I'm a Farmer's Wife (and proud of it)

I wear the title proudly.

Many years ago, I was quoted as saying, "I will never marry a farmer, especially not a hog farmer." Here I am, married almost 12 years to a hog/grain farmer, and loving it.

I grew up on a dairy/grain farm. I really disliked the non-schedule in busy times and the chaos that sometimes accompanied it. I absolutely loved the country, however. I guess I dreamed of someday living on an 'Old McDonald' type farmette with my husband and kids and definitely living happily ever after.

When we married, Leon was working at a Napa store, in the parts department. It didn't take us long to realize this was not his 'thing'. I quickly discovered that there are few things worse than a man not enjoying his job. Several years later, he switched jobs, and began working for an earthmover/excavator and they also did field tiling. He worked much longer hours than before, got a lot dirtier, but came home much happier. He loved his job, his boss, pretty much everything about it, except he wasn't at home with his family as much as he wished. After working there about 4 years, we bought our little 'farmette' with hog buildings and became hog farmers. His boss was very understanding about giving him time off when he emptied out hog buildings and filled them up again. Things got a little crazier because we were now juggling a full-time job, plus almost another one at home. The 20 min. drive to work wasn't much fun.

The farmer we custom fed hogs for asked Leon to work for him full-time. He lived a quarter mile from us which was a huge perk. Leon could work from 8-5, (except for the busy season) with all meals at home. That sounded really good to us. After seven years of doing dirt work, we made the change. I think the scariest thing was not knowing for sure if Leon would enjoy this as much as he had his previous job.

We have since had the opportunity to rent land from Leon's Dad, and buy some of it. Leon uses his boss's equipment whenever he needs it. He gets time off to put in his own crops. We see him driving past with the tractor. The kids can ride with him. It's almost like being at home. And the best part of all-Leon loves being a farmer!

If you remind me of my famous statement from years before, I just have to laugh. How little I knew then. I do remember after being married only a month or so, I was out mowing the yard, and something happened to the mower. I had to wait until Leon got home that night to fix it. I remembered how growing up on the farm, there was always someone around to fix stuff like that. The thought actually crossed my mind that a farmer husband would be very nice!

There are still times when farming ain't so fun. It's real life. We have more to do than what we have hours in a day. We have bills to pay and equipment to buy. The pigs get sick and we don't always know why. The weather is unpredictable. We pray for rain. We pray it stops. You can't always hang the laundry out because of that 'east wind'. The 'honey-do' list gets pushed aside. The grape arbor doesn't get built. The wife has to drop everything and race to the field with more seed corn, at the worst possible time of the day. You made a great meal only to discover Daddy won't make it for supper tonight. You just want a family night together, but it's not going to happen anytime soon. You are afraid the house smells like pigs.

But the perks to farming-there's plenty of those. Even though the farmer is busy, he's out in the shop where you can go talk to him at least. The children get to spend lots of time with him. You get to listen to him talk about markets, weather patterns, insects you never heard of before, and insecticides with every other farmer you meet. You get to sneak out every fall after the kids are in bed, and ride on the combine with him. You get special celebratory dates after the crops are planted and after the crops are harvested. You get to hear him dream about farming in the future. (At least dreams are free!) You get excited with him when he buys his first tractor. He plants your sweet corn in the field with his planter. You get a hug every time he stops in the house, if you can catch him before he's out the door again.

But the bottom line is this: A man's got to love what he does! Embrace your husband's calling. Support him. Be interested in it, even if it doesn't make any sense to you. You are doing more for him that you can possibly imagine.

Rewards, How I love Thee

I am big on motivational charts and rewards. One thing I love about them is that I can reward good behavior and deal with bad behavior, all with the same system.

This year for school, we went with another version of my Point System. New charts were posted each week, x's were put in the boxes for behavior issues, and at the end of the week, each box that didn't have an x received points. I also gave points for perfect Bible Memory and having their work done in a timely manner. The goal was 8000 points.

It was the first part of April, when my two boys hit their goal. They were delighted! Now they could plan the evening family activities of their choice. So after some debating, the whole family went bowling and then to Texas Roadhouse for supper, which happened to be planned purposely on a Kid's Night to make it extra fun.

What a fun time we had bowling! The kids absolutely loved it! So did the parents. The Mom/teacher even wiped out and took a mighty fall, causing the Dad to nearly die of laughter and the Mom to die of embarrassment. But lucky for her- she got a strike in the process!

