Happy New Year.....

2014 has definately been a tough year for our family, but it has been a year of growth as well. Many things have changed for our family, but our God never changes. He is ALWAYS with us and ALWAYS will be. He never promised that life would be easy, but He promises that He will carry us through all situations. I am thankful for the challenges of 2014, but look forward to God's blessing in 2015. Praying God will richly bless each of you this new year.

 

 

New Year blessings from our family to yours.

 

 

Merry Christmas from our family to yours...

 

 

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:11

Let us not forget the "REAL" reason we celebrate Christmas.

 

 

 

 

 Preparing the Raised Beds for Winter

 

Today is such a gorgeous day in Southeast Texas. After not being outdoors much the past

several months, I decided today was the perfect day to spend some time outside working on

my raised beds and raking the yard. So, I got a two for one deal....raked yard and nice compost

material. Later, I plan on laying empty feed bags and boards over the leaves so they don't blow out. Then at some point, I will scoop compost from the chicken pen.

 

 

So, do you have any tips or advice to share? Please leave a comment. I love to learn. 

 Pumpkin Bread

As long as I can remember, my mom baked pumpkin bread every year at Christmas time.

She baked it in empty tin coffee cans. I started baking it shortly after James and I married every

year during the holidays. For years, we baked it and gave it as gifts to friends, Sunday School

teachers, and neighbors. The past four or five years, my girls have been baking pumpkin bread

and selling it. They always pay their tithes first and then choose a needy family to help for Christmas. The remaining money they get to split and the each put half of their money into savings and can spend the rest on whatever they choose.

 

It is delicious so I would like to share it with you.

 

Pumpkin Bread

 

 

3 cups Flour                                                                      3 cups sugar

2 teaspoons Nutmeg                                                          4 Eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons Salt                                                           1 Cup oil

1/2 teaspoon Ginger                                                          2/3 cup Milk

2 teaspoons Soda                                                               1 15 oz can Pumpkin Puree

4 teaspoons Cinnamon                                                      1 Cup Pecans (optional)

1/2 teaspoon Cloves

 

Cream the sugar, eggs, oil, milk, and pumpkin together. Gradually add the dry ingredients. Stir in pecans (optional). Pour into four oiled tin coffee cans. Bake @ 400 for 1 hour. Slightly cool and then turn bread out onto cooling racks. Cool completely and slice into thin slices. SHARE WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY.   ENJOY!!!!!!

 





 

 

 Canning Broth

 

We were blessed with a venison shoulder and neck from family recently. We cut the meat up

 to go in the freezer. Then, we roasted the venison bones to make broth. After roasting

them, I put them in a stock pot along with celery, onions, and garlic. I brought it all to a boil

and then let it simmer for around 40 hours. Then, I strained it and placed it into sterile jars and

pressure canned it for 25 minutes. I also make chicken broth the same way. I ended up with 5 qts

venison broth and 3 qts chicken broth. Venison broth is my absolute favorite. I love the beautiful

color and flavor.

 

 

 Homemade Throat Lozenges

With the cold and flu season upon us, I want to be prepared incase someone does get sick.

So, I made these throat lozenges from a recipe my friend, Courtney, told me about on

her website.  www.selahessentialoils.com  It is very simple to make.

 

 

First, you mix one cup organic coconut oil with two tablespoons of honey and add 20 drops of Armor

essential oil, and 20 drops lemon oil. (I added more lemon oil than it called for....about 40 drops.)

Mix it all together and drop onto a plate or wax paper and place in freezer a few minutes. Once firm,

remove from plate, and put in a glass jar and store in freezer.

 

 

 

Enjoy!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 Satsumas

 

Yesterday, Jaelyn, our oldest daughter sliced several satsumas and put them in the dehydrator.  This is the only way she will eat them. They taste like candy.....DELICIOUS!!!! We dehydrate them with the peelings on them because it is so much easier. You can pull the peelings of if you desire, but I eat peelings and all. Hoping to be getting an extra dose of Vitamin C.....lol. We are blessed to have several friends that give us satsumas every year. Last year, I canned some thinking they would taste like mandarin oranges, but we didn't care for them. So, we eat all we can and then dehydrate the rest.

