We Bought a Farm: What's Bloomin' in our Hollers

Spring is here! So very exciting to see all this new life and green emerging. JB snagged a bunch of pictures from on our "Hollers" as we call them (deep ravines in between our ridges.)

We Bought a Farm: Intro to Permaculture

We are very excited to bring a day conference to our farm!

Click here to read all about it!

We Bought a Farm: Easter Smiles

Moving is tough. It is especially hard at holidays.

I remember that last Easter, I was still finding my footing in this new town -- my tenth move in twenty years. My kids desperately wanted to do an Easter Egg Hunt. So I found one at a local church and we went.

But I felt so alone. JB was working. I didn't really have many good friends yet. And here I was just tagging onto a church's hunt not knowing a single person there. 

Fast forward one year. Our Homeschool Group decides to do their own hunt. We go. I know people. I have a village. I have community. It feels so wonderful to have that in this new place. We do live far away, but honestly, nearly everyone around these parts does. This is my home. I belong. 

I'm tearing up just saying that. It's one thing to find community in the temporary places you live. But when you find it in your forever place. 

Sweetness. 

Here are some pictures of our day.

They started the hunt with the oldest kids due to scheduling issues. The younger kiddos stayed inside to watch. That's Hannah in the red sweater standing on the ledge. And that's my Abigail in the pink pants. The two girls standing on either side of Abigail are two of our newest friends. They are Allie and Hailey. They are in public school and in Abigail's ballet, but they are going to be homeschooling next year and starting to get their feet wet. Abigail ADORES them. They are such a neat family, and I'm so excited we've started to become friends!

This is Hannah with her preschool hunt group.

Here's my K-2 kiddos. Isaac is third from left, Sidge is fourth from left, and Abigail is in the blue shirt next to her new friend. Abigail is actually in pre-kindergarten at home, but in co-op she is in Kindergarten.

Abigail and Hailey. Hailey is actually in fourth grade, but she has a great personality for Abigail -- both very soft and sweet. :)

Shocker. Hannah put this outfit together herself. It is an adorable Easter dress covered by a purple sequence top and a red sweater. She had socks on at one point. I have no idea where they are now.

Hannah picked her eggs based on what they looked like -- not proximity to her. Sparkly and cute were the winners.

My shirt which says "Raising My Tribe." I'm talking to my new friend Erin here. I really like her!

Homeschool Christ-Centered Easter Activities

Click here to jump to some awesome Easter Activities that keep Christ at the forefront!

Tribe Life Tuesday: Proper, Suitable & Full of Purpose

A weekly post from my childhood to grown-up friend Carrie ~ 

sharing her awesome life and her desire to have community while doing it!

Happy Tribelife Tuesday! I am so excited you are here today. Take a moment and look out your window. What kind of day is it? Crisp and sunshiny? Cool and cloudy? Is it all out storming?

Whatever is happening out there, do you see beauty?

My favorite kind of day is a cool, cloudy one, which is probably why I love autumn and winter so

much.

I like spring a little less, because of the storms that it brings. And certainly my least favorite season is summer, because me and the heat are not friends. Yet, the truth is there is beauty in every season. 

In the spring the storms bring with them new life and growth, then comes the summer where the earth

buds at a rapid rate as it embraces the sun and all its glory! Then in autumn the rhythm of rest comes

as we prepare to hibernate, and finally winter arrives and it seems like all goes still awaiting the

arrival of the cycle to begin again. It’s a magnificent process, but I am not here to write about

weather patterns, today I want to focus on seasons, both expected and unexpected. For the purpose

of our discussion, let’s go with this definition of season: a proper or suitable time.

In life we are offered the opportunity to live in seasons. I can think back to many moments in my

life that seemed neither proper or suitable but all is for purpose, whether it's known or unknown at

the time. My life has certainly mirrored that of nature's seasons. Honestly, that’s probably one of

the reason I always feel drawn to places that have 4 seasons, I love that rhythm.

My spring

A time in my life that definitely mirrored spring was the first few years of my marriage. It was in full bloom with plenty of storms. I got married at the brisk age of 21 and was confident thatit was the right time to make that leap into FOREVER. But we probably should have slowed down a bit and waited a little longer. So, as the result of impatience, we experienced a few more storms than we needed to. I remember not having much of anything as we were learning to budget properly and spend accordingly; it was rough. What a stormy few years that was! Thank goodness that season

is over.

My summer 

Please someone turn down the heat… Once spring has come and gone, the days are long and the nights short. I think Joe and I are in a summer season now. We’ve found a groove and have begun to journey in tandem. Life is moving rapidly and we are pursuing dreams, setting goals, attaining them and, with the sun shining down us, we are soaking up all we can. I am so enjoying where we are right now and am grateful for this beautiful season.

