Abundant Blessings

On the Blog Again

2006-09-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

Well, as you can see from the dates, we have been quiet for quite awhile. Much has happened since I last posted before our move so this post will hopefully catch some of you up on the "fun" we have had since leaving New Mexico.

For starters, just before we left NM, I found out I was expecting. I didnt tell Steve until after we got to Alabama because I didnt want him to worry. I had miscarried 8 weeks before that. Although I felt terrible for the first approximately 20 weeks of this pregnancy (some moving stress related I am sure) things seem to be going better now. I am due the week of my birthday (end of January).

This move has shaken up a lot of things for us. First off, both Steve and I realized very quickly that we do not like hot weather. From the day we got here until about 15 days ago, it was over 100 degrees every day. Most people just stay in the air conditioner (atleast that is what we have been told) but its kind of hard to farm when you are indoors...

Secondly, finding food here is difficult. The coop that usually serves this area went bankrupt the month we got here. There are no large organic food stores here either (we were very spoiled in NM). For several months until I was able to get in on a grain order we mail ordered everything-not a cheap venture. We have been able to get pastured organic meats by special order through the commissary and fortunately will have our first set of chickens to butcher in two weeks. We tried mail ordering chickens but that was way too expensive. We have still been mail ordering raw milk cheese as I learn how to make it (I have successfully made mozzarella so far). We still have our dairy goats so milk is not a problem, and have also acquired a Jersey dairy cow and her calf.

Our animals have done fairly well, our beloved Patty who we had for 10 years died after we got here- she was bitten by something. Also, some of our baby goats died, including our one Oberhasli breeding male, from eating something poisonous we assume.

In addition to that, our house plan didnt work too well- we still havent sold our house in NM so we are all pretty crammed in 2400 sq feet right now. However, we are thankful it didnt sell yet because God is causing us to rethink many things and we would have wasted a lot of money adding on to this house that would have been hard to resell.

So, at the moment we are looking at:

1. Where to move permanently (we are seriously looking at Missouri right now).
2. When to move (we are looking at the kids and I moving earlier in order for this house to have a chance to sell).
3. What Steve can do for employment that will allow him to be home as much as possible so we can start the family farm business.

So, thats a summary of what has been going on with us. Like I said above, although this move has been very hard on all of us, we believe God is showing us that we need to change a few things which we would not have realized had it not been so difficult.

We appreciate your prayers as we sort through all of this and we will try to keep you updated more often...

You have new Picture Mail!

2006-06-16T16:28:00.000-07:00

The fish are bitin'...we finally found a few minutes to check our fish stock. We are probably overstocked, but we'll fix that soon...

You have new Picture Mail!

2006-06-11T19:07:00.000-07:00

Septic is done, too! This was done very well and much cheaper than in NM. We were even able to run the washing machine line seperately into the woods.

You have new Picture Mail!

2006-06-11T19:05:00.000-07:00

Well.....we now have water...well almost. The wells done, 160 ft deep and tastes good. Still needs electricity and plumbed to the house, but were thankful!

You have new Picture Mail!

2006-06-11T19:04:00.000-07:00

Southern Fried Hospitality - we had a nice lunch last week at Grandmaws Kitchen. It was all you can eat with fried just-about-everything. The kids enjoyed it

You have new Picture Mail!

2006-06-07T18:34:00.000-07:00

The house is here! It arrived and was put together over the weekend. Should be a couple more weeks until its ready for us to move in.

You have new Picture Mail!

2006-06-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

Emma's feeding one of the baby goats. Each day we drive 20 mins from our rental house to our new land/future farm to milk and care for the goats and dogs.

You have new Picture Mail!

2006-05-28T14:24:00.000-07:00

We're in Alabama! Looks like we'll stop short for the night - 3+ hrs. We enjoyed seeing the change in landscape from NM to AL. Wow! what a change...

You have new Picture Mail!

2006-05-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

Kids enjoying a shade tree

You have new Picture Mail!

2006-05-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

Caravan stops for lunch in LA just west of the mighty Mississip.

You have new Picture Mail!

2006-05-27T19:40:00.000-07:00

We reaffirmed the size of Texas today by falling short of our goal of reaching the Louisiana border. We stopped in Canton, TX after 9 hot hours driving.

You have new Picture Mail!

