Natural elements nativity.....

Two craft posts in a row....I promise this is not normal in my life.

And further more, this craft post has nothing to do with me making anything.

This post is so last Christmas, but my Christmas tree still happens to be up. So there. I have a competition with myself to see who can leave their tree up the longest and I always win.

For one of our Christmas Advent activities, we set out to make a Nativity scene out of mostly natural elements from around the farm and around the house.

Our girls were still struggling to grasp the characters of the very first Christmas. We had asked the littles one too many times "Who was Jesus' mother?" and got the answer "EVE!" one too many times.

I was all gung-ho until about 15 minutes into this and realized,"This is going to be way too tedious! We'll be here all night long!" And the girls were not feeling the nativity love.

Example:

But, you CAN easily see who was feeling the love. Busted!

Jason is a pro at anything tedious. He thrives at doing things that are meticulous. There have been so many times in our 11 years of marriage that I take on something detail oriented and about 15 minutes into the project and me throwing in the towel and giving up, he comes in and totally takes over to finish- this is one of his sweet gifts to me.

This was definitely not the family activity that we had in mind. What I got out of this deal was a bonafide nativity heirloom made by my man. There were several times that he said,"I'm having so much fun doing this!!" This made it even better.

I think he did an amazing job. I love that I have an acorn Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. I have pecan wise men. My shepherds have cute little almond feet. The sheep are made of cotton.  We used twine, jute, burlap, wood, moss, and pine cones. He exceeded and blew my expectations out of the water when he started building an actual stable. I was just hoping for some nativity peeps. It's just perfect!

I plan on leaving it out year around to enjoy....my tree on the other hand has got to go in due time. We'll see if it makes it until Valentine's Day!

Final Stretch

(photo credit)

In a few short (or maybe long) days, Farmer Jason will be home from Brazil.

He has been gone 8 days thus far. This is by far the longest stretch of time that we’ve been apart.

Are you doing the math here?? 10 full days apart with only words on a computer screen exchanged between us. I’m such a wimp aren’t I??

I’ve sat down a few times to write a post (because I put imaginary pressure on myself to keep up with my silly little blog) since he has been gone. But, the only words I could muster up at the time were, “I miss him. I miss him. I miss him.”

We are finally on the downhill slide.

Things have went relatively smooth since he has been gone- aside from a full day of sickness from all THREE girls.

As I sit here, I feel overwhelmingly blessed by incredible family I am surrounded by and dear friends.

I can’t wait to sit and talk with Jason about what the Lord has done in his heart. Or where his feet took him on this journey. I want to hear about the lives that his hands touched or the words the Lord spoke through him.

I can’t help but- a part of me- feel as if I’ve missed out on this experience with him. But, I’m so thankful that he got to GO. I truly am.

Honestly, the Lord has done amazing things in my heart while he has been gone too. It’s almost as if I’ve had my own little missionary trip right in my home.

I sent Farmer Jason with specific instructions to take lots and lots of good pictures. I will be posting some of those here when he gets back along with a summary of his mission trip. Their mission area was the slums or “favelas” of Sau Paulo, Brazil. The people they went to share the hope of Christ with were the families and children in these areas. There is already an amazing group of Brazilian missionaries established and rooted here that they went to join their efforts.

Please pray as they make their way home and begin to process all that the Lord has done in and through them.

a very happy farmer's wife....

{taken yesterday on our anniversary}

Can I just take a moment to tell you how amazing my husband is?

He pulled out the big guns this year and blew my socks off!!!

I've been wanting to grind my own wheat for quite some time now for my homemade breads. The only problem was that I didn't have a wheat grinder.

And I really wanted a hand wheat grinder in case we are ever without power for long periods of time....that's another post:).

There is something fun and magical about turning a handle to grind wheat.

Jason gave me The Country Living Grain Mill for our anniversary and I couldn't be more excited!! This was such a great gift. He is the BEST gift giver and always goes all out.

Thanks Honey!


