I could sit here and write all day about what has been happening the past 3 months. I don't have all day, though, so I'll just tell you the really good stuff.

First and foremost, I had a baby! Welcome, Amos Justice Osborn! You are beautiful and wiggly and such a joy! Your 3 older brothers think you are so cool and can't wait to wrestle with you!
And, Boy, you've got some HAIR!!

My twinners are as ornery as ever.
They love dirt.



Oliver is an amazing farm worker. He can catch a chicken and has, on a few occasions, helped me herd a few chickens back into their pen. He helps his daddy take care of the calves and can even get milk out of the cow (he can't milk her much, cause she kicks)

Now, Wheerrre did those chickens go?

Evidently, the beautiful 40 acres we just moved to was just a stepping stone to get us to this area of Kentucky. We are now looking for something else in the area where can we do some farming. It was a very difficult decision to make, but once we made it, we felt a great deal of peace about it and are so confident in the leadership of our Lord Jesus!

I confess, I still struggle with the fear of man, so some of my first thoughts about moving were: What are people going to think of us now!?!
Then my dear mother sent me this devotional which really helped.

Hope to get on here and update you again soon, but until then, Bless you all!!

What I Got At McDonalds

Have you ever heard of a Great Pryenees? They are great big dogs that are bred and trained to guard small live stock like chickens, sheep and goats.

We want one. With 20 acres of woods on our property, we're bound to have some problems with coyotes, foxes, hawks, ect... We had contacted a breeder a month or so ago about getting a puppy, but having only chickens at the time and not knowing how soon we would be getting any other animals, we didn't feel like it would be a good idea to spend money on a full blooded dog (that would be a HUGE mouth to feed) just to protect the chickens. So we backed out.

Now we have rabbits, baby chicks, we're talking about getting more baby chicks and goats, and sheep and cows are looking like a real possibility...wishing we had that dog...

So we went to McDonalds Laying casually in front of McDonald's front door is a Great Pyrenees. People were having to step over him to get in the door. I thought it was pretty strange that someone would bring their dog to a fast food place, let him out of the car and let him lay on the front step, but we are in Kentucky...

Then I saw some one bring him a cheese burger. I thought the guy was his owner until he got in his truck and drove away. We talked to the people who work at McD's and they said they were pretty sure he was a stray...he just kind of came and went. Next stop, the police station to ask about reported missing dogs...none. I asked if we can take him. They seemed delighted about having one less dog to worry about.

We finished our errands in town and went back to McD's to lured the dog into the back of the van with a cheese burger. It worked and we now have a huge, if not full blooded - very close to it, Great Pyrenees dog on our farm for the price of a double cheese burger.

On the way home, we laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation and how bizarre God is sometimes...I mean, McDonald's? Really? I also mentioned that all we need now is something to catch mice. That evening a cat showed up...um, ok.

We also realized that he is a she...we named her Daisy. She's already HUGE, but she's still a puppy and has a lot of growing to do. Oh my. Besides feeding her, our major problem at this point is that our un-neutered male, Rocket, would like to make Great Pyrenees/Golden Retriever puppies...um, NO! He may be having an operation done soon...poor Rocket.

So friends, meet Daisy!

Another give away! Check out the Homestead Revival blog...good stuff!

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2011/04/give-away-homemade-living-series.html#comment-form

New Job!

Everyone's major concern when we moved to Kentucky was that there are no jobs here. I know people were concerned that Quentin wouldn't be able to find work. Well, today was his first day of work! :) I'm telling you, there is no amount of logic that should prevent us from following the Lord's will. I am so blessed by God's endless provision.


Thank you all for praying for us! I talked to him on his lunch break and he said everything is going well. His only complaint is that he's a little bored because they are having a slow day...but they assure him not everyday is slow. Oh, and some guy came in with his little boy and it made him miss us. It will be an adjustment for all of us to have Daddy gone all day, but I know God will give us the grace we need.

Speaking of Daddy being gone all day now...Please pray I have this baby SOON! My parents need to go back home on Saturday and it sure would be nice to have a few days of help AFTER the baby is born! Thank you!

Looks like God is answering our prayers for farm animals as well. We are excited, but nothing is in stone yet, so I'll wait to give that update later. All I'll say now is BAA and MOO! :)

Update!

