break

Well, I took a break from blogging... Not really sure why.. Probably the fact that I am completely every minute of everyday.. It is good to be back and be able to write my thoughts!! I have been so blessed and in the next few weeks I will be writing about Adam leaving, the kids growing and summer fun.... BUT for now, I AM BUSY.... SO, it will have to wait... God Bless EVERYONE..

Snow

Well we got our first snow finally. The kids have been waiting an eternity it seems for it. It was so beautiful when we woke up and watched the flakes fall from the heavens. Of course, doing chores in it wasn't so much fun.... But after chores we played and played. I did have to drag the kids aways from the maneur pile... It is the only slope we have around. So I could see where it could have been fun. But still it is horse/goat poop. Icky. I do have to draw the line somewhere, even in the snow.. We enjoyed it until it all melted. Which wasn't very long. Maybe an hour.. But it was fun while it lasted.. I was trying to explain to the children that you just don't order up the snow. You can pray for it but God and ONLY God will send it when it is time. Of course they response is "It IS time"... I told them the reason we don't get snow often is because God wants us to enjoy it. If we had it all the time we wouldn't know how to appreciate it. Just like with other things in our lives.. We eat 3 + meals a day. How many of us are actually THANKFUL for every morsel of food. Although we should be. SO I think God lets us see his beauty so we will always appreciate it. Same as the sun. We love the sun. It gives out great vitamins. It keeps us warm. But we don't really appreciate it until it is gone for a few days. God has given us so many blessings each day. It just so happens that yesterday he blessed us with the beauty of snow. God Bless!

Too many

Too many!!! What does that mean?? People tell us "you have to many kids", "too many animals", "too many issues".... Well, I sure have something to say about that. God gave us TOO MANY kids... Not because he wanted people to be annoyed by us, but because he wanted to shine his light through us.. He has blessed John and I with 8 children, 3 grandchildren, 1daughter in law and 1 son in law. When we go to town some people give us dirty looks when the kids are thrilled to just go somewhere (kinda crazy kids).. They watch us load and unload the kids from the van or pick up.. They watch us wrestle through the stores with a little spanking here or there and a little don't touch this or don't touch that. But what they are missing is the fact that we love them very much and believe that they are truely a blessing from God. I mean who else could have made the twins.... Yes they are wild and crazy most of the time.... But in reality they are just normal kids. Try going to a school and sitting there for an hour and you will see. God has great things planned for each and everyone of our kids. The people that are stubbing there nose at us and talking behind our backs obviously doesn't know what it means to be given the gift of raising children...
Now on the animal thing... Yes we do have several critters. And yes they are spendy... But what more joy do we see when the kids are riding the horses for hours and just happy as can be. How about the dogs. They are happy no matter what we do. They always listen to me whine and complain. Usually giving me a sympathy lick with a really wet tongue. The kids love the dogs. They say a mans best friend is a dog... The cats now..... They are hunters, which keeps the mouse population down. They also snuggle with the kids at night to keep them cozy and calm. They are cheap keepers for sure... The goats... Well they give us milk back. So in itself they are worth keeping. Also having the kids watch the babies being born and helping to raise them is giving them responsibility and also teaching them about how critters have babies... What a lesson in itself.. So I say THE ANIMALS STAY... No matter who says what....
Everyone has issues, but it really isn't anyone else's problem. Don't others have enough issues of there own to worry about, rather than worrying about mine..... If they are Godly people then why not be praying for us and not gossiping... Makes total sense to me... Life is too short to have this behavior..
I may sound a bit irritated but I am not... I just feel compelled to let this out. And heck, no one will probably even read this, but at least I have it off my chest. I do feel much better now... :~}

Fall

I do believe that fall is in the air. Most of my plants are starting to turn colors. A wet dew is on the grass in the mornings. I am so excited I can hardly wait. I love the change of seasons. God has given us such a beautiful gift. Just think in the fall what beautiful colors we have to look at. The break from the heat is a welcoming feeling. Then the winter comes. Nice cold mornings and hopefully this year snow... Everything is crisp and the air seems clean. Up next is Spring. How beautiful that is. The new growth and the beautiful green grass and trees. Not to mention all the beautiful flowers in bloom. All the bee's a buzzn' and butterflys gracefully flying by. Then summer. Although hot in this area, it is great. So many outside things to do and accomplish. I am amazed at how many things I can think of to do outside. I love my seasons and I do love the New Mexico sunsets. God is blessing me daily in sometimes the smallest ways and others in the biggest ways. It may be while I am hanging the laundry on the line that I realize I am thankful for so many things. It may be while I am schooling the kids. Sometimes it is even when I am cleaning pens....... Enough said there... LOL... I am a blessed woman and I want to urge each one of you to be in the WORD everyday. I can not believe how much I grow in the Lord when I am relying on him daily. He is my rock and shield. Always be thankful, even when you do't want to. I had a friend once tell me that when I have a bad attitude look back on the day and see if I can come up with 5 things to be thankful for. I always come up with 5 and about 25 more. I am blessed... Thanks to Jesus Christ. When you look outside just remember the God created it all for us to enjoy.

