History

August 27, 2007

This past Friday and Saturday we had the opportunity to go to a history symposium on weapons of war, battle strategies, and significances of certain battles in history. Rick, Skylar, Ryker and I were able to attend.

I didn't learn much about history in school. At least not much that I can remember now. History had no meaning or purpose for me. I had no context in which to learn it. When I started homeschooling my own children, history was a mystery to me. World History was not a class offered in the high school I attended. I had no world history knowledge whatsoever. American History was all facts and figures that I don't remember at all. American Government was my one and only summer school class. Needless to say, I have no recollection of what was taught in that class either. (I got A's in all of these classes too.) I've had to get my history education through home schooling my own children.

It was at a home school convention that I first heard History defined as "His Story" and then it all started to fall into place. History is the story of God's creation of the world and His sovereign story of man. This was when I was first introduced to the concept of the sovereignty and providence of God. All of a sudden, history became interesting to me, though much of history is still a mystery to me. My older children know much more history that I do.

The way our family has learned much of our history is through reading living books. Living books allow us to learn about history through the lives and eyes of those who lived during the different time periods. Some of these books are fiction, but many of them are factual accounts of real people and events of history. It is much easier to learn about history when we have emotional ties to the characters we're reading about and we see events taking place in the culture of the time. Then, once we have a "file system" of the different eras of history in our mind, then we can continue to learn and add more information and understanding to our "file system" as life and learning goes on.

Several years ago we read "Archimedes and the Door of Science." I had no clue who Archimedes was or what he did before reading this book with the children. If I had read about Archimedes in a text book, I may or may not have remembered who he was or what he did. But, by reading this book, I WILL remember Archimedes and that he came up with the concept of "displacement" (among many other things).

Let me tell you a story about Archimedes which has cemented in my mind who he is and one of the things he accomplished. Archimedes was one of the first recorded scientists, mathematicians, researchers and inventors. He had a relative who was a king. The king commissioned a goldsmith to make a crown for him and provided him with a block of gold with which to craft the crown. When he received his finished crown, he suspected that the goldsmith had pocketed some of the gold but he didn't know how to prove this suspicion. So, he asked Archimedes, a known puzzle solver, to figure it out.

Archimedes would probably be considered manic in today's labels. He voraciously went after finding out the answer to this mystery. He wouldn't eat, bathe or care for himself as he was so caught up in studying this dilemma. One day his servants decided he MUST have a bath. They picked him up and carried him to the public bath. When they placed him in the tub of water, he "displaced" some of the water, making it overflow. He stood up, yelled "Eureka" and went running through the city back to his home naked, oblivious to his circumstances. He had discovered the principle of displacement. When he was put into the tub of water, his body mass displaced some water. He started doing experiments with the displacement values of different kinds of metals and did, indeed, prove that the gold that the king had given the goldsmith had pocketed some of the gold by mixing in another metal, making the displacement value of an entirely gold crown different than the displacement value of a gold mixed with another kind of ore crown.

:If you'd read about displacement in an isolated read of facts, would you remember what displacement was? Maybe, maybe not. Now with this vivid and fun word picture, will you remember who Archimedes is and what the principle of displacement is? With the word picture of Archimedes being dropped in the bath by his servants and running through the streets naked, it's much easier for a child to remember both Archimedes and his displacement discovery.

I was given a high school history course of study by a friend of mine (Hi Laurie : ) that she very creatively put together. It starts at Genesis and ends today. It is a unit study of the Bible, in chronological order, adding in textbooks and living books corresponding to the time being read about in the Bible. Then in the New Testament and on studies, we add in Music, Arts and Literature of the times, as well as Church History. I have added to it and it is now a three year course, but well worth the efforts and puts all of those studies into their proper time period and perspective, giving history it's context and giving the children a thorough knowledge of world history, in chronological order.

Another fun, living book addition to our high school curriculum, is the GA Henty series. We were blessed to have been able to purchase that series when we moved to Texas. Skylar devoured this 40 some book series over the course of a year. I'm not sure if he's on round 2 or 3 now, but I know he's read many of them twice. When Ryker first picked up one of these books, it intimidated him. The print was small and the words large. He'd rather be out tearing something apart than reading a book. But, in the last year, he's taken to these books and his reading has undergone tremendous improvement, not to mention his vocabulary and understanding of history. What a blessing to see him grow in his desire to read! These "real" books encouraged the boys to read excellent writing and literature and learn much about history, the character of people and the right and wrong principles that people live by. Next, we want to purchase the Ballantyne Series to add to our living history book collection.

