So I Can't Sing Well!

My Mom has told me over and over throughout the years that if you have animals, you need to talk to them.  They will trust you, like you and get used to you.  They won't fear you.  So when I end up in charge of 20+ chickens, what's a gal to do but sing a few songs?

Every morning, I put some animal bread from the bread store (that's another post!) in a pan outside in "the bread zone", add table scraps (truly - these chickens are like piggies and they eat everything but fowl because that's cannibalism and gross!) and liquids from everything that we cooked the day before (German weiner water and kielbasa water seems to be some of their favorites as well as ground beef grease) and make them some good ol' slop.  They can't wait to get outside to hit the buffet!

I really only sing them one song.  In the morning.  I'm not even sure I have the words right, but then I usually take the words to songs and make up my own anyway.  So here's my morning routine:

Good morning, good morning!  It's time to wake up and start your day! 

Good morning, good morning!  It's time to go out and eat the buffet!

Enjoy the video (not so much my singing).  You'll see what the naughty roosters do.  They don't listen.  And they are very rough with the poor hens.  You'll see one who just can't wait and chases a hen while I'm singing.  Pig.

Yes, I am weird.  But the chickens are beginning to love me.  And that makes my Dad feel good that his chickens are well taken care of while he's recovering.  And he can watch videos of his chickens I take on my cell phone.  ;)

To Flush or Not to Flush?!

When you've lived away from your parents for 23 years and have a way of managing your home your own way, it's a little different coming back home to live with your folks and follow their methods once again!

Since I was married, I have lived in homes in suburbs where we have always had sewer systems with water service.  Now, we live in a home with a private well and septic tank.  My wonderful father is one of my most favorite people in this world, but that doesn't change the fact that he's a pessimist.  It's usually the glass is "half empty" as versus "half full".  Well, we added 3 new people to this house and of course, my Dad thinks we are going to ruin the septic system by flushing too much.  In this case, it's not "the septic tank is half empty, it's already full and busting out!"   

He told me, my husband, my son and my daughter the same story:  he watched a movie once called "Meet the Fockers".  They had water scarcity issues on the island and Dustin Hoffman (who played Bernie Focker) said the following in the video link here:

Water Scarcity Rules

Yes, we now live by my Dad's "Septic Tank Overflow Rule":  If it's yellow, let it mellow.  If it's brown, flush it down.  I don't think my family can create enough waste to ruin the septic tank, but sometimes we just simply forget and flush out of habit.  My daughter will sometimes ask if it's okay to "flush".  Yes, yes it is.  ;)

Moving back in with your parents is wonderful, don't get me wrong.  I am spending quality time with them, my children are spending quality time with them, we are doing the kind of hard work on the farm that's good, honest, productive and character building.  But there are sometimes little "bumps" in the road, and ours happens to involve toilet flushing.

Hey, if this is as bad as it gets, then we are lucky and blessed because if this is what makes Dad happy, then we'll be happy to oblige! 

My Return to the Farm

God has a plan for us.  I try to never question His ultimate plan, but sometimes I shake my head and wonder, "Why?"

It all started in January of 2015 when my Dad called with a bloody nose.  Yup.  That's what started it all.  LONG story.  But fast forward to April and the call about my Mom not being able to walk.  Dad has heart problems (but not for much longer as his surgery is scheduled for June 1st!) and Mom has back problems and hip issues preventing her from walking normal.  That's when we moved in with Mom and Dad back at the farm and left my husband home at our house to prepare for our big move.

Now the kids and I are living back on the farm and it's been tough and wonderful and tiring and rewarding and it has brought back so many wonderful memories of my childhood.  But I won't share them all at one time....

For now, I will simply share a picture of my childhood home and the surrounding farm.  Here's the picture of our garden. I have a whole story to tell about preparing this piece of land. ;)  Each post, I will slowly bring you with me down on the farm and you can experience farm life first hand!

Our large garden

Tis Better to Have Loved and Lost

"'Tis better to have loved and lost than never  to have loved at all." - Alfred Lord Tennyson

I typed this and thought I was at the point where I believed this, but really, I don't think it's true. At least not yet. Because the way I see it, you love with all your heart, and when that love is gone, you don't feel better knowing you had it. It just hurts and it hurts deeply because it's gone.

On June 18th, I had to have my little dog put to sleep. She just turned 2 years old on June 5th and shortly after her 2nd year, her life had to come to an end.  I'm crying right now as I type this so I know it's too early for me to feel okay about this and I picture a fork stuck in Alfred's eye.

When I do feel the best after all this happened, though, is when I think about something she did or used to do every day that made me smile, and I'm finding that some times, it will bring a smile to my face. Not a joyful smile, mind you, but a smile filled with sadness from missing my little friend so. It's the memories that will help with the healing...

I remember the first time I saw her. I laughed because she looked like a white, fluffy Muppet who acted like Tigger, and that's how I described her to my kids. I knew instantly that this little bundle of energy would be a great addition to our family because she would get along just fine with my kids.  We had our moments with potty training (here's one!) but that's normal with a puppy.  She was such a smart little dog, though, and learned quickly. So much so, in less than 24 hours, she learned how to ring a bell on the door to go outside and go! I was so proud of her.  She even learned to ring the bell when she knew the neighbor's dog was outside and she wanted to play! I think she was a little too smart.

