My Soybean Cowboy

There he goes. 

Riding off into the sunset.

My soybean cowboy.

His horse of choice is his combine.

(His toys are by far the biggest of everyones.)

Yes, we are the new proud owners of a this International.

Scary, I know.

I never saw my life turning out this way.

Me.  The farmer's wife.  Raising the farmer's children.

Most days we have no idea what we're doing. 

Him raising his corn and beans and me raising up these hungry souls needing to be fed.

We stumble our way through life most days.  Juggling responsibilities and returned phone calls and overflowing laundry baskets. 

Some days are hard.  And scary. 

                                                                    Should we buy more land? 
                                                      
       Should we give more and save less? 

                                                  Should we have the surgery or take the long term medicine? 

           
          How can we love The Unloveable One without getting ourselves heartbroken.


What do we do?  How do we make the choice between better and best?

And then this:

 Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
 He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

 

Psalm 25:8-10

 

 

Ahhh, yes.  I needed that.  That promise that This Great God of ours never minds to gently teach us.
 
Us sinners.

And what better reassurance than to know that ALL His ways are love and faithfulness?  Yes, that promise might have been just for me. 

Me.  His sceptical, untrusting, always-questioning-your-ulterior-motive kid.

But our Father has no ulterior motive.  Just this:  That all things He brings our way will be both for our good and His glory.

And he somehow works those things out masterfully.  And that promise helps me not to try harder, but to surrender willingly.  Surrender to His plan for my life.  Whatever He brings our way or withholds from us. 

So now I can take a deep breath and stop strategizing and planning and researching what the best decisions are for me and my family.  Instead I fold my hands and bow my head and heart to the One who already has all the answers.  And give thanks that He still answers sinners like me.

Then at the end of the day I get to fall into bed blanketed in His graces and sweet dreams of mercies made new every morning. 

Me and My Soybean Cowboy.

Winds of Change

Great day in the morning!  It seems like forever since I have been behind this beloved monitor.  I would go into all the gory details of our technology fiascoes we've been experiencing, but I am very aware that you don't care.  So I won't.  But just so you know, lightning struck our house and now we are going to be 1000 bucks poorer.  However, The Honey (like always) has gotten or will get everything back into our normal, mediocre working order very soon.

As soon as he gets off his tractor.

So, let us catch up.

We're three weeks into school.

And I'm ready for fall break.

Well, not really.  But the newness has worn off and the Yahoos are a bit more restless.  We were able to take a few days off this week thanks to the wonderful grandparents.  I was able to spend a whole 24 hours alone!

And what did I do with my time?

I am not too proud to admit that I went to mom's to watch the whole final season of The Closer!

She had it DVRed and I couldn't wait until they put it on Netflix to watch it.  So I sat in front of her TV for around 6 hours to finish up what I believe is the Greatest.Show.Ever!

Because I don't like loose ends.

Speaking of loose ends, we are quickly approaching finalizing our vacation plans!

HUA!

It looks like our family will be taking our first real vacation in 3 years!

And the best part?

We are visiting Washington DC and Colonial Williamsburg.

Can you say field trip?

Oh yes, I will totally count this as a school day.  

Of course The Honey will have to drive by CIA Headquarters to show The Yahoos where he works.

Pfft.

Moving on....

So our sports hiatus is over and we are full on into soccer and football.  I'm so proud of my little jocks.  They are working hard and enjoying it.  And I am so thankful for great coaches who really enjoy working with the kids.  I am really looking forward to the next few weeks.  Except for the money for gas to drive up there and back 4 times a week.  And the amount of laundry from all their uniforms.  And making sure all their gear is in the car because they are notorious for leaving their stuff at home.  And hauling Baby's 10 million trucks there so he has some things to play with while they practice.  Other than that I am super pumped!

Finally, I thought I'd leave off by giving you some insight into a day in this Yahoo life of  mine.

I can't help but notice the winds of change are around us.  This summer sun is quickly bidding us fare thee well.  So I decided to take the opportunity to do a little schoolin' in the outdoor classroom.  The Yahoos and I threw all our books on the trampoline, and after a 5 minute bounce fest, sat down to learn a little about the Creator and His creation.

We studied physics.

And biology.  That would be a snake skin the kids are gawking at.

And after all that work we managed to have lunch in the tree house.

Have I told you about the tree house?


The Honey whipped up this Jim Dandy of a fort for the youngins.


100% pure awesomeness.

And then after school was dismissed and dishes were done and the clothes had been laid to rest in their dressers, it was time to switch roles from teacher to cheerleader....minus the short skirt.