I can't wait to try it out and begin grinding my own wheat, corn, and beans. How fun!!!!

I just need a reliable source to order my wheat berries from.

Any suggestions???

9 blissfully wonderful years!!

Today is the day I married my best friend 9 years ago.

Right about this time 9 years ago, I was getting all fancied up for my wedding awaiting the moment that I would say "I do" with excitement.

I remember our simple little wedding very vividly. I could have cared less about the details- just ask those in attendance:). I hadn't ever attended a wedding prior to my own. I was 19.

All that I cared about was being the wife to the most incredible man I'd ever laid eyes on.

Jason,

I love you.

I think I say this every single year, but I love you more than I did last year. I didn't think that was possible. But, as the years pass by and babies are added to this little farmhouse, I fall more and more deeply in love with you.

I'm so thankful that you have made Jesus Lord over your life and this family.

Its an honor to live out my days beside you loving and serving you. You make it so easy for me to do.

These 9 years have been amazing. I can't wait to see where the road ahead takes us.

Love,
Your Bride

Happy Birthday My Love!

We've celebrated 9 years of birthdays together and the depth of my love for you has grown each passing year.

Thank you for.....

looking to Jesus and His guidance to lead this family

being our protector

loving us more than you love yourself

being a man of integrity

blessing me with three girls that I get to be home with every single day

I love living this life with you. It is a joy to live alongside you here on this earth. I'm so thankful the Lord picked me as your helpmate. Our family is stronger in Christ because of you.

I hope your day is filled with all of the wonderful things you love.

Happy Birthday My Love!

Hold me

Jason was at the sink last night about to wash a BUCK LOAD of eggs, when Kaylyn came into the kitchen and asked him,"Daddy, will you hold me?"

That's code for "I'm sleepy".

"Sure. Come here," Jason replied.

And the rest is history.

I found them moments later nestled snuggly together on the couch. He, in his farm clothes and Wranglers and Kaylyn in her Beauty and the Beast nightgown.


Jason is an amazing man. He will drop nearly anything for his girls. I'm not kidding.

I had to call him today while he was out in the middle of the pasture to come fish out beef liver from my garbage disposal. Gag me with a spoon!

But, this isn't about me. Its about Jason......being amazing. I'm so thankful for every ounce of this man. The Lord is doing an amazing work in his life and I get to have front row seats.

Kaylyn will look back on these moments and be so grateful to have experienced this incredible love that only a father can bring to your life.

This was a moment worth capturing.

I want to remember when our babies were small enough to curl up on the couch and fall safely asleep in our arms in an instant.

I don't want to forget the way their freshly bathed hair smelled pressed up against my face.

I want to etch in my memory the scene of their faces peacefully asleep dreaming about princesses and ponies.

I want to wrap this moment up in a beautifully packaged present so that I can re-open it over and over again to appreciate the wonder of these moments.

I love these photos.....

1/400 at f 5.6, ISO 200

I've been sorting through photos on my computer which is never an easy task. I still haven't developed a foolproof system for my almost 25,000 photos I have accumulated! It is an overwhelming and daunting task even for an organizing junkie like myself.

I found this series of photos and wanted to share with you in keeping with the spirit of online scrap booking and journaling our family's happenings.

I snapped these a few weeks ago while Kaylyn was helping (shirtless- it was HOT!) Jason build shade coverings for our chickens out in the pasture. Kaylyn truly has the gift of help. Whatever we are doing, she wants to be a part of and contribute to in some way.

1/250 at f 5.6, ISO 200

1/250 at f 5.6, ISO 200

1/200 sec at f 7.1 (to get good depth of field), ISO 200

All Photos: Canon 20D, Tamron 28-75mm f 2.8, no flash used, edited in LR

Happy Father's Day!

(Jason & Laney Rae)

It's not too late!

We just got back from spending a wonderful day sailing with Gigi and G-Paw (Jason's Dad). It was so much fun......more on that later.

Jason, you are an incredible man. I've never met anyone like you in my entire life. I truly mean that. You never cease to amaze me.

