Simply Days

Daily Devotion 242

Stressful Times

Happy Friday!

Updates from the Homestead

Yesterday was such a nice sunny day..  a day to enjoy our pond and the sunshine . Today is promising to be the same. The nice weather is an appreciated change from the stint of cool wet weather we had; looks like we are back to summer weather for a few days.  I am not really ready to head into fall quite yet. The cooler weather however did get me in the soup making mode. Yesterday I made veggie beef soup and it was yummy. I put a couple individual servings of it in the freezer for Tobin’s lunches while I am gone.

While I am gone Emily and Leanne will be holding down the fort. I have meals lined up for them to cook, groceries in the house, and should have just about everything I need to do, done! It is a blessed feeling to know that my girls are able to handle the house, the kids and the meals and pack dad’s lunch while I am gone. I will try and update you when I leave and who knows, maybe while I am there if I am not too busy. 

On Wednesday the girls and I (and Isaac) went to town. Emily took her Western Civilization 2 CLEP test and passed (YEA!!). Then we went grocery shopping at Costco and then went to Starbucks and got our coffee and ended up at Ikea perusing the store with coffees in hand. Emily bought a book shelf for her bedroom. She has a really small room and was drowning in lack of organization. So now the books have a place to go. We saw some cute little baskets that hang on the wall.. but they were out of stock. We will check back next week (or when I get back.. something I keep saying often now). She thought that would be a perfect way to make a place for things and look pretty. She will be all organized before you know it and then there won’t be ANY reason why we can’t see her bed on some days.. right???  

Today I have house cleaning on my list and laundry. I really need to get some soap made before I go so I will try and get things set up to do that so I can make it tomorrow (if I am still here ).  Sierra, Isaac and I will be heading to the recycling center to take in our recycling. Jacob has been working all week for a neighbor and will continue that today. And we have school to do as well. Dinner tonight will be chicken pot pie and a salad. Emily and Leanne won’t be here so I will have to adjust my recipe so I don’t have too many leftovers.

That is all for today… Hope you all have a great weekend on your homesteads! 

Daily Devotion 241

Enjoying the simple things in life...

Hello my dear, dear friends... I hope this evening finds you all well. 
I have had some things on my heart that I want to share with you tonight, some news from my husband that makes these things even more real to me.  On this roller coaster ride of life we don't know what the next turn will hold... whether we will be plummeting into a valley or climbing a high mountain... It is uncertain, it is sometimes frightening... but we as children of the Living God have a safe and secure end to all of this twisting and turning. 
My husband has just informed me that he may be losing his job come Tuesday.  It is a sudden blow to our family.  It is scary, but it is not something that our God, Jehovah-Jireh, The One who Provides, can't handle.  He is able.
So my mind is how we can be even more frugal minded than we already are.  Suppers can be made a bit more cheaply and stretched a bit farther, I have my website that I am trying to sale some things and my Etsy.  We don't do a whole lot of extra-curricular activities so that is not a big thing.  I try and limit my trips to run errands... maybe instead of once a week I could make it once every two weeks.  And these things are well and good... BUT... I don't want them to cloud my focus.  I don't want them to dampen my spirit and choke my joy. 
Things that are precious to me, things that are simple and lovely and good... I am going to focus on those...
God's sweet promises
A good morning kiss from my husband
The early morning snuggle time with my children
The rain on the roof
Freshly picked vegetables from the garden
Hearing my children pray
Seeing kindness from my kids to their siblings or others
The strong arms of my husband
Snowflakes
Beautiful skies painted by God's own hand
Piano Music
Laughter
Open windows and a gentle breeze
Candlelight
Church hymns sung acapella
Warm soup on a cold and dreary day
My husband reading the Bible to our family
Homemade gifts
Flowers
Smiles
Hearing, I love you Moma
These things and more are the real and true things, the things to be treasuring... not the material, not the temporal...
We trust that through this valley God will be glorified... that He will be lifted up.  That He holds us with His Almighty Hand and we can be at peace knowing He will never let us fall.
God be with you dear ones.

Monthly Measuring/Weigh-In

Time for my monthly measurements... Overall, I'm happy.  Sure, I wish it was a bit bigger difference, but I know some muscle building is going on and my arms are not as flabby, even if they haven't gone down a whole lot.  You can kind of see a trend... second month measurements went up, most likely due to muscle increase.  This month my hips went down just slightly which I was surprised, because I did alot more biking with a bike with no speeds and I could feel it with my upper thighs and buttocks.  Figured they'd be bulging!  LOL.  I see that I am trimming from the top down.... reminds me of those weight loss commercials where you see both man and wife gain weight (cartoons), and then they lose weight and the woman loses her arms and *****, yet keeps her tummy and hips.  Hope that trend doesn't continue... at least the difference isn't large and overall I am not loosing ***** yet, LOL, considering I gained a bit of muscle underneath when I started exercising more regularly.    I was smiling big a couple weeks ago when the doctor's office visit confirmed some weight loss.  I know my pants are getting looser in places, but my tummy is staying put, so my skirts I don't really see a difference.  I try on old pants every so often just to see if I can fit into them or how different they fit.  Last year's capri's were too tight to fit into, but now I can fit into them as I did last year (even though I weighed less last year). 

August 28:

Upper Chest: 34.25, Breast: 36, Waist: 36.5, Hips: 41.75, Upper Thighs: 23.75, Lower Thighs: 18.75, Calves:  15, Upper Arms:  12 1/8,  Weight:  144.5 (Two weeks ago at Doctor's office). 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Previous Measurings:

June 26: 

Upper Chest:  34, Breast: 36,  Waist:  36.5,  Hips:  42,  Upper thigh: 24.25, Lower thigh:  17.5, and Calves:  15 inches, Upper Arm 12-7/8ths.    Weight:  150 pounds. 

