SatyBeth's Xanga

Pictures!

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 20:25:24 GMT

CJ

The Enlarged Family

There will be more coming later, but this is all I have time for at the moment.

NEW BABY!!!!!

Wed, 02 Aug 2006 02:40:31 GMT

This is Sarahs husband. She asked me to sign on and tell EVERYONE that at 9:15 this morning we were graced by the arrival of Christopher James Smith. At 7 pounds and 2 ounces and 21 1\2 inches long, he is just the right size.

Thanks to all for your prayers and support.

Sincerely,
Chris, Sarah, and C.J.

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Sat, 17 Jun 2006 19:36:53 GMT

Well, I am very restless today, as it is the first Saturday in a long time Chris has had to work. So I decided to surprise everyone and post here just so I could get back to the top of their Supscription lists. Really have nothing worthwhile to say, I just miss getting all the comments from my Xanga friends and decided I'd remind them all that they are perfectly welcome to leave a comment at my new blog. It does help if you put your name on it, though........ So, hello again to Xanga and all that it entails...... Now comment away.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 21:28:00 GMT

Well, Surprise surprise everyone. I've long been discontent with Xanga for two reasons: first, there is a lot of filth on here and my younger siblings get on to read my posts, and secondly then you have to be a member to leave comments.

So you can now keep in touch with me at http://www.homesteadblogger.com/SatyBeth. This is a new blog site, started by the same people who publish The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. It is a clean site, slated for a specific group of people that is less likely to attract filth. And best of all, everyone can comment! You don't have to be a member.

I'll be keeping my Xanga account so that I can keep in touch with all my Xanga friends, at least for now. But I won't be posting on here anymore other then to let you know that my "real" blog has been updated. So everyone come by and say hello, ok?

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Tue, 11 Apr 2006 14:05:31 GMT

Cheese Cheese Cheese. That's how I start out my mornings now. It's really fun, I'm just loving it, and it definitely keeps me busy during these long weeks, with Chris working longer hours and more days then usual. How I miss him! It's as if I live two lives: the glorious, wonderful hours when he's home, and then the long, try-to-stay-busy-and-be-productive hours when he's gone. Whenever I can, I still sneak in a day of work with him, but with six kids (goat kids) to bottle feed and a garden underway this is getting harder and harder.

Speaking of goat kids, Shadoe's little one is simply and completely adorable! He is the cutest and funniest baby to date. He has the most precious little sneeze, and stamps and stomps and leaps his way around the other babies. So I have fallen in love with him, and the other day I asked Chris if I could keep him as long as I trained him to be a harness goat. *grin* I haven't seen Chris look that helpless in a while, and then he told me he was not going to answer that question while the goat is this young. So I'm going to go ahead and work with him, because if I can get him trained then it's much more likely Chris will believe it can be done. Still haven't come up with a name for him. Snowball is too obvious, Snickers.... Well, I knew a Yorkie named Snickers and I simply couldn't name a white goat that now. Simon reminds me of our tall, gangly neighbor. And all the other names I am thinking of are either too sissy or or not.... goaty enough. So, as soon as I can find the digital camera, I am going to post a picture of him and ask everyone to help with names.

It's been so warm and beautiful here. I got a row of radishes planted, which was promptly dug up two nights later by Critter, Dad's puupy. That dog digs holes everywhere! He is so funny and loveable you simply can't get upset with him. But trying to stretch the fence so that it covered the hole he was getting through, I was holding a board and I am absolutely positive that board jumped out of my hand and smacked me right in between the eyes. Now I can't touch it 'cause it is really painful! I bruise so easily just in my work around the house, as well as managing to cut and scrape myself on anything and everything. Then when the weekend comes I am walking around the grocery store with this big guy, covered in bruises and cuts. It's kind of funny.

