Wanna Be a Steader!

The Start

My name is mj and I am Shannon's help meet.  Shannon is a Mr. Command Man, as described in Debi Pearl's book.   Some times it is hard to be a wife of a Command Man, if you are a strong dominant woman.   I am just about as hard headed as Shannon.  It took me years to give him the head of the household role and I do mean YEARS!   But it was all worth it!   To have him in charge of it all is such a weight off me. 

But some times there are problems.  An example is with our older daughter Shayna.  Shayna is a very good girl, but boy is she strong willed, I have no clue where she got that from .   The problem was Shayna spoke to me rude and then to her dad.  He and I talked to her about it but stopped when it was dinner time.  Shannon said he would talk to her again after dinner but did not.   That was hard for me because it was not resolved.  I wanted it done and over with.

It was hard for me to not say something about his not talking to her more.  He knew I wanted to say it, but did not.

This blog is a part of my journey of working everyday on being the help meet Shannon needs and God wants me to be.

God Bless, mj

hello all

Family Identity

Every night we share the most special time as a family – devotions.  We sit around the kitchen table and we read from the selection for the evening.  We are reading through the New Testament right now and are in Acts.  The children that are too young to read, repeat after Dad as he reads a scripture.  Then each family member who can read takes a turn.  We discuss the reading and then close with prayer.  Some nights we focus our prayer on our family, other times we rotate to pray for our church, friends, extended family, missionaries and other topics.  Occasionally we will also enjoy a time of signing before or after our devotion. 

The time we do devotions is 8:00 PM and it is a wonderful way to wind down the little ones before bed.  The children also get to practice sitting quietly, closing their eyes during prayer, and saying prayers.  As parents, this is a time as a family that we can offer spiritual direction but also correct our children’s behavior.  This is one of the ways we are establishing a family identity.

If you have followed my blog for long, you now that our six children are adopted.  We also have a niece that we are raising.  Our goal for our children is to be more influenced by our family than by others that may enter their lives.  Therefore, we want to create a strong family identity.  This is who we are. 

When my niece came to live with us, my 8 year old daughter told her, “we are a hard working family, we raise our own food, make our own clothes, we don’t watch television, we wear dresses, we go to church, this is just who we are.”  At 8 she already knows some of the core ideas of who we are as a family.  We have family sayings like, “Makaleas never quit!”  We have funny names that we refer to our family as, like the Makaneeta Monkeys. 

On this blog you read lots about what we accomplish on our homestead as a family.  This is all done as a family unit.  It is building our identity.  It is part of who we are and it connects us.  We don’t live this lifestyle just to have done it.  We live this lifestyle because it is a core belief that it enriches our family in so many ways. 

Pictures

Here is a picture of my husband and  one of his fish he caught on one of his trips to Mexico, my hubby is the one in the red tank top:

Here is one from 2 weeks ago:

Have you ever seen a horse drink from a park fountain:

That is Kristi and Cody. It was taken last fall.

This next one is my father on his bike with his little dog George.  They ride around Vegas like this.  Aren't they cute!

Moose for sale.  As Shayna was listing some books for sale on E-bay her cat Moose was helping out.  Yup he wore some stickers that said 50% off and 75% off.  I think he thought he was worth more as you can tell he was not happy about his price .

God Bless, mj

***Chickens ***

Robert E. Lee had a chicken he took with him the whole time the Civil War was going.  Many a soldiers tried to cook the chicken, but he managed to rescue it saying, “Boiling the hen will give us one fine meal, but keeping her alive will feed us every day.”

So, as I said, not only are we preparing to buy a home, we'd like one with land so we can have our chickens.  Today I emailed our county law division and asked them stipulations pertaining to keeping hens and the local zoning laws pertaining to the subject.  I am awaiting for more information so we can keep in mind those stipulation while we look.

In the meantime, as you may have already noticed, I'm looking at both city coops and plans for regular ones.  I have an idea of what I'd like for a bigger one if we find a place in the country. I'll share those plans later.  Right now, I'm picking out which chickens we'll order once we move.

Let me just say that there are lots and lots of chickens out there.  Bantams which are smaller in size and tend to lay eggs with more yolk than whites, then there are the common chickens, the specialty and the Cochins which have the cute feathered feet but have a reputation for being poor layers (please, all jokes aside here, I'm having a chicken breed crisis).  There are crested breeds with feathered crowns and heavy breeds which are used for meat. 

With all those breeds, I felt more and more confused at choosing exactly which ones would work for our area with cold Northeastern snow and wind.  Ones that were well mannered, lay eggs quite often, and are good setters.  (now I'm starting to sound like a singles add.haha)

Murray McMurray is a hatchary with good, healthy chickens.  Not only do they sell chickens, but other game birds like turkeys, ducks, geese. Lets not forget about pheasants, quail, peacocks, and guineas.  If your ever in the market, I HIGHLY recommend Murray McMurray at www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/index.html

One decision I do know, we are looking for brown egg layers.  So, that trims the list down a bit. The best part of Murray McMurray is they have "assortment" options for different breeds and egg colors.  So we have now decided to order the BROWN EGG LAYERS ASSORTMENT.

