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Hello one and all! Long time agian! I am feeling stalled. Where to pick up with all the messes? The garden is behind, my goats are still in the chicken house, no work done on their barn stalls or pastures. I can't do much alone and Dh is not much inclined to help. He tries but his heart isn't in it. I can't afford to pay someone to do it so I am praying for God's direction and grace in getting all these things done. My goats have pretty much cleaned out the pasture in my chicken area and I have no easy way to move them either out money to but an easy set of portable fencing to use. We are going to pick up goat number 7 tonight and they need more room. I pray this one doesn't get scours from the stress of moving like some of the others did. The garden is a absolute necessity so I guess that I will start there and try to work on the barn too. The house is a total diaster and my very particular mil is coming memorial day weekend and maybe even her very much more particular mother will come with her. Yike!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That always fries my nerves and I so much hate everything in this state! Lord give me strnght to carry on! We are doing well except for time mangement. Ia m trying to do more focused things with the kids school lessons too along with all this! Does anyone else feel this way? Enjoy the Day the Lord hath made! In his service, Mama |
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Good Morning All ! It has been a long time since I posted! Alot has happened. Homestudy update: Our homestudy is complete except that our state has passed a new law recently that we must have fingerprint check done, more red tape. Once that is done we will be officially ready! We are approved for 2 Children which will fit in perfectly. Our case worker said though that some agencies may say we don't have room for two more in our trailor. We have the beds already it's jsut square footage they would be talking about. So God will take care of that I am sure, the children we are suppose to have that will not be an issue. Goats: On our quest to find more doelings I found a brother and sister set of Oberhaslis. They were on the bottle when we brought them home and the cold temps, environment changes and diet changes along with the vet said entertoxmia killed my little buck , He got bloat too and I think that is what really killed him. He got into some chicken feed. I cried , he was such a little sweet heart! I loved the liitle guy for the short week we had him. A very bad first goat experience for us! Unless I can get goat milk from a goat I will not ever buy a bottle baby agian. And I know to make absolutely sure that they don't overeat! I always wanted to name a boy pet Isiah, I love that name! He was Isiah. I just wish I could use that name agian but I don't feel right about using it now. Isiah 's sister Nellie is doing great though! She is a joy! Fiesty, friendly and playful! We love her! Then we found a couple of boys to wether , Nestor is a white Nubian with silver tips and a cream line down his back, a big baby , so calm , gentle and he is going to be huge! He is around 7 weeks now and he is hefty! Then we are picking up a little brown patterned Nubian (will also be a wether ) this sat, my dd named him Thidwick, All you Dr. Suess fans remember Thidwick The Big Hearted Moose? I love that story and Thidwick the goat is sure to steal our hearts! Then I am getting a Nubian Buck to be our herd sire, he is butterscotch with some balck and white markings on him, I have to pick out a name for him yet! Then we are getting a boer doeling traditionally marked my ds named her Constance after the badger in The Redwall book series. Then in May we will be getting our last herd addition a beautiful mulit-colored Nubian doeling. That brings my herd total up to 7. All my goatherd friends said that they are like potatoe chips and you keep getting more, I said don't tell me that , I can't do that, but once you go to the farms to see babies you start it! We were only going to get 2!We are getting 2 sheep looks like ram lambs, Wethered, because there were no ewes born yet! And I am not sure there are any left to be born! We want the sheep for wool and to help balance out the pasture by eating grass. Garden: I lost one whole flat plus more seedlings when we got hte goats and they got sick , I didn't water them AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I am so mad at myself they were ready to transplant! So I must start over with some of them! It is Spring here in NE Central Pa finally! It is time to get in potatoes and onion sets and some lettuce. I need to get the ground tilled though to till in the horse manure that was dumped on it all winter. As usual we are not ready for these animals to come, we put them in one of my chicken coops and moved all the chickens into one. They are out in the chickens large yard for grazing but we have the three more coming on sat and the barni s no where near ready or the pasture! I am tutoring a neighbor teenager in exchange for her helping us with that work. So that should work out well! All of our cats are now fixed , all 7 . now we have 3 dogs left to fix and we will be done with all that! I need to go, bread to make today , cleaning, and lessons along with barn chores and animal building prep and now tutoring! I don't know how people can be happy with them selves who sit around and play video games or watch tv eating? I need to feel a sense of accomplishment and of doing some hard physical labor at the end of my day just how God intended! God's blessings to you all! And Enjoy the day he hath made for you! Mama
