The rest of the story...

Another owl update: On Friday I was working in the garden and I heard Zachary yelling "There's an owl in our sandbox!"

Right away I knew that an owlette had fallen out of the tree.

So I went over there and sure enough,

there was an owl in the sandbox.

He puffed up and made a

"clattering" sound with his beak.

Sounded kind of like when you click your teeth together. He was terribly intimidating,

but when I went to pick him up with gloves he didn't do anything.

We then realized his "clicking" was worse than his bite

and we all had a good look and feel of him.

Then we set him up on the playstructure hoping the mom

would come and find him in the night. Close to dark when the girls were jumping on the trampoline,

they spotted the other owlette on the ground close by.

He appeared to be a little older than the first one

and a little more 'testy'.

We caught him and put him on the playstructure with the other one.

And then went inside hoping that the parents

would find them by morning. The next morning we were happy to find that one owl was gone,

but the other one was still hanging around.

We were leaving for the day so we just left him on the grass. On Sunday morning he still hadn't left. We left for church and when we came home he was gone! So our owl adventure has come to an end. Face to face with

'little owlette'

Isn't he

adorable?

Brooke & Owlette

being introduced UPDATE: Just as we were writing this post, Mark's mom came over and said

she had a visitor! GUESS WHO?

The owl is back.

So right now he is sitting on our deck watching everyone as they go by!

I guess we will put him out in the bush again tonight

and hope he either learns to fly or his parents start looking for him!

There's Been A Sighting!

Here is an update on our owl visitor. We are now sure that she has babies. Two owlette's were spotted on Sunday. I am sad to report that we were only able to get a clear shot of one of these fuzzy little creatures. If you look carefully to the right of the little owl, you can see another fuzz ball. This is the other baby. So far the only action we have seen from them, is poking their little heads out once in awhile. We will bring you more photos when we have them. That's it for now.

It's planting time!

It's that time of year again.

This year we got it almost all the garden planted in one day!

Here are some pics of the fun we had.

Megan planting onions

Planning, Planting, Planning, Planting

Kerri has an casual way of planting!

The boys play on their race track.

The boys make good use of the time

Looks like their having fun

For those of you who wonder if we have a big garden, this is part of it, behind the raspberries, is another nice size plot. We also have another plot in the back of the yard that we plant our crop of potatoes in.

We're Being Watched!

This owl took the libery to make her home in a tree in our front yard! Up until now I haven't been able to get any good pictures. But yesterday she was very cooperative. So guess what we've decidec to learn about? Owls!!! This ones a great horned owl. They are the largest owl in North America. The "horns" are actually just tufts of feathers. They weigh about 3 lbs. and have a wing span of 18-25 inches. They fly almost silently. She can come back and forth from the nest and we hardly notice except that she is gone. When we were cleaning up the bush she stayed through all the tractor and people noise but got "scared off" when she heard a large tree crack. We thought she might not come back, but she did. Owls do not build nests. They find nests abandoned by other birds like hawks. This nest looks very rickity and I wonder how it can hold the mother and her little ones. They lay between 1 & 3 eggs. Both the mother and the father incubate the eggs. (So I guess I shouldn't keep calling them a she!) The eggs hatch 26-35 days after they are laid. We saw a broken egg on the ground under the nest a couple of weeks ago, but so far we have seen no baby action. At 6-7 weeks the young venture out onto nearby branches. By 10 weeks they are learning to fly. The first summer the young owls continue to live in the same area as their parents. By fall they will fly off to find their own territory. So I guess we will hear a little more hoo, hoo, hooing around our yard this summer. The parents split up when the babies are on their own. They are solitary animals that prefer to live alone. Right now we enjoy listening to them 'talk' to each other back and forth. So that's all for now. We will keep you posted on future happenings with our owl friends!

Building A Playstructure

Over the last couple of weeks we have been cleaning out our bush that had many fallen trees and we made a playstructure.

This was a great family project as it took lots of hard work, lots of thinking

and lots of cooperation. Here are a few pics of the beginning, during and the finished product.