2006-05-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

Traffic Jam in the Big - D. It's hot and yes we're not moving!

You have new Picture Mail!

2006-05-27T06:10:00.000-07:00

AL move - part 1 - we stopped to visit the Kearney Family in Clovis, NM. Great family that also love the rural life! Pictured Bubbas - Brad, Steve and Rob.

Down for awhile

2006-05-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

This will be the last post for awhile as we leave for Alabama on Friday. The farm we wanted to buy didnt work out but we found a beautiful piece of land- 80 acres with two large ponds (16 acres and 6 acres-stocked with fish). We will be camping on the land for a couple of weeks waiting for our first house to be delivered-more on that later. We will be off the computer for a month I imagine but will post stories of the moving adventure hopefully by the end of June.

Till next time-

New name, Great verse

2006-05-08T09:48:00.000-07:00

Well, we are getting busy with the final move preparations. Some of our family will be leaving this weekend with all of the livestock- the rest of us will follow in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, we have come up with a farm name. It will be "Farm On A Hill" - taken of course from the "City On A Hill" concept of the Puritans, I believe it is. Fortunately, our farm also sits up on a hill. I would like the whole farm name to be :

"Farm On A Hill, A Land Flowing With Milk and Honey". We have the flowing milk but not the honey yet, that will be coming in the future.

I have also been reading Herrick Kimball's new book and enjoying it greatly. A verse he published on the inside pages is excellent and will also be included on our farm web page and labels. It is:

"That you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing." I Thessalonians 4:11-12.

Thats it for now-

Pretty Ladies

2006-05-04T20:02:00.000-07:00

God has blessed me with a beautiful family - especially all my girls! Here's my favorite lady (the one who writes the most on the blog) and my youngest!

Manure Spreading

2006-05-04T18:45:00.000-07:00

Today we reaped the harvest of our goat and chicken deep bedding from the winter. We put straw and wood chips in the pens from Dec - May. Cleaning out the pens was replaced with adding new straw and wood chips every so often and irregularly aerating/turning the bedding. We hope the home-made compost will help to grow some much needed grass despite the lack of rain.

My personal campaign against wheat...

2006-04-26T09:06:00.000-07:00

In a couple of previous posts, I wrote that our baby, Emma, had been having some problems with food allergies. After some sleuthing and eliminating, we determined she was allergic to wheat, which I know is a common allergen for lots of people. Anyway, I used wheat in many things, Prairie Gold for bread, pastry wheat for quick breads, biscuits, etc..., unbleached white flour for desserts and pie dough. As I was searching through Sue Gregg's cookbooks looking for information about other grains I read that you can no longer buy wheat that is not hybridized. The only true wheats left are Kamut and Spelt. Sue Gregg believes that Kamut is the "wheat" of the Bible. That led me on a search through the Bible looking for grains - the most prevalent I found were "wheat" meaning Kamut, Spelt and Barley (hulled barley, not pearled). I began thinking that the reason many people probably have problems with wheat is because man in our "wisdom" has changed it over and over again, making in indigestible. I believe many more people probably have issues with it (allergies, weight, etc...) and just dont know it. I read today in a book by Shelley Summers (she makes the Sprouted Spelt we now buy to make quick breads) a paragraph she wrote about Kamut, Spelt and Wheat:

"All three of these grains are varieties of wheat. The spelt and kamut are Old World varieties and have not suffered from the manipulation our U.S. wheat endured. At the turn of the century, wheat analysis showed it contained 50% vegetable proteins and 50% starch molecules. Now it is more like 92% starch and only 8% vegetable protein. This means it takes almost twice the amount of pancreatic enzymes to digest wheat properly. This kind of demand is very hard on bodies".

No wonder so many people have problems with it!! Unfortunately Kamut is hard to find and pricey. Some whole food coops carry it under the name of "Egyptian Wheat". We hope to grow Kamut on our new farm. In meantime, I hope people will stop using wheat and use Kamut, Spelt and Barley instead.

Off my soapbox for now....

Sausage anyone??

2006-04-22T12:57:00.000-07:00

Last night we had friends over for dinner and we made homemade pizza. We make the dough with white spelt flour, we make our own special sauce, we add cheddar and mozzarella and other toppings... well last night was a treat because we just got our first goat sausage back from the butcher. Steve cooked it up and we all tentatively tried it... it was really good and made an excellent sausage and onion pizza. Our goal one day is to produce the grain, honey, tomatoes, cheeses and veggies as well that go into our family pizza... in addition to the wonderful goat sausage!!