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Good Morning all! I just read an excellant article in one of my homeschool newsletters. It spoke of the overwhelmed feeling we all get from time to time of cleaning house only to have it dirty agian, cooking meals only to have them eaten, teaching lessons only to do them agian etc, etc, etc, . The author said that her she spoke to her mother about this and her mom who had raised 5 girls said that after everyone was tucked in bed at night that she would sew until bedtime. Then she would take the little half stiched dress up to her bedroom and hang it on the doorknob so that when she woke and faced another day she could say " Everthing I did yesterday was undone except that dress . " So she would have something to see as a lasting accomplishment. We all know that what we do everday is a lasting accomplishment , what our children are learning from us is lasting though it is sometimes hard to keep that in mind. I thought this article was a great way to think of all the craft type things I love and never get to. It is a way to give us a little boost besides our time with God. It is a way to feel better about taking time to do those things, sewing, knitting,cross stitching,crochet, all those wonderful things! I know that I am doing so much everyday but I think I will try to work on one of my projects everyday too. That article was a breath of fresh air for me. I hope that it will help you as well! We are under a ice storm warning possiable power outages and 3/4 inches of ice . Yike! I am praying for it not to turn to ice. We had 50 degrees yesterday so We worked in the corner of the barn cleaning and organizing. One corner is done, some progress! Will have to get back out there on the next nice day and do some more. Today: Through kitchen cleaning. laundry plant herb seeds floors shcool work knitting scalloped potatoes and ham for dinner God's blessings to you all, Mama
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"Time keeps on ticking ,ticking ,ticking into the future.." Oh that old Eagles song. I wish I could have recordings of all the old 70's songs I grew up with I miss them. Anyway, time is going but I don't know if I am jumping on the boat fast enough. So much to do! Oh how things change. Our animal situation is having such spins and turns! The goat we were going to buy that was suppose to be pregnant ; our friends think she has a hormonal disorder so we are not buying her. So she is now talking to her friends in the goat community to see if she can find us a little doeling about the same age as Cayenne that is a Nubian. I hope she does or we may have to try another dairy breed. The wether sheep ds and I really like is turning out not so good , they didn't get him castrated fully so he is starting to show the ram behavior and they are not going to sell him to us but , Thank you Heavenly Father, our friend showed him the 2 new ram lambs that were born a few days ago (twins) they are chocolate colored . He asked before she even told us about the wether if I thought we could could get one of them . ( it will be a wehter by hte time we get him) She did that very tackfully and she is only 15! He loves the little tike . He took the change of plans well especially after he found out they would be butchering the wether . I didn't think he would do well with that. I can see alot of changes in him recently. I remember being 10 well. It was a good time. I hope that I can help make memories like that for him and dd. We are very excited! Our friend told us about an essay that Ds can write about the importance of preserving heritage breeds of livestock and the prize if chosen is a yearling lamb! What a prize! They want you to breed the lamb and make something completely from it's wool and show the lamb to promote heritage preservation and it's particular breed. We are very excited! I can't even imagine having that oppurtunity as a kid! God has richly blessed us with homeschooling and being able to get these animals! I am so happy for our kids! My seedlings are poppin up all over now! I ' ve gotta get the greenhouse plan going! No word yet from our case worker so things are moving along on that front! Dh is working nights this week so that will throw some kinks in all of our plans, it is hard to work in the house with him trying to sleep. Poor guy , he hates nights. It's only for a week though! Well I better get moving, The sun is shining in all it's glory, spring is so close! God's blessings to you all. Have a productive day! Mama