July 28th:

Upper Chest 34.5,  Breast 36.5,  Waist 37,  Hips:  41.5,  Upper Thigh: 23.75,  Lower Thigh:  18.75,  Calves:  14.75,   Upper Arm:  12.5

Camping, College and School Starting...

We've been gone camping and I am about settled into home (about...still much to do, but I am getting into a routine).  We took a spur of the moment trip to camp at Governor Dodge State Park in Wisconsin.  It is a quiet place, huge campground and a very large state park.   We enjoyed some lazy summer relaxation before heading back home to meet what is there to get done. 

Back home, Kate started college this week.  She is learning her schedule.  Unfortunately we can't get her into ONE more class and she isn't sure she is happy or sad about that.  One more class would give her official full-time status according to the college.  They told us that she was full-time, but this seminar class the financial aid office tells us, does not qualify her for full time.  So, I am researching having her take a correspondence course that will transfer to her 4 year college in religion (which our local college doesn't carry).  She is really struggling with the amount of work with the 3 classes currently and tells me she is not sure another class is a good idea.  She was up until 12:58 am last night (with me by her side for the last hour and a half) doing her chemistry assignment.  An entire chapter in one day and gobs of questions... lots of math problems and formulas...  But she got it done and this morning looked ready to tackle another day.  She will be working after classes today, which will bring her home straight to do homework until bed again. 

We also started gearing up with our homeschool.  Getting out some of those books and beginning a few classes.  I am not totally organized, but this week was a week of organizing and cleaning up from camping and still cleaning out from the kitchen fire.  Our first day of "school" the two older girls painted their baby sister's room.  New to them and they did a great job.  They've watched us paint through the years, now it was time for them.  We also in doing this were moving her into this room, which was previously the "tv room" and in doing it, it has in effect decreased some tv watching time. 

Today the girls are picking some pears from our pear tree.  They are near ripe and need to be picked before they drop and "splat" on the ground.  I wasn't expecting any pears as we didn't get hardly a dozen last year even having bees to pollinate them... but this year... no bees and a full tree. 

The girls already have a mindset of completing their school year on time... which means every time I break off for school to do something constructive, I am finding a not so welcome front from the girls.  They pestered me about picking pears and really needing to do some "book work".  My 13 yo isn't like that so much, she's been homeschooled from the start, but I fought this mentality all the way through with my oldest and my second (still) likely because they went to school and consider school just that... book work.  While we have followed the Moore Formula and tried alternate forms of teaching, the two older girls have always come back to school meaning "text books".  And with not having many other than math and occasionally an English textbook, they have really struggled with feeling like they have accomplished something.  It  took my oldest getting a good score on her ACT to realize she actually learned something without the regimented school routine.  She has always felt behind her classmates who remained in school.  Just because she was different.  Not every day was a struggle though, she enjoyed homeschooling, but every so often the "oh, no, Mom's not a real teacher... thought would creep in and we'd be in for a rough day or two until they worked through that again".  (Usually spurred on my an educational event at her previous school.)  Anyways, I don't mean to make it sound like we don't accomplish things, it just doesn't seem that way when we don't school traditionally to the kids at times.  I think that means I need to put in some more praise days for completing a project or unit study. 

Organizing is going more quickly since the girls are back to help watch their sister.  I have to remind myself to break away and spend time with little Paige doing "Nothing" so that she will have her Mommy time.  WHile I'd love to have the house put together in a week or so... it likely won't be that quick.  But happy kids are worth more than a Martha Stewart House. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Tasha Tudor turns 93 today please read..

I got this in an email this morning.. Please read and remember Tasha Tudor she was such a wonderful lady..

Sister Brenda

Dear The C Farm, Celebrating a birthday is an especially important tradition. The opportunity for friends and family to focus on one person and consider what makes them unique is an important one. August 28th would have been Tasha's 93rd birthday.  Today, we are celebrating Tasha's life with close family and friends.  A beautiful cake graces the table and honey-lavender ice cream is being cranked by hand in the old-fashioned freezer.  After the cake and ice cream, we'll spend the afternoon needle-felting and reminiscing about Tasha. As we celebrate her birthday and consider the gifts she offered everyone, we encourage others to do the same: take a moment for tea, plant a special flower or read through a favorite Tasha book.

Public Memorial Service

Please join us to celebrate Tasha Tudor's life on Friday September 12, 6:45-8:30 pm at the Adams Family Farm in Wilmington, Vermont.  The event will begin just before dusk.  We'll take a short walk to the pond where there will be a brief ceremony. Those who wish may take part in floating candles on the pond in the twilight. After this ceremony, you may continue to reminisce around the beautiful bonfire.  There is no charge for admittance, but you do need to reserve a spot ahead of time by calling 802.257.4444.  We'll begin taking reservation on Tuesday, September 2nd

Our Schoolhouse Opened It's Doors

Of course, as a homeschooling family, we are always learning, but we started our year today, officially. I just can't believe that it's time again, but I have been looking forward to schedules and the slow down that the school year brings. Funny, we have a very full year and it's always busy, but I guess compared to tending an acre of berries, three gardens and a pumpkin patch, it seems like a piece of cake! We are all signed up for classes with our local co-op: Spanish, drama, art, music, photography, soccer, "real money," and workforce etiquette.  There will also be Apologia science labs and gym class. We'll have occasional fieldtrips, including the zoo, a real castle (studying The Middle Ages), and the firehouse where my husband gives a fire safety class. The greatest blessing will be those sunny days where we can study in our classroom under the trees. I am really looking forward to our year of learning together.