As an aside, when we bought the Boer goat as a trial- we grass fed him all of the time we had him (about 2 months)-no grain. The butcher said he looked really good, nice and fat. Incidentally so none of the kids got the wrong idea we named him "Sausage". Thanks Sausage for a great pizza!!

Cleaning Routine

2006-04-14T08:21:00.000-07:00

We have been showing our house quite a bit since it went on the market. Realtors are supposed to give us two hours notice but they dont always do that. Fortunately because we keep a relatively clean house and because we have assigned everyone a job when a showing happens our house has been in good shape for these impromptu showings. Because of the size of our family, many people ask about our organizational routines. One of the routines we implemented last year was to have a zone and general cleaning day every Friday. I borrowed these concepts from "Flylady" and "Large Family Logistics." I thought I would share with you today's cleaning schedule and routine- in the future I will share some of the other zones. Here goes:

Today we do Zone 2 - Kitchen and Laundry Room. Here is the breakdown:

1. Dust everything for cobwebs –
2. Dust lights –
3. Replace light bulbs –
4. Wipe grime from light switches and outlets –
5. Wipe down door frames and walls –
6. Vacuum in corners, under cabinets, around edges –
7. Clean out bottom laundry room cabinets – ask Mom what can be thrown away –
8. Sweep kitchen floor–
9. Clean out stove top and range hood –
10. Clean ovens –
11. Wipe down all cabinet doors –
12. Sanitize cutting boards –
13. Wipe down telephone –
14. Clean shelves in laundry room –
15. Wipe down pipes, furnace, water softener in laundry room –

The girls and I do this- each girls writes her name down and then another sister checks her work. While we do this the boys do outside every Friday. Here is their routine:

1. Pick up whole yard (trash, balls, etc…)
2. Clean the barn
3. Clean and sweep the carport (stack boxes nicely, straighten cabinets., clean out the tool room)-
4. Sweep the front walkway and driveway (not into the grass, use a dust pan)
5. Make sure the garage is swept.
6. Vacuum pool room
7. Clean windowsills in pool room
8. Clean all windows in pool room
9. Scrub out toilet in pool room
10.Clean sink in pool room
11. Straighten greenhouse
12.Clean windows in greenhouse
13.Sweep greenhouse
14.Clean windows in carport

Then, when this is all done we go on to General Cleaning, which looks like this:

1. Room first:

a. Clean drawers (dresser and desk)
b. Clean closets
c. Make beds nicely
d. Clean shelves
e. Clean under beds
f. Dust all furniture
g. Clean all windows

2. Clean laundry room:
a. Wipe off washing machine and dryer
b. Straighten and wipe off cleaning products shelves
c. Take everything out, sweep and mop
d. Put squirt bottles under the cabinet

3. Straighten and sweep out vault
4. Dust computers, electronics (stereos, radios, tvs. Etc…)
5. Straighten front porch shelves, drawers and couches, sweep and mop
6. Straighten back porch buckets, bins, brooms, etc.., sweep and mop
7. Put anything needed in the attic
8. Straighten sewing room, wipe down computer tables, sweep and mop.
9. Dust all the wood furniture with wood polish (All rooms in the house, including Mom and Dads room and bathroom, not kids rooms).
10. Sweep and mop the kitchen and hallway floors-
11. Thouroughly clean boys bathroom (straighten and wipe out drawers, shelves, etc…), follow bathroom cleaning chart, sweep and mop floor.
12. Thouroughly clean girls bathroom (straighten and wipe out drawers, shelves, etc…), follow bathroom cleaning chart, sweep and mop floor.
13. Vacuum living room and hallway couches. Pull up futon couches.
14. Straighten linen closet

Usually we start all this around 9:00 a.m. and are usually done by 2:00, with plenty of time to enjoy the rest of the day.

Happy Cleaning!!

Mystery solved!!

