Our Makers Acres

A Day of Rest?

Pluggin along

That is my grandma Doris' favorite quote.  Whenever I ask her how she is, she says "oh, just pluggin along."  For the last few days I have understood what she means.  I am getting through the days without any major mishaps, but not a lot of productivity is happening either.  I am home alone today with my youngest and I am trying to get caught up on inside chores.  Those are the ones that get put off when things get out of whack.  We can't skip feeding the cows or breaking up ice, but the laundry can wait.  However, inside our homes is where we spend most of our time and the fact that we are behind mocks us in every room we enter!  Oh well, I am reminded of that cute little poem that says something like "Thank you Lord for these dishes, they mean that my family is well fed.  Thank you for this laundry, it means my family is clothed." etc.  Don't remember the rest but I think of it often.  Having a grateful spirit is so hard sometimes but I think it is so important to our contentment.

Can you imagine what someone from 100 years ago would think of our fussing about our "difficult" chores!  The would think we were pretty wimpy.  They would have our stuff done by sunup.  I guess the major difference is all the other junk we try to pack into our days.  For instance, my husband had to work overtime today.  Oldest child left for camp and had to be at church at 11:15.  Middle child had a birthday party at 12:00.  But, the party was too far away and I couldn't get her there in time.  So, I call a friend who's daughter is also going to see if they could take my kiddo.  No problem, but neither of us have a present, so I need to leave extra early to run and get presents for both of us.  Which wouldn't be a big deal if oldest child was ready on time rather than running around the house doing last minute things that I thought were done last night.  Whew!  Everyone got to their destinations but by the time I got home at noon, I felt like I had had a full day and nothing was done at home.  I don't know about you, but when we leave in a hurry, it looks like a tornado touched down in our house!

So now I am typing in my blog when I have a few blessed hours to accomplish things.  Guess I am not too worried about it!

The other thing I notice is that when you have friends who don't have the added home responsibilities of a homestead, you have to guard your time to ensure that you can get done what needs to get done.  I don't know how many times I have had to cancel plans or turn down invitations because a goat was gonna kid.  Truth be told, there isn't much I would rather do than see a new life born, regardless of the species.  So I guess it's not much of a bother.

In case you can't tell, I am in a bit of a rambling mood today.  I feel a bit scatterbrained.  I think I will close now and put my nose to the grindstone.  I am sure that will make all the difference.  Besides, we really like to more or less rest on Sunday and just spend family time, so I don't want to be bustling around like psycho suzy homemaker tomorrow.  It will be really important tomorrow since my husband is working so much.  Tomorrow is our only full day together and I want it to be relaxing for him.

Signing off.  May the Lord bless all who read this with plenty of time in the days to come!  Amen!

Snow Day!

We got about 4 inches of snow last night so I have decided to declare a SNOW DAY!  Okay, clearly the snowy roads don't really affect my homeschooled children and they can safely make it to the kitchen table. (actually the path to the table is a treacherous obstacle course of toys!)  However, the excitement of a snow day was one of the few joys I had during my years of school, and I want my kids to feel the pleasure of a surprise free day.  And, to be totally honest, my house is a wreck and I could use the day to catch up while my kiddos are outside.  I made it a requirement of the snow day that they actually go outside and play for a large part of the day rather than playing the WII all day.  Yes, we have a wii, it was given to us for Christmas and it is wonderful!  The kids actually get a lot of exercise playing tennis or bowling on days that it is too cold to go outside.

So, I am greatly anticipating ending this day with an orderly house.  However, my children will come home eventually!  Our house is very small and it always feels like we are busting out at the seams.  We are considering building a school/rec room in the back of our barn.  I think it would make a huge difference since the school stuff is a large part of our problem.

Another fun thing today.... I am heading over to check on the herd of goats we sold to a friend.  They are really close to kidding and she wants me to check and see how long I think it will be.  This is her first kidding season and their whole family is excited but nervous.  And, true to the personality of goats, they will most likely kid this weekend when our weather is going to be the coldest so far this winter.  I really miss the goats, but I am not missing checking on them throughout the night to make sure new babies don't freeze.  'Course, this is the only winter I will have the break because I will most likely get a few more goats this spring.

Well, it is extremely late and I haven't done any chores.  I will walk out the door and my cows are gonna let me know what they think of having to wait for breakfast.  Plus, we live next door to my husband's parents and they left yesterday for a 15 day cruise (WOW!) and I am doing their chores as well.  I guess I should get on that.  I am gonna try and post a picture of the view off my back deck.  Anytime the size of my house frustrates me, I just have to remember how blessed I am to wake up and love looking out my windows.  God blesses us so much every day.  He shows me His great love daily.  Out of all the joys I have, my husband, my children, my little homestead, nothing compares to walking with Him.

What am I thinking?

Okay, here I go.  I have always made fun of my friends who have blogs and here I am jumping on the bandwagon!  "How do you have time to blog?" I would ask.  "Don't you have anything better to do?"  Well, trust me, I honestly don't know where I will find the time, but I am excited about trying. 

 I couldn't believe when I found this blog!  You mean to tell me there are other people out there with a passion for rural life and simple living?  I live about 30 minutes outside of Kansas City and just down the road from Kansas Speedway, but we have our own little 9 acre slice of heaven.  However, I am surrounded by city folk.  All of my friends think I am nuts.  I love sloshing through the mud (of which we have an abundance right now) to break the ice in the pond for our cows and horse.  I spend  entirely too much time every morning talking to my horse after feeding her when I should be inside feeding my human babies.  And I love to see my children filthy after a day spent climbing hay bales or exploring the woods.  Now I am just thrilled to know there are others that are nuts, too! 

I find it very hard to explain my love of homesteading to others.  I want to grow my own food, including meat.  I love baking from scratch.  If it were up to me, I would probably travel around in a horse and buggy.  I frequently think I was born in the wrong century.  I know I wouldn't really want to go back to the days when children died of scarlet fever and nobody understood the importance of sanitation. (this is particularly important to me because I am a bit germ-obsessed)  However, the idea of waking at the crack of dawn, spending the day sharing chores with my wonderful husband who would make a living at home with me rather than heading off to a job, and watching my children grow with little outside influence sounds wonderful. 

So, I have a desire to bring a little of the beauty of the past to 2008.  This year, our little homestead will expand to include chickens, a large garden, and maybe a couple of goats.  We actually spent several years raising dairy goats and I love them.  We sold them when the herd became so large we really couldn't do much else.  This time around, I want the goats to be a part of our life, not the focus.

I homeschool our 4 children.  Cassidy is 13, Maya is 9, Bubba (AJ) is 6, and Abigail is 4.  Homeschooling them is one of my greatest delights and greatest challenges.  I cherish every day but also hope I make it though without losing my patience.  My dear husband works about 40 minutes away.  Lately he has had a lot of overtime and must leave home early and get home late.  We all miss him.  It is a desire of my heart to have our livelihood come from our land, but so far that hasn't been possible.  It would make me so happy to have him here everyday.

Well, I guess I will sign off for now.  My future posts will not be nearly as lengthy, I am sure.  I can't wait to read other blogs and hopefully learn of others with the same loves that I have.  Life at home is such a blessing.  I pray that I will always be at home surrounded by my family. (and hopefully, lots of animals!)