Well almost finished, we have a climbing wall to add yet! The beginning Burning the many branches You mean it has to be level? Everyone has their part Armed and industrious The slide is finally done! Here comes the sand Even Nathan found a job Finished Product

Spring Smiley Faces

Jennifer and cousin Isaiah Caleb and Brooke enjoying the view Finally got Josh on camera Nathan & Jesse Cuddling It's not hard to catch Brooke smiling! Nathan enjoying the morning sunshine

Nate turned 2!

It was Nathan's birthday on April 4. He is the only one that I can remember easily what year he was born. 04/04/04 Nathan is a very fun kid! He makes sure he's heard and usually has lots to say. He has his little sayings, like 'hello' kind of said with a grunt (hard to explain), he calls Joshua 'fafua" and says he's going to ride on a chicken! He is such a blessing to our family and we have many laughs because of what he does. He is very strong in what he knows he wants and we look forward to how God is going to use this someday. He likes animals, but only from a distance. If they make any kind of noise he is out of there! Thank you God for Nathan.

Being Content

Yesterday I was reading a story to the boys about a little boy who wanted a new coat. His mom was poor and so she couldn't buy him one, but she mended his old one. That wasn't good enough for the little boy, and he went to bed sulking. While he was sleeping he had a dream that a policeman came and took him out of his warm home, into a cold stormy night and showed him two little boys who had no home to sleep in and no warm coat. The moral of the story was to be content with what you have. So a little while after reading this story to the boys, the girls and I were in the kitchen, baking and making supper. Well it didn't take long before we ran out of counter space. And the first thing that came out of my mouth was "We need more counterspace". Realizing that my little boys were listening to my discontentment, I talked with them about what my response should have been. It should have been 'thank you God that we have so much food to eat that we do run out of counter space, and that we have a house to live in.' It was a great lesson for all of us!

"For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, to be content." Phil. 4:11b

BABIES

Babies are such nice ways to start people!

It's Zachary!

Those of you who know Zachary, know how this happens. In his life so far he has cracked his elbow, had 5 stiches and knocked out 3 teeth. He has LOTS of energy and I could never keep up with him all day even if I tried. The good in all this? I am learning to trust AGAIN! When it happened the first thing we heard was 'I can't walk.' We have learned from experience that when Zachary says he is hurting, He is hurting! So we prayed for him first thing, waited about an hour, asked him to stand, and he still couldn't walk, so off we went to ER at Boundary Trails. He was a little trooper. Yesterday we went in to get xrays done to see if it is healing properly and it is. So he will have to have the cast for 3 more weeks. Another good thing out of this is Zachary is learning at a young age the consequences of his whims. As soon as he had his cast he asked if we had a really big boot so he could play outside. We told him he could sit outside but wouldn't be able to play. At that point you could see it all sinking in! And then the other day he told his almost 2 year old brother Nathan (who reminds us a lot like Zachary) not to jump off of things because he might end up with this~and pointed to his cast:) It was neat to see the compassion Zachary's brothers all had toward him when he had to sit still for the first couple of days. They would always bring what they were playing with and sit beside him. It's times like this when you see how close their bond is! So that's the update on Zachary!

The Last Guess Who Was...

Nathan!!!

Guess Who Has a Cast??

For Our Home Schooled Friends

TO BE EDUCATED

(by Carolyn Caines)

If I learn my ABC's, can read 600 words per minute, and can write with perfect penmanship, but have not been shown how to communicate with the Designer of all language. I have not been educated.

If I can deliver an eloquent speech and persuade you with my stunning logic, but have not been instructed in God's wisdom, I have not been educated.

If I have read Shakespeare and John Locke and can discuss their writings with keen insight, but have not read the greatest of all books-the Bible-and have no knowledge of it's personal importance, I have not been educated.

If I have memorized addition facts, multiplicaion tables and chemical formulas, but have never bee disciplined to hide God's Word in my heart, I have not been educated.

If I can explain the law of gravity and Einsten's theory of relativity, but have never been instructed in the unchangeable laws of the One Who orders our universe, I have not been educated.

If I can classify animals by their family, genus and species, and can write a lengthy scientific paper that wins an award, but have not been introduced to the Maker's purpose for all creation, I have not been educated.

If I can play the piano,, the violin, six other instruments, and can write music that moves men to tears, but have not been taught to listen to the Director of the universe and worship Him, I have not been educated.

If I can run cross-country races, star in basketball and do 100 push-ups without stoppping, but have never been shown how to bend my spirit to do God's will, I have not been educated.

