Hello Fall, We've Been Expecting You...

My friend Donna at Way More Homemade wrote this lovely little post, Things I love about fall, which inspired me to leave the following in her comments.

What I love about fall (in no particular order):

Climbing out of my warm bed and feeling the cool air. Not cold enough to cringe at, but cool enough to get your blood pumping.

The burst of color everywhere you go.

The aroma of warm, delicious things coming from my kitchen (it's just not the same any other time of year).

Looking out my kitchen window and seeing leaves coming down like snowflakes.
 
Driving down a two-lane country road, seeing the leaves swirl up as I go by.

Earlier twilights.

Wearing sweaters.

Coffee in the morning, and cider tea in the evening.

Rain.


What do you love about fall?

The Trouble With Mornings...

...is that they come too soon.

Once upon a time, I used to be able to get up before sunrise, go through an entire day full of energy and pep, and fall asleep peacefully that night. My girls were big enough to go to bed when I told them to (though I might have had to repeat myself ten or twenty a few times.) Life was good.

Nowadays, I'm lucky if I get 3-5 hours sleep on any given night (and there are plenty when I don't get even that much!) It goes a little something like this:

8:30pm - Daddy will take Big Boy and Princess upstairs to snuggle them down for the night. Princess will scream for about 5-10 minutes, then immediately drop unconscious. Big Boy will want to keep talking until finally, after much cajoling and back-rubbing, he'll hold still long enough to fall asleep. Downstairs, I'm valiantly trying to get Precious to realize that it's no longer playtime and sleeping really would be a good idea.

9:30pm - Somewhere in the world, perfect moms are enjoying the perfect stillness of their perfectly clean homes while their perfect children dream in perfect peacefulness in their perfect bedrooms. Meanwhile in the never-ending chaos of mess I call my life in my house, a certain teenager is sheepishly admitting that Precious might have accidentally fallen asleep for a few minutes around 7:30 while I was helping Daddy put up the chickens, and would this be an okay time to check her email?

Sometime after 10pm - Precious has eventually given up the fight and fallen asleep. The teen girls have spent twenty minutes giggling in the bathroom brushed their teeth and headed upstairs for another thirty-minute giggling fit bed, and Daddy and I can finally be alone. A perfect time for Dad to do what? Catch up reading some online Farmer's forums. Guess I'd better grade schoolwork.

Near midnight - I'm trying very hard not to try too hard to fall asleep, while Dad slumbers beside me. I've just about convinced my internal voices to shut up for Pete's sake, you can nag me to death about everything I've left undone in the morning! when I hear that fateful sound. The sweet pitter-patter of Big Boy's feet heading our way. Blearily, I watch as my bedroom door opens, his small silhouette slipping into my inner sanctum to wedge his way up the middle of the bed, where he will proceed to elbow and knee me as he fidgets in his sleep for the next several hours until...

Dark o'clock - Another tiny body makes its way stealthily into my bed. For untold minutes, Princess will be content to bury herself into the warmth and security of my arms before sitting up to proclaim it's potty-time. Down into the dark depths of the silent house I'll carry her, hoping, praying that this time she'll go straight back to sleep. Alas, my prayers are in vain. She's wide awake now, and ready to play. No amount of snuggling, begging or pleading will induce her back to her dreams.

Pre-dawn - What was once an endless night has now come to a close. After admonishing me several times with "Wake up!" and a shake, Princess allowed herself to get a little too comfortable on the couch and has once again succumb to slumber. Gently I place her back in her own bed and carefully, oh so carefully, I tiptoe back to my room. I cringe as the aging box-springs announce my arrival, but all is well. Precious rolls over in her crib, breathes deeply, and remains still. At last, the respite of sleep awaits me.

Twenty minutes later - Daddy's alarm shatters the silence with all the subtlety of a nuclear warhead. I burst forth from under the covers, wishing I could take a baseball bat to the hated machine. Silence, but for Daddy's continued snores, descends again but only for the barest of moments. WaaaaaAAAAHHHHHHH.....

Good morning to you, too, Precious.

Wordless Wednesday - Ummmm....

My three-year old is one of the stubbornest, most temper-tantrum-throwing children I've ever known in my life. I've tried just about every approach known to man to break her of the habit of screaming when she doesn't get her way.

And then I found this picture on my camera.


I don't know who put the tape on her mouth, let alone took the picture. I'm guessing this happened while I was hanging laundry out on the line. Everyone's been pretty hush about the whole thing.


But I have to admit...she's been a little quieter lately.

Go to 5 Minutes for Mom for more Wordless Wednesday.

