Keepin it Real!

A couple weeks ago I was chatting with a client/friend about blogs.

I love reading all sorts of different ones from farming, budgeting, cooking, inspiration, animal butchering.

You name it I want to read it.

I have them bookmarked on my laptop and on my phone.

I love to scan through them in the morning while drinking my coffee.

One thing my client/friend mentioned she doesn't like about blogs is that everything always seems so "perfect"

Whatever perfect means.
I have to agree with her.

For instance I love this blog, but it is far from real life.
They have a photographer that follows them around.
I realize it is for their business, but it appears that life is "perfect"
It could make me feel like when I am baking that I am just not up to par because I am not in heels and a sweater, but instead I have The Farmers socks on and a sweatshirt.





This is my go to blog for when I am feeling crummy. Ann Voskamp loves The Lord and her writing so perfectly conveys her heart.
However, when I first learned of her I thought to myself "there is no way I will ever have a heart for The Lord like she does"
Even if that was the case He LOVES me anyways!

Now, Jen Hatmaker's blog will have you rolling.
She is not only a kick, but she also has a heart for Jesus. She is hilarious and just says how it is.
I feel like it is pretty honest and pretty real life.
I want to be her friend, invite myself over for coffee and probably move in with her.

Blissful and Domestic is an all around super hero.
She home schools, bulk grocery shops, makes everything from scratch, sews and is an all around superhero mother from what it appears.
Oh, did I mention her family of four also lives on 14K a year!
Let's face it by Thursday I am barely hanging on and we usually have pizza for dinner either frozen or take out.
By Thursday I have all but given up on home cooked meals and my laundry is multiplying like a gremlin that got wet.
By Sunday I am throwing out all the rotting vegetables I had really good intentions of cooking for my family.
I am anything but blissful or domestic!

The same holds true for social media.

We can ever so slightly crop out the piles of unfolded laundry behind our sweet as sugar kids who never act naughty.
We can filter a picture with apps so the entire background is fuzzy, or you can't tell that a drink has been spilled down the front of their shirt.
Oh and our marriage is so full of love its bursting at the seams.
Which is true, but it doesn't change the fact that sometimes I want to choke Jer out and I am fairly certain he feels the same way.
We post only the "good" stuff.
I am guilty of this myself.
Sliding clutter or shooing away the tumbleweeds of dog hair to get an angelic picture of my sweet kids.

But, let's be honest.
Perfect isn't real life.
So let's get real.

Just a couple weeks ago I was yelling at my kids as we were on our way out the door TO CHURCH.
We were going to church and I was yelling!
I mean sheesh is there anything worse that that?!
It was a quiet ride there and I felt like such a jerk.
Real life.. check!

This space on my counter is my demise!

 

It doesn't matter how often it gets cleaned off it is always full of stuff by the end of the day.
Library books, spelling words, snacks, snack wrappers, homework folders, checkbook, bills, to do lists. You name it; it's on this counter.
Real life.. check!

My kitchen sink

ALWAYS has dirty dishes in it. I would like to believe that if we had a dishwasher that this wouldn't be the case, but I would likely be wrong.

We use way too many coffee cups and cereal bowls that I know!

Sometimes I "soak" pans that I don't want to wash.

A little soap and a lot of hot water and that pan can wait until tomorrow!

Real life.. Check!

Laundry, oh laundry I loath you.

It is so time consuming!

Sort-ok I don't sort

Wash

Dry

Restart dryer- I am really good at this part.

Fold 

Put on bed

At bedtime I put the pile on the floor near my bed and then I put it back on the bed after bed is made so I can get dressed from the pile.
Repeat.
Oh wait
Sometimes I move the pile to the top of my dresser
Real life.. Check!

I wish I could say that all these pictures were "staged", but they weren't.
They are how real life goes down here at our house.
Life is messy and perfectly imperfect.
I'm ok with that.

Blessed is me...

