Do you know your Neighbors?

Here is our neighbor Shirley.
Proverbs 27:10 Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father, and do not go to your brother's house when disaster strikes you--better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away."

I love having neighbors. I love the idea and practice of being neighborly. Growing up we had wonderful neighbors. I can think of five different families that lived on our street growing up, with whom my family shared our lives with. I still keep in touch with them today and they are my friends. As a kid, it was good for me to see how different families run and live (examining the good, the bad, and the ugly).

Shirley is our neighbor. She is in her late 80's and has been widowed for 15 yrs or so. She still wears her wedding ring. Our other neighbor mows her lawn for her once a week from spring through summer. It has been great getting to know Shirley. All of her family lives in the Seattle area or south of there, so she typically is alone, as she says most of her friend's here have died.

I like Shirley and think it is interesting to hear stories from her about the old days. We have each others' phone numbers and I could call her if I need something and she calls me when she needs something.

Our neighbors across the street are the Isaksons. They are a family of four and Yvonne and her two boys take care of our animals when we are out of town. They are really sweet. We've exchanged phone numbers with them as well. Last night she brought over some veggie scraps to feed to our pig.

Do you know your neighbors? Who are they? Can you trust them? Be wise in this area, don't risk your safety or your family's safety just because you want to be neighborly. However, it is important to build community and your neighbors are people in close proximity to you. Make an effort to get to know them. And even if you've lived where you do for a while and have never extended a hand of friendship to your neighbors, do it now and begin being a neighbor.

A Useful Blog for Moms

May I recommend a practical and helpful blog, written from a Biblical perspective?
If you want handy tips on managing a home, working on your heart, and glorifiying Jesus...you can find that here: www.workandworship.com

A Shout Out to Moms

Proverbs 31:28 "Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her."

Dustin's Mom, Emily, with Jillian and Georgia
My Mama, Miki, with Georgia

How blessed I am to have been raised by a wise, diligent, fun and loving mom. The longer that I am a mom, the greater my thankfulness for the mom that the Lord provided to me. As I grow as a mom, I see how much of herself, her dreams, hopes, energy, she put forth into her raising of my brother and I. She gives and gives and gives and gives to me in boundless areas: love, wisdom, grace, forgiveness, encouragement, time, energy, friendship. And I am so thankful that she gets to share in the life of my kids as Dustin and I raise them. Mom, you are a continual blessing and encouragement to me and I love to just hang out with you. We have fun being together.

PS: My Mom and Auntie Berna cleaned my whole house for me while we were on vacation! Thank you for that wonderful gift!

Another mom I have in my life, is Dustin's mom, Emily. Over the years that I have known her, I have discovered a rare person. She is one of the most giving people that I have ever known. She is always looking for ways that she can help another person. No task is to complicated or too great for her to take on. I have learned much from Emily about giving, sacrificing of time and comfort for the benefit of others. I love to talk with her and learn her perspective when it comes to relationships and situations. I am inspired by her ability to cook a gourmet meal nearly every meal. And I am encouraged by her humbleness of heart...to look back on her life and reflect, repent, and change.

Miss Pettitoes

The Pig I've Always Wanted. Here is Miss Pettitoes our new pig. She is a Hampshire/Duroc cross and is as sweet as can be! She is our newest attempt at growing our own meat. Some of you may remember our tragic attempt at turning our duck, Ping, into duck-dinner. The roosters were another venture to put into the "FAIL" category. Just three nights before the day of butchering, something (likely a raccoon or weasel) dug into their cage and killed all seven cockerels (one was missing, the others, it appeared, were killed for the fun of it??!!).

I am beginning to wonder how early American farmers did it, and I am gaining great respect for those living/who lived in an agrarian culture. So far, this micro-farm/hobby-farm business has produced very little, practically speaking (granted I am not doing this 24/7, and am not truly dependent upon the results of my labor). Our garden produced very little this year, especiallly in comparison to our luscious 10'x10' little garden in our Shoreline backyard. We have two birds that produce eggs, four birds in all, and...let me see....we've lost eighteen birds to wildlife and/or accidents. Not the best survival ratio for chickens and ducks at our place. Lillian apparently, hasn't reached maturity yet...no signs of fertility. And before she begins milking, she has to kid (have a baby(ies))...and before that, let me tell you 'bout the birds and the bees. And speaking of bees, we didn't have enough honey in the hive to harvest, the stuff that was there we had to leave for the bees to eat all winter long. So, I must be patient. Farming is a science and an art. And it takes a lot of time and hard work, its expensive and dirty. And we aren't very good at it--yet...we are determined to see if we can do this. So...I will not get attached to Miss Pettitoes, I will not get attached to Miss Pettitoes!

The standard is to raise this type of hog to about 220-250 pounds. This should take around 5-7 months. We've been told and have read that a 220 pound hog produces about 150 pounds of edible meat. So, if this works out for us, we should have some pork-chops and bacon to share--even if we do get another deep-freezer.

