Rhythm

While I was sweeping and mopping the floors this morning, I realized I sweep/mop in a rhythm.  And then I realized my life in general is a rhythm, predictable (most of the time) and I know what to expect each day.  Most people would probably find my life rather boring, mundane, not exciting.  However, I see so many little blessings each day, I never know what to expect, each day is like a little present being unwrapped for the first time.  While nothing in other people's eyes happened today that was "exciting" God's given me so many little blessings!  Cooking a big breakfast for my family, and seeing my husband and daughter enjoy my "special" scrambled eggs....because nobody cooks them like how I make them!  (And I learned the special touch from my own mother)  My husband playing with my daughter for 20 minutes so I can deep clean the bathroom it desperately needed 2 weeks ago.  Or my husband willingly taking my daughter with him to "Mimi and Papas house" so I can have 45 minutes of no little feet under my feet.  I was able to get done a typical 1 1/2 hours worth of cleaning in 45 minutes since nobody needed "Mommy's attention".  Drinking a warm cup of coffee on a slightly chilly day, taking 10 minutes out of my "rhythm" to write a simple blog post.  Hugs, kisses, and "I love you's" from my daughter.  A surprise "jab" in my belly, reminding me there's a wee one growing in the womb.  Those and so much more are the blessings I get to experience during the daily rhythm of my life.   

A New Year!!

One of my favorite times is New Years.  And this was BEFORE my daughter was born on New Years.  Yes, she entered this world on January 1, 2010.  Maybe she knew it was one of my favorite times! =)  

I love that feeling of a fresh start, a blank slate.  Just how when Christ forgives us, giving a fresh start and blank slate.  I'm not one for "New Years resolutions", but I like to make goals for the New Year.  My husband and I began discussing this and we both had a common goal: Be Healthy!  

Our family was very very sick from mid November almost up until the New Year.  It would go from one person to the next, and I don't think I have ever been so drained!!  Not to mention, being in my first trimester of pregnancy just sucks the life out of you, let alone put sickness on top of that!  We were miserable, and really losing our spirit.  Oh yeah, we are expecting a baby in July!  We are beyond thrilled and excited.  My brother and sister in law are due in May so my side of the family is going to have lots of new babies =)  

Anyways, back to the point.  Yes, winter brings "illness" but it was just beyond that.  I believe a lot of being sick, or more how quickly you get over being sick, is how you eat and treat your body.  We were seriously lacking eating healthy.  So, that is a huge goal this year is to eat better.  I have started by eating fresh spinach salad, oh like 5+ days a week!  

Other than that, I feel like last years focus was the farm/homestead getting projects done.  We were just so overwhelmed and didn't have a good focus.  This year, I'm not too worried about the land.  I feel that things will develop when they develop and come together.  I want to focus on

1) Lord has given me a huge craving for His word.  Studying it word for word. 

2) Focus on my marriage.  Marriage should come before family/children.  There is always room to strengthen your marriage, which then pours down to your children and makes you better parents.

3) Being an intentional parent.  Everything I do with Natalie and the new baby, I want purpose and intention behind it.  As I add on more parenting years (I'm still a newbie, Natalie is 2) I have become more focused, and want to continue that.  The Lord has blessed us to be parents, and I will not take that lightly.  

4) Health-as I had mentioned before 

Those are my 4 main focuses for this year.  I feel that if I stay focused on the 4 most important aspects of life, everything will fall in to place.  We have a lot of uncertainties in our life, jobs, finances, etc.  When we loose our focus, that's when things fall apart.  If I can keep my eyes on those four things, then I know everything else will fall into its place.  

Soaking up the Memories

I want to give a shout out to those working mothers.  People say a stay at home mom is the hardest job, and I am not here to say it isn't, but when you are working, it takes such an emotional toll on you, one I can't really explain.

With Fall approaching comes sickness.  Natalie is one healthy kid, but last year she got sick in the Fall, and then again bad in January.  Last week she started with diarrhea, and this week she may be coming down with something, or her allergies (thanks to her Mama!) are in full swing.  Being away from her at work, constantly worrying, wishing I was with her, seriously sucks the life out of you.  At least we are leaving for vacation Wednesday (providing the little one is ok) and I am so ready for some time with just the 3 of us, NOT at home so NO home responsibilities =)  It's been a rough year and God knows we need this week away!

