One Seriously Incredible Man

There is a man that lives under this farmhouse roof with me.

He wakes up at 5am to hang out with our Solomon after my little man and I have had a nice long night together.

He fixes toilets, tractors, and broken windows.

He knows how to love on crazy kiddos, how to pray over their broken hearts... how to make them laugh until they have tummy aches.

When I'm pregnant, his head smells like dirty socks to me. I'm so glad I'm not pregnant anymore. :)

This man, he's slept next to me for thirteen years. He's known me in ways that no other person on earth has known me. He's held me tight and kissed me long.

And when our firstborn spouts off in the kitchen out of his own ignorance that "inside chores are a woman's job," this man tenderly puts our son in the best place, and reminds him, "Your Mama may do a lot of the work inside this home, but God has called you to serve and love on a woman like Christ loves the church. So as you grow I pray that the Lord puts a servant heart in you, and that He tears down any pride."

He's the kind of man I want my daughters to marry.

He's welcomed five amazing treasures into this world with me, and we've cried happy tears together every time.

I'm a fairly low maintenance sort of gal, (at least I'm hoping I am) but every single time that I have needed or wanted anything, he has made it happen for me.

When I've been squishy and lumpy from all those babies, this man has cupped my face in his hands, looked straight into my eyes, and spoken the word beautiful right into my heart.

He snores, shoots raccoons in our driveway, and feels closest to the Lord when he's out in the field on his tractor.

He's patient... patient in a way that I envy.

He works hard to put a roof over our head and food on our table, and his hard work allows me to stay home with our five amazing treasures.

I've known this man since I was 12 years old, and I stood in the kitchen on the anniversary of our friend David's death and I cried hard at the thought of having to spend a day without this man under my roof.

My Joey, I love him with my whole heart.

He's one seriously incredible man. 

Happy Happy Birthday to the one I love!!!

Thank you for the way that you love me. :)

When It's Too Stinkin Hot To Do A Spelling Lesson

It's been crazy hot on the farm this week and the ceiling fan in the living room of the farmhouse isn't really cooling things off.

It was in the middle of a spelling lesson that the heat just became too much.

So they put on their swim suits and turned on the hose and it all just got better from there.

Spelling is important...

But so is fun and joy and a handful of treasures laughing in the middle of a hot summer day...

So we put the books down
and took an hour
and played
and got wet
and cooled off.

And when the afternoon rains came, we got back to our spelling and finished up right before dinner.

"Let Grace Abound"

It's our motto this year. 

And it's exactly where this tired Mama needs to rest when she chooses the hose over a spelling lesson. :)

Another Year At The Farm's One Room School House

Another year in the one-room-school-house has begun...

How do we home school with five kids under the age of 8 in the farm house??? 

Only by the truth on the wall... Without Him, truly I have no idea how people home school. :)

We do academics,

&

We do life...

We"re trying out a new system this year. I love this lady. She's loaded with great ideas and free (or crazy cheap) printables. 

We have a few first-day-of-school traditions... They might be kind of cheezy, but we like them...

Each year I hang a sign on the school room doors and everyone gets to cut the string before they enter into another year of learning. :)

Each year we take "first day of school" pictures. 

I can hardly believe that this amazing girl is already in second grade...

Each kiddo has a few personal goals for the year. It help me as a Mama to know how to encourage their hearts to grow. It also reminds me that we all have stuff to work on and there is a difference between actions and attitudes that need discipline and actions and attitudes that simply need training. These goals for Hal, fall in the training department.

My Dancing Girl is praying that the Lord would help her to persevere when an assignment seems to hard. She's striving to try new things and to improve on her reading skills this year.

 And this monkey... He seriously talks ALL_THE_TIME... He's got a wee bit of an attitude going on these days but we're working diligently on it. He's got some goals for this year...

1. Listen the first time.

2. Use words, don't whine.

3. Obey quickly and JOYFULLY...Often times he'll obey, but he'll make this face at me... I know he's overwhelmingly cute, but this three-year old "tude" has got to go! :)

 I remember walking through this season with one or two of the older kids. It's hard to stay on top of things with little guy when I'm trying to do stuff with the older kids, but I keep trying to remind myself that it's worth the few minutes that it takes to correct his little heart to the point of repentance and restoration. I'm not 100% consistent, but I'm praying ferevently throughout these days that the Lord would help me to follow through as often as I possibly can. Training him in joyful, first-time obedience is an endeavor worthy of my love and my time. :) 

And my firstborn... He has become so independent over the past 3 years. There are a lot of subjects that he is willing and able to do on his own. I am so incredibly proud of this little man. He has three goals for the year... 

1. To receive correction with joy.

2. To take responsibility for his actions, especially when he's wronged someone. 

3. And to speak kind words with the help of the Holy Spirit in his heart. I'm excited to see what the Lord does in this amazing little boy's heart this year.

And my Spunky Girl... She's thrilled to be starting Kindergarten. I just love her zest for all of life.  I bought her one new skirt for school and I bought her sister a handful of things because she has grown out of so many of her clothes and my spunky girl has all her sister's hand-me downs. I was thinking that she might be sad at the store because her sister got more but you know what she did? She walked right up to the checkout lady and told her that she was five and starting kindergarden and that she couldn't wait to put on that new skirt when she got home... and then she started jumping up and down and litterally saying "woot, woot!" and clapping because she was so beyond thrilled. Man, this girl is awesome!!! 

She has some goals too. 

She tends to tell her Mama what to do... we're gonna work on that.

She's going to work on listening the first time.

And she's going to work on not whining at her brothers when they are bothering her, but instead she's going to use a self controlled voice to tell them what she needs.

And the Mama... I have some goals of my own.

They are all things that I just can't do in my own strength. 

1. I long to speak words that make their souls stronger, words that build them up.

2. I pray for patience, the kind that can only be put in a Mama of five by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

3. And I'm asking that He would allow me to know how to pour into each treasure individually, as my temptation is to put them all in a bunch because that's what's easiest for me.

And this cute monkey... 

Well he's got some goals of his own...

1. Eat well

2. Potty often

3. Sleep long

That's all.

Maybe someday soon I'll post our curriculum choices for the year. But it's been a long day at the school house, so that's all for now. :)