Merry Christmas!

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; 

And the government will be upon His shoulder. 

And His name will be called 

Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace.

Isaiah 9:6

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!!!!

Put a sock in it!!

For those of you that know this bit of information as old news... please bare with me. I actually learned this morning that my little sis has tried this....and I never knew :)

I tend to get rather excited about new and cool hair styling discoveries.... so I decided to share it with you all.

Curling your hair with a sock

I tried this last night... and it works AMAZINGLY. 

AND without having to use any heat or hairspray is a HUGE bonus! I would especially recommend trying this if you have long hair... 

So ya, call me crazy... but I LOVE this :)

Hey girls...

Have you ever been afraid that all the effort that you put into keeping pure emotionally and waiting for God to bring you your future spouse will be in vain?
I know personally speaking there has been times when trust turns to doubt. I wonder if the day will ever come when my prince charming will come waltzing into my life, or if it is just a beautiful dream that will never come true.
God has brought me through a season of learning this past little while. There were so many doubts that I had to address and put to rest. It has been hard, but through it all He has confirmed for me that He is in control of my life and I can fully put my trust in Him.

I have been working on compiling this post for a while in my brain, trying to figure out the best way to write it ect.
I've decided to list some fears and doubts that a young woman could have as they are waiting for God to bring their "special someone" along.
Some of these questions have been my own, and some are ones that I have heard from others. I didn't come up with any answers on my own, like I said... God has been teaching me SO much!


Question:
What if my standards are to high and there just is no guy out there that fits the bill?

Answer:
Who gave you these standards? Do you believe that they came from God? If God has a husband out there for you, He is going to make sure that He will be the right person! You will NEVER have to settle for second best.
If God is the one that gives us our convictions... is He not big enough to give the same convictions to your future husband?
God is the same yesterday, today and FOREVER! If He can raise the dead and heal the sick... than it is a small thing for Him to make a perfect match for you!

Question:
What if I miss him because I'm not getting out into the world often enough? (ie. college, social activities ect.)

Answer:
If God has a husband picked for you, there will be NO-ONE that will be able to stop you from meeting him. God is not short on resources!! Nothing is impossible for Him! He will lead you and your future husband to the right places at the right times, so that you will be able to meet each other.
I have heard of girls that feel like they need to go to college because that is where their parents met, they feel like they need to get out there to "find" their husband. That is like trying to make a miracle happen! GOD IS BIGGER THAN THAT!

Question:
What if there is no guy out there that will think I have an attractive personality?

Answer:
God made you to be EXACTLY who you are. And He doesn't make mistakes!
If God has a husband planned in your future... He is going to make one that likes YOU! He will take care of all the details!

Question:
What if there is someone right there in front of my face, but I miss him because I'm to reserved or shy?

Answer:
Always, always remember that God cannot be stopped by SMALL issues such as this!
You don't need to be pursuing anyone, that is the guy's job... not yours.
Your focus right now should be to grow in God and prepare yourself for the day that your heart is claimed. And you can't be doing that if you are constantly worrying about how you can make that guy notice you or this guy look your way.

Trust in God

I have learned over and over that if I don't trust God with my future, then I become obsessed with worry. 

Time and time again God has shown me just how big He is! I KNOW that He is big enough for me! And I pray that you will be convinced that He is big enough for you too.

This is For You Liz....

I was telling my AMAZING friend Elizabeth on Skype this morning that we took family pictures yesterday and promised her that I would blog one of the pictures so she could see it. 

So without further ado...here it is Liz girl.

Your crazy family :) 

I LOVE YOU!!!!!

And as for the rest of you... there will be more pictures to come soon! So keep an eye out! :)

I'm. Loving. It.

Wow.
It's been a while and a half!!
I would apologize... but I think it was a good thing that I was able to have a little "blogging break". It will end up being a good thing for you all as well... I promise :) I've got some good blog posts up my sleeve!

Winterness has begun to settle itself down in our household. We've begun to pull out the good ole' books, and projects that are meant for the lazy winter days. Curling up in front of the wood stove has become routine.
Usually we would have already been out on the ice rink for a while, but weirdly enough... it hasn't been cold enough to make ice! I think this is the first time in my life that I have actually prayed for cold weather.... I wanna get me out there playing hockey!! :)

My little niece Makayla has been wonderful :) She is still the most ADORABLE baby girl ever!
 *sigh*
 I LOVE being an auntie!