On the positive side, we are just soaking up this Fall weather.  70's and 80's weather with hardly rain.  Seems like last fall it was really wet, this year it's beautiful.  Our fall green beans are starting to produce, of course RIGHT when we are about to leave for a week so I don't know if we can get any canning in or not. I sure hope so!  The chickens should start laying any day now and our goats seem healthy.

We went to our local Farm Fest on Sunday. There was a vendor that makes animal shelters that are all mobile.  I wish we had some money put towards start up costs and this is something Kris could make (and he's good at) and could sell.  Thoughts are swirling around in my head =)  We recently sold our smaller chicken coop.  We put $60 in to building it, a lot of material we already had.  When we didn't need it anymore, we sold it on Craigslist for $200.  Chicken coops and mobile animal shelters are becoming the thing.....hmmmmmmm  ;-)

Better Late than Never

My blogging has been put on the back burner.  Our wireless router is going out, so internet on my laptop is hit and miss (more miss than hit), and I don't get on my husband's (err our) Imac very often.  This morning I purposefully got up before the husband and toddler woke just to have some down time.

We have been very busy and blogging ideas have been swimming around in my head.  Fall season is upon us, the beautiful Ozark leaves are starting to turn.  I truly love this time of year, it's my favorite.  We were married in the Fall (actually a few days before the actual season began) so it's special to me.  The cooler nights, make for a cooler house.  More blankets on the beds, warmer jammies for the little one, and warm apple cider at night.  I love every bit about it (except for it getting darker sooner).

I recently unintentionally started an interesting conversation on facebook.  I made a status about how we had no TV for a year.  Well, no TV channels.  Natalie watched Veggie Tales on it, and Kris and I would watch movies after she goes to bed.  But we had no cable/satellite and no local channels.  We recently purchased an outdoor antenna (indoor ones wouldn't work) off of craigslist for $15.  We now have 5 WHOLE CHANNELS.  Obviously that doesn't sound like a lot, but to me I don't know what to do with myself with 5 channels.  (Think about it, this is 5x more than what we had, so to me it's like cable!)  I am very torn as I was so proud of going so long with out TV, and honestly didn't miss it.  There are a couple of shows I enjoy, we are planning on getting Netflix and I could watch those shows, just a season behind if I desired.  Now I feel like even with 5 channels, we'll be glued to it too much.  BUT, we live in a metal box, 1 1/2 hours from us, a nearby city was destroyed by the worst tornados in U.S's history, so being able to see the weather is very important.  A weather radio won't even work out here!  (Or maybe we don't know how to work the radio, I'm still not sure on it lol).

Anyways, the facebook status started a chain of people talking about living more simple, and dejunking their lives.  I have such a craving for this (and am far from it).  We have so much STUFF in our house (which boggles my mind because when we moved, I couldn't believe how much we were able to throw out) and I almost want to start at one room and dejunk it then go to the next.  I have even noticed that my daughter plays better if her toys aren't all scattered (she will scatter them, but not at first) and if they are put away to where she can pull out what she wants, she does better than if I leave it all over the floor.

What do you think?  How can we simplify our lives in the physical sense and mentally?  

Just a day

I really would like to blog more, but with work and family, it seems like by the time I'm ready to "sit", I'm ready to go to sleep! ha!  I feel like I've talked a lot about our farm and what's going on with raising animals, selling animals, etc.

Now it's on to raising the MOST important thing in our life, our daughter.  She just turned 19 months and BOY (errr girl!) is she full of energy!  We had a well child check up today and she was all over the waiting room making friends with an older gentleman, sharing her legos with an older kid, being a social butterfly.  I am honored that God saw Kris and I fit to be her parents, but scared out of my mind because she is like this freshly made clay that is ready to be molded and I feel like you have to do the molding just right.  Figuring out what that "just right" is, is near impossible! I struggle with where to draw the line of letting a kid be a kid, and discipline, letting them learn from trial and error, how to discipline out of love, not frustration, giving positive feed back for good behavior, what to do when your child throws a tantrum in public, etc. etc.  I spend a lot of time in prayer about this!

