Counting on God

Praying this Hymn often....



God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

Praying for My Babes

Recently, I have really been thinking and praying about what I think my children's really important gifts are.  These ideas are what I am going to pray we can nurture.

Knothead-  compassion! He really sees needs and likes to meet them.  He once noticed that a kid at school did not have a jacket in January.  The day that we went to ask the teacher if we could give him one, he showed up with one!  Still, I thought it was especially sweet for him to notice. He also has plans to give away a football with not much usage since he just got a new one for his Bday.  I am so proud of the joy he finds in giving and meeting needs. He was happy to give us 20 bucks out of his piggy bank to give away to Samaritan's Purse gifts this year.  He came up with that number on his own and I thought it was pretty generous for a 7 year old. 

Rooster-service. He loves to work hard and help others! He lives to assist Daddy on the farm and even helping me sweep and pick up around the house.  He prefers to be working then to be doing nothing. 

Skeeter--She is my encourager!    She is born cheerleader! She loves to say, "Good job bruder." or "Good running Je-Je."  She even encouraged me just the other night.  She called me and Daddy into her room as she always does to "tell us sumpetin," which is really a delay tactic, of course. When Daddy arrived she said, "I love you Daddy."  I said, "What were you going to tell me?"  She paused and thought... "You bootiful."  I melted. 

Flarp and Skeeter

 When anyone asks Skeeter what she wants this year for Christmas her reply is interesting, "a pooper sounder."  Yes, folks FLARP is a big deal when you have two "bruders" and one of them got his pooper sounder for his birthday in November and would only let you play with it sometimes!

Then, I was looking for a word to help us remember some of our family values J and J thought that FLARP was the right word, and though it really is "inappropriate" as little J likes to say, none of them are forgetting it.  So, we talk about FLARPing decently often these days and it does not mean what you think:

F--FUN--we are going to have fun together.
L--LOVING--our family is going to be loving.
A--A-team--we are going to work as a team helping each other.
R--RESPECTFUL-we are going to try our best to respect each other.
P--PEACEFUL--PROMOTING PEACE--we are aiming to be peace promoters in our home.

So, this 2nd week of trying to be more "flarpy" I decided to give out awards to the kids for meeting some of those expectations.  I thought it was a good idea until Skeeter wanted her "sword" and Rooster wanted something tangible for his award.  He still asked me this morning for his award.  I just can't make him understand after 2 days that some awards are just pride in making good decisions and being noticed! 

It has been a fun few weeks and my Christmas stress has been pretty low this year! Yeah! We even made our own homemade play doh and I am not crafty AT ALL!  Still, that is what they are busy doing even as I type.  I love our family and investing in our relationships. 

Top 10 Things We Love About Country Living

As I consider thankfulness this fall, I thought I'd do a Top 10 list of what we love about living in the country. I asked J to write his without looking at mine first!  This is a compilation of what J and I both agreed upon and wrote down in separate lists.  I could not believe the striking similarities!

The bug collector checking off his finds.

skinned knees summer 2012

 1.  at the end of every day my kids get plenty of exercise (and so do I) and we are always dirty and tired...tired and dirty! 
J--

Raising our children on land where they can run, scream, have animals, and get close to nature,

            being part of something that could link generations, having a wife that loves the country

Skeeter plays in the mud in the watering trough

2.  We eat a lot of things that we raised/grow.  There is nothing like fresh eggs and melons!

J--- Livestock/Pets-watching a hen peck around and use her beak like a surgeon uses a scalpel, smelling a horse as you hang around their neck and feel more strength than you will ever possess, watching a calf nurse and get a milky, frothy nose, feeling an egg that is still warm, watching a calf be born and standing for the first time, letting your dogs run. Wow, can't believe my man wrote that! So proud of those showing not just telling details!

blackberries!

Millie and Cay

3. Wide open spaces and fresh air make you so much happier...and you can make a lot of fun noise while screaming on your trampoline.

J's addition:  Garden-planting a tiny seed that grows into something that feeds your family, picking and eating berries, etc.

4.  No neighbors too close!  We can go out and yell (good and bad), and wear just about nothing or anything out there!
J's thoughts: 

Freedom- I can pee in my yard, I can put what I want on our land, I can shoot stuff, I can burn stuff, NO HOA or POA...this would NOT work for us. 

5.  we can have lots of junk...that comes in handy!