2006-04-10T18:48:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention that we solved Emma's allergy issue- she is allergic to wheat. Also, it wasnt hives she had but eczema. Anyway, in doing some research on wheat I found out that all wheat available in the United States is hybridized. Sue Gregg says in her cookbooks that Kamut is probably the wheat of the Bible. Also, the Bible mentions the use of barley a lot. I began to think that maybe this is why so many people have wheat allergies- because man is our "wisdom" has changed it so much that many people can no longer digest it. For our family I have eliminated it completely, both Prairie Gold and soft white wheat, as well as white flour. I am making Kamut/Barley bread now, we use Sprouted grains for quick breads and Spelt (especially white spelt) for tortillas, pizza dough and pasta. I also ordered some Sorghum Flour and we made some really good peanut butter cookies with that and barley flour this weekend. Sorghum flour is hard to bake with so it needs to be perfected and other ingredients usually need to be added. Experimenting is fun though and the kids usually like to be my testers.

Anyway, Emma's skin is clear and we are very happy about that!!

Bought the Farm

2006-04-10T18:34:00.000-07:00

Or more literally are working on it... We made an offer yesterday on a 77 acre cattle ranch in Alabama. We hope to hear if the offer is accepted in the next couple of days. The farm comes with 41 beef cows, a bull and 21 calves. The owner has been grass feeding his cattle on a rotational grazing plan for the last 30 years I think he said. So if our offer is accepted we will learn by immersion.

There are also two very large chicken houses with cooling room on the property- the owner used to gather 7000 eggs a day and sell them to a hatchery. We want to pasture raise chickens so we wont use them for that purpose- instead we thought we might raise rabbits in one for dog food and maybe use the other for a really big garage??? The concrete cooling house in between will make a great milking parlor.

The land has several spring fed ponds and a creek and lots of beautiful grasses that we cant wait to see!!

Daniel is excited that the house comes with a tractor, flat bed trailer and livestock trailer. The house is small so we will have to add on- we will finish the garage to be a couple of bedrooms and then add on a great room, three more bedrooms and another bath. Fortunately there is a trailer home on the property where our older kids can sleep until we finish construction.

We received a contingecy offer on our house here in New Mexico last week- we have definitely had lots of showings and the market is great here right now. Our realtor got a call today that another buyer might be interested so we are praying that will come through and that we can move by the end of May.

Also, while Steve and Lucas were in Alabama they dined with one of the families at the church we hope to attend when we move. Steve said they could have talked for hours and they had a wonderful time- especially because the food was so excellent!! I look forward to meeting this family when I get there as well.

Well that is our exciting news... will keep you posted on the status of our move.

Til next time...

Long Delays

2006-03-30T08:48:00.000-08:00

While I would love to have more time to post, things at the Maus house are crazy right now. Our house here in New Mexico is on the market as we will be moving to Alabama in the next month or two. We are also deep into kidding season- three of our does have given birth. Kali was first with boy/girl twins, Marigold and Mustang. Abi was next but unfortunately we didnt have her for the entire pregnancy (she wasnt healthy when we got her) and her doe kid died within 24 hours- her buck kid isnt doing too well either. Corazone kidded yesterday- triplets!! Unfortunately the third one was stuck in a wierd position and we couldnt get help in time to save him- this is the first year we have experienced kidding and we definitely learned a lot yesterday. Corazone's other two kids, Carnation and Camaro are doing great.

I am also back to studying nutrition because our little Emma keeps breaking out in hives. We have elimated citrus, chocolate, honey and dairy (except raw goats milk and yogurt) from her diet (and mine while she is nursing) to see if we cant figure out the problem. We are also soaking all of our grains or using Sprouted flours. I am also looking into Sorghum Flour.

Anyway, we appreciate prayers as we figure out how to move 17 children, 20 goats, 7 dogs, 4 cats and a bunch of stuff across the country!!

Took a break again

2006-02-05T16:26:00.000-08:00

Well, sorry for the delay in posting for awhile- we had Steve's parents come and visit and then we have been gearing up for moving. In addition, we were given a couple of orphaned baby goats- unfortunately one of them was not well and she died. The other, "Lavender" is doing well. I have also been reading a lot about essential oils in medicinal and hygiene usage, pasture grasses and I made soap for the first time- it was fun. And, our baby turned one- time sure went by quickly on that one!!

As we get closer to moving (right now we are in the throes of finishing up this house to put it on the market), I am going to atleast try to get back to posting once a week. After we move, it will be sporadic but I hope to be posting weekly again about our adventures as we move to our new homestead. Kidding should be happening soon as well so expect some baby goat pics!!

