Summer Lovin'....some favs

I love summer. Let it be known that I don't love 110+ degree heat though.

So far, our summer has kicked off pretty awesomely.

I shot these photos of the girls playing with their new wagon a few days ago. They were sitting in the middle of the yard eating strawberries by the carton when the sprinklers came on.

This turned into instant fun and much laughter. I stopped what I was doing and grabbed the camera to capture it all. Such a fun unexpected moment. One minute you are sitting in a wagon in the blazing heat eating strawberries. The next minute you are drenched from head to toe leaping over sprinkler heads- clothes and all.









Summer lovin'.

Speaking of summer lovin'. Here are some things I'm majorly loving these days (in no particular order):

- Doing 5 LOADS of laundry and not folding ONE pair of socks. I'm loving our laundry in general- pool towels and bathing suits.

- Jason's sister and her sweet crew are here for the whole summer- really loving that! There are 7 children on this farm so needless to say they are all plumb exhausted at the end of the day. They are leaving to be missionaries in Haiti beginning in August. The Lord has totally moved in this situation and has done amazing (Would you expect any less??) things during their journey. Follow their story by clicking on the link above to go to their blog. You will be blessed!

- I'm also really loving Chlorophyll....a.k.a. Liquid Sunshine, as my friend Mandi referred to it as. It's the truth. I think it deserves its own post so that is in the works. I've seen amazing results in just 2 weeks of adding this to my diet.

- Earth Balls. You must make these. They are so addicting and really good for you. The recipe is really flexible. The possibilities are endless! This is a good treat or snack to take with you or have on hand. They are pretty rich so you can eat two at a time and feel like you just had a real treat. They also go well with a glass of raw milk!

(loosely adapted from the Whole Foods cookbook)

1 cup organic peanut butter
1/3 cup honey or maple syrup (I've used both of these)
2 teaspoons of unsweetened cocoa powder or carob powder
1/2 cup raisins
3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup hemp hearts (you can substitute sunflower seeds or chia seeds)

Mix the peanut butter, maple syrup or honey, and cocoa powder together. I use my Kitchen Aid mixer. Stir in raisins and 1/2 of the coconut . Put this batter in the fridge for about an hour until chilled. In a separate bowl mix the coconut and hemp seeds together. Get the batter out of the fridge. Roll the batter into small balls. Then roll the balls into the coconut and hemp seeds. Keep chilled until you serve it.

Hope you are enjoying your summer!

Around the house:::: Nap Time

There is something a bit magical about nap time.


The box fans booming.

All of the lights are turned off and blinds closed shut.


There is an unspoken need to walk on tip toes. Our floors in this old farmhouse creak anyways.

Today the oldest decided she needed a nap too. Triple bonus.


The coffee pot is brewing. The worship music is playing.

I've got a laundry situation just waiting to be tackled.

While they sleep, this momma will be conquering laundry. And it's no small task.

But, there is still a certain giddiness because it is nap time, after all.

As I look around at much work that needs to be done by yours truly, I am overcome with thankfulness for this life the Lord has chosen for me and take delight in the things He has laid out before me.

Keeping in step

I could go on and on about the imagery that pops into my mind over this photo.

Do you see it?

***it is a mystery as to why blogger decided to make these fonts all different. i've tried to fix it but can't. so annoying. oh well. ***

Apparently these are actual shoes for sale somewhere in the world. They are called “Dance Shoes”. How fitting.

This is such a beautiful picture that I can totally wrap my brain around. It will make more sense as this post progresses. Bare with me here. I’m a visual learner.

This post is hard for me.

I’ve sat down to write it several times only to find myself speechless.

How can I put into words all that has happened in my life and heart in one year?

I cannot. There is just too much. This already monstrous-size post that probably only my mom will read (love you mom) would be even longer.

How can I explain the anticipation and excitement that a new year holds without getting overwhelmed by a list of resolutions?

I’m very excited! There is just something refreshing about the start of a new year. But, how quickly I forget that is EXACTLY how the Lord is daily (Lamentations 3:22-23). His mercies (some versions say “compassions”…I love that) are new every morning. His faithfulness is on display every single day.

I almost didn’t write anything acknowledging the fact that it’s another year. I just don’t know where to begin.

How can it even be 2010? Saying “0-9” had such a nice ring to it. But, “10” or “2010” or whatever we are to call it….not so much.

For the sake of documenting my family’s little journey, here goes a very poor attempt to verbalize my thoughts at this point on the journey.

I don’t feel like I “owe it to my fans” to post something. The Lord knows that using the words “fans” and “my blog” simply don’t exist together.

This isn’t an attempt to fish for compliments either- just a fact.

I’m not a big fan of resolutions- they are fine if you dig that sort of thing.

Well, maybe I’m not a fan of resolution lists- again, just a personal preference of mine.

I tend to find myself overwhelmed looking at all of the things that I WANT TO ACCOMPLISH OR LEARN. I feel weighed down by all of the tasks and skills that have yet to come to fruition and the road that I know it will take to get there.

And I know that the Lord’s desire for me is not to live in an overwhelmed state of mind focusing all of my efforts on myself. He wants me to abide in Him and keep in step with Him.

My favorite scripture that has played throughout my mind often this year is found in Galations.

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Galations 5:25

For me, it’s a victory cry and reminder not to get boggled down and overwhelmed. Anytime we focus on those things entangling us, we find ourselves focused on self and not “in step” with Him.

A lot of things that I may want to pursue might not be in line with His will for my life. And if we are being totally honest here, I feel like if we are right in our relationship with Christ and keeping in step with Him, some of those things on our list will happen (spending time with Him more, honoring our bodies, eating better, spending more time pouring into the lives of our families, etc)- as long as they are within His will for our lives.

I realize saying all of this is much easier than actually doing it. Boy do I know this story all too well!!! I find myself smack dab in the grip of this struggle between keeping in step with the Spirit or off doing my own thing. I’m definitely not saying that I have this figured out and know how to do it perfectly.