Natalie's check up went great (first time seems like there were no "concerns", we've dealt with a flat head, no walking, weak ankles, etc.)!  Her stats are right where they should be and she's following Daddy's foot steps, tall and lean.  I love the Dr. she goes to, he didn't push shots at all.  All he said was "No shots right?" I said right! and that was it.

Natalie's little mind is just a sponge and she's learning new things every day.  We have a routine when I get home from work.  I make her dinner, and then I don't let her go outside until 7 PM because of the heat.  at 7, we play outside, 7:30 come inside, take a bath if need be, then get ready for bed.  She's in bed by 8.  I've worked and worked on a schedule for her and she knows exactly what to expect and if I'm not ready to go outside at 7, she's at the front door banging on it saying "side side side" (her word for outside)

I guess that's the biggest scoop on our not so little 19 month old!

We did end up selling the Pygmy goats and bought two does, 6 month old Kinder and a 6 month old Kinder/Nubian.  They are the cutest and we call them Nemo and Emma.  They are notorious for escaping their pen, but Natalie loves them and they are kind and gentle with her.  She calls them "goaties, goaties goaties".

Summer is for Making Memories

Remember our week of no AC?  Dare I say that our new AC is coooooold!  I love it!  We keep the house at 75 during the day, and 76 at night.  The thermostat is in the living room (with vaulted ceilings) so while it is 75 in the living room, it's more like 68-70 in our bedrooms.  Mmmmmmm yes!
Here is a picture of Natalie sleeping with us when we had no AC.  We put a little AC window unit in our room.
Poor thing..

I've stressed a few posts about paying cash for everything.  We really try to watch where our pennies go (we are no means perfect and still have lots to learn and improve on).  We both decided it would be financially better for me to work on July 4th.  (Time in a half pay!) Kris supported what I wanted to do, whether work or not.  The 4th was on a Monday, and the Friday before while siting in meetings, I felt so bad not spending a Holiday with my daughter.  Family time and making memories is more important than making that extra Holiday pay.  I'm so glad I decided to take a 3 day weekend for my family.  We celebrated by having some nice dinners, one night kris cooked Duck, and on the 4th, we grilled and I made an American Flag Jello Cake.  Mmmm  

We took Natalie to see some fireworks.  She was stir crazy and wanted to run around until the fireworks started. She loved it, can you tell?  

That little girl just melts my heart!  Our ducks started laying eggs and we decided to try to incubate them.  We were successful.  Our hatch rate was 80% and 1 chick died leaving us at a 75% live rate.  Not too bad!  

Natalie loved the baby ducks!  She wants to touch them and pick them up.  

Our latest adventure, Kris ran across some FREE roosters.  Now this is HIS deal, he picked up the roosters and yesterday we (errr Kris and a friend) planned on butchering and processing 10 roosters and 5 ducks.  Kris got a "wild hair" (I learned that phrase while living in MO!) to build a chicken/duck plucker machine thing.  His very last screw to finish it off, he drilled a drill bit through his thumb and out his fingernail.  So yesterday afternoon instead of processing chickens, we were at urgent care getting x-rays and doped up on pain medication.  His thumb should be fine, ya know after the nail falls off and a new one comes back in.  Ugh.  But none the less, Natalie is enjoying the roosters.  

We are now up to 5 different chicken coops, bird pens, chick pens, etc.  How did we turn in to a poultry farm?  

My last post, I mentioned we purchased 3 Pygmy Goats.  We got them off of craigslist to help keep the brush on the back hill down, and maybe eat up the brush along the creek.  I don't know if we'll keep them "long term" or just until they "get the job done".  It's another animal that Natalie enjoys, and she can now say "Goat".  She is such a farm/animal girl.  I think her first word was "Duck".  (Before mama or dada)  

I tried taking pictures of the goats.  It was getting dark so, it's not great.  