Back to the seminar we attended. Skylar, having read the Henty series, had a much better "file system" in his head in which to assimilate and understand the wars, weapons of war and tactics of war than I did. Even the names of historic people and battles were new to me. Skylar was very familiar with them already, so he was able to soak in much more than I. Being able to attend this seminar was a blessing to us and a valuable addition to our understanding of History.

I've come to realize that the study of History is of utmost importance for us and our children and future generations. If we don't know our history, our past, where we've come from, those that have gone before us, we will miss much truth in the Scriptures and we will make many of the same mistakes of past generations. We won't have the "file system" or context in place in which to correctly interpret and understand both the Scriptures and modern day events and philosophies. We must know about and understand the cultures of the peoples in the Bible. We must know and understand the philosophies of different peoples through history in order to know, interpret and understand the philosophies of today. When we study History, we are able to recognize strengths and weaknesses, rights and wrongs, truths and errors of past generations in the light of Scripture. This makes it much easier to know when we are headed into dangerous territories of errors committed by prior generations or when we are holding up the banner of truth for this and future generations.

May you see the study of history in a new light, the light of knowing that History is really "His Story." How exciting to learn about the story of creation written by God!

Fire in Bandera!

August 29, 2007

On Monday, Rick, Skylar, Ryker and Callan all drove to Bandera to meet someone regarding some possible work for our new family business, Seargeant Family Enterprises. They parked the van on Main Street in Bandera and drove to the work location with the man they were meeting. While at the work location, they noticed smoke coming from what appeared to be downtown Bandera. Rick joked that maybe it was his van on fire.

A friend from church was meeting us at our van so he could look at the job with us and help us know how to bid the work. Upon returning to Bandera, they found the van covered with soot and Eric right across the street from the fire. Three businesses were on fire, one of which was the Old Spanish Trail Restaurant (known as the OST to the locals) and was then ushered out when the fire started. Eric had gone into the OST for a drink while waiting for us. He was then escorted out due to the fire, which apparently started in the shed or alley behind the business.

Our prayers go out to the business owners as they attempt to rebuild their businesses.

Internet Technology

August 29, 2007

Callan recently discovered a technology boo-boo that we made in our blogging. Those of you who view in Internet Explorer were probably aware of our problem. We use Mozilla Firefox as our browser and all looked well in that browser. Callan thought to check on the website using Internet Explorer and discovered that our website was viewing differently with that browser due to some html codes not being copied into the final version. Mozilla Firefox seems to be a little more forgiving and this mistake didn't affect it's viewing (at least on our screen). Well, all things seem to be fixed now. If you happen to see something on the website that isn't viewing correctly, would you kindly drop us an email and let us know so we can get it resolved quickly? Thanks so much for your patience with our technology learning curve here!

Wild Game

August 27, 2007

Four miles up the road is a wild game ranch. When we drive by, the children are always looking to see if they can spot a wild game animal. We've seen zebra, ostrich, deer, elk-like animals, deer-like animals with spirally horns, deer-like animals on steroids, and many other unknowns. We really do need to learn what these animals are! Regardless of whether we know what their official names are, we still like to watch for these animals when we drive by the game ranch fence. Usually these animals run back into the brush when they hear the vehicle coming. Sometimes, they (especially the ostriches) race us down the road. Other times, they stand and pose for us. Usually, we don't have our camera, but on this occasion, we did.

Considerately Posing Just for Us

I have no clue what this animal is, but we had fun admiring God's creativity and our opportunity to stop and watch this majestic animal pose for us.

A True Companion

August 22, 2007

In a letter to her son, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller wrote these words:

“I am happy and contented wherever your father happens to be. He means home to me. I really feel sorry for the unhappy people who cannot find companionship in their married lives. I do not believe it is something that happens. I think it is something that is achieved.”

This reminds me of something my mother-in-law has said, quoting a friend of hers who remarked that even a Quonset hut looks pretty good if a husband is in it. I would add, especially if your husband is your best and true companion.