My prayer over these last few days has been for Him to leave no stone uncovered until ALL aspects of my life are laid bare before Him and EVERYTHING in my life is His. EVERYTHING! I know there are still lots of things I’m holding onto and not giving over to Jesus.

My nature at this point in the year is to look back at my failures. It would be very easy for me to look back on the year and beat myself up over the things that I said I wanted to change at the beginning of 2009, but have yet to see growth in. Or all of the things I thought I would be doing by now, that have yet to be learned.

I use to live my life in constant regret from the moment my feet hit the floor. This is a very depressing state of mind to be in always looking back and never looking forward.

I’m a city girl trying to learn how to be a farmgirl. Of course that so-called list would be miles long! I’m learning so much.

I said I wasn’t a big fan of resolution lists, but I am a fan of growth and pressing forward taking the next step.

I can honestly look back at 2009, and see the hand of God growing me and molding me throughout the year. I’ve had victories in some areas and light shed on some very dark areas that still have yet to gain victory.

For now, I choose to rejoice in the victories and pray for the victories to come knowing that I have so far to go on this side of heaven in my relationship with Him in the way I do life.

This year, I resolve to be PURPOSEFUL. One word that I hope permeates my life.

The Non-Annual Gingerbread House

:::::Kaylyn, disturbed at our un-sightly creation:::::

I wish I could report to you that our Gingerbread house decorating experience was a success. But, that simply is not the case.

A "disaster" is a more fitting way to describe it.

I'm just keeping it real.

That tiny little house caused my whole dining room to explode. I have witnesses...Holly??? Robyn???

One thing I am glad about is that I didn't decide to be all stupid-crazy and home make my own gingerbread, icing, and do raisins for trim instead of purchasing this pre-fab kit in a box.

I'm pretty sure that the end result would still be the same. Maybe my kids wouldn't be high from sugar.

That was not a smart move to take this on right before nap time. And I tried telling them NOT to eat the do-dads, but that wasn't fair. Seriously. They are walking around like crazy people all wide-eyed and twitching.

I'm not quite for sure exactly how ours went so wrong so quickly. I definitely do NOT like tedious detail-oriented crafts. That could have been in it. Nor is a detail-oriented craft a grand idea for 3 kids under the age of 5. What was I thinking???

One thing is for certain. I'm pretty sure we will never again make a Gingerbread House. I had good intentions of starting a tradition of making a Gingerbread House and taking a photo of them every year. How grand would it be to look back upon our beautiful pieces of art we've created over the years?

Mark my words. And I'm totally more than okay with never making one of these things again.

{{tHiNkInG}}

Forgive me for my lack of posts:). Don't know why I feel the need to apologize, but there you have it.

You see, I'm a researcher by nature. I LOVE learning, growing, challenging the way I think, and moving forward.

Frankly, these past two weeks have been so hard, but so good. There is a lot churning around in this brain of mine. The Lord is challenging me like never before in the way I think, eat, and just plain ole' do life.

I want this blog to be real. A place that I can put whatever is stirring within me into words.

Well, I haven’t had the words a lot of times these past few weeks. I’ve tried to put lots of this digging into words only to have written a sizeable novel by the time I’m done with it. Geez! Who wants to read that??

I get overwhelmed at the amount of information that is flooding my life- some God stuff, some good stuff, some downright awful stuff, some homesteading stuff, some false stuff, some sad stuff, some school stuff, some health stuff.

All of this “stuff” causes me to dig really deep in the things that are competing for my attention. I've discarded the things that don't matter and am clinging to the things that really truly do matter. That, my friend, is freeing!

But, every time I’ve sat down to write (and there have been many....you should see the posts that have began but not yet posted), I can sense the Lord just wanting me to “rest” in it for a while and let it truly sink in.

He wants me to put into action the revelation and words He is breathing into me.

My desire is to bring glory to God in everything I do. One thing is for certain....He is my Rock, my Fortress, my stronghold.

"The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1

Time is fleeting. Each day that goes by is one day closer to seeing the King of Kings- whether He comes back at any time or we go see Him.

Two things I'm loving these days........

I'm a swaddle nazi!

I clued in to swaddling after we had several sleep issues with Kaylyn, our first, when she was a tiny baby. We had many sleepless nights and my husband was looking forward to going to the Fire Dept to work so that he could get some rest. That's how bad it was.

I was told about the amazing Miracle Blanket by a dear friend. My sweet sister-in-law purchased one for us on e-bay and I've been the biggest fan of these swaddling blankets ever since! I've not found another swaddling blanket that even compares......and I've tried bunches! The key to the Miracle Blankets are the arm bands that tuck behind the baby's back making it extremely difficult for them to become un-swaddled.

I've swaddled all three of my girls (the last two from day one) until about 6 months and its made the biggest difference in how well they sleep and also when they are fussy. The idea behind swaddling is that it creates somewhat of a womb-like atmosphere for your baby by making them feel like they are nestled tightly in your tummy. Its a familiar feeling for tiny infants. The Miracle Blanket also helps their baby twitches from waking them up while they are sleeping.

(not my actual waste nor my blue full-body leotard)

The other thing I'm loving is wearing my abdominal binder. I was told about these by the same friend who recommended the Miracle Blankets. I purchased mine at a local pharmacy.

I'm not really a fan of the recovery that takes place after c-sections. But, this tummy contraption has helped me in HUGE ways this time around. I've not worn one with the previous two c-sections.

If you've experienced an abdominal surgery, you know the pain that follows. It hurts to even cough and laugh. When they cut through your abdominal muscles and uterus, it makes it difficult for it to shrink back to a normal size (but really, what is normal after having a baby???). I've noticed a huge difference particularly in this area. After my two previous c-sections, it seemed like it took forever for my tummy to shrink. But, I'm noticing much quicker shrinkage this time around.

