Out with the Old..

As I see the blogposts roll into my bloglines, I see that today the people are reflecting on the past year, so I thought I'd follow suit and write myself a little list of 2012. Just a few reminders of all that took place in a year thats almost behind us.

I'd like a jumping off point for when I begin the next year, and it begins with reflection. So here a bullet list of memories and accomplishments.

• I read through the entire bible from Genesis to Revelation for what I think is the first time in my entire life. (I've read other parts many times over, but can't say I'd read it through the way God put it together.)
• We put our trust in God to lead us in pulling our 3 kids from the public school and began to homeschool them in September.
• We lived our first full year on this here homestead.
• The Hubs began working fulltime somewhere other than his family farm for the first time in his life. (He'd done exchanges and part time jobs elsewhere)
• Ashlyn gave her heart to Jesus in November.
• Eden (4 years) got her first real hair cut.
• Gabe moved into his own room.
• We finished the basement and now consider the interior of the house finished. sigh.
• We planted our first garden here on the fifty and wildly grew vegetables and weeds with abandon. We creamed half an acre of corn.
• We owned our first lawnmower! A heap of junk that jiggles your insides, but its ours.
• We planted and harvested our own acres of soybeans and corn.

I am so thankful for all the ups and downs in 2012 and know that God is working on us. We are blessed and know that all we have is His. I am excited and filled with wonder this New Years Eve, as I think about what God has in store for us for 2013. It can be hard to realize all He's done unless you make a list...you should try it!

Seasonal sickness...

Yep. That most unwelcome guest has arrived, and it still doesn't realize that it's totally putting a cramp on our holiday style. If I were counting my thousand blessings, one of them would be thankfulness that we were able to celebrate the birth of our Saviour without the running back and forth to the lavatory.... this year, it decided to come just afterwards.

I, of course, was the lucky exception, and welcomed our guest earlier this month after returning from a night away at a waterpark hotel. You'd think I'd have been more aware after having just read the article about how totally disgusting hotel rooms can be...but no...I lived in ignorant bliss that night. I held that remote while shoveling those swedish berries in my mouth, I lived large and enjoyed every square inch of that wave pool with the throngs of vistiors from all areas of the world, probably even drank a little. Lets take a moment and think about that shall we? Pay huge bucks and lay in our used beds, flick through our channels with our little black box that hundreds have held before you..then, join us in the big water hole, and swim with our half naked guests, some of whom are too small to hold their bladders, and some of whom just really don't care about holding their bladders. Doesn't it all just sound like paradise?

WHY? why.

Anyway...for now, here, Red's been through it, The Hubs is going through it and Bubba just finished up...sitting there pale as a ghost. So, it's just the Little and I, and who even knows if this is the same strain as the water park bug..soo I may still be on the hit list.

Prayers appreciated!

There's peace...

Well we're in the swing of things. So much so that a weekend almost seems like an interruption. (A welome interruption of course :) I've been easing into this homeschooling thing and we've now reached our full load, I've yet to scrawl out a concrete schedule, but things are in rhythm.

I'd still like to write out our daily doings, not only for the kids to feel the satisfaction of crossing off their completed subjects but also for myself .. as evidence that we're really getting it done.

There's this overwhelming peace over our days, I know it's from the Lord and I'm ever in awe of His ways. So, so much better than my own.

I read this post today http://proverbs14verse1.blogspot.ca/2012/10/teaching-children-to-worship-morning.html  from the blog ' a wise woman builds her home' and what she says rang true. The math and reading are important, but nothing is more important than giving our day to His leading and putting Him first, Our devotion time sets the start of our day.  Like she says it's about whats eternally important.

Sure as shootin there are moments I want to pull my hair out, but there are far more moments that I'm able to enjoy watching them learn and grow.  I'm hardly able to answer without tears when people ask how homeschooling is going. It's exponentially superceeded my expectations of what it would be like. I'd envisioned days of clutter, boredom, whining and a tired old mom who gives until she is spent. (and indeed there are these moments) but far outweighing that are lighbulb moments, peaceful moments, love, character building, sharing, talking, and a great deal of giving...but that kind of giving that feels great....like tithing or gift giving. I get to share all these special moments with my kids and God has given me the ability to teach them..and love them...at the same time!

