Moving over here slowly

I am slowly but surely moving all my blog from homeschoolblogger to here. Until then, visit me at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/petersonclan

Just call him the deerslayer (11/17/06)

Eric and Josiah went hunting today and got a doe. They are so excited! I am excited for the hormone free, free range meat to fill my freezer. People pay good money for that kind of thing! We also picked up our cow from the butcher this morning and filled a 16.7 cu. ft. upright freezer with all sorts of roasts, ribs, and steaks. We had to put an additional 38 additional pounds of ground beef in our other freezer.

A friend got a buck today, and is giving us his meat too. So we are well blessed in the meat department these days. I cannot wait to eat some of the beef. It tastes so much better than the store bought stuff!

Don't count your chickens before they hatch (9/9/06)

I'd love to be dreaming of cute little chicks. I'd love the opportunity to count a few eggs and dream of fluff balls. Unfortunately, no one told my chickens they should lay. The silly things JUST DON'T GET IT. Even though we have about a billion chickens in our field (OK- just 125 or so), we get about 3 eggs a day. Good thing about 100 of them are destined for the stew pot in a couple weeks... anyone like chicken soup?

Mother's Day (May 13, 2006)

In honor of Mother's day, I got a great present! We found out we are getting a new baby sometime in the beginning of the year! :) I am currently 6 weeks pregnant with Baby #8. The children are THRILLED. I made the neatest announcement of the baby... I took all the newborn photos (in the little baby burrito), and the photo of my oldest two getting their citizenship papers (they were adopted in Ukraine 7 years ago), and put them in a circle around Eric and I. Then put a blank one with a ? and the due date... it was beautiful. I have mailed one to my mil and mom... I cannot wait to hear their reactions. I'll try to upload it later . Like I said, I am new at this!

I also wanted to share something I wrote for Mother's Day... hope you like it!

What I love about Being a Mama:

I love the little girl giggles as they are playing house.

I love the silly meals we have, where everyone needs to make up a haiku, or speak in rhyme or something.

I love the softness of little baby feet which have never been walked on.

I love when the babies are crying and only Mama can quiet them. (And I am the Mama!)

I love listening to the silly songs the children make up.

I love having my little girls dress up in ballerina costumes and dance to classical music.

I love listening to my children practice their instruments.

I love the perfection of a newborn baby's fingers.

I love reading a book and giggling about the things that happen. (I almost didn't make it through McBroom's Wonderful One Acre Farm... the children brought me Kleenex so I could continue through the laughter!)

I love embarrassing my boys by kissing their Papa. I love that they will grow up knowing that their parents love each other.

I love that we have enough children that picking up their ages will get 44 items put away.

I love nursing a baby in the middle of the night when the house is quiet, and I have all the time in the world to snuggle them.

I love watching my big children play volleyball, football, or Frisbee in the fading summer evenings.

I love hearing the children yell, "Papa, Papa!" when their papa comes home from a long day at work.

I love watching the little children try to keep up with the big ones.

I love how a 3 year old talks, and mispronounces words.

I love seeing my big 12 year old son carrying his baby brother.

I love seeing my husband wrestle with the boys.

I love seeing my 13 year old daughter giving the little ones pony rides.

I love snuggling a toddler after a long day. Well, I just love snuggling a toddler!

I love having a 15 passenger van so we can drive the kids and their friends all at once.

I love watching strangers at the store get huge eyes as they count all the children.

I love having teenagers. Really!

I love that I have a large family.

I love teaching my children, and seeing their eyes light up at understanding something new.

I love a newborn baby burrito. Their sweet cheeks and wonderful smell.

I love that my children are the brightest, best, and most beautiful in the world.

I love a positive pregnancy test, and all the hope it contains.

I love that 7 children call me Mama. Not Mom, or Mommy, but Mama. The most perfect name in the world.