 

Blessings

Give thanks always. I have shared with our girls several times lately that there is always something to be thankful for.....during the good times and bad. My family has been tremendously blessed the past week. No, I wasn't handed a wad of money....lol. Some of the blessings from this past week include: some nice, new clothes being given to our girls, jeans, which he desperately needed, being given to James, a few days at a friends camp at the lake, someone asking if they could help buy Christmas gifts for our girls, peaceful moments with my Father, and seeing God at work.

 

 Here a pics of a few other blessings.

 

We have been given a couple bags of satsumas already and today were given this basket full of satsumas. We plan to dehydrate some and juice some as well. 

 

 

The girls picked up a bag of hickory nuts at our Aunts house this evening. I am hoping to make a hickory nut cake with them around Christmas. I remember my mom making one when I was 10ish and I thought it was the best cake ever. Hoping she still has the recipe. Will share when I make it.

 

Also, we were given a deer neck, deer shoulder, and a bag of frozen dew berries.

 

These things may not seem like much to some people, but I feel blessed with by every gift of love I receive. These are amazing gifts for this country gal.....lol. I told James earlier that I feel like we are living the Little House on the Prairie.

 

Be blessed, my friends. Find something to be thankful for each day.

 

Pumpkin Bread and Elderberry Syrup

 

 

 

Our kitchen was a busy place last week. The girls baked and sold

a lot of Pumpkin bread. They bake it in coffee cans which are extremely

hard to find nowadays. I made elderberry syrup to try to build immune

systems from elderberries I had leftover from last year.

 

Hubby's Handmade Straw Baskets

James is not one to just sit still and being down has been really hard on him. He decided to make some baskets. He taught himself how to weave the baskets a couple years ago after seeing a display

of baskets at the visitor center at the Big Thicket National Forest. He made a couple baskets and then watched a couple youtube videos and changed his technique in which he likes much better. He has made several thus far. This is a tortilla basket. The lid fits well on the basket because he put a rim on the bottom side of the lid so it would fit into the basket.  He has done an amazing job.  Pretty impressive to this ol' gal.

 

If you look closely, you can see the rim on the lid. 

Update on the Henson's....

I am 10 weeks post op. My foot is healing well. I am able to walk in my tennis shoe some. I drove for the first time in 2 1/2 months yesterday. It felt great. It felt freeing.

 

James is still the same. He is learning to tolerate the pain a little better. He has had an epidural injection in his neck. It didn't help any. Plans are to have another injection in his neck and have a nerve stimulator place in his back sometime in December.

 

Jaelyn is doing well. She is enjoying youth group in our church. I am a little reserved about is still. She hasn't been exposed to a lot of things kids her age are exposed to. My desire is for her mind to stay pure and innocent at this young age.

 

Madison made a BIG decision on her own yesterday. She come to the realization that she wasn't truly saved and was in need of Christ. She accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior. She made my mommy heart swell.

 

 

We are trudging along in school. Each day has it's problems due to our circumstances, but each day is a blessing from the Lord. I am priviledged to be able to school my girls at home.



Happenings and Grattitudes:

Four weeks ago, today, I had foot surgery and have been layed up since. It has been difficult the past couple of weeks because I am feeling much better and want to be up doing something. I have  been very obedient to my doctor. I layed in bed three weeks with my foot elevated and have spent the last week in our recliner with my foot elevated. I see my doctor on Thursday to have my hard cast removed and will then start therapy and begin wearing my walking boot. Honestly, this cast can't come off soon enough. This has been very difficult for my family with my husband being down as well. I must say that he has taken such good care of me even though he is in terrible pain himself. The hardest part for me other than the first week of pain has been to see my house so messy. It is never perfectly clean, but it is usually picked up and decent. We started school a couple weeks after my surgery. It has gone well provided the circumstances.

 

Even though our life has been CRAZIER this past month, we have been blessed. I cannot express the GRATTITUDE I have for our church family. We had meals brought to our house on a daily basis for over three weeks. We have people driving James and I back and forth to doctor appointments. We have people running errands for us and picking up our girls for church. We have people grocery shopping for us. You see my point. WE ARE BLESSED!!!!!!!! But, the most important part is that I have had people praying for me and my family. That itself has been our greatest blessing.

