Homemaking.

One of my dear friends has this link on her blog to check out, so I do every once in awhile, and I loved what I found today...loved it so much, I copied it, and pasted it here for you to read. If you like it, check them out at: http://www.girltalk.blogs.com/. It's a fun, fun blog to glance at now and then.
This is sort of like my own pep talk. You see I didn't get much of anything done today, not my Bible Study, did not crack my Bible, did talk on the phone, did pray, did clean my house, and do TONS of laundry, did make lunch, and dinner, and served all kinds of snacks, did hug and kiss my kids...I don't think I hugged or kissed Matt though :(, did read bed time stories, snuggled, bathed, paid the bills, balanced the check book, had the opportunity to tow that tractor I love, (and didn't get yelled at!), and the list still goes on as it's 9:45pm. Anyway, I was both encouraged and challenged as I read this to complete my day...So, I guess I did get a lot accomplished, just not all I wanted too...Maybe there will be another day. :)


Homemaking is a career that demands considerable expertise, may encompass decades of our lives, and has the potential to spread the gospel to our families, churches, communities, and future generations.
That’s a career worth preparing for, wouldn’t you say?
But how do we learn? Scripture says that the older women should teach the young women to be effective home managers and to love their husbands and children (Titus 2:3-5). It’s the mother’s job to teach and the daughter’s job to learn.
So even though this little series is directed to teenagers, we’re going to stop and address the moms for a moment. We want to encourage you to help your daughter make the best use of her teenage years by preparing to be a homemaker. (But girls, this doesn’t mean you should sit back and wait to be taught. You need to be asking for homemaking training from your mom or, if your mom is not a Christian, a godly mentor.)
Moms (and mentors) we must seize every opportunity to prepare our daughters for their homemaking mission. We should speak often of the joys of being a wife, mother, and homemaker. We should advice them of the sacrifices homemaking demands but also of the unsurpassed rewards it offers.
We must also be intentional. A good domestic training plan begins with the heart. As mothers we must shape our daughter’s convictions to reflect the biblical priority of the home. A steady diet of God’s Word and other biblically informed materials are indispensable.
An effective training program also equips our daughters to manage all practical aspects of caring for a home and family. Consider your daily responsibilities and you’ll easily come up with many skills your daughter needs to learn.
Think of your daughter as your homemaking intern. She needs both practical training and instruction. You can provide hands-on training by delegating portions of the household responsibilities to her for short periods of time. You can provide her with practical instruction by getting books from the library or bookstore on cleaning, cooking organization, decorating or child-training.
Moms, I hope these brief thoughts will inspire you to begin and persevere in training your daughter to be a homemaker.
Daughters, let me conclude by encouraging you to embrace your mother’s domestic teaching. Allow her to direct your affections toward home. And take it one step further. Volunteer to be her homemaking assistant. This way you’ll receive vital training for your future mission and make the best use of your time today!
Posted by Carolyn Mahaney on January 30, 2009 at 03:59 PM Permalink
January 29, 2009

Future Homemakers
What are your dreams and aspirations for your future? How do you answer the well-meaning adults who ask about your plans after high school?
It may surprise you to learn that in the Bible God has already given you a sneak peek into your future. As women, we are all appointed to be keepers of the home (Prov. 31:10-31; 1 Tim. 5:14; Titus 2:5).
Someday you may be called to love a husband and bring up children and make a home for them. Or as a single woman, you may be entrusted with a home from which you extend hospitality and vital service to your church and community.
While you may pursue many other God-honoring tasks or occupations throughout your lifetime, you are also called to be a homemaker.
This is our purpose in life, what John Angell James calls a “woman’s mission,” to “affect society through the medium of family influence.” We as women have a unique task: to change the world by devoting ourselves to home life.
Now this does not mean that the Bible confines girls and women to their homes. The Proverbs 31 woman—the ideal homemaker—pursued endeavors outside of the home for the good of her family. And, of course, single women will have careers that require them to work beyond the home. But Scripture unapologetically sets forth the high priority of the home for each and every woman.
And contrary to popular perception, homemaking is a career that demands considerable expertise. The commands in Scripture to love, follow, and help a husband, to raise children for the glory of God, and to manage a home encompass a vast responsibility. Homemaking requires an extremely diverse array of skills—everything from management abilities to knowledge of health and nutrition, to interior decorating capabilities, to childhood development expertise. If you are to become an effective homemaker, then you must study these subjects and many more.
The time to prepare is now.
Tomorrow we’ll give you some ideas for how to make the best use of this season so you can be ready for your future homemaking task.
Posted by Nicole Whitacre on January 29, 2009 at 02:51 PM Permalink
January 28, 2009

