being in the country might be considered a penalty?  But, Anne and I are doing our best to overcome that obstacle and have had several compliments on our 6 lbs coupon binder! :)  Saving money is very high up on my list of contributing to our family's well being - ultimately, I would love to cut our grocery bill in half so that we could save for something special and maybe just a tad frivilous - not that we need a thing - God has blessed us immensely by providing everything we need . . . .but these might be fun to have  . . . . a vacation, Christmas gifts, a piano, carpet in our bedrooms.

Of course I want to continue reading and working through some math skills for each of the girls throughout the summer.   I'm so thankful that we are living our lives right here and now.  What is on your summer plans this  year?

And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here.

~Matthew 17:4

Bloom, right where you are planted

Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "For everything you have missed, you have gained something else."



Spring has sprung in Northern California and it is so wonderful to watch in amazement.  The days are getting longer and the anticipation of planting our garden is mounting.  Which got me thinking about a quote I have often heard. . .



Mary Engelbreiht's quote, "Bloom where you are planted"



After being here in Northern California for the last year and a half and struggling with trying to "break into" a small, close-knit community, I think I understand the meaning of this quote just a little bit better. 

You see, God planted the gardens and I can imagine some of the plants blooming and wondering, "Why was I planted here?  God in His infinite wisdom knew why and where the plants would bloom the best, where they would be the most beneficial and serve the most purpose.  He didn't give them a choice to plant themselves in a location that "they" wanted. . . .  He chose for them.  Just like He chose to place us in Northern California, reasons unbeknownst to all of us, for better or worse. 


Every day I feel like I am constantly falling on my knees in prayer, asking God to forgive me for my struggle with discontentment and longing for something greater in life.  What I am beginning to realize is that God will show me the way. . . the reason that He wants our family here, the "why" behind our being planted.   He will take care of me, He will be my strong tower, my everlasting hope which I can stand upon.   It is what started me journaling my "1000 gifts" - the reasons for living and breathing - the God given purpose to my life.  I want to remember every day just how grateful I am and to fully be open to His ways in my life.   I pray when I get to that end I can look behind and see a deep, straight path, right to Jesus.
So for now, I may feel like I am missing something, but God knows I am gaining something even greater.  I will be content to wait out the reason that I've been called to "bloom" here, right where I've been planted.

Bloom, bloom where you're planted

You will find your way
Bloom, bloom, bloom where you're planted
You will have your day.

Look at the flowers, look at them growing
They never worry, they never work
Look at the way our Father clothes them
Each with beauty all its own

Each with beauty all its own

Some plant the seeds that others will water
But in all things, God give the growth
Come let Him garden the flowers within you
Come and discover some you've never known
Come and discover some you've never known

Look at the love that lies deep within you
Let yourself be! Let yourself be!
Look at the gifts you have been given
Let them go free! Let them go free!
Let them go free! Let them go free!

#200 - # 208

*    dirty spoons under the dining room table, babas, wanies and shirtless boy

*     chocolate frosting, chocolate cake and Lindsay who is now no longer in a car seat

*     playing trains with George late one Thursday evening after Bible Study

*     birthday girls during the month of March

*     "Dadda, Dadda, Where momma go?"  early in the morning coming from the crib

*     ice cream cakes and eight year old

*     birthdays and another year of serving God

*     talking to old friends early in the morning - so uplifting and just what I needed

*     quilting in bed late at night for new arriving babies amongst our friends

Couponing is not for the weary. . .

After watching the TLC episode of "Extreme Couponing" my daughter, Anne and I have teamed up our efforts to saving our family money by couponing again. 

We began in January by doing several things.  First, we set a budget as to how much we'd spend in groceries and personal care items.  That being said, we also decided that just because something was on sale, a great deal and that we had a coupon for the item,  if the family wasn't going to use the item, we wouldn't buy it.  We also said that we didn't want to be "extreme" in that we'd clear shelves and go overboard and end up with a year's suppy of toliet paper (which when I think about that with six girls in the house, might be near impossible to store up!)

So we  began searching blogs for other ladies who had traveled the coupon road before us, one in particular from the show, Joanie Demer, The Krazy Coupon Lady.  She offers coupon match-ups to the weekly sales fliers, tips for beginners and videos on how to shop.  While I haven't read her book, "Pick Another Check-Out Lane Honey," it sounds interesting.

Since, logistics and lack of shopping selections were going to be a battle for us to overcome, we decided to focus on Walgreens, CVS and Safeway.  We were not new to couponing - we had tried it in years past, but simply got overly burnt out on shopping at too many stores, missing those really "great sales" and having to go back in several times a week, and driving all over the city to the different stores.  So, we knew we needed a better "game plan" this time since CVS is a 30 minute drive north and Walgreens and Safeway are a 20 minute drive south.  I wish I could say that we've come up with a "fool proof" plan thus far, but we haven't - we are still stumbling through, but it has been fun to see some of the great deals we've found - even if we get overly excited over buying laundry detergent or toothpaste for almost nothing - have you ever seen the coupon dance??  Perhaps that should be my next post - a video of the coupon dance!

I thought I would show you a week worth of shopping for us and the amount of money that can be saved by simply spending a couple hours a week clipping coupons and printing them from the internet.

So, for the totals. . .  drum roll please. . . . .

Total Spent. . . * $86.92

Total Saved. . . * $219.93

Total of all Goods Purchased. . . . .* $306.85

(We forgot to take a picture of the items we got at Target which were two packages of Huggies diapers, two Suave Professionals products, and two Secret deodorant and four boxes of fruit snacks)

This gave us a 72% savings on all of the items and we purchased 100 items this week.  If you divide that by our cost, that is less than $.90 per item.  We are so blessed by these savings and some of these items we'll be enjoying for several months.

Blessings,

Michelle