Mary did you know...

I found myself weeping tonight as I listened to the lyrics for the song "Mary Did You Know" which was written by Mark Lowry (A man who I have had the pleasure of dining with! He actually was a fan of my mothers spaghetti sauce and meat balls - a meal my mother would make every time he visited the church we attended during my childhood.)



Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.

The blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb.

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding is the great I am.

Building Memories

Here are some more pictures of the 2 days the kids and I spent hunting together. Alex and I didn't see any deer during our day together in the woods but we did have a flock of more than 30 wild turkeys milling around our tree stand which was very entertaining and an experience that I'm sure Alex will remember for years to come. I wish I had more time this year to spend in the woods with the kids but at the same time I am extremely grateful to have a job during these trying times and thankful that we are busy. Despite only having 2 days to spend together hunting, I know that all 3 of us made memories that will last a lifetime. It's amazing how often I recall quiet days spent in the woods bow hunting and chilly mornings spent hunting rabbits with my dad . Those are memories that I cherish and I pray that my kids will have the same feelings when they are older and recall the days we spent hanging out from sunrise to sunset enjoying the great outdoors together one-on-one.

My Forest Ninja
04:00 and already smiling
Sneaking in a quick nap
11 hours later and still smiling!

Ginger Delight - A New Tradition

This year the kids asked if we could make a ginger bread house and Rebecca found a great kit while out shopping last week which made it a stress free experience! The kids sat at the table last night and after gluing the house together with frosting they took their time discussing just how they wanted to decorate their house. The kit had lots of candies and I was surprised that there were extras after the occasional treat and the actual decorating of the house. I think next year I would like to design a house for each of us and make a yummy little village. The kids enjoyed the project and we all enjoyed the new experience that will more than likely become one of our yearly traditions.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I look forward to the colder weather during the winter months and especially the beauty of freshly fallen snow. We decided to prepare for Christmas this year as a family with daily readings from a new Advent book I purchased. It has really helped us focus on the purpose of Christmas as well as inspire some conversation and family one on one time. Thanks to the daily reminders from Alex I finally put some time aside to put up the outside lights on the house and in the yard. This year the Spruce tree I purchased for the kids our first Christmas at the new house is finally big enough to decorate so we have expanded from just our icicle lights. Yesterday we cut down our tree and together as a family decorated the inside of the house. The snow was falling and we all were enjoying the white snow, pretty lights, along with the advent wreath and candles the fact that it was beginning to look and feel a lot like Christmas. Our Annual tree felling video

Our family traditions

As we have every year since Rebecca and I got married we cut down our own Christmas tree. I have to admit this is one of my favorite activities during the year. There have been years when it seemed we would never find the "perfect" tree then others when we pulled into the fields and it almost seemed like a ray of light shown down on the tree we wanted and we knew before we even parked the truck which tree we would be taking home. This year we went to Wagon Shed Nursery and Christmas Tree Farm. They have a conifer tree that smells like citrus when touched and with kids in the house the tree is always getting touched so our house always has a nice pine and citrus smell throughout the holidays.

This year we went to the end of the farm and worked our way into the fields and found a tree shortly after arriving but I was not convinced that it was the tree I wanted much to Ariel's dismay. We ended up searching for quite some time when I saw the tree that would grace our home for the next month. We had a great time taking pictures and finally cutting down the tree (which for some strange reason the kids named "Steve") the whole time enjoying each others company while spending some time outside. While we were there it was lightly raining and when we arrived home the rain turned to snow which made our yearly decorating even that much better.

Thank You Lord for this Meat

Here are the results of my butchering. I am truly grateful for the food that I am able to provide my family. Between the deer I harvest, the generosity of my friend Seth this year and my friend Jayson in past years I have been able to save on our yearly grocery bill by using venison rather than beef in most of our red meat meals. Not only does it save money it's much healthier for us all. There is very little waste other than the hide of the animal. I cut all of the meat from the bones and the bones are saved for the dogs (I gave these ones to the farmer that Ariel worked for, she raises herding dogs for her sheep and I felt it was a fair exchange for letting me hunt their property.) The meat is separated into stew meat, steak meat and everything else that can be ground up into burger. If I get more than one deer during the year I will often save a brisket or the occasional roast but tend to stick to the 3 basic cuts mentioned earlier. Growing up I witnessed my Uncle and cousins butchering deer, they all worked as meat cutters in their 8-5 jobs and by paying attention to what they were doing (despite the fact I was usually stuck packaging) I have been able to save money by processing my own meat. I think the greatest part of this is I am teaching my family to be self supportive by hunting for meat, raising chickens for eggs and meat and the joys of growing fruits and vegetables. Now don't get me wrong we still rely heavily on our local grocery store but there is still a great deal of satisfaction knowing that if needed I can ensure my family will not go hungry.