Henry.

the kids and I went outside for a bit today to make a snowman...they added a few handfuls to him, but it turned out to be mommy's project. :) So, I named him "Henry the Snowman." Do ya like him? I can't wait for Springtime............

Four wheeler FUN.

Matt is getting the chicken houses ready for peeps. The first house will arrive tomorrow morning. There is a lot of prep work that has to be done, and we have always appreciated it when HIS brother Mark was able to help...mainly because he knows what to do. He is away with work now, so was unable to help, so MY brother Mark came down to help. He and his family have moved back to the area the first of the year. It was great to have someone able to help Matt, as I am not much of any now, with our 4 little kids occupying my time. Thanks Mark. He was very thankful for your help. Looking forward to lunch with your family tomorrow after we put peeps in. Nothing like some re-acquainting playtime with the cousins.

I guess this entry is mainly for Mark's wife, Heather. I know the guys did work hard, but I didn't want you to think he worked too hard. Ha. :) Check out Matt, Kaden, and my brother Mark racing around on the 4 wheelers in the snow, and yes, that is my 34 year old husband doing donuts in front of the barn. I THINK Kaden is still pretty scared to do that, but then again, I probably just didn't catch him on video. :)

Check out the dress.

Kaycee and her cousin, Maggie, (well...second cousin), for those of you who are trying to figure that out...get to be in Matt's cousins, Emiley's, wedding on Valentine's Day. She is sooo excited. Now it's just a matter of getting her down the isle, hope she does okay! :)

This is the dress. We tried it on this morning...think she'll look like a princess?

It's quite the dress, that's for sure. Now I just need to find a seamstress, it's a bit big. It would be so nice if sizes were standard. She probably could have fit in the size down...


We can't wait for your big day Em...

Down on the Farm.

It was a beautiful day outside, a little windy here of course, but
almost 50 degrees! Let me remind you it was only 4 degrees here
at the beginning of the week. So, I went to check on all the
animals. I came upon this tractor I am learning to hate. It
never starts, so Matt is really working hard on his verbal
communication with me when I have to tow him to pull start it.
My family will laugh at that. Even though I grew up on a farm
I might have driven a tractor twice? I did drive a "stick shift"
car though, so at least I have a handle on the whole clutch
situation. Needless to say, I need a lot of grace, and he needs to
exercise communicating gracefully. Love you honey. :)


This is the cute little fellow who was born yesterday to his mommy "Bell". I hope no one is offended...the reason her name is Bell, is simply because she has a bell around her neck. So all you Isabelle's out there, just relax. :) He is very cute, I thought his name should be "Sarge". I don't know if I was outvoted yet or not?



These are the two little twins who were born the day before. These we named Snow White and Blanco...

Anyone want to mess with this heavy duty steer?

Chicken anyone? Matt and I and Calli, are headed

to the mountains this weekend with the couples

from our Sunday School class. I pray our other 3

kids will have fun with Aunt Meg and Moppy and

Poppy. Thanks guys. Now I gotta go do a bunch

of cooking and packing. :)



And this video is for Zion, my precious niece who loved my last "long" video. While I was down there videoing, toward the end I noticed there was an extra white baby down there. Here, a new white baby goat was born in the shed down there sometime this afternoon...don't know if it's a boy or girl, I don't check those things. :) So, we'll wait for Matt to tell us, and then we'll need yet another name. Enjoy the video Zion. I think I made it pretty long.

Room for me?

A snuggle one evening before bed...

