Til the cows come home

It is our very last night as a carefree cowless family. Oh my.

It may not be a big deal to you, but it's not coming to your house! I'm not ready. I think I need to stop reading "The Family Cow" too. Reading how to care for a cow is seeming more and more overwhelming and so I think we'll quit for today & take er as she comes. :)

Hubby is going to the farm for a quick lesson in hand milking (which apparantly the farmer thinks is pretty silly) in the early morning. After that #59, and a couple bales of hay, is due to arrive around 11:00am. As soon as they arrive life as we know it will be changed.

I'll just keep praying.
I think I'll keep chanting to myself too.... "We can do it! We can do it! We can do it!"

Book Review Friday: Psalm 1-8

First things first, it's back to Leviticus this week. Chapters 16-20 folks. Do not despair, we're a little over half way done the book. We'll come back to Psalm another week. :)


I am so glad we took a break and did a bit in Psalm. I loved it! I'm worried my review might end up on the lengthy side so feel free to skim or skip. :)
I've read Psalm 1 many times and memorzied it a long time ago. It's a good one. Something new came to my mind reading it this week though. It was what was written about meditating and delighting in God's Word day and night. That's what us girls in Book Review Friday are learning to do, really getting into the Word, and from what I understand we are all loving the process too. That's great and all, but then it talks about the product of the delighting and meditating. "He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season." vs,3.

A tree planted by a river is going to grow. It has as much water as it wants from the soil around it, never lacking nutrition. As it grows it gets stronger and stronger and bears fruit. It withstands storms and droughts and the perils that nature throws at it. Although you cannot see where its strength comes from we know that its roots go deep. They know where life is found and they constantly grow reaching out for more. "It's leaf also shall not wither, And whatever he does shall prosper."

Then the verses explain what it's like for those who don't have a love for God's Word. They don't plant themselves, they just blow around wherever the wind takes them.

I got thinking about knowing God's will too. I can wonder about God's will for my life and just exactly what He wants of me each day. Or, I can plant myself in His Word and allow Him to direct. A tree doesn't gad about looking for the next best place to do a bit of fruitful exercise, it just keeps nourishing itself from drawing the water- getting stronger. Because it has stayed in one place and given its roots time to develop it can take the storms and droughts. It prospers because of the hidden strength. I want to be strong too and Christians literature, devotionals, and courses are not going to do it. Reading the Bible over and over and over again is what will make the difference.
Reminds me of a Proverb I love, 12:3 "The root of the righteous cannot be moved."

I also loved Psalm 3:5 where it said "Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And put your trust in the Lord." Many times in my day just doing the right thing is a tremendous sacrifice. It's hard for us moms to do good when our whole mind and body is screaming to ignore what God has laid in front of us, that we're tired..... or you've got a cow coming and so much to do... whoops! Got off topic there. :)

Anyway, I have to get going. Hubby is home from work and ready to sit and relax. I'll leave Mr.Linky here for anyone who hasn't given up on BRF for this week. It's been a busy day and many things still are not done, but I had to get a review up. It didn't end up being as long as I wanted. There are a bunch of other verses that I loved and wanted to write about. It's hard to keep writing with a husband behind you eating and waiting to use the computer. :) I hope you all enjoyed Psalm as well. :)

Choosing

We are off to start school in 2 seconds but I just saw this and want you all to see it too. Please check out the link, it's short and worthwhile. I know there are some pregnant ladies out there, 3 of which are my sisters, that are feeling more tired than usual these days and I know you'll love what this lady says. :)

I Chose You

My spurt of the moment.

Okay, I'm ready to sell #59. Any takers?? We haven't even officially paid for her yet and I'm tempted to throw in the towel.


I've been reading "The Family Cow" to the kids in preparation for Monday and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed again. I go in spurts. One moment I'm all set and ready for this adventure and the next minute I'm thinking we're insane. Usually the insane feelings come when I'm tired and life is hectic. Cuz, well, life is hectic... and now we're going to have a cow on top of it all! But lets think about the benefits shall we:

* Great character training for each of us as a family.
* Ultimate homeschooling adventure in our backyard.
* Kids learn the importance of working hard and doing a job well whether they feel like it or not.
* I don't have to ration milk anymore to make it last for a week.
* We will have all the milk and butter we want.
* We'll be saving a lot of money (if nothing goes terribly wrong) on milk & butter.
* Our gardens will grow very well with our own home grown manure. (ewwwww!)

There are more benefits but those are the main ones we're thinking of. I'm not going to list the disadvantages because I just might get depressed, and I'm thinking that the value of the benefits totally out-weigh them anyway.

One thing that worries me a bit is that in our book we're reading the author says no one should get a cow if they don't like animals, if you don't have dogs or cats already, and love the idea of having a cow. Mercy, I'm totally unqualified then. Good old #59 is a means to an end for me. I hate animals. They are dirty, smelly, hairy things that cost money and tie you down (just being honest). Hubby isn't excited about getting the huge bulky animal either, just the product she'll produce. That product being two-fold with milk and cream, and also hard working young men.

