The Farmer and The Dell

Katie sweet talked our local farmer into letting us come work on the farm.  With our family on the lookout and planning for future land purchase, I would say we need all the help we can get!

Since we buy our meat and milk from this farm, it was even more cool to see how our milk is processed; from the cow to the jug! 

Katie helped prepare the grain to lure the diary cows in for milking!

They knew what time it was.  Everybody lined up.
Number 41 won 1st place at the 2013 Fort Worth Stock Show for the Holstein breed. I believe she is a returning champ.

Undying Love

1 John 4:7   Valentines creations :) 

While the origin of Valentines day is murky and indefinite, what is celebrated on this occasion in our current times is not.  Valentines is all about love, gifts, and romance.

Arbuckle Wilderness

We went to Arbuckle Wilderness!   

Since kindergarten, we've been learning about all these animals.  Exciting fictional stories and known facts.   It was soooooo cool to see them in person eating from our hands!  I just had to share the pics!  

Katie would point excitedly and say, "Momma momma, it's like Emil Emu from the story!"  

Katie's favorite pic.

Cat-Bat Beaver

Hey, we like to have fun around here.  

Katie is pretty famous for her exceptional artistic ability.  When having a free minute, she will sit down and create unique and sometimes unusual drawings.  Since we are an odd bunch, we really like the weird ones.

Katie recently drew a something that looks like a cat, bat, and a beaver combined.  It seems in every room I visit, this drawing is there...staring at me.  Now maybe I have a phobia, but this mysterious creature seems to be following me around the house.  It seems I have Catbat Fever (yes, like Cat Scratch fever :)  and yes, my Dad was a hippie!) 

So we named him Catbat Beaver.  

CAT BAT BEAVER

Gun Safety

My, my how Katie is growing up.  

Temporarily living in the city may have us crawling up the walls.  On the other hand, it gives us time to prepare for our vision of purchasing acreage in the near future.

Not only is the snake population ever increasing in North Texas but we battle with wild dangerous animals on wide open land, not to mention criminals.  We are trying as hard as we possibly can taking each opportunity possible to give her real world skills especially for survival.  

Too many children are "warned" about guns being present in the house and are given a "no touch" rule.  I don't know about y'all but the "no touch" rule increased my curiosity as a child!  So instead we have an "informative teaching" rule around here!  We aren't waiting for the day she decided to go discover on her own but instead we are teaching her safety starting with a BB gun.   

Mommas, it's so hard to let your baby touch a gun!  Even just a BB gun.  It's our very nature to protect them.  After Sunday's lesson, I saw a confidence in Katie that was incredible.  Not to mention Daddy and Katie have been snuggling more on the couch together.  :) May she grow strong in spirit!  

See! Charlie doesn't look too afraid! :) 

Daddy is talking to her about gun safety. 

The phone rang on Friday around 2 o'clock and it was my husband, "Honey, I am so glad Katie is at home with you doing Homeschool. There was another school shooting." 

As he told me the horrific and tragic news, I couldn't help but mourn for the parents left behind of these precious children that were murdered.  Then, my heart selfishly thanked God that it wasn't my Katie.  

As we find out more about these children, it hits closer and closer to home.  These children were all either Katie's age or within months of her age.  6-7 short years ago, mothers were giving birth to these precious babies within months of Katie's birth.  Did they have any idea how precious every moment would be?  

One victim's father said, “My daughter Emilie would be one of the first ones to be standing and giving her love and support to all those victims, because that’s the kind of person she is, not because of any kind of parenting my wife and I could have done but because those are the gifts that were given to her by our heavenly Father,” source

So here comes the big question.  "Why does God allow bad things to happen? Especially to these sweet little children?"   

I would encourage anyone with that question to click on this link.

It's no secret that our husband and I made the decision to teach Katie at home under God's direction.  There are so many important reasons aside from her physical safety. 


Abraham Lincoln (our 16th President) stated:
"The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next." 

Seeing Through a Glass Darkly

I had to share this article written by Debi Pearl of nogreaterjoy.org.  

"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."  1 Corinthians 13:12

~Eternity is so eternal, so terribly final, so completely forever.  Death is not final.  By the grace of God, it is not without hope.~

Twenty Two years ago a wonderful, sweet darling two-year-old boy, whom I loved, came down with a fever.  Within 24 hours he was dead.  

During the days after his death, while the family grieved, I kept his baby brother.  I remember starting at my sweet Rebekah and feeling a sense of relief that it was not she who was taken.  "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."  What I am about to say will be hard for many of you to understand, but as an older woman I feel compelled to speak. 

Death is not the worst enemy.  When I was a young mother, this truth was simply beyond comprehension.  To lose a child was my worst fear.  I avoided long bridges because I was afraid I could not save all my children if the car plunged into the water.  I carefully chose cars by the ease of opening the safety buckles and doors-just in case.  I studied medications, familiarizing myself with potential problems and learning how to use alternative medicines.  My natural instinct to protect my children, regardless of the cost was in full operation.  God gave me that instinct. Along the way, other children whom I knew died , and I continued to cling to my children, trying to guard their safety.  Yet how frail my efforts would have been if death had come calling.  

When you are young and raising a family, death seems to be the ultimate loss.  The grief is a pain you can only know first hand.  When we are young we see through a glass darkly.  As we grow older, life is not as big as we thought it was when it was all before us.  Life in this flesh is quite temporary.  I am not so old yet. Life is still precious.  Death is still the enemy.  I continue to cling to life, not only my own but to that of those I love.  Yet my clinging has changed.