DO NOT READ FURTHER UNLESS YOU WANT A PLAY_BY_PLAY OF OUR GARDEN! Other then radishes, we have okra, green beans, peas, watermelon, corn, cherry tomatoes and regular tomatoes, lots of cucumbers, green peppers and few other things that I can't rememer at the moment. Oh. Cantaloupe. And there might be more.... Anyway, I'll close now and go check on my cheese. Later ya'll!

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Sat, 08 Apr 2006 13:01:19 GMT

Whew. It seems like it's still the middle of the week. Chris came home last night with an awful fever: he was really just burning up. He thought he had allergies, and it might be, but working in the wind and hay hasn't helped them. He fell asleep but he was really restless, so I stayed awake until the fever broke sometime after ten. Wow, was I glad when that happened! He slept like a rock, which he hasn't done for several nights now. I prayed so hard, especially as he had to work again today, and God is so good! He still looked tired this morning, but not sick.

Shadoe kidded out yesterday, completeing the kids for this year. Her little billy was born at 11:00 AM, and he is truly the cutest goat we've had to date. He has long, floppy Nubian ears, but he is pure white with a silver-grey stripe on his back, and a blotch or two of silver on his head. So cute! I got to watch the whole thing, Shadoe did an excellent job. It was sort of funny because towards the end then our two other nannies were in there, bawling right along with her. Moral support, I guess. I pulled the kid late last night, and when Chris went to milk her this morning, she gave almost a gallon of milk! He couldn't believe, none of our other goats have given that much yet this year, and she did it at the very first milking. We have a lot of colostrum left over, as her one kid will NOT drink that much.

Probably going to make some more cheese today, I want to get some confidence up before I start to sell it. And if Shadoe keeps producing milk like this then AHHHHH!!!! By the way, I made Mozzarella and though it was unsalted, it was still pretty delicious. I guess homemade stuff grows on you: we're so used to processed, store-bought stuff that at first fresh seems gross, but you quickly find yourself appreciating it. Sort-of like the first time I had real maple syrup instead of Aunt Jemima's, I thought it was the nastiest stuff ever. I have since learned to appreciate "liquid gold" more.

I LOVE the extra daylight. Yea it's a little dark when we get up, but Chris and I have almost a hour of daylight together in the evenings now. I love it! The days are getting warm enough that it is comfortable outside, but our house is still staying cold. So I try to find as much outdoor work as possible. Our seeds are all sprouting, and I hope to be able to put them in the garden within a month. I really, really am beginnng to long for some pickled okra and dilly beans! Later, everyone.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Thu, 06 Apr 2006 12:39:28 GMT

Well about the cheese....
It tastes just fine, really. A little different then storebought but if it tasted the same then what would be the point? I like the flavor. The unfortunate, but edible, texture I achieved is a whole different story. Anyone here like chewy Cottage cheese? Oh, and did I mention it's so... pure or something that when you chew, it makes the same noise against your teeth that your hair makes when it's wet and "squeaky clean?" Like I said it is perfectly edible, but I'm going to find out if that's how it's supposed to be before I try again.

It looks like I'm finally breaking free of my cooking rutt! Figuring out what Chris said he would eat and what he ACTUALLY would do more then taste was quite a challenge! It's fun though, it makes dinner more interesting when I'm frantically trying to come up with something new that he will like. After all, what is the point of cooking the food he earned in ways he simply doesn't like? Of course, every now and then I really want spagetti or pot roast or something so i make it, but I am developing a broader variety of enjoyable foods for both of us.

One of the few soups he loves is Baked Poptato Soup, which I thought sounded nasty but I made it for dinner last night and it was really good! YEA! Oh well, I have chores to do and then I think I'll hit my schoolbooks and take a few tests, so later everyone!