Christmas has s-l-o-w-l-e-y crept up on us. Even though I've been listening to Christmas music since the middle of November... it seems to have come so fast!! I LOVE this time of the year!!!

This morning the men of our family had to do some hauling grain SUPER early this morning. They needed one more driver to bring the auger to the bin, and I got the "honors" *smile* 

It was still dark with the sun just starting to make a sliver of pink sky on the horizon as I drove. I turned the radio on and listened to Christmas music.... NOTHING like that feeling!

I always feel God so close when I get to admire His beautiful creation.

My amazing lil sis Megs decorated the house all pretty for Christmas. It is our tradition to do it on Dec. 1st (mostly because that is the soonest that we are allowed :).
Have I ever mentioned that I love Christmas time??
Wellll I do... LOTS.
I love it when we can eat supper ALL together as a family with the Christmas lights on, the big lights dimmed and Christmas music playing softly in the background.
Things just couldn't get more perfect then that!

So now that I've rattled on about all of the things that I love about this time of the year. What about you? What things are you loving right now?

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow.....

Oh, the weather outside is frightful;

But the fire is so delightful

And since we've no place to go...

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Maybe someday I'll be able to sing the rest of the song :) But for now I'll leave it at that (heehee).

For some strange reason, I'm really excited about the snow falling this year!

Here in Manitoba, Canada you usually have 2 options, either you hate the snow or love the snow.

I love the snow.

I mean, how much fun is it to step outside and be the first person to put tracks in the freshly laid snow.

How much fun is it peek out the window and see little snow angels and snowmen made all over the yard.

How much fun it is to breathe in the fresh air that winter brings!
And one of my favourite things about snow and winter is that,

Our house is always so much more cozy in the winter time!

Anyhow. Our days seem to FINALLY be slowing down.... at least somewhat :) The busyness has changed from the "fall busy" to the "winter busy". For some reason the "winter busy" is so much more relaxing!
Yesterday we went to a Ernie Haas and Signature Sound concert. Our WHOLE family was able to go because everyone 18 and under was FREE!!
We did some shopping before hand, and of course whenever we go somewhere with our whole family.... well let me just say that we do not go by unnoticed! I told mom as we were leaving a store that I had forgotten how fun it was to bring ALL of us into the city! :)

The concert was GREAT! We arrived early, so we got good seats :)

Hope you all have an AMAZING weekend!!!

Am I Just Being Biased????

Or is this not one of the most ADORABLE little girls you have EVER seen????

Visit Megan's blog to see more pictures of my PERFECTLY ADORABLE little neice!!

I'm An Auntie..... Again!!!!! :)

Rebecca gave birth to this preciously adorable little girl on November 10th!!

Her name is Makayla Faith.

We are all OVERJOYED and have fallen head over heals in love with this little girl :)

Congratulations to Josh and Rebecca!!! LOVE you guys!!

Becks, now I just have 2 things to say to you.... Firstly, I was right, I told you it would be a girl! Next time you should be more willing to believe me eh? (lol)

 And secondly, the race for "the boy name" is STILL ON, and now..... I still have a fighting chance, thanks to Makayla :) 

Love you sister!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Random Pictures of Random Things

I forgot to press "publish" yesterday.... OOPS, so instead of trying to figure out words to write.... I'll just pretend that it is still Wednesday :)

I stole the cow pictures from Becks (thanks Becky... what would I do without you!!)

Happy Birthday Andrew!!

2 years ago today, our little miracle Andy was born. 

Being an Auntie has been one of the greatest experiences that I have had (in my ahem... young life :). 

I love Andy to bits and pieces and I am overflowing with gratefulness to God for allowing us to keep this precious one.

Have a very happy birthday little buddy! Your Auntie Jenny loves you VERY much!

Megan made this video a couple of months after Andy came home. Whenever I watch it, I'm in awe of what God has brought Josh, Becka and Andrew through. I thought I'd share it with you all.

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Of being busy, cow names and a birthday....

So it appears that I have completely ditched my blog again lately! I PROMISE you that it has not been intentionally!
Here on the farm we have begun the HUGE project of cementing the shop.... so we have been kept hopping busy preparing for that this past week.
Between that and birthday celebrations.... well, lets just say that there has been pretty much ZERO time for blogging lately.

