The Gassy Cow & Pig Tax? You Have Got to Be Kidding Me!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081205/ap_on_bi_ge/farm_scene_cow_tax_2-
Cows and pigs have been passing gas FOREVER! And they are now saying that it is contributing to greenhouse gases and global warming?
Where do these people get this from?
Amanda <><
II Corinthians 5:7
Still shaking...
This morning has been a slightly better morning than the past serveral mornings. I know all these panic attacks will pass, but I sure wish they would hurry up and LEAVE!! I am in constant prayer.
I have been reading a little book on Character, by John MacArthur. There are a couple of sections on longsuffering. Apparently, this is an overlooked characteristic of God. Longsuffering comes through pain and hardship--trial and tribulation. Longsuffering is usually found in maturing or mature christians. So, I guess God, my Father, is maturing me. I am looking for an out--and He is looking for His Character development in me! This particular quote seems to be a comfort to me--"Loves longsuffering is expressed in a patient willingness to bear any inconvenience or sacrifice for the sake of our loved one without becoming upset or angry." This is extremely difficult to comprehend let alone model when every cell in my body is shaking and ready to escape anywhere where there is peace and calmness. Sigh...
My husband said that I always come through these episodes and for me to keep hanging in there because he is with me all the way. My panic attacks have been very much apart of his life, too. 26 years, 3 months and 1 day to be exact. 
So, he is just as experienced at handling these intruders as I am. But, I must say holding on is getting harder and harder.
I have to keep it together today, because it is my husband birthday. Grilled steak, oven roasted potatoes, butterbeans and home canned beets with a birthday cake for dessert is the menu for this evening. I am concentrating on him today, so I can show him how much I do love him. God has loved me through my Donnie, and for that I am eternally grateful!!
Chilly Days
Oh, it is downright C-O-L-D in my part of Texas this morning! Same thing yesterday morning, and the afternoons haven't been much warmer. I'm ready for a "normal" Texas day.....warm to hot & steamy!
The garden is hanging in there, our friend Mike has been covering up the tender things- squash, cucumbers, tomatoes. Actually, the tomatoes have a temporary greenhouse with a light in it. They still looked OK yesterday, but I'm not sure that last night did them any favors. Being a bit more practical, I would have just picked the green tomatoes, brought them in to ripen, and planted something that won't mind the few cold snaps we get. But, this is all new to our friend, and I'm having fun watching his gardening enthusiasm 
.
We're still in the process of getting everything moved in here. My we seem to have a lot of "stuff"! Squishing a homeschooling family of 5 into a small 2 bdr mobile home is quite interesting, to say the least. But, we've found a place for most of the books, so it is good . When the weather warms up we'll probably be spending lots of time out on the patio, which will become our "outdoor living room". Right now, its covered in empty boxes and assorted things that either don't fit in here or need to find a new home "just because" 
.
OK, time for tea (hot and steamy) and some Christmas music. We're baking cookies today!!!
Surgery
How things work out some times is such a pain in the tush! On Monday I got in the mail the ok from our insurance company to have more surgery on my still broken leg , I was so happy. The key word is WAS. Why was?
Well...... last night Shannon brought home the paper work for the up coming year on our medical insurance. Guess what ? They changed insurance companies. UUGGHHH. I am glad we went back to our old insurance company, but did it have to start on 12-01-08???
Now we have to start all over with getting the insurance to approve for my new surgery. I want this over and done with. My leg has been broken for a year on the 27th of December.
God Bless, mj
Cute saying from my grand-babies
We went to Disneyland on the 2nd with the grand-babies. We had so much fun with them. We took them to carry on the annual tradition we have of going to see Santa. We have done this with our girls and Marty. It is the 1st time in 12 years that Marty is not in the picture. That was very hard on us all, we miss him so much.
So on the way home I ask Shayna if Jeffie is in a pull up or panties?? Jeffie told me he is" wearing underwear and he is keeping them safe in his pants" 
. We all laughed so hard. How cute he is!!
While we were taking pictures of things Shayna is taking pictures of her purse who is a stuffed lion (don't ask) . Maddie said " no pictures of the bear take pictures of MEEE".
They are so cute. What a blessing they are to us. I will post pictures of Disneyland with the grand-babies soon.
God Bless, mj
Puppy tales!
Well, it has been a bit since I have talked about Sammie (the Goldendoodle). Not that there hasn't been stories to share, but I am sure you all are probably tired of them a bit! But, I just can't help but share a few more stories!