The abdominal binder holds in your tummy and supports your incision. This has made it so much easier for me to get around and back into the swing of things.

There is nothing like a good girdle. Ain't that the truth??

I can't say enough about these two things right now! I'm loving them. The swaddle blanket is great for any new infant. And I'm telling all of my sisters in the "C-CLUB" about the abdominal binder.

Whew! That's a wrap.

I've loved every minute of being Kaylyn's room mom for her class. Its been super fun!

One of our tasks as room mom is to coordinate our class project for our big fundraiser. Its a festival of sorts complete with a live auction in which they auction off each of the class projects. Projects range from thumb-printed picnic tables, gift baskets, trunks with hand prints, and mosaic bird baths. The goal is to incorporate the students as much as possible in the actual project.

I chose to do a "Dick & Jane" theme. I LOVE Dick & Jane and old vintage fabrics. I had some on hand including some sock monkey fabric, so it worked out perfectly. I wanted our project to be unique and appeal to more moms than just in our class.

The students decoupaged the desk with fabric cut-outs and paper alphabets. We used Modge Podge. I seriously am in LOVE with Modge Podge. I want to decoupage my entire house now. Its fun stuff!

I painted the top portion with chalkboard paint so it can be written on as well!




They also applied buttons to clothes pins for our chicken wire bulletin board made out of an old window. I took pictures of the students on the playground at school to display in the window.


And lastly, I made this apron as an accessory. I just used Heat N Bond for the appliques and pockets. Its super easy to use and I'm equally in love with Heat N Bond. Its a major time savor.


I also tried my hand at sewing for the very first time. Jason bought me a sewing machine and this is the result of that- a Dick & Jane chair cushion. I will admit its a bit on the small side, but I didn't have a pattern and didn't consider the seam in the fabric nor the actual filling. So, I set my perfectionism aside long enough to appreciate the fact that I actually sewed something. I complicated things by adding the fringe between the two fabrics, but I had to have it!


We had a few other accessories that Kaylyn's teacher made (a decoupaged clipboard) and another mom made (a terra cotta pot painted with chalkboard paint and filled with chalk). These were all precious too!

So that's what I've been up to this week among a plethora of other things.

25 Random Things

If you have a Facebook account you know about the latest "25 things" craze floating around. I was tagged a bunch of times and I have less than 100 friends on Facebook.

Since I actually took the time to follow suit and write down my random things, I thought I'd go ahead and put on the blog too. I like a good list. I also love the fact that I had previously created a label that this blog entry fits perfectly into labeled "Lynsey's Randomness."

Here it goes......

1. I’m random. Let’s just get this one out of the way. My brain goes 90 miles an hour and I have a tendency to blurt out whatever random thought or question that comes to mind no matter how insane it is.
2. Jason and I met and married all within the same year……when you know, you know.
3. I have a deep phobia of mayonnaise (and Miracle Whip for that matter). I had a horrific experience with it as a child. If you ask, I’ll tell.
4. I’ve never ever had my eyebrows professionally waxed. I wax them myself.
5. I love to take naps watching golf or Nascar. Its so relaxing to me!
6. Up until about 10 years ago, I would NEVER look at my face/self in a mirror with the light on. I used to put my make-up on in the dark…..how weird is that???? I had major insecurity issues. God is so good! Can you even imagine the make-up lines that must have been present???
7. I was an athlete in high school and a total volleyball chick. Since I graduated in 1999, I haven’t really worked out or ran much. I regret getting so out of shape! This is probably one of the biggest regrets in life- falling off the work-out wagon.
8. I didn’t graduate from college. I quit two years into it after we married and knew the Lord was calling me to be a stay-at-home wife and mommy.
9. I was obsessed with dolphins as a child and teenager. I wanted to be a Marine Biologist so badly when I grew up so I could swim with dolphins daily.
10. Up until we moved to the farm three years ago, I never had planted one single plant, baked a loaf of bread, pulled an egg out of a chicken’s hiney hole, or driven a tractor. I’m learning as I go and not afraid to ask for help.
11. Jason and I moved 7 times in the first 7 years of marriage….super hard!
12. I secretly LOVE rap music and techno/club music. There is something about a good bass beat that rocks my socks! Too bad the lyrics are so poopy in some of the songs!
13. I am a social butterfly. I love having people over to my house or going to where people are at.
14. I’m a research buff! I love to learn new things and look up practically anything and everything I don’t know the answer to, but want to learn. I have friends and family who call me to ask me to “look into” (aka…research) things for them.
14. I love coffee! I can drink it anytime of day.
15. I washed trucks (the big kind) with my dad on weekends when I was a teenager. He has the most incredible work ethic and did whatever it took to keep the bills paid. He’s amazing.
16. I love to eat out. It’s a real treat for me. And it doesn’t matter where it is- Cici’s Pizza or Macaroni Grill. I love them all! This presents a big problem having a husband who hates to eat out and also interferes with us trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
17. I’m the most awful story and joke teller. I have no skills in this area.
18. I most happy when Jason, the girls, and I are together. It doesn’t matter what we are doing- watching a moving, eating dinner, riding around in the pasture, or on vacation.
19. I hate abortion. HATE it.
20. Being a mommy and wife suits me just fine. There is no greater profession or job I’d rather have right now and I’m definitely not a 9 to 5 kind of person. Jason giggled the other day at the thought of me working 9 to 5.
21. I understand the value of friendship and what it takes to be a good friend. My girlfriends are precious to me. There were several years early on in our marriage that Jason was my only friend (probably had something to do with moving so much). This grew us extremely close and to this day he is still my best friend. But, it has made me appreciate the girlfriends I now have so much more!
22. When I’m an old lady, I will call all of the young women in my life “darlin” and “sugar” and “honey”.
23. #22 has got me to thinking about how much I love old people! They are among some of my favorites. I even like grouchy old people and try and make it my goal in life to make them crack a smile.
24. I do absolutely nothing in the same order every day. I don’t even make my coffee the same or get dressed in the same order.
25. I don’t like seeing so many sentences start with “I”. This has been enough about me.