Barn Weddings!

After numerous requests we have decided to bite the bullet and host weddings at the farm.

In fact we already have one booked!

 

We have many options available.

 You can have your ceremony inside our 3600 square foot barn or in our field near the stable.

You can have it all outside or

you can have it all inside.

It's your party!

 

 

The Farmer will be offering hay rides with his vintage 1958 John Deere tractor

up our driveway to the venue.

 

 

Our driveway is picture perfect

 

 The inside of our barn is GIGANTIC

3600 square feet.

This is not our barn, but it is the same shaped roofline

 

 

The possibilities are endless!

 

We have already been busy getting things planned, cleaned and prepped for wedding season!
It is going to be here before we know it.

The lists are long, but we have many friends who have offered to help get things ship shape.

 

If you or someone you know is looking for a place like no other... 

look no further 

 

You can contact me via:
Facebook

Text

or

email me at mrsjlinder@gmail.com

Blessed is me...

Never a dull moment

Oh my, oh my, oh me oh my..

We had a busy busy day today.

I had to be to work at 8.

The kids had a goat seminar for 4h at 9.

The Farmer had to teach a tractor safety class at 1230.

My favorite nephew was playing in his first basketball tournament at 3 and I needed to squeeze in a trip to the dreaded grocery store for milk.

After all our 4h duties were finished Jameson went with The Farmer and Mad stayed with me. 

We headed to Seaside for basketball.

We enjoyed watching the game. That is a lot of running and I was tired just watching them.

I am also surprised at the size of some of those middle school boys.

A couple of them have to be pushing 6 feet!

After the game we headed for Freddies.

At Freddies Madalyn asked if she could get a special treat.

After asking what she wished for I agreed because she wanted her own shower gel.

She chose a blue colored one that smelled of citrus and berries.

She also picked one for Jameson.

She rode home with the shower gel on her lap.

She could hardly wait to get home to get in the shower.

We laughed all the way home talking in funny voices and laughing like villains and witches.

She was cracking me up as usual.

We get home she jumps out, feeds her rabbit and heads for the shower.

While she is showering I get dinner going.

I am sitting at the computer.

The Farmer on the sofa.

Jameson puttering around.

I hear Madalyn coming and she is crying and then this happens:

"Mom, something happened! Something really bad happened"
She is wrapped in a towel and has it covering her face.

I ask her what happened and she lowers the towel.

She SHAVED her eyebrows OFF!

Oh, she has a little left on both; but not much.

I say "oh you shaved your eyebrows off huh", trying not to laugh at her.

"NO I DIDN'T the water was too hard and they JUST came off!" she tells me.

I turn and look at The Farmer and he is looking up at the ceiling also trying not to laugh.

Now, our farm has a lot of strong points, but water pressure isn't one of them.

It defiantly can't remove hair. 

Not even close.

It can barely get all the shampoo out of my hair.

 I tell her that I know that the water didn't do it and its a good lesson for her not to touch things that aren't hers.

She is melting down.
"will they grow back"
"I look hideous!"
"I am NOT going to school"

as she stomps off to her bedroom to get pj's on

"I HATE LIFE" she yells

Laughing..... 

I get dinner finished and she is bawling in her room pushing things and jumping up and down.

Basically she is hysterical.

I tell her she needs to calm down and that it is her fault.

She yells at me that she can't calm down.

And then I yelled.
I know I know I shouldn't.

She joins us for dinner and spends the entire dinner with her hand over her eyebrows.

After dinner she held a paper towel over them.

I tried to take a picture. She wont let me.

She asked what I can put on them to grow them back faster. 

The Farmer suggests drawing them on with a Sharpie.

I suggest bangs.

She asks if the Sharpie will work. It wont.

She agrees to bangs.

All is well now and she will be back in class next week, loving life again with new bangs.

Blessed is me...

P.S. don't mention the shaved brows to her. She is a little sensitive. Ok a lot sensitive

Talk to your kids even when it's hard.

