Farmstead Chronicles

  I was laughing at the look on his face 😂 He said he didn't need his picture taken. Let's get this over with     I had an outpatient surgery this morning. It was a "female surgery" I will call it and spare you all the gory details of what and why. I have never been put to sleep, so to say I was nervous about that would be an understatement. I thought up so many terrible things that could happen, but finally just prayed about it and let it go. I had to be at the hospital at 6:15 this morning. My first thought was, will Dr. Flather even be awake that early? She was and looking fresh and rested, Thank you Jesus! My friend Katie came and got Noah & Charley up and ready and where they needed to be and then went to work herself. She's raised 2 kids, so she knew what to do! Bless her for getting to my house at 5:15a.m..   The ride to the hospital was quiet. We were both still tired and I was a little nervous. The process went fairly smoothly I feel like. I w...

This is us...            When we got up Saturday morning it was raining (Thank you Jesus). There wasn't much Garrett could do and I was going to get a grocery pickup so Garrett went with me. I, of course, wanted to make a few stops (mainly at thrift stores, don't judge) he likes to go and get back, unless it's something HE wants to do of course. He obliged though. We made a morning out of it, us and the kids.     I was married before, that was another life for me and I am not the same person I was back then. I was very young and thought I knew it all. I do have 2 wonderful sons from that marriage. In that marriage we did not have date nights and rarely did things just the two of us. I would lay awake at night wondering what I was going to do when the boys grew up and left home, because I did not want to stay there with him by myself (they were 7 & 2 but still, I had to think ahead.)  I poured my heart and soul into those boys and that was...

There's a lot going on behind the house - hence the reason it's in the BACK YARD!       Saturday, I got to spend the whole day at home. It was WONDERFUL after a busy week! Garrett & Colby were working on farm equipment and going to spray a hay field, so Sawyer stayed and hung out with us. He doesn't come very often anymore because he's a teenager and can stay home by himself, but he came up this Saturday. He and Charley love to "fight." They wrestle around in the yard A LOT. He's really good with Charley & Noah. For the longest time around here, he was an "only child." There weren't any cousins on this side of the family for him to play with. I usually get some work out of him too 😄. This time he painted some boards for me.       I have A LOT of cousins! Growing up we were all together at some point. Many of us spent a lot of time with/at Grandma Isabel & Granddaddy's house (some of the cousins called him "Pap-pap."...

Garrett scrolling the "TV guide" Oh sweet Noah Take out is what's for dinner      This Friday, the 15th, Garrett & I celebrated our 11-year anniversary. It was your typical day, we both got up and went to work and about our normal routine (although I forgot my phone at home and was on my way back home to get it when I passed Garrett, who was bringing it to me 😘) I asked him this afternoon if he remembered what we were doing at this time (4:35 p.m.) 11 years ago? He said he did. We had such a good day with perfect weather. We were so blessed and continue to be!  We are making plans in the next couple of weeks to celebrate our anniversary. We don't take each other for granted. I am thankful for him every day and the life he provides for us.     I can also remember when our Friday nights looked WAYYY different! We would go out (usually to the moose) get home at 12:30 a.m. and get up and do it again the next night. HAHAHA. The life we have now we...

  Aunt Judy & Noah Nana and her sister Judy (aka Aunt Judy) Janice     I was off Thursday & Friday this week. I titled the blog "Taking it slow"; however, it was actually pretty busy. My Aunt Judy (my nana's sister) is visiting from Florida and Nana brought her to visit Noah & I on Thursday. We had a nice visit and entertainment (thanks to Noah). It was good to see her! They have lived away from here for many years. My Uncle Donnie is a preacher and when I was younger he was a Pastor in Robertsdale, PA. I remember going to visit them a few times. My cousin Denver is close to my age so we played together. When I was in the 5th grade I broke my ankle at Skatetown. Denver was in visiting Grandma Isabel and he and some of his friends were going skating. I asked Grandma if I could go, she really didn't want me to; said she just didn't feel right about it, but I begged and she gave in (which she rarely did!) She took us all and I don't think we were ther...

  Nana Poppaw Mommaw     Today is Grandparents Day. I am so very fortunate and grateful to still have grandparents of my own. The pictures above are of my Nana (will turn 79 in October), Poppaw (will turn 80 in October) & Mommaw (will turn 83 in September). I try not to take for granted that I still have them here with me. Their health is generally good (they can each still take care of themselves) and they get around well. I was in my late 30's when my great-grandma passed. She got to be a part of the boys lives and Garrett even got to know her. I was 15 when my great-grandfather passed and I miss them both every day. They were a huge part of my life and taught me about Jesus. If you are still fortunate enough to have grandparents, go see them. Spend time with them, listen to their stories (over and over again if you have to) one day you will look back and wish you could sit with them and hear their stories. I remember sitting with my Grandma Isabel (my great-grandmo...

  Sweet Noah T. Bluey It's a cartoon kinda morning     I absolutely LOVE slow Saturday  mornings! I love to just get up and drink coffee and linger in my pajamas. We don't get to do that very often. The weather here this morning is 60 degrees and I am LOVING IT! I wish it would stay like that all day; however, it's going back in the 90's this week. Noah, Charley & I are just hanging out this morning, laying around watching TV. We have things to do today, but we can chill this morning. Garrett of course is at the farm. He's wrapping the hay he bailed last night and Drake had to go to work 😀.  I have done a handful of things this morning already, I did my workout, got Noah dressed (because he had a blow out when I got him out of his bed 😐), fed him breakfast, folded 2 loads of laundry, put 1 away and made coffee. I'm feeling pretty accomplished already, LOL.      Good luck to all my little league football families this morning who had to ...

I see you God! Naynay & Noah swinging     Can you believe it is September already?!?! September is probably my favorite month. It's our anniversary month, the weather finally starts to cool down and God shows off in those beautiful skies. The leaves start to change, and I'm reminded that it's good to "let things go" like the trees let the leaves go. We had a pretty good summer around here. We went to the beach; the littles and I went to Kings Dominion (hopefully we will get to go again before they close) and we just hung out at the pool.      It's high school football season around here. In Gladiator country, it's a BIG deal. Garrett went to Riverheads, and I went to Buffalo Gap. They have always been rivals, and there's always a lot of trash talking going on right about now. My oldest son Dylan played football at Riverheads and has 3 State Championship rings. It's impressive and a big deal in "Title Town." Since he graduated and Drak...