My autumn 

The sweetest season there is. R.E.S.T. This is one I fight for. Probably the most difficult one for me even though I love it the most. How does one rest when there is so much to do? There is something that happens to me when I see the leaves begin to change colors and air begin to get cool and crisp. This season screams family to me. Maybe because Thanksgiving falls in this time or all the neighborhood traditions that happen; it’s just the best! Autumn is my time to be seated, to breathe deep, and embrace rest. Nature does it, so it must be important. There is something about Autumn that makes me more present than any other season. I watch closer and stop quicker. Prior to 1600 A.D. autumn was referred to as “harvest", and truly it is a time for me to step back, see all the work done in the year and all that was produced, and simply enjoy.

My winter 

The season of hibernation. This is what we prepare for all year. I think we face more “winter” seasons then we’d like. They're harsh and unbiased. There is no amount of preparation that can prepare you a winter storm. It sometimes comes out of nowhere and traps you. This is the hardest of all seasons. It's dark and dismal and absolutely necessary. There is no one who is exempt from winter. I’ve come to understand that often times the only way to bright blooms is through harsh atmospheres. So, if you are currently in winter, stay steadfast, spring always comes.

So what season are you in today? Are you basking in the sun of summer? Enjoying the rest of

autumn? Drudging through the difficulties of winter? Or smelling the new growth that is blooming

before you? Also, do you have your tribe with you? Because, as you know, everything’s better with

the tribe.

Embrace the season you’re in because when it’s over you will want to have gone through it well.

Thank you for reading, see you next Tuesday.

Carrie

*Please note that content in guest blogs is not necessarily shared by the station manager (i.e. Wendi!)

Tuesday Truth

Geography

Yesterday was the day my boys had been waiting for! It was the Geography Bee at our homeschool co-op. There were 14 kiddos signed up for the Bee, and in the end, Sidge finished 4th and Isaac finished 2nd. Since it was for grades 3-8 and my boys were the two youngest at second grade, I truly believe they did the very best they could! (Sidge actually did not take the Geography class so he was extra-challenged.) Here is the only quick picture I snapped right before the Bee started:

I'm constantly learning as a mother. Here is what I learned today. I can be more nervous watching my two second graders compete in a small Geography Bee than I can be playing in a state championship basketball game in high school. My stomach was in knots.

In the end, we got exactly what we hoped to out of the Bee. It is so important that I remember what the big picture is all about. Years from now, winning the Bee isn't what will help them in life. But I believe the following things will stay with them for a lifetime:

1. Deciding to participate in something and following through!
2. Meeting new people who are like you and not like you and treating them with kindness and love!
3. Overcoming nerves and understanding what adrenaline is!
4. Respecting the judges and administrators and being appreciative of people's hard work!
5. Committing to an activity and studying and preparing for it successfully!
6. Being honest and showing noble character!
7. Having fun while practicing and preparing and participating in the activity!
8. Learning to be a gracious loser and a respectful winner!

These are the things we got out of the Bee, and while I was nervous as all get-out (and so were the boys!) it was a wonderful event. Sidge took his elimination question really hard because he is so sensitive, but he still went up and thanked Ms. Kymberly and did not argue with the decision. And by the time Isaac had been eliminated, he and the winner had gone back and forth so many times with no one missing a question, that part of me thinks he was relieved for a decision to have been made. 

Anyways, I also wanted to quickly flash back to Isaac's first "board" that he presented for school. This was also for the Geography class. He did his report on the state of Florida. We shared Key Lime tarts and gatorade with the people who checked out the boards too. He had so much fun working on this project:

Saturday Smiles

We Bought a Farm: What is Cage Free?

I used to not understand this. I used to think if I was buying cage free eggs, I was doing better. But this is the truth. You want to be buying pasture-raised eggs. And the best is pasture-raised and organically fed. You won't find these in any "regular" grocery store. The last time I looked, they were close to $8 a dozen in Whole Foods. But you probably live near a farmer who is doing this. Try to find them!

One Year

It is hard to believe that it has been one full year since we said good bye to our buddy, Scrubs.

About two weeks ago, Sidge brought up that we were coming up on April 1st. He asked if we could have a memorial day for Scrubs. I said yes, and told Sidge he could plan it, and he RAN with it. Grama really helped as well, and the two of them (with some minor input from the other kiddos) came up with an entire day of activities.

In the days leading up to our memorial (which we held a few days before April 1st so that Daddy was off work and Grampa and Grama were in town), I really cried a lot. I did not want to have this memorial. I wanted to just forget about it. I really try not to be melodramatic, but I do feel by body remembered the trauma, and it was just all coming flying back at me. 

