Farmers

The kids just love taking these pictures! ok not so much...this first one took a couple of takes because he looked more like he was gritting his teeth than smiling. These 3 love being in the garden with me. It was dusk when we quit working this day! No I didn't work them like slaves all day.

She helps with anything in the yard. She wanted to use the chainsaw one day when helping her dad! NOT HAPPENING!!

There were about 8 seeds in that hole! The picture below shows what he was planting. A little hard to see but it's corn. He was a bit tired of the camera too! lol

It has rained very consistently the last few days so we have been able to plant and not water because the sky was opening up and drenching everything. I have had to cover the potato plants twice in the last 3 or 4 days. I can't wait to have yummy potatoes to eat!

You won't find any pictures of Destini in the garden with us. She isn't the gardening type. She will be more of a city dweller when she is grown and leaves home.

Be blessed

The Garden

Lots of outdoor work going on around here. My husband cut down some trees yesterday that I have wanted gone for 2 years! YIPPIE! Me and the children have been working on the gardens getting them ready to plant and putting in seeds and plants. We also planted some bushes recently. So lots of changes to the yard! I love spring!

This is the garden before the tiller got to it. What you see in the dirt is coffee grounds and egg shells. It helps kind of fertilize the soil a bit. We have mostly red clay here so the soil needs lots of help. We also bought a trailer full of mushroom compost this year to add to the clay. We doubled the garden size this year too. I'm trying to gradually get up to having enough vegetables to put up (freeze and can) so we can eat that more from our garden then from the store for the year. We aren't there yet. There are six of us and we tend to give a fair amount away. It's really hard to know what a tenth is when the plants keep proucing vegetables to be able to use that to be a blessing. I just give where I see a need.

Here is my little Taz helping by putting the coffee grounds in the dirt. This was supposed to be for flowers but my husband expanded it out from the house so it will also house some vegetables this year. Where Taz is standing has peppers and onions planted now. The area that is blocked off with the plastic pretend rocks has tomatoes in it now. The onions help keep rabbits out. We also planted marigolds and alissym to help with pest control. I have been looking up companion planting to make the garden better as far as producing and reducing pests. We are trying to be as organic as possible but its a learning process.

One of our little potatoe plants! Isn't it cute! The picture doesn't do it justice! We added some dirt to it so that only the leaves are poking out now.

We are going to make some markers for our garden this week. Actually the kids are going to make them. They just don't know it yet. I got the idea from Teaching Good Things. Here is the link http://teachinggoodthings.com/blog/plant-markers/ I like this idea better than the one I was going to use.

Be blessed!

new post

Something has been laid on my heart to write about here. It's a difficult thing to write and since next week is my last class I think it's a good time to write it. I'll have more time after next week to concentrate when the little guy is asleep.



For now, we are gardening, getting seeds in the ground and just doing the needed stuff! Spring is here! Love it!!

Spring at Our Home

Evidence that someone pulled my day lily up! They (meaning Taz) left it in the mums!
This cute little bush was almost dead last year! I trimmed it severly last year.

Strawberries Yum! We really need more of these. The kids eat them as soon as they are ready to eat so we never get to make anything with them.

Blooms from the cherry tree in the front yard. The tree is GORGEOUS when it's blooming! The entire tree is white!

Not real sure what it is. These are beside the tree line. There are a lot of things growing that we just don't know where they came from.

The wild rose bush on the side of the house. Can't kill this thing!

Don't know what this is either. Pretty though. It's like 3 different kinds of trees in one. The middle is 2 kinds of trees but all around the outside of them is this stuff.

This is kind of pittiful. I hope this one grows quickly this year. We planted him last year and I wasn't sure it would survive.

This is the cherry tree just before it bloomed.

The boys being forced to pose! lol

Just a little peek into spring here in hillbilly-ville.

Be blessed

New Eating/Cooking Habits

I have been SLOWLY trying to get the family to eat healthier, more natural foods. Trying to get back to fewer processed foods. Eating healthier foods will improve everyones health and hopefully get us closer to eating the way God intended.

Over the last several months I have been replacing the normal foods that we would eat with a healthier version. Replacing some of the flour in things with wheat germ or flax seed so that we aren't just eating junk calories. No one has really noticed that anything was going on until recently.

