Sixteen….

My oldest daughter turned sixteen today.  Seriously?!…  I don't think I'm ready yet.  These kids are growing up soooo fast.  I mean really, really fast.  Is it just my kids or are you guys having these issues too?

Our oldest daughter and her best friend

This little stinker is a Junior this year and is such a joy to have around.  Absolute joy.  Cannot say that enough.

For her birthday we decided to do a little something different.  We took her and a few of her friends horse back riding.  And she loved it.  We've been begging Dad to let us get a horse.  I mean really…what's a farm without a horse, right?

Well….we're working on that one.

Anyway, our daughter loved her birthday "weekend".  Since we had just moved in just a few days prior to us celebrating all our birthday decorations were packed away in boxes.  Didn't bother our sweet girl one bit.  I love that about her.  We had a delicious birthday cake decorated on a Christmas plate…because well, that's all we could find out of the moment…..and dinner and presents and all the chaos that goes with it.

I love that girl.  That sweet, marvelous daughter of ours.  She has the kindest heart and such a gentle spirit…well, except if you are in the water with her.  And then, watch out.

Happy birthday our sweet sixteen.  I love you to the moon and back….

First day of school….

This morning I watched my kids go to school….for the first time.  And that was hard.

Okay, technically my smallest one had gone to half day preschool before but my youngest daughter had never been to an actual school before.  I have been homeschooling children for the past 13 years.  And now, I watched as the kids waved goodbye and I handed over that baton to someone else.

Weird?  Yes.

But it was time.

I know that they are going to love it.  I know that they are going to make a boatload of friends.  And I know that this is what is best for them.

What I didn't know is that I'd feel so lost without them.

So what do you do with your first "alone" time in 13 years?  You mow.  And mow.  And mow so more.  And then you realize that your day has flown past.

And then you get to hear all about their day.

It's nice to step out of the role of teacher and back into the role of just momma.  It's what I love best.

Moving…part two.

We are done.  With a big ol' sigh of relief.

All of the furniture, boxes everything is finally at our new house.  But it was not without it's challenges and sore muscles.  We packed the truck until late one night and then we were moving the first load as the sun got up.  The next load took a little longer to load up and by dinner we were done.

Then it was a matter of finding the things we needed….beds, sheets, shower curtains.  And that was not easy.  You'd think I would have been smarter this last time….but no.

But that's okay.  We are at our new home and there is one thing I can assure you of.

We are never moving again.

Nuff said.

College visits….

In the middle of our crazy life right now, my oldest son and I fit in visiting a few state colleges.  I mean who doesn't do that right after they've been robbed, packing up a rental house, high school swimming practices in full swing, back to school shopping…oh, and finish building a farmhouse.  Everyone does that, right?

Um…no.

Well, my son and I did.  I literally had two days in a row on one week that worked so we packed up each day and left.  Each college was about two hours away (in different directions), so we had to leave very early just to get to there for the events starting at eight.

The first college was a smaller college and immediately I just loved it.  The people, the location, the students.  I would have plopped down my application right then and there.  But this was not my decision.  It was my oldest's and at this one he was bored.  Really?!…  Ugh.

The second college was huge and he couldn't contain himself.  He bounced off the walls with excitement.  About where he was going to live, where he was going to eat, what he was going to do.  Seriously?!…

And then I thought about it.

This is classic.  My son and I don't see eye to eye.  At all.  We are very different.  Why would I think he would choose the one I liked.  But for the moment I am glad he has decided to go.  To be honest, he has not been an easy child to raise these past few years.  Okay, that's the understatement of the year.  But now….I have a carrot.

A carrot to dangle.

One that I hope he will want to grab onto to pursue and get a great degree.  There is hope.  He might just be finding his way after all.

Moving….part one

Yesterday we moved boxes.  A lot of boxes.  A boatload, mountainous, extremely large amount of boxes.  Or at least it felt that way around seven that evening.  We were all so hungry, tired and thirsty that we were dragging at the end.

