9.27.15 Love Languages

The commandment to Love One Another is so important and so hard to keep. To love is an action, to understand how to love is one of life's most difficult questions.

In college my roommate was reading a book about the languages of love. While I didn't take the time to read it we discussed the ideas and I have since read parts and even taken the online test to find out my language.
The five expressions used to express love are
Physical Touch- Afton continues to love being the little sister who is getting big!

Acts of service- Anna braided Aliza's hair and put in a pretty pin for church. I was gone to meetings.

Some of us like Quality Time. We feel loved when people spend time with us. Afton was enjoying the reverse role of getting to pull Millie's ear while she slept. Usually Afton is being prodded while she sleeps. hence the reason I hold her for up to an hour so she gets a protected nap.

 

Some of us like Gifts. Anna made the bread for the week and accidentally made it all white flour. NEVER happens at our house, but the rest of the family was SUPER excited and devoured her perfect white bread. My white bread has never been as good as hers was on first try! 

And just cuz' they are cute we have been experimenting with curlers again at our house. WE got out of the habit with the 3 boys after Aliza but are back at it. They are so cute and insistent on having curlers. Even though we have to constantly re-roll until they finally hit the pillow.

I, however and surprisingly enough, am a Words of Affirmation person. Words mean a lot to me. I ask only for love letters for Valentine's day. We spent much of our courtship emailing and writing to each other as we were over 2000 miles apart for 10 months of our 12 month courtship. I have a very full memory and so to remember things and not misconstrue them in my mind I like them solidly on paper where they don't shift with time and I can re-experience those good feelings that come for kind thoughts. When I feel something I write it and work the words over and over.I try and remove the inflammatory comments and get to the root of my concern learned through experience, study, and or testimony. I am not dictorial. I am learning fast enough being a parent of this large group that running everyone's life is not possible, healthy, or desirable. Warn yes, control no.

Of late I have harmed some relationships because I did not speak the other person's love language. Because they did not speak the same as I their feelings were hurt as well. It was not good. It was very painful. How thankful I am for forgiveness and time that heals wounds. I'm thankful for prayer that helps me work through my feelings and apply some balm to my troubled heart and I'm thankful for my patient, wise, and best listening husband who helps me work through feelings and misunderstandings. He is amazing.

I've found as I learn people's preferred language it is so much easier to love them and show them I do care and mean well. Life is hard and love can be padding and warm, or one of the explosive landmines. The more I care the more often it vacillates between the two- quickly sometimes. 

** And I need to add that as I botch one relationship and feel like I must be the worst friend ever Heavenly Father sends others to dry my tears and comfort my wounded heart and show that indeed I am loved. Even in the midst of stupid mistakes and actions Heavenly Father loves me still and sends kindness to remind me that forgiveness is much better than a grudge. Coming from a long line of grudge makers and holders this is very important to know and experience the tender love of God. This has been  manifested through kind friends who are more advanced in loving others.  I am continually humbled by the care and acknowledgement of my trivial worries that God shows to me. Several friends called and loved me through the most recent episode. Then they brought flowers and rice krispie treats to top off their concern. This reminded me that life goes on and you win some you loose some. Eventually it will be okay.

Love one another. And do unto others as you would have done unto you. Still trying to figure those out, to do them better and to become the person I sincerely want to be. Thank goodness for time to continue learning the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how far reaching and all encompassing Grace really is.
Best to you today.

9.23.15 At the Farm

I found this dance party going on complete with songs sung by Liza. It was so fun to watch them have a thoroughly fabulous time!! The boys were swinging ropes or bailing string and everyone was safely above the traffic of the combine and tractor.

The other great thing that was occurring was the older kids working with their dad getting the equipment out. It was tightly even magically squeezed into the shop it was a real effort of patience and inch by inch movement to safely extricate the equipment. I love the teamwork I love the real need and the real joy of being a team.

I keep getting asked if I'm excited for my in-laws to return. Kinda yes and kinda no. I love these moments that we are experiencing. That it's up to us and we have to figure it out and make it happen, I guess it will be nice to go back into my shell and do what we normally do, but I can honestly say I will miss these moments.

