Our Family Jots and Tittles

Shalom Readers, Family and Friends!

We have had a busy month here on the farm and my "Jots and Tittles" have suffered for it. So I thought I would catch you up on some of the things (list style) that we have been doing in that time. it is our hope to get pictures and post things more fully...but our schedule is not looking anymore light, until oh...say...... THANKSGIVING!!!! So I will do my best. :-)

In the last month-

The Farm: So many projects are getting planned (and replanned and planned again!, as well implemented. (I stick to reviewing things that are currently happening - to keep the post brief).
* We have had Amish help here the past week putting repairing, changing, moving and putting up fencing. We are preparing for more animals this year and "thinking ahead" with fencing to grow into. It requires a lot of capitol investment...and we are thankful to have help with the labor. It will continue into next week. He has doubled our sheep pasture by finishing fencing on the wooded side and adding some gates and repair. Is moving fence across the street to create a couple zones. One for goats (in the woods and brush) and the other for cows. After that we will be building a Turkey run with 6 ft fences and a brooder house...so I am guessing they will be around for a couple more weeks. One of two brothers will be here on any given day. It is neat to watch their methods and tools! They have also been eating lunch with us..which is equally interesting!

* We will be bringing in another team of Amish help (2 men - I believe) this week from the other side of the highway. :-) (Different church/Bishop) They have helped us with other building before. They will be building lean-too's onto the shed for starters.

* We started building our garden with fresh compost and wood chips and our new (used) tractor clutch fried. So that went away to the shop and other things took place and that job sat - started - but unfinished. It is our hope tomorrow to place the rest of the compost we have and order the second load on Monday. The weather is good and we are VERY ready!

* Ben built a couple shelves and made some lighting/heat on the porch for some seed starting and we started some seeds a couple weeks ago. It seems so slow going, but we are sprouting!

* We had added Purple Martin houses to the property in the hopes to attract some to the farm for the first time this year. Ben did his homework and we have learned that they migrate up here from Brazil in March to search out their northern home. When they find it, they come back to it each spring there after. We are hopeful. I hope to post more on this later!

*We have started drawing water from our well and drinking from it. However it is not plumbed into the house/barn yet. We have sent it off the lab for testing (125 things!) and are STILL waiting for the results...but couldn't wait..it tastes great! We pump it by hand. The kids enjoy doing that! We'll keep you updated.

The House: We have finally finished our upstairs! It is so exciting! After 4 weeks of construction...and 2 years of living in a ROUGH second floor - we were able to move the kids upstairs again on Friday. I hope to post more on this too and do a video tour. We still have yet to dig pictures our of storage and the kids are itching to "decorate" there rooms after so long of having an insulation decor over by sheets and plastic! I am so happy to have it done for them. It also means that we have our own bedroom back, we were sharing it with 4 other children and a newt during construction! The children are upsatirs but I am left wiht thie newt. Elijah would like to finds it a new home and I don;t want that home to be my bedroom!! Does anyone want a newt? It comes with a small tank and the fixins/food!! He brought it from PA - it was a wonderful opportunity for animal stewardship when we were on 1 acer. Now that we have expaneded...well, my son is ready to move into larger livestock! :-) (Does Goodwill take Newts??!!) I digress......The recent move upstairs after constrution also means we don't have wall to wall bunch beds in our den any more and that I finally got to CLEAN both of these downstairs rooms which was put off because they we so crammed with furniture and people! The kids were so gracious and patient in the process of their wait for finished bedrooms in the last couple years!

I have been painting trim downstairs and freshing things. I feel like I am doing a very thorough "spring cleaning" this year...there is always MORE I COULD do....but then...i can only do so much right now. :-)

Also - I now have a linen closet!! I am still pinching myself! It is so wonderful! Closets make this momma happy! :-) We still have lots of rearranging to do downstairs and it is a good time of reassessing some things in storage again...we continue to choose and simplify. We keep our local Goodwill and Christian store house in business with donations! :-)

We plot and plan the summer kitchen - which likely have to wait another year - because of the budget. But it might be just as well, because we have moved it about 6 different places in our minds so far! So apparently ...it is a "process" that must be worked out. :-) I think we just came to a really good plan we are ready to settle on though! :-) (just in time to wait!)

We have converted an upright freezer to a fridge and moved it inside. It is so nice to have a FULL size fridge in the kitchen. I am LOVING it. I hope to post more on that later too. :-)

The Livestock: We started butchering our sheep. We have 6 more left, it is our goal to have that finished before our new breed arrives on the 19th.

The rest is plotting and planning still.

The Community: It has been exciting witnessing our friend's betrothal in an up close and personal way. I am helping the groom's mom plan, while he stayed here as a aprt of our house construction crew with other men. It is so neat to watch the (future) groom build his home and call his bridesmaid (out of state) every other night, and write letters on the nights between. His is hard at work building a home for them on the homestead and generating income to provide and communicating with her and planning. Its so romantic! It is neat to hear all the little things he is excited about and his plans for the future and see his attentiveness toward his brides needs. In the midst of his time here he (and other family members back home) broke out with chicken poxs! The betrothal was actually reschedules for that reason. So all that was also exciting. The couple will be officially Betrothed next week here in TN.

It is exciting communicating with dear friends from afar whom are praying about moving into the area and others who have gotten confirmation and ARE. We are so excited to open our home and hearts to others in Yah's family! Now that the kids have moved their closets out of the trailer, we can start setting it up for camping this spring...although it still has their old dressers in there...so we have figure out what to do with them. We have changed the clothes storage in their room to be self contained in the closets (which I LOVE), so now we need to repurpose the furniture or tkae yet another trip to good will! So that is all "unfinished business" that needs to be addressed this week.

Excitement is also mounting as we prepare for the YHVH's Spring Biblical Feasts and time away from the farm as well as company all around that time here on the farm! We are so blessed to have such family in Yah, we love them dearly! We kind of "phoned in" Purim this year. We were hoping to do something grand like we have in years past, but it just wasn't practical. We simply had pizza, popcorn and hametashin, talked about the book of Esther and let the kids watch Esther the Movie (which was recommended by a friend) while Ben and I continued to work on things upstairs to get the rooms ready for the kids to move into.

Health: We were anticipating a chicken pox outbreak in our home by now...but have not yet. We have a few children who have yet to get it and they were well exposed. I have never gotten it either (but have been exposed countless times in my life) so I wonder if they might have some of my "immunity" to it. I think we should know for sure by the end of this week. All is well otherwise. I pray it remains so!

