Baby Chicks

Last week I believe I told you about our three newest baby chicks, but I did not post pictures of them.  One is two weeks old and the other two are one week old as of Saturday.  I am so thankful that the Lord saw fit to give us two more babies after the first one because I was afraid she was going to be so lonely.




It was such a fun experience to watch the chick peck her way out of the shell.  Those shells are very hard, so I know she must have worked long and hard during that journey. 

What a truth to perserverence that little chick showed us.  She never once complained, "This is too hard, I think I'll quit now."  She didn't give up, she just kept on pecking away until the shell finally broke free. 

We too need to peck away at the tasks we have laid before us.  God will never give us more than we can handle.  He never once told us that life would always be easy, filled with simple tasks.  He tells us life will be filled with challenges and we are to persevere through them. 

I look around, close my eyes and constantly remind myself that this time my circumstances will never be more than I can handle - He is with me - He is with me.  And then I'll need to do that all over for the next circumstance.

A friend recently shared this beautiful verse with me and I think it shows us the blessing that God will give to us when we persevere.

I Corinthians 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Nothing we do is in vain, when it is done for the Lord.  Perhaps this needs to be on a sticky note somewhere near my mind every moment of the day. . .

How Sweet and Awesome Is the Place

"How sweet and awesome is the place with Christ within the doors, while everlasting love displays the choicest of her stores."

"Why was I made to hear your voice and enter while there's room, when thousands make a wretched choice, and rather starve than come?"

"We long to see your churches full, that all the chosen race may, with one voice and heart and soul, sing your redeeming grace."

We sang this beautiful hymn this Sunday in worship service and I was struck by the words so strongly.  I wanted to share them with you.  These are three stanzas from hymn 469, from the Trinity Hymnal.  We received one as a gift from Redeemer Orthodox Presbyterian Church, which was one of the many churches we attended during the years that the General Manager moved us around the countryside during his Air Force career.  This hymnal is so special to us, as the whole congregation signed it and put their mark on their favorite hymns to sing.

Tonight, I read over and over the many wonderful sayings to us and each of the beautiful hymns that each family chose for their own. . . all from each of our dear friends from Dayton, Ohio.  What a surprise when I saw that Pastor and his adorable wife Sue, put their mark on this same hymn and told us in their sweet note. . . . "We have delighted to know you and your family.  You will be missed.  Our prayer is that the Lord will direct our paths to cross again in this life.  Pastor & Sue"   Another one that touched my heart was from Mark and Jody . . ."It seems like yesterday that we were helping you move in.  So many things have happened in our lives to prove otherwise though!  God will be with you in your military travels.  He is always faithful to His children.  We'll miss you!" 

We have re-connected with many of these beautiful families through facebook and I'm so thankful to the creators of facebook and for the technology that has come about for us to be able to stay in touch with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  It is so important that we stay in touch with other Christians - fellowship is something that God purposed in our lives for our good - it's our way of staying accountable to God.   Hebrews 4:13   Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.  

We have three new chicks - hatched over the weekend to add to our flock in six short weeks.  They will spend their precious time in the garage until then, under the protection of wire fencing and a heater lamp, until they are big enough to fend for their own with the rest of the girls.  Two are multi-brown colored and one is a sweet fuzzy yellow.  She was the last one to be born on Sunday.  The girls have all held them and Georgie is awaiting his turn to hold one - that might be awhile since he could very easily crush one with his over-zealous boy strength!

We've had many warm, sunny days where we've sat on the front porch learning, while watching Abby climb the trees and Georgie dig in the rocks in the front yard.  Hannah's Netherland Dwarf rabbits are finally growing and are very sweet to hold.  I'm thankful that we got two because they are so happy together - two peas in a pod.

My counting of blessings continues on - it's amazing to see that I'm up to 189 already.  This has been such a joyous experience for me and I love being able to look back over the months to see what we've been doing around the homestead.  But alas for now, I hear the pitter patter of feet above me that are getting ready for the rainy morning inside.  I believe I have some chores to finish myself as I take care of our home - what a privilege to be a homemaker.