We muddied our cleats and got some sweat on our brow and worked up a good appetite just in time to sit around our family table.

That sacred spot in our house where it just us.  Just the six of us.  Where the Yahoos retell their adventures of the day to their daddy and The Honey tells of his secret CIA missions.  And me?  I just sit back and take it all in.

Because these days.  These are the good ole days.  And I know that the winds of change are coming.......

Yahoo Olympic Training

Oh good glory!  Today is the first day that I have been sitting in front of my actual PC in....who knows when!  For one reason or another my computer has been on the fritz since the beginning of July.  And today is the first day I have had a chance to actually sit in front of it to write.

And it's still got lots of kinks.  Mainly that I had a buy a new monitor and since The Honey was up to his eyeballs in meetings at work and used that as a lame excuse was entirely too busy, I took it upon myself to go to Walmart and get a new monitor.  I'm not high maintenance or have super high standards.  I just needed something that would work.  So The Yahoos and I were making our daily run through the place and I stopped to get one.  I was even being a savvy shopper and asked one of the ladies in Electronics to spell out the differences in the TWO monitors they carried.  The Two.  So I bought one and tried to get it installed before The Honey got home to show him how capable I am at....anything. 

And by the time he got home I had somehow contracted a virus on the blasted thing.

Fail.

So of course SuperHoney has to come to the rescue and fix all my problems....again.

Now everything seems to be running well.  Except that my computer doesn't run the resolution I need for the size monitor I have.  So everything on the screen is stretched waaaaaaaaay too wide.  I put a picture of myself and The Yahoos up for my screensaver and the shot is so big it only shows my face over the whole screen.  I certainly don't need to be reminded about how big my head is everytime I pass by this thing.  Plus, it makes editing this blog or any pictures a little tricky.  So you might have to squeeze your head together to read this post.  I know I am;)

Ugh. 

I wish I was tech savvy.  And I'm sure I could spend some time searching how to change the settings, but who has time?

Certainly not this chic who has been staying up into the wee hours of the morning (alright, midnight) watching the Olympics.

Aren't they great?!?!  I love cheering these athletes on.  I love watching my kids get into it.  Like the other night when we went swimming at Mom's and the kids pretended to race across the pool doing the 100 freestyle.  I'll have to say, it was definitely freestyle.

We've also gone into our own little Olympic training in the evening.  Ninja is thinking of running cross country this fall and Sweet Yahoo has decided to play soccer.

Yes, you read that right. 

Sweet Yahoo.  Delicate, fragile, never breaks a sweat, where's my lipgloss?, Sweet Yahoo has decided that this fall she will break out onto the world's stage as being the Stepford soccer player.  I have to say I can't wait to see how this thing works out for her. She is the most polite child I have ever met and I just honestly can't see her trying to rip the ball away from anyone.  It should be interesting.

Anyhow, so she too is wanting a little head start on the season so the family has been doing some late evening runs. Even Baby. 

Coach giving pre-run instructions

And they're off

Baby pulling up the rear.

The Honey, being the stellar Track and Field star that he was back in his prime, has been given the kids some pointers.  They're eating it up.


In other news, I never even got to write the follow up to Baby's birthday because of the whole 'Monitor dying fiasco.'  So here are a few shots from that spectacular day.

Say Cheese

Our posed family

Our actual family

Finally, just a quick update about school.  We have two weeks under out belt!

HUA!!

It has been going so well.  Prayer must have been involved from somewhere else on this globe because I mean it is going really well.  I'm loving it.  The kids are tolerating it.  Who could ask for more?

Wednesday in science we studied molecules and built our own using bananas and marshmallows.

I think I spy someone eating their molecule.



These are good days.  And I'm enjoying it.  The calm before the fall sports storm rolls in.  These days are too fleeting.  Just tonight as we were finishing up dinner, Sweet Yahoo asked if we could have family time where we just sit around together and play a board game.  Those words slapped me across the face.  I knew that in another 5 years I probably wouldn't be hearing her say those words, but rather forcing her to have family time despite them.  It melts my heart that she wants to spend time with me. 

Why?  I wonder.

Why when I swear I can't go a day without speaking too harshly or glaring right at them.  Why?  When my words are sharp and my priorities unbalanced and my mind scattered.

These children of mine.  They baffle me. 

So tonight we didn't start the tractor or water the flowers or pick beans.

Instead, we played sock monkey.

And laughed.  And hugged.  And cheered each other on.

That Sweet Yahoo.  She's always got the best ideas.