The Chillin's: Hailey (13) is learning to play harp. She just picked it up (it was waiting there for ME to learn!) and just started playing. She has a firm foundation in piano and is picking it up very instinctively. We have a few material to help us and youtube! :-)Elijah (11) is making walking sticks in the hopes that there me a "market place" offered this year at Family Week. He goes into our woods, selects saplings, cuts them, sands them and finishes them and puts little finishing touches on them. He has also Ben dad's Chief helper in Butchering sheep and got a wonderful education in Dry walling and various construction. Naomi (almost 8) is learning to play the piano (with the help of Hailey and Momma) and could sit at it for HOURS on her own accord. She is very self motivated in it...It is very exciting to watch. She has also learned to tell time (and gotten her first watch) and learned how to count money. (Because she is excited about helping momma in (planned) our family store one day.) Gideon (6) has also learned to tell time (basically because Naomi did and he liked the idea of a watch! We will be celebrating his 6th birthday this week. He is also learning to read and pesters to learn Hebrew! The Hebrew is something momma is having a hard time making a regular thing again! He has been inspired by his new bedroom closet and has organized his clothed by color! I would be amazed, astounded and so excited, if this was a lasting thing! Eliana (just turned 5) Is learning the sounds to her letter and how to write them. We have started her in a preschool activity book so she can "do school" like the other kids. She loves it! It is very satisfying for her. She has also learned to ride her bike around our bumpy farm grass. It is so cute to watch because she is so tiny. Just a month ago - Gideon and Naomi would "lap her" as they rode around the house again and again...but NOW she keeps up with them! She is so proud of her self! (as are we!) :-) Chazaq (2) Has developed a love for puzzels, all kinds. He is also a day or two away from bring introduced to his new big-boy-bed in their new bedroom. I am so glad spring is here because He LOVES to be outside and take trips to the barn with the animals. It is need witness him being raised on the farm from the beginning. He has such a strong awareness of where his meat comes from! He loves to visit the animals and take care of them, he has witness the whole butchering process and he loves to eat them too! It is very strange to see such an awareness in a (just)2 year old on such things.

Ben is feeling the pressure to be more active at work from both sides. The structure at work has changed and is tightening his freedom here ont he farm and the farm projects are demanding the resources....He is handling it like a champ - but if he comes to mind, please pray for him. It is a burden that can be great at times.

I have been thinking again an planning my seasoning line, when I can, that is. I have been investigating packaging and tossing names around....it is definitely a process though!

Hailey and I have started soaking our grains more, and are trying to stick to "soaked" breads. Hailey (my chief bread maker) likes making them and we all like eating them, so I think we have a match! It just takes a little change in habits to get it really regular.

Our neighbors has expressed great interest in buying kifer from us on a weekly basis. I think we will start doing that for her and may offer some other products...we'll see.

Sorry no pictures. It is nearing 1 am and I must go to bed - we have a big work day tomorrow.

We have two chapters of Psalm 119 that we have yet to record for you: Would it be ungrateful to ask Yah for a couple more hours in the day???

Its been busy, its been good. It's been real! I Love it! YHVH is so gracious to us!

Our Family Jots and Tittles

Elijah was having fun playing with some cotton balls one day and fashioned himself a beard. Of course, chazaq wanted one, so he made him nice long Hebrew beard and little "fu man chu". It looks especially cute on Chazaq because his white hair matched the beards (and he is so small)! Gideon saw all the fun and wanted to get in on the action, so he designed a mustache attached to his hat, as you an see proudly displayed in the lower right hand picture. :-) (???) Oh what a homeschool momma allows in the hopes to encourage future engineers. :-) Having been a (former) professional make up artist back-in-the-day. I thought it was pretty good! :-)

We have received our first semi tractor trailer of compost for the next season. So we have started creating our garden plot. Isn't this steamy rich black dirt BEAUTIFUL?!!! Look at the steamy activity coming off this active living soil! It's black gold to us! We are so excited! Below, you an see the beginning of the process taking place. We still have lots to do, as other things have interrupted with other things...but we are anxious to get it finished. What you see with this paper is the width of our main garden. The length is about twice that - I think. We are going one row across at a time, so that we keep the tractor off the soil. I hope to do a post featuring the whole process as it continues and gets completely and then as we plant and cultivate and harvest. We were so tankful for the tractor, because the ground was too moist to get the tractor trailer back to the garden plot. It had to be dumped near the road, which was a good distance. That would have been a LOT of long trips with the wheel barrels. It is so nice to fill that 6 foot bucket and dump it right where you want it!
Ben got the pump on the well and we drew up our first water. It tastes GREAT! We have ordered out water test kit from the lab and are waiting for it to arrive. We are testing it for about 125 things so it will give a really good assessment of what we are looking at. I hope we won't have to filter it. It still has to be hooked up to the house and set up with solar yet.

We got our delivery of land fill(they call it "chert" here). Ben started grading the land around the shed/root cellar with the tractor and our new grader attachment. Ben says it is working very nicely. We need another load of chert though. After that is complete we will be ready to add on to the shed. Ben says the combination of these two things should solve our water problem we have been experiencing in the root cellar. (I do hope he's right!) :-)

We had some guys come in and chip up the rest of our fallen cedar trees and grind the stumps. (YES!) I am very thankful for that too. ol' Blue (our farm truck) was hauled away to see if it can be fixed once and for all. We are not sure what it wrong with it, but about 75% of the time when we go to use her, she just won't start up for us. So hopefully we can get to the bottom of this once and for all, otherwise, we might have to retire her.
We think we have about 6 ewes ready to lamb. This will be our first lambing! We are very excited about it! So we have separated those ewes and given them some of their own space. We have also given them a separate place in the barn. As our week unfolded, Ben we decided to sell and butcher through our heard to bring in another breed of sheet (more on that below). The guy from our local feed mill game buy and made us and wants to buy our 6 bred sheep after talking with Ben. he is suppose to pick them up on Sunday. That was kind of a bitter sweet thing, because, we wanted to experience their lambing but it is for the best. We will separate the boy out of the flock then and start butchering, as we prepare for our new flock of At Croix to arrive in March 19th.

The St Croix Sheep that we will be switching to are coming out of AL. They are registered (pure bread) and we will continue to keep them that way. St Croix are hair sheep that are used for meat and sometimes milk. They are a bigger breed than the Black Belly Barbados almost twice the weight. They are known for their parasite resistance, good momma's and prolific lambers (usually twins but often 3). They are more docile than BBB and they are also prolific milkers. (They have been used in dairies in the past.) Being more docile and trusting will make them much nicer to care for, since they will be friendly and approach us and trust us instead of more leery BBB who have a much stronger "survival instinct". We are hoping everything works out! I will post more on them, as the things unfold. We have ordered an adult ram, and 2 bread adult ewes, 4 young ewes and 1 young ram. We hope that Shomare, our guard Donkey will adjust nicely too them. We will keep a fence between them to start and give him some time to warm up to them. We hope to have all the BBB gone before they get here. We are hoping we do not have any more pregnant ewes in the bunch. We will probably have to sell them if we do.

