Baby Girl... And Can I stay focused??!!?

Elly-Bug has a cold.

It sneaked up on me and my poor baby girl.

Last night, Samuel and I felt sick and gross, muscles weak and knew a bad cold was on its way; so naturally, I made us some Thieves capsules and we took them before going to bed.

We woke up fine.

How much do I love our oils?!?!?

Anyway, Elena woke up with a fever, sneezing, runny nose, the whole thing.  I felt bad that it did not occur to me to medicate her last night.  Granted she was sleeping when we took out meds, and she didn't look sick in the least when she went to bed.

She took 3 naps today!! WhOa.

I medicated her and hopefully tomorrow she will be better.  I put the diffuser in her room with Thieves for the night.  It works wonders.

After her bath, I put Lanvender on her upper lip where it looked raw from blowing, R.C on her chest, and peppermint on her feet.  She smells delightful. lol.

ANYWAY, focus #2, as I popped in here, my son looked over and said..." Hey, mom, how come you are still stuck in the Christmas mode with your blog?"  Of course he was right.

So I popped over to see what good backgrounds were available and tickled my fancy. ( weird, forgive me)  I found this background and decided it was the one for me.

SOLELY on the name of the background.  It is called...Come To The Table.

I reminded me of a song sung by Michael Card.

And how HE invites us to HIS table and blesses us despite ourselves.

It wasn't until my daughter put the background on for me ( I am a computer ignoramus) that I noticed the chickens.  LOL.

I am not that obsessed with my chickens.  In fact, I think obsession would not be a word one could use when it comes to the chickens in this house.  They are fun, though.  Funny, too. They are 4 weeks tomorrow, and they look as crazy as all get out.  I think they are in their pre-adolescent stage, all weird and gawky, 1/2 feathered 1/2 fluffy, tall, scrawny even though they eat like I am going to take their food and eat it myself.


As if.

SO focus #3, tomorrow is Monumental, the Movie.  I have been looking forward to seeing this movie for a few months.  We decided to break our lenten fast of not watching any movies to go see this one-night-movie. Alas, I got tickets today for John & Samuel. I will stay home with our baby girl, and will wait to hear all about it when they get home.

But if you have the opportunity to go see it...you should!

K.  Off to bed.

OH! And do you remember our other child?  The one coming from Africa?  SoOn... HoPeFuLlY?!?!?

We finally decided on her name.  It feels odd even saying that because we were not looking for another name.  It was going to be Audrey.  It is no longer that.  Which is again, odd, because we have been referring to her as such for months.  Probably for about a year.

But alas, that is not her name.

As lovely as it is, that is not it.  But her name, it is hers.  It is good.  And it is right.  For so many reasons.  Reasons I can't even understand.  Or explain.

I can't wait to hold this precious child of mine in my arms.

That, too, will be good.  Glorious, a miracle even.  GOD is good.  All the time.

PS...Focus #5.  I signed up for a 10k.  duh.

What?

Sometimes I wonder what makes an American behave so very...unAmerican.

Mostly is has to do with the direction our nation is going.

I am a registered Republican, but lean way more Independent.

I am HOPING that Ron Paul does not get nomimated for the Republican Party, so he can run Independent and not have to monkey of the party pressure on his back.  I will vote for him regardless, even if I have to write his name in the ballot.

But to be/vote Democrat in this day & age makes me wonder...where were you in history class??!!??  Did you pass??!?!?

There was once a time when Democrats, though not my leaning, were, relatively decent people.  The JFK era of dems and before were by far more concerned about being a good nation for the people and acting accordingly, than the modern day Republicans, who would like to think themselves 'conservative'. Conservative?  According to whom?  Chavez? Arafat, maybe?

I read this article recently, and part of me cannot believe this happended in the good old USofA. Please click and stand amazed.  And experience the heartbreak of the control freaks of nature living in full their personal glory of power, in the mean time destroying everything that is good and right about this nation.

sick

My question is...why was this not on every news channel in America?

Why is there no anger and disbelief?

Why are people not talking about this?  Making sure it doesn't happen again?  Ever?

Have we stopped fighting for our freedoms?  Have we become so lazy, selfish and fat in our lives ( and I don't mean weight) that we just don't care about our children's future?  We are living for ourselves and ourselves alone?

Have we let entertainment rule our thought life, instead of just being entertained, and walk away from that and really educate ourselves in truth?

Have we forgotten our responsibility to our fellow man?



...I think so...

When did we stop thinking?

Where are the watchmen on the wall?

Will you consider going against the flow...looking past the moment into the future, and not stand for the present path?

Even if you get mocked and laughed at.

Because let me tell you, getting mocked and laughed at is...ok.  It helps grow some think skin and lets things move forward.  It helps cowards become lions.  And it helps the weak move and become true.