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It is freezing again this morning! I need to try to get out sooner to thaw the birds water but I don't want to hurt my lungs more. When I took the dogs out this morning It really hurt! I had pnemonia last winter and developed chronic Costochrondritus from it, which is recurrent inflammation of the rib cage and the extreme cold makes it worse among other things. I haven't been taking my supplements like I need to be I will try to get them all in today for sure! This cold front is really hanging on. I think about the new baby goats and lambs at our friends farm and know that I will surely worry about them here next winter when we have them. A 2 pound doe was born to one of our friends does a few days ago along with her much bigger buck brother , I hope they are able to deep her warm enough. She is so tiny for a Nubian! Our chickens are fairing much better this year with no light on them. For those of you debating wether our not to supplement light for your birds during the winter in my experience don't. God made them to have a break form laying and keeping them going gives all kind of health problems. I lost 6 hens last year die to egg laying problems like bindng up or reverse egg laying plus they got respitory problems and never adjusted to the cold so that made them all sick. If you get new chicks every spring or hatch out new ones the pullets should keep you in eggs for the winter if you have a winter hardy breed. We got six new hens last year , 3 of them layed everyday through the early darkest part of the winter then the other 3 kicked in by Jan. That was enough to kee[p our family in eggs and my customers got the heads up that we wouldn't have eggs for sale untill production picked up agian which was Jan. so it wasn't that long . So , save the health of your birds and save on electricity. Don't supplement with lights for laying! Don't you love how we have the long winter to rest to a certain degree then late winter and early spring hit and your overwhelmed! Everything needs done! We have the barn and fences to ready for the animals in 7 weeks and then we have the greenhouse I am trying to put up which it looks like we will be doing in the snow! I need to plan out the garden I think I will do that this Sunday. We are going to the goat farm agian on Sat weather permitting. SO much to do! Have a productive weekend everyone! God's Blessings to you all!
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Well on Friday the Nanny goat we have been keeping track of via email and website at our friends gave birth to a beautiful doeling! She is gorgeus! Her name is Cayenne and my DD is so excited she will be her first goat! ( and my first goat too!) Since there was only one kid we are going to be buying one of her older half sisters who is either pregnant or they will breed her agian for us. Looks like I will be jumping into this faster than I thought! We were going to buy kids , now a pregant doe! Well pray for us! The homestudy went very , very well! The social worker loved our home and all the pets and said we would make excellant parents to more children and that this would be a great place to grow up! Now all we have to do is wait for him to get our homestudy typed up and we apporve it then we are good to go! Thank you Heavenly Father ! I got all my broc, caulf, cabbage,aand celery plants in and my 4 tiered plant shelf with lights is full. I need to have my herbs in also and I am out of room! I need a green house. Do any of you have a inexpensive plan for building one yourself? Well, Lots to do today and must be off! God's Blessings to you all! Mama |
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Good morning all! It is snowing beautifully. When I was a kid and a new transplant from Texas I loved the winter although It was sure cold after leaving Texas. Then as a teenager and young adult I thought it would never end. Now as an adult this year I am sort of sad to see it winding down. I have really enjoyed the gorgeus snow covered views of our valley. and the I have felt the old secluded feeling that I think God meant for us to have , a time of rest of not hurrying, a time of thoughts when our world is settled in for a long winters nap. To bake and cook and keep our hearths warm for our familes ,a time to be creative when the garden is alseep and not needing our attention, when the animals don't need as much attention. I have grown to love the winter. I need to really get some more indoor stuff done , some sewing ,knitting,cross stitch. I haven't taken any time to be creative this year. I always feel like when october gets here and the cold rains start that I have an eternity for such wonderful things then when my time is almost up I find I didn't do any! I don't like that! I must make a change to do that. Well my day today: Starting at one end of the trailor and cleaning up each room , laundry and making sure everyone gets a bath. Or homestudy is tommorow and I am not nervous at all, God is with us and I can feel it , this is all his work and I am sure it will go well! Our friend emailed yesterday her first kids were born yesterday! Kidding season has begun! Now we are just waiting and praying for Sea Star to have at least 2 does , maybe three! I have been wondering if we should get one more. We are so excited. Well I plan on sitting down and making plans for everything on sunday. All that we have to do. There is so much! I need to get another batch of melt and pour soap made we are almost out. Need to get going! I hope you all have a day of much accomplishments of all sorts! BLessings , Mama