From the blog of Nancy Wilson. FEMINA

Texas Car Wash

Aug 20, 2007

Yesterday, we were driving out the 4 miles of limestone road to the north heading for church. There are two low-water crossings to ford going this direction. The first crossing is pure, solid bedrock limestone. When we arrived at the first water crossing, there was a man with a nice blue pickup truck parked off to the side in the middle of the water. This seemed just a little odd to us. He wasn't in the younger crowd who will come out to wade when they know the creeks have risen. We decided we'd better ask and see if he needed any help. He said, "No thank you. I'm just washing my truck!" Somehow it had never occurred to us to wash our vehicles in the creeks when the water was up. But, since, we're hauling our own water, it makes perfect sense! We must still have some learnin' to do if we want to think like Texans!

Swimming in the Road

Aug 18, 2007

Verde Creek, which is usually a dry river bed but this year has been flowing pretty consistently, finally dried up last week after a couple of months of running. Last week, we were able to drive in and out without getting the vehicles wet. But, Tropical Storm Erin fixed all that. Verde Creek is flowing again, and quite swiftly, I might add.

When it rains big, the children hear the river calling, "Please, come wade in me!" Today, being Saturday, that call was louder than usual. The creek was flowing swiftly enough that the younger girls were able to body surf in the road. That was big fun. The little boys were small enough that they waded at the edges of the road hunting for rocks to sell : ). The swiftness of the water had swept lots of river rock down onto the road so this kept Jackson busy the whole time we were there. Anybody want to buy a real Texas pet rock or two? Jackson has lots he wants to sell! Darby, went wherever she pleased, but she mostly went wherever rocks were thrown. She detests her bath, but give her a creek and she suddenly becomes a water dog.

Walking Down the Road

Sitting in the Road

Its a Dog's Life!

There are some fun perks to all this rain we've been having!

The Shed Foundation

August 18, 2007

Today, the guys worked on the pier and beam foundation to our new/used shed. Rick has been drawing up plans on how to build and modify the shed. We have a couple of photos to share, but beware, this photographer was just a little off kilter. Methinks he needs a few more lessons on what straight is ~ hopefully before he starts work on the shed! You may have to cock your head a little to see them straight : )

Skylar Working on the Piers

Piers

The Shed Will Sit Next to the Tent

"As a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But, let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." I Corinthians 3:10b-11

A Man and His Chick

August 18, 2007

We have a hen destined for the stew pot as she set on her eggs and then proceeded to kill several chicks as they hatched. We managed to save two of them and we brooded them ourselves in a little dog carrier. Then, during the rains, one of them fell into a bucket of rainwater and drowned, leaving this poor, lonely little chick an orphan. It decided that it since it was all alone in the world, probably not understanding that it was a chicken like so many of the other birds around here, that it must be around the people here. Thus, it declared the tent home. We tried putting it out and it would find a way right back in. Then it actually became useful. It ate crumbs and ants off the floor. Our dog won't even do that! We've tried many names for this chicken: Hoover; Eureka; El Polla Loca, Goldie (Hi, Goldie : ), Tent Chicken, etc. But, so far nothing has stuck.

Surprisingly, Rick became attached to this chick, and can often be found holding and petting this chick when he's home. So, since the previous post was entitled "A Boy and His Chickens" we thought it fitting that the next post be "A Man and His Chick".

A Man and His Chick

A Boy and His Chickens

Aug 18, 2007

We have Ryker and Darby, a boy and his dog.

Then we have Harrison
and Phyllis Diller,
a boy and his chicken.

With our order of chicks this year, we decided to order a few froo-froo chickens ~ non-egg, non-meat birds ~ just for-fun birds. Callan liked the Top Hats. They have feathers that look like little top hats on their heads. They looked really cute in the catalog. They were really cute as chicks. But, as adult chickens, they are to be pitied. Their top hats make it so their line of sight is very limited ~ like to the side and down at the ground ~ line of sight. We need to invent a chicken barrette so these poor birds can see.

The little boys really like the Top Hats. Since they can't see little boys coming, they don't run when little boys approach to pick them up. Thus, they get picked up and loved on alot! Shhhhhh.......The little boys just think these chickens like them more than the big chickens who can see them coming and run away from them. Don't tell them that it's just cuz these poor birds can't see them coming! We saw a Roadrunner cross the road the other day. We decided that the Top Hats must be part Roadrunner as their body styles are very similar.

We have three Top Hats. The Top Hats have had various names: Phyllis Diller (she used to scare me when I was little); Phyllis Griller (don't ask me why!); Frizzle, Frazzle and Fruzzle; Dumb, Dumber and Dumbest; Manny, Moe and Jack; See no evil, Speak no evil, Hear no evil. How about a name the Top Hat contest? If you have a great name suggestion for our poor birds, or want to vote on one that we've come up with, email us with your suggestion or vote.