You know you want one!

Yonder Way Farm had its first litter of pups and they are ready for homes. We are pretty sure virtually NONE of them are Rowdy's pups, but they are cute nonetheless. What's even better about them being cute as a button is that they are also FREE!!

The momma dog, Piper, wondered up to our house months ago already pregnant and hasn't left since. She has grown on us and is know part of the farm. We have seven of her puppies to find homes for.

Don't ask us their breed. They are Heinze 57s or to be more technical for their vet records you'd write them down as K9X.

Some of them are white with a circle around their eye, one of them is black, a few of them have tan, and another one has spots. We've been handling them as much as possible in hopes that they will be wonderful for children. They are so sweet!

You may not know this, but mutt's are by far the smartest dogs around. I was a vet tech for 3 years when we got married. On the list of smart dogs that I've seen in my lifetime, mutts are at the top.

Just come pick out a puppy! You know you want one!

Who knows where this post will go............

I'm just going to start typing.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately! I've been an on-task kind of woman and I love it.

Nesting is in full swing. Pray for Jason. I have a list of things that I obviously can't lift or do for him to take care of.

I don't know why it happens this way, but once you find out what your next baby is going to be it's almost like you kick into "the baby is coming" mode. I guess its because usually (for those of us who so dare find out the sexes of our babies) we find out the gender about mid-way through our pregnancy. This means we are halfway there to meeting our precious new one.

We are super thrilled about having a third girl. We haven't officially decided on a name, but we've gotten it narrowed down considerably- well actually to just two. Well, three if you throw in the name that I really love, but Jason isn't crazy about. I actually kind of like that he has an opinion about the name of this little girl. He didn't really have one with the other two. But, then again we sort of knew their names before we even found out what we were having.

So back to nesting......

I cornered two older women at church this weekend and begged them to give me insight into organizing girl clothes. One of these women had FIVE girls and the other had FOUR. I guess I feel like that could eventually be my life. I already feel like girl clothes are overtaking my life. And I don't even have sizes 6-12 months in my house right now. My precious niece Ava has those.

I have them arranged right now according to size. But, Laney Rae and KK are both so shady (did I just call my girls shady???) in their sizes that one outfit of one size may work and another not fit at all. So, this is why the clothes that we have out right now range from 24 months to 5T. Laney Rae has been known to wear even a size 3T these days......and so has Kaylyn.

So, as you can see, the dilemma presents itself.

On top of that, I think of adding baby clothes, socks, blankets, burp cloths, towels, and all of the extras. Its sort of caused me to lay in bed at night a draw a diagram of the girls' closet in my head.

It may seem easy to you from the outside looking in, but I can assure its rocket science so don't be a hater.

Any tips out there from mom's who have more than one child of the same gender?

The bonus to all of this clothes non-sense and brainstorming is that it has caused me to become extremely AWESOME at laundry. I'm loving this.

Laundry has always been an area of mine that has need lots of improvement. My house could be completely spotless, but if you decided to wander into the laundry room, you'd see the tornado scene out of The Wizard of Oz.

Along with cornering these moms, I asked them in my questioning process,"How did you keep up with all of the laundry?"

Both of them responded the words I'd dreaded hearing,"I did a load a day."

Deep down inside I've always known this was the answer. I've heard others even say it. But, I didn't really practice it until these past few weeks.

It has changed my laundry life. I just do a load of whatever is the biggest load for that day- whites, jeans, colors, towels. If I don't really have a load that's big enough to wash, I wash the linens......I love saying linens. It makes me feel fancy!

Another thing that I slacked off doing during the beginning of my pregnancy, was making my own detergent. And to be honest with you, I wasn't really digging my old recipe very much. Our clothes over time began to look dingy and the stains weren't coming off.

But, I think the problem was the baking soda in the recipe. The new recipe that I am using doesn't have baking soda in it. I got it off of a friend's blog and I love it! I've been usually it consistently for a while now and I'm happy to report that its cleaning great! I was a little afraid to recommend it without trying it out for a while.

I will say that I add 1/2 cup of OxyClean to mostly every load too. I love that stuff and would be sad if I had to part ways with it. Farm life brings lots of messy clothes! Its really not all that bad. So, I will continue to use it.

Another thing I'm loving are DRYER BALLS!
I picked some up randomly at Wal-Mart. I love them because since I don't add any fabric softener to our clothes, these tend to do the trick. They're amazing!

Just give them a try!

If you end up hating them, they can become an instant toy for you kiddos to play with.

It's almost Valentine's Day....

That means its time for me to take down my Christmas tree.

No joke.

I just took it down last night. I would have left it up longer if it wouldn't have been completely petrified. As I was taking ornaments off yesterday, I was getting stabbed in the the flesh. I have scratches all over my hands to prove it.

It was most definitely time. My house looks bare now.

It was also time for me to update the look of this blog. Some may say it was long overdue. If you have an rss feed, you can rest assured that that the header no longer says "Merry Christmas".

Are you seriously not loving this weather today???? Its absolutely perfect.

If you live around these parts, its going to be an open your windows kind of day, so get outside and enjoy the fresh air!

How could I have forgotten these???

I can't believe I left these gems off my favs list below! I feel at peace with my craving for tots now. It may not be spinach or tomatoes, but you know what they say about having an apple a day. I must get extra bonus points because I eat two of these a day- one for breakfast and one before bed at night.

However, they aren't just any apples.

You see, my friends. They are none other than Honey Crisp Apples and are available only ONE time a year.......and its that time! Someone just got up from their computer, rushed to their car, and went to the grocery store to battle the crazed shoppers. I just know it.

Did I mention these can become an expensive addiction? These heavenly apples sell for 2.99 a pound!!!! Apparently the only size they grow them in are jumbo. Farmers, can you help a sister out here???? So one apple is pretty much an entire meal and cost a ridiculous amount. They are totally worth every dime and nook and cranny of your stomach. 