Sneak attack turns into vacation venison

So yesterday was opening day of private land deer season and I decided to let Ariel have the day off from school and spend it with me in the woods. Ariel was up and dressed at 4:00am much to my surprise. She reminded me of my childhood when I went into her room to wake her up she was sitting in the dark, fully dressed with a big smile waiting to surprise me! After stopping for a drink and breakfast snack we were off to the farm. We were in the woods before the sun came up and were settled into our back to back stands. I had informed Ariel to watch the thicket behind me as the deer like to sneak past and have surprised me on more than one occasion. Legal shooting time began at 6:14am and it was 27*F. At 6:20am I heard Ariel whisper in a shaky voice "There it is!" I asked her, "there what is?" She then informed me "it" was a deer and with her hand shaking in excitement pointed towards our future dinner. I was able to place the cross hairs on it's vitals and in the blink of an eye it was all over. My shot placement was perfect and with a double lung shot the deer went less than 2o yards. I can't wait till next year when Ariel will have her hunting license and hopefully I will get to watch her shoot her own deer!

Some Like it HOT!

Growing up I always enjoyed spicy hot food. I remember eating nothing but pickled hot peppers with white bread for lunch in high school and my mother letting me have my own jar of cherry peppers in the fridge at all times. I have passed my love of all things spicy to my wife and while she was pregnant with Alex she craved my bread & butter hot pepper slices on just about everything. So it is no surprise that Alex has a complex palate and enjoys his food with a little kick. This past week we were all craving Buffalo Style Hot wings and as luck would have it we drove past Wings over Springfield several times this week in route to Alex's soccer games. Here are a couple pictures of Alex enjoying his "Red Alert" Boneless Wings and a nice cold glass of milk!

Your only as old as you act!

So here I am, reflecting upon another year of life and despite growing older and hopefully wiser, I refuse to act any older! This past year seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye. In the past 12 months I have enjoyed a great deer hunting season, I have watched both my children grow mentally and physically, I witnessed my daughter experience her first paying farm job, I went through tough times at my job earlier this year and then non stop business recently. I have expanded my obsession with raising my own food/livestock. I experienced the obsession with Facebook and the twisted people who enjoy invading peoples lives via site hacking. I have congratulated friends who brought new life into the world and grieved over the death of friends and loved ones. I experienced the Flu and got trapped in an elevator. I got to spend time with my brother and his family thanks to their New England vacation. I have said goodbye to multiple pets and welcomed new pets to our family, I have found out there are people who are even more crazy about chickens then me at Backyardchickens.com. I began my 15th year of marital Bliss with my 29 year old (forever) wife! I enjoyed a great week of vacation and since closing my Facebook account I have been faithful with my blogging. The past 35 years have been very eventful and I am grateful for each and every day that I have experienced during those years and look forward to many more. Thank you to all my friends and family who have not only made this past year special but have molded me into the man I am.

Awana Carnival Night

The Kids decided to dress up this year for Carnival Night at Awana Ariel wanted to be a kitty and Alex decided that he wanted to be Optimus Prime from Transformers. I think its great that my son's favorite toys are the same toys that I enjoyed as a child. (Transformers, Matchbox & Hotwheel cars and Lego's)
The nice thing about living in the country is we don't have to deal with Trick-or-Treater's and enjoyed a nice quite evening together as a family. We had an unplanned candle light dinner due to the wind storm which fell a tree and took down the electrical lines on the lower half of our property. We made the best of the night and after admiring all the pretty flashing lights from the fire truck, police car and utility vehicles we settled in for the night. I have to admit I am spoiled and don't really think about what life would be like without all our modern conveniences such as electricity and lights!