They'll remember the everyday

I go every week. I love the fresh veggies but what I love the most

is seeing her carry her basket around and plop the onions and bell peppers in and keep walking. She talks to all the old farmer men and they push back their farmer hats and take a minute to make a little girl feel special. Only at the local farmers market can a little girl carry a tent pole around and be right at home :).

They were selling fresh flowers and when Channie-mae walked by they asked her if she wanted one. She looked at me and said "how did they know I'm my daddies flower?"

"..hmmm I don't know Channie, they could just tell"..

Her face was as proud as a peacock in spring.

She carried that flower around half the day. Yep, I love the farmers market. You meet old friends and make new ones. Like the fellow that heard me say I had 8 kids and he walked up and said

"Excuse Ma'am, but did I hear you say you had 8 kids?"

 "Yes, I do"

and he replied, "I have a bushel of squash and I don't care much about loading it back up and lugging it home, would your kids eat it?"

 I smiled thinking he thought maybe I was a needy mama..but I smiled and said "sure we'd love it"

.. The niceness of strangers should never be turned down. I'll pass it forward and share this squash with someone else.   

I bought ears of corn for supper. 15 ears for $4.00.. this is great eating for a big family. I came home and everyone helped shuck it.

Little fingers pulling back the corn coat and looking for their piece of corn. They acted as if their cob might not be in there and when they got to the gold stuff they yelled and cheered. I had a big pot waiting with boiling water and when they got their corn all clean I threw it in the boiling water and we waited. 

........................................

and then the rain came. The afternoon rain showers usually drive

people inside but it drives us out. The kids taking a shower underneath the drain faucet. The rain drops washing the heat off their little bodies. I sit and swing and laugh and remember.

When I was a little girl my dad would throw us a bar of soap and

we would take showers in the rain.

I still remember.

 I wanted them 

to remember their own rain showers.   

Dancing, playing, and laughing in the rain.

Finding memories in the ordinary miracles

that God gives us today.

 

Lessons from the Farm: Mr. Blue

He woke up and he was in a bad mood.

I've been there.

He said he must have slept on the wrong side of the bed.

I've  definitely been there.

Sleep still in his eyes, his hair a tangled mess, his feet shuffling as he walked.

Yep, I've been there. 

I said, "I know just what you need."

He looked at me.

"What?" he asked innocently enough

"Some Sugar"

He didn't want to. But I told him that sugar will cure what ails you, it will fix all of your many problems and it does.

So he came and took his medicine.

and guess what?

It made him feel all better.It cured his mood. All because of some little sweet sugar.

  

Thanks girls for sharing your sugar..

.........................

My girls have been making lots of bread and cookies.

Pounding their white covered hands into the soft stretchy dough

and smiling at me with flour sprinkled faces.

.........

I love my job, overseer of these little faces.

We studied a bumble bee, looking for the three eyes and the two

antennas as we read one of our favorite books

The Book of Nature Study...

............................

I layed in bed with all of my daughters to watch Pride and Prejudice

just one more time.

We had ten loads of laundry stacked all around us because

we had to do something while we watched:)

Channie asleep somewhere next to the warm towels,

the girls curled up in our laps, and Tay and I watching like it was the first time we had ever seen the movie.

We're bad...

Then I waited for my Mr. Darcy to come home with pizza because

I just didn't feel like cooking, and it was only Monday.

I'm real bad!

Missing a sweet little girl who filled our home with laughter and sunshine this weekend. Taking the time to love and be loved by this sweet little gift.

Jo came and tapped me on the arm yesterday asking

"Mama, where's Mimi?"
He probably misses her the most. Teaching them to love everyone, and to not be closed off but to love when you get the chance.

Always love even when there's risk involved.

Let today be different.

Look for ways to see the blessings in your day.

Have fun.

Love someone you wouldn't normally love.

Watch a movie for the hundredth time.

Get some lots of sugar.

and don't despair when Mr. Blue comes to visit...

He'll always leave..

......from my home to yours....

Why I went back

I went back because I told her I would. I went back to meet the girls

great grandmother. She is family now. She was the only one who didn't agree with our birth-moms adoption plan because she said.."no white folks are going to bring those babies back to see you." She didn't trust..She didn't know us though. Now she does.

So I went back. I walked into a small one bedroom apartment

to see Grandma. She stared at the girls and said

"Lordy me, those are some fine babies."

I couldn't agree with grandma more. She held them and kissed them and watched me be their mommy. I could hear her saying "my, oh  my, fine indeed." That's when she looked at me and said, "you've done a fine job. I can tell they're loved and the kids love them. They are healthy and happy." She then asked me to send her a picture of the three of them together and I told her I would. 

and I will.

