thankfulness

Hello, here is what's happening at our house. Leon is recovered after a long bout of sickness. The migraine's that I get are becoming more frequent but, relatively mild. The dinner table had me very frustrated this week. It seemed disorderly and loud. I felt disrespected. We put the ducklings in the chicken tractor with the chickens. The chickens attacked the ducks. Ducky Duck was killed and Taffy Lee barely survived. I plan to get another duckling to replace Ducky Duck as Taffy Lee seems lonely and ducks are so cute. The garden and yard are FULL of rocks.

All adoptions from Liberia are paused. Some people have thought that the adoption is waiting because we don't have the money yet. Our money situation actually has nothing to do with the wait. The wait affects everyone who is trying to adopt from Liberia. New policies are being written which may or may not affect those already in process, (like us). We don't actually owe any money until the adoption is finalized.

On a more positive note, our garden is growing well. We have radishes, sweet peas, different kinds of onions, flowers, salad greens, squashes, peppers, various varieties of tomatoes etc.

Nehemiah turns 1 year old June 5th.
The basement bathroom is getting closer to completion.
The men and young men are working on a 'log cabin' barn to practice skills and see what they can do. I'm excited about it. It will have a place for the goats and the chickens. It will even have a loft.
We still don't know what to do with the information that we learned about the babies in need in the hospitals. I remain in prayer about it.

My oldest son is 13 1/2 years old. He is confident and smiles at me every day. Yesterday he just threw his arms around me and held me in a big hug for a while. I knew not to end the hug until he did but, not to try to hold him longer either. Those spontaneous hugs don't happen as often these days.

I lay in bed under my down comforter and wonder how my life can be so beautiful. My baby lays warm and soft in my arms ,breathing on my face. He is perfect. I am 36 years old and look forward with a happy sigh to the hope of being blessed by another sweet, baby to love some day.

mini farm update

Much has happened on our mini farm. We acquired a chicken tractor, which is a mobile coop without a floor. This keeps the chickens grazing so the feed bill is low and their nutrition is high. We won't have to step in chicken droppings on our decks. We move the tractor every other day or so making the grass look great! The chickens are giving us about 8 eggs a day. "Thank you Lord for your bountiful provision".
We also bought Naphtali two ducklings. He has named them, Ducky Duck and Taffy Lee. We hope they raise a family or at least give us yummy eggs. We got them because they were cute and Naphtali is fun to give animals to and, "why not?"
We took down the old chicken wire fence and posts to put up field fencing and larger posts. Some of the strawberries in our garden were dug up by the chickens before we got the chicken tractor. The rest have had there rows mounded up a little higher. We planted some of the peas, radishes, onions, greens, and beets this week.
We are enjoying one gallon of milk a day from our two goats. Ephraim has already made us yummy goat milk strawberry ice cream and raw cow milk chocolate, peanut butter ice cream.

Meanwhile, Mr. Croteau is finishing a bathroom downstairs that was plumbed when we moved in. He has completed the floor, walls, and some plumbing and electrical issues. He still has to complete some of the walls, the ceiling, and installing a toilet, sink and shower. It's coming together fast. It should increase the value of the home.

The most exciting thing happened last Monday. We were very encouraged by the Lord when Katelyn's Fund called to tell us that they were giving us $3,000 towards adopting Simeon and Patrick. We all feel so ready to begin including them in our life and family. We put ourselves in God's hand every day to be used by Him. For now we will keep praying for them and trust that God will accomplish His purposes for our family and for Patrick and Simeon. We had expected them home in May or June but, now things are paused and we don't know when they will come or what will happen.
We have been enjoying the fellowship with the church. We have been worshiping with the Croteau's, Carlson's, Bushnell's, Stewart's, Byrum's, Tyler's and others. God has been impressing on us the need to be ready to say, "yes" when he asks something of us. He has also been teaching us to let go of what we wanted or expected and accept the new good that he has for us.