I think this is why farming gets in your blood and is intoxicating. It's not the work but it is the work. My kids were having a blast making their own fun, anticipating tractor and combine rides, anticipating parents who were there with them. Grandparents are great but parents are important too. Our family and life dynamic has allowed us a lot of grandparent support sometimes to our determent. These last few days I've been the one with my kids accomplishing these projects. I've figured out a way and Afton is old enough to be out and about. It's different with sick or young babies. But we also have enjoyed having Greg in the mix. He is usually gone working to support us at the shop. We miss him .

I was impressed how my kids knew how to manipulate the combine and are comfortable with the farm machinery pivots,  motorcycles & four wheelers, and whatever else comes up and I  am an uncomfortable novice. I am learning from them and that is good too.

 Last night as we sat in the combine-2 sets of inexperienced eyes- me tightly clutching my heavy sleeping baby, and him running the controls. It was awesome. We don't get to spend time on the same project hardly ever these days. It was one of those "I love you so much" moments. Because it was us, on the same page, hoping to achieve the same objective. Harvesting the corn. Not to mention sitting that close for that long- never happens with all the other bodies that need attention and nurturing. And while the project turned into a fiasco and some major work today it was so good to go through it together.

So we got all set, sent the kids home to go to bed and we proceeded to combine. All was going well until we heard a buzzer and two lights flashed. I knew this happened to tell us the bin was full. We sat there for a minute when Greg realized oh no the unloading auger was on!! The corn diminishing from the back window was a bad sign. I jumped out and found this pile happening. He turned off the power to the entire machine and we realized a lot of extra work had just been made.

 Things went okay from there. We refilled the bin and went and dumped the first load into the grain cart. Again after a while of harvesting it began unloading on the ground. We knew the sound this time though and only lost a few hundred pounds. We refilled the bin and headed to dump. When Greg turned on the auger there was an ominous thump and nothing happened. He began to search and found a broken drive belt. Which is placed under the main drive belt for the entire machine. So that full combine of corn is going to have to be hand moved from combine to grain cart or truck. It is too wet to sit there and at least half will have to be moved.

I'm glad we had this experience together. It's far worse to sit at home worrying and stewing! We both kept our calm and even laughed a little. How thankful I am to have 10 kids to help and make this load lighter. What a bummer they have to be in school all day. We will figure this out, we will learn, and the corn will be harvested.
This is why I love farming!

9.21.15 Onion Picnic

I'm sitting here listening to a podcast about being a "Hands Free Mama" meaning we stop being slaves to our  technology and go back to living a life where we are part of the fun...and it goes completely with this moment.

We went to onion harvest and ended up having a picnic and some fun at the grade school that was next to the field. It was so fun to just relax and play. This was my grade school growing up and it was fun to show my kids my old stomping ground where I made so many memories. For instance the  tires that I spent a lot of time visiting, scheming, and day dreaming with friends.My kids were able to jump them too, after some instruction but not a demonstration.

Sometimes its good to slow down. There is plenty to be done in this crazy world and I sign up for more than my share too often- I never want to be accused of slacking or freeloading with this large family of mine- but it's important to have these moments too. My kids are masters at making the best of the situation more on that in later posts this week. This was our fun picnic we did get to ride in the trucks and gleaned some onions. And I found instead of fighting over cleaning bedrooms and carpets we enjoyed a day out in the dirt and sunshine. Much better!

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It was made even better having almost all my kids together. I sure miss them all day every school day. Harold was camping, but it was sweet to spend time laughing and being happy together. I often wonder how many more moments will I have with this daughter of mine. She is growing up and sadly and excitedly has only a few more years at our home. So crazy how time is moving these days. It's odd that my three oldest are my height it's a whole new phase having adult size kids in my home. With that we have 'the empty stomach' namely my son, the strong capable daughter show here, and my imaginative fun daughter Aliza. These three are my right hands and arms and feet. This is truly an awesome season of life. 

9.17.15 A Family Project

A family that works together stays together!

Or die together trying to get the work done. Today we worked on more potatoes. 38-50lb bags sorted today! Just 100 lbs short of a ton, we might go back and finish our ton.

Beginning the project-

The babysitter resting on a large bale of bags playing with a bike. Some kids are grounded from four wheeler riding so they pedal to the destination.

Mark is chopping the potatoes for the cows. We chopped, and sliced with shovels. The cows watched patiently licking their lips and mooing.