We haven't really used a lot of convenience foods anyway but things that I had not really thought about as being convenience foods like cultured foods such as buttermilk and yogurt, I always bought and didn't consider it to be a convenience food. Now, I have been making homemade buttermilk and yogurt and even started making kefir.

The buttermilk is to die for! You can find the recipe here http://myblessedhome.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-make-buttermilk.html#article
I don't drink the stuff. I just use it to make biscuits, pancakes and stuff. I did give some to my uncle who drinks it. He said I "should bottle the stuff". He really likes it.

I also used her yogurt recipe too-found here http://myblessedhome.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-make-yogurt.html#article Really good stuff! It smells awesome when it's "brewing" too.

Kefir: retched smelling stuff. Really doesn't taste any better to me. I had to add lots of fruit and some stevia. I hope I get used to it. It seems to be really good for you but I know if I don't start to like it, I will not keep drinking it! One of the kids loved it! ha ha ha

So far everyone is "going along with it". Only one real rebel in the group but she always is no matter what the situation.

Things I really want to do next:
Get a wheat grinder and start making our own flour.
I want to learn how to make Ezekiel bread.

Long time

I rarely have time to write here anymore. There are so many things I want to write but seem to not be able to get the time to do it.

Part of it is just poor time management. A lot of the problem is just this awful depression that has sent in and just trying to keep up with school, kids, hubby, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Next week is my birthday and the day after would have been my mom's birthday. She has been dead for 3 1/2 years now. I can't believe that I still have nightmares about her around time for her birthday. I hope this is the last year.

I should know soon if I will be taking classes in the fall for my preferred field. I'm really not too anxious about it. I want to know but I just don't feel worried about it. I know that if I get in then it's His unmerrited favor.

Easter was great except that Taz got too much sugar. His system doesn't process it very well and it causes all kinds of behavior problems. I got home from work and you could almost see him vibrating!! It was awful for him (and us).

I have some great pics but I have to get them off the camera first. Hopefully soon and I can get them onto here. Very cute pictures. Despite it all, Easter was great fun!

I found this on a website today. Check it out. I can't upload the videos for it but it is quite disturbing.

http://myblessedhome.blogspot.com/2009/03/un-convention-on-rights-of-child-bad.html#article


The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child - BAD NEWS
Apparently, it's no longer enough for Uncle Sam to try to force us into taking care of our children Old Sam's way. Now the U.N. is stepping in, on an international scale, and what they are planning to force on families is insane, and MUST BE STOPPED. If you have never been politically active, then YOU are part of the problem! Stand up, and look around you! We are no longer fighting for our rights, and they are being taken away. I am NOT exaggerating, and YES I'm mad. You should be too.Take a look at this seemingly "innocent" commercial for children, about the The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child:


'All children will go to "nice" schools.' Do you know what the UN Convention defines a "nice school" as? It's not private schools, and it's not homeschool. It's public school, but with MORE secularism than ever. If Americans allow themselves to be enslaved under The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, then homeschool will be ILLEGAL in all 50 states, regardless of state laws - they will be overrode with federal and international laws. Christian private schools will no longer be allowed to teach Christianity, without equally teaching all other religions - this means there would be no more CHRISTIAN schools. Perhaps there will be in name, but not in content, subject matter or sanctification.Did you do something to upset your child lately? Maybe when your child wanted to eat a box of chocolates right before bedtime, and you said "no." Look out! Under The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the child could decide to take you to court and claim that you are not feeding them enough. One child took his parents to court (and won!) because he thought it was cruel of his parents to take him to church three times a week - Sunday morning and evening, and Wednesday nights. We need an amendment that stands up for PARENTAL RIGHTS. Take a look at this:


