Tractor Day

This past Wednesday was to our family one of the biggest days of Big Daddy's life. He was up early and had posted all over the house little pieces of paper with Tractor Day written all over them. We counted the days and then we counted the hours and then we watched the road for the blessed time.

It has been Big Daddy's dream for most of his life to own a little piece of land, a farm, and to have his very own tractor. He has spent countless hours talking about tractors, dreaming about tractors, searching out tractors, calling about tractors, and looking at tractors online. This past Sunday morning as he was driving home from work he spotted a cute little tractor. He said as he drove by he prayed, "Lord, please let me have a tractor about that size and just like that." The Lord being as awesome as he is heard that plea. Big Daddy came home and talked to Pappy about it after church and Pappy just picked up the phone and called and checked on that very tractor. They hadn't planned on selling it, but said sure they would if Big Daddy would be interested in it. Late Sunday afternoon Big Daddy, Pappy, and OB took off to go look at the tractor. Big Daddy of course fell in love with it and what makes it even better is that it was a price we could just pay for it. Ain't God Good! So after contemplating for a whole day, Big Dadddy called and told them he wanted it. They said they couldn't bring until Wednesday evening so there was a couple of restless tractor waiting days for Big Daddy. But when Wednesday rolled around he was just like a little kid waiting for his big dreams to come true.

He got so excited when the gentleman brought it down the lane he just kept saying, "My tractor is here, my tractor is here." The whole family had to go out and watch it be unloaded. As soon as the gentleman was gone he jumped on it and started it up. His eyes lit up and all the kids were anxious to take a ride on it. Of course I took lots of pictures so we would never forget the excitement in their eyes. They rode around the field for sometime. I bet Big Daddy will never forget that wonderful night.

As he was out in the field yesterday brush hogging, I just watched him and had to fight back the tears of being so happy for him. I love being able to watch his dreams be fulfilled, even if it is with a little tractor to call his very own.

Is It School Time Already?

This has been our first week of school. I have to admit I think it's been harder for me to get back in the swing of things than the kids. It has although been a great week. We are doing something completely different this year for school. We are doing paces and the kids surprisingly are loving them. So far they have worked much harder, complained less, and all in all just enjoyed their school time so much more than ever before. I am so happy about the way things are going. At this rate they will be done with all their paces just about the time the baby will be arriving and then we will have lots of fun family time. This is our plan anyway.

The kids have always just been able to pick where they wanted to be at to do their school - whether it be on the couch, outside, or on the kitchen table, but this year Margaret decided that she would like for them to have their own personal space. Being married to Big Daddy has been such a blessing when it comes to these times. We had the idea and big daddy started searching around the farm to see what he could find. He found all the right pieces and I found the material and within one days time, they had their little student corrals. They look ever so cute and they have them all decorated and fixed up. They are so proud of them. I don't know how many people would want little student corrals in their livingroom, but this is our life and we love it.

After all this being said, I just want to say how blessed I am to be able to stay at home with my babies. I love schooling them. I love watching them learn and be excited about how they are doing in their school. I love being with them if they need help or just need a hug. I love being a momma, a keeper of the home, and a homeschooling momma. I just don't know how it could get much better than to be able to spend everyday with the precious ones God has given to you.

A Special Little Laugh

Isn't it funny how at different times you notice those things that might have gone unnoticed on other days. Tonight I had one of those moments. We decided that we would make our own little personal spa, so Margaret, OB and myself thought it would be fun to do hot oil treatments on our hair. I wasn't going to let OB do one, since it's usually a girl thing, but I saw he really wanted to share in the experience. After putting the oil in our hair and letting it set, it was then time to wash it out. Margaret went first and then it was OB's turn. He climbed ontop of the counter and then when the water was turned on he began to giggle. He laughed so hard and giggled nonstop the whole time. I didn't want to even stop rinsing his precious head since he was having so much fun. I just really took the time to enjoy his special laugh. It was so innocent and just pure joy was popping out all over him.

As I was listening to his silly little giggles I had to stop and think of a family who just lost their six year old son in a car accident this past Monday. My how I know they wish they could hear his laugh one more time. This made me think, Am I really enjoying every moment to the fullest. Sometimes I think I get so carried away with things going on that I don't have control over that I forget to fully focus on the things right here. The little, simple things that are just so precious.