During previous seasons of the Honey Crisp, our family has had to ration by sharing the apple of the day. But, since I'm pregnant and I'm CRAVING these babies, I get unlimited amounts of them (insert evil laugh here). 

I LOVE THEM!

Some of my favorite ways to eat the best apples ever are....

sliced up with lime juice squeezed over the top.

sliced up and dipped in peanut butter (organic pb, of course!). You must try this!

sliced up with Redmond Sea Salt sprinkled over them.

Yum! At any rate, you must slice them up. It makes them last much longer. 

I was buying some at HEB on Tuesday. KK and I had a 10 minute long conversation with another woman and her children about these delicious apples. They, too, wait for them all year long and as soon as they make their debut into the store, they pounce on them. Rightly so.....they are simply awesome.

This conversation was the result of KK screaming "Honey Crisp Apples!!!!!!" as soon as we walked into HEB. The girl loves them as much as her momma. 

You can also read about these apples HERE and HERE on my sister-in-law's blog. They love them too!

Join the club and go get you some!!!! Proceed with caution because they will get you hooked.

Farm Life= Excitement! Part ONE

When you live on a farm, life is full of excitement no matter what time it is.

The following series contains a few stories. I'm not guaranteeing that you will be entertained by them. I am guaranteeing that this will be a long post. But, the stories were most definitely significant enough that I document them on this here blog.

A few nights ago, excitement peaked at about 11:30 pm. Jason and I were hanging out in the house. I was working on the website and he was sawing logs on the couch. We heard a cry of terror from one of our laying hens that was setting on a pile of eggs close by our house. I was annoyed at the sheer volume of her cry at such late hours of the night, but Farmer Jason knew something was wrong.

He took off out the front door and was gone for a bit. When he returned, he had major adrenaline pumping through his farmer veins. Folks, this is the stuff that farmers live for.

Apparently, a raccoon had wondered upon this hen setting on her eggs and decided that he wanted to feast upon them. Broody hens are fighters and bad-to-the-bone mamas. She wasn't about to go out like that!

During the scuffle, she had her eye popped out. Raccoons like to use the strategy of clawing their eyes out and tearing their heads off. Luckily Jason came out during phase one of his evil strategy.

Jason chased the raccoon off and right up a tree out in a pasture that OUR COWS WERE IN. When I came into the picture, Jason was coming back to the house to get his gun and wife (a.k.a. spot lighter).

We took off out to the pasture. Jason had his gun in hand and I had a poor excuse for a flashlight in mine. The search began for this raccoon who we were sure was going to pay for the missing eye of our broody hen. We looked for about 15 minutes in the top off an oak tree out in the pasture WHERE OUR COWS WERE AT (this is a significant detail).

I have a major phobia of walking in open fields in the dark night. I NEED to be able to see my toes at all times. But, I was trying to be a good farmer's wife and be tough.

Jason realized that we needed a bigger spotlight to see the raccoon in the tree (and not my toes) so he could get a good shot at him. Jason went off to the workshop with the buggy, while I stood in the pasture with my flashlight on the raccoon.

Meanwhile, the cows start getting a bit spooked. Cows are creatures of habit. They get freaked out if anything happens out of the norm- I think this is why Jason relates to them so well:). And we are normally in the pasture with our cows when we are moving them and its never in the middle of the night. Seeing us, means that they will be receiving new fresh green grass in another pasture.

This threw off their routine. The next hour is really a blur to me. It can be summarized in this order of events.

I heard a loud noise.

Then, I saw the cows running towards me through our garden and yard- a side of the fence that they should not be on.

Farmer Jason arrives with the spotlight and begins scratching his head. He does this when something simply cannot be explained.

I attempt to explain the unexplainable to him by simply stating that I was just standing there and here the cows now stand with me on another side of the fence.

Let me paint a picture for you. 60 cows in our front yard grazing in what was once our garden and pooping in our St. Augustine grass. This area is roughly 4 open acres. Imagine me standing in the midst of this with my pajamas on, Crocs on my feet, and holding a pathetic excuse for a flashlight.

But, in the midst of this, my farmer's wife instinct kicked in. I knew that I had to help Jason or the end result could be catastrophic. And we could possibly end up with absolutely no landscaping by the time the cows were finished rubbing up against every newly planted tree and eating every newly planted flower or shrub.

Rowdy (our blue heeler who is simply amazing) and I, worked the cows back into a small section while Jason put up temporary fencing around the cows. I say 'worked' but there were no horses involved here. Only my feet with Crocs on them and a blue heeler. I've always been afraid of cows charging at me. Some of them came within a few inches of my body, but I simply stood my ground and shouted,"Get, get. Get on cow. Get on." Sounds tough, doesn't it? You should have heard my accent that accompanied this phrase.

We finally got the cows fenced up. They ate everything in our garden down. Our asparagus was no more. The tomato plants vanished. The blackberry bushes became twigs. Good thing we were fed up the garden and ready to till it down and start over anyways! The cows did us a favor there.

I received these words from my husband. "Babe. You did awesome. I'm so proud of you." Wow! Talk about worth it! I felt like Anni Oakley in that very moment. Bring it on cows! Bring it on!

And the raccoon got off scot-free. He was probably laughing at us the entire time. Can you imagine this story from his perspective?

The hen is doing well. We had her in a crate for a few days so she could recover and rest. We are happy to report that we released her back with the others yesterday. But, she refused to set on what was left of her eggs and the eggs became Rowdy's treats. I hope she isn't traumatized forever.

I will leave you with this one image. It was my 'view' over breakfast and coffee this morning at 6:45 am. I will get to this story tomorrow for Part TWO of Farm Life= Excitement! Stay tuned!

Room mom in the making......

