A sign hangs on the outside of our house, "ON THIS SITE IN 1897 NOTHING HAPPENED."
On this site Saturday, April 18, 2015, so much happened.
::Anna and Ellie started the morning with a squabble about clothing that ended in a signed treaty of negotiation. Ellie could wear Anna's new dress to All County with a promise that she would not wear anything of Anna's for the next two weeks. Mom is the ultimate judge what is and isn't Anna's clothes.
Here is my opinion on the subject-
42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. (New Testament, Matthew, Matthew 5)
Not sharing my clothes freely with my younger sister is one of my greatest regrets. I have been unable to convince my girls that they love to share with each other, we have moments of hope though.
::Drew cleaned trash over a 3 mile section of road. He proudly announced that he found one jar of unopened hot dogs that were moldy, a can of bug spray that was full, mice living in fallen signs, and a pair of pink men's underwear. Haha
::Todd and I had some moments of crankiness with one another (he was upset with me for letting Ben near him while he was shoveling manure and I was upset with him for not coming to help when Rocco climbed under the fence and I was trying to keep him from eating Blackberry or fighting with the neighbor's dog). And still, we REALLY love spending time together. Stolen lunch dates where we share a burger at In and Out and shop at Tractor Supply are the best. He tells me all day how much he loves me, how cute he thinks I am, how proud he is of me, how lucky he feels to be married to me. I tell him that he smells good and still gives me tingles when he holds my hand. I am the luckiest girl in the world to be married to THIS nice, hardworking kid.
::Leah learned to ride a two wheeler bike in 5 minutes!! She is like the Diggingest Dog. Our last house was on a mountainside with a gravel driveway and there really was no place to ride a bike. So, she's 8 and just learning. The joy and jubilation on her face as she figured it out was priceless. How I love that ball of spunky energy. She said she was going to wake up and go right outside to ride. I believe she will be on her bike all day everyday. Way to go Leah!!
::Lily is such a nurturer. All day she had the bunny or a baby chick gently on her lap. She said, "Mom, I think those babies really like me because they fall asleep in my hands." Yes, little one, you have a mother's soul.
::We interrupted the Great Barn Clean of 2015 to go see Ellie sing with All County Choir. Wow. Hearing these 180 5th and 6th grade children sing literally brought tears to my eyes. I can't tell you enough how much I absolutely LOVE the people in our community. I love public school. I love that my children get experiences like these where they are blessed by inspiring teachers and surrounded by good, good kids. I felt the Spirit as we listened to those children sing. All County was a holy space for me and my precious girl. I could hear her sweet alto voice singing out and I felt so thankful to be HER mom.
::Jakob spent the day at a youth activity in Albany. I'm certain we missed him more than he missed us. He is a sophomore this year. I can feel the time he is with us shortening and I know how much I will miss him.
::Our friend Jason Tranquil came with a pick-up and two missionaries to get some manure for his garden. Manure is something we've got!! I talked them into staying and helping us attach chicken wire to one side of our white fences to deter our chickens from wandering to our neighbor's yard. I love these men. We probably has 6 or 7 people working a good 30 minutes in this chicken wire. It was great. I had to laugh as I looked out later and saw two chickens in our neighbor's yard. (They walked all the way into our field and back up around the wire.) haha
::My favorite memory of Anna is her scrubbing beside me as we sprayed down the barn floor together. She is even more particular than I am and I love that she is the one child who wants to work longer and harder than I do. We both kept saying "Just one more spot" as we scrubbed up the floor. We also had fun spraying some of the chickens with purple antiseptic. (If a chicken sees red on another chicken's back they will peck each other. So, we spray any raw spots with purple antiseptic to deter them.) Anna is brave catching and holding the chickens, but she HATES when I accidentally get purple on her hands. Haha. Love her.
::My little ones Eve and Ben are in Heaven. They love boots and barns and sidewalk chalk, and our home is their paradise. I love throwing them in the bath at the end of the day and scrubbing dirt off their cheeks. Ben spends his whole day clucking or barking or mooing or trying to climb the manure pile while his dad yells for me to come move him. His preferred perch is on top of the lawn mower where he can point and moo in safety. It's a beautiful life.
All day yesterday I had a prayer of gratitude in my soul. I still feel like I'm living this pretend life of my dreams. My kids are raising cows, chickens, a bunny, and a dog. We get to spend our Saturdays working together to serve living creatures. There is so much joy in this life.
I'm so grateful to be right here right now.
Life is beautiful.
I thank God for family, for the Earth, for the Spring, for health and strength, for these opportunities and for yesterday's opportunities that help me appreciate today.
Yesterday was just a normal, beautiful Saturday in my life that I hope I never forget.
Life is good.
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