When Love Blooms

I have just read the best book. Since I am a simple woman, whom loves the pioneer days, it was right up my alley. The name of the book is "When Love Blooms" A Novel by Robin Lee Hatcher. It is written so well that I could easily be distracted by the children and pick it back up and start right in again. Not only that but I find it hard to read books that aren't Christ Like.. This one has biblical values. I could hardly put it down. I could imagine the story in my mind. It was absolutely great. I joined a Zondervan blogger review and got the book for free. The only catch was to post it on my blog. I would definately purchase this book. I can't wait for the next one to come out. I just have to have it... The other two books by Robin Hatcher that I know of are called "A vote of confidence" and "Fit to be tied". I can't wait to read them soon. This is a must read. She is a great Author!

Little Joe

Here is little Joseph... He is the coolest kid.. Actually the coolest 3 year old. He has a great temperment, that is until he gets mad... Then look out.... He loves horses. His life is horses.. All he thinks about is just that... He carried little plastic horses in his pockets, I find them in his bed, pillows blankets, washing machine and dryer. He is just content to sit on a horse and go no where... As long as he is on a horse he is happy. A book about horses does miracles for him. A movie about horses is just "The Most". He is the most caring kid. He will give up his blankie for another child or parent who is sad. What a kid. We gave one of our horses to Fort Lone Tree for the summer and HOLY COW, I thought he was losing a lung..... It isn't like we aren't getting him back.... He just knew Amigo was going forever. Of course he thinks all of the horses are ALL HIS and Jack the donkey... Although he would much rather ride a "real" horse than Jack, but sometimes it will just do... Lately he has decided to take on the name "Trick Rider". His Grama Karama, in her younger years was a trick rider. We got the pictures out and that is all it took. He decided to try it out... Luckily he is on ol' Gus. He doesn't get excited about much anymore so I was too concerned about his safety. He just loves it. I hope that for the duration we can keep him in the saddle, or not... He doesn't care either way saddle or bareback... Just as long as he is ON A HORSE!!! I just love this kid and I pray that he will always enjoy horses. I love watching him ride, talk and play with the horses. I am just so thankful that we can live in the country and have things that the kids can enjoy that don't break and they don't fight over... Life is great and so is Little Joe!!! God Bless

Fathers

This is my Dad... What can I say... He is the greatest man alive..... I can remember when I was small, I ran over his broken leg with my new tricycle. Boy was he upset... But he still loved me..... He use to travel with his job and only be home on weekends. I can remember when he did come home all weekend we would do projects of some sort, which I always thought was fun. He slept until 9:00 and then we would go jump on the bed and drive him crazy until he eventually got up.. I remember sitting on the bathroom cabinet helping him shave. I remember he would let me fix his hair with barrets and hair spray... Now what a cool dad to let me do that..... One time we were camping and my sister and I caught dad taking a snooze and we got a hold of the grapes and started putting them all over him, including stuffed in his belly button... Oh my those were the days... I remember going to cut wood for the winter. He would share his black coffee (yuck), which I didn't really like, but because he shared it with me I thought it was so special and drank it up like it was sweet tea.... I was so proud when he would go to my basketball games and track meets. I would look up in the stands and see him, and just be thrilled he was there. Then when he would take me fishing. Oh my goodness, I almost couldn't wait to get out the door with Dad.... I was in trouble one time for something I am sure my sister did and not me (LOL) and he got the belt out and was going to give me a woopn', well I tried running into the bathroom and locking the door. Let's just say I never ran from dad ever again after that one... OUCH!!! One time he took me to T or C with him when I was a teenager. It was so cool... We stayed in a motel and went fishing and ate out. Just he and I..... I thought I was pretty special for sure.. Through all my crazy teenage years he still loved me even though I was a Copenhagen (Nasty stuff) chewing, wild, crazy teenager... He always loved me and I always new it. I can never remember my Dad not loving me. Through the spankings and the talks, I could always see the love in his eyes for me. I was so sad when I would let him down. I wanted to be the best daughter ever... Of course I always thought I was the favorite.... Probably because my sister moved away so I was like the only one there.... Or maybe it was because I WAS his favorite...... LOL... Well he is the best dad and I love him with all my heart. As I have gotten older I see how important that my Dad is to my life. I love him...