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 14:24:05 GMT

Well, our over-load of Goat milk has forced me into something I NEVER thought I'd be doing: Making cheese! The weather here is so lovely, and I'm running in between chores during the time when the cheese is sitting. I'm making Cottage cheese, which looked the easiest, for the first time around, but then I have been asked to try Mozzerela. So we'll see..... Anyway, I'm sure you all are loooking forward to hearing how it turns out! And if it turns out perfectly, I just might tell.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Mon, 03 Apr 2006 19:15:11 GMT

Well, we had a wonderful weekend, and it is our last weekend together for a while: Chris has to work the next three Saturdays, as his boss will be on vacation in California and he is running the feed store. However, with the time switch then we have an extra hour of daylight in the evenings, instead of him getting home right as the sun goes down. Yea! For that I am glad.

I have some baby bunnies now: the last time I caught a glimpse of one is his cozy nest of straw he was getting a little bit of fur! (They are born looking JUST like the naked mole-rats you see at the zoo. *shudders*)

I absolutely love Debbie Pearls article on Rats, and I decided to post my very favorite passage from it. So often I find myself picking it up and reading these paragraphs, just to remind myself of the awesome responsibility I have before me. Hope they help and encourage all the other young Moms on here.

"What am I trying to say? I am saying that I see Christian, homeschool families, dedicated to having large families, giving birth to children who will have a rats existence, the same as that unwed mother, shacked up in that dump with no running water, heat or furniture. There is no guarantee of salvation. Your children are not born with your convictions, certainly not your regenerated sould. They come into the world as empty vessels. THe children of Christian parents are of the same flesh as those born in the hole.They are equally prone to an animals existence of eating, drinking, demanding, commanding, taking and using. Their future is tied to the rest of the human race, unless you do something radical to alter their course. Home birth, homeschooling, not using birth control, modest dress and whole-wheat bread are preferences not radical enough to save your children from the despair of the damned.

Having sons and daughters can be a temporal blessing. Raising children to be sons and daughters of God is a Divine calling. It requires an everyday, all-that-you-have commitment. Don't tell me how many you have birthed, tell me how many are walking in truth. 'Well,' you say, 'they are all under 7 years old.' Then how many are walking in truth this very day? By example, are you raising them today to be saints of the Living God? It takes many todays to make a tomorrow. Children don't just naturally become better people. If at two years old they are pitching fits, then at 7 they will be quietly refusing to obey and at 15 they will be like rats living to gratify their lusts.

The needs of the Christian home are the needs of the church, of the nation, of the world. The world waits on the church to repent to its God, and the church waits on the families to live their profession. Families need parents to show the way of truth and holiness--- not holiness of doing, but holiness of being, the holiness of love and mercy, of self-discipline and consistency.

You must train your children to be self-disciplined. But more then that, you must be living before your children a life so wonderfully different that they can only thikn of it as the presence and blessing of God. Only then will they hunger and thirst after righteousness instead of what the world has to offer. You can't talk, spank or discipline children into sainthood. They must be drawn to desire to follow you into the kind of person you desire them to be."

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Wed, 29 Mar 2006 15:57:17 GMT

I know I don't usually post things two days in a row, but I just had to post this morning. You see, I have THE most wonderful husband in the world. I know, some of you don't agree with this, but it's my xanga so I can say it anyway.

We ended up going to bed really late last night, and this morning he didn't even wake me up, and he did all my chores for me before he went to work, and I know he had to get up even earlier then usual to do this. And when I finally wake up then I find the sweetest, mushiest little note with a list of the chores he did and the one chore he left for me. And this is far from being the first time he's done this, too.

He gets so excited about the baby. She is moving and moving, and I am positive she's doing cartwheels as well. He loves it! I love it too, it makes everything so very real. I just had to post this. I LOVE CHRIS!!!!!

And, since I got the cutest pictures from Christy, I decided this was a suitable place to post two of my favorites, just so every one can get another look at the guy I rave about. *laughs* There's lots more pictures on Christy's site, too.

Chris out at the Campfire. So Cute!

With his adoring Fan Club

And a picture I had NO idea was taken! (But I love..)