Lord, help me to remember the feeling I had tonight as I was listening to my special little boy giggle and help me to focus on these things. Thank you Lord for blessing me with the most wonderful gifts in the world, my wonderful babies.

Aunt Sandy

I don't know even where to start when I think of how much I loved my Aunt Sandy. She was one of the most unique people I have ever known. No matter where I saw her, there would be a nice special hug and kind words. She always had time for me, never in a hurry, but took the time to listen to what was going on in my life and she really did care. I have so many memories of her. She was my one and only baby sitter, she was the one who tried to teach me how to sew, she brought my kids little things from the dollhouse show, she made me the most beautiful quilt for our wedding, made the first two of our children cute little baby blankets, made Kassi a sweet little pillowcase doll, and the list could go on and on. It wasn't but just a couple of Christmases ago that I had the wild idea of having her make dolls for the kids for a special scavenger hunt on Christmas morning. We had so much fun talking back and forth about the dolls progress. She worked so hard on them, and the kids and myself will treasure them forever. I had the privilege of putting up her Christmas tree one year and we enjoyed that precious time together as she shared about each one of the ornaments and what they meant to her. I feel so blessed to have had her in my life. I know that I am a much better person by knowing her. She gave me so much. I loved her for so many reasons. The one thing I loved about her the most was the fact that she just was what she was, you didn't have to guess what she was thinking or if she liked you or not. I'm so happy that we got the chance to tell her just a few days before her passing that we were expecting a new little bundle. She was so happy to hear the news. I know that when my next baby shower comes, she won't be there or even show up late like she did to Boo Boo's, curlers and all, but I will feel in my heart that she will know about this precious child and she would have loved it just as much as she did my others. Aunt Sandy I hope you knew just how much I loved you and always will. Thank you for the memories.

This and That

1. Seems the last few days have been filled with summer fun. Not much going on around our little farm, but the usual. The thing we have done the most is all of us pile on our 4-wheeler and take rides every evening and look for deer. We usually take back roads to the park and let the kids play and then before it gets too dark we head back home to see if we can spot any of God's beautiful wildlife. The kids get so excited as we spot a deer maybe standing on a pond bank, in the middle of the country road or jumping over a fence. Boo Boo will say, "GO?" after they run off and then he always wants to see more.

Margaret and OB are out right now riding the 4-wheeler out in our field. They love having the freedom to be out in the field without worrying about anything, just being together, riding, and talking.

2. We are so excited for today I made my 1st doctors appointment. I feel that God has really led us in the right direction. I feel this experience will be a good one and the people I have talked to this morning have made me feel so comfortable about the decision I have made. We will be going to a new doctor and a different hospital, but all in all I'm so excited.

3. Margaret has been such a joy the last few days. She is so anxious for the baby to get here. She makes sure she takes time to come and kiss my stomach every day. We talked last week about how it was the week either the baby would develop boy parts or girl parts and she immediately got down by my belly and said, "Please be a girl, Please be a girl." She just cracks me up. Last week she came in and ask me if she could go out to the field by herself. I finally gave in and told her not to be gone too long. She was gone for awhile and came back carrying me a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers. I ask her what she had been doing and she said praying and having quiet time. She then told me she had sang Happy Birthday to Grandma Miller since that would have been her birthday. Words cannot express just how much I love my baby girl.

4. Koleby made huge progress today. It was time to put up all of our laundry and we have to remind him to do his, but today as we were gathering up our things to take to our rooms we couldn't find him. Big Daddy hollered for him and sure enough he was already out in his room working away. So needless to say he got lots of high fives, hugs, and kisses. He has been trying so hard to keep his room nice and neat. But it seems so hard for him since he would rather dig and find different toys to play with. I think it may have something to do with him being a normal 6 year old little boy, but my how I love him so.

5. Boo Boo is growing so fast. There's no way you could even write down all the funny things he does in a days time. His favorite place is on the island in the kitchen, his favorite food is vienna sausages. Sometimes he thinks things are "sausome" and then sometimes he just want you to shut up. (don't think he doesn't get in trouble for saying that) He loves for me to "pike" his hair and when he sees himself in the mirror he says "OOOOH." I can't believe that he will be two here in a few months, time goes by so fast.

6. Once again, I can say how blessed I am. I should never complain about what I don't have when I can look around at the precious souls right here in this house and know just how much God has richly blessed me.