COUPONING!

We are trying to coupon. We have been looking at all kinds of sites and are storing up .I went to a site today call coupon queen. SO far it has great coupons on there and you can earn more by doing surveys. I have my folder all set up for a trip to the store! You can go to coupon queen by going to http://www.couponqueen.com/ try it!

2 new calves!

Well we went to the auction and were able to get 2 Holstein bull calves.They are beyond cute! We are bottle feeding them right now and the kids love to help feed.We are deciding which one we are keep a bull and which one we are going to turn into a steer. We think we have it figured out but not completely sure. WE still want to get a heifer or 2. But the farm is growing slowly.

Livestock Auction!

We are so excited!! Our new neighbor is taking us to a livestock auction in 2 weeks.We are hoping to get a couple of cows and a pig or two. We want to raise the cows for milk and get a bull so we can have calves to sell and raise to butcher. We are going to try a pig or 2 first to see how it goes,if all goes well then we will get more.
The kids want us to get another horse that is broke to ride.I told them we probaly we not do that right now.We need to get productive animals for the farm.
I just hope that we can get a sitter for the kids so I can go to.If not I will stay home with them(I really want to go).
I will keep you posted as to how it goes!

Summer

I wish summer was over! I really do like the heat.

We are almost finished with moving from the old house,still have a few things to get but getting there.On top of moving our neighbor keeps giving us vegtables so I have been busy putting up veggies in the freezer.I prefer canning but I just dont have time right now. SO last night at 10:00pm I was putting up corn.I did 30 ears of corn on the cob and 2 gallons of whole kernal.It really did not take to long to do it.
Dont have much time getting ready to get another load.

Our life on the farm so far

Well last week we got 2 horses from a rescue group.1 very sweet loving mare named Lil Girl so far still working on that.The we got her dad Toby an 18 year old stallion! Yes stallion. We had him tied in the barn until he calmed down and we could get the vet out to well make him a gelding.We knew it would not stop his want because of how old he is but at least he could not cause any babies.
Well on day 3 I took the dogs out at 7:30 in the morning ( which is now late for me),our neighbor asked if we were missing a horse,so I ran to the barn to check and low and behold Toby had pulled his head out of his halter, jumped,the stall door,jumped our fence,jumped our neighbors  barbwire fence,ran through his garden,then jumped another neighbors eletric fence and was ,well trying to have fun with his mare!!
Well we went over to get him and he was not having any of that! We had to go wake the guy up so he could catch his mare so we could in turn catch Toby.That all took ablout an hour.On the way back to the house he stumbled and jerked loose from Fred.So the race was on again.He went back through the garden,but we got him before he got back to the mare,thank you Jesus!! On the way home he pulled and fought so hard it pulled the muscles in my husbands forearm,bicep and chest. Not a good day!
We decided Toby needed a new home for his saftey as well as the childrens.We found a couple (who by the way are now friends!)who was looking for a stud for their 4 mares,again thank you Jesus. They came and picked him up the same day and at last check he was VERY happy with his new harem.
and if I ever find my USB I will get pics up.

Blackberries !!

With summer upon us,we have a plethora of blackberries.We have a huge bramble down in the holler.We have been picking a little at a time but I think we are going on a HUGE picking session.Then we are coming home and making blackberry cobbler! The kids are driving me crazy about when we are going to do it,I personally think it is to hot to do it right now.I still have to go to the store and get heavy cream so we can make the whipped cream for it.
If I can find my USB cord anytime soon I will post some pics of the bushes.

We have moved

Well we kinda have moved.We have the basics at the farm and are slowly moving the rest over.We have been so happy since moving here.The property is great,so peaceful.You can sit on the deck and watch the lighting bugs in the field,listen to the frogs.
The house even though small is great.There is a song that says something about"love grows best in little houses with few walls to separate" and I believe it is true.We will build once we re-build our funds up,but for now we are happy .
We have added to our "family" we now have 31 chickens 24 Aruacanas,6 Barred Rock and 5 Guineas as well as 2 billy goats.The goats are 2 1/2 months old and are a boer/pigmy mix.Roscoe is brown and white and Cheava is white.They need more handling to get them tame but we will work on it.We are going to start tieing them out in the pasture to help eat it down.We can not wait to get some cows , pigs, and horses.I think we will be complete then.
I also am looking for some fruit trees to plant so that we will have fresh fruit.I can not wait until next year when we can have a garden.Our neighbor has been great he has given us tomatoes,green onions,squash and the biggest heads of cabbage I have ever  seen!! They are bigger than Samuel(our any child that age) head!! We are cooking them for dinner tomorrow with sausage.
I cannot wait until we no longer have to go to the store for our food.It will be so nice eating things that you know are fresh and are not genetically modified or pumped full of hormones.
I will post pics soon(as soon as I find my usb cord)

Our new farm!!!

