we are glass . . .

It has been an interesting journey this past several months for me and my family.  I have not been home (on the farm) and I am finding more than ever before that I a grateful for the family that God has given me.  Including the good and the bad.  The lyrics of this Thompson Square song is somewhat of a summary of the types of feelings that I have had for the last little while . . .

Tryin' to live and love
With a heart that can't be broken
Is like tryin' to see the light
With eyes that can't be opened

Yeah, we both carry baggage
We picked up on our way
So if you love me, do it gently
And I will do the same

We may shine, we may shatter
We may be pickin' up the pieces here on after
We are fragile, we are human
We are shaped by the light we let through us
But we break fast 'cause we are glass
'Cause we are glass

I'll let you look inside me
Through the stains and through the cracks
And in the darkness of this moment
You see the good in that

But try not to judge me
'Cause we've walked down different paths
But it brought us here together
So I won't take that back

We may shine, we may shatter
We may be pickin' up the pieces here on after
We are fragile, we are human
We are shaped by the light we let through us
But we break fast 'cause we are glass

We might be all in water
This could be a big mistake
We might burn like gasoline and fire
It's a chance we'll have to take

We may shine, we may shatter
We may be pickin' up the pieces here on after
We are fragile, we are human
And we are shaped by the light we let through us
But we break fast 'cause we are glass
We are glass

The reality of our lives is that whether it is good or bad, whether we are happy or sad, that we do spend our lives trying to live and love.  Trying to see the good through all the darkness.  And while we are living, try to love gently, and have others do the same.  Thank God that He loves us gently and gives us the grace to do the same.

baby pictures...

We just unearthed some baby photos of us older three.

It was like the first time I had seen a baby picture of me.

                                    

Here's one of me a couple months ago...

 Any difference?? :)

Post by MacyAnne

spearing fish...

Spearing fish?? Who on earth spears fish, you may ask. Can you even spear them?
Asher burst that bubble a couple days ago. I will let the photos speak for themselves...

Post by MacyAnne

going to prom . . .

Nolan went to PROM!  What?  Prom you ask?  Yes. Prom.  I'll let him tell you in his own words what happened.

time will tell . . .

It is quite funny what children will do to ensure they have the cups where they want them.

And time will only tell what happens next.  Our situation does not seems to be getting any better, and the time waiting is beginning to weigh heavy on all of us.

extremely hard . . .

Nolan has been such a great help around the farm this spring.  With working full time, he has still managed to help in so many ways.

First, setting up some movable fencing to allow the animals to graze off some of the rich clover on the garden spots.  And then last Friday helping me with the sheep shearing.  It was our first time shearing sheep and we had a wondeful teacher helping us along the way.  Flint has been working with sheep for several years and made the job seem so easy.  However, for both of us, it was extremely hard!

Ildi will be sending the wool off to get cleaned and carded, then it goes into her new spinning wheel to be made into yarn. YEAH!

thinking it through . . .

Contemplative . . .

So many times in our lives we think that our "little worlds" will never change.  The way things are will always be "the ways things are."  Sure, children grow up, the living room gets a new facelift, and the way we perceive something takes on a new perspective.  But, the way we live and the circumstances we are in, seems to stay mostly the same.

I, and we as a family, are currently NOT in one of those places in our lives.  The past few months has beckoned a new way of relating to one another.  This past time together has afforded a doorway for each of us in the family to walk through and make decisions on what we value, what we hope for, and what we stand for.  It is definitley a time of HUGE change.  A contemplative time to stay focused on God's plan for our lives.  A decision making time that will alter our lives together, forever.  May God be glorified and honored in our words and our actions. 

bowling . . .

Another great break activity!

We are all really bad at bowling, but we do enjoy doing it.  Over the holiday break I took the children out for a night to throw the balls down the lane.  We all opted NOT to have the guard rails on and just had fun knocking pins down.  Or not.  :)

For several weeks now I have attempted to post something of our Christmas time this year.  Each time I have sat down to upload pictures, the internet service has timed out, or my laptop has overheated and shut down without saving any of my work.  Today, I am making sure to KEEP my work.  :)

This year I went a little techy with gifts for some of the children.  They were in a little bit of shock because they have this strange idea that I am not a promoter of technology.  In fact, it is just the opposite.  And for the younger crowd, I did they usual making of gifts for them.

In addition to working out in the wood shop, cleaning up in the barn, and some sledding behind the Gator, we all spend oodles of time playing games and staying up late talking and laughing.  It is one of things that I think they will remember as the fun times when they were young.  :)

for the winter . . .

Since it was REALLY warm today, I took advantage of the great weather and did some detail work that I have been wanting to do in the barn for a long time.  I am now at the point on the farm that most of the major work is done, and I get to spend time doing some small jobs that are relatively easy.  For example, today I painted another one of the gates in the big barn.  (as well as fixing a few doors)  The gates are fine the gray color they are, but I like to have them painted.  All the outside gates were painted different neutral colors last summer, and now I am working my way through the barn painting the inside ones white.  Years ago I would have spent hours cleaning and prepping them to be painted perfectly.  Now that I am older, less stressed about things being perfect, I just wipe them down a bit with a towel and start spraying away!  Even OVER some of the manure.  :)   

 We have also gotten a lttle head start on mucking out the barn by pulling it off to one side.  (actually, shoveling manure is a form of work that the children do when they get a little naughty with me or each other)  Instead of taking it out in the summer when it is hot, we opted to leave it in the barn until cooler weather to work in.  In addition, it is nice to only move it once.  Now we are going to haul it out the garden and dump it on the garden rows for next planting season.

 And the chicken house was brought into the barn for the winter.  Usually it sits out on the big pasture and gets moved daily so the birds can eat fresh grass and bugs each day.  However, during the winter time, they spend most of the time inside the house huddling to stay warm.  As well, it is a bear to walk half a mile to gets eggs!  This year we put it in the south east side of the barn to see if is easier to deal with than where we put it last year.

The rest of the day was spent getting ready for the winter season this year.  Plastic up on the patio, chicken pens away, last mowing around the pond . . .