Till next time-

Boredom???

2005-12-29T18:15:00.000-08:00

Steve and I were chatting the other day after coming back from the grocery store where we had gone to pick up some potatoes (hopefully next year we will be going to our root cellar to get our potatoes). I mentioned that a great many people would think we were crazy for wanting to do all this work producing our own food when the grocery store was so convenient. Without going into all the health issues of why we dont want to buy food from the grocery store anymore (we buy most of our food from a whole foods coop now), I said that maybe God wanted humans to practice an agrarian lifestyle so that there would be no boredom. I think boredom is what gets people in trouble. They have lots of extra time and therefore need ways to spend it. For youth this seems to be video games, TV, CD players and occasionally books. It also means "hanging out" with friends. For adults its TV, golf, luncheons, game clubs, etc... and hopefully a good book every once in a while. Our modern day conveniences make most every day life chores quick and easy - what do we do with all that extra time?? If you are making all your own food from scratch, tending animals, gardens, orchards, etc.... building a homestead, sewing clothing, shepherding and teaching your children- there is NO TIME for BOREDOM. I have stacks of books I want to read, right now it is "The Untold Story of Milk" but when I lie down at night to read it I am usually too tired ( we have been changing our schedule to wake at 5 a.m. and go to bed at 9:00 p.m.). So I guess I will relegate most of by book reading to Sunday afternoons.... I look forward to the time when my kids will never tell me they "have nothing to do"!!

Hay

2005-12-26T18:10:00.000-08:00

We are endeavoring to transition our animals to grass and as such are working towards abandoning feed pellets for the goats. We hope to find a substitute to purchasing chicken feed as well. The boys and I built a few hay feeders and worked through a few bugs along the way.

First, the goats climbed over the back so we installed a roof (also hope it works to protect the hay from rain and snow).
Second, we had to add some wood to the bottom rear of the feeder to keep the males from eating though the fence out of the back of the girls feeders.
Third, we added a tray on the sides for supplements. The trays (not pictured) were popular and after the supplements were gone they became a stand to climb on for our smallest goat (Peppermint).
Fourth, potential design flaw...this morning Daniel and I had to rescue three goats that crammed their heads in the same hole. By the time we got there, to choruses of Bahhhh! Bahhh!, they were so stuck we had to unscrew one of the boards to get them loose.

Right now we are feeding three different types of hay; grass (a mixture of 4 grasses), alfalfa and oat. If anyone has any suggestions on hay for goats we would love to hear it...

All in all, we are pleased and hope they keep our hay dry and the goats well fed!

Seasonal Eating

2005-12-20T17:44:00.000-08:00

Today we received a big box of oranges and grapefruit from an organic orchard in Florida. I have been reading about trying to eat seasonally and citrus fruits are what is in season during the winter months. Of course they dont grow in New Mexico so off to Florida on the internet we went. I explained to the children that God obviously has a plan when we find that just the perfect food to combat the flu (citrus with lots of Vitamin C) is at its best right when we need it. We were all amazed at how sweet and flavorful the oranges were compared to the grocery store variety. We can't wait to try the grapefruits in the morning...

Also, Daniel's first completely homegrown chicken is about to be hatched-he is so excited- More info and pics to come....

Lastly, I ordered several different culinary and medical herbal seeds today from Seeds of Change. We will be planting seeds in the greenhouse after the first of the year... I want to make fresh peppermint tea after reading a fellow Christian agrarian blog...

Til next time....

Infant sleeping

2005-12-17T17:28:00.000-08:00

As I was getting Emma ready for bed last night I realized that I should recommend yet another item to all of you. Emma is the first baby we have had in a cold climate. We were concerned early on that she would not be warm enough at night because as you know, babies dont usually leave covers on. So, we invested in a few "baby sleep sacks". They are made by a company called, "Back to Sleep" but I have seen patterns for them as well. They are sleeveless but basically serve as a blanket the baby sleeps in. We put Emma in her normal fleece sleeper and then put the baby sleep sack over this. We know she is nice and toasty.