From J:  Tools/Equipment-riding 4 wheelers, operating tractors, skid steers, track hoes, mowers, owning a truck for a reason other than taking off the trash, having a reason to buy tools.

camping at the creek (top) gang ready to go to creek (bottom)

6. lots of critters can come and go and brighten our lives and teach us things

7.   having the falls and the creek to play at/in!

Fun with Friends at the falls

J's Thoughts:  The Creek- fishing at the creek with the family, watching the kids swing on the rope swing over the creek, exploring the waterfalls, catching snakes, frogs, toads, crawdads, etc. at the creek with the kids, building dams, playing in the sand.

even old folks swimg

 8.  Views-seeing the peaceful cattle graze and hearing them moo while I teach my children.  

J's thoughts:  seeing the stars is easier in the country because of less artificial light, seeing the sunset because there is not someone else’s house in the way, watching my children enjoy the country!

9.  Well Water and lots of Trees- drinking fresh, freezing cold water out of the spigot on a hot summer day that is being pumped from 300ft below

Trees- splitting wood by hand that you cut with a sharp STIHL chainsaw from a dead tree that was

            begging to be productive just one more time, being shielded in the backyard by your woods

            from a cold wind, being shaded by your woods on a hot day.

10.  Clearly, this addition was not mine but I see its validity.  

Training in progress

Hunting- Sitting in a deer stand freezing to death for just a glimpse of a “grey ghost” (I will

always be amazed at how a deer can magically appear like a premonition and then disappear

like smoke), watching deer that don’t know you are there, hunting squirrels with the boys, 

snow days getting pulled by the 4W

My baby girl home sweet home

Random Skeeer Funny:  On the way to school lately we've been rocking some oldies like "Do the Locomtion," "Rocking Robin," etc., and when we get near Je-Je's school he yells "STOP YOU ARE CRAZY."  Sister, yells out while getting down in her carseat, "NO SHE'S NOT!" We all just died laughing...all but Je-Je.

Random Acts of "kid-ness"

a chair to get into "the club" that was here

 One of the things I love about parenting, but that honestly drives me mad some times is how I basically move around the house picking up and despairing about what the little tornadoes have been up to, and what I will have to put back, clean up, throw away or straighten up next.  Again, playing outside is just so much better.  Anyway...some days it rains and we are just stuck.   I also know that these "random acts of kid-ness" will not last, and that I will miss all these little strange sights around the house. Today I took pictures of a few of them. 

Oh my Cay's Aquarium project. They are all out sunning while he naps.

camping out with lantern and baby

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

One of the fav things about winter for my kids.  Now that we have added a girl she gets a blankie  thanks to Skeeter. 

Little Miss update!

 Little Miss is growing so quickly.  I wish I could post some cute and fun pics, but it just does not bring me any peace to do that.  She is talking a mile a minute and has the cutest voice.  I was having trouble getting her to do school with me...that was before I discovered that she LOVES the ipad.  She smiles and lights up like crazy when I hand it to her.  Today she even wanted to give up a sucker to play it.  She still loves her bike and being outside riding her four-wheeler.  We went to the beach one more time and she loves playing in the water and digging in the sand.  Yesterday when she rode the horse she wanted to trot like her bros and I thought I would watch her face turn to fright when Daddy started running.  Instead, she lit up with delight.  This girl is NOT afraid of a thing!

Both the littles, as I call them, started "school" last week at a local church.  They love going each week and when I told her she was going this week she replied, "I like my teacher!"

You are quite opinionated about what you want to wear and you are still a great eater!  I have found that you eat most anything with some sour cream girlie!

You don't love loud toilets and you tell me, " They scare my ears!!!"

You still love to do lots of flips and handstands and swinging on things...you can do a mean split as well. I think you might be a budding gymnast!

I love you and love to hear you tell me "one more thing" every night.  Your one more thing usually involves asking if we can go to the pool or the lake...after nap or in the morning.  You love to swim!

Farming and Little Miss

 

Little Miss could tell that I was feeling rough and having some back pain. She leaned over and kissed me and said, "I love you."   Then, I added I think you're going to be my little nurse.  She said plain as day, "NO, Momma, I am going to be a doc-TOR."  

Having free range chickens is like game playing every day. For the past 2 weeks, they have won the game...alas, today I found 20 eggs. Score!