You are......
a keeper of your word.
trustworthy.
a hard worker.
full of integrity.
the best daddy.
a big ole' teddy bear.
respected.
considerate of others before yourself.
a gentle yet bold leader.
sexy in your new cowboy clothes.....yee haw!
adored by your girls (all 3 of them).
my best friend.

The girls and I love you so much. Thank you for all that you do for this family. Your sacrificial love does not go unnoticed. It continues to sweep me off my feet time and time again.

Home Away From Home

We talk a lot about farming on this here blog.

But, Jason is a Houston Fire Fighter as well. His passion is farming, but he loves being a fire fighter. Actually, being a fire fighter enables him to farm.

Houston has an amazing schedule. Probably the BEST in the nation. They work 24 hours on, get 24 hours off, work 24 hours on again, and then THEY GET 5 DAYS OFF........in a row! It is pretty awesome. And its totally worth those 24 hour shifts that he is away from home to have him there 5 days straight.

Jason is never idle when he is at home unless he had a rough night at the station and needs his beauty sleep. There is always something to do on a farm. But, knowing that he is here and we can join him in whatever he is working on is a blessing. Kaylyn spends hours a day with him riding the tractor, collecting eggs, picking veggies, giving the pigs a bath, and the list goes on and on.

And don't get me started on Laney Rae. She is her daddy's girl. I love that they are so close! We have seen firsthand the difference in his presence in our home. When KK was Laney Rae's age, Jason was gone a lot pressure washing. He had a pressure washing company as his second job on his 5 days off. There would be, sometimes, 5 nights a week that he was gone since most of his work was at night when things are closed. We knew that was not what the Lord had for us. Jason felt that he was missing so much. The Lord provided a way out and has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams.

If Jason and I were in the same room, Laney Rae would prefer him. Jason eats it up of course! It is so special to watch and I'm so thankful that she adores her daddy- just as it should be.

The girls and I took a field trip to visit Jason this afternoon. We don't get to do this very often since we live over and hour from the station. But, Kaylyn asked me yesterday if we could go and visit her daddy while he was working, and I said 'yes'.

Jason cooked meatloaf and some of his fellow fire fighters cooked a variety of veggies to go with it. Jason's shift eats extremely healthy. Now, does that shock you in the least? Fire fighter's are known for their awful diets and bad cholesterol. But, not on their watch.

We had a fun time visiting with the guys up at the station. They are like brothers. I guess you sort of have to be when you live with someone for a 24 hour period of time. He has an amazing crew that he works with. They actually call each other when they aren't working.

Fire fighters are heroes in my books. They risk their lives every single time they step foot on the pumper (fire truck). They go not knowing much other than what the computerized lady voice tells them as they are all rushing to the pumper.

Jason sees a lot of 'abuse of the system' where he works in Houston. They get a lot of calls from people that simply don't have insurance and their child needs to be taken to the hospital for a cut. Some of the stories are unbelievable.

But, there are many lives saved too. I can't tell you how many times I've heard from Jason that their patient was dead when they arrived, but they got them back (they do a lot of EMS stuff). And the stuff that they see could only be seen by a hero. I know this is a job that I could never do. But, I appreciate and am so thankful for those who do it.

Here are some photos that I snapped during our visit. I love photos of fire trucks. If I had a son, I'd be all over these hanging up in their room. I am a firm believer that there is beauty in the most rugged and unexpected places. It just takes looking at things from different angles and from different perspectives.

**During your time viewing the following photos, you might wonder why on earth my baby is naked. This is simply because her mother wasn't smart enough to take the photos before she ate dinner. Have you seen this girl eat? I WAS smart enough to bring her pajamas to ride home in, but didn't want to dirty those up while she was roaming all over the station.**


Funny story.....KK was climbing around on the fire truck and I told her to look at me and smile for a picture. To that she replied,"Mom, I am looking at you......right now." So, I snapped it. She was looking at me in the mirror.