She was amazing.  And she's missed. And it hurts. And I don't feel better right now. Tennyson, you are not right yet.  But hopefully, someday, I'll be able to share a happy story and feel better because I did love her, I know she loved me unconditionally and I'm a better person because of it. Pictures will help, and I'm so thankful we have them.  But I'm not quite ready to create her final album just yet.  It's exactly one month today that she's been gone, so that album will have to be some day later when I agree with Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Rest in peace, Sadie. You are loved, you will always be loved and you will always be missed.

Thankful Even More!

Today I'm thankful for my son.  I am so proud of the young man he is and continues to be.  He's so unbelievably compassionate and accepts every person for who they are - who God created them to be.  He looks at people and will remind himself that God created that person and He thinks they're perfect.  Who are we to find fault with a person God thinks is perfect?

He'll leave his friends at the lunch table to sit with the "Asperger's" kid no one else wants to sit with, he takes the time to teach new kids trying out for basketball (who have never played or have played very little) necessary skills while others choose to laugh at and ridicule them and he chooses to give positive, uplifting and friendly comments to the kids that are verbally kicked down and rejected in the hopes of bringing them back up and maybe giving them a good feeling for the day.  

My son's amazing and I thank God every day for choosing ME to be his mom!  I am blessed more than words can express!

30 Days of Thanks

Once again, I have accepted the challenge of the 3rd Annual 30 Days of Thankfulness.  SO!  Here's my first installment of something I'm thankful for:

Today, I am thankful for doctors, nurses, surgeons and specialists, especially the ones who performed the surgery on my mother-in-law today.  She came through with flying colors (no cancer) and will be coming home earlier than expected tomorrow!

I'm SO Blessed!

Today I celebrated my birthday and it was better than I could have ever imagined!  I slept in until 9:00 a.m. and when I awoke, Jon was up.  I made us some breakfast and we had such a nice time talking.  Then Maddie and Chris awoke at 10:00 and it hit me:  ROAD TRIP!

I asked if the family wanted to go to B & G Discount in Schoolcraft, Michigan.  Chris decided to stay home with the puppy so my son and daughter went with me.  The ride takes an hour and 10 minutes and we had such a good time talking, laughing, listening to music and just sharing our thoughts freely with one another.  

Then the shopping!  SO fun to shop at a store like that with them.  There's no rhyme or reason to what they have at the shop (it's more like an unclaimed freight store) and shoppers literally need to pick in the boxes and go up and down every aisle to see what's offered. 

Jonathan found some amazing tools, knives, winter caps and hunting gear.  Maddie found "girly" items likes fuzzy socks, writing journals, coloring books, jewelry and winter hats.  

Me?  I found a couple of items (like the amazing deal of a dozen fuzzy gloves for $8.00!).  But more importantly, I was able to spend the morning with my sweet children and see the joy and excitement on their faces.  These are days in which the blessings abound and I thank God daily for my amazing family.  

After shopping?  Straight to back-to-back basketball games and youth group.  And now, it's time to tuck everyone in and happily fall asleep to dreams of a beautiful day.  

It's Over

Today was bitter sweet.  It was the last day of my son's rocket football...forever.  It's been five years of Rocket Football and it's done.  =(  But, now we're looking forward to 78ers and then right into Freshman football after that so it's not as though football is done for good.  Just this chapter is closing.

Today was also my daughter's last day of Rocket cheerleading!  And the worst part?  I was decorating a cake and didn't get to go!  Chris said she did a great job and was there to yell and cheer and support her on my behalf.  

We may have many more years of cheerleading, so I'm not terribly sad she's done.  It'll be nice to have no practices and having to be at football fields every Saturday, rain or shine, warm or cold.  It'll be nice to sleep in and spend some quality family time together.  Ahhh, life IS good!

Sadie, Sadie, Sadie

I found I have a little time between sick children and getting them (and myself) to bed.  So here's the puppy story!

Jon & Maddie with Chloe

We ended up getting Chloe, the blind-in-one-eye dog.  The kids couldn't wait to get her home after meeting her last Sunday afternoon (especially Maddie) so, after church, my husband took the kids to pick her up.  I was teaching a faith formation class so I warned them I wouldn't be around to help until almost 9:00 p.m. but they wanted to get her anyway!

When I came home, the dog was on the futon with Maddie.  Chloe was shaking terribly bad.  She vomited shortly before I came home and I noticed that she was running into walls and falling down the steps as she had no depth perception.  It was terribly sad.  She even walked down the hallway right into our cat, Hurley.  She didn't see him and he slapped her.  After that, her nose kept twitching because she was smelling everything.  I realized quickly that she was in fact blind in both eyes, not just the one.  It was a terrible night.  She wasn't eating, she wasn't going outside to relieve herself and she acted completely scared and nervous.  

My husband said we should take her back and I agreed with him.  So the next day, I made the difficult decision to return this free doggy.  I cried.  My kids cried.  I cried all the way there and I cried like a baby while I was there!  The poor woman felt so bad for me and my family that she offered us a puppy.  

The REALLY good news is that my Aunt Margie (who's been a widow since 1997) wanted to get another dog after her sweet dog, Penny, died a few months ago.  Aunt Margie called me on Monday out of the blue to order a cake and I had a feeling that I should mention the dog needed a good home.  Long story short she took Chloe home and they are wonderful for each other and madly in love!

Here's Sadie!

So yes, the kids went and saw "Baby Girl" and fell in love with her.  She's a bundle of energy and she's the perfect fit for our family.  Now if we can only get her potty trained, life will be good.  =)