Anyways, there is a few things that I want to catch you up on..... before I get to far behind :)

First is Clarabell......
Sadly I don't have any new pictures of "my baby" to show you. My photographer doesn't get out to the barn very often.... and me + a camera + a barn,  just don't mix. SO words will have to do :)
Clarabell is doing very well, considering that she is a heifer.
 She likes to try to kick me when I'm washing her.... I've been learning to be very good at avoiding those leg breaking kicks.... and have minimized it to only one big bruise so far :)
She was having problems with dancing from side to side, so I eventually put a square straw bale right beside her legs so that she THINKS that she cannot move :) It also helps alot with the kicking.
She is giving 6 gallons of milk per day which is REALLY good considering that this is her first year and that she is only 1/2 jersey breed.

After a few days of thinking about it I decided on a name for the calf.... it is (drum roll please!)...... CARSON.
We have "C" names going with all the calves that we have gotten off of our milking cows so far (Clarabell + Clover) and the name "Carson" just kinda popped out of my mouth (this happens to me... often :), so Carson it was!
We call him "Car", "CarCar" or "Race Car" .... he is quite the spunky little thing!!
Carson is doing well and growing like a weed!

Secondly is Caleb's Birthday.....
My "little" brother turned 13 the other day!! I can HARDLY believe that he is already a teenager (kinda makes me feel old :).
Meg, Ker and I had been bugging him for about a year that it was time for him to think about turning from a "boy" into a "man", we kept asking him when he was gonna do it!
He (very seriously) told us that by his 13th birthday.... he would become a man.... and he has NOT disappointed us!
Though he is not completely there yet he has been making progress! It has been fun to watch the transformation, and being able to treat him more like a friend then just one of the "little brothers" has been a BLAST!!! He has been coming with me milking lots lately, so it's been fun getting to know him all over again... on a new level.
I just can't wait until his voice starts to change.... being the teaser person that I am.... I'm a gonna' have FUN with that!! (heehee)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB!!!!! I LOVE YOU MUCHES!!!

I do have some pictures of how much we've gotten done on the shop, but I think I'll wait until it is all finished until I show you them (are I not just so kind??? :). So STAY TUNED!!!
The big "cementing day" comes on Tuesday!

Until then.... have an AMAZING week!!!

Catching up....

Alright, so life has been absurdly crazy this week. Not to mention the fact that our internet had been down for a few days.... so I'll spend this post getting you all caught up on life here at "Quiver Full Farms".

 

Monday

We celebrated Zachary and Jesse's birthdays. Since Zach's birthday is on the 16th and Jesse's is on the 18th, we usually celebrate both of their birthdays on the "in between" day.

Zach picked the meal (Kerri's perogies, macaroni salad and chicken fingers) and Jesse picked the cake......

WINNIPEG JETS!!!!

Zachary got a bass guitar for his birthday... ahem, and a clown suit......

What a nut :)



Tuesday

Was Jesse's 9th birthday!!! I've been blessed beyond measure to have Jes as my little brother!

HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY JESSE!!!!

Tuesday also began a project that was to continue through Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

(Wednesday we also brought home the cows from one of our pastures...)

Bringing in wood for the winter!!!

Dad and Josh manned the chain saws...

There was LOTS of carrying wood, throwing wood, catching wood, splitting wood and stacking wood going on during the whole week. We brought home, split and stacked  12 truck loads!



Megan was the master stacker....

Tuesday we brought the log splitter right to the place that we were getting wood from and split it before we put it on the truck.



The rest of the time we brought the wood home and formed a crew to get the wood unloaded, split, and stacked away all in one swoop. At one point we had a crew of 11 going!

This picture is Megan's vantage point of the crew. One kid would hand the logs to mom off the truck, she would hand them to Josh,  who would put the log on the splitter. I ran the splitter lever. Dad took the split logs and handed them to one of the many kids who were carrying wood. The kids then brought the wood to Megan who stacked it all!

The final product. 2 room fulls of wood for the winter!

Zippy Zee Man

Today is Zachary's 11th birthday!!!