But, is there even room for mommy? Of course there was, but I didn't take a picture of that! :)

Campbell...You can tell she's really tired, can't ya? :)

Kisses to the kiddos.

Fun in the Snow.

Hope to get some sledding in this afternoon, but the girls have to coorperate for nap time...didn't work out so good this morning. :) Hope you are all having fun!

More goats.

I guess I am going to start boring you all with video's of baby goats...but these twins were born yesterday afternoon. This video was taken when they were less than an hour old. Matt thought the video was a bit long, so no pressure to watch it. They are both little girls, so we are thinking Snow White, and Blanco. What do ya think? These are all white, we had no ALL white goats before this point...You will also see Pumpkin and Penguin , who are still in the barn. Cricket did not make it thru the cold snap, and Firefly was moved outside again with his mommy. We are running out of room in the barn. :( We had no reason to go to the Farm Show this year, we are running our own Farm Show right here. Come on over. Mis.

Meet Penguin and Pumpkin.

For you city slickers out there checking out my blog...

we had twin goats born again this morning. Matt checked on the mom around 5:30am, and they hadn't been born yet, and when he checked again at 8:00 am, there they were! Look healthy, and Kaden and I helped them nurse a little bit when we were out checking on them this morning. They are now in the barn with Dercy and her twins, Cricket and Firefly...Matt put a heat lamp in there for them this morning, since it's so icy cold, even in the barn. This is penguin. She looks like her mommy...the first white baby goat we ever had!

This is the Mommy...I thought her name was Princess or Whitey, but Kaden told me we sold them, so I am not sure who this mommy is. :( But, this is little Pumpkin nursing now. This little goat looks just like the daddy.

And here are Cricket and Firefly, the twins that were born on the 10th, snuggling to keep warm. They seem to be doing well. :)

Again...the video is for the city slickers to get a small, dainty taste of life on the farm. Sorry you can't get the smell. :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday I celebrated JOYFULLY my 31st Birthday. Thanks for all the e-mails, phone calls, and cards to show me you cared! I had a great "normal" day, and celebrated with Matt over dinner at Red Lobster. So good. Thanks mom for watching our little peanuts so we could do that. It was SOOO MUCH appreciated! It's so fun to go out on dates every now and then, we don't do it enough. :) So, I start my new year feeling very full and loved, and full of new goals. Thanks. I love my life! (most days, I mean)... :) Love, Mis.

Matt had volleyball tonight, and Kaden went along to cheer him on, so it was just us girls. I was cleaning up the kitchen, and had Calli lying on the office floor, and when I came in, Kaycee had her propped up on this pillow, with her blanket. Kaycee had set up a "sleep over" for us...It was really quite hilarious. Kaycee is such a big help to me, she is just so funny to watch how she takes care of her little sisters.

And another shot of the girls, of course Campbell is doing her own thing. :)

And this is just a funny video. Kaycee told me, "Hey Mom, you might want to come video this because Calli is just cracking up at me while I am singing to her. (Kaycee also loves to sing, and makes up some funny songs)...I don't know that you will hear the sound effects because of the music on my blog, but it's still cute to watch. (Or I think so anyway). :)

Baby goats...again.

So Kaycee came running upstairs this morning, and calmly told Kaden and I that "daddy brought a little baby goat in the house." I said, " I don't think so Kaycee...not in the house." She said, "No, for real, it's down in the kitchen". Those of you who know me well, know that I do not tolerate any animals in my house...especially the kitchen...and sure enough, we ran downstairs to find this cute little goat sitting by the fire, in his cozy box. :)
A lot of our goats are pregnant right now, and yeah, like women, ya never really know when they will deliver. Last week, Trigger, Matt's favorite goat delivered triplets overnight, and they had all died by the time morning rolled around. Dercy, this mommy goat, delivered our first baby goat, Alvin, about a year ago, and now she had twins early this morning.

The first twin is a bit bigger, and more healthy looking...Matt didn't think this one looked so well, so he brought it in for a little "fireside feeding" and a little extra TLC...which she got. :) My husband doesn't really realize just how far I have come...bottle feeding a goat...let alone in my kitchen!