The little boys do manage to catch some of the big chickens some of the time. They love carrying one of their chickens around. When I ask Harrison if he loves his chickens, he gets this big grin on his face and cutely replies, "Yeeesss!"

Chickens Roosting in a Cedar Tree

Baking Bread

August 18, 2007

We buy whole wheat, grind it and make our own bread. Fresh ground whole wheat bread is very nutritious and very filling. The smell of fresh baked bread is wonderful! The taste of hot fresh bread with butter is stupendous! So much better than anything you can buy in the store! Here's some photos from this week's bread baking day.

Bread Sponge Proofing

Bread Kneading

First Rising

Second Rising in Cast Iron Skillets

Can You Smell It? mmmm.....

While homemade fresh ground whole wheat bread is nutritious and smells and tastes wonderful, there is an eternal bread that is even more wonderful. The Word of God and Christ His Son.

"Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live." Deuteronomy 8:3

"But, He answered and said, 'It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.'" Matthew 4:4

"Then Jesus said unto them, 'Verily, Verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.' Then said they unto Him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, 'I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.'" John 6:32-35

Just as the wheat needs yeast to rise into beautiful bread, so we, too, need the Son of God and His Word, to rise eternally into new life. If you haven't considered your need for "every word that proceedethout of the mouth of God" as your substinance for eternity, might I encourage you to do so today? "I AM the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst!"

Flat Tires 10 & 11

August 18, 2007

Flat Tire 10

Yes, we've had more flat tires. Flat tires #10 & #11 on our dump trailer are our most recent trailer flats. Then we had the front tire on the van coming apart during our recent shed extradition. It didn't actually go flat, it went bumpidity, bump......down the road. So, while this one was not an official flat (thank you, Lord) it still requires getting two new front tires on the van. We're looking forward to a month without having to purchase a new tire, or fix an old (or new) one! I hope September is that month!

Driveway Reflections

August 18, 2007

Compliments of Tropical Storm Erin

This past week we faced Tropical Storm Erin. She brought us lots more water. As if we didn't already have enough? Hondo registered 7.5" of rain on Thursday. Hondo was where the eye of Erin decided to stay for most of Thursday night. During the fleeting moments of internet service, we would watch the doppler radar show the eye of Erin circling above us. It was quite spectacular.

Rick came home from work a couple of hours early for fear of the creeks rising and flooding him out. It was a good thing he did. Around 4:30 p.m. the rain changed from hard to harder and the rain came down in buckets. We again, became a lake. The creeks rose high and our driveway became a river again.

Rick was late to work the next day, and probably shouldn't have gone in at all as the Verde Creek was swollen. He managed to get through the creek and on into work, but learned a little more about what the limits are for driving across this low water bridge.

Now, all eyes are on Hurricane Dean, expected this week. Only God knows where Hurricane Dean will land. They're saying anywhere from Mexico to Louisiana, with Texas in between.

Budding Artists

August 18, 2007

Harrison Hard at Play

Jackson Focused on Painting

Jackson

Harrison - Isn't That Smile CUTE!

Works of Art on Display

I purchased some little dollar paint sets for the little boys a few weeks ago. Within a day, they'd already used up some of the colors of paint. This made Jackson very sad. He learned a lesson about thankfulness through this experience. Once he learned to be thankful for the time he did have with the paint, instead of being upset that he no longer had any yellow paint, I decided to see if we could make our own paints.

I went online and found a recipe for homemade watercolor paints. We mixed up a couple of colors and made our own watercolor paint set in an old styrofoam egg carton. Because of our recent high humidity, it took several days to dry, when it should dry overnight. But once dry, they worked great! And the children had a blast! Next, we'll learn how to mix primary colors to make secondary colors and they can create their own custom colors.

Watercolor Paint Recipe

2 T baking soda
1 T white vinegar
1 T corn starch
1/4 T glycerin
food coloring
styrofoam egg carton

1. Mix vinegar and baking soda together in small bowl.
2. When mixture stops foaming, add cornstarch and glycerine. Mix Well.
3. Pour mixture into egg carton.
4. Add desired food coloring. Stir until the color is well mixed. Be sure to add plenty of coloring as the tint will lighten upon drying. For intense colors try using kool-aid or Wilton's Cake Decorating Food Color.
5. Put paints to dry overnight.
6. Happy Painting!