May God bless your day today!
Michelle


#166 - #189

Mom's night out hosted here at the house - lovely fellowship with many like-minded ladies

So many good soups and salads to share

"momma, baba, momma, baba" - Georgie's favorite saying these days . .  next to John Deere

pitter patter of a rain storm on the windows

back tickling from a 3 year old

watching Hamlet movie with all the children

daffadils peaking up out of the ground

the seasons changing so quickly

bitten baby tongue that heals so quickly

a week of sunshine

eggs in an incubator

the anticipation of having baby chicks

dinner with family

reading through the Bible and sticking to the plan

getting my quilted table runner completed

tea with a friend celebrating her birthday

Abby kisses

fun new signs about the chickens that the town can talk about

beautifully dressed little girls

well children - sickness gone

new baby chicks born from an incubator

being humbled to my knees, thinking that I displeased God

Cozy Sunday Happenings

It's a quiet day today, drizzles falling down, chilly damp cold in the air.  When I say quiet . . .Georgie just fell asleep for a second nap.  My body laid down next to him and I too drifted into a nice peaceful nap, until the little girls wanted to take an afternoon bath, or more pleasantly known as "spa day."

Church was so sweet this morning - especially since the entire family could go because we were all feeling better from last week's sickness.  The coughing and sniffles are still lingering, but the heart wrenching sore throats are gone by the wayside.  When I miss a week from church I feel lost for that week and the next  . . . .until, at last, I can hear God's word and fill my mind and soul back up with His nourishing words.  I so needed it today as last week was a rough week with some very discouraging happenings spiritually for me.  God's word is the breath of life, manna in it's fullest sense.  It is our life-blood, that which can comfort, restore, renew, shelter, provide, refresh, and create anew each and everyday.

Our church happens to be situated right near the homeless mission, so we often get a few homeless people that find their way into our church.  Today was one of those days, where a gentleman came in for the first time.  Usually what happens is that they drink their free coffee, listen to the message, get their free lunch after service and go on their way, not really talking to anyone, but when Pastor made a special announcement that this man had specifically asked for prayer for God's will to be done in his life, my heart ached for him.  Thirty years he's been homeless, wandering the streets, struggling with life, feeling empty inside, worthless, helpless, and afraid.  It was so bittersweet to see him on his knees during service - really feeling the brokenness that we all feel in its entirety every day.  No one, not one is righteous enough to stand before God - we must be on our knees before Him, clothed in the blood of Jesus, and here this man was doing so. .  I could see the life-blood renewing and restoring him.  It was a beautiful display of God's healing love.

The table is set, candles lit and the savory smell of dinner is on it's way. . . left over lobster from our evening yesterday will be turned into yummy lobster alfredo. .  my mouth is watering just thinking about it.  The smells of it cooking are absolutely heavenly.

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice."

-Philippians 4:4

Everyday drawings

Every week the girls and I spend awhile in the afternoon drawing different objects around the house.  We've used several books to learn art from.  One of my favorites was Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes - we used that last year.  We are trying something new that I found at the library (free is always good for me) Art for Kid's Drawing by Kathryn Temple.  It seems that for us, the less complicated the instructions are the better the art projects become. 

I thought I'd share some of the work that the girls have been designing.  I haven't seen a strong desire out of any of the girls to pursue drawing on a more deeper level, but I do enjoy seeing how their drawings evolve over the years.  It's so sweet to watch the stick figures with big circle heads evolve into something with clothes, hands, fingers, shoes, facial features and so much more.  We've been trying our hands at quite a bit of shading and color variations as you can see by their drawings.

I love how Kathryn Temple states that "Everyone can draw and there is no one right way to draw."  So often we get hung up on our pictures being a perfect replication of what we see, rather than seeing that our drawings reflect how we look at the world, how we interpret the information that our eyes have seen.  My favorite blog just happens to be called "Eyes of Wonder," and so often when I look at the girls drawings I get immersed in thinking about how they came about drawing what they did - more about the "wonder" of how they saw that particular object.

Scrappy Table Runner

I have spent many moments sewing and quilting a table runner.  I got my inspiration from a blog, Pleasant Home



It started out like this. . . .





And ended up like this. . . .