The above video states "if we all stand together and raise our voices, Congress will respond." That's right! Let's stand together for parental rights. The U.N. should not have a say in which school our children go to, or if we homeschool them. Nor is it any of the UN's business if our child does something wrong, and is therefore grounded for it.If The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is ratified, then each child will have a list of rights, of which they will be taught to know by heart in the public schools that they will be attending by the choice of the UN and our government. Here are a few of those "rights:"The right to privacy - Yep. If you suspect your teenager has pot stashed in his room, you would not be allowed to go in there and find out. Your child could end up dying from a drug problem, but you couldn't interfere, or it would have violated their "right to privacy."Freedom of expression - If your toddler throws a temper tantrum, you are not allowed to do anything. If your teen starts yelling the 'f' word out the widow of the car while you are driving to the grocery store, you are not allowed to do anything. The parent would have no right to interfere with the child's "freedom of expression." If your child decides to take home another child and go to their room and close the door and have sex, you cannot stop them, else you'd be violating their "freedom of expression" and "freedom of privacy." Do you think I'm exaggerating? I'm not...Here are a few excerpts from HSLDA:"Under Article 13, any attempts to prevent their children from interacting with material parents deem unacceptable is forbidden. Children are vested with a "freedom of expression" right, which is virtually absolute. No allowance is made for parental guidance. Section 1 declares a child's right to "seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice."In Article 14, children are guaranteed "freedom of thought, conscience and religion." Children have a legal right to object to all religious training. Alternatively, children may assert their right against parental objection to participate in the occult.Article 15 declares "the right of the child to freedom of association." Parents could be prevented from forbidding their child to associate with people deemed to be objectionable companions. Under Article 15, children could claim a "fundamental" right to join gangs, cults, and racist organizations over parental objection.Under Article 16, the "right to privacy" is granted to children. This UN sanctioned "privacy" would seemingly establish as the child's right to obtain an abortion without parental notice, the right to purchase and use contraceptives, and the right to pornography in the home.Article 19 mandates the creation of an intensive bureaucracy for the purpose of "identification, reporting, referral, investigation, treatment, and follow-up" of parents who, in violation of the child's rights, treat their children negligently. To insure State and U.N. control over their development, Article 7 requires all children must be immediately registered at birth."The above excerpts are taken from the HSLDA.org website. Please read the article in its entirety - Oppose the UN Convention on the Rights of the ChildNext, please read this .pdf file called "THE UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD - The Most Dangerous Attack on Parental Rights in the History of the United States." The information contained in this .pdf document is something that everyone needs to know.As Americans, we need to take steps to make sure America does NOT ratify this treaty. 192 nations have already ratified this treaty. The "Holy See" Roman Catholic Vatican was one of the first ones to ratify it. I make specific mention of this, because I know a lot of Catholics who will NOT support CRC (Convention on the Rights of the Child). Therefore, devout Catholics must be made aware, that if they stand with Bible believing Christians in rising up against the CRC, then they are going against the Vatican's wishes. BENEDICT XVI supports the CRC. Roman Catholics, I pray you DO stand with us on this issue. America must not ratify the CRC! Regardless of what religion you are, please stand with me to preserve parental rights.To date, the only nations who have not ratified CRC, are Somalia and the United States. U.S. citizens, we must NOT allow this treaty to be ratified!Please take the time to read The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child for yourself. You can read it here. Here is a list of "Children's Rights," being taught from a UK website.From what I've read, it looks like Canada and the UK have signed onto this treaty, but have not agreed to every stipulation yet. I know homeschool is still being allowed in Canada and the UK, but I don't know how regulated it is, etc. Obama is pushing for the full ratification of the entire Convention for the U.S, which could make homeschool in the U.S. instantly outlawed. "Primary Education" in article 28 could be defined as government (public) school education only.Please listen to this video, in which the woman explains this stuff so much better than my feeble attempt:NOTE: The below video contains some gutter language, so don't watch it within earshot of children.


Steps to Take Action - Time to make a stand!STEP ONE: Sign the parental rights petition at the parentalrights.org website.STEP TWO: Contact your state Representatives and Senators. If this is something you have little to no experience in, then consider joining the 10 in 2 program with ParentalRights.org . Here is a quote from their site, summing up the program:"We need 10-and 2 volunteers who can enlist 10 people to do the following: sign the petition for the Amendment, sign 3 postcards to their Representative and Senators, and donate $1. Then, we need those volunteers to recruit 2 more people to do the same thing."I'm volunteering. Are you? Please join me; it'll only take a few minutes of your time, and it could make a BIG difference.STEP THREE: If you have a website or blog, then please put up an article about the CRC and its atrocities hidden within. The media is not going to get the word out, so it's up to us. If you want to, you can just copy this article I've written and put it on your site - just get the word out! Email and call people as well. Let's do this.