The Little Peeps

Today we received our shipment of chicks. Last year we did meat chickens with another couple, and it went well. However the feed cost for the chickens was a lot. We saved some money in the project because I used every scrap of the chickens I could.

This year though, Gil wants to see if we can cut feed costs by having slower growing chicks and feeding them table scraps and such as well as allowing them to free range more. So we purchased 25 light breed chicks to raise. We will see how it goes. It is still a little cold here for the chicks, but I wanted to be well underway before the goats start kidding in mid-march.

Along with the birds for meat, I also ordered another Black Polish Creasted rooster because our first "Sir Topham Hat" drowned in the horses water on Tirzah's birthday. And then I ordered two bantam chicks that I am hoping are hens to go with our bantam rooster. Last year our banty hen sat on eggs and had three chicks. However, we lost the momma and two of the chicks. One survived to adulthood but about 6 weeks ago she disappeared, so I wanted a couple more banty hens.

We put the chicks in the barn, but the three in the video were not doing as well as the others. These are the two Silver Pincelled Bantams and Sir Topham Hat Jr. At the beginning we were thinking the bantams were going to die, they were pretty pathetic and so we feed them sugar water and mash. Tonight they are doing well and looking like they will survive, for now.

The neat part was that the children prayed for the chickens. Tirzah said she prayed that God would touch their beaks so they would live. He must have done so because they are still alive.



One of the things I have been thinking about is something I heard from Chuck Bentley on Money Life. He said "If God owns everything then we don't loose anything." This is something I have been pondering over the last couple days. I struggle with "loosing" things such as chicks dying, invested money and expensive light bulbs breaking. When I consider the fact that all these things belong to God and though I need to be a good steward, ultimately it is all God's and He can do with it as He sees fit and many times it is a way for Him to test me to see where my heart. Do I complain, which shows that I don't think God did what was best or do I respond with a heart of surrender knowing God is in control.

Azariah and Shopping

At Wal-Mart today the boys were very good. I left the girls with Gil and just took the boys. Wow, it is amazing how subtracting a child makes a huge difference. They never fought with each other and both were obedient.

After I went through the self checkout lane Zeb had to go potty so we made our way to the bathrooms. Azariah was riding on the bottom of the cart laying down. I looked down at him as we arrived at the bathrooms and his face was red and he was starting to cry.

Me: "Azariah, what is wrong?" (I thought I had run over his finger with the cart because he was holding his hand, I did not feel a bump though.)
Azariah: "I bit my fingers."
Me: "How did you bite your fingers?"
Azariah: "I was sucking on these three and I bit them."

Azariah reminds me of a scientist...smart, but at times lacking in common sense. But like a scientist, he usually learns from his experiements and doesn't repeat the same disaster twice, usually....

He nursed his fingers all the way home and tried to get out of helping to carry in the groceries, but it didn't work. When I told Gil what happened I started laughing. Azariah even asked if he needed a band aid.

What mommy can and cannot do according to Zeb

I stat down on the couch with my laptop.

Zeb: "What you doing?"
Me: "I am going to play Las Vegas Gold Miner like daddy." Gil was sitting at the desktop computer playing the above mentioned game on the internet. I haven't played it this year, but Gil and the children have over the last week or so.
Zeb: "You can't do that, daddy does that."
Me: "Oh really, then what do I do?"
Zeb: "You make lunch."

According to my children, daddy gets to have all the fun while I slave away in the kitchen. At least I have a few years to teach him that mommy's do more than provide food.

Tirzah and Talitha

The Triple Decker Bed

In our house we have a new bed. It is a triple bunk bed. Tirzah on the top bed, Azariah in the middle and Zeb on the bottom bed. This allows for two things. First, I don't have to worry about pushing a trundle bed in and out each day and the second thing is that it frees up the crib for Talitha. Now instead of carrying her pack n' play from our bedroom each night, I just carry her and put her in the crib. (The other three are too noisy so she still goes to sleep in our room.)

Last night I put her down in her crib and she woke up. I shut the door hoping she would fall right back to sleep. Tirzah was whimpering because she didn't want the door shut and both boys were already asleep. Then after a minute or two Gil and I heard Tirzah singing to Tally. "Jesus Loves Me" and "Wiseman Built His House Upon the Rock". This evening Tirzah told us that she had gotten down from her bed, crawled into the crib and held Talitha while she sang. Then Tally fell asleep and she put her down and went to bed herself. It was such a sweet picture in my mind of Tirzah cradling her little sister in her arms as she sung her to sleep, what precious children.

Talitha at 11 Months (A Little Late...)

Talitha is a little cutie, this month she has decided that walking up to five steps is OK but if she needs to get some place fast, crawling is the better method. Because of her siblings vocal tendencies to be loud, she has decided that in order to be heard she must be the loudest. I would say that she can be louder than the other three put together. If she doesn't like something, she has no problem letting you know it. She is saying "Mama". Tally can pick something up and stand up in the middle of the floor no problems. Notice the first picture of her squatting.

What a wonderful little girl the Lord has given us as a family. We look forward to what the Lord has in store for her. Zebadiah has met his match. They both love each other and torment each other at the same time.

The Breeding of Hagar

Tirzah is starting to read more and more, and to my delight she likes to read the Bible. She would rather read it than some of the short little stories they make for beginner readers.

Anyway, she was looking in her Children's Bible and saw a picture of Hagar. She informed me "This is Hagar who Abraham bred before he bred Sarah."

I could not keep from laughing out loud. I guess that is what you get when you have goats that you breed. I did correct her in saying that men don't breed women but that was all I said.

Talitha Playing Peek-A-Boo