I have learned in the past few hours that we will be milking at 7am & 5pm everyday, and we won't be purchasing silage. Apparently silage isn't the best buy for just a cow or two, hay is... just in case you wanted to know. :)

#59

I really never thought there would come a day when I would care whether a cow had weak udder suspension or was sickle hocked, but it did. We bought a cow today. Talk about shocking! Our little homeschooling family went down the road a ways to check out a few Jerseys. We were undecided between cow #65 & cow #59, but decided to go with the latter. She's nice.... I think. :) If you had told me a few years ago that I would have chickens, a big garden, and then a cow!!!! I would have laughed in your face. My how things change.

Actually it is a cow shared between families. My sister's troop is in on it too. Our plan is to supply both families with milk, cream, butter and lots of other good stuff with our shared ownership. Call us crazy, but we're doing it anyway. The only thing is that until last night we knew zip about cows. I mean nothing. Zilch. I've been reading up on them and asking a million questions. I've learned many interesting things in the past 24 hours. Things like:
*If you lift a cows tail up it is unable to kick. Good to know.
*They need about 15 gallons of water a day. That means we'll have to carry that much out to her since we don't have plumbing in the barn. Oh joy.
*They are unable to spit.
*They don't see colors.

Not that any of you are interested in cow trivia. :) But besides these facts I am understanding that this is a big undertaking for us and we need to get ready for lots of extra work around here. That means that mommy has to get life organized if she's going to stay sane. My, I have some things to put in order. It doesn't take much to stress me out. The thought of me and my kids and my home smelling like a barn yard is stressful to me.

To relieve this stress my husband and I have plans for the next week. Purging, organizing, and preparing. #59 is being delivered on Monday. I'll let you know how it goes. It's exciting.

I wonder if #59 is excited. hmmmm?

My lot in life.

There is a problem with blogging. With the exception of the few close friends that read your blog and know you very well, you can seem to be something to your readers that you are not. I would never want anyone to think I am ignorant to my own faults, which are many. This is to remove any preconceived ideas you may have about me if you have read my blog but not visited me in my home. I'll just list a couple areas of less than admirable qualities shown in my day to day life, because I'm not humble enough to make any more than that known. :)

My sunporch is a mess 98% of the time. I usually have a couple loads of laundry waiting to be folded on a couch somewhere. I have a VERY hard time getting out of bed before 7am. My children do help around the house but it means that we end up with dirty dishes in the cupboard after they've washed them. They haven't learned to put their own clothes away yet... which means messy rooms most of the time. I'm very impatient. I only have 2 pieces of furniture that match.... and I hate them. My yard is usually a mess with toys and tools. There is always dust under our beds. My kids argue and are unkind at some point everyday. etc....

Lots of bad stuff about me, eh? :) It's the truth and here is a picture to prove my children's washing capabilities. What is even worse is that another one of the kids dried and put this glass away after it was washed!


Oh, and I forgot to mention one more thing. We seem to have a bad habit of losing 1 piece of every puzzle we do. We just finished this one and as you can see we are missing just one little annoying piece!


That's the bad stuff, but we have lots of good stuff too. So don't think too ill of me and my homelife. We are a work in progress here at Watch the sky. :)

Book Review Friday: Leviticus 11-15

First things first, we'll move right along in our journey through Leviticus.... later. :) This week I'm totally throwing you off your guard and telling everyone to read Psalm 1-8 until next Friday. Is everyone breathing a sigh of relief?? I thought a break from Leviticus would be a great idea. Psalms has been on my mind lately but I've been diligent in reading our assigned book and not had the time to read Psalms. So Psalm 1-8 it is and I'm really looking forward to it. :)

Now for my oh-so-short review. I read it everyday. I did. I only had one thing cross my mind in my reading, and you all have mentioned it before I believe. There is no doubt that we cannot do anything to make ourselves worthy of Christ.If I get a disease, I'm out. If I get the runs, I'm out. If someone else gets the runs and I shake his hand, I'm out. If I am a woman there is a week out of every month that I would have the constant reminder of how unclean I am, and I'm out. In reading I was thinking that these guys must of listened to all these regulations and thought, "How in heaven's name am I supposed to keep track of all this stuff!?! I'm just one big fat sin all the time!!"

I'm glad that Christ is my mediator and all is taken care of. I'm still being reminded more and more every day of the cost each one of my sins is to Him. Every thought of impatience, every reaction in anger, my laziness, my selfishness, etc... I'm just one big fat sin myself all day long.

But God is so good to me.

Okay, that was it. No big spiritual revelations today. :) I'll look forward to reading anyone else's. As usual, if you have a review but no blog, just email me and I'll post it for you. Easy sneezy. :) Here's Mr.Linky for all you bloggers who would like to take part.

I'll apologize for the lateness in which I post. I'm a mom, and today was grocery & errand day. It's just the way life works sometimes. :)