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We have beautiful sunshine! When I let the chickens out they kicked up their heals for chicken joy. That is so funny to see, it made me giggle! I just wanted to share that the chickens are feeling grateful and must have spring fever also! The sun is so nice! We walked the dogs and they were so glad to be in it also! It is only 20 degrees but the sun makes it not seem so cold! Dh called with a surprise he found some money in the car and wanted to know what we wanted special we said stuff for homemade subs, chips and dip yum, not good for you but a treat! Well I gotta go! I hope you all are getting a ray of sunshhine like us , God's promise of spring ! In His Service, Mama
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Alright I manged to get Dh and children and me all in bed by 8:30 last night! I strive to do that every night but it is hard! I want to get some room darking shades for our rooms before the long daylight hours set in so we can get in bed at 8:30 even on (most) summer nights. It works out so much better to get to bed early and get up at 5 or 5:30 for me. I am a true morning person. Today: Clean off table, laundry, cooking, baking, ( I can't wait for shopping at the end of the week, More goodies to eat!) Floors, DD's room, work on Book shelf for a time ( very big, dangerous mess that threatens to fall on anyone passing through the hall Planning the garden needs to be done , at least the early spring garden and I need to inventory seeds and see what needs to be ordered. Any of you have growing for farmer's market experince I would love to hear from you! What a week, what a life. God's blessings are so awesome! Well maybe if I get moving I will have some time to sit down and practice my knitting stitch tonight, I am having trouble teaching myself the purl stitch, or I could work on the pillow case I am cross stitching. Blessings to you all! Mama
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yikes) I think the case worker might say it is a safety hazard!|
I am pondering today how tired I feel and long for time to sit and try to learn more of my knitting or sewing or some such, I took some cookies over to a nieghbors house lastnight and we visited for 3 hours untill 10 pm which is a late night for me. I l ike to be in bed between 8 and 9. So I am tired. We are kindred spirits though and had a great time. We are going to go shopping sat after our homestudy visit is over to our favorite store a dent and ding store where prices are unbeliveable! I tried to catch a nap today but the kids video game kept me from really sleeping but I was resting at least. I think of the 70's song that goes " Time keeps on slipping , slipping ,slipping into the future..." I have so many projects to get done. Do you all have a favorite way to keep track of what needs to be done and when? I would love to hear your ideas. The doe we will get our babies from has still not kidded. That is good actually though the temps are below 20 right now and drop below 0 during the night and the wind is whipping. Her owner doesn't want to lose kids or have to take them into her house but will of course if need be. The ewe will we get our lamb from is due anywhere between the end of Feb and the end of March. The wether we will purchse is last years lamb , he is so sweet follows you like a dog. He is adorable a Shetland , I must learn alot for the wool part! I am feeling better just talking here. It is amazing what sharing with kindred spirits can do for your morral! I am so far behind where I should be due to my lack of sleep today. One of my kittens is glad for it though. Well I will make a to do list and see what I can get done between now and bed time. Just knowing where to start and getting a plan is the hardest, usually my road block. I do have to finish the cleaning before the homestudy on sat but there's not much left so the rest of today will be routine animal care, cooking and baking and minor clean up jobs. Hit the cleaning tommorow! God's blessing to you all! Mama
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Usually I don't sit still at all during the day and he has to wait till night to cuddle up on me, he has had lots of oppurtunites today , lol!|