Wow, where do I start? This boy is somethin' else :)

I have the privilege to have Zach as one of my 2 students in school. He gets VERY easily distracted, but other then that, he makes my job quite pleasant :)
He is better at writing then me, which is weird because he is still learning how (like you know.... not print, write :) so he'll ask me how to write a letter, I'll show him how, and then he'll go and do it and make it look WAY better then mine! (I don't like writing!) But I'm one up on him on printing.... so I'm okay with that :)

Zach is a perfectionist when it comes to certain things in school. He was very upset with getting a 93% on his first math test the other day.... he wanted 100%!

He likes to say "dun-Jen!" (it sounds like dungeon.... I get called that ALOT during school! :)

I sit beside Zach at the table during meal time. The poor boy is a good sport, anyone who sits beside me gets water pored on their head.... often. I call him ducky boy because the water just runs right off his head :D. And I like to tease him just to see his sweet smile :)

Zach is a cowboy wanna be :)

When it comes to sports... oh my, this dude. He is very dramatic (I like to call him the drama queen :) so he can make everything look good!

In this picture below he was showing me how guy tennis players "dance" :) You can imagine how good he was at it!

Zach LOVES animals. If ever there is a cat or other animal that is especially tame, I always know that it is Zach's! He is good at making animals like him :)

One of his favorites is chickens! He tamed all of the chickens that he was in charge of this year, he would actually let all of them out of their pen every day and "walk them". Those chickens LOVE Zach! His favourite chicken is one that he named "dinosaur".

Zach is a master sock stealer.... he seems to always manage to have a pair of my socks on his feet. And somehow it manages to NEVER be his fault!!

When Zach is supposed to be up... he is down. 

And when he is supposed to be down.... he is up!

I LOVE you Zach. And I LOVE being your big sister.

Keep that smile on your face!!!!!

Happy Birthday Buddy!!!!!

Love,

Jenny

A birth story

Haha.... I bet that title got you goin' eh? My birth story is not a human one... rather a cow one :)
(just thought I'd clarify :)


Yesterday at around 8:00p.m. I went to milk our cow Sally. I knew that Clarabell was getting REALLY close to calving, but I had quite given up on guessing when the calf was actually coming.
When I was finished milking I went out to check on Clarabell... and I saw.... FEET!! YEAH!! It was time!

I was mentally preparing myself for a staying up REALLY late waiting for the calf to be born and getting it fed and getting Clarabell milked.
I was thinking.... 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning.

It was SO adorable/funny, between contractions Clare would come over to me and start licking me all over, it was like she was practicing for when her calf actually did come :)
At around 9:30p.m. she started pushing in earnest, so I ran inside to get Ker out there just in case the calf was really big and I needed help pulling the it out.
But she was a PRO and a few minutes later... the calf was born!!! IT'S A BULL (boy :)!!!



I have experienced nothing as amazing as having the privilege of watching the birth of a new little life. And every single time it thrills me! This time was extra specially special because Clarabell was my little baby... now she is all grown up!

At 10:30 Ker and I went out to milk Clare and to feed the calf. We seperated the calf from momma, this is always the SADDEST thing to do, but it is necessary if we want milk to drink! We brought Clare into the barn and began milking her. She was REALLY good, so amazing in fact that I could hardly believe it! I thought.... wow, milking a heifer (first time mother, milker) is EASY!
Unfortunately... I spoke to soon, the morning milking was a disaster.... but I'll get to that in a bit....

Clarabell gave over 2 gallons of colostrum. We fed some of it to the calf and then put the rest into the freezer. Colostrum is milk that cows give for the first few days of her calf's life. It is essential for the calf to get colostrum within the first 24 hrs of life or it will die.
We freeze the extra in the case that in the spring we have a calf that lost a mother, or that it's mother is not able to give it the life giving milk that it needs in time.

Cows don't give chocolate milk.... but they give something even better, BUTTERSCOTCH MILK!!!

(looks like it eh?)

 After milking, we fed the calf, he was a really quick learner and Ker and I were in and cleaned up by 11:15p.m.!

This morning when I went milking, I made the mistake of leaving the calf in the same pen as where I was milking Clarabell. The minute the calf let a bawl Clare LOST IT. She wanted her calf NOW! I had to put her into the head gate, and even then she was swaying from side to side, kicking the milk machine off, bawling and makin' me a sad woman!

Tonight she did so much better.... I hope to have my sweet carefree Clare back soon!

And I'll NEVER again say that it is going to be easy to milk a heifer.... I've learned that experience means a lot!!

SOOOO, any name idea's for the calf????