If I can identify a Picasso, describe the style of da Vinci, and even paint a portrait that earns an A+, but have not been guided into a career of God's choosing for me, I have not been educated.

However, if one day I see the world as God sees it, and come to know Him, Whom to know is life eternal, and glorify God by fulfilling His purpose for me, I have been educated.

TO BE EDUCATED

GOD GIVE ME WISDOM

God, give me wisdom to see that today is my day with my children, That there is no unimportant moment in their lives. May I know no other career is as precious, No other work so rewarding, No other task so urgent. May I not defer it nor neglect it, But by Thy Spirit accept it gladly, joyously, and by Thy grace realize: That the time is short and my time is now– For children don’t wait. Written by Helen Young

Is Our House Busy?

Over the last little while people have commented on how busy our household must be. Well, when I started to think about this and really notice what is going on, I came to this conclusion......OUR HOUSEHOLD IS VERY BUSY! It just kind of grows on you. You get used to the busyness and it becomes a way of life. Quiet moments are very rare around here, unless we are praying, eating or something else that involves great concentration!! (Yes eating takes concentration around here, you have to plan every mouthful appropriately to be sure you get seconds!) But you know what, when I am up before everyone else gets up or I am in the house alone (which very rarely happens) then the house seems quiet, I enjoy it for awhile and then I welcome the hustle and bustle, music playing, people singing, laughing, playing, joking, babies cooing, toddlers learning to get out those really BIG sentences that are in their head and seem to come out of their mouth all wrong!, and all the other delightful things I hear in a day. Right now some are coloring, some are playing with toys, someone is playing piano, one is playing with baby Brooke, one is taking pictures, one is doing wash, one is working in the kitchen and as quickly as I write these things down, THEY CHANGE! Busy? Yes. People ask me if I ever just want peace and quiet? No, not really, yes I do admit there are times if I have a headache, talking on the phone or something, that I ask that the noise level be diminished a decibal or two, but usually it's something I enjoy. I love being a mom of many! Never a dull moment. "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all the earth." Psalm 66:1

GUESS WHO?

Self-Control

For our Growing Kids God's Way friends here is a picture for you! This is how young you can teach them to get self control! Well okay....we didn't actually teach her, she just happened to do it.

Guess who's crawling!!!

I think I can!

I did it!

Are You Hungry?

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. That's a promise from God word. (James 4:8) What an amazing promise. But take note that we make the first move. He is a gentleman. He will not push His way in where we do not want Him. What is involved in drawing near? Well this has been my experience. If I fill my life with 'good' books, 'good' videos, 'good' computer games, and the list goes on and on, I will want more of those good things. My appetite for God will not be strong. But if I feed on God's Word and spend time with Him in prayer, then I will hunger for more of Him. For those of you who are married, or engaged, do you remember the days when you had to be apart and you yearned to talk to or see your mate? Or when your spouse is gone for an extended period of time and you long to hear their voice? I remember this summer when we were helping out at CEFC, Mark and I saw each other on a come and go kind of basis. He was trying to farm and then usually came back to camp for the night. Well one night because it was getting late, I had come to the conclusion that I would not see him until the next day. So I went on with my night, and then I heard it. I heard 'his laugh'. Now I have come to love his laugh, it is such a special and important part of him. My heart literally leaped! Even though I knew it was only one night, and I knew I would have survived! I was still so happy to see him because I had so much to share with him and I love to be around him. And that's the way it should be with our relationship with God. We should always be longing for our God. Our thoughts should be centered around Him. Our hearts should leap for joy when we think of spending time with Him and actually do! So for me the struggle has always been, "How can I do that as a busy housewife and mom when there are endless things to do and you are sometimes, rephrase that, most of the time very tired." Well I have come to the realization that God just wants me to acknowledge Him all throughout the day. I can converse with Him in the middle of it all. I can memorize scripture in the middle of it all, I can be listening to His voice in the middle of it all! There is never an excuse, as much as I would often like to make one! But one thing that I do know and have experienced, if I fill my life with 'entertainment' I will not have a passionate hunger for God. My hunger will be for those things that I fill my life with.

What are you hungry for today?

For more on this topic a great resource is John Bevere's "Drawing Near to God" series.