The Teenage Season

Let me introduce myself.  I am the daughter. What would you like to know about me?  I am the oldest.  I have two little sisters and a little brother.  I love to be with children, so I volunteer in our church nursery and babysit.  I enjoy singing, writing plays, acting and reading.  I recently rediscovered my love for sign language and am looking into becoming an interpreter when I'm older.  I have more to say, but I should save something for next time.

Pick a Hat

I wear many hats throughout any given day.  Generally I start with the wife hat when I get up and make my husband a lunch to take with him to work.  If he leaves early enough, I sneak down to my basement to wear the crafty hat and create something amazing out of paper - generally a birthday card or gift.  At 7 a.m. I quickly switch to the mom hat when I wake each of my four children from a peaceful sleep.  In the course of that day, I will switch from the teacher hat as I homeschool my kids, employee hat as I put in time at my office job, chauffeur hat as I drive someone to something and granddaughter hat because I call my grandpa every day to check on him.  I also wear my chef hat, maid hat, computer geek hat, friend hat, and countless other hats on any given day.  I'm more excited than I should be that this week I get to wear my birthday hat.

Seasons of Farm Life

https://www.facebook.com/ForSuchASeason

Small town farm life is like no other way of living. It is a close knit community where everyone knows your name and every detail about your life. Each season there is something different to do. In the spring we fertilize the fields and pastures then begin to plant our crops. In the summer we cut and bale hay and harvest our winter wheat. In the fall we harvest our corn and soy beans. And in the winter we hay cows, break ice in the ponds so the cows can drink, vaccinate cows, cut wood and have our calving season. There is no rest for the weary on a farm.

In the late spring, when the fireflies begin to appear, the trees and flowers are in full bloom, it is just breath taking. My husband picks wild flowers and brings me a handful home once or twice a week. The first week of August there is always a meteor shower and we take a gallon of tea, put down the tailgate on the truck and sit and watch a clear star filled sky light up with shooting stars. In the fall I love spending the evening riding in the combine with my husband, drinking coffee, listening to old time country music and watching the wildlife play. With the winter comes the snow and everything turns into a clean white blanket with ice sickles hanging from the trees. Everywhere you look there are bright red cardinals. I don’t think I could pick one season and say it is my favorite. I love each season for different reasons.

Today is my first day blogging. While I am a grandmother, and I live in a very rural area on a farm, I attempt to keep up with the latest modes of communication. I am active on Facebook, check my e-mail everyday as well as my Twitter account and I have even been known to text now and again. However, blogging is new to me and my generation.

Life on the farm brings new adventures everyday. I grew up a city girl in Southern California, so living in a small town in the Mid-West, on a farm has been an experience. But, now that I have been here for 20 years I can say that I am a country girl at heart. There is so much more to farming than I could have ever dreamed about. This season of my life has shown me that the simple things are sometimes the most meaningful things.

Watch Me Learn

A random thought while driving and listening to my kids...

Writing for Real Life

I can't say that any of my kids truly love to write.  My oldest has recently found a passion for writing plays, but it isn't because she loves to write.  It's because she loves to tell stories.  Because good grammar, spelling and communication are important to me, I have learned to sneak writing into my kids' daily life as often as possible without being completely obvious.  Here are just a few opportunities for writing:

Thankful Journal: We have a thankful journal that sits on our mantle.  Sometimes we sit together as a family and one person does the writing as each family says what they are thankful for.  This is a good opportunity to practice listening as well as writing.  Other days we just write our own entry in the journal as the desire strikes.  One of our daughters enjoys reading the journals as she settles down each night.  This is also a great keepsake for our family.

Shopping List:  We always have a shopping list posted on the fridge.  As someone notices that an item is needed, he or she is responsible for recording the item on the list. 

Cards/Letters:  My crafty kids love to make cards for people.  They are also expected to write a note inside of each card.  Each week we send cards or letters to two or three peeople for birthdays, anniversaries, get well, thinking of you or just because.

I'd love to hear how you incorporate writing into the daily life of your family.

Welcoming 2013

2012 was a crazy year for our family. How could a year not be crazy when you kick off New Year's Day by taking your newly adopted son from his orphanage. Did I mention that we couldn't communicate with him because he spoke no English? But that was just the beginning. Our tree-climbing girl found herself in the emergency room after falling off of a curb and the doctor wasn't sure how to stitch such a strangely-shaped cut. We moved from a tiny apartment to a big house (definitely a welcomed change for a family of six). My husband left his job to start his own business and I started another part-time job. Definitely crazy.

I am welcoming 2013 as a calmer, quieter year in the life of our family (shh, let me pretend for a while longer). Since I will be able to focus a little better this year, I (we) have some goals that represent this lifestyle.

• My husband and I have started using Manna360 as part of our healthier eating plan.  I am already impressed at how much better I feel when I add it to my morning drink.  I also plan to prepare meals for my family using more whole foods and less pre-packaged items. 
• I am reading through the Bible this year.  I also have a Bible study plan for each of our kids.
• Our family is returning to our "thankful journal" with a few tweaks.  Each person will write one item in the journal each day.  At the end of the day, we will read that day's entries aloud.  Previously, we missed many days because we always wanted to do it together and it didn't work out for one reason or another.
• Keep the kids' scrapbooks current using the Studio J digital scrapbooking program.

There you have it.  My 2013 goals.  What are yours?