My oldest son was a trooper though.  He pulled his weight and then some.  You see, my husband had to work that morning and could only take off work at lunchtime.  So that left he and I the "official movers" for the day.  We started at eight picking up the truck and did I mention that I drove that bad boy home.  Oh yeah, I did.  All. By. Myself.

I felt pretty stinking cool in that thing….well, except for the fact I had to actually go forward.  But sitting there in the parking lot, I was the bomb, baby.  Wait, do kids still say that nowadays?

Ahem…

Well anyway, after my slight panic episode of getting the truck home, I realized the fact I had to back that bad boy up when I finally got there.  ….another moment of panic…..  And then, on a wing and a prayer and a hallelujah chorus I turned that monster of a truck off and kissed the ground.

Never again.  Truck driving is definitely NOT in my future.

After that epiphany, my son and I loaded the entire truck for the next 4 hours.  Four very long hours.  My husband was then home for lunch and we rallied all the troops we could find.  In our case, every child with two arms in our house had to carry a box.  Then we broke the news that we had to go and unload everything.

There was much sadness.

Finally, after five more hours we unloaded everything at our new house.  This move was just boxes and it was a monster of a move.  The next move in a few days is the furniture.  I hate to think about the look on the kids faces when we tell them that fact.

Moving….no good thing about it.  Just gotta live through it.

One good reason why kids shouldn't be movers….

While packing they end up finding a game they haven't played in forever and stop to play it...right then and there.

I'm pretty sure I should have gone with the professionals.  Moving boxes tomorrow and furniture in a just a few days.

We are going home, people.

Let's talk about something else….

How about tomatoes.

I am overrun with tomatoes at this moment.  Anybody else have this issue?  Looking back at the amount of plants that went into the ground, I might have gone a wee bit overboard.  And now, I'm paying the piper.

Just about everyday I am picking about two 5 gallon buckets full of tomatoes.  I'm canning as fast as I can, but I'm not keeping up as I should be.  If it weren't for the fact that my kids didn't get the memo that we are moving this weekend and next…which translates to the fact that I've got to still pick them up from practices, camps and oh, apparently they need to be fed….I might get a bit more done.

But….I…..am….not.  Ugh.

I picked a beautiful new tomato this year to grow called "Gold Medal".  It is a whopper of a tomato.  They are bigger than my hand.  We're talking huge.  They are beautiful yellow with streaks of red and taste a little sweeter than normal.  My husband isn't quite sure what he thinks about them.  They are harder to pick (because of being yellow) and he says he doesn't quite know when they are ripe.

We also grew an Italian heirloom tomato that it's taste is to die for.  It cans up real nicely and come this winter we will love all the sauces and soups it will make.  Some other tomatoes we grew were Martino's roma, cherry roma and I believe I threw in some Brandywine ones as well.

For now, being knee-deep in tomatoes is crazy.  I haven't had to water them once since we've had a wonderful supply of rain.  And they are prolific.  I'm just not sure how many more meals I can create with tomatoes.  My husband says it's time to start giving some away.  But all the contractors on the farm are on to me and run away when I come toting the 5 gallon buckets.

That's fine.  Come winter everybody will be singing a different tune.  They'll be wishin' they had that tomato.  That beautiful tasty big ol' honkin' tomato.

Having perspective….it's just stuff

Well….been trying to have a little bit of perspective.  And remember that stuff is well, just stuff.  Not what's really important.

True conversation.

Us:  Yes, Detective so and so, when do we get the rest of our stuff back?

Detective:  Well, there was a problem.  When the officer pulled the man who robbed you over he only took a few things off his trailer, took a picture of the stuff in the trailer and of the man and then let him go?

Us:  (Dumbfounded)  Let him go?  With our stuff?

Detective:  Yes.  We apologize.  He should have confiscated everything on the truck but instead they only took what looked like a construction robbery.  Not all your items.

Us:  (Still dumbfounded)  So when you asked us to describe our items you were just looking at the photo that was taken?  You didn't even have all our stuff in your possession?