How easy was that?  We know we wanted brown egg layers, we just weren't sure which ones to choose because we've never had any of them.  Choosing the assortment, Murray McMurray throws in an assortment and you'll only know once they get to you which breed they are.  I like that alot because we don't have to choose just one breed, but can see which ones we really prefer for our next order. In the Brown Egg Assortment, they guarantee 5 of the following breeds:

Black Australorps; Lt. Brahmas; Dark Cornish; Black and White Giants; Buff and White Orpingtons; New Hampshire, Rhode Island Reds, Barred, White, Partridge, Buff Rocks;Deleware, Sussex, Turkens; White, Silver Laced, & Columbian Wyandottes, Red Star and Black Star.

A couple other breeds we were introduced to from our homestead friends, and plan to also purchase are Araucana and Dominique Chickens.  They produce green and blue eggs.  Our friends called them "easter eggs".  They're both pretty friendly and by exeperience with our friends when we were there, they are pretty good natured and do well in the winter months.  Check out a Youtube video above that I found on the breed.

How exciting to have made our choices.  We hope to introduce them late summer, early fall when we close on a home of our own. Woohoo!

August

We have been very busy this past month. After the fair we got ready for a grand vacation to Michigan. We stayed 3 miles down the road from my Dad at a cabin on Lake Huron. The cabin/house had 2 bedrooms and a enclosed porch with plenty of room for all 7 of us to have a bed with baby making 8 in between us. We had such a great time with the weather in the 70's. A nice break from our 90's. Just to sit and hear the lake outside was a relaxing blessing. We got to play on the beach and in the water. Even the baby enjoyed that.

DH grew up there and I spent every other year living in Michigan. We started dating when we were 15. It was fun to go down memory lane with the kids in tow. Walked on my Father in laws 200 acres, recalling past times walking with DH. Walked around our old elementary (which is for sale of all things!!). Walked through the local stores, seeing which were new.

After a 7 day vacation on the lake we went across the state to visit our friends from college. They have 4 kids, so 10 between us. What a blessed time we had. We got there Fri afternoon and left Sun morning. Just a great time of catching up. We went to the local lake for the kids to swim. Much warmer than Lake Huron. We came home rested and refreshed.

Back to canning now. I have done some more salsa and some pears. The peaches are on deck for tomorrow. I still have apricots waiting out there too. So some more fruits. I am not sure if I will do applesauce or not. We have some still from last year, and our apples are kind of wormy. Not sure I will bother with them this year.

We finally got rain today after a month of nothing. So everything is dieing and no new grass is growing for the cows and goats. We have to try to move them to greener pastures tomorrow. The bucks are in rut and STINK something awful. I am waiting to breed the goats until Oct though. AFter our year last year having kids in the middle of winter was a fiasco. So we are pushing it into spring more. The bucks are right now locked in the livestock trailer because they keep getting out of the fence and going down by the does and pacing the perimeter of their yard!! And if you know anything about bucks.. well they aren't very nice about their mating rituals, probaby one of the most discusting of animals I have seen. So out of sight out of mind, minus the consistent head butting in the trailer and yelling from them!!

School started the tues after we got back . So we have 4 days under out belt. So far we have managed well. We are getting up at 7 and doing devotions first thing. It is making a dynamic difference to start the day with The Lord. The kids each do their own devotions but we are all in the living room together. Such a great place of making memories.

Hopefully that updates everyone for awhile. I hopefully will be able to catch up with my online friends soon.

Hey Katie if you read this send me an email. I haven't been able to get ahold of you for a long time.

Melanie

Mom ,what one do you like ?

Kristi is a bad girl .  While we were out shopping she picked up on 3 guys, three!!!

Here is boy friend number 1, he's cute but kinda stiff:

Next we have boy friend number 2, but he is kind of two faced:

And last we have boy friend number 3, my favorite, he cost $74.36 just for 1 date, so he must be worth it :

Who says shopping at Sam's with a cell phone is not fun .  Kristi and I had a blast .  But really Kristi you need to stop picking up new boy friends when we shop.  LOL

Teenagers what can I do?!?!?!

God Bless, mj

An audio visual tip for stretching food dollars.

An Audio-Visual Tip for Saving Money on Groceries!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cycj1dEAK0Q

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”—Author unknown

Best Blessings!

Entering the Sarah Palin Debate - And I'm Not Even American! A foreigner's perspective

I have been reading with great interest all the entries on Sarah Palin. And I've decided to write about it from my perspective - here on the other side of the world.