Well GOD has his plans for us and sometimes we are not sure what they are ,BUT he provided a 10 ac. piece of land for us.It has a trailer on it and it will be more like camping out at least until we get the house built.There is already a foundation there to start building on,so again we are very lucky,very blessed!

There is barn there and corral fencing as well as a hog/cow pasture,a pond and a creek in the very back of it.

We are so happy.We are picking up our first set of chickens in the morning and calling about some goats we saw on craigslist.

I can not wait to be out there completely.We have spent the last 2 days out there mowing and still have another 2-3 days to go.The grass is very high and very thick,so we are having to go over it 2-3 times to get it short enough.

My husband starting to mow by the pond

This is the view from the road going to the farm.I need a better picture though because this one does not do the view and justice.

Our barn and the foundation for the new house

The property goes 1.5 ac. into the wood you see in the back.

Homemade Butter

Well we bought some heavy cream,got out 2 mason jars and shook and shook and shook!!! Well it turned into butter!!! So we did it.We made our own butter.It taste so good.I can not wait to but it on fresh bread tomorrow.

Other than that we are waiting on the house still.We went back out there today and I still love it just as much as I did day one.The realtor told us that we are still the only ones who have put an offer in.He has shown it to many people but no one can afford to make an offer with the repairs it needs as well as most banks wont lend on one that needs a new roof.So we are still praying that they come down to our price soon,we really want o get started working on it.

Barry is coming up next week to stay for a while.He is hoping we can get closed on the house while he is here to help Fred work on the roof.
Please pray for us to get this house soon.

Missing a garden

I am really missing a garden this year. We did not plant anything because we really thought we would be in our "OWN" home by now.But GOD has other plans for us. We are waiting on the home we would like to come down.I see other post about gardens and chickens and such and I so miss mine!!! I know that all good things comes to those that wait,but the LORD knows I am NOT good at waiting.Maybe that is what he is trying to teach me,more patients. lol
I know next year we will be able to grow our own food. I also know that as long as we get in the house before winter we will be able to get our chickens and have fresh eggs.

We found a house

Yes we found a house we love!!! It is not in Montana as we thought it would be, it is not 20 ac. like we thought it would be.It is however a really pretty house on almost 5 ac. has a creek in the back. We do love Kentucky and think this is where we will be staying for a long time!
We are now in the offer game with the bank as this is a foreclosure home. We know what we are willing to go up to and we know they will come down it is just a matter of waiting them out.I am not good at waiting!!!! So this is a test for me I am sure.
We already know where we are going to put the chickens and a goat.The kids can not wait to get out there. I so hope that we can close before June. SO please pray that we can get it all worked out!

Birthday

Well yesterday we Hilliary's birthday. She would have been 19. I see my nieces,my friends girls who all around her age and they are getting married,having babies,finshing school.I cant help but be alittle jealous.I wonder what she woudl have been like,I wonder how she woulb be. But she is in a better place.

Wow! I need to post more.

Well we have been so busy.We are looking for property and it is taking forever! We really want to get our homestead up and growing.I know it is not in our time but HIS. We hope and pray that we will find a place by the end of May.We are looking in three different states,Kentucky (where we live now) Missouri and Montana. We really love Montana and I think that is where GOD is leading us.We look at all the listings for all three states and always end up at the Montana ones.We just feel so much peace when we look at them. I know it will be a lot of learning involved but I think we are up to the challenge! Please just pray for us,that we are able to hear HIS will .

Christams 2010 and New Year

The Mata's Christmas 2010!! It was great. The kids had their very first "white Christmas" it was so pretty.

We are looking forward to many changes this year. We still have not decided weather we will move to Montana or around here. I am leaning towards Montana.I just feel that is where we should be.We are praying hard that GOD will show us and open our eyes to HIS will.I ask that you do the same for us.

Happy New Year !!!

Holidays

Well we had a good Thanksgiving. Holiday's are a bittersweet thing. I am happy to celebrate with my family, but I am very sad about my children that are not here for us to celebrate with.
Jarret has been gone for 7 years now.I know he is up in heaven safe,happy and healthy,Hilliary has been gone for 1 1/2 years, again she is safe happy,cradled in the arms of Jesus.I miss them more than I can say. My life has not been the same since they went to Glory.But it was better for them and I know they will never hurt or be sick again.