This is the "year of the animals" at Shalom farm. It is so exciting to finally see it coming! I have decided not to buy meat that we do not raise our selves with maybe a couple very small exceptions (fish being one - but I would also like to seriously look into raising Talapia after we get all the current animals settled). This is a motivator for sure. :-)

Last Shabbat we had an open house, it was wonderful. We met two new families from the next town over who are homesteading. One of the ladies said we were "answer to prayer" as they had been praying about community. That made me feel good too. We like them a lot and look forward to cultivating good friendships with them. That was a wonderful treat. The Fourniers stayed the night, so we got to do some much needed "one on one" time that we have been lacking in the last couple mouths. This was the first Naomi has been back since she left too, which was also nice. She said she felt like it was coming home. (That made me feel good.) We also had three men (with their children) travel from Memphis (3 hours away) to join us! That was a real treat too. They were new folks that a friend of ours had met and they are new to Torah and hungry for fellowship. We just LOVE to have our doors open for people who are coming into the truth of His Scriptures. The Smith's were here too, so it was nice really nice to have such good friends to introduce to new folks.

We started making plans for Family Week and looking ahead to the Spring Feasts. (Which is ALWAYS fun and good!)

We had a very sad day this week. Our favorite cat, Jack, was hit my a car and killed. He was the sweetest cat. A big lover, mild mannered and easy going. A good farm cat and hunter, but really enjoyed our company. He would just be a rag doll for Chazaq to play with, he was tolerant. Yet he was still a good mouser so he held his own on the farm! Ben found him in the road when he left to go to the neighbor's to get milk. We were heart broken. Elijah buried him next to Shiloh (our beagle whom we lost last year to a car too!) You would think we live on Main Street or something, with having lost two pets in one year, but we don't!!! We live on a dead end road with only 2 neighbors past our house! :-( We have about 1/4 mile of hilly road footage that runs through the center of our property, our house is close the road. It is quite and peaceful out here, traffic is rare. This just isn't something we thought would be a high risk for us. :-( We miss you already sweet Jacky Boy!


Some of Jack's baby pictures with his two little sisters (in the bowl: Jill and Cali).
Below: Jack is making himself at home in Dot's Bed (The Dog!) What is amazing, is that Dot, let him get away with that! We think he was her favorite too. There is Jack "sittin' pretty" by the ash can and letting Chazaq play with him. Chazaq would carry him in the most compromising ways, and Jack would just go limp and indulge him in it. We would run to the poor cat's aid time and time again, but only to find him purring in the midst of it! He would love to come in at nap time (how did he know when nap time was?) and sneak upstairs to snuggle with Eliana or Gideon.


We visited some new friends that don't live far from us - this Shabbat. It was sweet to spend more time with them and see their off grid homestead. We got some great idea for the homestead too. When we returned home, we learned that we had our first lamb born on the farm while we were gone! It was a such a precious gift, because they were scheduled for sale the next morning! We had 6 expecting ewes (our first sale on the farm!) leaving Sunday (today). It was the oldest night of the year last night, we were concerned for the safety of the bran new baby out in that cold night, but they had access to the barn and heat lamp which would help some...but I think it was 13 degrees here last night. When checked on them, they seemed to be doing very well! So we were relieved. It was a baby ewe (girl), by the way. I think Hailey has determined in her mind that she wants to take charge if the farm's sheep operations, from now on. :-) (Baby's have that effect on us girls that way!) :-)

Here we are gathering the ewes to go in the trailer to go to their new home. (The baby is going too.) Their new owner is a local guy who runs our little feed mill here in town.


In addition to that, we talked with our dear friend's, the Smiths on Shabbat. They had their first calf born to them earlier on that same day!! But that is not all, we had also got an email from other friends, that morning and they had their long awaited baby girl that Shabbat too! Tiqvah Shalom (LOVE the name!) The momma was hopeful for a girl after 4 boys, and her wish was granted! So we had a blessed "birthing" Shabbat down here in TN this week! Aaahhhh....it is such a beautiful thing!!

Something is going on with the clutch of the tractor. :-( We are taking into the place we bought it from. I hope they will cover it...but we are not sure yet. Either way we hop it is fixed and returned quickly because there are so many things that need to get done with it!

We have some friends scheduled to finish the second floor starting Monday! We are so excited! We moved all the furniture from the upstairs to the down stairs - which makes for cozy rooms...but it will be worth it. Our contractors will be staying with us during that time too (since they are friends)...so we will have 10-11 people tucked into 2 bedrooms and one main living space, for about a week! :-) I seriously entertained...taking a trip with the kids...but it would not be fiscally responsible. It will also be very tricky to do while I am juice fasting still! So....that idea went almost as fast as it came. :-)

Our Family Jots and Tittles

It seems as though this week has been packed with excitement as we "get to know" our new tractor and how it works with it's attachments. The farm came with a 6ft bush bog. We didn't realize how valuable it was until just recently, when we priced an equivalent used one for $1250! You can imagine our appreciation grew very rapidly! It was sitting in the field unmoved for over two years (it was very heavy, we didn't have the means to move it and didn't have any place to put it if we did). The rod and pto shaft were jammed pretty good, but Ben dislodged them, and Elijah oiled them up. He took her for a test run in our side yard and it worked wonderfully! So we are very excited about that!!

The (well) pump house was built (YES!). We drilled the well almost two years ago...got the solar pump equipment all gathered about a year ago...then it was a matter of putting up the building to house it all. Now that is finished (almost... Ben is anchoring it to the concrete right now and it still has to be primed and painted. I will so be SOOOOO happy to get off our chlorinated fluoridated town water once and for all. We have been drinking out of a Berkey and bathing with a filter...The animals get whatever rain water we collect...but not if it runs dry...the have to drink from the tap. The garden never had a choice. :-( But this is year...that should all change!! We still have to install the pump and solar and connect it to the house and get the water tested (and possibly filter it) so we are drinking our own water yet...but it is getting closer by the week.

The pump house is 10x10 on a cement slab with a drain and quite tall to accommodate the specific equipment. (13-14 feet in the center I think. So it will be perfect for hanging a deer or other assorted things.) :-) One side is higher than the other by a foot. That is not an error, that was part of Ben's plan, to have the angle right for the solar panel. (He had to remind me of that.) :-) The interior is lined with Tyvek. We had our Amish neighbors build the pump house for us. His mills his own wood. He is the one who built our shed above our root cellar (and may possibly build our turkey brooder house this spring). We are pleased with it. It is so nice to see plans come together (Do you remember A-Team 1980's sit-com?! HA!!).

Eliana is coming along with studying her alphabet. She really enjoys sitting down with me to "study". Gideon's reading is also coming along. My biggest focus with Naomi right now is math. We spent so much time getting language and reading going that, we are now shifting our focus for her. She is ready though. She is enjoying learning how to tell time and count money. I am showing her patterns in math and we found Racko to be a fun game to help reinforce sequencing and thinking skills. Hailey is doing double lessons to finish her math book (Saxon) and Elijah conquering spelling tests quickly as that has become a focus for him...if he can get his mind off of his flock of turkeys coming this spring. :-)

Ben and I have our thoughts wrapped up in the many, many farm projects on deck. Our taxes are done and sent in and we are expecting a sizable return and we shuffled some things around, so we have some money to work with. (YES!!) We finally got our Farm Tax ID number - so that helps with some of the bigger farm investments, because sales tax in TN is pretty high. It looks like we might actually be able to finish the interior of our second floor (after 2 years) and get the sewer system fixed once and for all, as well! YES! (That means I get to move my playset back into it's original spot when it is all finished. YES! But it also means I am going to have my yard torn up a lots more again this spring...But it's so worth it! I'll keep you updated as things unfold.