My Happy Happy Family

I thought I would post a few more photos of my cutie-pies. Elias and Jillian both jibber-jabber so much nowadays. Like all kids, they say the most surprising, funny, profound, hilarious things sometimes. What I hear them say is especially endearing because I am their Mama. I can't think of any of their latest quotes right now.

If you look close, they are holding hands--I make them hold hands a lot and sometimes they do it on their own.

I love this one of Georgia. She's got the Hovde down-turned eyes, too. My cousin calls them "Precious Moments" eyes--don't know if I would go so far as to call them that, but it helps me to embrace the shape-o'-my eyes.

In this shot, I was trying to imitate a studio photoshoot. Not so much.

The Happy Toe-Heads (is that how you spell that?)

Elias and our beloved "Pogo". Pogo puts up with a lot of man-handling these days, especially since her counterpart, Lola, got eaten by a coyote a couple months ago.

I am discovering something new about autumn this year. I can grow things to eat during this season up here in the Northwest. Yes, it is true. In my west garden (I say that a little fecetiously) I have beets, spinach, corn salad, Alaskan Bush peas, fava beans and brussel sprouts growing. They are growing very slowly, but growing, they are. Also, my rosemary plant that Dustin got me for Christmas last year is still going strong.

This afternoon, the kids and I were out with the animals and we heard the hoot of an owl...likely the same owl that Elias and I discovered perched atop our chicken tractor about a month ago. It is a little ironic because, since before he could walk, Elias has been enamored with birds--particularly owls (he's a little freaked out about crows). So we trekked along the perimeter of our goat fence toward the back of our property and an owl flew out of the Sequoia tree and into a fir that graces our neighbor's pond.

Yesterday, the kids and I painted during most of our free time throughout the day. We painted on paper, cardboard, old popsicle sticks, and the like. It was really fun. I prefer watercolors, but Elias likes to paint with glitter glue and Jillian likes to paint with poster paint.

---------ORGANIZATION RESOLUTION UPDATE-----------

Since, in my last post, I resolved to organize something small every day, I thought I would document an update.

I have fixed a small shelf I bought for $2 @ the Salvation Army and spray painted it--looks great as a sofa side table (toy bins fit in it)

I have spray painted a furnace vent cover to better match our bathroom.

I have cleaned the kitchen every night!

I have put away clothes right after I folded them

I'm working on making this ORGANIZATION RESOLUTION a LIFESTYLE! Whoo hoo!

Perservering

For the past month, I have wasted a lot of time. I have not been orderly in my thoughts or in how I carry out my daily tasks. I feel like I am defined by the clutter in my mind and home. A contributing factor to this is motherhood, I think. Another contributing factor is my natural bent toward the disorderly and ability to look over a mess without a second glance. But this is not a state of mind where I am stewarding wisely, carefully, what God has given me. When all the kids are in bed, I stand in my "greatroom" (i.e. kitchen, eating area, office and living room) and all of the things I have to do/should do/want to do flash through my mind as I take in with my eyes what clutter remains of our day....and often, I get too overwhelmed to begin to tackle more than the kitchen (if I even do that...hey, it can wait till 7 a.m. right?). This week I remembered something I learned a few years ago about how, often times, perfectionists don't start any projects because they don't see how they could ever get the job done the way they want it. So, not ever taking it on, whether it be scrapbooking, or organizing- whatever it is, it does not get started. Well, I'm no perfectionist, I'm just lazy. But this week I decided to organize the books in our home. Nay, they are not exactly how I had wished them to be ordered (alphabetically and by subject), but in my organizing I have created two ordered bookshelves and gotten rid of a few books that I don't care to read (okay, only 3 books)... Bonus! I found a few books I thought I had lost. So today, I resolve to steward my inklings of free time to organize one area of clutter in my life each day.
I have realized the necessity of teaching my kids how to pick up after themselves, I just am not sure how to do it. This is how the moment passes when I ask my kids to pick up their toys. "Elias could you please pick up your Lightning Mcqueen cars and put them in the plastic box?"
Elias picks up one car and puts it in the box. Then carries on playing in his merry way. "Elias please finish picking your cars up." Eventually I am the one that picks up the cars in order that peace be maintained in the home. I get really frustrated because usually the scenario goes one of two ways. The first, as above, I pick up the cars. The second, Elias picks his cars up after much coaxing, conniving, bribing, and fussing. This second scenario is much more difficult for me to endure. Its way easier for me to pick the cars up myself, or, better yet, to overlook the clutter and leave the cars on the floor. This has resulted in many a stubbed toe between Dustin and I. If any of you moms have any tips on teaching kids how to pick up after themselves I welcome them graciously. Even more so, I welcome encouragement from moms who realize how much thoughtful and wise teaching their children require.
Why is it that in the most mundane of duties do I realize my children's deepest need and do I see their wayward hearts and through that I see mine. My wayward heart doesn't want to perservere, to keep on teaching them, my heart is hard towards them and not understanding of their youthfulness. I want them to get it the first time and I despair when they don't. I lack grace and hope.
I've been encouraged by 1 Corinthians 13:4-13, I hope you will be too.

The Kiddos

Jillian

Georgia

Elias

Walking with the goats

Georgia-Pie

Sisters