Meet Billy:

Annie:

And Neo:

Last but not least, Natalie doing her favorite thing outside, playing with rocks:

I love that she LOVES to be outside, and is entertained by the simplest things.  She is now 18 months old.  I was talking with Kris tonight about what her 2 year birthday party theme should be.  I'm thinking a barnyard cowgirl theme!  Other than VeggieTales (her theme for 1 year), being outside with the animals is her favorite thing.  Now to convince my in-laws to let me turn their garage into a mini-petting zoo for the kids.  (Natalie was born January 1st, no outdoor party for her)  I'm thinking a pen in the garage for a baby goat, maybe rent some rabbits, other little barn yard animals?!?  They are going to KILL ME!  

If you've made it to the end, congrats!  This is what our Summer is shaping up to be at Goat Creek!  

Cash pt. 2 God Always Provides!

So remember my post I did a little while back about paying cash for everything?  We've had a big financial week with lots of prayer.  God never ceases to amaze me.  To back track some..........

A few months ago Natalie had a HORRIBLE rash.  First it was on her legs, then her mouth.  Even after prescription cream, the rash didn't go away completely.  We ended up having some very expensive blood work done to test for allergies.  We have a high deductable on insurance and well, that lovely bill came in the mail.  It was high enough we would normally make payments on it, but of course they add the incentive, pay it off by this date and it'll be $30 less.  We wondered how we could pay it off in one big chunk, then Kris pulled out a check he got in the mail from a customer for about $15 more than what Natalie's hospital bill was.  God thing  #1

This past weekend, we went to Arkansas to help some friends build an addition on to their house. We came home and immediately figured out our AC unit was not working.  Air was coming out of the floor vents but it was NOT cold.  A service man came out that night and basically said we needed a new unit (ours is 17 years old) and this thing: (stock photo)

was going to cost $3400.  I went in to panic mode.  We were determined NOT to go in to debt, but do not have $3400.  Monday was awful, I was at work and my face hurt so bad like I had been crying (even though I hadn't).  I was sick to my stomach, felt like the world was crushing in on me.  To make things worse, while in Arkansas, I had baptized my cell phone so I couldn't text Kris or call him the whole day. Our house was 94 degrees inside (windows open and ceiling fans running!) NOT safe for an 18 month old little girl.  I honestly felt hopeless, helpless, and never in my life so depressed.  I prayed and prayed all day.  After two days of Kris calling around for estimates, we had a plan in action.  I don't know WHAT kind of AC unit the first guy was trying to sell us, but we snagged a new unit for $1,700.  Remember, we live in a tin box, so we don't need an all out AC unit made of Gold.  

Remember my CASH post about Dave Ramsey and paying cash for EVERYTHING?  Dave says to keep $1,000 in an emergency fund.  a TRUE emergency fund.  This was a TRUE emergency.  But we were still $700 short.  This is where God does something BIG!  

I had canceled my retirement fund at work because I wanted to save that money for the first year to pay off bills.  I recently found out that my employer had been pulling money out of my paychecks and they were NOT authorized to do that.  After some phone calls and paperwork, my employer owed me $300.  My $300 check came in on MONDAY!  That, plus my almost $100 reimbursement for mileage check, we were only $300 short <--- which we were able to shuffle around and make do.  We'll just live on mac and cheese for who knows how long =)  

I don't want to get all "personal" with our finances.....but even the Bible says not to go in debt, and the borrower is slave to the lender.  I have made SEVERAL poor financial decisions in the past that has led me to a huge amount of debt that I am trying to climb out of.  My parents suggested community college first...and now I know why!!! (I was 18 and knew EVERYTHING!)

God promised that he will provide for our every need and He truly has!  This week has truly been amazing, and we are enjoying a new AC that can actually keep up and doesn't run all day.  God is good!

Now we are just praying for no financial emergencies and our fridge that drips water everywhere holds out a little longer. 

Since I am way behind on posting, just a few other sweet CASH (or free) deals we've gotten:

We now own goats!  3 Pygmies we bought for $100.

On the free section of craigslist there were some yard sale left overs.  We got a kids picnic table, sand box, and slide for Natalie all for FREE! 

I bought Natalie a used kitchen set with tons of food and dishes for $35.  I could probably turn around and sell for $50.