Some of the ladies and I are starting a Book Study/Discussion together at the Messianic Keepers at Home Forum if anyone would like to join us. The book we are reading/discussing together is Mama's Torah, by Batyah Wootan.

I am on Day 22 of my Juice Feast. Ben has actually joined me in the Juice Feast for a week too! This is his 4th day. If you want to check in on us every now and then, I am journaling our experience at http://www.gettingrawdiculous.blogspot.com/ . So I leave you with this:

Blessings and Shalom to You and Yours!

for the Tribe of Ben

Our Family Jots and Tittles

This Week at Shalom Farm:

Something tells me Naomi was reading Dr Desoto again, because we came upon this scene. She was the dentist and Gideon was the willing patient.

Sunday- Today we started collecting sap from our maple trees. Down here in the south is much less than up north. It also has to be done much earlier in the year. Tapping in the colder climates happen in early March usually, but for us - the end of January or beginning of February seem to get us the best flow. We cook it down on the wood stove. We have only did 21 taps this year (we have the means to do 50). We will do them all next year. In our first run, we collected just under 12 gallons. This yielded us 1 qrt of syrup. However, it was the best tasting syrup we have EVER had! It was so sweet and buttery. Really really buttery! This is definitely a resource we will maximize in the future. It will never be enough to sell, but I would be tickled if we could collect enough that our family wouldn't have to buy it any more! That is my hope. Since we have our supplies, it is free for us to do at this point. We're hoping to get some more warm days and cold nights in February. This spike in weather is what makes the sap flow. Here is a picture of it cooking down on our woodstove. Forgive the spelling on the Syrup bottle, My DH was public school educated. :-) (We like to make new words out of our creations with SCH word blends.)


Monday- We received very very exciting news about Naomi. She is pulling herself up on a walker now! Halleluyah! We had her walker here and took it to them the Shabbat before last because she thought she would be ready to use it soon. (They live a little over an hour away, but they are family!) Now here are the pictures! It is my prayer that we will be dancing together at her Brother's wedding this summer! May it be so!! We were suppose to see them this past Shabbat - but it didn't work out. :-( We like to be sure that she (and her family) have a good rotation of books from our library and I know she has read threw her last stack! We'll have get out there. :-)


Tuesday- We got our tractor! Yes! This was such a big decision for us! Should we or shouldn't we? CAN we? Which one is best? The list of questions went on and on! We think we made a good choice. ( I suppose time it the only way we will know for sure.) It is like new, only 300 hours on it. It came with a 6 ft bucket and we also purchased a plow, discs and wood chipper. While we intend to garden without tilling, we hope to plant some food plots for the animals and amend our fields with better grass for grazing and bees. We have lots of heavy work that has been sitting (tree trunks and stumps, hug rocks, etc.) It is an intimidating piece equipment! Especially when you understand how many injuries are caused by them...We pray that will never be the case! Here is Ben taking it on her maiden voyage. I figure, I'll let him work out all the kinks - than teach me! :-)



We met a new Torah Keeping Family about 25 minutes from us (via phone). They live in community with three other families on a homestead!! They are DOING part of what our vision is to do! We got word that friends from TX are moving up here, and will be here in March. (YES!) I can't wait for everyone to meet them. We will do our best to help them find a place and feel right at home. I am keeping an eye out for property for friends in AL too. :-)

Wednesday- We have been doing this little "game" in our house for the last couple months. We all it "Behavior Bucks". We have printer custom charts for each child. On that chart each week, we update it for things we would like the children to practice making habits. These things are everything from chores to be behaviors. Through the day, we give them little paper ticket or "bucks" that we printed out. If they transgress bucks are taken away, if they follow through or show improvement bucks are given. We have "rewards" that they redeem their bucks for. Things on the list are small to big in "cost". There is only one prize that is individual, the rest are corporate. As we are continuing to build team work, cooperation, encouragement and a sense that every one's actions effect the others in the family. All of the rewards (except for one) require everyone to contribute points. Examples are: A movie (off of our family video shelf), a family bike ride, family game, lamplighter audio book, hike, play date with another family, and field trips. The one individual price is what we call "the treat machine". We have an old fashioned coin operated gumball machine that we have filled with trail mix. They can redeem points individually for this. This also raises the value of saving and spending for bigger things.

All that to say this: We went to the Discovery Center in Murfeeborrow today because the kids earned a field trip with their Behavior Bucks! It was a fun day. We ended up getting a membership for the year. Ben travels that way pretty often for work, so we thought it might work into our family this year. Ben was in town that day, and he met us there at the end of his day. Just as we were ready to leave, my Chazaq (2yr old) plows over a little girl (maybe 18month if that) who belonged to the only Muslim momma in the whole place! Opps. That was awkward!! I apologized profusely. She was gracious.
Thursday- The county workman started dropping wood hips for us here today!! YES! We are so excited! We thought we were going to have to buy them to carry out the plan we have for our garden this year. But they are in our area doing a lot of tree work. I talked to the a couple of the me, they said they would tell the others and walla...we have free pine mulch! YES!!!

Elijah came across a kite that got mangled in the barn. As he was cleaning it up, he was inspired to use the cross bars for something. With the help of a little duct tap and cut cardboard He made to fencing foils. He also cut out two card board masks. Then He challenged his father to a duel. Ben could not refuse. I am sorry we didn't get pictures of that! (I bet you didn't know that Ben took fencing in College did ya?!) He gave the boy some pointers and off they went. Of course Gideon had to get in on the action, so he challenged Elijah to a duel and Ben got pictures of that. The fact Gideon is wearing his sisters oink cloves, sets the whole scene for me...But then it takes a tough kid to wear pink! :-) Besides, a French man would probably wear pink right?? :-)

Friday- We went up to Spring Hill to look at dirt today. Woohoo, exciting right? It is to us! We will are about invest a big amount into our garden soil. We are so thankful that we can. We want so badly to grow our own food more seriously...but it all revolves around the soil! No more geode gardening for us...it soft lush nutrient dense black gold from here on out! (We hope!)

Saturday- We traveled two hours north for fellowship this week. It was a group we had not seen since Sukkot. It was a good time! We got home late, but it was worth it. :-)

We pray you have a blessed week!

