Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Tripping on the farm...well, not really...

The kids and I have been traveling now for over two weeks...and we are finally home!!!! Daddy had back surgery, so I went down to take care of him for a week to get him back on his feet. 
We were no more home from that trip than we were on the road again to S. Dakota with Matt to see his extended family.
WHEW!!! I don't know about you, but I am tired! And so glad to be home!  We had quite the adventure!!
Our time at the farm was relatively quiet.  The kids played outside and I took care of things inside.  Daddy was  a great patient!


Pappy did manage to drive the kids around on his golf cart!  Apparently they are necessary pieces of farm equipment. :)


Wow!  I tell you what...he is no longer a little boy anymore, is he???  How did that happen??? Hotrod is so handsome!


My proper little Princess...


Ok, maybe not. :)


The kids love Pappy's farm because they are free to run and play and stretch their legs.  Mommy loves it for the same reason!  It has always been a place of peace for my sister and I. 
In reality, it is the only place that is still around from our childhood.  It has changed...but the feelings are the same.


My monkey!


Every morning, Daddy would get up at 6am and sit in his chair while I went and ran.  Well, most mornings. This morning I took my camera and just enjoyed the sounds of the morning  as I walked.


Those would be soybeans. 


Amy and I both love the tractor tracks.  I don't know why, but we do.  It had been so dry when I first arrived.  These poor plants were trying so hard to grow!


Peace...quiet...praising my God...enjoying the beauty and quiet moment He put before me.

Daddy is doing well.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Mom...

Coffee...

My first cappuccino...

No bake cookies...

Pachabel's Cannon in D...

The Hymn...

Drop biscuits w/honey butter on Christmas morning...

Homemade Mac n Cheese...

Looks that could cut through you from across the room...

Nightly Walks...

and talking...

Lack of a green thumb...

RN...

Days of Our Lives...

The scent of Charlie...

Style...

Artist when it came to make-up...

Believer...

A fighter...

Stubborn...

Guilt trips...

Gorgeous...

Turned every head in the room...

Just some of my thoughts on mom today.  She has been with Jesus for 13yrs today. I didn't get to know her as an adult and only God knows the reason for that.  I promise, I will ask why.  I wonder if I will get an answer or a simple, "do not question My ways. My ways are best". Who knows.  I do know that my Abba will wipe away the many tears that I have shed over the years.  And I know that I will see my Momma again and spend eternity with her praising our God!!!!  What a reunion that will be!!! 
She will already have our coffee place picked out. :) 

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Tweedle dee and Tweedle dum...

You know, I can do a lot of things...canning, cooking, science, gardening, teaching, drama, etc., but there is one area of skill that I am greatly lacking...crafting.  I  have friends that can whip out the most beautiful things out of a paperbag in five minutes or less.  Me...not so much.
So when Hotrod asked for a sock puppet this morning I said, "ummm....I will try!" How hard can a sock puppet be anyway? Right??
I was reminded of the craft that my sister and I did with my Mammaw years ago.  She always let us pick out one craft for the weekend and we would accomplish it in the time we were there, but she has talent and that crafty gene I lack.  She managed to make a memento out of sticks and pinecones I collected at Pikes Peak one year.  I treasured it for years until it literally disintegrated on my dresser.
So, I pulled out my buttons, ribbon, and needle and thread and went to work.  Do you know how hard it is to sew a button on to a sock??  I had both eyes sewn on and was working on the ribbon mouth when one button literally just fell off...huh? How did that happen?  Didn't I just sew you on and then double knot the strings??? 
Right then and there the hotglue gun came out.  I said "enough messing around!!"  I hotglued both eyes and a mouth and handed  them over to my excited kids.  An hour's worth of effort.

They played with them for five minutes...

Do you think they will find out that their mother is craft challenged???


Stop laughing...you know you want a pair!  Yes, that is a sharpie for the nose. :)



It doesn't take much to make my kids happy!


What can I say?

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Are you chicken???

I sometimes get a chance to wonder why I do what I do...for my family, I mean.  Take today for example, for three hours I stood over a vat of cold, bloody water and plucked the chicken feathers the machine missed.  Why would I do such a thing?  That is what you are asking me, because you think I am insane.  "You know they sell those at wal-mart!" (hehe...)
Yes, you are correct they do. And yet, I stood there and plucked as one bucket filled up with feet, one with guts, and one with feathers and such....
Thankfully, all I did was pluck.  I can do that.  It is really no different than standing at your kitchen sink with your raw chicken.
My kids reactions were interesting.  Hotrod was thoroughly impressed.  He loved what I was doing and the "hard work" Mom was doing.  He checked everything out, looked at the headless chickens, the plucking, the gutting...everything. Princess on the other hand..."Yuck" is all she would say.  She went near to check it out once. And only once.
The years of dissection in college and teaching prepared me for the smell, or I should say, how to avoid the smell.  It was not pleasant, but neither is dissection fluid.  How did I manage for all those years??? A trick I learned in college.  You breathe through your mouth, not your nose.  Yes, you get a whiff here and there, but for the most part it is like having a stopped up nose.  
Once I finally got home, I stripped and jumped in the shower.  If I could have cleansed myself with bleach, I would have.  I just scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then threw on a skirt and went to take pics for a friend of her little girl at a recital, as if what I did this morning was normal.
The thing is, for years it was normal.  It has only been the past 60 yrs or so that we have been separated from our food source. I like the idea of knowing where my food is coming from, what is in it, and how it was processed, and how it was made. This has been a slow process for me, but just like a snowball starts off slow and grows, I have done the same thing.
Anyway...those are my thoughts for the moments, I have survived.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Pizza

Sometimes my children surprise me with what they know and how quickly they pick up on things. Hotrod is currently interested in animal or science books...only.  That is just fine and dandy with me! I will read him all the science and animal books he can handle. How much he retains is what is surprising.
But that is not what I am writing about tonight.  My son loves...I mean loves my pizza. (ok, it is good...thanks to Melissa L. for teaching me how to make the dough!!). To prove how much he loves it, I will recite for you his prayer at supper time tonight.
"Dear God, thank you for this wonderful day.  (that is how he always starts)
I love you, God. (melt a momma's heart!)
Thank you for this pizza. I love momma's pizza. This pizza is great. (as if that wasn't enough...)
Thank you God for giving her the ability to make this pizza. (wait...isn't he five?)
I love this pizza, thank you.
I love you, God.
Amen.
Now if you know anything about my son's prayers, they usually come with a lot of repeating, "Thank you God for everything." Never this specific!
I love it! How can I not??? :)