Matt had milked the mommy, so we got her to drink out of the bottle for a couple hours, on and off. By lunchtime, she was trying to walk around my kitchen floor, so I decided she needed to be returned to the toasty barn, with her mommy and twin sister. :)

Kaycee is like her mommy, not so fond of animals, so much!

Kaden does just great. We decided to name this little pumpkin "Cricket", and her twin sister, is "Firefly". Mommy is Dercy. Great names, don't you think Scott and Ang?

Here's a couple snapshots of Cricket re-joining her mommy and twin sister. We are really hoping that she drinks from Dercy overnight, and we'll check on things in the morning. Keeping our fingers crossed. I have such high hopes because she really did drink from the bottle well first thing...we had trouble with our last baby goat wanting to drink from the bottle at first.


Cheers!

Udate number 2.

So, I don't have any fun pictures to show you, but am happy to say that we are almost all better! The great thing was that it was really only a 48 hour flu...and Kaden and Calli did not get it. I continue to be nervous about that, but there is only so much disinfecting you can do, and I am over it! Campbell is struggeling to become herself. Did find out she has a double ear infection, and she still has a bit of a cough, and then that makes her sick...but she is still having some fever, and very much clingy-ness. She has also shared her cough with Calli, which makes me nervous as well, but they both seem to be coughing less at night, so that is a good sign, right? :) Hope you all had a Happy and Exciting Christmas and New Years...it's fun to think of starting off the New year FRESH, with new hopes, dreams, and aspirations, isn't it? Take care. Mis.

Update.

An update from yesterday...is that the only ones still standing are Kaden and Calli. Everyone else is sick...sick...sick. Pray for us. It hasn't been a good day, with both Mommy and Daddy down at the same time. :) I am feeling like I might be able to keep something down. We'll see. Mis.

We got it.

Our family celebrated the first day of the New Year in no fun way at all. Kaycee and Campbell have the horrible stomach "bug" that is going around. Spent the last 24-36 hours cleaning and washing hands, and trying not to have the rest of us "get it". My washer and dryer have been going non-stop. No fun trying to console a crying 22 month old and try to explain why she can't have a drink because it will come right back up again. :( Just gave them each a half of a banana and 2 sips of Coke...we'll see if that stays down. My house is a wreck. Last night I was running between 2 rooms trying to catch it all. :) Thanks for your help at midnight honey! Gotta run. Calli is calling. :)

P.S. Poor Campbell fell asleep crying on the steps, while she was waiting for me to finish nursing Calli. Did someone wonder how 4 kids was going? Ha. mis.

Christmas Candids.

Here's just some random shots from Christmas. Calli is almost 3 months old. She loves to sit in her bumbo seat, and she loves when people talk to her. She is sleeping thru the night 10 or 12 hours...what a blessing! She laughs outloud now and is so much fun!

Sporting her "My First Christmas Hat" on Christmas Eve.

Kaden posing with Calli for a quick shot.

And Calli laughing at me as I take her picture.

We had a great Christmas celebrating with Family and Friends. We have been very Blessed!

Kaycee turned 4!

Kaycee turned 4 on December 30th...so we celebrated with a small family party...She decided she wanted to be a princess. Surprise, Surprise. Here's a few pictures of the evening.


Her princess "crown" cake I spent most of the afternoon making...Well...okay...all of the afternoon. :) Not quite as time consuming as last years castle cake. :)

And before we signed off for the evening, we danced to a CD Uncle Mark and Jamie gave to her, which had a lot of birthday songs on it, singing to "Kaycee"...was so exciting for her to listen to a CD with her name in it. :)

So...to precious Kaycee...I can't quite believe that you are 4 already. Some words that come to mind when I think of you: fun, smiley, bubbly, girly, emotional, cute, sensitive, quiet, princess, follower, pleaser, and a great comforter...You have learned that it is important in life to take care of your little sisters. You will be a great mommy someday, if that's how the Lord chooses to bless you. It has been so much fun being YOUR mommy, and I am so thankful to the Lord for your life, and that he has chosen to use me to be your mom. We love you. Mommy, and Daddy too.