Lullaby...

The crumbs never seem to disappear. The realness of it all .. all over the house. We're together them and I and I see so much more.

Today he's decided to write a lullaby on his piano and I can't help but weep. The shells officially cracked and the pureness seeps out. He can lay it all down and have it all out right there at those keys. I feel his spirit, its gentleness it climbs right out of his heart and crawls down his arms to flow through those rounded fingers.

Enough to slay me, these three are. Thanks be to the Father.

Navigation..

They're there. Those gnawing anxieties.

Comes with the territory, massive life adjustments provide the perfect breeding grounds for gnawing anxieties. Those barnacles that need to be scraped off my soul ship, they need scraping then cleaning and re-painting.

I can't let them take hold. They leave marks, deep pits. It takes real effort, soul sweat, to scrape them away. If I alone, attempt to navigate those murky waters that permit the slow attachment of soul ship suckers,  I'll need to re-anchor my ship and allow the Captain to scrape away. Turning and Facing Christ.

Cleaning the soul ship is a grace job, I leave that to the Captain. He reminds me that he gave his life for that vessel. Forgiven.

Re-painting her requires real direction, following the lines. Soaking in scripture.

Re-align her navigation - 'Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.'  Colossians 3:2-3

My lighthouse in these dark waters...- 3 John 1:4 'I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.'

Amen.

Alone with the Lord..

This.  http://www.adisciplesnotebook.com/?p=429

This is what I mean when I talk about the pond being my special place. Do you have a spot to spend time alone with the Lord?

Enjoy this sunny day friends :)

Lovely Laneway...

Early on in our building process we decided to roll out a winding laneway. It's still one of my favourite parts about this place. It proved to be a bit difficult when the snow fell and there was no gravel to be seen...(t'was a bit of a guessing game as to where the winding began.) We were thankful for our trusty Dortmans Bros. reflectors :)

It was here before the house began.

The lane held the loo for the building months.

It even held our fine dining :)

So it was time we finished our lovely laneway with the final touch. Chanticleer pear trees. Our tree farmin' friends Tom and Christin showed up with 12 beautiful trees.

Diggin the holes with the skidsteer.

We used our reflectors as guides to help figure out where to plant the trees.

Our lane before trees.

And the final touch! Pear trees lining the lane.

The trees have a great slim top to them, they don't get ridiculously big, and they have flowers in spring and turn red in fall. ... I've already envisioned wedding dresses walking up this lane on a bed of petals. They've a few years before that'll happen ;)

The Pond..

There's this place at the back of our 50 acres that brings me back to life every time I see it. It may not be much to some, but to me, it's impossible to be there and not be filled with serenity.

Welcome to ... The Pond.

This day the pond had a gently floating cover of tree fluff.

God is so good. He's provided me with a place to 'Be Still..'

Le Discing

It's there. Rumbling in the backyard. The big ol' JD is waiting for this little lady (snicker) to get in there and get discing.
Ques que cest - le discing? you ask, well its something we lady farmers (snicker) do after plowing and before cultivating, to work the land in yet another manner..breaking down the clumps and clods and trying to prepare a luxurious seed bed for our...well...seeds.
As am I slightly inept at pulling large implements near fence rows, the hubs has taken it upon himself to disc the headlands for me (he really just needs his fix of the musty cab of the big green tractor, the dust flyin', and the air seat bopping to the tunes of the christian station)

My Turn!

Good day..

Well the test went as well as possible.. not really the answers we were looking for, but answers nonetheless. She's allergic to beech trees, maple trees, cats, and cockroaches of all things. The allergist let us know that if we take Ashy to a hotel and she becomes stuffed up and sneezy, there's a good chance we're in the midst of roaches. Nice huh? My kid is a roach detector. (gimme 10$ and I'll loan her out to sniff the room when you're a -holidaying ;)

In other news, it's February now. (Guess that's not really news unless you've been living under a rock for a few months.) February in this house is a bad word. I'd love to skip right over this month and move on to March. This month brings this mama many a-challenge. I fight daily to remain chipper. I KNOW it's the lack of sun and outdoor oxygen, it happens every year around this time. Vitamin D, SAD lights, exercise and routine are supposed to help.. and they do..when you use them :)

Today the sunlight is pouring into the house, which is a delightful change to the past few cloudy days. When we built the house we turned it, so that it would face south east in winter, thus allowing the sun to attach itself to my face on a regular basis. Today it is attaching nicely. Burning my retinas actually. Guess the choice is now between blindness or depression....tough call.