Hello All! We made alot of progress this weekend. Dh really helped out with the deep cleaning! Today I will : clean off the dining table and help DD in her room. We are feeling really ready for our homestudy appt! We are adopting from the foster care system not doing foster care. There is a difference. We have not ever been foster parents and won't be. We are going to be approved to adopt children from the foster system though. Rather than a foriegn adoption we are doing state side. There are so many needy children right here that need homes! We are so excited! Also out case worker only has to come for one visit and then once he has the paper work done we will be ready, I am already sending them list of children we are interested in so they can inquire about them for us. I am praying for the children God knows to be ours out there, for their safety, for their hearts and for their transition into our family. You know that Broc I was suppose to put in last week ? Well we found out about the case worker coming and started cleaning and it still isn't in, Yike The goat that will have our kids is due the end of this week. Boy have we got alot of work to do in the barn after the homestudy visit is over. Then the spring cleaning will be done and I can focus on maintaining, I have always failed maintence but with all these new and wonderful things on my plate I must strive to maintain! We are going to be able to get a really big bill of groceries soon , I am so glad the cubbards are low! Even the pantry closet is low! So many blessings, so much to be thankful for! We should be able to work on our sled dog unit study today. I need to start getting the kids portfolios toghether and also logs. I am not up to speed on those yet! In His service, Mama
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Yesterday we ( the kids and I ) deep cleaned the living room , it is almost done just have to put on finishing touches this morning. I moved the furniture around and cleaned under all of it. I also stripped the fish tank so I could move it. ( That turned out to be a Valentine surprise for Dh He usually takes care of the fish tanks! ) I talked to the case worker our appointment is the 23rd. I also told him about the pets and he said that wasn't a problem at all he loves animals and is used to going in to homes with 4 dogs, however 7 cats might be a record! Thank you God for answering my prayers on that one! We will finish the LR today then begin on the kitchen. So much to do so many blessings! Make the best of your Day! " This is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it" Mama
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We got a message from our case worker last night as we were putting the kids to bed! We are ready to set up our first homestudy appt.! And I am worried about the 4 dogs , 7 cats in a single wide scenerio! I feel like I should let him know of all the pets before he arrives. What do you all think? Well I have to call him back today and set up the appt. I am happy we are finally this far along. Something I have pondered over all along is how big of a sibling group should we look for? We have limited space but we put a bunk and a trundle bed in dd's room so 2 more girls can go in there and we put a bunki n ds 's room so 1 more boy in there. Well with that working out that way and then the farmer's market oppurtunity, our being able to start our goat and sheep herd and now the oppurtunity to watch out neighbors herd I think that God has answered me. I think we should get a sibling group of 3. Our Bronco will hold 3 more passengers not including Daddy but we hardly ever go anywhere together and when we do the kids will enjoy dividing up and some of them riding in Dh 34 yr old classic VW Bug! And with all this happening I don't think that I could take on anymore children right now. It will be a big adjustment for homeschooling too. We live in a single wide trailor but people use to live in one room cabins with big families . It will teach us all to be more respectful and work togehter more. Look at the cabin the Ingalls lived in . True they didn't have so many pets inside but we also have our 10 acres and plenty of things for the children to do outside so we can get out easliy. Well better get going! HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO EVERYONE. We don't do anything special. God's Blessings to you all, Mama |
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I Still didn't get the Broc seed in under grow lights. That must be a priority this morning, We have about 5 inches of snow and now the freezing rain is coming down on top of it. DH went to work though. I need to print out some calendars and do alot of planning for the garden, school,the goats and sheep prep of the barn and fences and house cleaning. I fail to plan so I fail to get things done in a timely manner usually. I want to make some pot pie today and bake some to . I put the chickens back in the coop last night so need to let them move beteween the two soon . The weather is aweful though! Well I will be short today, I want to read some of your blogs and see what you are up to before I get moving. God's blessings to you all! Mama |