Management! She watched a lot she loves to ride the four wheeler.

The stack minus 25 bags can you tell the difference.

A random onion or three was found in the pile. Bonus!

And if you are super tired and sore from using your muscles then you should have a sleep song played on the harmonica by your thoughtful 3 year old who brought her lead singer to serenade you to sleep! Not a lot of sleeping happened- reminded of the fancy Nancy where she played her recorder for her mom to relax... and the mom is shown jolted out of her chair. Yep I was jolted from any thoughts of rest or slumber. Livy is very anti-sleep. Her's or anyone Else's. She makes sure it doesn't happen too  much here.

9.16.15 Pears

Some kids get to roll out of bed to a hot breakfast, or not, and head straight to school. These kids got to get up and peel one box of pears before breakfast and school. Thank goodness they did or I never would have finished them. I sure miss my helpers during fall harvest time.

Some we bottled for later and some we enjoyed right now. The kids sure love the fresh fruit. And we get so much of it from watermelons and cantaloupes to peaches and pears it isn't an issue just a delight!

We are very blessed to spend lots of time with grandpa.Digging pivots, chasing cows, picking up corn, watching Gomer Pyle, eating sweet corn or pie and ice cream. We love to spend time doing what he's doing.

Her early morning excitement of doing pears after returning from feeding cows.
"It's a hard knock life for us..." Might be the new theme song here. Or maybe not.

My number one dishwasher man. He does a lot of dishes, mostly cuz he does them well and I trust his thoroughness and he can reach the sink just fine. He is melting from having his picture taken. Oops.

And if he's not washing dishes he's goofing!

I took him to pick pears and while on the tippy top of the ladder he was doing a dance shaking his can-can about how funny he was and how handsome he is doing anything even picking pears. Funny duck. So I guess with all the difficulty of just working we find ourselves and make life good. Especially if we toss in some fourwheeler or motorcycle rides with grandparents. Best to you today.

9.15.15 Onion Miracles

Farming is an act of pure faith and trust in God! This year has been no different. From praying and fasting for water, to the miracle that the water lasted and the crops were accelerated in their maturation and growth it has been a good one remember. However sometimes with all the goodness there is still worry. This year one field of these beautiful large onions was affected with a disease. Yep plants get sick too.

--Nothing that hurts the people eating the plant, the disease just make the onion not look pretty and thus not desirable for the buyer. And the diseases can cause problems with the onions being stored. They don't last in the bin. Your food supply is safe. Farmers love their customers. There would be no farming without the customers buying the food. Please don't buy into the crazy actors and news people expert opinions. I know farmers and they work hard and long to make sure you have beautiful abundant food on your table ALL the TIME! We sauteed these beauties and they were delicious and perfect inside, and classically sweet to the taste. YUM!!.--

There is not much that can be done for crops but pray.
This is my attempt to show us praying. See the faith and devotion and reverence?

Our sunburns are showing too. Totally spaced sunscreen and shirts for the swim from 12:30-2:30. Oops. Anyway we prayed for our papa's onions. We know that with God all things are possible. We know that God hears our prayers over our crops and fields and that he can work all things together for our good. So we prayed.
And our prayers were heard. The onions were sold at a fair price and the crop was not disked under. We are thankful for these times to unite our faith and hope with that of our family members to see God's mercy and grace and love for each of us. And we love to go and ride in the tractors and on the machines and trucks and enjoy the bounty that is ours and our families. This is Mark's dream job. Head tractor driver and boss farmer. My little big man!

Bed Stories

This morning as I was making the Monday pancake batter I heard Milile cry out. Great I thought a sleepy head at 6:15 in the morning. I sent Aliza down to check out the situation. She found a wasp attacking Millie!! It was crawling around on her pillow and sheets and had bit her twice on the leg!! Don't let the bugs bite means a lot when you are getting attacked in your sleep!
Her crying woke up her bedfellow Livy and of course Afton was pulled up to be loved by the big kids before school. After a fair amount of crying when all the big helpers left I realized the need to go back to sleep! Millie consented rather quickly but my Livy talked and talked and talked!!! Afton eventually snuggled up and went to sleep but Livy continued to talk. I'm always amazed how much my little's talk when the big ones leave. I guess it's just their turn to fill the quiet.
We finally managed sleep and with one more hour under our belts are ready for the day.
This is them minus mom. The little space was mine.