How can a dog do this to you?

So, here are some photos from our memorial events. First up: planting daffodils at his grave:

Each kid also took a ride on the four wheeler while we planted daffodils. This really lightened the mood:

All on his own, Sidge decided to wear black and white in honor of Scrubs. And Abigail picked out a dress with polka dots on it. They came into my bedroom with these clothes on first thing in the morning, and I knew it was going to be an emotional day:

Here's all four kids at our grave site:

It was very important to all the kiddos that the other dogs were present for the festivities:

In honor of Scrubs, we ate pizza outside on the front porch. Hannah, of course, brought her own pizzazz to the festivities:

John  made a huge dalmatian so we could "pin the spot" on the dalmatian:

Grama made a cake in the shape of a bone. (She's amazing!) I also bought cookies with "chocolate spots". Again, these were all the ideas of Grama and Sidge:

Here is the picture that hangs on the wall of our house (a gift from our friends Shane and Linda). I love this dog:

We Bought a Farm: One of my favorite things

One of my favorite things about life on the farm is a red pick-up truck in my driveway.

Okay. Not exactly. I mean I like red. But that's not what I was taking a picture of.

I'm taking a picture of another farmer who heard we had duck eggs and came by to get some.

I love meeting other farmers.

I especially love meeting other organic farmers.

(The guy in the red truck was an organic farmer!)

I love talking to them about what they are growing and what they are raising and what they are selling. I love that we feel connected somehow.

They live out in the middle of nowhere. And we live out in the middle of nowhere. And somehow our nowheres connect.

There are a lot of misconceptions about these rural farmers. You have an image in your mind. But I have their image in front of me.

These are often very educated, very intelligent, and very helpful and kind individuals. They embrace all people and truly do not care what you look like or where you are from or what your name is.

They just want to know what you farm.

And talk about farming.

Oh and they will often comment that "Ya'll don't sound like you're from around here."

No accent on JB or me.

I've been so impressed by all the farmers I have met. Some have formal educations. Some can't read or write. But they know their jobs, and they take pride in the plants and animals they are raising for their communities.

(And while their vehicles aren't always red -- they usually drive a truck!)

We Bought a Farm: When you know you are doing the right thing

Oh this video makes me SOOOOOO happy. It tells me, without a doubt, that we are doing the right thing by bringing these "strangers" to our home to help us on our farm.

I have my doubts sometimes. I wonder if this is a good idea. These are people we don't know, and we have young children.

But we keep feeling the Lord telling us: "Keep going." And so we do. These are people who are very different from us with varied pasts and lives.

Jesus said that his greatest commandment was to love one another. And so that is what we are trying to do, in a very small way.

Jordan was one of our very favorite WWOOFers (Although I feel all of our WWOOFers is our favorite in a different way.) He offered us so much love and kindness and simply became immediately nestled in all of our hearts.

When Jordan left we gave him a very small monetary gift as we knew he was traveling with NO money. We just wanted to make sure he could get to his next place and not be hungry.

You will hear in this video that he didn't feel he could spend that money. So he found another family in Mexico to give that money to!

He has started a Facebook page, and I think he is starting a journey to travel around without money and help different people.

What a life!

We are so honored to have had our paths cross and look forward to following more of his life.

P.S. We are also INCREDIBLY excited about the possibility of beginning to have native people come to our farm to train in Permaculture. We are in talks with Dr. Chris from Faith Alive in Nigeria to have two Nigerian men come and stay with us to learn and take that knowledge back to their homes! This was the organization JB and I did a month-long mission trip with before we had children. Stay tuned!

Military Moments (with Amanda!): Checklists Galore

I am so excited about these weekly Blog post from Amanda -- our chaplain's wife when I lived in Turkey. These"Military Moments" posts allow her to discuss and share ideas and stories from military life. 

This week I was reminded that even though I’m far from my extended family, I’m still surrounded by people who show love to us. A retired military contractor who works here (he’s leaving Spain this week to move back to the states) found out we were moving to South Dakota and contacted Ron to see if we wanted to meet him for lunch one day to answer any questions we might have. I’ve never met this man, and all he knows is that we have kids and we’ll be moving to his home town.  He met with us the day before he was scheduled to fly out to move back to the states. Y’all, he wrote three hand-written pages of things that we should see and do in Rapid City and the surrounding area.  He talked to us for over an hour and went over each one of the 29 points.  It was an incredibly thoughtful thing for him to do for us and I appreciate it so much.  Speaking of checklists…

It’s been a couple of weeks since we found out where our next duty station will be.  We are in the middle of my checklist for the move.