Now as for our oldest son Brett,he is with my dad which at the moment is a good thing because my dad's health is not doing good.But he will not talk to us and we haven't seen him in over a year. Brett has had to deal with the death of his mawmaw whom he was very close to,his brother and sister. That is almost to much for me,not to mention a child(which Brett was when his mawmaw and brother died.)

Our next daughter Veronica. She made up some really bad things and left the house. We have not talked to her for a 1 1/2.Part of her problem is that she blames herself for Hilliarys death.We tried to tell her that it was just God's time and Hilliary was is so much pain we were happy for Hilliary,sad for us and that no would blamed her because she had not gone into the room a few minutes earlier. She is in counseling and again I pray she will come around. She has had a lot of things in her 18 years to deal with,her mother pretty much abandoned her when we got custody( my dh's ex) and did not speak to her for over 7 years,would not let her have contact with her 1/2 sisters,her brother and sister dieing. Her life has not been easy. Please pray for her as well.

I never thought my family would be so messed up. But that is what happens when the "world" gets ahold of it. I have learned that the secular things will tear your family apart. I know that GOD will get us through and that HIS will be done. BUT I also know that we have to give our self to HIM in order for HIM to show us HIS mercy. GOD gave us permissive will which unfortunately we use,and HE has HIS perfect will which is for us all to live in HIS lite.

GOD be with you and yours,GOD take care of my wayward children until come back!

I am back!

Well it has been WAY to long since I posted.I am sorry.
Well things here have been good.Fred's furniture business is going good. We did an entire cabin for someone,beds,dressers,night stands,dinning room table,bar stools all of it. It looked great!!! Here are some pics. I dont have one of the table yet but will posat it later.











We are now looking at moving to Montana,yes Montana. We really want to be off grid and the land there is so cheap and so pretty. I hope and pray it will be next year.We have been reading alot about off grid living,how to make our own solar panels,wood stove cooking. There is so much to learn. I just cant wait! And now with the adoption credit being converted to a refund WOW!!! It just makes it so much easier to do this.We would have never used the tax credit but with it being turned into a refund ,I just pray it is GOD's will and it come through.

I also am looking into becoming a CASA. For those that dont know it is a volunter for foster children. You speak for the child. The parents have their lawyer state has he case worker the child has no one,except(if they have a good foster parent) the foster parent an the CASA.I guess with us moving I will have to wait until we know for sure when we will move but where we end up I plan on doing it.

Well I could ramble all day about what has been going on but I will save it for more post ! lol. GOD BLESS

pictures of our first winter!!

Spring is Here!!!!!

I hope we get at least one more snow ,but today is wonderful. The kids and I went on a walking trail we saw when we first moved here and it was so nice. We walked about an hour or so.On the way back the kids did not hold up as good as the old lady did ! haha.
I would like to get bikes for every one so we we can go for rides.But we will have to get more money first. I know the Lord will provide what what we need

Life in Kentucky

Well we have had snow during the winter which everyone has LOVED!!!!!!!!We are kinda sad that spring is coming,but look forward to see what spring up here is like.

We like the house we are renting but pray daily that the LORD will find us a place in the country.We really want to become more self reliant and be able to grow our own food.I so miss my chickens.

My beloved has opened his own business and is doing good. He loves making the furniture and wantes to do more of that. He does such good work it is amazing to me what he can do with a piece of wood!

Now as for our older children Brett still is refusing to talk to us and I know he will not accpet our life right now ,but again we pray for him to come home again one day when the Lord has it planned. We miss our daughter Hilliary so much but know she is in such a better place and her and Jarret are having so much fun together.
Well I will try to post more often (not that any one really reads this but me)

We are moving!!!!!

After years and years of praying to GOD,begging my husband and just hoping.We are moving out of Florida!!! I am so excited,I know GOD has plans for us.I have been telling Fred for years that I did not feel like GOD wanted us to stay here ,well HE finally made it happen.
We will be leaving Florida around the 8th of September headed for a new life.

I dont want to say where because of some personal things.But just let me say that when you tend to stray away from where and how GOD wants you he has a way of knocking you back in line!!! I dont mean that in a bad way,just that we had gotten of track and now we are back headed where and how we should be.

There is so much to do and sell.We are selling everything we dont have to have.My poor hubby has sold 3 of his guns,alot of his tools and I cant seem to sell anything.I thought that all my baby stuff would sell quickly,but it hasnt!! May be GOD is keeping for a reason.

If anyone is reading this plaese pray for our oldest.Things are not right with him .He is really of track and needs to come back to GOD.He moved out and I have not talked to him since then.It is so hard to loose Hilly and then 2 weeks later Brett leaves.My heart is breaking ,but I know GOD has HIS plans and we just have to let HIM be in control.