yes. it is. . .

. . .a for sale sign.
Or rather an auction sign.
Auction day is set for Dec 14.

We have talked about doing this for YEARS!

We never knew if it would really sell.

I guess in a month we should know the answer to that.

May the Lord's Will Be Done.

our family is growing. . .

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!

                                                                             - Luke 13:34

Yesterday we got to witness one of the miracles of our creator.

Of course you can never PLAN for moments like these.  You have to be still and wait on the Lord.

I was in for a huge day of canning tomatoes.  It was middle of the morning when I asked Ethan to take yet another pan of tomato garbage to the goat/chicken pen.  He did NOT want to, and adamantly told me so.  Being the busy tomato canning mom, I just told him that was what he could do to help me out.  Grudgingly he went out.

It wasn't very long at all when he returned to the house.  He has been practicing whistling these days and I heard him going full force.  My thoughts changed very rapidly in the next few minutes.  The first thought I had was how thankful I was for the attitude change, the next thought was that it really didn't sound like his normal whistle, the next thought was why did he have our bird book out, and then he appeared.  He had in his hands a TINY little black ball of fur that was cheeping rather loudly.

YAY!  We have tried letting our hens sit at different times, but with no success.  Ethan said that when he went to empty the garbage, he saw this little chick with one of the hens in the pasture.  Of course all of this brought a screeching halt to the tomato canning.  After Elisa got her turn to hold the little peep, I took it back out to try and find the mom.  Of course, I know NOTHING about baby chicks and how they interact with hens.  I couldn't get any of the hens to acknowledge that she had sat on this little fella and hatched him out.  So in the house went the chick to wait in a box while the kids and I ran to the farm store to buy a heat lamp and chick feed.  We got home and set up a comfortable abode for this chick.

I resumed canning tomatoes.

Ethan asked Elisa if she wanted to go with him to check for more chicks.  She said yes.  They left the house.  Whew!  Now to get this job of mine done.

In they came.  "Mom!"  There is an egg down there that has a hole in it and I can hear something pecking around inside of it.  Okay, even though I didn't really believe it, I had to wash my hands and go check it out.  They were right!

What an awesome experience for the kids.  We went in, washed up, and ate lunch.  Before nap time we went to check the egg one more time and it was cracked the whole way around and we could see the chick trying to get out.  After naps, we went to check and sure enough we had a new chick.  That made two little black balls of fluff.

The hen that was caring for the newest chick was a black furry-headed one instead of the silky that hatched it.  I thought that if she was being such a good mother, we should bring the one out of the house and let her take care of it too.  (that way I wouldn't have to)  It was amazing to watch her take it into her care.  She pecked it at first and really was quite a snob.   The baby tried several times to get under her protection and she wouldn't have it.  She sat down and tucked the newest one under her and then took some time to relax.  The baby that we had brought from the house was pretty persistent, so when the hen was nice and relaxed, he tried one more time.

He walked up to the hen and shoved his little head into her chest.  She tucked her head over him and tucked him right under her with the other chick.  How sweet.  We all enjoyed watching them for a while. . .

. . .and then Ethan & Elisa enjoyed spending time with Grace.  (she is starting to like them QUITE well!)

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What a wonderful day!  (yes I did get all the tomatoes canned that I had started and yes, I still have a 1/2 bushel left to do today)  It was good to be reminded that if we want to see God, we have to do it in HIS timing and not ours.  I could have planned a day like that for 2 weeks and it wouldn't have worked out in the same way!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,

Praise Him all creatures here below. . .

not pa's haystack. . .

Saturday was an eventful day at the Hess Household.

Friday night Jonas had came and excavated for our new shed. He scraped topsoil, moved dirt, and dug holes. Wow, all that big equipment was a child's DREAM!

Saturday morning, everyone was out bright and early, getting ready for the concrete truck. We were planning to get cement poured in the holes that Jonas had dug for the new building and also in our new sidewalk. It was one action packed day!

After all this, Ethan & Elisa took LONG naps, and when they got up they had the MOST fun of all. . .

Remember reading On the Banks of Plum Creek, by Laura Ingalls Wilder? Remember how much fun Mary & Laura had sliding down Pa's haystack? (until there was no longer a haystack?) Remeber how Pa stacked it all back up and told them not to slide any more? Remeber how they did it again? This was one of our favorite stories in the book, so when Ethan and Elisa started playing on the big dirt pile that Jonas had made, it made me think of this. I reminded them about it and they laughed.

When the day was done, Joe & I lauged a lot too!

Lo, children are a heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. -Psalm 127:3

a trick. . .

Tuesday, Joe had service school in New Holland, PA.  Ethan, Elisa, & I all spent a fun day with Sherry while he was at school.  I was suppose to be back to pick him up at 4p.m.  Well, as usual, I was running late, and then (of course) got stopped in traffic which made me even later.  I didn't arrive until 4:30 or so.  We had started home (a 2 hour drive) when Joe made the comment that we should just stop and get new tires on the van.  He said that we would arrive home too late to do the outside work he had planned, so we may as well get the tires done.

We did that.

We continued home with new tires, and what we thought was a quieter riding van. (although it was hard to tell for sure with all the commotion from the second seat)  :)

When we got home, we just relaxed in the living room reading books.  I thought that it was a winding down time before heading up to bed. . .

In a little, I heard Joe say, "Ethan, do you want to come outside with me?  I'm going to do a trick."

Of course Ethan took him right up on that.

I thought I would go find out what the trick was also.  What I saw didn't resemble "going to bed" in any way.

It reminded me more of the "tearing up of the sidewalk" that Joe had said it was going to be too late to do. :) 

Well, this continued for some time. (much to Ethan & Elisa's delight)

Until, finally, Ethan said, "Daddy I thought you were going to do a trick!"

Puzzled, Joe said, "This IS my trick!"

To this Ethan replied, "OH.  I thought you were going to do a flip or something!"

Then we had a GOOD LAUGH!

After the laughter, Joe finished demolishing the sidewalk.

I LOVE the way kids think!

&

I LOVE the way my husband keeps my life interesting!

After sitting in a classroom all day, who WOULDN'T need to do a little work before bed?

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:  - Ecclesiastes 3:1

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; . . .  - Ecclesiastes 3:5