Our Family Jots and Tittles

So much has happened in the past few weeks, it will be hard to catch you up on it, but I will give a few highlights:

A little over three weeks ago, I miscarried our baby at 12 weeks into the pregnancy. This is what "interrupted" the family updates for last few weeks. I just didn't know what to say or how to say it. I shared the news with our closest family and friends - but didn't know how to share it on the blog. The couple weeks after was spent healing and having quiet time with family. I was blessed by friends and family in this time. Their love and support poured out. They offered to bring meals, sit with kiddos, prayed, sent encouragement - you name it. It was a reminder of all the beautiful people Yah has put in my life and how blessed we truly are!

Just before the miscarriage, we had a lovely visit with my dad and his fiance. This was the first chance to meet Bernie. She is very nice lady, we like her. They both came bearing gifts for the kids and us, including a very nice quilt Bernie made and warm hats for the kiddos - which was very nice and birthday goodies. He brought a couple guns to shoot. We got a small window with out rain to go out and shoot, even though the group was soggy and the air was misty..we had fun! It was so good to put my arms around my Pappa...I do love him so!

The shot of Hailey with Dad and the smoking gun is my favorite!



We got a dusting of snow...just enough to tease the kids. They got some flakes on their tongue and romped around in it, but it was gone before the day was over. It is a rare treat in TN if we get enough snow to really play in, but it is still pretty to get a sprinkle. It came when I was still in my bed after the miscarriage, so it was nice to look out my bedroom window and hear the children squealing for joy...good medicine from "Heaven" for a momma.



Elijah shot his first squirrel this month. We wouldn't normally hunt squirrel, since it is not something we eat. However, this particular fox squirrel had declared war with us this summer when he ate many of our melons form the garden. Elijah had witnessed this and tried to trap him...but he was too cunning for that. He measured 23 inches, and even though he wanted to weigh him, mom got a little "grosed-out" by putting him on her kitchen scale...so that didn't come to pass. :-) We an all testify he was a BIG one...apparently melons will fatten up a squirrel. :-) After he shot him, he skinned, fleshed and tailored the skin (in his bedroom closet!). :-) (Oh what us homestead momma's endure for precious sons!!!)


Elijah also wanted me to include this photo of our "mammoth" egg we collected this month. He was very excited when collecting them to find this XL egg (second from the right) in the nest. We normally collect large eggs from our Road Island Reds...but this one was quite large. It was a tasty double yoker.



Experimenting with Big Boy pants...While we still aren't "there" yet...our potty training has begun and Chazaq is excited about it. He kept getting into his sister's underpants and putting them on...so we got out his "big boy unders" and he enjoyed wearing them very much!



Here I Elijah's version of an "off-grid vacuum packer". When asking him to pack a 4lb block of cheese, I reminded him to get as much of the air out of the bag as possible. I looked over and this is what he method was of doing that!




In that time also, we have had two birthdays in our home of our two smallest children. Eliana turned 5 and Chazaq turned 2. It was a nice family time of fun games, food and celebrating our precious children/siblings. I do not have pictures of Chazaq's party - because we took video for that.



There has been lots of winter planning for Spring plans on the farm. Sometimes it is overwhelming, other times it is invigorating and exciting...

In this last week, we're still pluggin' away at canning the last of the Turkey and putting the last of the apples up that we go this fall. We have been dehydrating them mostly, but will also can some apples today and maybe another bath of apple pie filling.

We have ordered worms again (red wigglers)...of course nothing close to the scale of our worm farming project of days by...but 2 pounds to process kitchen scraps on our back porch and get some castings to put in the soil this spring/summer. We do intend to grow them out to a pretty large scale to use for food for our fowl next winter. In the mean time, we will train Naomi how to care for them on a small scale on the porch. She is very excited about becoming a worm rancher. :-) Elijah is eager to make the bins for her to get her started.

We have been enjoying memorizing Psalm 119 as a family, and hope to get more video of that posted, as well as pictures that have been taken. We hope to come up with a tune for Dalet today as we prepare apple for canning. :-)

We are very close (it seems) to purchasing a tractor for the farm...this is a big and scary move for us (for a bunch of reasons) but an exciting one as well! Please pray for us in this area!

This past Shabbat we had a lovely family whom we hadn't yet met previously, stay the weekend with us. They are from Virginia and seeking fellowship and community within the Body of Torah Keeping Believers in Messiah. Also we got to visit with dear established friends whom we had been missing for months. It was a precious Shabbat. The week before, we spent the weekend at a lake house with friends (3 hours away - Cookville) and had a wonderful visit. Both of our family's met with 2 other families at their new Cafe and Juice Bar and enjoyed fresh green juices and a healthy lunch and fellowship all afternoon. The place was closed but we they opened it up for our "private" gathering. (How Special!) It too, was a sweet time of fellowship.

Until next week... May your walk intimately with YHVH!

In Him, The Tribe of Ben

Our Family Jots and Tittles

I really much prefer my Tittles when I can keep up with them through out the week, kind of like a diary, but this week I failed to do that. So I will try to real our week as best I can.

We returned from our Thanksgiving trip on Monday night. It was such a good trip. I failed to take many pictures but I am hoping mom and Tammy will send some to me. I wish I had more pictures to share with you. We had lots of fun playing games together, games and more games,inside and out. We also took a trip to a play ground for some more outdoor play. Here are a couple pictures.



Tuesday morning we found we had a ewe dead in the field. We don't know how or why or when this happened, except that it had been a while because of decay having taken place. It did not a appear to be a predator. The mystery still remains...I will spare you those pictures. There was also some wetness in "dry room" of the rootcellar. Hmmm...that is concerning.

Hailey got to work baking some bread and cookies to thank a neighbor (about a mile away) for their help, and enjoyed delivering them with her brother on their bikes the next day. We caught up on laundry, chores and emails and things like that. Ben got caught up on work.



Chazaq had his first poo-poo in the potty!!! YEAH YEAH!!! Oh the hooplah that ensued over that little triumph! He was so proud of the fuss that every made over it. He kept running into the bathroom after the fact and sitting on the potty and saying "YEAH!!!". At first he was quite confused as to where it went, this celebrated little morsel had disappeared when he left the room! But that didn't stop him from going back and checking for it about 3 more times! :-) That was a fun day.

I had gone through a little bit of a "scare" this week with my pregnancy. I had a small cause for concern - but have laid in the hands of YHVH (our Creator) to trust Him come what may. I have been blessed by support, encouragement and prayer of dear friends and my Mom. I have been instructed to become "queen of the couch" which I feel like I have already become, much to my dissatisfaction...but this season will pass and I will have known that I did what I could - even if that amounts to a whole lot of nothin' it seems! The big problem with me "slowing down in activity" is that I can't help but start making lists and think of all the things that need to get done!

One of the most exciting moments of our week was when we learned that Naomi F. has had a very good week in her phsycial movement! She can now use her arms from the elbow down! This week, she feed herself, was writing letters with her hand again, played a game with her sisters (hardly assisted), and can turn the pages of her own books now. Oh how we are rejoicing with them and others who have holding her up in prayer! She is also able to support her own head and hopeful for a differnt wheel chair, since she no longer needs to be tilted back. Halleluyah! (Since they are "extended family" I can't help but share the news here too!)