1. Sammie has decided to "undecorate" the bows from the tree. 
He doesn't tear them up, but will "steal" them and chew a little and then leave them on the ground. I was replacing them and getting after him, but now I am saving them for mid next week to put back on the tree as we will be puppy sitting a much younger puppy who tends to actually destroy things. So, I decided that Sammie was helping his "mommy" by clearing the tree before his friend Gus comes over to play! Just so you know...we only put up lights and bows this year to make the tree "Sammie proof." Next year should be better.....fingers crossed! Maybe we will be able to place glass bulbs on the tree too!
TOP OF TREE:
BOTTOM OF TREE WITH BOWS ON THE FLOOR:
2. I am baking today. I have made a batch of Peanut Butter cookies that are chilling in the fridge, made fudge and made 4 mini banana bread loaves. While the bread was cooling, and I decided to sit down and look at the mail that just came, I realized that I had a BIG puppy that snuck into the kitchen (he knows he isn't supposed to be in there). I went in to see what he was doing just as he nabbed a loaf of bread in his mouth and ran. 
My dad helped me to corner him and get the fully intacked loaf of bread out of his mouth! Hmmmm......which family member should I give that SPECIAL banana bread to??? April?????? JUST KIDDING!
3. Shane and I were holding hands the other day. Sammie was sitting on my lap...yes, my 70 lb big boy thinks he is a lap dog. After about a minute, he stretched out his paw and placed it on our hands and left it there. Another time, when we were hugging, he gently jumped up and placed each front paw on each of our shoulders. He just wants to be part of everything! Oh...his mommy just loves him! 
MY LAP DOG:
4. He loves to tease Holly by getting a ball and playing keep away! He will run right by her as fast as he can. What he has to remember is that she has a quick "bite." 
She got his tale and had strands of his hair in her mouth. He didn't flinch a bit.....he wanted to keep playing! He loves to run up to Holly and swat her on the bottom with his paw to say, hey...let's play!
Those are just a few puppy tales to share with you!
Thursday on the Homestead
Aside from fighting colds this week life has been humming along. I managed to get a little baking done yesterday. I went to make Tobin some breakfast and realized I was completely out of bread… I was quite happy to have some sprouted wheat english muffins in my freezer, so he still got his breakfast! I made 6 loaves of my whole wheat bread. I was making some bean soup for dinner and also made a pan of honey wheat dinner rolls to go along with that. Sierra made a batch of peanut butter oatmeal cookies.
At this point only Emily, Sierra and I have the cold and I hope that is the way it stays! We have been taking lots of Nutribiotic, and drinking herb tea. Unfortunately I ran out of Emergen-C packets. I found a place online that sells them for a great price (http://www.luckyvitamin.com/ ). I usually order them from Azure but even with shipping I paid less per box than what I can get them for through Azure. So I ordered 3 boxes and hope they will arrive soon. Tobin has not gotten this cold, which is good.. he is currently working on repairs on one of our rentals during his weekends. We were hoping for some down time this winter.. ~sigh~ but when things like this come up you just have to deal with it. I am praying he does not get sick and can keep up his strength until the project is done.
We still do not have our tree up. We always get live trees and if we get them too early they dry out to fast so we will wait until maybe next Saturday to get it. Because the cold hit us I have yet to get my Christmas decorations out either. I hope to get to that either today or tomorrow. We need this house looking a lot more festive! About the only thing we are doing regularly is playing Christmas music! I must say my favorite CD for this Christmas is Casting Crowns new Christmas CD. I keep switching between that and a couple of Kenny G holiday CD’s and Kenny Chesney’s Christmas CD (with my all time favorite song.. All I Want For Christmas is a Real Good Tan.. 
LOL) and others.. I am amazed at how many Christmas CD’s I have collected over the years. Hopefully by the weekend our home will not only sound like the Christmas season but look like it too!
The next thing that I MUST finish today and tomorrow is Christmas gifts that I will be sending out in the mail. I don’t have a lot to do on them and I will feel a great sense of accomplishment once they are done and in the mail!
The countdown continues for my son.. less than 2 weeks now until he leaves Iraq. These last few weeks have really been tough for him.. you would think things would lighten up as they prepare to leave.. but he says, nope.. they are working the guys 16 hours a day except on Sunday, they only work 12.. I know he is exhausted both mentally and physically. I am so looking forward to him coming home and getting some relax time with us… and he is too!
Well dinner tonight will be leftovers! I have bean soup left from last night and if it is not enough to go around I will add some grilled cheese sandwiches to it. Tobin does not have to work tonight (his usual night to work), instead he is attending a training class at work this morning and will be home to enjoy the evening with us. We have a couple more LOST episodes to watch.. that show is rather addicting! I don’t know what I will do when we watch all the ones that are out on DVD.. I guess just wait patiently for the rest of them to come out! LOL..
That is all the updates from my homestead! I hope you are all enjoying the Christmas season!