Also as I was putting Emma to bed I began thinking about baby sleep habits in general, especially the whole back to sleep campaign. When Lucas and Eric were babies I always put them to sleep on their tummies- I dont remember if I didnt "know any better" or just didnt care. They were great sleepers, slept through the night at 4 months old and took 3-4 hour naps. Since Emma was born 10 years later of course all the SIDS research was out there and parents were warned that we must put our babies on their backs to sleep. So I did. Recently I have realized what a mistake that was. She now sleeps on her stomach every night because that is the position she places herself in-thats how she is comfortable. She still isnt a great sleeper and I think I caused some of that by putting her on her back. How many of us sleep on our backs or can even lie on our backs for more than a few minutes? It hurts to lie completely flat on your back. So why would we want babies to do that? No wonder we have books upon books written now about trying to get babies to sleep better- they cant sleep because they are uncomfortable and are too small to get into the position they really want to sleep in. Further, most of these babies when they can move around go ahead and put themselves on their tummies to sleep. I also wonder if SIDS researchers arent missing some sort of nutritional basis for SIDS in the mother or baby. Perhaps all the chemicals and preservatives Mommas consume or the formulas babies are fed is a contributor. I dont know but any future babies I have are going to be put to sleep on their tummies. I can rest knowing that if God wants to take this baby, He is going to do so no matter what position they are sleeping in.

Now for something totally unrelated. I would love some suggestions on stopping whining and screaming fits. We have an 8 year old that no matter what form of discipline we use (and we have used all we can think of for loooooonnnng periods of time-like years) she still throws a screaming fit at either us or her siblings whenever she is corrected or if something happens that she doesnt like. We have tried making sure she gets plenty of attention and love but nothing seems to change her behaviour. We know that God is the one who will change her heart and maybe we just all have to endure this as testing from God but we also know as parents that we are responsible for shaping her character and we just have run out of ideas. So, anything you all can recommend to us we would greatly appreciate!!

One final shot of Chloe

2005-12-17T16:13:00.000-08:00

Here is one final shot of Chloe...

Daniel's Pride and Joy

2005-12-17T16:01:00.000-08:00

Here is Daniel's prize rooster - "Russ". Fortunately our neighbors are very forgiving and don't mind his constant crowing...

The New Boy Pen

2005-12-17T15:50:00.000-08:00

Here is Daniel and the bucks in the new buck pen... now the buck smell won't permeate the barn... we just have to remember not to open windows on that side of the house...

Another farm picture

2005-12-17T15:44:00.000-08:00

Here is John, our other Livestock Guardian Dog...

Chloe guarding the herd....

2005-12-17T15:20:00.000-08:00

Here is Chloe our ten week old Livestock Guardian protecting her herd...

Some farm pictures

2005-12-17T15:11:00.000-08:00

Here are some of our dairy goats grazing....

Long Update

2005-12-16T17:41:00.000-08:00

Well, things have been busy at the Maus home. Last week we greatly expanded our dairy goat herd through some wonderful blessings from God. Currently we are leasing 4 purebred Nubian dairy goats and we own three bucks (two of whom are now wethers thanks to a little surgery which Steve learned how to do...). Well, last week some friends from church said they knew a lady who had some purebred Nubian goats that she wanted to sell, were we interested. Since we plan to sell raw goats milk through a "goat share program" in Colorado (provided that is where God locates us next year) we said yes. Well, this lady was nice enough to give us her four beautiful nubians for FREE... They are Canela, Luna, Bella and Nutmeg. They have the most amazing coloring. The same day we talked with the sweet family we are leasing the other goats from and they asked if we wanted to purchase the four goats we have plus three more females and one more buck for a fraction of what is would normally cost us. We jumped at the chance and now have 16 purebred nubians.... In addition, we are building up our number of Great Pyrenees Livestock Guardian dogs, buying from the same lady we are buying the goats from. We have an almost two year old dog, John, who is finally growing up and becoming an excellent watch dog. Last week we added 10 week old "Chloe" whom we plan to breed. We will buy one more male and female for breeding before we leave. Steve and the boys have been busy expanding our female goat pen and are also building a separate outside buck pen (they need to be outside because they STINK!!). They also built a nifty shelter for the bucks. In addition, they are going to build a slanted hay fever, Joel Salatin style, for the goats. Things are hopping....

Our egg chickens are winding down, their production has backed off considerably, causing us to realize that we have been spoiled this summer with so many eggs. We are not quite over the mindset that things should be available all the time so we are making adjustments since we want to pretty much rely on what we can produce if we can.