Elijah took charge of pecan harvesting from one tree have next to the house. He and the rest of the children have gathered 9 gallons so far. He says there is more to harvest. So we will try to keep after that this week and hope we don't get too much rain before we can get them off the ground.

Ben only got out one time this week to hunt. No deer yet.

We had brought a used water cooler in the house from a thrift store several months ago. You know - the kind that you put a 5 gallon bottle on? We have enjoyed it very much, because we were having a hard time keeping the water supply from our Berkey (2 1/2 gallon) going because we use so much at times. So we created a little fill and rotation system with 2 - 5 gallon bottles and our Berkey. It was working wonderfully until we discovered that we seem to have been some roaches in the cabinet of the cooler! EEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWW!!! Out side it went and process of extermination on the unit and the area have begun. We started with traps - but Ben quickly came home with a can of Raid (MUCH TO MY SHAGRIN!!!!!)for the back of the cooler. But I think I can convince him to "set it down" and try natural means. (I will be sure make that wicked can disappear - lest anyone be tempted again!) We started hitting the back of the cabinet with essential oils, and a friend recommended diatimacious earth and boric acid. My book Critter Ridder, also says borax or boric aid mixed with a little sugar sprinkled all around the house perimeter and in cracks. The other things i recommends is to use a Catnip Tea Spray. I have catnip so we'll get started on that today. I will go to the store for the other stuff.

We had some friends from Cookville stay over for Shabbat this week. It was nice to spend the night/day with them. We had so much to catch up on, since it had been so long since we had seen them last. It was a nice time of visiting. They are embarking on a new chapter in their lives with opening a family business downtown(next week!) and healthy Juicebar/cafe - called The Turn Around...in case your are in town. :-)

Well, I guess that is it for last week. I pray all is well with you and yours and that your have a blessed week in His Kingdom!

Our Family Jots and Tittles - Pictures Sukkot 2011

We did not take many pictures this week. It is so hard for me to remember to take pictures when we are having so much fun! These pictures to do not do this week justice! We gathered for the Biblical Feast of Sukkot of the fall (Feast of Tabernacles) with friends at Montgomery Bell State Park. It was a wonderful of gathering of people! We got to spend time with lots of families we had known of, but never had the chance to spend time with. We worshiped together, gathered daily for Bible reading and discussion, played together, ate together and shared what we had with one another. The children had many friends to play with.

I am sure every one's list is different for their experience, but some of the highlights of our fellowship with others was:

Gathering around the campfire and eating meals with friends

Introducing new friends to old friends

Discussing Scripture

Spending time with our neighboring campers

Confirming that we were pregnant with our 7th precious child and announcing it

Watching THE BODY living together in harmony

Spending time with friends from far away that we had not seen since last Sukkot

Meeting and getting to know new people and hearing how Yah is working in their lives

When Dotty (our dog) was returned to us by a fellow camper, only minutes after we realized she was "missing" clear across the park!

Other Sabbath keepers quickly figured out that we were too, and came to say Hi. We also had fun talking with Jehovah's Witness and other folks that were not in our group that were quite curious about us always asking "What are you?" And "Are you Mennonites?". I always love that question! :-) We even had a few "outside" campers join us for our Bible study times and were very blessed. And there were two Christian families that were "friends of friends" who drove there daily and visited all week long and were a part of our midrash (Bible Study time). Most curious onlookers were friendly and had kind things to say, like "We really appreciate the modesty in the dress of your girls/ women. You just don't see that much these days." and "We can't help but notice how well all your children behave" Oh those are words that get Momma's through the rough spots in parenting! :-) The interaction in this very busy park between all people I think was a wonderful testimony to the quality and maturity of the believers gathered here for the Feast. I have been to many churches and Christian gatherings where I felt like a stranger. That should never be so amongst Yah's people!! HIS light should shine before man so brightly that they are attracted to it like a moth to the flame! And as that flame we should always be an OPEN flame ready to move!! That is what I witnessed in this group of believers and I think the rest of the camp did too! Halleluyah!

Our family bike riding through the park was sweet family time. This was the first we had been out together since the girls came home from Haiti 2 1/2 yrs ago. Now Naomi and Gideon can ride their own bikes (they learned this summer on the bumpy farm grass!). Pappa and I haul Eliana and Chazaq. Of course Hailey and Elijah are old pros. :-) With Pappa at the head and momma at the rear - we make quite the long little bike-train with the 8 of us!

This is a picture of Chazaq's first (kosher) s'more. The chocolate bar was clearly his favorite part. You can see evidence of the fresh burn on his right cheek from falling into the fire. Praise YHVH, it was not serious and He is healing very well.

There was a pavilion which was a wonderful meeting place for the group to gather for meals and for worship and Bible Study.
Of course, there can not be a Feast without dancing...at least not with our group! :-)

Our Family Jots and Tittles - Yom Teruah Pictures 2011

Catching up with some photos for the last couple months in place of this week's Family Jots and Tittles

Below are photos of our family extended weekend we spent at a cabin at gorgeous Pickett State Park for the Biblical Feast in The fall called Yom Teruah or Day of Blowing/Shouting.

It was just a quite family weekend. That had been our little family tradition - to "go to the mountains and blow". We enjoyed lots of hiking, worship, blowing the shofar and family games.

Our Family Jots and Tittles

Every Day Living:

Hailey is experimenting with our new baked corndog recipe. We've almost "got - it!". :-) Of course whenever food is being prepared there are always curious eyes and questions peeping over the edge of the counter!



Sunday - Windy Fun Ben and the kids went out in 40 mph winds to stop a 10x10 portable bike shelter from becoming a box kite, and to attempt to keep 10000 sq feet of black plastic from becoming a sloop sail. After 90 minutes, both tasks were complete but not without some adventure. Naomi had such a tight grip on one corner of the plastic that a wind gust took her a foot off the ground for a 10 foot ride...with a "safe" landing head first into a haystack. Chazaq wandered into the action, and was lost under the flapping plastic for far too long. When Ben was able to get to him, Chazaq had been laughing full blast the whole time, but couldn't be heard over the roaring wind. Eliana was told to sit on one corner to keep it secure, but didn't weigh enough to make a bit of difference. In the end, it was probably much more dangerous of a job than we realized, but nobody was hurt and memories were made. Sorry for no video...it would have been a sight to behold.