Texas Bugs

August 11, 2007

As with everything else here in Texas, Texas bugs are big. But, then there are the little Texas bugs, like chiggers, too, evil creatures that they are.

Yesterday, I spied a scorpion scurrying along the tent seam behind the metal frame. I captured it in a cup and then gave the chickens a treat. Did you know that chickens are much like children, or children are much like chickens, in that their natural instinct is to want what the other chicken/child has? The scenario goes like this: Chicken #1 spies the tossed scorpion and snatches it up. Chicken #2 decides that the scorpion belongs to her and snatches said scorpion from Chicken #1, running away with it's prize as fast as can be. That's until Chicken #3 or #1 (if it's able) snatches the scorpion once again. This goes on until the dominate chicken gets ahold of the prize, or until the prize is in numerous pieces and several chickens are satisfied that they got the prize, even if it was a small piece of the prize. Chickens make great object lessons for our children!

Speaking of children and bugs. On Wednesday when we were almost home from our first trip to San Antonio to work on moving our new shed, I saw Ryker, out of the corner of my eye grab a Target bag and quickly empty it's contents. That could only mean one thing.......someone was tossing their ice cream. That someone was Harrison. We were almost home, but he didn't quite make it. That started our most recent dealings with the Texas bug, the flubug.

When we got home, I was told that Jackson hadn't felt well that day either, but his symptoms were milder than Harrisons. Thursday, all was well. Then came Friday. The day started with Larissa saying that she didn't feel well. Midmorning, I started to feel queasy, though I tried to pretend I didn't. By the boys' naptime, I finally had to admit that this bug had caught me too. Galilee was added to our numbers by the end of naptime. Mom and 3 kids on a queen-sized bed. I sure was glad when Jackson and Harrison felt better after naptime and it was down to 2 of us on that bed. Today, Saturday, it was Ashley and Delaney's turn. The guys went to San Antonio and got the last pieces of shed and returned home. Then Ryker decided he wasn't feeling well either. At this writing, this Texas Bug still has 3 Seargeants yet to get. If I were a betting person, I'd bet this bug gets them by Sunday, or Monday at the latest. We sure are thankful that Rick got the trailer's overhead a/c working last week. That makes being sick at least a little more comfortable.

Some Texas bugs are really cool ~ like the Texas Garden Spider. Others are just plain nasty ~ like Chiggers and that even smaller, nastier Flubug.

Here's a great big "Thank You" to the Horn family who generously offered to trade after-church clean-up duty with us this Sunday. We really didn't want to share this bug with anybody!

Wild Hogs

Aug 11, 2007

In the hopes of generating some extra income, Ryker has been trapping wild hogs on our land. He has been successful, though, not as successful as he would like. So, far, he has trapped 10 piglets (who are all too small to sell for slaughter but are now keeping our cow company) and 5 hogs (three of which were sold to the slaughter house, one, big, flying boar, which escaped while in transit to the slaughter house and one which is now in our freezer).

The First of the baby pigs that Ryker caught. He thought he was a cow before the other piglets came along.

The not quite so small anymore piglets

One, big happy herd

Maia, our pregnant cow, due the end of October.

Cheese!

With just a little hog butchering experience behind them, Skylar and Ryker asked Andrew Torres if he wanted to help them butcher their hog. So, we had the Torres Family out to the ranch. Needless to say, we now have one less hog to feed. It, instead, will be feeding us! This was a wonderful blessing as our freezers were becoming quite empty. Thank you Andrew for all of your help. Thank you also, to the entire Torres Family, for all of the water that you have graciously given to us, for the baking days and the use of your oven and the wonderful blessing you have been to the Seargeant Family.

God Grown Watermelon

August 11, 2007

It has been sheer torture for Callan to have 20 acres but no garden or fruit trees or berry bushes. She desperately wants a garden. But, gardens take water and we are currently hauling all of our water. Had we known we were going to have such a wet spring, we would have planted a garden as we would have had plenty of water. Instead, God gave us His garden. A huge watermelon plant that He sprouted in an area we'd filled with rocks and dirt. Rick discovered the watermelon plant first. Then we watched God water the plant and grow the melons, all with rainwater. We didn't water the plant once!

This watermelon weighed 20 pounds!
And boy was it sweet

Oh, the anticipation!

The Taste Test

God Grown Watermelon at its Best!

Thank you God for the little reminders of how You care for us! Like sweet, juicy, blessed watermelons!