Correction or Conviction???

I have some good kids.....actually some great kids. Are they perfect? By no means are they perfect. They are kids and they are flesh. There was only one perfect person who ever walked the face of this earth and his name is Jesus. If my girls were perfect, then they wouldn't need Jesus. They wouldn't need salvation or daily guidance. But, that is not the case, they are imperfect and need Christ as their Saviour.

Both of my girls accepted Christ at young ages. I had the priviledge of leading them both to Christ and truly believe they both understood and are both truly saved.

As I stated earlier, they are kids. I have caught myself treating them as adults the past several months. I expect them to act and think like adults. What is sad about this is that I have expected the to act like adult Christians as well. I have tried to be their "Holy Spirit." I have caught myself many times trying to convict them of their sins. That is not my job. That is the job of the Holy Spirit. I need to leave his business alone and allow him to work in their lives. Yes, I need to be praying daily that the Holy Spirit does convict them of their sins, and leave it at that. I can't beat them over the head with the word and hope it changes their hearts. I can lovingly share the word with them about their sin and pray with them about it. Then, I must leave it up to the Holy Spirit to work it out in their lives.

And by the way, I didn't do a very good job as the "Holy Spirit." I only made my girls angry and bitter about the situation. I pray that the Holy Spirit will lead me as I use his word to counsel

the girls from now on.

 

But the helper, the Holy Spirit, who the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

John 14:26

 

And the Spirit of  the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding , the Spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Isaiah 11:2

 

Texas Homeschool Convention 2014

Part 2

 

On of my favorite sessions at the homeschool conference this past weekend was led by Rachael Carmen. It was titled, "How to have a heart for your children." It was a very powerful and convicting time for me. I tend to just exist day to day and not appreciate the blessings the Lord has given me. Yes, I love my girls very much and I don't know what I would do without them. But, I want to have a heart for them. Rachael used an acronym for HEART and it was very thought provoking.

 

 

H ave a heart for God. Psalm 86:11  Be on your knees before

       the Lord, stay in the word, worship the Lord, teach your

       children to praise the Lord

E nrich your marriage. Ephesians 5:22-28  Live a defense of

       marriage, chase each other around the house, Leave love

       notes, go on dates, let your children see that you are in

       love with your spouse.

A ccept them.  Psalm 139:13 Discipline them, Embrace who

       they are.

R elease them to God. John 3:30

       Start dreaming, start celebrating, start praying

T each them the truth. Deuteronomy 32: 46-47

       Teach them the nature of God. Give them good, Christian

       Heroes.

 

Rachael shared how she had to fall on her knees before the Lord and ask Him to guide her as she was not happy about being lead to homeschool her children. She also shared how she had to trust and depend upon the Lord to guide her through each day. 

She ended the session asking the audience to join her on her knees praying over our children and our families. My desire is to live in that state of mind and heart all year.

 

Let us not grow weary in well doing. We will reap a harvest at the proper time if we do not give up.

Galatians 6:9



 

 

          

 

 



My God Shall Supply All My Needs......

Some people just don't get it....lol....many people don't get it. I haven't always gotten it. Now, I am living it. It is so hard for people to understand that God will take care of you and meet your needs. God always makes a way where there seems to be no way.

James saw a pain management doctor today. Praise God, we are moving forward again. He will have an epidural injection in a month, along with some trigger point injections.

As we were discussing everything with the doctor, he question James' occupation. James tells him that he is a welder, but hasn't worked in almost four months. The doctor just stares at us so puzzled. He doesn't understand how we can live with no income. We told him that our church and family and friends have blessed our family. He just didn't get it.

I don't understand it, but I can tell you God has blessed the Henson family tremendously. God tells us to trust in him and he will take care of us and he has.

 

And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.   Philippians 4:19

 

Jam and Jelly Time.....

They past couple months, we have been blessed with some delicious fruits and berries.

A friend gave us some plums from his plum tree. I was beyond happy to restock our canning

pantry with some decicious red plum jelly....my absolute favorite.