KK in her daddy's bunker gear locker

Jason and the girls playing tag.

For lack of a better phrase......the control panel.

Fire Hoses

The fire truck leaving for a cardiac arrest.

You might be a redneck if.........

you put your baby in a camo ATV in a CAR SEAT!

Jason went to move the cows this evening and took with him quite the load.

There are so many things that are 'redneck' in this photo. I don't even know where to begin people!

Let's see- camo buggy (that we could not live without), baby in a diaper, baby in a diaper in a carseat in an ATV, and a farmer with, indeed, a red neck.

We ARE bonafied around here. However, we do have our moments.

The whole car seat thing evolved for the very first time when I had a photo shoot a few weeks ago. Jason had the girls for the evening. Nough said!

When I was loading up the car the next day to go somewhere, I could not find Laney Rae's car seat anywhere around. I looked in the usual places- farm truck, our porch, and even the house.

Baffled by this search, I went to Jason and asked him what had happened to the mysterious car seat.

His reply was simple,"Did you check the buggy?"

My reply was a silent, confused, and astonished look across my face.

Since then, this has been a usual occurance. I've even toted Laney Rae around in the buggy on days that Jason is working and I man the farm. I ain't gonna lie about that. It is pretty convenient. And she LOVES it!

Daddy and his girls........off into the sunset!

Have a blessed weekend.

Happy Birthday Farmer Jason!

Today is a special day.

Jason was brought into this world today 28 years ago and our lives will never be the same because of him.

Jason, you are the most incredible man to me. The way you lead this family with strength, honor, integrity, love, and compassion blows my mind.

So balanced and so right.

I love and look forward to the times of laughter with you.....my best friend. There is no place I'd rather be than living this life by your side as your helper (and farmhand:).

I'm so blessed to have a husband who makes it effortless to submit to, respect, and love. Thank you for enabling me to be the woman the Lord has called me to be. I cherish that I get to be a stay-at-home wife and mommy!

I love you so much! Happy Birthday My Love!
~Lyns

Diary of a Farmer's Wife, Chapter One

This story is piggy backing off of Jason's story that was told on his blog HERE. But, since farmer Jason only told 1/4 of the story, I have to tell the rest.

He was out collecting eggs (a nightly routine of ours) and found a GI-NORMOUS egg in one of the coops. I knew it was some egg because I was sitting at my computer and three different times he repeated,"Babe, you HAVE to come and see this egg." So, on the third one I was up on my feet and headed to the kitchen.

As I entered the kitchen, I saw the biggest egg that I had ever seen! Being the wife/photographer that I am, I grabbed my camera and starting taking pictures of this thing to express my interest in this phenomenon to my husband. Little did I know that I was actually going to capture a pretty funny story in the process.

Jason said he looked for a chicken that was limping around in pain, but he had no such luck finding one for a photo of the impressive chick who laid this thing. That is like giving birth to a 10 pounder! These are the pictures that I took to tell the story of the gigantic egg!

Comparison shots

Fat egg in a little carton!

This is where the story gets funny.

I put on my lens cap at this point in the photo shoot thinking that I had done my duty of capturing this GI-NORMOUS egg. As I was putting on my lens cap, I heard an extremely loud noise and our whole house shook.

This is the actual moment, this was not re-staged!

Jason literally fell down on the floor in the kitchen and I took off running with my camera in tote to capture this moment- whatever it was.

All he could scream was,"Awe man! Awe man! Awe man!"

I thought that the egg mutated and hatched a little Gremlin that started attacking my husband. Or that we were about to be bombed by Al Queda and I was the only adult in my house not in 'the know'. Those were the two things running through my head. The way that Jason was acting, was as if the world as we know it was coming to an end.

But, in fact this is what happened to cause such a ruckus to emerge from Jason.

Egg drippage

The egg splattered as he was taking it out of the carton because as you've seen in the above photos, the egg was not going to fit. He was so upset.