I just finished reading an interesting book, although not from a Christian perspective. It is called, "French Women Dont Get Fat".. I didnt read it because that is something I am overly concerned with but because I had been told that it had some good health information inside. It did, fortunately fun information. The author gives many reasons why french women tend to stay slim, they treat all meal times as special, try to exert extra energy in little things and if they enjoy something rich they cut back on other things. They also enjoy rich, dark chocolate and wine or champagne often. I did some research on dark chocolate and found that it is loaded with antioxidants and wine is pretty good for you too, obviously in great moderation. So, I found a good organic chocolate company, "Dagoba" and ordered some chocolate from them. Steve stopped at Wild Oats yesterday to pick up a few bars for us to try so we had a chocolate sampling after dinner last night- my kids love this new health trick!! So, I now plan to enjoy some dark chocolate every afternoon in a "momma" break while I read some good Christian agrarian blogs.

Speaking of which, there are some great Christian agrarian blogs out there that I never had time to read. So, I decided to get off of all yahoo groups so that when I sit down for a 15 min break in the afternoon and enjoy my chocolate I can read them. It now only takes me about 10 seconds to check my email because I dont have to dig through so many emails and my email box looks so clean!!!

Steve and I have not been wine drinkers since we really dont know much about it. I told him I would love to try some different kinds but we need to wait a week or so. Then I began thinking about something this afternoon. We are firm believers that God should control our family size so we dont practice any birth control. But there are some that say you shouldnt "try " to achieve pregnancy either but I always wondered why God made it easy to tell when that "fertile time" was in a female. I realized today it may be because we need to take precautions in that last half of the cycle, just in case, so God makes it clear.. Like not drinking wine for example or taking any pharmaceuticals or herbs that would be harmful... Just a thought...

Now, one closing thought... MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! (Notice we will NOT say, "Happy Holidays"!!!!!)

Book Recommendation

2005-11-06T20:00:00.000-08:00

Well, we have been absent again for awhile - been fighting a flu again and looking at house plans and land as it looks at this point like we will be headed to Colorado. Anyway, I just finished reading a book I wanted to recommend. It is called "Adoption as a Ministry, Adoption as a Blessing" by Michelle Gardner. Michelle and her husband run Kingdom Kids Adoption Ministries - if you can, check their site out www.kingdomkidsadoption.org.

Its a great book - not only if you want to adopt (our kids pray daily for us to both adopt more kids and be blessed by more babies) but in support of those around you who do adopt.

Til next time...

Working out our Vision...

2005-10-18T11:25:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks, Steve and I have been working out a long-term, multi-generational vision for our family. I thought I would share some of our thoughts here as a spring board for some of you to start thinking about this..

We hope in our next military assignment (we will be moving next summer, one more time!!) to purchase atleast 80 acres of land. We would love to have closer to 150.. The reason we want this land is so that as each of our children grow up and marry, they will have the ability to build their houses and live on the land with us. All of our children have different bents and abilities that are just starting to come out. We hope to be able to "Community Farm" with our children. One of our sons does very well with his chickens and our dairy goats. He and another son also love to garden. So, we hope to have a herd of enough dairy goats to supply all of the families with milk- same with chickens and eggs. Each family can have their own garden or we can have a big community one. One of our daughters is very interested in first aid-she can be our resident nurse. Another daughter loves to take pictures-she can be our family historian/scrapbooker. One more daughter wants to be a midwife (you get the picture). Oh, one more, we have another son who loves to build so he can do houses... I hope my children will always stay around me- I cant wait for my grandchildren to come spend the day with Grandma cooking or sewing and for all the cousins to play together. And of course, the big Sunday dinner. Right now we are looking at possibily getting stationed in Alaska to complete our vision-land is plentiful and cheap and they can grow things faster...we will see what God decides to do with us...

Another Emma dress

2005-10-13T17:48:00.000-07:00

Here is another "Mama Creation".... the white underdress is by April Cornell.

Fall Sewing Projects

2005-10-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

We have been working on Fall sewing projects - I have made some clothes for Emma and a few pairs of pajama pants. I am also working on jumpers for Raven. The girls have been making pajama pants for their brothers. Here is a picture of one of the outfits I made for Emma...