We have had some serious excitement around our house the last couple days.
I received a text from one of Madalyn's friends parents.
"nameless child 1 says Madalyn told her about sex!"
WHAT?! WAIT! NOT MY GIRL
SHE'S ONLY 7 AND WE HAVE NOT TOLD HER ANYTHING ABOUT SEX
SHE STILL BELIEVES IN SANTA!
Thank goodness that mom contacted us!

Apparently a girl on the bus is filling some of the kids in about what she knows or think she knows about sex.
Not just sex, but oral sex!
F%#@%^
MY BABY IS ONLY 7!

After initial panic I chatted with a couple mom friends about how to handle this stressful situation.
They all said the same thing.
"Talk to them and be honest"
I was not ready for this at such a young age.

After a debrief with The Farmer
We had a family meeting and it went like this:
Momma "We would like you to tell us about (nameless child 2) that rides your bus"
Both kids "she isn't nice, she takes peoples things, she says inappropriate things"
Momma "Like what kind of inappropriate things"
Jameson "well she says um you tell her I can't remember" looking at Mad
Momma "you do remember cause you don't forget anything. It's ok to tell us because we need to know"
Madalyn "she says that a daddy licks a mommy's private parts to have a baby"

Now in my head I am FREAKING OUT, but trying to stay calm.
We share that that information is false and that when anyone tells you information that you might think is inappropriate that you need to tell us, their teachers, bus driver.
We inform the babes that they can come to us with any questions, concerns and that they never have to fear being in trouble.
Not ever.

After some more chatting I ask if they have any questions and Madalyn who has her feet on the coffee table says
"why is one of my feet bigger than the other?"
to which Jameson tries to explain
Maybe she was trying to make a stressful chat less stressful?

The world is big and scary and the older I get the more scary I think it is.
I want to wrap my kids in bubble wrap, put them in a bubble in a padded room.
We have got to gain some control on what our kids are hearing and doing.
Even the so called family friendly Disney Channel isn't always safe.
They have kids laying in bed making out.


With texting and social media a whole new element of parenting comes into play.
Communication is key I think.
We HAVE to talk to our kids even when it is hard and uncomfortable.
We HAVE to be their parents not their friends.
I cringe when I hear parents refer to their kids as best friends.
A couple months ago Madalyn was shocked and appalled when I informed her that in fact I wasn't her friend and wouldn't be until she was an adult.
I told her my job as a mom was to make sure that she could grow into a responsible adult and that she has plenty of friends.

Personally, I think some parents tell their kids way to much.
The Farmer and I are very careful with what information we share openly with our kids.
Now this doesn't mean we aren't honest with them when they ask, but we do make sure that we know exactly what they are asking.
I can get way ahead of myself and answer questions that they really aren't asking.
 I also don't think questions have to be answered right away.
It is perfectly fine to tell your kids you need to talk to your spouse and get back to them.
I have an emotional trigger and sometimes I need The Farmer to give me a logical perspective.

This parenting gig is only going to get harder, but we are doing our best.
We are learning as we go and thankful that we have a village to help us process the hard stuff.
My best friend always tells me "it's going to be fine"
She's right
After stressing the entire day yesterday about how our family meeting would go
not only was it fine we started an open communication foundation with our kids.
 After this answering the "is Santa real?" is going to be  stroll in the park!

 Talk to your kids.
Know what they are thinking.
Know who their friends are.
Know who and what they are texting, gaming and posting on social websites.
Stay connected in words face to face.
Even when it's hard.

Blessed is me...

What's your word?

Yesterday I had a client/friend bring in her daughter for a haircut.

While we were visiting she asked me
"do you have a word for 2014?"

I wasn't sure what she meant and asked her to explain.

She picks one word for the entire year to focus on.