A Free Shed

August 11, 2007

Last week I found a "Free Shed" on Craigslist in San Antonio. It actually looked really, really, nice for something free. So, I emailed and told the poster that we were interested. When I didn't hear back and the ad was removed from Craigslist, I deduced that we were too late. Oh, well. God is sovereign and if it was meant for us, we would have gotten there first.

Then, Tuesday morning, I received an email telling me the shed was still available. Yeah! Rick called and was told there were a couple of others coming to look at it and they had first dibs. Drat! But, I reminded myself that if God wanted it to be ours, then it would be. Later on in the day Rick spoke to the poster who told him that if no one was tearing the shed down when he got there, then it was ours. Yeah! Rick and the boys were driving to San Antonio for a Bible Study, so they drove to see the shed first. No one was tearing it down, so, it's ours! Yeah!

On Wednesday, Skylar, Ryker, Harrison, Delaney and I all drove to San Antonio to start disassembling the shed. It's about 10'x14', sheetrocked on the inside and wired for electricity. Rick said that it's built like a *house* and that all we have to do is move it : ) I like the fact that it's well built. But, I sure am praying that this is just a stepping stone to the REAL house : )

On Thursday, Skylar, Ryker, Jackson, Galilee and I headed for San Antonio again. We were slightly delayed with a front tire on the van coming apart. I had been feeling that the van wasn't driving smoothly but Rick hadn't had time to take a look at it in the daylight. Thankfully, Rick asked me to drive to his work before heading to town so he could see if he could figure out what the problem might be. That's when he discovered the tire coming apart. Thank you, God, for protecting us from that tire coming apart while hauling a heavy trailer! So, we swapped out the spare for the warped and dying tire and then headed for town. We ordered new tires at Costco, gathered up the old insulation and headed towards the dump with the parts of the shed that we will be replacing with new materials. The boys were really, Really, REALLY thankful for our dump trailer and the quick work it made of dumping our trash at the landfill. Ryker commented on how we were in and out of that stinking place in short order while others were still just beginning to unload by hand their trash. Thank you, Lord, for a dump trailer!

Friday, Rick, Skylar and Ryker headed for SA again. This time they totally disassembled the shed and came home with wall panels. Today, Saturday, The guys headed in again for the roof and the last of the debris.

Now, here's the hard part. Deciding HOW to use the shed! What is it best suited for? What is our biggest, highest priority need? ~How do we narrow THAT down?~ Where should we put it? I think we may get a different answer from every family member regarding those questions! The guys want a tool shed. The girls want a utility shed and clothes closet. But, I think the utility shed will win in the necessary category. Not only will having a place to store our clothing free up 1/4 of the tent that is now dedicated to clothing storage, but the shed is EXACTLY the size Rick had drawn up for a utility shed! How's that for God providing? All for sweat equity, gas and a few new materials! It's hard to imagine having a REAL building larger than our outhouse! It may take awhile for that thought to sink in : ) Oh, Joy!

"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen." Phillipians 4:19

Now, to get that shed put back to together and functioning!!!

Butchering Chickens
&
Fingers

August 10, 2007

We have been enjoying home-grown meat chickens this year. We purchased 3 breeds of day-old meat chicks. Cornish Crosses are fast-growing eating machines that get so big, so fast, they can hardly walk and can have heart attacks if not fed correctly. They are a great real-life lesson for children as to what a glutton is! They live for food. Cornish Roasters are a healthier bird than the Crosses, but grow 2-3 weeks slower than the Crosses and have slightly better manners. The third variety we raised were fittingly, Plymouth Rocks. The Plymouth Rocks are smaller birds and grow much slower than either the Crosses or Roasters.

We learned that if we have different varieties that mature at different rates, then we can butcher a few at a time instead of having one big, long butchering day to process them all at once. The Cornish Crosses are long gone. All but one of the Cornish Roasters have been butchered and we have yet to butcher the 15 Plymouth Rocks. Monday, the 7th, was D-day for those meat-birds ready for butcher. Ryker honed his knife to a very sharp edge and was responsible for the dastardly deed, so now we are 5 birds lighter than before. Larissa worked on cleaning and skinning the birds. Delaney was the photographer, but decided that Larissa needed some help. So she stepped in to help skin some birds.