I had all of these strips in my scrap pile.  Each of the strips are 2 1/2" by 11" inches long.  I sewed 18 strips together with a 1 1/2 inch white polka dot border.  I quilted around each strip and then sewed the backing to the front, right sides together,  leaving an opening  to turn.  Turn right side out, hand stitch the opening closed and then top stitch 1/4" around the outside border.

I liked it so much I made a second one.  Now I just need to decide if I should put it in my Etsy shop.

January Happenings

Please forgive my absence with posting of our happenings here at One Blessed Acre.. . .  the days are shorter and we have been enjoying the last few days of sunny, beautiful weather outside.  We've been busy with school, sewing projects (post to come soon), learning to finger knit, crochet projects and life in general.



Let me catch you up on our exciting news.  Our chickens are finally back to laying again, which means that soon the "Chickens on Vacation" sign will come down from our egg stand and our local customers will be so joyful!  We also bought an incubator and currently have six eggs being kept warm and cozy in hopes of having babies in 21 days.  The General Manager keeps saying that his garage is turning into a farm nursery, what with the addition of our bunnies and our soon to arrive baby goats.



With the loss of several of our birds to the busy road in front of our house, we've been wanting to replace them.  We are also thinking of expanding the flock to increase the egg supply this summer.  It still amazes me how blessed we've been by this stand.  Everyone in town just loves to come and get eggs from us and it seems as if we are always "sold out."    It is so special to watch the tourists drive by the house, slowly back up and pull out their camera to take pictures of the stand.  I would have never thought that my egg stand would bring so much attention.



The daffadils in front of the picket fence are starting to pop up all along the fence line.  Last weekend I spent several hours outside weeding the beds so that the sweet buds wouldn't have to compete with the overgrown weeds. 

I'm mulling over several gardening books trying to decide what to do with my front flower beds.  I truly want an herb garden this year and it needs to be inside the picket fence so that the roaming ladies do not scratch and trample my delicate herbs and flowers.  I just keep realizing that gardening and choosing plants and placement of those plants is not one of the skills that I have been gifted, so the process is slowly becoming a little grueling.  I have also been trying to decide on some paint colors for the interior rooms, mostly out of necessity - little Georgie has learned what fun color crayons can be on the walls. The paint we currently have on the walls is NOT washable - which while the artwork of an 19 month old is beautiful to look at and I cherish these moments because they won't last long, at some point I have to wash them off the wall somehow.

Whenever I get a free moment these are some of my favorite decorating blogs to gain some inspiration.

Cherry Hill Cottage

The Inspired Room

Cherry Menlove

These may or may not be your style of decorating, but perhaps they will lead you somewhere new or inspire you in your own personal decorating.  May your day be filled with sweet visions of spring to come.

I can hardly believe

I can hardly believe it's in the 50's and it's January.  The girls and George are outside running around in the front yard barefoot and in short sleeve shirts.  Lindsay was enjoying the tire swing, that is after she dumped out the gallons of water on the inside.  We are nearing the hour to take Anne to piano lessons, but it's such a joy to see them outside and not cooped up inside.  We've had our share of rain for the last few weeks and I praise God that he gives us the sun to enjoy every now and again.  

I got the girls started back to school last week.  It's much better being on a routine and following a schedule - the girls seem to handle things better when they know what to expect.  I still receive the ocassional big brown eye look of, "can't we have the afternoon off, pleasssseee."



Charlie is growing so quickly and has fit right into this family.  He loves to be inside, but lately his favorite pasttime is stalking the chickens - I think he gets a secret thrill out of trying to pounce on them.  They just squawk and fly off.  I'm waiting for the day he tries it to the rooster, Hawk.  He might think twice about his pouncing on unsuspecting birds after that. . . .



Georgie loves to play with Charlie and chase him around the house.  Charlie is a good cat to tolerate little George.



My little boy loves to help out with dishes in the morning.  He doesn't do much washing, but is a great water sorter from one side of the sink to the other.  He absolutely adores the funnel and watches the water pour out from the bottom.  You can only imagine what is going on inside his brain as he watches the water flow out.  He is very busy in the morning and this keeps his hands from being idle, or from coloring on the walls with the new crayons that Grammie got him for Christmas.