Another friend picked both she and I  a gallon of blackberries and all the ingredients to make jam in exchange for me making the  jam. Yesterday, I made 16 jars of blackberry jam.....delicious.

Our neighbor gave us 3/4 of a bushel of peaches from his peach tree. I made peach jam for the first time ever......taste like candy....yummy.

I was also given a gallon of frozen mayhaw berries and two gallons of frozen blueberries. I seriously need to get busy making some mayhaw jelly and blueberry jam.

I always hope to make enough that I can skip a year on some things, but I love to give it away as gifts. I had lots of jam and jelly in my canning pantry last year and ended up with just a few jars left. I actually ran out of my favorite plum jelly.

Looking forward to refilling the jam and jelly shelves again.

 

Plans for the New School Year

It is that time again. Time to get our curriculum planned for next school year. I think I have it figured out. My plans are to use My Fathers World Exploring Countries and Cultures for Bible, Geography, Science, and History. We started ECC last year, but I felt lead to continue on with Prairie Primer instead. I felt the need to focus more time on Madison's reading, which has improved greatly this year. So, we decided to set it aside and use it this year.
We will continue using Queens homeschooling for Language Arts and Spelling. We used it last year for the first time and really like the  copywork approach.
We will continue with the same Math programs for each one of the girls. Jaelyn loves Math-U-See and Madison is fond of Horizons Math.
Next week, we will attend a Homeshool convention as a family. Well, James will hang out in the motel while the girls and I enjoy the conference. I am looking forward to the classes and learning how to be a better mom and teacher.
 

Sharing the Good News

Our Sweet Madison turned 10 a few weeks ago. We planned a small party for family and a couple friends. Madison asked me to tell family and friends that she would like them to bring Bibles to give to foster children instead of gifts for herself. She received 4 Bibles (a couple people forgot) and mostly everyone still bought her a small gift since they were impressed with her generosity.

James and I have taken foster classes and hope to foster children as soon as he heals from surgeries. Madison asks often when we will get foster children as she is ready to have younger children in our home. She is passionate about foster children learning how much Jesus loves them and about the miracles He performed. She wants them to know that Jesus still performs miracles and that their families can experience miracles.

We delivered the four Bibles to our dear friend, Jesse, at Arrow Child and Family Ministries where Madison and our daughter, Jaelyn,  met Jesse for the first time. Jesse trains families to be liscensed foster care families. A few people saw through a facebook post what Madison had done and wanted to know if it was too late to donate Bibles. Madison called Jesse the next day to see if she could continue to collect Bibles. During that time, they launched Project Madison.  Madison shared what she felt led to do with our church last Sunday and was blessed by a wonderful love offering of $575. As of today,  the total is $640. At this point, we have ordered 48  Bibles to be given to foster children.

My mommy heart is bursting. I say we don't deserve the girls God loaned us, but I am glad he chose us to parent them. To God be the glory.  I can't wait to update soon.



This Season of Life Part 1

 

As I have shared previously, my family is going through a rough season. My husband had back surgeries in 2001 and 2002. He has had problems with his back the past few years. On March 22, he done some lifting around our house and has been in serious pain since. We went to a local ER to be told that they couldn't even do a MRI to see what was going on. The next day we went to see a Dr. at Fondren in Houston. They almost didn't see him because the previous injury was workmans comp. We saw the Dr. and he had a MRI done that day. We returned the next week to find out results of the MRI. He has more herniated disc, several bone spurs, lots of arthritis, narrowing of the spine, and pinched nerves. He was scheduled for surgery on May 1. A few weeks later, he started having issues with his neck and went back to Fondren. He had a MRI done on his neck and found out that he has a couple herniated disc, narrowing of the spine, arthritis, and bones spurs on his neck as well. Dr. said he had to have an epidural injection in his neck and get his neck better before he could have his back surgery. That was three months ago. Nothing has been done whatsoever. We do have an appointment for an evaluation for the epidural injection next week. We have had a lot of heartaches during this time. The Dr. belittled us and made us feel like trash. Needless to say, we will not be going back to him. We filed for Social Security disability and was denied. We hired an attorney to make the appeal for us. It has been such a long, hard journey and we aren't near through yet. BUT..........yes,  BUT our God has blessed us more than we could ask or imagine. He has met our needs financially, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. He has been so faithful to us. Friends and neighbors have helped me with yard work, tilling the garden, maintenance, keeping our girls, cooking meals, giving financially, paying our water bill, blessing us with meat and fresh garden vegetables, and most of all.......PRAYER.  I know people are praying because God is blessing. I feel so much love and support. Even though this season is hard, I AM THANKFUL FOR WHAT MY FAMILY IS GOING THROUGH. I am closer to God than I have ever been. I have to trust Him for EVEYTHING!