Last year she picked

"enjoy"

Enjoy:

Take delight or pleasure in

She wants to enjoy all the moments that are big and small

She wants to enjoy every second with her kids and husband

She wants to enjoy the good and bad moments

It got me thinking yesterday

What would my word be?
Can I even pick just one word?
It stayed with me all day right from my first appointment.

So far I have thought about:

Grace

simple elegance or refinement of movement;
do honor or credit to;
the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings

What if I could be more graceful with my words, thoughts and actions?

What if I could extend more grace to others?

What if I could extend more grace to myself?

Love:

a feeling of strong or constant affection for a person; an assurance of affection;
unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another
What if I could love more fully?

What if I could not just say I loved, but actually acted it out?
What if I loved when I didn't like or I didn't want to?

Action:

The state or process of acting or doing; Something done or accomplished; Manner of movement

Could I put into action all the ideas I have in my head?
Could I get up and get moving?
I want to.

I have a lot of words rolling around in my little head and how can I just choose one for the entire year?
I am really leaning towards grace.

Grace with my kiddos when they are having a rough day.

Grace with The Farmer when he isn't doing something the way I want him to or in my time frame.

Grace with others when plans change

Grace with people I don't know standing in front of me at the grocery store.

Grace for the people who's stories I can only assume, but don't really know.

Grace for myself when I can't get it all done and I have piles of laundry, dishes stacked up and I feed my family a frozen pizza for dinner.

Gracefully keeping my trap shut and my opinions to myself-that's gonna be tough.

I love this concept of picking a word and really acting on it.

This year I choose grace.

Do you want to join me?
Pick a word; any word

Remember it and put it to work.


But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Blessed is me...

Pity Party: Table for one

I think we are all friends here

so let me be honest when I say

this week stinks and I am exhausted

It's only Wednesday.

Monday

I ran from here to there and everywhere.

I picked up and delivered a shelf from the salon to the farm.

I then drove back to the salon to pick up and deliver all the toy drive toys to the fairgrounds.

I did my general Monday banking and all the errands for the week.

I had planned on wrapping all the kids Christmas gift, but that didn't happen.

My house looked like a level 5 hurricane hit.

Dishes covered the counter-

Laundry was piled high

I picked up Mad from school because she had a dance performance at Clatsop Care.

While she got ready I made dinner, and washed dishes, so that the boys could eat while we were gone

more dishes

raced home so Mad could eat dinner and change for her CHRISTMAS program.

Came home and fell asleep on the sofa

Tuesday

A full day of work

Grocery shopping, washing and slicing veggies for Lewis and Clark's Teacher 

lunch

Dairy Queen for dinner

Showers for the kids

House is still at level 5 hurricane

Dishes again cover the counter

Laundry, yep it is still piled high

I fell asleep on the sofa before The Farmer was home from feeding cows.

Wednesday

Get things rolling earlier than normal so that I can go set up teacher lunch

I really do LOVE LOVE LOVE our kids' teachers and all the staff at our schools.

They do a great job!

Work is CRAZY

The phone is ringing off the hook!

For that I am thankful

I mess up my schedule and realize I am not going to make it to get the kids from school like I had planned.

The Farmer came to my rescue and went to get them.

Be the end of work I was crabby and on the verge of TOTAL MELTDOWN

I dislike when things don't go according to plan and I was out of niceness

Guitar practice-which was nice to just sit

House still at level 5 hurricane

Dishes again cover the counter
We use a lot of bowls and cups I've noticed

Laundry, well it is a loss cause

We ate frozen pizza for dinner

I don't even care that it tastes like the box I took it out of.

I will be asleep soon and it will probably be on the sofa.

Thursday

Thank God my mom will be here

She is a God send and gets all my laundry caught up
She can get more laundry washed, dried, folded and socks matched in 3 hours than I can in 3 weeks.
She also washes dishes, cleans my bathroom
and sometimes she makes us dinner.
I love Thursdays and her.