As I was just settling into my armchair this morning, preparing to leave a large (large because February is also my prime month for growing .. out not up .. ) dent as I spend a good portion of my day in it, a truck caught my eye as it slowed in front of the house. I'm not sure about you, but when a car slows in front of my house, it sends me into a panic, taking quick evaluation of my appearance and the disarray surrounding me. The evaluation came back to me with nauseating results. The Hubs sweatshirt, no make-up and a house thats been neglected for 3 days meant there was little I could do before the doorbell rang.

Thankfully, as I scurried to my room, as fast as my sloth like beast of a body could scurry, I took note that the truck was that of 'Denois' (names have been changed to protect the innocent) (pronounced Den-wa). Denois purchased our last vehicle from us, and asked for a payment plan as he couldn't afford the price upfront. We agreed and he's been showing up every 2 weeks with what he can pay. In hindsight, post dated cheques of a nominal amount would have surely provided less anxiety. There's no set time for his arrival and lucky for me it's when he's on his way to work ( read: EARLY)Applying a fly-lady principal, of dressing head to toe each morning..would also result in far less anxiety. Why don't I learn!!

Ding-Dong.

The exchange was made and he also brought a double double from Tims. Can't complain really...cold hard cash and coffee. The sight of his truck should bring Glee!

So here I sit, dent growing, coffee cooling and the budget awaiting its addition. Oh .. and retinas burning.

It's gonna be a good day.

Banning Bananas..

In this here household, we've not eaten nearly as many bananas as we once did. Our little Ashy has been showing symptoms of an allergy to them..itchy ears,face, mouth and tongue. The same goes for Kiwi..totally weird huh? Pretty awful fate for a kid who gets most of her dietary needs from raw fruits and vegetables. (If ONLY God had blessed me with a solitary craving for these foods.) She also reacts to Advil chewables, and fruit punch of all things...

When she had the chewables (about a year and a half ago) we had to bring her to the hospital because she suddenly resembled Gonzo. Her nose grew about twice the size! With the fruit punch she says it hurts her brain really bad, and believe it or not she gets dark patches on her forehead..  poor girl.

Today is the day of reckoning.. time for the test.  Please pray for her :)

The BIG Cook!

Here's how it all begins: Christin and I both  shop for our alotted grocery list from the wonderful spread sheet she's created. We try to save as much money as possible by shopping at No Frills and look for deals up to a week before we shop. Once that's done, we await the BIG day and bring all our ingredients together! Here's a picture of how we organize it - label each meal and put all ingredients for that meal together. (this was our Christmas bake, where we made a ridiculous amount of cookies, bars, squares, cookies, dipped pretzels etc)

This was the Bacon meatloaf that was from the recipe book ' The Big Cook' .. Anyone who is interested in this style of cooking, MUST buy this book. It provides great tips of the trade as well as an abundance of recipes. Some of the recipes are trial and error..but we've found a few keepers...the 'Zippy Porkchops' are a favourite! All of the meals are put into either large ziplocks, or aluminum pans for freezing. Each bag is labelled with recipe name, style of cooking (crockpot or oven), temperature, and time to cook.  No need to keep recipe book handy that way.

Here is Christin in the kitchen, using the processer she totes along each time we cook - what a great tool it is!

Here are a few of the dipped pretzel rods we made. Some were dipped in sprinkles, skor bits, and cookie crumbs. Made for a nice decorative treat.

These were the date pinwheels (Christins nana's recipe) that turned out to be a family favourite for us!

The real bonus to cooking in these large batches all in one day, is the savings on dishes and time. I'm also more apt to invite company for dinner when I've got a frozen meal on hand!

A great idea for busy moms!

 And yes ... the kitchen definitely gets worse before it gets better. We try to clean as we go, and keep an open garbage, a burn box (something that folks in the country have the luxury of having ;) and a recycling bin on hand to keep the empty packaging to a minimum.

 Slappin' the meat in there :) Cooking CAN be fun!

What's for supper tonight???