Over the last few days our radio talkback shows have been full of Sarah Palin, because like it or not, whatever government America elects it will effect the other Western countries of the world.  Also, I am interested in this election myself because I love America almost as much as I love my own country of New Zealand.

Whatever Sarah Palin's role as a wife and mother should be in the opinion of many here, I can tell you this much, that if I had the power to vote for her and John McCain, I would be the first one at the polling booth on election day, and I would be strongly urging every person I came in contact with to do the same. I might even be driven enough to help in the campaign.

I speak from 9 years of the experience of having a woman primeminister of my country who is the very antithesis of Sarah Palin. In fact, our woman primeminister makes Hilary Clinton look like a saint.

Our New Zealand primeminister is a woman - she is a career politician, conveniently married, no children (by choice), and is a feminist. She has done more to damage my country than all of the former primeministers put together. Her goal has been to change the moral fibre of what used to be one of the more conservative, most God-fearing countries in the world, and she is succeeding.

In spite of the fact that she has no experience whatsoever with babies and children, she has almost self-appointed herself to be what we New Zealanders say with tongue in cheek, our 'nanny.' Here are some of the laws that she has encouraged and has allowed to be voted in.

* Legal Prostitution

* Legalising Civil Unions

* Parental discipline is now illegal - even 'timeout' is dubious.

* She threatened to curb freedom of speech for the Press

* She has curbed freedom of speech for poitical parties during election year

* She persecuted a fundamental Bible believing (albeit slightly cultic) religious organization

* Sex education in primary schools

These are just a few of the many dangerous and anti-family laws that she has allowed.

We are facing an election this November too, and me and many other christians that we know are getting down on our knees and pleading with God to get this woman out of government before we lose all our freedoms.

I felt compelled to write this, because I was getting frustrated reading many of the blogs about Sarah Palin and whether or not it was right to vote for her and support her. When you are confused or under dilemma, think of the situation we have here in New Zealand. Be grateful to God, cry out and thank Him with all your heart that you have such a woman to vote for. As a caller to a talkback radio show said yesterday, "if only we had a Sarah Palin here in New Zealand."

Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?????

I love the song, "Held" by Natalie Grant.  I have sang it and cried tears over it for some time now, but when they played it on the radio the day after my mom died, it became even more near and dear to my heart.

You see so many think bad things happen to good people, and why would God do this.  Why would God take that person away, or let this or that happen.  If He can do all things, and if He is all knowing, why didn't He stop this???  Simply put???  That isn't who God is....and it isn't who He promised He would be either.

Now, before you turn away and close this blog, hear me out.  God never told us we wouldn't have bad times, and trials in our lives.  He never promised to keep us from sadness, sickness, etc.  He didn't say as a child of His that we would never experience these things.  He simply said, when we do.........He would be there for us!!! 

No, life isn't fair sometimes.  A 3 year old dying while swimming with his family.....is not fair.  A 3 year old having her life taken by her father and then killing himself...........certainly not fair.  Loosing both of my parents at age 63 was completely not fair.  I remember speaking to my pastor after they died, and saying it isn't fair!!!  He said you are right.  You got cheated out of more time with your parents.  You feel like you didn't get what you deserved  and it is ok to feel that way, as long as you don't STAY there long.  I think I was there for months, probably longer than I expected to be.  But then I realized, I didn't want to live in the shoulda coulda woulda life.  I wanted to make my parents happy, remembering the good times, not focusing on the unfair moments.

This song talks about that......when all else fails....and you feel like giving up.......that is when,  you will be held.  Close your eyes dear one, fall into his arms, and let Him hold you.  Cry on His shoulder.  He is always there for you.  If you will only stop accusing Him of hurting you, and let Him hold you, and help you to heal.  He didn't do this TO YOU!!!!  And he didn't glory in your trials.  NO, like any loving father, He doesn't like to see you hurting.   Read the words to this song, and if you have the means, please listen to the song.  Just close your eyes and listen. 

Two months is too little.
They let him go.
They had no sudden healing.
To think that providence would
Take a child from his mother while she prays
Is appalling.

Who told us we'd be rescued?
What has changed and why should we be saved from nightmares?
We're asking why this happens
To us who have died to live?
It's unfair.

Chorus:
This is what it means to be held.
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive.
This is what it is to be loved.
And to know that the promise was
When everything fell we'd be held.

This hand is bitterness.
We want to taste it, let the hatred numb our sorrow.
The wise hand opens slowly to lilies of the valley and tomorrow.

(Chorus)
This is what it means to be held.
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive.
This is what it is to be loved.
And to know that the promise was
When everything fell we'd be held.

Bridge:
If hope is born of suffering.
If this is only the beginning.
Can we not wait for one hour watching for our Savior?

(Chorus)
This is what it means to be held.
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive.
This is what it is to be loved.
And to know that the promise was
When everything fell we'd be held.