We walked into a huge tungsten lit room with the sun peeking through the towering stained glass windows yesterday evening. The sanctuary was filled with children of all ages who acted as if they had gotten use to the effects of a non-scheduled and fun summer filled with Popsicles, swimming pools, and family trips. Either that or every child in the room must have had a Dr. Pepper to drink right before they entered the pew-filled room.

Last night we had "Meet the Teacher" night at Kaylyn's new school she will be starting on Monday. I literally had to ask Jesus for His peace to reign over me to keep myself from opening the flood gates. Cut me some slack people. I've been home with her every single day for 4 years. This is all new to us.

Jason and I have approached this upcoming week of school with much prayer and discussion- as of recently. As a matter of fact, it was a discussion that we hadn't had since the birth of our children. I encourage young parents right now to begin discussing and praying over this issue so that you won't be caught off guard like we were. The upcoming school years came out of nowhere like a 747 on speed.

I know the issue of schooling is not always a popular one in the church and lots of people have an opinion about the way things should and must be. But, Jason and I have never really formed an opinion to either side. And still to this day, if you ask us what our schooling may look like next year for our family, we would say,"We don't know." We have seen it done beautifully on both sides of the schooling issue.

While one family feels called to home school and another feels called to private school, they both need to be approached with much prayer seeking only the opinion of a Holy God who knows exactly what is best for your family and child. His opinion is the only one that matters. Decisions based on fear are never okay. The Lord has graciously shown me this recently.

Fears like,"I'm not smart enough to home school."

"I'm afraid that my child is going to join a gang and wear saggy pants if they go to public school." (Yeah right. Can you see KK sagging? She won't even wear pants.)

"I'm afraid our family will think we are weird and overprotective if we home school."

"I'm worried that if my child is in public or private school, they will become heathen children who hate me."

Believe me when I tell you that I've thought all of these thoughts and then some. And some all at the same time. But, Jason and I really had to get passed all of these fears. We most definitely have to protect our children. I'm not saying that we don't have an obligation there. But, the last thing we wanted for our children was to make a decision on such a major deal based on fear. That's most definitely not what the Lord's will is. And I'm a firm believer in that while there is no right or wrong thing universally here (as in, its not exactly spelled out in Scripture), if you ask the Lord, He will show you what is right for your family and child.

We will continue to ask. We will continue to seek. We will continue to hold things loosely in our hands ready to change direction if we are asked to. Sounds kind of flaky doesn't it? I like to call it flexible. Next year may look different. It may not. Only God knows.

So, as of this year, Kaylyn will be going to Pre-K in a Christian-based private school in our small little town. Its 3 1/2 hours a day.

We sat in the sanctuary filled with children and parents last night. The school director was going through and introducing the teachers by name. We had prior knowledge of who Kaylyn's teacher was going to be since there are only two Pre-K teachers in the school. When they announced her teacher, Kaylyn stood up on the pew and began to wave as if she had just met her new best friend. I, of course, was on the brink of becoming a heap liquid. When I had a face to put with the whole experience, it made it real. This was going to be the sweet woman that was going to spend 3.5 hours a day with my amazing little girl. So, of course, this momma was wreck. And I was trying to appear calm and poised like all the rest of the good parents. But, my innards were fighting with butterflies and Niagara Falls.

I have no doubt that Kaylyn will love school. She will love developing friendships and probably become the teacher's pet. I have a good notion that she will end up as the pet. I was the dreaded teacher's pet all through school. Not purposefully. I happen to be a big rule follower. I was the student the teacher chose while they left the room for a brief moment to sit up at the front of the class room with chalk in hand ready to write the letters of the name of the person who dared to disobey the teacher on my watch. Awful I know. But, that was me. The teachers loved me.

Last night, Kaylyn's sweet teacher had a HUGE jar of gum balls on her desk. One of the new students had a little sister who was about the age of two and was all over the place bouncing off the walls. This mischievous toddler sneaked**** over to the teacher's desk and was attempting to open the monstrous jar of gum balls.

Kaylyn quickly walked over to her not knowing that her daddy and I were watching her every move. She very sweetly said to the little girl. "No ma'am. You need to ask the teacher first."

Ha! So funny. That's my girl. The rule follower. Just like her rule-following mama.

We got to meet the teacher and show Kaylyn around her room, her cubby, and her seat. The teacher had mentioned that she noticed Kaylyn was going home at 11:30am. The sweet teacher asked me the most awesome-filled question.

"Would you like to be room mom?"

Instead of standing up on the desk and giving a speech similar to those who of people who win Grammy's and Oscar's, I calmly answered,"I'd LOVE to." On the other hand, my insides were doing the electric slide.

This rocked my world. One of the things that Jason and I have felt very strongly about was being involved in the school and serving there. We want to be an active presence on campus. So, of course, I was giving a major shout out to the Lord after receiving the news of me having the honor room mom. That was no coincidence. It was an answer to prayer.

I'm not exactly sure yet, but I think the duties of room mom consist of party coordinator, cupcake baker, field trip liaison, craft helper, among other tasks. I'm excited to fill my roll of room mom and getting to know the other parents and the students who share a classroom with KK. I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store for our family this year. And I have a peace about the path we are currently on. So, that's a good place to be.

Do you think they make bumper stickers for "Room Moms"?

After all, they have bumper stickers for "Soccer Moms" and "College Parents".

Instead of "My money and my child go to [fill in the blank]."

Mine would read "My money, my child, and my cupcakes go to [fill in the blank]."

****Did you know that 'snuck' isn't even a word per the dictionary of Webster? I think it must be one of those words invented by Texans like 'tumped'- a combination of both tipped and dumped.

Pickin' up chicks.........

in our Honda Civic.

I woke up, started my morning cup of coffee, had my cup full of wonderful, and glanced out of the window only to see this crazy rooster sitting in Jason's car**. It was one of those moments where it totally threw me off. I hadn't had enough coffee pumping through my veins to process seeing a rooster sitting behind a steering wheel of a car. I had a good laugh and the rooster left Jason a "present" in his seat. Farmer Jason did not laugh about that.