I stand on a lot of Biblical moral ground; but you don't even have to do that to see the horror of the reality.  You just have to look through your natural eyes to start to see.  Think it through.  With an open heart.

Most people today are not teachable.  It is a shame.  Sometimes they even know they are wrong, but pride gets in the way.

And we are all paying for it.

Is it worth it?

The end of this crummy story has a good ending.

I am glad someone stood up and said ENOUGH.

This time, they won.

Let us continue the fight...for our children's sake.

For our grandchildren's sake.

For our nation's future.

If you don't agree...GOD bless you.  And may you find peace in the midst of life.  I cannot even get angry at it.  You are a product of your surroundings.   But I will continue to fight the battle for your sake.  For your freedom not to care or to choose not to see.  It is your right.  Today.



2 Chronicles 7:14-15.

WAY too many pictures

Race day came and went.  And all I can say is... to HIM be the glory great things HE is constantly doing!!!

The brothers are ready and waiting to start their 8K bright and early in the morning.  Can I say....WAY too bright and early.  It was St. Paddy's Day and EVERONE was green.  Except for one of my sons.  Who thought it was more important to have Mets representation.

And the cutie-pie cheering section.  Who thought is was just as important to have Giants representation.  I think everyone there figured out we were from Jersey.

Getting ready to start!!! 

And if you look at the middle of the picture, there was a tall guy wearing a ?? Green Lantern"" costume. I canNOT possibly be comfortable to breath through that when running. But I saw him cross the finish line and was thankful he did not pass out somewhere.

My son and his girlfriend ( super sweet child.  <3)  did fantastic!!!  Going back and happy with great times! 

Once home and showered, it was time to enjoy the beautiful baby boy.  And just for the record...he is so darn beautiful.

Where did we girls go?  Well down the road to the book store, where we waited for HOURS to see her and get our books signed.  I think my eye was twitching from the nerves of the race the next day, and waiting to the point of derangement.  :P  

As we were leaving the next day... DUCKS!!! Or maybe I should say...duck.

And yes, I finished the race!!  Woo-Hoo!!

So many things happened during that race.  So many amazing things, that can only be explained by The Grace of God.

HIS grace is sufficient.  Being a Christian for...26 years, HE has taught me a lot.  And this past Sunday, HE taught me even more.

Like surrender.

And Joy.

And Victory.

And Peace.

And Faith.

Did I know these things before?

Of course.

BUT...

They became powerful during this race.

Come on over and I will tell you the stories.

And the Glories that are HIS and HIS alone.

 PS

15 days till Opening Day!!!! ( for the Mets.)

Torture and a new home!!

On Sunday, I will once again, torture myself.

The last time I did this, it looked like this:

Yes, we both finished.  It was my daughter's first marathon, and my first 1/2.

NOW, I know exactly how horrible it is, and I just don't know why I am doing it again.  I am slightly freaked and nervous.  Fine, I am terrified.  

Ignorance is bliss.

And I have seriously considered backing out. More than once.

Except...

I am fundraising this time around.

SO, no backing out.

In other news, remember when we got our chicks ( who by the way are doing great!) and mixed in was a rooster?

And he just has to go?

We found him a new home!!!

Chester is moving to Florida.

LOL!

When I told John he has a new home in FL, he was slightly freaked out about sending him USPS over night to some random place far far away.

He should know me better than that.   Sheesh.

Rebekah is going down to the YWAM base in FL, she is taking him and he and the unnamed chick are going to be missionary chickens.  

How cool is that??!!?

I will miss him because he is such a sweet boy.  Everytime I open the brooder, he jumps up on the ledge and checks out the scenery, making sure everything is okay for the girls.

And he is cuddler.

Seriously.

I will miss him.

He will be traveling with one of the New Hampshire Reds.  Chickens are pack animals and they will get depressed and sad and lonely if there is only one.  Hence, the reason I am going to send another one with him.  It is at least a 2 day drive and that is along time to be alone for a chicken.  For some reason, we never named this particular chick.  We were never inspired.

Now I know why.

OH, and the other chicks' names?

The Rhode Islabd Reds are:

Vera

Beanie

Carla & Elliot

The New Hampshire Reds are:

Nelly ( who is huge)

Nugget

India

The Plymouth Barred:

Ophelia

Desdemona

Juliet

Vesper 

( they are the Shakeperean chicks)

And the random one who we still have no idea what she is:

Amelia 

( she was a day or two old and she is such a flyer there was no other name that fit. lol.)

And of course...Chester, who is a Plymouth Barred, too.

Anyway, they are all starting to feather.  They are crazy huge, and the dogs love them.  Sometimes just stare at them with such curiosity.