Girls workday

2005-10-08T18:36:00.000-07:00

Here are the girls working hard. We canned apples and applesauce today. Gina also made strawberry- rhubarb and apple pie. In addition to these Fall projects, Daniel and Gina are training two of our bucks to be pack/cart goats and we have our first forecast of snow on Monday. We hope all of you are enjoying preparing for Fall and Winter as well...

Piano Lessons

2005-10-08T17:51:00.000-07:00

Our youngest piano player! Gina helps Emma with the Infant Concerto.

High and Tight!

2005-10-08T13:40:00.000-07:00

Workday at the Maus house. We went to the hardware store, fixed a few toilets, the ladies canned apples and made pies. Now, Daniel is learning to cut hair.

Happy Birthday Linda!

2005-10-02T18:10:00.000-07:00

Linda turned 14 today! She is a great young lady and extremely helpful to all.

Sorry for the absence...

2005-09-19T08:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the absence - we went on vacation at the end of August to the "Renewing The Family Camp" sponsored by The Reformation Church in Colorado Springs. We listented to some excellent speakers and had a wonderful time of fellowship- photos to follow soon... Then we came home and got the flu- still have a few children fighting it. Hopefully we will be back to posting regularly soon. We are working on Fall/Winter sewing projects - those pics following soon as well. I will also post some recommendations of easy quilt projects and sewing projects to decorate your home and maybe update your wardrobe.... Till next time

A Picture Share!

2005-09-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

Learning to crawl

We often spend our life looking forward to milestones ...the temptation is to overlook the joy of getting there. We are blessed every day!

Bedtime for Emma

2005-08-23T20:26:00.000-07:00

The Big 40!!!!!

2005-08-23T18:50:00.000-07:00

Today is Steve's 40th birthday... He is a great husband and father and we can't thank God enough for giving him to us to lead us through this life. Here he is with Emma and his birthday pie... Happy Birthday - we love you!!

Happy Birthday Lucas!!!

2005-08-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to our first "home grown" baby, Lucas Alexander, who turns 13 today!!!! Lucas is a delight to us all, loves history, drawing, and anything to do with wars. We love you Lucas!!

Perfect or Used??

2005-08-19T07:05:00.000-07:00

I have been stressing out lately because I know we are going to need to put our house on the market in the next 6 months or so as the military moves us one more time. I look around at all the imperfections and wonder why anyone would want to buy this old house. Just the other day I was worrying about the small burn marks on the formica countertop that we just had installed 3 years ago. Then as I was lying in bed that night it dawned on me... would it be better if they were in perfect condition? NO, because that would mean that they weren't being used. They wouldn't be used to teach the girls to cook to make bread or pie crusts or homemade chicken noodle soup. They wouldn't be used to clean up the dishes after a wonderful family meal. They wouldn't be used for our Sunday fellowship dinner with our church members. So I need to stop worrying about little imperfections and enjoy the use of our kitchen... God is going to sell this house, not us, in His absolute perfect timing and I need to quit worrying about it!

Joy in the Simple Things

2005-08-18T06:12:00.000-07:00

Arent the simple things fun? It was great to watch the kids get so excited when our box from Yankee Candle came on Monday. I buy a "Scent" for the house each month. We have a candle that burns in the kitchen, electric room fragrancers in each bedroom, fabric refresher spray for the beds and couches and room sprays for the bathroom. This month our scent is Mandarin Cranberry. Also, yesterday we made homemade pasta for the first time. The kids all gathered around the hand crank pasta machine to watch Zeke make spaghetti noodles- they were so excited you would have thought we were at a professional sporting event... we love the simple life!!

Picture Day Blessing

2005-08-16T11:21:00.000-07:00

After our family picture we took all the children to our local pancake restaurant for a big brunch, something we dont do very often because of the expense. We were all starving because we hadn't eaten anything and it was about 11:30 a.m. so we each ordered a big breakfast or lunch. Several minutes after our food was served two of the waitresses came over and said that some of their regular customers had been so impressed by the children that they paid our entire bill...wasnt that a blessing!! It also showed the children what a witness they can be..

2005-08-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

This is our latest family picture (the non-edited version). The picture experience went really well and we were very happy with the results. Unfortunately, Lucas lost his head during the photo shoot - well, the lower half of his head!

Welcome to our blog!!

2005-08-15T20:31:00.000-07:00

Pictures and posts coming soon...