If you had to name the first photo, what name would you give it? Just curious.

**How adorable is it that my husband drives my old white two-door Honda back and forth to Houston? He has a "manly" truck and has had one for many years, but he chooses to drive this thing because of the obvious- gas prices. Oh, his guys at his station all use to laugh at this big ole' man getting out of an itty bitty car, but they aren't laughing anymore. If you drove up to his station during his shift, you'd see a lot more of those itty bitty cars around.

Happy Hopscotch Batman!

This is Yonder Way Farm's 101st post. Hip hip hooray!

Wow! Time flies by. When I started this here blog on May 31st, 2007, I had no idea I would keep up with it enough to have 101 posts under my belt.

I entered the blogging world innocently as a lurker and blog stalker. For months I'd bounce around from blog to blog reading the latest and greatest in other's lives- always a spectator, never a participator.

Then, one day I realized this could be an in genius way of **scrapbooking** the life of my family without ever getting out paper, scissors, and tape. Sweet! And I also thought that it would be so neat to watch the farm take shape and look back on previous posts of what we were doing last year.

Here is a list of things I've learned from the blogging world:

- No ONE blogs on the weekends........according to my site meter.

- You can be friends with someone you've never officially met in person.

- There are some stinkin' creative, funny, deep, and wonderful people in this world that the Lord has truly gifted.

- Everyone has a story to tell and anyone can have a blog. ANYONE.....so stop lurking and start typing!

- In order to have a blog that thousands upon thousands visit, you MUST have multiple big-wig sponsors. I soon discovered this hard truth after wondering why week after week my average amount of daily visitors were 50.......and I'm thankful for each of you.

- Subscribe, subscribe, subscribe. It will save you time!

- Some bloggers change their blog addresses and layouts as much as they change their underwear.

- Some bloggers expect their blog to update themselves- an ongoing joke in our home.

- Blogging is fun!

I thought we'd celebrate with some photos of the girls hopscotching in the driveway yesterday.

**I came across an amazing feature on a website. The website is www.blurb.com and they have BLOG BOOKS. They print your blog and turn it into a nice looking book. It includes your words and photos in an extremely nice looking layout. This appealed to me. Although I haven't tried it, I'm thinking that when I have a few extra bucks saved up, I will print last years posts and give it a whirl. If you have printed your blog with a company, I want to hear from you. Which ones do you like or have you heard of?**

What's on your iPod?

Farmer Jason is BACK from his April sabbatical! Check it out here.

Please forgive me in advance for this confession of sorts. I've been introduced to the wonderful world of MP3 players.....iPods in particular.

What year IS it??????

I know its pathetic. I even own a Mac which makes this even more pathetic because of Macs cool factor. I'm 110% sure I'm not using my computer to the best of its abilities. For the first time ever, I used iTunes yesterday that has been on my computer for, oh, two years.

See, this gets even more pathetic.

But, the point of his post is not to prove how lame I am.

I am intrigued. My incredible hubby blessed me with an iPod nano for Mother's Day. I LOVE it! This is my very first MP3 player. I know, I KNOW!

He also blessed me with a substantial iTunes gift card to catch me up to speed.

Another confession since I'm getting it all out in the open..........Jason and I DON'T buy CDs ever! I don't even remember the last CD we bought. I love music. Make no mistake about that. Up until I was a married gal, I was extremely musically savvy making my way around the DFW area listening to cool bands. I was also into hip hop during that time too. Don't ask. It was the 90s and perfectly acceptable to go from grunge rock to rump shakin' gettin' jiggy wit it music.

I don't miss this life in the least. In fact, I'm rejoicing that I've been delivered from this life and can't even begin to fathom where I'd be if the Lord hadn't rescued me.

My husband is so wise when it comes to finances and I appreciate that so much. Did I just say that? I'll say it again. I really am thankful for his financial wisdom and frugality. When we were in premarital counseling, the pastor asked us what our hobbies were.

I answered the usual camping, MUSIC, antiquing, volleyball, cooking, etc.

Not my husband. His answer was simply 'numbers'. Say what?

I knew what he meant. He was very number conscious when we were first wed because we were broke like a joke.

Jason's musical philosophy: The radio is free. Why would anyone in their right mind buy a CD when you have a variety of music at your fingertips at all times?

But, I do miss having SOMETHING other than the radio.

So, what does a girl do when she gets an iPod nano and a gift card? She goes old school because she is scared/uninformed of the new school.

I downloaded the following in no particular order........because I'm cool like that:

Ice, Ice Baby- Vanilla Ice (my all-time favorite song & ringtone)
Gonna make you sweat- C & C Music Factory
Killing Me Softly- Fugees
Ready or Not- Fugees (makes you want to box)
U Can't Touch This- MC Hammer
Whoomp! There it is- Tag Team
Pump the Jam- Technotronic
Bust A Move- Young M.C.
I Like to Move It- Bang Gang

If those songs don't bring a smile to your face, I don't know what will. I giggled as I went through and listened to each one. Oh the memories. Did I also mention that I like to dance......A LOT!

I also downloaded some of Hillsong's newest stuff. I love their worship CD (excuse me, album since I'm an iTunes user now) along with some of my all-time favorite worship songs. Then I found a groovy children's worship album for Kaylyn.

So we have worship and 90s on the iPod. Seriously. I'm not even kidding. I would like to point out for a brief moment before you go thinking that I'm a heathen, that I didn't choose any songs with explicit lyrics for the sake of little ears possibly listening too- just fun stuff.

Well, I think I've done enough damage here in proving how un-cool of a person I am when it comes to anything pertaining to music and gadgets. Even though I said the goal of this post wasn't to prove my lameness, I'm pretty sure that it did just that.

The sad thing is that I LOVE music! I really do. And I want to find the 'good stuff'. KSBJ just isn't cutting it for me these days.

And I have an 8 GB iPod to fill up with 99 cent songs.