1. Search Facebook for groups: This turned up more groups than I can keep up with, so now I’m in the process of figuring out which ones I want to be in.
2. Find out about fostering: I’ve not been able to contact the county offices because Rapid City is on the edge of two counties.  Until we know where we will live, it’s going to be hard to narrow down our county office.  I have written an email to the state-wide foster parenting website, but I’ve not gotten a reply in over a week, so I need to do more follow-up work on this one.
3. Homeschool Rules: I quickly found a wonderful Facebook group for homeschoolers and they informed me of the South Dakota homeschooling rules.  More lenient that Maryland in some areas, except for mandatory testing for certain grades.  We are all satisfied with the laws except for the one who will have to take standardized tests for the first time in his 13 years of life.  Just another learning experience, right?
4. Houses to live in: I’ve just stopped looking.  I have found multiple houses that I would love to live in, but I then go down some weird HGTV inspired rabbit hole and realize those houses might not be there in five months when we move in.  So, then I turn it off and sulk. 
5. History of the area: Our new friend with all the information also provided some of this.  Then a quick google search for a timeline of South Dakota brought up a couple of books that look interesting.  I put in an order for a couple from amazon, so we’ll start reading those as soon as they get here.
6. Search the house for things to sell: This is the least fun for everyone except Ron.  He loves to throw things away.  We’ve done most of the main parts of the house, but the kids’ rooms haven’t been done at all.  I’m saving that for when my parents visit us in a little over a week!  We have the garage sale date set, so now we’ve got to finish looking through everything so we can be ready.
7. Jobs and extracurricular activity for children:
• Our 18-year-old wants a job, but something with animals, or coffee, or books.  It seems she’s open to a lot of jobs, and she has bookmarked nearly every place that has a job opening.  Let’s hope some of them are still hiring in August.
• The 13-yr. old wants to take Judo with Ron.  He also wants to find a scout troop and find a way to “work with birds” (but only birds of prey… they are the coolest!)!
• The 10-yr. old wants to “do parkour or gymnastics” and find a cub scout pack for his last year before boy scouts. 

That is only MY checklist for our move.  Things that I’ve been wondering about and wanting to make sure I know all about. 

There are quite a few websites that provide comprehensive checklists for PCSing.  I’m not nearly disciplined enough to go through them, but it is nice to have those lists to look at.  One of my favorites is here.  Military.com has tons of information about the military in general, but this is one of my favorites things on their site.  It has different checklists depending on how long you have left before your PCS.  Since we will be moving sometime in August, we are too early for any of their checklists.  However, we are going to be having all of our stuff packed up at the end of May or the beginning of June.  We want to make sure there are NO issues with getting our stuff to South Dakota before we get there. 

Overseas bases have furniture that you can borrow until your household goods (HHGs) arrive, and you can borrow them again after your stuff is packed out, but that doesn’t happen in the continental US (CONUS).  We don’t want to find a house and have no furniture.  I’m sure I’ll be missing my bed by then.

The earliest checklist they have is for 3 months before you move.  Since we are packing our stuff in June, I still looked through this checklist to see what I can work on. 

It’s safe to say that I’m getting overwhelmed at the number of things on this list.  So, I’ll stick with my small checklist about the things I’m most excited about, and I’ll report back as we get closer to leaving. 

Side Note:  We are going to work our way through every item on his list while we are in South Dakota.  I’ll be documenting our “Checklist Journey” on our family blog if you are interested.

Opinions expressed in guest posts are not necessarily those of the station manager (i.e. Wendi!)

I love this guy!

I just discovered this guy's Facebook page and love what he is trying to do! 

His page says: "I was born in Brooklyn, NY raised in New Haven, CT. I'm a 27 year old director, producer, and motivational speaker. I love using the medium of video to create messages of positivity and happiness to share with the world."

This makes me happy

Review: Talk Yourself Happy

I don't often agree to review "self help" books. Honestly, I don't like them very much. I find they mostly say the same things, I can't remember the advice later, and they don't keep my attention for very long. 

However, Talk Yourself Happy by former 700 Club host Kristi Watts got my attention, and I truly appreciated her advice. 

Here's what I liked about it. Kristi faced some incredible disappointments. And she doesn't get her life all wrapped up in a bow by the end of the book. 

I have quite a few friends right now who are going through some very challenging events in their life. And they don't need to hear about a magic formula that you can follow to find happiness again. What they all need to hear is: you can find happiness in the midst of a challenging situation. And I felt that Kristi really gave some concrete ways to help foster this in your life.

How can a person bounce back after being beaten down personally, professionally, and emotionally? Kristi was there, and came face to face with what happens when life doesn't go the way you had planned. 

This is a powerful book for those of you who have found your life completely off-track. It doesn't tell you how to get it back on-track. What it tells you is how to embrace and find God in the midst of your derailment.