 And, the canning begins.......

 

Yesterday officially began canning season around the Henson place.

I canned 10 quarts of Blue Lake bush beans from our garden. I love preserving

these delicious green beans for my family to have throughout the winter. Canning 

itself is not hard to do, but the process is of it all is long and tiring. In my opinion,

it is worth every tiring minute. 

 

Happy Father's Day

God had a plan and a purpose almost 18 years ago, when he placed this man in my life. He is not perfect, but he is perfect for me. He is an honest, hard working, kind hearted man. He has loved me unconditionally and shown me what true love is. It is so hard to watch him suffer in pain and not be able to take care of our family. I know it is so difficult for him, but we know God will see us through.

 

 

 

Prairie Primer and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum

The past two years, we have used the Prairie Primer as a guide for Bible, History, Science, and Homemaking. Yes, it has taken us two years to complete (or almost complete) it. I read the Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder as read alouds to the girls. Each chapter has comprehension questions to answer and each day has a list of activities to choose from. We always liked to read the Bible verses and talk about character traits and how issues were or were not properly handled in the books. We did some mapping and some History studies of the time period in which the Ingalls family lived. We also did Science projects based on what things were happening, but we didn't have a pigs bladder to blow up as a balloon...lol.  We studied about the eye and scarlet fever when Mary Ingalls went blind due to scarlet fever.  The girls and I grew to love the Ingalls familly as we read about the hardships they endured and saw how determined they were to make it through those difficult times. We loved reading about the courtship and marriage of Laura Ingalls and Almanzo Wilder. We loved reading about how Pa playing his fiddle seemed to make everything alright and of how Laura worked so hard to see that Mary went to college.

 

Last fall, our family was blessed to be able to go on an amazing vacation. We spent three days at Fort Rock Family Camp, picked apples in the Ozarks, visited Bakers Creek Heirloom Seed Company, and visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum and Homes in Mansfield Missouri. We toured the homes of Laura and Almanzo. We saw the desk in which she wrote the books that we love so much. We walked across the area in which they planted their apple orchard as their livelihood. We saw many items that they used in their everyday lives. It was the perfect vacation for our family during that time period. One day, we hope to walk on the banks of Plum Creek. For now, we will continue to enjoy the books that we love so much.

 

Jaelyn and Madison were just a little excited to visit

the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

 

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL

My girls are enjoying their second week of Vacation Bible School and we ours isn't until next week. Lol....they are going to exhaust me. This is Jaelyn's last year to go toVBS as a student. Kinda sad for this mama.

I am thankful to live in a small town where many of the kiddos go from one VBS to the next. Since we homeschool, my girls don't know everyone, but they know a lot of them. Last week, they actually made friends with some girls that are their ages that homeschool as well.  We plan to meet up with this family for some activities and get togethers.

 Also, I am thankful that my girls want to spend time learning more about God and his word. Yes, they thoroughly enjoy the crafts, music, and recreation, but they constantly tell me something new that they learned during Bible study.

Green Beans

 

 

I picked our first picking of green beans this morning. It is enough for a meal or  maybe two for our family. Green beans are our main crop each year, as we (minus the picky 12 year old who is forced to eat them) love green beans...homegrown green beans that is. The girls always question where they came from. We bought some from Azure standand that were pretty good, but they prefer ours. They love to help snap them as well.  A couple years ago, I canned 85 qts. My ultimate goal is to can enough for us two have them a couple times a week. Not going to happen this year, as everything is on a much smaller scale.

Depending on God....