I love music about Jesus. That is my bread & water. I have this playing all day long in my home- KSBJ style of course.

I also love random music- cool beats, groovy lyrics, easy listening, rock (is it still called rock?), sisters singing their tail ends off, country (since we live on a farm), etc. Is that random enough for you? I told you, I love music.

Here is where you come alongside and help a sister out.

I want to know what is on your MP3s besides all of the AMAZING songs from the 90s that I've mentioned?

Don't be a hater.

Blog Worthy

Last night was my favorite night thus far in American Idol Season 7.

A musical artist emerged and I saw the MOST creative song arrangement I've ever witnessed on the show.

Normally I know exactly what the song is the minute they open their mouths. But, this took me a bit to figure out (I didn't hear the introduction by Ryan).

'Billy Jean' by Michael Jackson......are you kidding me? That is just sick (in a good way).



David Cook is a musical genius. He is bold, creative, brave, and innovative. I would totally go out and buy his CD right this moment.

I was a HUGE Carly fan from the start. But, David Cook totally stole my vote from her last night.

Can I just say that this is the best season so far on American Idol? I have never liked this many of the contestants. And the guys are showing some mad skills this season. I appreciate true musicians who can get up there and do more than just sing a song.

Michael Johns is another one of my favorites! He did great last night singing a Queen song (which is always a winner in my books).

Bare with me for a moment here and cut me some slack. We don't have cable and this is the only show I even watch on the two channels that we can pick up (salt and pepper style) so I find myself getting really into it this time around.

Who is your favorite???

If you still aren't watching this show with the rest of the entire country, you should. This season is filled with some incredible talents.

I've been tagged!

I’ve been tagged!

I am the first to admit that every single blog that I visit that has been tagged, I read every single answer- even if I don’t know who they are. I’m intrigued by tags for some reason.

So, I was pretty excited when my precious friend, Larra, tagged me.

Here it goes!

Where was I ten years ago?

Ten years ago I was a junior in high school. I can’t believe how much my life has changed. I was an avid volleyball player playing every chance I could. I played club so that meant during this time (off-season), I was traveling all over the nation playing in all sorts of states. It is pretty funny because one of the girls I played on went on to play for the Olympics and several others went to play at top colleges around the nation.

I thought high school was all there was to life. Boy was I completely wrong! I was the typical selfish teenager who neglected things in life that mattered and embraced things that DIDN’T matter.

I could go on for days on a high school tangent, but I’ll spare you the grief of reading it. I think you get the drift!

Things on my to-do list today. (Jason is working in Houston today):

- Represent Christ to my family (the task of all tasks)
- Feed chickens
- Feed pigs
- Gather eggs, twice
- Move cows to next paddock
- Put hay compost in the garden
- Make detergent
- Tackle Laundry- this will be some kind of scary!
- Play dodge ball and smack some folks upside the head!

What would I do if I suddenly became a billionaire?

I would give lots to our church (Living Hope) and future churches that spring forth from this amazing body of believers, give to some other ministries out there that I wholeheartedly believe in, pay off the farm, Jason would get to be a full-time farmer, take an amazing family vacation somewhere incredible, buy more land somewhere in Washington County for some more cows (Jason would want me to do this☺), buy some more cows (Jason would want me to do this too ☺), add on a some more bedrooms to our house, adopt lots of babies, buy a new car that doesn’t run on diesel cause it be killin’ us, wow- I’m sure there is more, that is all I can think of now. I know I still have like ½ a billion left to spend or something like that.

What are 3 of my bad habits?

1. I don’t eat breakfast- ever! I love breakfast, just not at breakfast. I guzzle 2 to 3 cups of coffee down instead. That should be sufficient to get me going, right?

2. I don’t exercise. This, in my opinion, is a pretty bad habit.

3. I LOVE chili dogs, nachos, pizza, and coke- pretty much anything sold at a concession stand. Our roles in the food area are sooo reversed. I’m so thankful to be married to a health nut or else I’d be gigantic.

(Um, these 3 bad habits are depressing me.)

Five jobs I’ve had:

1. I pressure washed trucks with my dad on weekends until I was old enough to get a job- legally. This was super hard!

2. Jason’s Deli as a sandwich artist for 3 years.

3. Sold gym memberships for The Q Sports Club in Arlington

4. Vet Tech for 3 years in Nacogdoches

5. Waitress at Papasitios for one week- AWFUL! My first day of work I spilled a tray full of drinks all over this nicely dressed business lady. I wanted to DIE!

Five things you don’t know about me:

1. Dennis Rodman is my “cousin”. I say this loosely mainly because he was raised by my aunt and uncle in Bochita, OK while he was in college playing basketball. There was a time where he came to our family reunions and he is still pretty close with my family. Isn’t this hilarious? It just sounds funny to say I’m related to Dennis Rodman- an exaggeration, but nonetheless fun in a twisted kind of way!

2. I hate mayonnaise and miracle whip. I had an awful experience with these in elementary school that shall remain unspoken in the blog world. I will gladly tell you in person though! I won’t touch it, wash a utensil with it on it, or even keep them in my own fridge. This didn’t work in my favor being a sandwich artist in high school.

3. I have a knife phobia. This is a little morbid. If I see a knife laying out on the counter, my brain immediately takes me to a picture of it stabbing me……in the stomach. Sick! I know your opinions of me probably just went way down. Sorry!

4. I love to sleep. I can sleep with the best of them. But, being a mommy of two and farmer’s wife, these days are few in far between. I used to sleep until noon sometimes when I was in high school and when we first got married.

5. I love to watch reality shows. They are my favorite. I’m going into reality withdrawals since we no longer have cable. We do get Fox so my American Idol ‘fix’ happens twice a week. But, my life is definitely more productive now.

I now TAG my sister Kayla, Shauna, Kyle, Steph C, Kris.


(BTW.....I'm in desperate need to update my links. Stay tuned.)