Just a parting thought for the day.  With all the challenges that raising little ones bring, sometimes we just need to know that it's in our perseverance that God's work in us is done.  Through faith we can realize that our children will turn out all right, the laundry will get done, the house will look normal again, our husband will be fed a decent meal and our extra projects will get finished eventually.  

The spirit of godly womanhood is present in the woman who, with courage and fortitude, perseveres through the many challenges of life. She realizes that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," and consequently strives for the principled course of action." -Christine Russel



more counting of my One Thousand gifts. . . . .
#152  spending the day with the family

#153  another year with the man that I love and cherish

#154  giggles and squeels of delight

#155  tractors all lit up

#156  rain stopping during the parade

#157  hot cocoa after a long parade and tons of rain

#158  church family

#159  happy smiles on Christmas morn

#160  spending the evening with my parents

#161  the priceless look on Anne's face when she got her hope chest

#162  cloudy day nestled inside with the littles

#163  helping Abby fill her purse reminded me of when Anne was two years old and carried her purse everywhere we went

#164  free turkey broth

#165  quilting day spent with new friends

#166  Christmas cards from friends and family, even if they are received after the holidays

Out with the old and in with the new

The rain held out and the shed roof got changed.  Our ladies are sleeping under a brand new roof tonight and the General Manager is a little sore all over.

A huge "thank you" to our friends, Joe and Marvin who helped out.  My father is on the backside hammering nails.  What a blessing their help was!  This beautiful new roof would not have been possible without them, and  a very large ladder.

I think the ladies will be happy during the next rain storm.

I have a secret. . .

She whispers in my ear, ever so silently . . . . . .

"I have a seekwet . . . . . I love Jesus."

How I love to watch my children grow in their faith!

Circle C Beginning series Book 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.  Earlier this year she sent me book one and book two in her Circle C Beginnings to review. Susan is a homeschool mom, freelance editor and teacher. 

The girls and I jumped right in and began the first book, Andi's Pony Trouble.  Andi wants a pony more than anything, but when she asks, her mother says that she is too young and that she must continue to ride Coco, the older pony the family owns.  She's tired of riding Coco because Coco isn't able to trot like Andi wants him to.  She spends several weeks trying to convince her family that she is resposible enough to take care of a new pony.

My middle girls are ages 5 and 7 and they enjoyed 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; contentment.  Little Andi learned to be content with Coco because Coco was a good pony, faithful, well mannered and easy to handle for a six year old girl.

So, we dived right into the next book, Andi's Indian Summer.  Andi's friend, Riley shows her an old dime novel about indians that causes Andi's brain to conjure up all sorts of wild stories about how indians capture and hurt innocent people.  One day, Riley and Andi take a horse back ride in search of a creek.  Riley gets them lost, really lost and Andi becomes very scared.  They are found by two Indian boys who try to steal Riley's horse, but swift justice is served when one of the boys' father finds all of them and make his son return the horse and apologize.  Riley and Andi are taken back to the Indian village for the evening because it is too late to return home.  It is during this time that Andi discovers the truth about the native indians that are living nearby.

Once again the girls enjoyed this book and from the book they learned about not pre-judging others who are different from us.  Andi pre-judged all indians to be dangerous and scary, but what she found was that they were normal just like her.

Book one and two 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.

Days before Christmas

 

How does one get so busy with the activities that lead up till Christmas?  We started with the Annual Ferndale Tractor Parade on Sunday  in which the girls and their father were very busy decorating the tractor and manure spreader all day Saturday and Sunday.  Georgie participated by sitting in the cab as much as possible.  They decorated both to resemble the train in the Polar Express movie.    That night it poured and poured down rain throughout the entire parade, but just like the mailman, the parade didn't stop rain or shine!  It was amazing to see how many people turned out for the parade - even through the rain.  The tractors were absolutely amazing and so beautifully decorated with lights and decorations.

Our new cat Charlie has been enjoying the Christmas tree and ornaments.  Every morning we come downstairs to find an assortment of ornaments lying around the tree that he has picked off.  Even though he's only 10 weeks old, - he's figured out how to climb the tree too.  This might be a good thing if we had a sturdy "real" tree, but ours is only a fake one this year.  We just didn't get around to getting out to chop down the real one at the tree farm.  Time got the best of us this  year.  I do so miss the smell of a "real" tree.

