What's going on...

...at my house?

Boxes packed

Bubble wrap for fragile items

Boxes to be packed

Junk to get rid of (yard sale - oh yeah!)

So far it looks like we'll be headed west...way west...like New Mexico west.
Quite a switch from eastern Tennessee.
And if nothing changes in the near future, it looks like we'll be leaving within a couple of months.
We're looking forward to what God has for us.

Until next time...

brotherly love

M.J. painting A.M.'s toenails. (Excuse the messy floor).

Until next time...

some updates

So some updates are due I suppose.

Pregnancy: going well. Nothing unusual. Starting to feel a little more awake now. :) Just finished the first trimester so it should pick up a little.

Moving? Ehh...not sure. Still looking of course. I must say that we have two possibilities and BOTH are in New Mexico. Quite a change, huh? Well, if that's where God wants us. But we are taking it slow.

Kids are healthy.

School is going well.

Animals are healthy and growing. Getting more chicks this week and next. If we do move far away, some friends are going to be benefiting from our farm. :) We won't be taking animals with us if we go too far.

So, that's it in a nutshell.



Until next time...

now we are 4

Our 7th child, N.D., had a birthday a few days ago.

Newborn

Age 1

Age 2

Age 3

Now 4!!!

Happy Birthday, N.D.!

I've got one word to describe this boy...fireball!! lol

Until next time...

a question, a cry, a plea for help (and advice)

I wrote this on a couple of email digests I get and thought I'd try this avenue as well.

"I posted a question similar to this last year, but I thought I'd try again. We need a place to live. We would prefer to be out in the country, no close neighbors, with some land for our animals. We don't have good credit and can't possible get a loan to buy anything. We also don't want to go into debt that way. We would have to rent or rent to own. It needs to be a larger size house, since we have nine children and are due with number ten in November. That presents another dilemma; November is when we need to be out of this house. I would really like to move at least a month or two before if not sooner. If we move out of this area I hate to leave my midwife, but am confident God will supply another one. So we really don't care where we go as long as it's where God wants us. We will do everything we can to find a place and see if that's God's will. I hope I'm making sense. I'll be glad to answer any questions anyone might have. As far as my dh's job, he is self-employed and has been doing construction (trim carpentry) for the last several years. He wants to learn to weld and has a lot of equipment already. He just needs someone to teach him. If anyone has any ideas, knows of any places for rent in the country, or just any advice in general, I'd really appreciate it."



Until next time...

Happy "late" Mother's Day to the mothers

Happy "late" Mother's Day!!

Yes. It's been a while.

I think this is the longest I've gone without posting anything. So sorry.

Between pregnancy, homeschool, new animals, plants, and sunny days my life has been full.

I met a new friend and didn't post about it.

Our animals are growing and I haven't posted about it.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day and well...I'm posting about it now. :)

So how's life treating you?

Until next time...

It's a Secret!!

The latest addition to our mini-farm.



Isn't she adorable?! Oh, and the baby goat is cute too. hahaha
Seriously, though, they are both adorable. I put this one on to show how small she is. That's my two year old daughter with her.


Now usually a goat will have twins and even sometimes more. A Nubian goat, which is what we have, is even known to have as many as four and five at one time!! Of course that means bottle feeding the ones that can't nurse. But for some reason, maybe because she is an older goat, ours only had one this time. We have her female kid from her last kidding, and she has a buck twin, but the previous owner sold him to someone else. So we know she is capable of having twins, she just didn't this time.

We named this one Secret, because it seemed to be a secret that Dignity (the nanny) was even going to have a kid. And of course, as my oldest daughter and I predicted, she had her Sunday morning while we were off to church.

So that's our big news.



Until next time...

of sandals and girls

(No way could I wear these. Just thought I'd share).

It's that time of year again.

Time to shop for girls' shoes. Sandals to be exact.

(These I could probably handle).

I have a dilemma. Where do I get shoes this year?

We're pretty cheap sometimes when it comes to the children's shoes. I mean by next year, they've outgrown them. Why spend tons of money on something that they wear for a few months at the most? And forget about passing them down through more than two siblings. By the time my third son gets a pair of shoes there's hardly any wear left in them at all. So we end up buying some new ones anyway.