The cats, on the other hand... they are looking for a small entrance somewhere, they jump on top and hope for the best.

They are bummed.

SO, off to pack and get ready to kiss that baby's face tonight.  He is just SO  beautiful, I can't stand it.

PS Please pray for my knees.

Thanks.

give away!!! And ding dongs.

Stephanie, over at Keeper of The Home is having a super cool giveaway!!!  A Filtration system!!

Seriously, this system is so cool.

I remember once, late at night, maybe it was late- late night.  Maybe it iwas even bordering on early-early morning, I got up and started watching tv.  Have you ever watched tv that late/early?

No?

You were wise in your decision.

Anyway, it is just chuck full of infomercials.  Painful, crazy, ridiculous informercials.

And it is so darn late and you are so darn tired, they ALL sound fantastic!!!

I have yet to buy something from said infomercials, but I had been mighty tempted.

ANYWAY, back to the subject.  In one of these commercials, I remember it was for a filtration system.  I remember one of the things that the guy said.  He said, " If you don't have a filter for your water, you ARE the filter for your water."

That stayed with me.  From about 20 years ago.

We have a Brita.  Nothing fancy or deluxe, just a basic water filter I got at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  With my 20% coupon.

Samuel is the only one who could just drink from the faucet.  He said...nothing doing, it is fine and all in your head.  SO, I let it go.

He started drinking the filtered water a few weeks ago, just random-like.

He drank some water out of the faucet this week, and spit it back out into the sink.

Yeah.

Now he gets it.

Which brings me to another interesting thing.

(Not really, but I need a segway and this is good enough)

We were at Trader Joe's this afternoon.  Trader Joe's is like Target, in that I go in for a few things, and come out with way more than I thought I needed.

Well, today was one of those days.  In all fairness, our cupboards were looking quite sad.

After loading the car, Samuel sat next to me and asked me if he could get a snack out of one of the bags. I got some good snacks, like organic granola and organic fruit bars, and organic ...you get the point.  And of course, some Joe Joes.  If you have never had TJ Joe Joes, you are TRULY missing out.

Seriously.  Stop reading this blog and go get some.  If it is late, go anyway and sit in your car until they open.

ANYWAY, I said sure.  He runs to the back of the wagon, and comes back with...

a banana.

I couldn't belive it!!

I chuckled and said "  That is so amazing, seeing as when your father was your age, he would not have considered a banana a snack.  Maybe some Ding Dongs or Ho Hos."

To which he responded, " What are they?"



And now, someone needs to come over and pat me on the back.

Mellow Yellow

Elena takes swim lessons.  It is her favorite thing... ever.

After church and irish dance lessons.

My parents bought her these goggles.

And she wore them ALL.GORIOUS.DAY.

And when her face got tired, she slid them on top of her head and rested them there as thought they were sunglasses.  Until her face felt good again.

Her brother was mortified.

The self-same brother who used to go to the supermarket/costco/target/wherever in his Buzzlight Year or Batman full costume, and truly believe everyone thought he was Buzzlight Year/Batman.

The self-same kid who gave himself a haircut and when he was done, he looked like he got into a fight with a beaver.  And the beaver won.  Yes, there was bald-scalp spots.  And he walked around like he was a master stylist.

Anyway, yellow goggles are just the bee's knees.

And if you understood that expression, would you please explain it to me?

The coop is coming along.  Slowly but surely.  

And while the men work, a little peanut and a Bunny Bear enjoy life on the trampoline.  Dont' worry, she doesn't jump hard enough to move him.  Actually when he is in there, it is mostly rolling around. He is quite safe with her in there.

Look at my Daisy-girl.  Her face is getting white!!!!  She is graying at a much faster rate than Rufus.  Even though they are only a month apart, she looks older.

I keep saying it is because she is a mess.  She is the irish dog, as opposed to Ruffy, who is the hispanic dog.  One is all wired and too much energy fo their own good.  And the other one loves life, loves to eat, loves to hang out, loves to sleep.

I will let you figure out who is who.

 Back to the coop.  Samuel got his first thumb pounding.  

He did not enjoy it as much as he thought he should.  His older brother empathized with a smile.  Because truly, it would be just mean to laugh out loud at him.  No matter how hard it was not to do it.

This past weekend, I went to our annual 'welcome to the community garden, again' meeting.

Organic gardeners are crazy.  I want to be an organic gardener.  

Will I be crazy, too?

Nah.

I think I will be immune, or at least it will look like that because I am already crazy.  In a good kind of way.

But there are some people I have met who would melt or burst into flames if they ate a potato chip.

Truly.

I am all into being healthy, organic and probiotic.  But macro people are scary.

No joke.

But other than their eating/green habits, they are super nice.

And flacky, too.  :)

I like flacky.