Please excuse the selfie. Livy was using me as a blanket. Having my kids want to snuggle so close is kind of nice. Makes me feel like a good mom, makes my back hurt and is very comforting! I'm always thankful for such a big bed, I never imagined it would be so full so often when we bought it.  I am however, thankful for three little monkeys in my bed even though the one that rolled out was me, the mom! Best to you today.

9.11.15 Picking Up Potatoes

My grandmother used to sing me a song:
     Where or where is sweet little (child's name) Mandy
     Where or where is sweet little Mandy
    Way down yonder in the Pawpaw patch.

    Pickin up Pawpaws and put n' em her pocket
   Picking Up Pawpaws and put n' em her pocket
  Way down yonder in the Paw Paw patch

   Come on boys lets go find her
   Come on boys lets go find her
   Way down yonder in the Pawpaw patch!

My grandparents are the only ones that could and did call me Mandy. For years I thought a pawpaw was just a made up thing until high school spanish class. There I learned a pawpaw is a potato. This
last week has been full of potatoes and papas literally!

Each year since Greg and I have been married we have stored about a ton of potatoes. These were shared between our respective families. As the tables have turned and we are now the big family and our parents are empty nesters we continue to need the ton or more of potatoes. So we went on our yearly excursion. These are my helpers this year!

This is a potato harvester. A four row shoveling dream. It slides large thick metal plates 18 inches or so under the ground scooping up dirt and potatoes alike. The dirt falls through the chain and the potatoes roll on up the belts to be dropped into the truck or pick-up as our case was.

I would be very ungrateful to not mention the kindness of our cousins the Wagstaff's who share their talent and work with us each year. Both my family and Greg's grew potatoes when we first married but the acres have all gone to one farmer in Washington now days. It is the kindness of the Wagstaff's heart and time that they provide a giveaway plot of potatoes! And being very considerate of my usual delicate condition (not saying anything about now just in the past) they insist on loading up my pickup and don't ask me to dig with a shovel all these lovely potatoes.

That harvest is the easy part. Then the fun begins. In years past we have sorted all the potatoes by hand, mostly my mother-in-law while she waited for someone or the other at the shop. This year she is gone so I recruited more helpers. All the kids from school 3-6 grade meaning about 40 kiddos, some adults at mutual, and some other families that came to our house. It has been a big job but a fun time to visit and work with friends. I much prefer visiting when my hands are busy to sitting and staring at someone trying to focus on a conversation.

 

And the end reward baked goodness. We tried a new process, pressure canning the potatoes! It was over 90 degrees this weekend and I don't turn on my oven if I can help it when it is that hot. Usually we fry hash browns as it is quick but I think this new method will come as a fast second. I was impressed the finished product gives you moist baked potato not dry like the oven not to mention it's fast! We did 13 potatoes in the big canner for 15 minutes between 10-15 lbs pressure. We used 1 qt of water and our rack elevated on jar lids to keep the potatoes over the water not in it. So it might take 20 minutes at 10 lbs but so good. Also the skins came off very easily so if you do potato salad this would be a great way. Or making your own hash browns for  funeral potatoes. 

9.10.15 Pulling Sprinklers

It's just about harvest time so the watering equipment has to be moved. One of the many ways the crop is watered is with removable sprinklers. Part of Jay's leaving is the loss of some serious muscle power. But it is a great opportunity for our kids to build endurance, determination, and muscles. Can you see the sprinkler coming out of the corn in the top picture? We don't want to knock any corn off the plant- the kids have spent hours and hours picking up corn on the cob that was knocked off by rampaging cows. Makes for tired kiddos though!

I'm loving the learning that is going on. For both father and kids. And mom for that matter. I'm excited for the people they will become from necessity, real work, and time together.

Mom is learning how to be part of the team even with the little attachment. She rested quite comfortably in the warm car- it was about 70 outside so not dangerous. She stayed asleep for about 2 hours plenty of time to work and watch.

The best team building occurs when a group must come together to overcome a large obstacle. The harder the problem the more necessary and united each team member will feel. We are looking forward to great things. Best to you today.