Detective:  Correct.  But we do have in our possession your 3 saws.

Us:  (Utterly dumbfounded)


Stuff.  It's just stuff.

We met this man the night we were robbed.  He approached us on the farm.  Long story short, he asked us some weird questions and then went on his merry way.

Big picture.

Things could have gone really bad.  He is a very bad individual and God protected us that night.  The odds that an officer would have pulled over that same man that same night we were robbed are incredibly tiny.  But it happened.  Because of that, we were able to identify him and now hopefully (if they can catch him again) put him away for a long time.

Frustrating?  You bet it is….

But it's just stuff.  What's really important sits around my dinner table every night.  Argues about the last two scooters.  And looks like angels sleeping in their beds at night.

I am thankful.  For protection.  My family.

I don't need all the stuff.

The scooter….

These past 72 hours have beaten me down.  Emotionally and physically.  They have been awful.

I am not a cryer but I have lost it a few times with everything that has been going on.  I told my husband, I have reached the limit on what I can take.

Done.

But let me tell you a little story as to what has happened.

We have a scooter.  Nothing fancy.  Just a silver and black scooter.  But it has been the issue of more arguments than you can imagine.  No one likes to ride it.  It has a flat part on one wheel and when you ride it quickly it goes like this……thump, thump, thump, thump, thump (but a thousand times faster).  We have three scooters in all but the "loser" of any argument has to end up riding the bumpy scooter, because of course we don't have enough to go around.

On Saturday the kids were riding this scooter at the farm.  Quite comically to hear the vibrating voices racing down the new driveway, if you ask me.  Anyway.  Because the kids didn't want to take the "bad scooter" back to the rental we left it in the storage garage.

On Saturday night it was one of many, many, many things stolen from us.  That scooter.  That 3 dollar garage sale scooter.  Gone.  No one blinked an eye about it.  The kids could really have cared less.

On Sunday night a man was pulled over with a trailer full of items.  That scooter.  That gosh awful scooter stood out amongst the tools and other items and made the police take notice.  For some reason, that scooter screamed out to them.  Take me back to my family!!!!!

And so, because of one item looking out of place (and given the fact that we reported what this man looked like and all the other stuff he took) we have been told that they believe they have the right man and that this is our stuff.  How much of it is there?  We don't know.

But when they saw the scooter they knew it was ours.  Well of course they did.  I guess it will be with us forever and ever amen.

Mamma bear….

Today we drove out to the farm to see one of our garages open and our brand spankin' new tools stolen.  It was NOT a banner day for us.

There is nothing like that feeling.  That sick to your gut feeling you know someone sneaky and knifing, someone cowardly….someone who is not in their right mind has rifled through your stuff.

It unnerves you something fierce.

But that does not last for long.  And then you just get down right M. A. D.  I mean scream out loud at the sky kind of mad.  It's just not right, people.  Not right.

And then, you get smart.

To the man who decided to be a coward and take what was not his to begin with…watch out.  I know what you look like.  I can pick you out of a crowd.  I will, and I repeat will, protect my family.

You have unleashed this mamma bear.

23 years and counting...

Spent the day with my favorite date in the whole wide world today.  Actually he's been my only date for longer than these past 23 years.

We were putting on our front porch deck all day today in the scorching heat.  Sweaty and hot, he still makes me laugh and catches me when I fall.  Okay, that's not technically correct.  I fell through the deck boards in front of him and he just looked at me and about laughed.

I. Did. Not. Laugh.

Ahem.  Any-hoo.  I am crazy about this man.  Ya wanna know why?  Because at the end of the day I remember why I married him 23 years ago today.  Why I agreed to say yes for ever and ever amen.  Why I got so lucky to have my best friend and greatest cheerleader….even though he knows I am highly accident-prone and a bonehead and failing as a farmer right now.  He loves me.  For me.

And that's why 23 years seems like a blink of an eye.  I can't wait to see what else is in store for us.  Bandaids and all.

I love ya, babe.

So very, very true….