On My Heart Today

"Sing joyfully to the Lord,

you righteous;

it is fitting for the upright to praise him.

Praise the Lord with the harp;

make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.

Sing to him a new song;

play skillfully, and shout for joy.

For the word of the Lord is right and true;

he is faithful in all he does.

The Lord loves righteousness and justice;

the earth is full of his unfailing love.

By the word of the Lord were the heavens made,

their starry host by the breath of his mouth.

He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;

he puts the deep into storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the Lord;

let all the people of the world revere him.

For he spoke, and it came to be;

he commanded, and it stood firm.

The Lord foils the plans of the nations;

he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.

But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,

the purposes of his heart through all generations.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

the people he chose for his inheritance.

From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind;

from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth -

he who forms the hearts of all,

who considers everything they do.

No king is saved by the size of his army;

no warrior escapes by his great strength.

A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;

despite all its great strength it cannot save.

But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,

on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

to deliver then from death,

and keep them alive in famine.

We wait in hope for the Lord;

he is our help and our shield.

In him our hearts rejoice,

for we trust in his holy name.

May your unfailing love rest upon us,

O Lord,

even as we put our hope in you."

Psalm 33

 

 

 



Live and Learn!

We hit the books hard yesterday,

with it being deemed our official start to the 2013-2014 school year. 

(Although, we like to say that we're teaching and learning every day of the year,

no matter what we are doing!) 

But one must also learn to read and write well,

and though it doesn't always come easy to "sit a spell" for the boys,

we give them lots of opportunities for breaks and to move their active little bodies.  

 

Also, giving them some time to be creative . . . 

 

and still get dirty!

 

 

 

 

 

Love my boys!

 

Just Makes Me Smile!

Thought I'd share a few snapshots from the week that sure made me smile!

The photos are from Tuesday, while visiting Lydia on their farm with a dear friend. 

It is just so delightful watching Lydia enjoy her sheep soooo much,

and her sheep love her soooooo much!

It is just soooo sweet!!! : -) 

I also relished the reminder of the parallels in Scripture

of Christ as the Good Shepherd and us as His sheep!

 

"Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us,

and we are his;

we are his people,

the sheep of his pasture."
Psalm 100:3

 

These are 3 lambs from her quadruplet set this year.

(Brownie, Muffin and Ginger)

 

"He calls his own sheep by name. . . "

John 10:3

"He tends his flock like a shepherd;

He gathers the lambs in his arms

and carries them close to his heart . . ."

Isaiah 40:11

 "I am the good shepherd;

I know my sheep and my sheep know me . . "

John 10:14

 "My sheep listen to my voice;

I know them, and they follow me."

John 10:27

 "I am the good shepherd,

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

John 10:11

(Well, for this dedicated shepherdess, 

she will do just about anything to protect her sheep . . .  

like both she (and Richie!) getting out of bed at 1am, 

after hearing the close-sounding howling of coyotes,

and then romping around the pasture,

calling and herding them to safety!)

 "Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life  . . ."

Psalm 23:6

(On a side note, one of my all-time favorite books,
A Shepherd's Look at Psalm 23,
written by Phillip Keller,
is an awesome book on this very subject!!!!)



Happy Birthday, Richie!!!!

"But I am like an olive tree

flourishing in the house of God;

I trust in God's unfailing love,

for ever and ever.

I will praise you forever for what you have done;

in your name I will hope,

for your name is good.

I will praise you in the presence of your saints."

Psalm 52:8-9

 

 "The Lord is gracious and righteous;

our God is full of compassion.

 

The Lord protects the simplehearted;

when I was in great need,

he saved me.

 

Be at rest once more,

O my soul,

for the Lord has been good to you."

Psalm 116:5-7

 

 "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

Great is your faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:22-23

 "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen

those whose hearts are fully committed to him."

2 Chronicles 16:9

 "Praise the Lord, Oh my soul;

all my inmost being,

praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord,

O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits -

who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."

Psalm 103:1-5

" . . . the Lord's unfailing love surrounds the man

who trusts in him.

Rejoice in the Lord and be glad . . ."

Psalm 32:10b-11a

Fair time!

We always look forward to our local, small-town fair! 

There are always lots of fun things for the family to do! 

Victoria and Caroline have really been looking forward to showing their goats there as well!

 

 

 One of the first things the boys did is go fishing in this little pool,

which was sponsored by the Washington Game and Fish Department.

They put all the boys' names in a raffle and so we came back a little while later,

and Timmy actually won this fishing pole!  Woo hoo!

 The boys really enjoyed this kids' area.

They had some really cool bubble makers using straws and string!

Benjamin just had fun playing in the bubble solution! : -)

 

 Of course, the "penny scramble" is always a huge hit!

They find not only coins, but McDonald's ice-cream cone coupons and bowling coupons!

Benjamin the muttin buster!

(The blue teeth are from the sucker found in the hay pictured above. ;-)

 

Joe was five pounds over the limit this year,

so this is his version of muttin bustin'!!

 

 

Kyle and Timmy sure had fun with this new event. . .

shooting arrows at each other!

Here, they are getting their instructions!

 

 They did this for about an hour on Saturday,

and 1/2 hour on Sunday!

They enjoyed it very much!

And last but not least . . .

or perhaps most importantly ;-),

Victoria and Caroline's boer goat showing! 

They all did a great job,

and were very pleased with their winnings!

This show was really a boost for their Crossroads Boer Goat business!  

Here, Dandi is getting prettied-up for the show ring!

 First up, was Paintball.  She is a "percentage" doe,

which means 50-94% boer goat.

She won first place in her class, then went on to win Jr. (0-12 mo.) Percentage Reserve Champion! 

 Here, the judge is explaining why he chose Paintaball as the Reserve Grand Champion! : -)

 

 Dandi won first place in her class, and then went on to win Jr. Champion!!! 

 

 

 After she won, they have to confirm she is who they say she is by her tattoos in her ears.

Then, Saturday's showing of Dazzle and Liberty.

They did much better the 2nd day!  ;-)

Here, they are being shown with the new judge on Sunday . . .

 Liberty won first out of a class of 7, and then went on to win Junior Champion!

 Here, Liberty and Dandi are competing for Junior Champion (the one Dandi won the day before.)

Way to go Liberty! 

Oh, but we can't forget Paintball!

She did amazingly well again!

In fact, she went from Reserve Champion on day 1,

to Grand Champion on day 2!!!

Good job, Paintball!