Thurs Dec 4th
Well today is a wonderful day! I guess LOL At least I have another day! The kids are being ornery (well Rach & Ethan) and Issac is still a little sickly. Lucas is being his sweet self 
I ordered some new kniting needles and sock yarn last week...I'm going to knit children's socks to sell. I'm trying to knit some "testing" socks for mamas to try out on a diapering/parenting forum that I frequent. I'm so excited about this new venture! Finding the actual time to knit though can prove interesting. I'll hafta hide all my stuff and install a wireless security system to keep everything safe away from Ethan...my nosy little goober. I have several different sock yarn colors so I can make for boys and girls...I only have like 2 pairs for newborns made right now, but I'm hoping to get my stock nicely built up soon!
Well better get going!
Blessings,
~*Becca*~
Coyotes, Deer and A Play
Wow! It's a COLD morning here in NC. The frost on the ground looks like snow. I sure wish it was snow. I envy all of your blogs that post all those pretty snow pictures. We just don't get snow around my neck of the woods very often. In fact, the last good snow we got was in 89'.
The snow we got in 89' was the most snow I have ever seen around here. We were living at the beach at the time and received 12 inches of snow. It was enough to build a snowman (about 2ft. high) on the beach. It was such a sight to see. The snow even stayed around for more than a day. If I recall right, it was on the ground for at least 2-3 days. That's very unusual for our neck of the woods.
Anyway, one of our chickens has disappeared. We fear she was eaten by a predator. There has been no sign of her for almost a week now. She was an old bird and had to be kept away from the others (the heathens that is.) They would peck her constantly and pluck every feather she had right out of her. She ended up being a "loner" so to speak just to keep her alive.
Another interesting thing happened a few weeks ago that I couldn't believe. We were on our way to evening service at church. While looking on the side of the road, I noticed what looked to be a coyote. Hubby saw it too. I didn't even know we had coyotes in our area. Then I get an e-mail from a church friend today. He was out deer hunting and ended up shooting 2 coyotes. Like I stated before, I had no idea our area had coyotes.
There have also been a lot of deer hanging around the area lately. ago. I heard the dogs going crazy one night recently and got up to see what the fuss was about. Dd (15) said she heard someone running around the house. The "someone" turned out to be a lot of deer. There were tracks all over the yard the next day. If Hubby were a hunter, he would not have had far to go to get some venison.
Well, today's blog was just a hodge podge of daily happenings around the homestead lately. We are curently getting ready to go on a field trip with some other homeschoolers. We are going to see a play.
Need to get going! Have a bessed day in The Lord!
Amanda <><
II Corinthians 5:7
Still fighting panic attacks...
Surprise! I am actually able to type some. I am still dealing with the dreaded Panic Attacks!! They are so crippling that I just want to stay in bed and pray, but I must keep up with Seth's schooling lessons and meals, so I just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Tonight, I am not experiencing any attacks and it is such a relief!
Yesterday, I went and talked with my pastor. This was very helpful. The key word that he used was the word--responsibility-- there are many things in my life that I take full responsibility for and I should not. So, when something happens that triggers my attacks-I have to figure out if this cause is my responsibility or not. Usually, the causes are not my responsiblity. It is kind of hard to understand, but this is helping. He also suggested a Christian counselor along with the need for a vacation or respite from my environment. I have been told all this by both friends and family. I just wish I could be as calm everyday as I am tonight. (It doesn't hurt that I have Vitamin B, Calcium Mag, and four Shaklee Sleep Aids everyday. Marianne, I am up to four whole ones a day!) Anyway, it is nice not to be experiencing the racing heart, sweaty palms, shaking, trembling, tears, sinking feeling in the stomach, chest pain, depression and that constant feeling of dread! Sitting here quiet and calm is such a gift from God! Thank you, Father in Heaven.
So, have I gotten ready for Christmas--NO!! I should but I really don't have the energy. We were going to put up the Christmas tree tonight, but it didn't happen, and I am glad. I just don't want to be bothered. Maybe-tomorrow.
Things here are crowded and loud. Baby William has colic and he is so pitiful when he hurts. I seem to be the one to calm him down. Imagine that! I am the one with panic attacks and my insides are constantly shaking, but I am the one who can calm little William down. God sure does have a sense of humor.
Donnie, has been sick. A sinus infection. He is doing much better now. Will-the SIL-is sick now. He has a cold and Anna, my daughter, has been pumping him full of everything from herbal teas to ZICAM. She wants him healed! Seth and I have not gotten anything and I am so thankful for that! I would be forced to rest then!
Anyway, that is it from the Beale Bungalow. I do want to thank all who have emailed and left comments. I have not been on the computer for days and days, but I did read them today and I am thanking God for your prayers. I am not out of the woods, yet, but maybe soon.
God Bless!
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