The past couple of months have been a bit challenging with my husband down with a back injury and not working. We have learned to totally depend on God. Is it always easy? NO!!!!! I can tell you from experience that it isn't. BUT, I can tell you that our faith and trust in our Lord has grown tremendously. Also, we have learned that our faith can only be found in Jesus....not doctors, our government, or even other people. Our faith MUST be found in Christ alone.



Yesterday, I was doing some outside chores late in the evening and began thinking about how much I depended upon my husband with help around the house, gardening, yard work, etc. Then, the Lord gently reminded me that I need to depend on him alone and he will provide the help I need. I can't tell you how many people have offered and have come to help.



As we continue to depend upon him, he has provided all our needs financial needs. God has used his servants to meet our needs. It is almost continous. I am overwhelmed by the love and support we have been given. So thankful that we can depend .

Continuing to depend upon him.......



Sweet Potatoes

Last year, we grew sweet potatoes for the first time. We bought sweet potatoe slips from a company and had them shipped. We planted them mid June and dug them early October. Our harvest was a bushel. We were pleased.We didn't order slips this year due to hubby being down and not having a lot of time in the garden.

Last week, I found a sweet potatoe plant growing in our compost. Yesterday, I cut slips from it and planted them in hopes for a sweet potatoe harvest this year.

Plant growing in the compost

This is the slip I cut and planted in between
green bean plants that didn't come up.

Hoping for a bountiful harvest........

This Girl....

I am so thankful for this girl. She is my firstborn, my mini me (scary). She is a strong-willed, funny personality young lady. She keeps my on my toes or on my knees. God teaches me a lesson each day through her. Lessons in love, forgiveness, patience, kindness, gentleness......lots of lessons. I am so thankful that he chose me to be Jaelyn's mom.

 

 

She was serious about this game. She didn't even know

I took the pic.

 

Children are a gift from the Lord.....

 PEACE

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.   Philippians 4:7

 

Life is simply crazy around the Henson place lately. We are always on the go. We had two trips to Houston this week (2 hour drive) for Dr. visits for my hubby. Today, the girls had check-ups, so that took up several hours. Busy, busy, busy. That is why I am so thankful for my outside time. I went out this evening as the sun was going down and watered the garden, fruit trees, and berry vines. I love this time to myself. I get to focus on the beauty of nature and how God has blessed me. I am in my own little world....well, me and the chickens...lol. They tend to follow me around when I am out working. I feel so at peace and close to God when I am outside doing the things I love.

 

This is a small fig tree that the girls and I planted a couple

months ago. It is growing well. It has a couple figs on it already.

 

This is a honeybee on one of our onion blooms.

 

One of our ladies taking a dust bath. She was truly enjoying herself.

 

Thank you, God, for the moments of peace. You know just what I need when I need it.

Piano Recital

Madison played the piece "Walk Gently" at her piano recital Sunday. Guess she can't "walk too gently" on crutches....lol. She did a great job. We are so proud of her. She has take piano lessons for

1 1/2 years now. It has helped her tremedously with her self esteem. She loves playing and it shows.

 



Madison.......Take 2

Miss Madison must have thought I wasn't busy enough taking care of her daddy and decided to fracture her growth plate AGAIN......lol. Seriously, she fractured a growth plate in her left foot last August and she did it again a couple of weeks ago. She had X-rays last week and a MRI Monday.

Her podiatrist is concerned because of it happening again. She says if it doesn't fuse, then it could cause a deformity. We are praying that it heals properly and fuses together and that she will not have more problems with it. She is sure keeping this mama busy....lol.

 



 

 

Milk and Butter

We have a major addiction at our house.....fresh, raw cow milk. We have bought

raw milk for the past couple of years and are in love with it. It is hard

to drink anything else. I am so thankful to be able to supply my girls

with milk that is not filled with antibiotics and hormones.

 

 

 

And,

We enjoy the delicious homemade butter from the cream of the milk. I skim the cream from the

 milk each week and put it into my kitchenaid mixer. It takes a while, but I end up with delicious

butter. I would love to have a butter churn...on my wish list....but for now, this will do.

"Don't count your chicks before they hatch."