I will be forever grateful for the

chance to be a small part of this family.

We are not that different, she is family and I love her for that.

The girls birth mom was there and their bio sister, Mimi, and so I got their first family

photo.

Mimi ended up coming back home

with us to spend a few nights and get to hang

out with her sisters.

In the end it's all about

family. 

 I love living outside of normal.

 You never know what we'll be doing next.

Bad Mood? Try This

Her brown eyes look adoringly at her father. She has a safe refuge in him. A place she calls home. A man who adores her and tells her so. A man who holds her like she still weighs 8lbs again.

He laughs at her country version of let's go down to

the river and pray. He fusses over her..He prays for her and lets her pray. He loves his flower and....

This girl l-o-v-e-s her daddy and guess what?? I do too.

side note: I love the way when I take his picture his ring is always showing.

Hours spent at this old wooden table with the castle men his daddy bought him.What a glorious day it was indeed when the mailbox had these men hidden inside. A special treat from his daddy who understands how a little boy needs knights and a castle. He spends hours playing here. Listening to me clank around in my kitchen.

I love looking over my shoulder at him when he's talking to his men about going into battle. He is the only one I have that likes to play by himself. I give him as much time as I can to go to battle within his imagination.

Summer time for us is spent at the pool alot. In fact both boys have learned to swim on their own. I make them jump off the diving board and swim to safety just to make sure. I love being in the water with them. I love knowing that I taught them to swim and they will remember. I'm all about remembering...remember? :)

Jo is only 4 and he is tearing the water up. He is a fish.

Cullen threw off his arm floats

and just swam.  Way to go guys!

These two little swimmers took a break and just watched. They love the water. They love their sweaty bodies layed up against each other. They never seem to mind piling up. My kinda girls:) 

Summer time is also about Ice Cream the "lick it off yourself  because your ice cream is so good" ice cream. We called 6 different ice cream places within a 30 mile radius from our house last week just to see if anybody had chocolate vanilla swirl from the machine because we LOVE chocolate vanilla swirl, but we found no one so we all piled up in the big red van and Scott took us to sonic. We shared licks like it was nobody's business and came home bellies full and laughing. Ice cream seems to do that to people.

Especially Us..

Try it the next time you're ill, stressed, or other wise just plain grouchy.

Pull the ice cream out and pile the bowls as high as the sky and see

the mood change. It's love I tell ya. 

Just celebrating motherhood

one ice cream at a time

Why I celebrate motherhood everyday

I have a  habit of celebrating the simple things

like boys in dirt....

Girls in my kitchen

and half a dozen kids in my bed.

 carrot juice... 

I celebrate and adore Pioneer Woman cook book

because she has me and Taylor in the kitchen together listening to good music and cooking some of the best food you've ever had.    

Little feet

  

Motherhood is worth celebrating everyday. I found this out most

when we lost our son William. I don't get to experience life with him here, but I do get to experience life with his brothers and sisters. I've been changed. I have lost much on this journey of life but He has given me more and I refuse to take one single day for granted. I will play alot, feed them great food, and enjoy their company. I will thank the Lord every single day for their life and my life with them.

To my Sweet baby William I miss you every single day and I will never forget your sweet face, you are my sunshine.  

    

It all started

with an idea..

and before we knew it there was river rafting with friends in the Great Smokey Mountains. Tubes as bright as the sun drifting slowly down as friends laughed and made unforgettable memories together. For $8.00 you can rent one of these big yellow tubes and you could tube all day long.

The idea had us horse back riding up the foothills of Tennessee and it had a little boy nervous about his first ride on a horse. It's a big horse for a little boy.

He decided to get to know his horse a little bit before he saddled up.

I loved the way she waited for her turn. She was serious and I was seriously loving her very much. Her hands on her hips; big business on her mind. It's a big world but she has big love behind her so she's OK. (The big love is me)

Big bubbles off the deck

The idea had us playing in the river of Cades Cove. After a big day of sight seeing and bear watching we needed this water in a big big way.

The shade trees so big that I could have sat there for hours and watched my kids play on the rocky edges.

Big treasures we brought home from the floor of the river.

There was a hot tub right out our door on the deck. The great Smokey's were the back drop as the kids swam and splashed from early morning to late at night.

On the way home the big red van made a place to rest after our very very full weekend.

Big memories will forever be stored in our hearts and in our minds of a trip that started

with just an idea.

It's a big world-you'll never know where it will take us next..honk if you pass us out on the big road...

Thanks to Karen and the girls and the Townsend river rats for a wonderful weekend.