SO...

organic garden...check

chickens...check

raw milk...check

organic meat...checking

One last thought:

There is a reason why people call people who panic at the drop of a hat 'chicken'.

And I TOTALLY get it now.

These chickens are truly...chicken.  LOL

Kirk and the Cavewoman.

I must live in a cave.

Which to tell you the truth, is okay most of the time.

This morning I woke up and actually read some news, and was pleasantly shocked that someone took a good stand.

Then I followed the backlash, and I knew he has said something right.  

Because see...the world has taken it's claws out and ripped this man apart.  For HIS sake.

"If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.  John 15:18 While watching the interview, I really loved the part when he said, "HEY!!  I am a great sinner, first in line in need of a forgiveness/a Saviour."  I FEEL THE SAME WAY!! I think us talking about GOD is such a crux for people.  They call us judgemental and exclusive.  When really all we want to do is live a good and holy life.  And that includes caring enough about someone to call it like it is. It also  means finding the joy and loving our neighbors, and our enemies. But people mix loving with permissiveness.  Contrary to popular belief, they are NOT the same. If my son stole something from someone and I found out about it, you better believe I will tell him how that is wrong and not only does it affect him, his character, his life, his morals, his future,   but also those around him, starting with the person that he stole said money/object from, down to some of his friends, who though they may not have been anywhere near the situation, now will find him not trust worthy, selfish and not reall good friend material. Am I wrong in stating Truth? I suppose some will say truth is relative. What if it made him happy ( isn't life about being happy??!?) to steal because he could get all he wants without working hard??  Would it be okay then? And there in lies the problem with this world, this nation, this generation's church. If my daughter was running and she ran into the street, I would most likely yell in fear and panic, hoping she would stop before something bad happened. It is my warning to stop and come back to safety. See, most Christians see stating the Truth as a warning.  When people don't want to hear it, they scream JUDGEMENTAL.  But the difference is, judgement hates the person.  We don't hate the people. Warning hates the sin.  It loves the people enough to care and ...well...warn.  (And believe it or not, you will find most Christians have homosexual friends or aquaintences which whom they get along quite well.) Some will say I am pushing my standards on people.  They are not mine.  They are GOD's.   Well what if they are not Judeo/Christian. GOD does not need your belief to exsist. HE is GOD. And HE will be GOD forever. ( Please know when I say Judeo/Christian, I mean those who desire GOD's will in their lives, seek HIM and seek to serve HIM knowing in the end, life really is NOT about us; not those who use GOD as a reason to be creepy, mean and hateful. ) P.S. Totally random.  Last night we went to go do some shopping at Costco, and as we turned down the laundry detergent aisle, ( not to buy just cutting across) Elena to a big whiff and said, " Hey everybody...smell!!!"  John in turned asked her what she was smelling.  And she said she didn't know.  So he asked her what it smelled like. She said..."  It smells like...basement."  lol.

March(ing) On!

We got the chicks!

We got a phone call ( from the post office) at 3:17am.

Which seems semi-criminal.

ANYWAY, this little one was looking like she was not going to make it.  She was lethargic and very loopy, not able to stand well.  Samuel pretty much nursed her and took care of her for a while, even though it was 4am.

She is doing very well now!  Spunky, really.  He has a particular affection to her.  He named her Beanie.  Probably because she is runt-like and looked like a little bean.

The girls are doing fantastic, and the children are loving every part of it.  They have named most of them.  There is Beanie, Nelly, Carla & Elliott, India, one that is being refered to as 'v for vendetta' because she has a v on her forehead.  

Mind you, we have never seen the movie.  Don't even know what it's about for that matter. Still somehow it doesn't seem like we should be naming her that.  Even though it is starting to become second nature to say, " Hey V for Vendetta, come get some feed.". :p

Elena knows she has the job of feeding them once they go outside.  OH!  and gathering the eggs.  She is ready.  Granted the gathering eggs will not happen for another 5 months or so. lol.  But the feeding part she is taking quite seriously.

We are getting 4 Plymouths soon.

And THAT'S IT.

My father came over yesterday and pretty much told us we are crazy.

He is right of course.

But GOD is good.  And we are joy-filled.

Last weekend, we had a get together with friends.  It was a hoot.  It was 5 couples and for the first time in my life, we were the oldest couple in the room!! What is that??!!??!

Anyway, we played The Newlywed Game.

I thought since we were married the longest, we were a shoe-in to win.

Sadly, we had the lowest score at the end of the night.

But the laughs!!  Oh to have great and Godly friends. 

HE is good to us.  Even when life is hard and sad and seems hopeless, let us turn our face like a flint towards HIM, and HE will give us rest.

       Rest on the Lord and wait patiently for HIM; Psalm 37:7a  NASB