 

How many times have we heard this and not really thought about the meaning? LOL I think we recently learned the real meaning. Easter Sunday, we put the ten eggs that we gathered that day under a broody hen in hopes of hatching some baby chicks (hopefully hens) to add to our layers as some of our ladies are getting a little older. Things went well for the first few days, with the exception of the hens who would get on top of the broody hen and run her out of her nest. They would lay their eggs in her nest, sit for a while, and then move on. We would have to pick the new eggs out of the nest. We didn't have a problem at first since we marked the eggs we originally put under the hen. With the continuous on and off the nest by several hens, three eggs ended up broken over a period of a week or so. A couple of times we had a hard time figuring out which eggs should be in the nest and which should not. A day or two before the eggs should hatch, the girls went out to check for eggs or baby chicks and found four eggs missing. Two days later, I found two more eggs missing. So, that leaves us with one egg (which hasn't hatched, by the way). I guess we have a hungry snake eating our eggs. Also, I think that it has been eating eggs for a while and we just left extra eggs in the nest that we thought should be there....lol.  So, who knows when the eggs was layed that she is STILL sitting on??? We have no clue. We are just leaving it under her for now with an egg with a fishing hook in it in hopes of hooking the snake so I can kill it. Makes me sad for the poor hen that is just patiently waiting on her babies.  Maybe the one will hatch. Just hoping, we get the snake. Ahhhhhh........gotta love this crazy life.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Today, I am celebrating my 12th Mother's Day, as our oldest daughter just turned 12.  I am so blessed to be able to celebrate as a mom. I had a miscarriage in 1997 and struggled with infertility for 5 years. When I gave birth to our first baby girl in 2002, I fell in love. In 2003, I found out I was pregnant again. I struggled with the idea that I couldn't ever love another baby as much as our first. In 2004, I found that to be untrue when I gave birth to our second baby girl. I am so blessed to be the mom of two beautiful girls. I am so thankful to be able to celebrate Mother's Day by being a mom to Jaelyn and Madison.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mom's Day Out.......

 

I was invited to go with some friends today to see the movie "Mom's Night Out." It was hilarious.  My girls are older now,  so I am not in the preschool stage anymore. But, I could relate to how she felt like she wasn't a good mom or doing a good job raising her kids. It is a daily struggle for me. I seem to think because we are a Christian family and try to teach our girls to live according to the word that they should be perfect. Reality is, not one of us are perfect. Jesus Christ is the only perfect person that ever walked this earth. Also, they are kids. My expectations are crazy. I don't always handle situations the right way, but none of this makes me a bad mom. I highly recommend this movie to moms and dads alike.

 

Life as we live it.......

We have had some drastic changes in our family recently. We felt the calling to foster children with hopes to adopt and complete the Henson family in Jauary. We took classes throughout the month of February. We completed all our classes and had our health and fire inspection. We were just waiting on our family home study and liscensing. My husband, who had previous back injuries, reinjured his back on March 22. He worked one day afterwards and hasn't returned to work since. He is facing back surgery soon. He has neck damage as well and has to have his neck taken care of first. This has not been an easy transition for us, but we have faith that our God will see us through and provide all our needs during this time. We don't know the outcome, but that doesn't matter. God has our back.  So, things have changed around the Henson place. I am trying my best to do everything that I normally do plus the things hubby did. It is gardening season and mowing season, so I have been busy.......on top of the two hour drives to Dr. visits. BUT.....I have been blessed by neighbors. Two have helped me till the garden. One had done mowing and weed eating for us. I am one THANKFUL mama for the help. We are continuing to homeschool. I have my girls do as much as possible on their own and then I sit and teach what they don't understand. My hubby helps by giving spelling tests and listening to Madi girl read. We had to put our fostering on hold until hubby has surgery and his back heals.   As, I said, we don't know what the outcome will be, but I hope to enjoy this season of life as we live it. 

Meat Chickens

My brother helped me butcher our Freedom Rangers Sunday.....24 to be exact. Lots of hard work,  but it was worth every minute of it. Thankful to put healthy meat in the freezer for my family.

 

Meet the Henson family.......James, Lisa, Jaelyn and Madison