We canned 15 quarts of apple pie filling. That is when I realized, I was missing my apple corer peeler slicer! Surely I would not have put THAT in the Goodwill box would I? I am a homesteader now, for goodness sake - that would not be wise at all!! But my kids reassured me that I did. I was proabably having "storage issues" at the time and jabbed myself on it and in a heated little fit called out - "put it in the give bag". (Tsk tsk!!) So as I struggled in denial, and peeled, cored and cut, I had visions of how much easier it would also be to dehydrate more apples and make 10# of mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving, and sweet potatoes, and and and..the next thing you know I am on Amazon making a purchase! :-) I figure if it surfaces, with the volume we do things in, we can easily employ two machines in the kitchen! :-) I think I"ll wait to do any other apple preserving, until it arrives. I want to do another bathc or two of pie filling and have a couple other things I would like to do with them. I do however, prefer to have my pie filling in chunks instead of slices, but that is the easier part of the job, if the coring and peeling is done in one fast fell swoop...so it is still worth waiting for. :-)


Chazaq has discovered how to pull a chair over to get things he can not reach. Funny, this worked the other day for the screen door (that opens OUT), but it does not seem to be working today! Hmmm???



Monday - Hailey and Elijah volunteered there day at a nieghbors house helping them in what ever way they needed. The momma has been put on bed rest they are suppose to move out of state by the 1st of Dec! Ben and I wished we could have helped - but couldn't get away so we sent our right hands. They took their lunches with them and we picked them up after dark, while delivering dinner to the family. We normally do everything together. It was strange not having them around that day! We all said we missed each other. :-)

Tuesday - Hailey and I started working on a tune for Bet and Gimmel (the 2nd &3rd section) of Psalm 119. We got Gimmel mostly done - but Bet hangs in the balance....that is a bit of a problem...since that is thenext one to be memeorized and everyone is waiting on it! Maybe we will be able to get to it on out drive to Mich??

Wednesday - I have noticed, that while Naomi has become a very fluent reader and intuitive speller, we need to focus on area of vocabulary and reading comprehension. Which should be no surprise having just been exposed to English for 2 years. So...I started looking for ways some ways to encourage that. She LOVES worksheet type activities. They really build her confidence and it allows me to work with more than one small child in their school simultaniously (and also ensure that lessons continue when I am feeling crumby.) So we are using some free resources on line to help supplement that.

We found to families to help watch the farm while we are gone. (YES!)

Thursday/Friday- We got 36 Quarts of Turkey and 18 Qrts of broth canned in the last few days.


I have done more than that in one day before, but this time it took three days! It seems I am mooving at half capacity and it takes twice as long in this season, but we are still getting things done. I had to pop the rest in the freezer until I an get to them when I get back from our trip. But it did feel good to get some done. I really wanted to take some with for meals during our stay there. So I am glad or that. The first day was beautiful the kids played outside while I canned outside. The next day got pretty cold and colds started showing up in the tribe (just in time to take a trip to visit family! Why does that always happen????) - so they were inside and momma braved the cold and wind, so i could keep an eye on the flame. :-) I was wrapped in a throw blamket and Ben came out to tease me saying, "Is this how the Indians used to can?".

Shabbat at Home- This Shabbat we enjoyed a quite time at home alone. We watched ACTS - Visual Bible we hadn't watched it in several years, so that was a treat. The kids and papa did A LOT of playing outside together and momma did A LOT of resting inside. :-) The nieghbors horses got into our (baby) orchard and started munching on our trees - so Pappa shooed them out. I also got some snuggle time with all the littles...so it was a GOOD day!

I just found a BUNCH of pictures that were in the camera from the last several months, since we will be traveling this week (and away next Sunday) I think I will make next's week's Jot's and Tittles a "picture catch up" if I can get it together. :-)

Our Family Jots and Tittles

Sunday & Monday - We made and canned 20 pints of apple butter and dehydrated a 5 gallon bucket of apples.

We have gotten back into the swing of our early morning rising once again, and back to our family Hebrew lessons, which we have all missed for several months! We are really foggy on many things, so we are reviewing, until our minds are sharp with that information once again - then we will move forward. It is so good to be back! It is actually something we all enjoy. If the smaller kids are awake, they sit at the table with us with puzzles, school lessons, books and things like that while we do our lessons. It is nice to all learn together;it's like our own little one room family school house! It's also nice for the littles to learn to be quiet and listen to the Hebrew as we learn it - which will make it that more familiar to them when we eventually know enough to teach it to them.

Ben and Elijah did a "dry run" of hunting this morning, as they both rose early put on their doe scents and staked out the deer pattern for their morning path. They are planning on going out a lot more often this year than they did last year. They are hoping as much as daily, although that seems a lofty goal. It is so nice being able to hunt deer in your own "yard"!

I am craving malt vinegar potato chips and red meat (deer season can't come fast enough for this expectant momma!) I could eat a mushroom cheese burger every day this week and be quite happy. :-) I am not able to keep down water anymore, so I have to drink sparkling water for my hydration. :-(

Tuesday - Today we had fun recording the kids' reciting 1 Corinthians 13 from memory. We had learned it together as a family several months ago and said we would post it. I apologize that it has taken us this long to get it done. I thought it would encourage us all in our newest attempt to learn (the much longer) Psalm 119. :-) They didn't know I was recording this version that I am posting. It was our "practice" run. The one that they knew I was recording was so much more "formal". I much preferred sharing my "real kids" with you all. {Scratches, giggles and all. However, we are missing the baby (22 months), it was naptime. Had we included him, it might have been a little TOO real to accomplish the task.} :-) I hope you enjoy it.



A dear friend stopped by with special delivery of some clothes from an Amish seamstress that is making me a couple dresses and aprons. That was nice, but I missed seeing her! I was laying down and didn't even know she was here until I woke!

Little Chazaq (22mo) is really enjoying playing with "Little People" and reading books and playing with playdough. He also loves to pull a kitchen chair around to get a good look at whatever it is going on at the counter. :-) The food processor is his favorite thing to watch! The other thing he has tried to use a kitchen chair for is to reach the knob for opening a door. It doesn't work so well when the door opens inward! But he still tries! :-) This is SUCH a fun age! They are so snuggley and sweet, yet stretching their wings to become more independent. I love to watch the little boy bloom. The tantrums I could do without - but we work through those. :-) He sits at the piano with his big brothers and sisters and loves to watch them play. He puts his own hands to the piano too - not like most (almost) 2 yr old boys do - but rather - with proper hand position! It's what he sees, so it is what he copies!! (How cool is that?!!) We caught him in mid attempt to climb out of his crib - so we know those baby-days are numbered. He has gotten pretty good at the stairs, but he still makes a momma little nervous (after Elijah's tumble down the spiral stairs, head over foot as a toddler at that Museum in VT and momma's back injury caused by slipping on wet exterior stairs to our flat in San Francisco...it is one of "those things" I am sensitive to.)

Wednesday- Everyone is getting excited to go to Michigan to spend Thanksgiving with my Brother's family. Hailey and Elijah Especially as they have the most memories and experiences with the cousins. They are reminiscing and excited to see how everyone has grown (forgetting they too have grown!). The little children's ears are peeled to learn all they can, as they anticipate the visit. They are also very excited to see Granny who will be there as well. They have been making little gifts to share with them. Momma too has turned her attention to making meals and Thanksgiving planning, arranging a farm sitter and starting to do what ever I can to prepare, in bits and pieces for the trip. Our drive is about 12 hours. I do hope my prego stomach fairs it well. (Prayer welcome!)

