I Love Our House

Yesterday we signed the papers on our house. We are now home owners for the first time. Ok, so actually the bank owns it, but it is ours. It's taken me a day to get into the groove of things, but I think I'm there. We have lived here for the past eight months now, it feels like home. But now it's OUR home. Dh said that we have made homes of other people's houses all these year, but this time it's OUR house we are making a home out of. Dh celebrated by buying and installing a window box outside the kitchen window. He planted begonias and petunias. What a lovely surprise.

I love our house. I love watching Daddy cut the boys' hair on the back porch. I love the line of elm trees to the east. What nice shade they will provide when they are bigger. I love the line of other trees to the north. Willow, elm, apple, plum. They are flowering now and smelling lovely. I love to watch all the birds on the grass. So many different kinds! The robins and quail are my favorite.

I love that our nearest neighbor is 1/3 mile away. Close, but not too close. We are the only one on our little cul de sac, so the kids can ride their bikes on the street in front. I love looking out over the meadows that are the empty lots. I love watching people walk the horse trails.

I love looking at the mesas to the east, Pike's Peak to the north, the Wet Mountains to the west (and beyond the Sangres) and the Spanish Peaks to the south. I love to feel the coolness come down from the Wet mountains in the evenings.

What a blessing from God! I pray as a family we grow in Him in this house. I pray for opportunities to fellowship, nurture and disciple.

I love Our Home.

The coop before

So Long Dear Coop

So long dear coop.

Last night there was a frost expected so we put a lamp in with the chickens to keep them warm. The same lamp that we used in the house, a low 60 watt. Things were fine until I woke up this morning to the smell of smoke. DD#1 and I tried to put it out but the hose was frozen. We had to call the fire dept. By the time they got there DD#1 (DH was at work) got the hose to work and had put most of it out. I was with the babies outside the gate.

Thank God the house was ok, but we lost all our chickens and the coop. We moved the coop yesterday. Had it been closer, it would have caught the tree on fire and then the house. Had we opened the coop to let the chickens out, they would have caught the grass on fire. There have been so many fires here lately, I am glad to lose 7 chickens to save houses and land.

The deputy asked the value. He said we could try to file an ins claim. Imagine...an insurance claim on a chicken coop.

I told the fireman that I bet he doesn't often have to put out chicken coop fires. He said you'd be surprised. That made me feel better.

The run is still intact, but we may wait until next year to try again. DH is upset and feels responsible. But we joked about it and said we should have our pastor over for fried chicken. When our pastor mentioned fried chicken during the service, we all giggled uncontrollably. DD#2 named them and made a marker where DH buried them. I hope the coyotes don't dig them up.

Poor little chickens.....

Saturday Doins

Today is Saturday, a day we sometimes sleep in. I had hoped to do so this morning, but the little boobah had other plans. She awoke at the early hour of 5:30 am wanting to eat. She is most definately going through a growth spurt. Since I was up I got up, showered, got the children up (it was 7:00 by then...I let them sleep in a bit) and got started on last night's dishes. We had a rather lazy evening of pizza and a movie. The little boobah was sound asleep for several more hours.



It is a cold windy day today. I decided to do laundry today, something I don't often do on Saturdays. But since we close on the house on Monday I thought one day's less laundry might be helpful. There was no hanging them up outside today, though, as it is cool and windy. DH and the children did their Saturday Chores quickly to get out of the cold. We were going to plant our strawberries in our cleared patch of garden and then cover it, but the weather service says there is going to be a frost tonight.



Pancakes as usual for breakfast. This time it was cinnamon. I have to make 6x the original recipe to make enough for the family. I cook 6 at a time on the big griddle. DH didn't eat, so we have a few leftovers. I usually freeze leftovers for Saturdays when we are in a rush to be somewhere.



Today was supposed to be our garden day. We have a long list of things to accomplish and first on the list is to clear the garden patch. We are pretty late in doing this, but once we do it, we will only have to maintain in coming years. Other items include: spading up near the sidewalk and planting grass seed, moving the coop, turning compost, and picking up the trash in the yard (a never ending activity way our here where the wind blows). DH and DD#1 have the opportunity to serve helping a friend move so it is just as well.



The kids cleared out a few drawers and we cooked bread, apple pie, granola, cut up salad, washed fruits and veggies, and I made a meatloaf for tomorrow's dinner. I like to get as much baking/cooking doing ahead of time as possible. It makes meal times run smoother.



DDs 1 and 2 are dancing for a fundraiser this afternoon, dh is sleeping because he has to work tonight. The big boys are doing dishes, the baby is sleeping, the little are wreaking havoc :) and I am heading out to the sewing room to teach a friend to sew. Later Gma and Gpa are coming to help dh get a bed from a friend. You can never have too many beds.





But...that's not going to happen because of the cold.

Mission: Mexico

OH how our oldest daugther has a heart for missions!






Her first mission trip was to Greensburg, Kansas. The town was totally flattened last year in a tornado. A group of people from the church went to help out last year. She worked hard clearing out a family's basement.

Then Haiti and DC and now Mexico.



There is a man from our church who comes to town long enough to raise money to go back to Mexico to an orphanage. Here is a glimpse of what this man has done.

Each spring break, a group from our church goes to Chihuahua, Mexico to assist this man's orphanage. This year, a group of 17 drove to Mexico. They did street evangelism, puppet shows and helped build an addition to the orphanage.

The orphanage does not have babies and not all of the children there are eligible for adoption (I made sure dd#1 asked about adoption!). Some are there for the day while their parents work. Some are there because their families have too many children and/or their parents are divorced. My daughter described it as a big family. She is eager to go back next year.

Getting over the border was an adventure, she got a wicked sunburn but other than that no other calamaties (like stepping on a nail: Greensburg, cinder block falling on her hand: Haiti).

She fell in love with a young girl that she would have gladly brought home. And she served.

But she is home now and back to her own personal mission: home. Today she is drying apples for granola and then schoolwork.

A little girl she fell in love with.

This is the outside of the orphanage. She says that the orphanage is in the ghetto and that this is the fanciest building around.