Now most of the time for us new means Goodwill or yard sales. I've found practically brand new shoes for a fraction of the price.

But sometimes, it's just not happening. No matter how many Goodwills or yard sales I frequent, I just can't seem to find that elusive pair of shoes that someone needs.

And right now, my girls need sandals for the summer.

(I love this color).

So tell me...where do you get your sandals?

Wal-Mart? Hmm...we've done that and they fall apart too quickly.

Target? I usually don't shop there. Do they have good quality shoes?

JC Penney? Sears? I avoid the mall as much as possible. But for good sandals I could possibly brave it. (Especially if I can stop for a Cinnabon afterward).

Payless? I've bought shoes there before, but they seem to be the same quality as Wal-Mart.

Any other ideas?



Until next time...

the wonders of God

Have you been watching my baby ticker on the sidebar?

I find it amazing how much it resembles a baby now.

Aren't the works of God marvelous?


Until next time...

growing

Our ducks and geese are growing. Losing the downy feathers and getting the older ones.


Until next time...

lunch date

Went and ate lunch today with daddy.

waiting for lunch

handing out lunch

eating lunch (or should I say devouring lunch - this one has been eating a lot lately...hmmm...I might be getting out the next size up in clothes for him to wear).

and a good time was had by all!



Until next time...

things can go wrong

Yesterday's appointment was for 2 of the children at the dentist. At 9:00 a.m.

Up at 6:30. Family devotions - 7:00. Breakfast - 7:45. Everyone dressed by 8:20. In the van at 8:30. Wow. Good to go.

Wait a minute. Van won't start. The ignition is broken. WHAT?! I'm actually going to be on time for once in my life! Why is this happening!?

Called the dentist office and they said to come in as soon as we could because they had blocked off 1 1/2 hours for the work. Yikes!

Thankfully, hubby is still home and since he is self-employed he can take a day off without any notice whatsoever and not be penalized for it.

So after 30 minutes of trying to fix ignition, I and the two appointments head off in my husband's car. Which stinks because he had loaded up the trash to take off the night before. Thankfully it was warm and we rolled down the windows. Swung by the convenience center to dump trash. It's closed on Wednesdays. Double yuck!

Jumped on the interstate. Got to Knoxville, construction cones are everywhere! (Which is nothing new in Knoxville). Noooooo!! I'm already late, come on people!

Thankfully only one lane was closed and the traffic is not heavy. Whew! A reprieve.

Got to the dentist a good 50 minutes AFTER scheduled appointment. I felt soooo bad. But the people there are VERY nice and understanding when I told them all that had transpired.

One child they said they would finish his dental work that morning and they would try to get the other one worked in.

They managed to do both. So glad. I have another appointment for the one next week. And another appointment the following week for a couple of other children. We know the people at the dentist very well. :)

Left the dentist a little after 12 noon with cavities filled.

Stopped by a bookstore to trade books. Found a few good ones. Life is good. :) The day is looking up.

Started home with stinky trash. Feeling a little sick so stopped by my favorite eatery (Texas Roadhouse) for some Rattlesnake Bites and an order of fries to hold us until we got home. Yum! They also threw in their yummy rolls and a bag of peanuts.

So, although the day started out pretty bad, it ended well.

The van however is a different story. :)


Until next time...

a little egg fun for Friday Funnies

Just a little egg humor. :)

For more funnies this Friday, tune in to Kim's over at Homesteader's Heart.



Until next time...

Ahhh...spring is here!

Busy, busy. That's what we've been lately. All this warm weather we've had makes us want to stay outside all day. Of course there are a few chores that stick us inside, but we manage to do as little as possible then escape. :)

We've been buying ducks, geese, and chicks.

Four black ducklings, 2 goslings.


The red chicks are Rhode Island Reds (the one with the green on his head is the rooster) and the two black ones are Sumatras. They belong to D.R., she's going to show them in the fair this fall.


Planting trees, berry bushes, and roses (with some still to plant).




The roses still to be planted:


Fishing as some friends' place.


One of the tiny fish they caught. I think they caught 10 total. We let them go back, though.

And just in general enjoying the spring weather.




Until next time...