The days of school are nearing an end! If you hear shouts and screams from this direction of the world, that's why. We love school. We also love summer vacation.

Just Stuff

My brain has been spinning out blog posts but it's all a jumbled mess. Sometimes I feel like that's what my life is-just a beautiful mess. And while I like to compartmentalize (is that even a word?) my life, a lot of it doesn't have a category to fit in. Random deep thoughts float out into space....the important thing I was going to tell my husband when I get the chance got lost somewhere in the midst of telling someone to brush their teeth, someone else to go to bed, and still another someone to please get their jammies on, NOW, and the brilliant idea I had, well, it drowned in the dishwater. Throw in some major mommy guilt, a pack of lies from the Devil, tired mommy brain, and an ironing pile to beat the band, a disorganized house, dirty drawers and cupboards, well, it really makes my head spin.

And while I know my struggles and on-going battles, I also know my Father. The recent 'high' I've been on spiritually couldn't last forever. I know that. But I also know that the same God who wowed me a hundred times lately is still right here beside me. And in the midst of my jumbled thoughts and discouragement, I choose joy and gratitude. And I'm hanging on to Jesus for dear life through the valley.

So without further ado, here's what I'm thankful for today:

The first amazing little radishes from our garden:



A great 3 days of special memories from last week:

16 more days of school!!!!!!!

My hard-working husband who knows how to fix lawnmowers, again, and again, and again....and never complains:

My free-spirited little girls, who love life so much:

My imaginative, kind, and competetive son:

My athletic, helpful, and creative son:

My new sandals.....(sorry, no picture)

Chicken Spinach Alfredo Lasagna (which I enjoyed more than my family did)

Walks down country roads.

And a happy rest-of-the-week to everyone.

He is Risen!

Easter has been so special to our family this year. We enjoyed a special sunrise service this morning, breakfast with our church, and then our regular service. And while 7 AM was quite early to get this bunch to church, we just rejoiced again in the Power of the Resurrection. Lunch was pancakes and sausage and then we enjoyed our long naps. The boys are out searching for mushrooms with their Dad and the girls and I are just chilling. Today is a Family Day for us...and we needed it. There's no one I'd rather spent time with then my own little family.

I couldn't help but think of my dear sister-in-law, who would never have left the house with a mismatched bunch like this. Her family was color coordinated and dressed to the T. I, on the other hand, discovered my oldest son wore white socks to church with his black pants, and my youngest son was smeared with grass stains due to some wild after church activities. I guess you could say the 'power of the resurrection' and the 'look' in my husband's eyes made me just let it go. While I admire my wonderful sister in law, and it may happen here someday, but this year, we just went out the door as we were.

Here are some of my recent favorite pictures:

These two are the very best of friends and I often watch them together and realize what I never had. They just don't know how blessed they are.

A guys night of fishing...2 hours and 39 fish!

I turned a normal lunch time into a restaurant meal. The children were thrilled!

Oh, the fun of their first ever Easter egg hunt!

We invited some of Leon's family over for a picnic.

Leon's parents, my sweet in laws.

Leon's brother, AJ, and Grandma Miller

Cousins

I Am Thrilled....

• that my children are so into the Easter story again this year. The Resurrection eggs are a huge hit!
• that we got to hold and enjoy our 40 new, baby chicks. I know they'll soon be ugly and in 8 weeks we'll butcher them, but for now, we'll enjoy their cute, fluffiness.
• that my girls chose fresh strawberries over Peeps at the grocery store.
• that the old apple tree is no more and that my hard-working husband planted our 4 new fruit trees-2 apple, 2 cherry.
• that SPRING is here!
• that garage sale season is just around the corner.
• that one Easter dress is finished and the other one won't take long.
• that my son is actually catching on to adjectives in his Language book.
• that school is winding down for the year.
• that I get to go see my big sister and her family next week.
• that we finally bought a real piano.
• that my boys got to enjoy choir and that they did so well on their final program.
• that although my house is dirty, my heart is clean, and my cup is full.
• to put away the snow clothes for another year.
• that my raspberries are finally trimmed.
• that Jesus paid the Ultimate price for my sin.
• that I am finally understanding GRACE a little bit better.
• to celebrate Easter.

And there's another one of my 'happy lists'. I am kind of a 'list-y' person. It helps me organize my brain. ;) A real mix of spiritual and practical, that's me. I hope you can find lots of things that thrill you as well. Life is entirely too short to get stuck on 'empty' or 'ungrateful' for very long. As we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus, lets allow Him to fill our hearts with His love and joy.