QUICK RUNDOWN OF LIFE

Visitors: We enjoyed a week with Evan's parents the beginning of this month. We were able to celebrate Evan and his dad's birthdays while they were here. We mostly hung around home, but that is my favorite way to have visitors! We look forward to my parents coming in 2 weeks, Evan's sister about a week later, and my brother and his family right after she leaves. So, life will be full, but full of blessings for the next month and a half!

Home Improvement: This week we hope to get trenches dug to redo our outdoor water lines. This will enable us to have easy water access to our chickens, garden and future garage, which we also hope to get built this summer. We still haven't finished my school room, and that really wouldn't take much work, but we've been outside enjoying the weather instead of inside working! Also, we really hope to finish a second bathroom in the basement and get some trimwork done in the kids' room. The list could go on, but those are the priorities for now.

Animals: Our two female goats will both have kids sometime in June. We think one may even be expecting twins, but we can't be certain. We are all very excited to have baby goats! We have 10 baby chicks and 2 ducklings already with 15 more chicks coming in the mail in June. We've been wanting to get some bum calves this spring but have been unable to find any available. We're hoping to get some beef at some point. Gunner, our lab pup, is growing up -- he has almost surpassed his mom in size already and he's only 6 months old. Yikes! CJ is still hanging in there, but doesn't do much anymore. The billy goat's horn keeps wanting to grow into his face, so last night Evan and I held him down and sawed it part-way off. He was NOT a happy goat, but the job got done and we both needed a shower afterwards. Have you ever smelled a billy goat? :(

Kids: Aden is into everything. He's pulling himself up on everything and starting to walk with things in front of him. Won't be long now! Kiana is doing great. She is very excited about starting Kindergarten next fall. Her favorite thing to do is to gather the chicken eggs every day, and believe me, she is not happy if someone beats her out there! Myah and Joel are both eager to be done with school for the summer, but I'm just not sure when that will be yet. I'm trying to revamp our school a bit so we don't get so burned out every week with the book stuff. Joel is reading like a pro (Yay! That was my goal for him this year!) and loves riding his bike! Myah never ceases to amaze me either. She takes after her daddy when it comes to nature/Biology stuff. She could live outdoors, as long as the weather is just perfect!

Garden: I'm so excited about gardening this year b/c I won't have a big belly to get in my way! :) Yesterday the kids and I built a strawberry bed and went to the greenhouse and bought more strawberry plants. We also planted 7 raspberry bushes this spring. Lettuce, spinach, onions, garlic and potatoes are in the ground and I'm eager to plant the rest. I need to do a little more tilling first, though. We found a new spot for our garden this year with much better dirt. I also got dalia bulbs from Dad VO planted on one side of the garden.

Bible Studies: We still have our Bible study on the life of Abraham Thursday nights through the month of June. We love that group. They have all become like family to us. Also, Evan and I started a study the two of us called "The One True God" by Paul Washer. Its a study of the attributes of God solely based on Scripture. He basically just organized the Scriptures in the study to make it easy for whoever takes it. Very good stuff! Evan is preparing to preach in our church sometime in June. He use to get really nervous about that kind of stuff, and he still does a little, but it's been fun to watch those nerves turn to excitement! He loves sharing the Word of God and has a passion like I've never seen in Him before! God is good!

There you have it. That sums life up around here right now!