Not only would Charolette have deemed this egg to be 'Some Egg', it was also a double-yolker which made it extra special to Jason. I know the minute that egg took up residence in this home, Jason was looking forward to the day that egg touched our cast iron skillet. Funny, I know! But, if you know Jason at all this would be a typical thought process of his.

Look at all of that yolk, people!

Can we say 'drama farmer'? After this story, it explained a lot to us about where our oldest gets her drama skills from. The mystery is now solved. And I captured every single bit of it on camera from beginning to end.

I love you so much, Jace! Life with you is never dull or boring. Boo yah!

Now, we are living one less- notice how all of the eggs are perfectly alternated according to their color. Jason has mad farmer skills.

The blog has arrived!

I'm so thrilled and excited to announce that Farmer Jason has posted his very first post on his very own blog!

I can't wait for you to see and learn about Yonder Way Farm through his eyes and heart. He truly is gifted with passion and knowledge about turning our farm into something unlike anything in this area.

I love this man more than this blog post could do justice. I'm just plain ole' excited that you get to learn more about this incredible man that I adore and take a peak at what goes on inside his bald head.

I have been encouraging him for quite a while now about starting a blog that contained the daily happenings around the farm. He is a big journal-er (word?) and has a journal filled with farm facts.

I love that he walks out to the rain gauge every time it rains to see how much rain we received....and writes it in his journal.

I love that he knows how long the cows have been on their particular pad grazing for however many days in ALL 31 pads........and writes it in his journal.

I love that he knows the temperature for that day, the week before that, and the week after that........and writes it in his journal.

I love that he is the chicken whisperer, cow whisperer, goat whisperer, pig whisperer, and Rowdy whisperer all rolled up into one person. (just kidding.......not really:)

I love that he knows exactly how many eggs our chickens have laid since we've had them. I just asked him this question and this was his answer. Really. I'm not kidding.

"Honey, how many eggs have our chickens laid since we've had them?" (I KNEW that he knew the answer. How is that for confidence?)

"Total?"

"Yes."

"Jimminy crickets. Well let's see. We've probably averaged 6 eggs per day. Times 30 days a month which is 180 eggs times 6 months which is 1,080 eggs."

I'm not even kidding the man is incredible with numbers. He said his 'hobby' during one of our premarital counseling sessions that his 'hobby' was playing with numbers. Ha! Who knew he'd use this 'hobby' in farming.

I love that he knows every minute detail about this farm and what makes it tick.

His prayer is his vision and his vision is his prayer.

Go see what he is up to and subscribe to it (I use bloglines.com to subsribe)! I highly recommend it.

FARMER JASON'S BLOG

This link will also be conveniently located to the right of this blog.

My love

Today, November 4th, is a special day.

It is the day that we said 'I do' 7 years ago. I can't believe I have been married to such an incredible man for 7 years.

In the course of our 7 year marriage we have been.....

-a land surveyor, a vet tech, students, a pressure washer, a pro-life ministry worker, a firefighter, a photographer, a farmer, a husband, a wife, a father, a stay-at-home-mommy.

-moved 7 times. Can you believe it? We were real live gypsies living in a travel trailer and all!

-become parents of one and then parents of two.

Through all of these journeys we have remained best friends. Jason, I still look forward to seeing you every second of the day. When you walk into the room, I'm at peace. I enjoy every waking moment with you. It is warmth to my soul and laughter to my heart.

The Lord blessed my socks off when He placed you into my life. I didn't know what I needed in a husband, but you exceed every thought, dream, and hope.

The way that you love me and the girls is incredible. We feel like a queen and little princesses. Your love has no stipulations or strings attached. You give it freely and wholly to us.

Your hands tell so much about your character and who you are. They are worn, rough, and used. Yet tender and ever reaching out to show us your love and affection.

Thank you for the way that you lead our family being sensitive to the Lord's guidance. You are the most amazing man that I've ever met. I'm thankful that I get to call you husband and friend and that I get to go through life here on earth by your side.

I love you.