That's when I got the phone call. Delaney had cut her thumb and needed stitches. I was 10 miles down the road getting water at the Torres' home. I left the trailer and headed home to pick her up and take her to Bandera Family Medical. There, she received 4 stitches to put her thumb back together. The nurse asked her how she cut her thumb. When she replied, "I was butchering chickens," the nurse stutteringly said, "You were what?" Then it was the doctor's turn. "So, Delaney, how did you cut your finger?" His reply to her response was amazingly similar to the nurse's response. But, he did admit that he was a city doctor : ) They just couldn't believe that an 11 year-old girl would WANT to help butcher chickens. I asked her if she would help butcher chickens again. She smiled and said, "After this heals I will!"

We jokingly told Delaney that she didn't need to go to THAT drastic of measures to get out of dish duty for a couple of weeks! When I asked her what she was going to do with all of her free time without chores, and reminded her that she wouldn't be able to play the violin for a couple of weeks, she replied, "You don't need your thumb to play the violin!" I reminded her that she could also get LOTS of school work done too : )

The day is over. The chickens are butchered. The thumb is stitched up. The water tank is now delivered home. The blog is written. Just another day at Plymouth Rock Ranch! Sure hope those chickens taste really good!

Welcome
Jennifer Danielle Duggar

August 4, 2007

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- It's a girl - again - for the Duggars. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar welcomed their 17th child, and seventh daughter, into the world Thursday.

Jennifer Danielle was born at 10:01 a.m. at Saint Mary's Hospital in Rogers, Ark., the Duggars said in an interview. Jennifer weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces and arrived five days after Michelle's due date.

Less than 30 minutes after giving birth, the Duggars already were talking of having more.

"We'd love to have more," Michelle said, adding that the girls are outnumbered seven to 10 in the family. "We love the ruffles and lace."

Jennifer joins the fast-growing Duggar brood, who live in Tontitown in a 7,000-square-foot home. All the children - whose names start with the letter J - are home-schooled.

The oldest is 19 and the youngest, before Jennifer, is almost 2 years old.

"We are just so grateful to God for another gift from him," said Jim Bob Duggar, 42, a former state representative. "We are just so thankful to him that everything went just very well."

Jennifer joins siblings Joshua, 19; John David, 17; Janna, 17; Jill, 16; Jessa, 14; Jinger, 13; Joseph, 12; Josiah, 11; Joy-Anna, 9; Jedidiah, 8; Jeremiah, 8; Jason 7; James 6; Justin, 4; Jackson, 3; Johannah, almost 2.

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The Seargeant Family had the pleasure of celebrating Callan's Birthday last October with the Duggar Family. The Duggars were in San Antonio for the "San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival" when we first met, and they kindly accepted our invitation to lunch, as did two other families. There were four families total. Can you guess how many children there were? There were Thirty children!

What an encouraging sight it was! How much stronger and mightier we could be, as Christian Warriors, if we obeyed God's command to be fruitful and multiply!

May it be said of us, just as it was said of the Israelites:

But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them. - Exodus 1:7

May the Lord bless the Duggars for their faithfulness in obeying the Lord's command to be fruitful and multiply!

Duggar boys with Jackson and Harrison

playing

Johannah Duggar

The Duggar Family

Jackson, Galilee & Harrison

August 2, 2007

Jackson - Posing for his much-wanted photo

Galilee & Harrison had to get in on the action too!

Naomi All Dolled Up

August 2, 2007

We recently got an email from our daughter, Mariah, telling us that her 2nd baby, due in December, is another girl. She also sent pictures of our granddaughter, Naomi, in a dress and hat that her Aunt Larissa hand-crocheted for her. It looks like her dress will fit well next winter.

Naomi in her hand crocheted dress

Naomi reading her card

Naomi ripping her card

Introducing Brynn!

August 2, 2007

Brynn Marie Carlon was born to Tory & Heidi Carlon on July 4, 2007 at 1:42 a.m. She was 6#5oz and 19.5" long. Big Sister Joslyn is excited to have a new baby sister!

Welcome Brynn!

Tory, the proud papa, is Laralee's "baby" brother. I was almost 16 when he came home from the hospital and remember it vividly. Mariah and Ashley remember their not-so-much-older Uncle Towey spraying silly string, stunk spray and playing Little League. Seems like only yesterday. And here he is now with 2 daughters of his own. Remember when I had just 2 daughters, Tory?

Tory and his two little girls, Joslyn & Brynn

Sisters

Congratulations Tory & Heidi. May God bless you through your children.

"Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is His reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." Psalm 127:3-5