I am also trying to remember to take more pictures for our Jot & Tittles. Gramma Carol is reminding me - "more pictures please!". I am hoping the video above will by me another week and I hope incorporate more pictures in the next Tittles!

Thursday- Baked Banana Breakfast
We have been enjoying a new breakfast recently. I call it Baked Banana Breakfast, its a fast warming food for breakfast that sticks to your bones. It's made like this.

Preheat oven to 375F
Slice bananas into about 1/2 inch rounds and dip them in orange juice. (This adds a citrus note, and also keeps them from browning.) Then fill a casserole dish 1/2 way to the top with the sliced-dipped bananas (we use a deep 9x13 for our family - make it as big or small as you need). Then top generously with (homemade) granola to fill the rest of the dish. Bake for about 10-15 minutes. Serve in a bowl and top with (whole raw organic) milk. It is fabulous! This is WAY better than raw banana's in granola or oatmeal with bananas, in our opinion! If you give it a try - let us know what you think!

Friday-
Friends from AL stopped by a little visit while they were in the area.
I kept preparations for Shabbat simple today; this is the menu we prepared ahead:

Erev Shabbat Meal:
Spiced Picnic Chicken
Roasted Beets
Fruit Salad

Breakfast:
Baked Banana Breakfast (mentioned above) done in the crockpot (on High for a couple hours) made with the chocolate granola that Elijah made this week.

Lunch to eat before we left:
Peaches and Cottage Cheese and Salad

Shabbat Meal to take:
Beef Enchiladas
Cream Corn Soup
Apples

Shabbat- Our morning started with Ben and I studying the chiastic structure of the Scriptures with the help from Tony Robinson. Then after all the children rose, ate and had a little outside time, we gathered to practice memorizing our Psalm. We have decided to try to put each portion to a tune to aid the process and make it more fun for everyone. That is not an easy task to do with some of that wording...but with a team effort - we started to get the swing of it. So that, with a little worship, is how we spent out morning before leaving for fellowship. The day was sweet and long with Mishpacha (Family) in Yah. We drove an hour away for fellowship, to a small multi-generational gathering of 6 families gathered in one home. We left at 11:30 am and got home at 11:30 pm. I remember the days when we were the first people headed out of the church on Sunday's after a 1 1/2 hours service because we had "seen enough" and all wanted to get on with our day. Yet, now when we gather with believers, it is like a kinship we just don't want to end...kids (and even an unnamed pregnant woman) were curled up on the couch tuckered, but not willing to call it quits. :-) We joked about gathering into the first day at it ran late - and who was going to be the one to fall out the window (Acts 20:9). It was a good time, and we discussed trying to make a more regular meeting. Half of the group was really longing for more regular fellowship. We had people who had been in this walk between 1 and 13 yrs -- new folks and old friends. Of course there was lots of discussion of Scriptures, personal testimonies and even a talk of gathering the men for an intentional mens'/elders' meeting a few times a year - so that they may support and challenge each other in ways that are exclusive to their needs/responsibilities. It was a good day....

We'll see you next week- May Yah bless you and keep you!

Much Love,

Ben, Pamela+ and the Tribe

Our Family Jots and Tittles

It has been months since we have shared our Family Jots and Tittles on the site, but I am hoping to get back into the swing of it. That is a weekly report of things Yah is doing in and with our family. Since last Shabbat here are some fast bullet points. Next week, I hope to journal as we go along...it it more interesting that way. :-)

• This week we put up 120 Quarts of different varieties of apples sauce.



• Returned a dog and some chickens of friends whom we were "animal sitting" for a week while they were out of town.



• Said our goodbyes to dear friends who have been staying here for a couple months.



• Started (trying) to make Thanksgiving plans with family from afar (it has been so long since we have seen one another). Also better connecting with other family.



• Got a big cheese order in.



• Got a big produce order in (YUM!)



• Discussing garden changes for next year. (It seems like such an uphill climb at this point!



• Visited with friends on their homestead and got a fabulous tour (she sent a big bag of pimentos home with me...I hope to can them on Sunday.



• Met with some other friends to help them connect with our Amish neighbor to build a cabin.



• Moved back into our bedroom after company left and shifted things around in the house for the next season.



• Grandpa fell and had to have surgery. Praying for a strong recovery for him.



• Found some eggs in our hay bales from a chicken who was getting out.



• Monitored a barn cat who had a dislocated hip/leg. She is doing much better.



• Monitored a sheep who got his ear partially bit off by a dog. (He too is healing well.)



• Chose and changed math curriculum/method for the smaller children to Math-U-See



• Spent more time in worship together.



• Received a VERY encouraging testimony from friends that are new to understanding The Feasts of Yah - about how they were touched by their time in The Body this last Sukkot and how it is making a profound impact on their family's walk as believers. **Absolutely a highlight to the week!!**



• Pregnancy - update. Some old Ptyalism symptoms are surfacing - but cramps are lessening greatly. Having some rough portions on some days, but over felling well.



• Praying and sharing with dear friends on Messianic Keepers at Home Forum



• Ben was offered a job by a former boss who has switched companies. It is nice to know there are options out there for him in this economy, and even sine he has slowed down his production so that he an do more on the farm. It is also nice to know that he has the luxury to choose. Changing companies would have pros and cons so he respectfully declined, however the door was left open.



• Chazaq's burn from falling into the fire at Sukkot is healing very nicely.



• Ben and Gideon ALMOST finished priming the shed. :-)



• We have started reading a new Lamplighter book together (The Giant Killer). Hailey (13)just finished reading Stepping Heavenward and LOVED it. Naomi (7)has discovered a treasured family favorite for herself on our bookshelves, that we have read aloud and read individually time and time again, called Uncle Arthurs Bedtime Stories (I highly recommend them!) Elijah (11) is almost finished with Storey's Guide to Raising Turkey's, as he is preparing and excited to raise a flock of turkeys starting next spring. Gideon (5) is clearly ready for more intense instruction in the 4 r's, so I am increasing that with him now. He enjoys math, and reading flash cards, and trying to figure out his writing (without me!)...so there is no more putting that off. :-) I like to wait until they are practically begging me to learn..that is a great way to start academic subjects! Some take longer than others, but when they are ready - it is so much easier than doing it based on an age or social "requirement".



• Papa has been enjoying (and sharing with us) the Tony Robinson's PDF - Understanding the Parashat HaShavuah as well as enjoying (and sharing) Jono's Torah Pearls with Nehemia Gordon and Kieth Johnson on Truth 2 U Radio. We also enjoyed more teachings from 119 Ministries this week.



• Working on memorising Psalm 119 as a family.

Ok that is all I can think of for this week's highlights. I pray you are blessed and walk joyfully with our Creator.

Shabbat Shalom,

pamela+ (and the Tribe of Ben)