The girls and I spent a rainy afternoon stringing cranberry and popcorn strands for our trees in the front yard so that we could feed the birds that visit our empty, barren yard this season.  It was fun watching them work the popcorn onto the strands - Lindsay soon went to straight cranberries because they were so much easier to string.  They liked knowing that they were going to feed the precious little birds that come to visit us each day.

We began a new tradition this year.  We hosted a "Cookie Exchange" at our house for our church family.  Everyone joined in the fun and we had so many cookies to distribute - we even had to bring some to church the next morning.  What a blessing it was to us - we've missed sharing hospitality with other families, as Christ would have us do. 

 I Peter 4:8 -10

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.    Use hospitality one to another without grudging.    As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

The girls occupied Pastor's time by taking pictures of him and showing him Charlie the cat.  They were so sweet as they were buzzing around him like busy bumblebee's.

Christmas was spent over at my father's house.  It's a good thing that they only live five minutes from the house into town now.  It's wonderful not having to travel far to spend time with family and the girls absolutely adore their grandparents.  Even as I speak while typing this, they are over spending the night with them.  It was a busy two days with lots of activity and overload of hugging and lovin' on little ones.  Georgie "vroom, vroomed and beep beeped" his newest John Deere tractors around the living room while the little girls played with their newest baby dolls.  So sweet to watch them even include little Georgie, although, I'm thinking that the General Manager was grinning and bearing watching his son play with dolls!

My stepmom's daughters and families came over for Christmas morning brunch.  Their were so many yummy casseroles, cinnamon rolls, baked pears and fresh fruit that no one went home hungry.  It was a joy watching the other grandkids open their presents from Grandma and Grandpa and their Aunts and Uncles.  While all the papers were flying I sat back and observed how amazing it was to watch my stepmom feed her mom, who isn't capable of always feeding herself.  Her sister and her talked of how they had to change Eunices' clothes because the nurses in the home didn't bother to put on something nice for the day.  I wondered what my children would dress me in someday, and would they be that concerned about how my hair looked and whether I would have worn it that way or not.    God designed it to be like this - family taking care of family - even when we are too old to do for ourselves anymore.

I pray that your days up to Christmas were a blessing and that Christmas was extra special for each and everyone of you.  Thank you for your kind words.  I truly appreciate the beautiful comments left by all.  May God richly bless your families during the coming year.

Blessings,

Michelle

And two become one

Every morning he beats me out of bed, headed for the shower, so that he can get off to work on time.  Every morning I marvel at how blessed and wonderful this man is to me - for 16 years now we've been married and really, when I look back it does not seem that long, but when I look at the age of my children, I realize it's true.

We've traveled an adventurous journey thus far and God has been our guide.  He knew exactly the man that I needed and he placed him in my path - perhaps not the best way that two could meet, but none-the-less God used a dimly lit, quite noisy bar to bring two souls together, joined with an understanding that the commitment we made sixteen years ago still stands today and forevermore.

Thank you sweetheart for the best years of my life, for my precious peas, for guiding and leading our family and for loving me through good and bad.  May God bless us with many more years together.  I love you.. . . . . . . .

Happy Anniversary!

little boy and his tractor

In preparation for the Annual Ferndale Tractor Parade on Sunday, the General Manager dropped off a rather large tractor and manure spreader in front of our house, of course in our favorite colors of green and yellow - John Deere green.  You know, Georgie learned to say "John Deere" almost as quickly as "momma and daddy."  He spotted the tractor out the side window and came calling to momma, "John Deere, John Deere - outzide."  Daddy gave the okay that he could venture out and sit in the cab.

All smiles, from one side of his grin to the other, as he fiddled with every switch, button and lever.  Up onto the chair so that he could grab the steering wheel, down back onto the floor to touch some more amazing buttons.  He was so grateful, it didn't matter to him why the tractor was there, just that it was and it was available for him to play with.

It was truly a special moment for me watching him enjoy his time in the tractor.  What sweet, innocent joy he experienced and it was written all over his face.  Precious, precious moments, I hope I never forget.   The joy of watching my children enjoy life is so sweet and truly such a blessing.   Now I bet, he can't wait until his Dad comes home so that he can sit in it some more.