I know, I know, I still don't have any pictures to add. The only internet access we have right now is at the library and we are trying not to go into town more than once a week. Anyway... We are doing really well. I am totally loving living here! Yes, even the house. Now that its full of our stuff instead of the Landlord's stuff, it feels much more like our home. And although, most of our stuff is still spewing from the tops of hastily opened boxes, we're slowly but surely getting unpacked. We have already met some wonderful people here and hope to continue to build relationships. As far as pregnancy goes, I'm 38 1/2 weeks along. I really could go into labor at any point now. The funny thing is, I feel better right now than I have most of the pregnancy...go figure! We are all excited to meet Amos soon and we are so glad to have a good, godly midwife who will be attending his birth. Things to keep in prayer: Quentin does have a lead on a job. Pray it comes through for us and that it will be enough pay/hours. Pregnancy, of course. Animals - we have some opportunites to buy a good milking cow, and are also hoping to get a good group of sheep soon. We are praying the Lord provides the money for these and a few other things we'd like to get into. We are missing friends, but so glad to be here. Love you all!

Kentucky

We arrived safely in Kentucky. It was quite an ordeal to get here. But I figured if the there wasn't any big, ridiculous, and dramatic hurdle to cross in the process...it just wouldn't be us doing the move!

We had so many wonderful friends show up on Thursday morning to help us load up the Penske truck. More than necessary...I thought. They got the truck about 2/3 full and decided that nothing but the miraculous was going to get all this stuff in the truck. We needed a bigger truck...right now. So we checked with Penske. Turns out it would cost A LOT more money to rent a bigger truck at this point...IF they had one available. So we are standing in the driveway with NO IDEA what to do, when our dear friend Jonathan said, "Well, load up the back of my truck and I'll go with you."

WHAT?! I mean, seriously who has friends like that, not to mention so many wonderful friends like that in so many different states!?! We are so so blessed! So, our Penske, minivan caravan turned into a Penske, minivan and a loaded pick up truck caravan. We were quite a sight, I'm sure. The trip went well, even the camping in Illinois part.

When we arrived, we found the house...um, different than I expected. It doesn't cut it to say that they haven't done a deep cleaning in a long time...more like they haven't touched a broom or rag in 9 years. Yikes! At to make it more difficult. The guy wasn't Nearly as moved out as we thought he was going to be, so I couldn't even get my broom out to use it until we cleared HIS stuff out of the house. Oh my goodness! Needless to say, this prego woman was a bit stressed and overwhelmed! I'm so glad my mom and dad and sister and bro-in-law arrived just an hour or 2 later to help! We cleared and swept (walls and floors) the bedroom first and moved beds in so that we could at least sleep when bed time finally came.

We've made lots of progress already but there is still lots to make! I should be meeting my midwife for the first time today, if her other patient hasn't decided to go into labor this afternoon. Keep me in your prayers! This is quite an adjustment for me. The boys seem to be doing great. They are all little country farm boys at heart, I guess! The sun finally came out ( to melt the snow we got last night) and its feeling warmer now.

God is so good and is continuing to provide for all our needs. Thank you all for your prayers!

Bees!

Here's the deal, the house we are moving into is rough...to say the least. The land is AMAZING...but the house is just...rough. Anyway, its safe to live in, and that's good enough for us for now, but Quentin and I have worked out a deal.

Since most of the money from the farm endeavors will be put back into the farm for a while...we are going to try and get me some bees. The bees will be mine to care for and to make products from. (Obviously honey, but I'm also going to try my hand at candle making since beeswax candles are AWESOME!) Any money I make from the bees is mine to use on the house. I think it a pretty good deal! I'm quite happy with it, anyway.

Just after deciding that, my awesome sister Missy sends me this link to a giveaway for a new book by Ashley English, Keeping Bees!

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2011/03/give-away-keeping-bees.html#comment-form

God is continuing to provide for us in totally amazing ways and leading us in the way we should go. We've been praying that God would really show us which livestock animals to get involved in (there are SO many options), then Joe and Tammy Franck (dear friends of ours in KC) told us they'd like to buy us our first Icelandic sheep! We've loved this breed of sheep for a while now and had hoped to get started raising them for milk, wool and meat very soon, but now we know...Step 1 - Sheep. Perhaps if I win this givaway (not to mention my dad is working on building us the kind of bee hive I want) we'll know Step 2 - Bees.

Thanks for praying for us everyone! Jesus is so awesome and such a good leader. What wonderful people He has put in our life who care about what we are doing and want to help!

Oh yeah, Len and Beth Walstrom sent me a book on homesteading this week too. I was excited to recieve it, but not as excited as Quentin was when I told him it is called Homesteading, by Gene Logsdon. He was so excited because he knows the name of the author. I didn't...I was clueless...he never is.