Friday
Work, work, work
Christmas party at my favorite eatery

Saturday
Work
The first of 5 Christmas celebrations
Another celebration Monday
2 on Tuesday plus Christmas Eve church-which is my fav fav fav
last on Wednesday when we head north to Bow Wa to see our Inman family
This is our VERY FAVORITE place to go.
I can't wait to squeeze Gram. She will be turning 94 early next year.
We cherish the days we get to spend with her.

I'm tired and crabby
I still have all our presents to wrap.
Really, what's the point of wrapping the kids already know 90% of their gifts.
I am out of soy milk and the rest of the family will be out tomorrow.
There is no time for a trip to the grocery store so I will be picking up milk at Landwehrs.
So much to do and so little time
I'll get it done.
Sometime.

or maybe not.

Blessed is me..

Magic Christmas Jammies

Have you ever been so excited to start your own Christmas traditions that you didn't have the forethought that you might not be able to keep it up? 

I have!

I was SO super excited for Jameson's first Christmas that I started
"Christmas jammies"

When he would fall asleep on Christmas Eve I would change his jammies so that when he woke up he had brand new ones on.

I did it even on his first Christmas even though he was only 6 months old.

I continued this when Madalyn was born.

I'll never forget when he was three and he walked out of his room and said
"we have NEW jammies on! Santa changed our jammies."
He was so excited.

He and Madalyn would talk about it the night before Christmas.

They wondered what their new jammies would look like.

Jameson has a memory like a steel trap and still knows all the jammies he got.

I didn't think ahead that my tiny little kids would someday weigh over 60 lbs and trying to change their jammies while they were sleeping would turn into a chore of epic proportions.

Luckily they are both pretty heavy sleepers, but a few years ago I realized that there was no way I could continue this.

Madalyn was almost 5 and Jameson was 6.

They shared a room and slept in bunkbeds.

I knew it would be near impossible for me to change Jameson's jammies on the top bunk so I convinced them to both sleep in Madalyn's bottom bunk.

I tried to get them to sleep in old jammies that would be easy to take off and I bought new jammies that I thought would be easy to put on.

I had a great plan and it went like this:
The kids had been asleep for awhile so I knew they wouldn't wake up.

I slipped Jameson's jammie bottoms off and then Madalyn's

I thought that if I switched back and forth there would be less chance of them waking up.

I move back to Jameson and put on his new jammie pants.

I have to lift up his lower half to get them up over his bum.

Crap, he is heavy.

I get them on and move to Madalyn.

She doesn't sleep as hard so I have to be extra careful.

She is much easier than Jameson because she doesn't weigh as much.

I move onto the shirts.

I lift Jameson's upper body into the sitting position and his head flops forward eyes wide open.

ABORT ABORT goes through my head.

I lay him back down.

I'm sweating and my heart is pounding.

I move back to Madalyn

Lift her up slip off her shirt and then just slip her new jammies on.

Whew, she is done and snuggled back down in her pillow.

I now have to tackle the sleeping 65lb shirtless giant.

I lift him up and the giggles start.

What in the heck have I started???
I realize then there is no way I can continue this because the kid aren't getting any smaller

His head and arms flop back.

While I hold his back with one arm I try and get the shirt over his head.

All while trying not to laugh and sweating.

I get the shirt over his head and now I have to get his jello arms into the sleeves.

I am sure that all of this took about 5 minutes, but I felt like it was taking hours!

I finally get his shirt on and lay him down, but I couldn't get it pulled down so it is bunched up under his armpits.

It is going to have to just stay there.

I go to the living room and flop myself on the sofa and tell The Farmer
"I can't do that next year they are too big"

So, now I just fold their jammies and put them on the end of their bed and they change themselves before they come out of their rooms.
It only sparked one question
"I wonder why Santa didn't change my jammies"

To which I replied "you are probably just getting too big"

That was the end of the questions.
Thank goodness!

Blessed is me...