Jessie Tree

Hello everyone, and Merry Christmas.    

My favorite Christmas tradition we do in our family is when we do the Jessie Tree (we use Ann Voskamp’s devotion).

Each year we do it, we have a small tree branch to use for our Jessie Tree.

We do a devotion each night, then we put up a little ornament on our Jessie Tree. 

My favorite devotion is The Coming Kingdom Isaiah 11:1-9.

Righteous Reign of the Branch

¹ Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
² The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
³ And He will delight in the fear of the LORD,
And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
⁴ But with righteousness He will judge the poor,
And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth;
And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
⁵ Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins,
And faithfulness the belt about His waist.

⁶ And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion ^[a]and the fatling together;
And a little boy will lead them.
⁷ Also the cow and the bear will graze,
Their young will lie down together,
And the lion will eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.
⁹ They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
As the waters cover the sea.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

our garden

As some of you know we have a garden. 

It is beneficial to us because it is (almost) organic, we can walk out to our yard to pick produce.

This year we are planting : onions, Swiss chard, radishes, beets, potatoes, pak choy, garlic, corn, tomatoes,  and sweet peas. We put lots of stuff in to the garden like wood shavings from the chicken coop, compost, ashes, and cow manure.  All these things fertilize the garden. 

Then we tilled the soil to mix the stuff into the soil, to loosen the soil, and to give the plants soft soil to grow in. Some of  the plants have just sprouted. It is fun to have a back yard garden. Bye

Incubating Eggs

Sorry I have not blogged in a while.  We just started school, last week. We are schooling a friend too.

 

We have incubating 20 eggs, 6 have hatch so far. I got to watch two eggs hatch, it was amazing to watch them break a hole in the egg and then slowly break out.  We would let them dry off a bit in the incubator, and then we would moved them to the brooder.  Then we would show them how to drink.

It was so amazing to see a egg transform into a chick.

here is a video of a chick hatching

So good by for now and remember Jesus loves you

for our incubator: foam cooler, shop light, 15 watt bulb,and a piece of glass.  

for our brooder: large plastic bin, wood chips, feed,and water.

Book Review : It Couldn’t Just Happen

Jacob’s Opinion (5th grader):

I think it is a good book. I liked that they look at the beginning of the World from a Christian point of view. They offer explanations for the “big bang” that support a Biblical view. I though this book was very easy to read, took about five to ten minutes to read  each chapter.

After reading the first chapter I am really excited about reading it for school. I thought the “Just for Fun” suggestions were pretty cool. I really liked the pictures that were in each chapter. I am glad there are books we can use for school that teach from a Christian view point.

I liked how they explained how evolution is proven with evidence with micro evolution, and how there was no support for macro evolution : gradual changes from environmental changes versus an animal changing into another animal.  This books make these things easy to understand.

Mom’s Opinion:

I really like this book! I initially scanned it, since we will be using it for a school book in our homeschool this year. At the end of each chapter there is a “Just for Fun” section that offers some practical ways to see or test what you just read. These are as simple as standing outside, holding a dime an arm’s length away and guessing how many stars the dime covers (ans. 15 million). I love that I could do these with my kids or with friends who are over. This book has suggestions that are very practical applications to help them grasp some complex concepts.

This would be a great family book, for those trying to equip their children to trust the truths of a Christian World view. If offers a great deal of evidence for all areas to include : creation, the universe, living things, and humankind. The pictures are captivating and draw the reader in. It Couldn’t Just Happen would be a great reference book also for a family looking for evidence and support for a Biblical Worldview to help their children as they navigate science taught from an evolutionary perspective. After each subject addressed it points back to “What does the Bible say..”

Before getting this book to review a friend told me her girls read it years ago for school and were reluctant to part with it because they enjoyed it so much. I am quite sure that this book will reside somewhere my boys can reach it easily in the future because it is such a beautifully illustrated, fun book to read over and over.

Disclaimer : This book was offered at no cost to our family, in exchange for an honest review of the book.

4H Rifle

In my 4-h group I do rifle.

This is at the county rifle competition, we were getting targets

This is my friend Brendan (on my rifle team) and me

I shoot a 22. I think I am one of the youngest shooters. I am not a major marksman but I do okay. I shot in the competition. I did not score high, if  you were wondering, but I had fun and that’s all that matters.  Maybe, I will do better next year.

In rifle we shoot a cartridge of 40. our targets look like this

The two in the center we shoot 5 rounds in too and one round into each one on the  outside. it is important to:

1.shoot AFTER a breath 

2.squeeze trigger correctly

3.take your time

4.wear ear and eye protection

 

garden wildlife & produce

A few months ago we started our garden. We have beets, lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach, beans, potatoes, and berry bushes. We put our potatoes in sulfur to keep the gophers away. We have lady bugs everywhere. We also have a ton of butterflies. Monarchs, painted ladies, tiger swallowtails, and a lot more .

(these pictures were taken by  my mom)

all about: guinea fowl

I looked up guineas. They came from Africa on the Guinea coast into Europe in the late 15th century.  They are a family of insect and seed eating, ground nesting birds. They are suppose to lose their feathers on their head. Some kinds are pretty ugly. Some are pretty cool.

(our 3 turkeys and the guinea behind them)

My favorite one is the crested guinea fowl. (we do not have one of these)

They are native to Africa and are large birds measuring  40-71cm in length and they weigh 700 to 1600g. They are used to control ticks sometimes. If you wanted to eat them (after you cook them) they will look like a chicken and their taste is suppose to be in between turkey and chicken.

bye and remember JESUS LOVES YOU