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Wow! The Lord is making major changes happen for us! We are preparing to adopt ( homestudy will begin soon), We have an oppurtunity to grow produce and start up the farmer's market of our town this year( a dream I 've had for some time) We are starting our larger livestock herd with two doeling kids and two sheep this spring ( another dream), and now our neighbor wants to start raising Boer goats for market and wants to pay me to raise them for him! ( he's a part time neighbor thus not here most of the time) I am so amazed to see all these blessingss and they all are benficial to our homeschooling! I am always in awe of how God puts things together to get you down the path he has planned for you! I am praying for diligence, energy, wisdom and a light that leads me through all this! I am also praying to be more organized and get more done on a daily basis. I am adding so much more to my plate! A lesson learned over the weekend , never turn your back on two 100 lb labs wrestling no matter what is going on. I was side swiped by Riche and he wrenched my knee , it is very sore! I have been saying it's time to get the broc under the grow lights and a few other seeds , today is the day! we are running out of time! I have more horse manure from the neighbor to rake onto the garden she brought over the other day but as it is below zero right now that will have to wait untill it warms up a bit! I had to put the whole flock of chickens in our better coop together the other night to help keep them warm! Dh has off next weekend and we are going to start cleaning out the barn and organizingi t as it will be a functioning barn unstead of just a storage shed we will have alot to do in there. The doe we are getting our kids from is due in just two weeks! Pray for doelings! Lessons must also be done somehow today. God's blessing to you all! Mama |
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Hey Everyone! I am going to start limiting my computer time so I can get more done. Between emails , getting lessons ready and now blogging I spend way too much time online. Today is a get busy day! I want to get the kitchen counters cleaned off and wiped down, do a through pick up of the living room and help DD clean her room. ( We need a bull dozer for in there). Gotta get busy with this I don't know how soon hte social worker will be here for our first visit! On lessons I want to work on our Sled Dog unit study and DS multiplication , DD add/sub , Bible and of course reading time. DD and I made it to the library when we were in town last night and have a fresh stack of new books to get into. I love the winter for reading time. Sometimes I wish we didn't have the computer or our dvds or videos to defract from our books! Outside today we have to get one of the chicken coops mucked out and the duck house. The metal chicken coop leaks and all the rain soaked the straw so have to clear it out. That repair is one of my top priorites for warm weather. Ahh, Tax return time is almost upon us ! Time to get our old cars in repair and this year my rifle for hunting and goat kids and sheep! I am so excited! We will raise the kids for milkers and I will learn to use the wool from our sheep, Shetlands. I am just learning to knit and want to learn to fully take care of the wool except for shearing I think I will pay someone else to shear. Any sheep people out there who want to share tips? I would appreciate any and also dairy goat people! Well I will try to sit down and get more of a schedule for our school work today if not tommorow there is so much I want to do we don't get to I need to schedule it in. We have some frozen elderberries and currents that are waiting to be made into jellie soon too. Does anyone have an inexpensive idea for housing and penning meat birds, any ideas branching from the chicken tractor you've cobbled together? Well Gotta get busy soon. I hope Ds is feeling better today, DH is. "Therefore... be careful how you walk,not as unwisemen , but as wise,making the most of your time, because the days are evil. Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." Eph 5:15-17 God be With you! Mama |
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I decided to blog both to share and get encouragement in our daliy lives. It's nice to know others have the same ideas and try to live the same (oops)kind of life! I struggle with keeping our house clean and uncluttered and I look at some of the photos of your beautiful homes and say " How can I ever do that?" We live in a single wide trailor with lots of stuff and 7 cats,4 dogs and messy people whom I am constantly trying to retrain including myself. It is hard for me to keep up the motivation when others don't have it. We are almost ready to begin our homestudy for adoption and I am really feeling the pressure to get the place in shape before the social worker comes for the first time. I have tried flylady and know not getting into a routine is my problem. I long for order and free time without a regret of not having my home atmosphere like I want it. We are getting sleet and snow now which changed from down pours and thunder all day yesterday. I must get out and check on the chickens and see if it's possiable to let them out or not. I also have alot of dishes to do ( got all the laundry caught up yesterday) and I have to go into town tonight for groceries. Lessons also await my attention. We are working a unit study on Sled Dogs. Dh and son are sick with bad colds or some such so this puts a damper on some things. I hope to hear from some of you and also to encourage where I can. I can do all things through God who strengthens me... Blessing, Mama
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