I Am The Coupon Queen...I Can Buy Anything!

Okay, maybe not any thing (I certainly can't buy a new car or appliances at the moment) but I gotta crow a little about the shopping I did at Rite Aid this week.

All of this...

...for $4.24 + tax! AND I got back $23.50 in +Ups AND a $10 gift card for +Ups that didn't print AND $2 Single Check Rebate for a grand total of......

Thirty-one dollars and twenty-six cents profit!!!

It's good to be the queen.

Wordless Wednesday - Chick Magnet

Adopted By Grace, Shielded By Faith

This month in Sunday School, we've started a new series of lessons using the book of Ephesians. I enjoy every book in the Bible, each having something unique to offer to believers. However, I do have several "favorites" that stand out for various reasons at different seasons and situations in my life. Proverbs is a wealth of wisdom, Psalms overflows with encouragement, Romans points the way to salvation and renewal, James convicts my actions to match my words (and vice versa), Hebrews contains the "Hall of Faith" that inspires me, Genesis shows the awesomeness of the Creator, Ecclesiastes shows perspective, Job reveals the triumph of unwavering faith in God, etc.

But what is it about Ephesians that touches my heart? Well....

I participated in a Bible study of Beth Moore's once called "Believing God". I was still a "babe in Christ" at the time (I didn't come to know Jesus as my Lord and Saviour until 2003!) and it was exactly what I needed at that time. One of the lessons included a look at the first chapter of Ephesians, starting at verse 4. For a new believer, I cannot describe the impact of these words: "...who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will..." It's one thing to know that Jesus died for the sins of all, but to know that God CHOSE ME FOR ADOPTION BEFORE CREATING THE WORLD??? Wow. I don't know about anyone else, but that had HUGE impact on me!

In Chapter 2, we see that "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Grace, that lovely, soul-saving word. God's Riches At Christ's Expense. "So that no one can boast..." Beginning my journey as a believer so late in life, in a church whose membership was 90% missionaries or Bible translators, amongst so many who had devoted almost their entire lives to the service of the Lord...well, it was pretty intimidating. I certainly had nothing to boast about. What an encouraging reminder it was to know that no one else did, either. And then there's that word, "workmanship". What are other examples of God's workmanship? How about sunsets? Majestic mountains? The simple song of a bird in the early morning, or the cheerful glow of lightening bugs on a summer evening? The mighty crash of waves breaking on the shore?

Me? Yes, me too. I am God's workmanship, a work of art created by His loving hands. A masterpiece. Wow.

After that, Paul goes on to share his prayers for the Gentiles (us), and imparts words of instruction for us as believers, wives and mothers. Lastly, he describes the "armor of God". Going back again to the Beth Moore study, she keyed on the shield of faith as our defense, "with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." (verse 16) Whenever I feel attacked, I can hold up my "shield" (physically, I'm using my hand) and remember these things: God is who He says He is, God can do what He says He can do, I am who God says I am, I can do all things through Christ, and God's Word is alive and active in me. Do I think I'm a bad mother? "I am who God says I am." How will I ever handle homeschooling 2 teens, 2 preschoolers and a toddler while working the farm, keeping my home and not lose my sanity? "I can do all things through Christ." My husband has been unemployed since January, our savings was wiped out two months before that happened, our van broke down, the washing machine is on the fritz, the pipes under the kitchen sink are leaking, the kids keep outgrowing their clothes, and vine borers killed all our squash plants. Will we survive? "God can do what He says He can do."

And that's why I love Ephesians.

A Homegrown Education

As our first growing season as "serious" farmers draws to a close, I can honestly say that it's been not only an experience, but an incredible education. It's often said that failure teaches more valuable lessons than success. In that regard, we should be scholars on gardening by now.

Lessons learned (the hard way):

A little radish seed goes a long, long way.

Cauliflower will not form heads in hot weather. BUT, they will grow when it cools back down so don't give up and pull them out prematurely.

One tripod is not enough to support twelve pole bean plants.

However high you think you need to make the stakes for your tomato plants, add at least a foot.

Pumpkin plants are like rumors. They keep spreading, and spreading, and spreading, and....

One bug seen equals 20,000 unseen.

The bigger, the better. Except for okra.

When it comes to working in the garden, you have two choices. Wear long pants, long sleeves and gloves and sweat to death, or wear shorts, t-shirt and no gloves and itch to death.

Don't put off for tomorrow the vegetables you could be picking today.

The Promise of Autumn

It's been a long, hot, dry summer here on the farm. But finding this in the garden was a joyful reminder that Autumn is on its way.