Special Moments on the Homestead

The Best Days

Our life is moving so very fast these days. We have just moved to our homestead and have been so busy with life. Life has a way of doing that I suppose. I am trying to live every moment in the present. I am purposing myself to slow down. It has been one of those months between the move and spring arriving. The thaw tends to cause us all to get a bit more hectic, more events, more rushing- doesnt it?

I am careful in all of my running around that I do not miss this new beginning in our life. It is like  every prayer I have whispered and cried out in the last year or so has been answered with a resounding yes. My heart is so full.

My prayer for you, is that you find time among the chaos that is your life's beautiful symphony that you would be able to simply settle in and enjoy these, the best days of your life.

Choose love and be blessed wildly,
Wendy xo

Top Three Things I Better Figure Out and Quick... ha.

1) How to homestead. ha. I know it is so funny that I say that because my dream has been to be a homesteader for so long, but I dont know if I ever really believed it would happen. ***Believe in your dreams people***

2) My chickens will be here in May. I have ordered 13. They need names. Who wants to help me name them?

3) When do you start planting gardens in the great northeast. Grandma Oeser will tell you  "when the soil is warm enough to sit your bare bottom down on"- Guess I am going to need a farmers almanac because there is no way this fanny is going down like that.

Ok, back to moving. sigh.

Moving to the Homestead

I have been moving. and moving. I am almost done. But, five kids have alot of stuff ya'll.

At the end of each night of moving when I am near total exhaustion, I look out at the sun about to set and just fall right in love. However long this move takes, it will all be worth it. 

Here are some fun pics that my first born son grabbed today. <3 

Homesteading!

I am excited for Spring. It is no secret that I love, almost obnoxiously, the winter. I love snow. Snow days, cold lil people noses, sledding, and hot cocoa. But, ya'll I am over it. 

It is time for spring.  

It is time for the thaw. 

We are moving! Going back home, but not quite. Closer to my parents and out of this small little city. We are going to start our homesteading journey! 

Now I will be able to tell you all the fun stories as we learn how to homestead. By homestead I mean gardening, chicken hugging, goat shenanigans, and children playing. 

We are on a new journey and I hope you come along for the ride. 

First order of business? Order chickens. <3 I cannot even believe this is my life, our life. sigh. 

On Winding Down

sigh.

It has been far too long. This is the place where I wanted to share my journey towards a simpler life. My heart's desire is to own a bit of earth. A place for my babies to roam and grow. A place to rest my heart and to just be an Ezer. {See, Genesis 2:18}. For now, I focus on finding the place to homestead and raise my babies.

Currently, my days are filled with work. Photography and loving on the Mommas and at the end of the day and before the sun rises, loving on my own babies.  It is not easy. My road is hard and filled with many challenges. I am thankful for these challenges. I have learned it is best to embrace the hard times as well as the good, because the hard help you to appreciate the good so much more.

It has been a hectic ride.  This last year. I have gained a certain toughness that I wasnt sure that I had.  I made it. Financially, I made it. And let me tell you, there were weeks where I worried. I worried how it would all work. But it did. I had to dig my heels in at times and then there was a lot of leapin of faith. Turns out, I am a pretty good leaper of faith.

This year also saw a bit of collapse and expansion of my heart.  I would be lying if I didnt say that my heart still clamors a bit for the past- the couldas and the shouldas.  Not a day goes by that I do not think about it but with that being said, I also do not live in the past. I just cannot. 

So anyways, my babies have grown in leaps and bounds this past year. I cannot believe, I have finally left the terrible twos for the rest of my parenting days. As awesome as that feels day to day, typing that made me well up a little. My babies are children, tweens and a teen. wow. It all happened in a blink of an eye.

We are now preparing for the awesome Christmas season. I will be not working, and home with my children for almost 2 full weeks. I CANNOT WAIT! I have worked between 50-70 hours a week and 6-7 days a week since August. I am grateful for the work that provides for our home. It is a tough pace to maintain along with properly attending to your home and being present as a Momma. A break to just snuggle in and rest will be wonderful for my family.

Our Christmas gift giving preparations are in full swing. We have been making lists of what wonderful gifts we will be making and for whom.  Bake it or make it, is definitely our focus of this year's gift giving... and quite honestly, a homemade gift is the bees knees!

It is funny, that as I notice everyone else revving up for a busy holiday season, I am slowing down. I am thankful for the chaos of my days that I have had. I am grateful that I get to slow down after a lot of hard work. I hope that you find yourself slowing down this season, and being able to focus on all those whom you love.

Thank you for taking your time to read this. I appreciate you.

Choose love and be blessed wildly, 
Wendy 

On Balance

Often I find it very difficult to maintain balance. People often ask me how do I do it all. Single Momma to five babies ages 13 to 3, two different school districts, daycare for the two youngest, a full time job, a photography business, youth group, etc.  Really, I am not much different from many Mom's I know. Jokingly, I say that I am like the Cat in the Hat who balances everything and with one misstep it will all crash down. 

I have my own little meltdowns and usually it is always about the same thing...balance. I miss being a stay at home mom. If you have the chance to do so, even for a season, I highly encourage it. With that being said, I also love my job and the other hats that I wear. Finding an ok balance that works for me has been a work in process but finally, it seems to be coming together.

So how do I do it?

1. Morning meditation and prayer. You can ask anyone that knows me closely, I am a morning person. I love mornings. However, if I do not wake up and read or listen to my morning devotion and become too busy to pray, it aint pretty people. I have to wake up and choose an attitude of gratitide and choose to put on love. Otherwise, I will most likely be spewing venom by 10am.  In reality, none of us are too busy to find time to spend with God. We choose to worship the idol of busyness and wear it as some badge of marytrdom when in reality it just that...an idol and an attidude of ungratefulness.

2. Create a realistic schedule. Follow yourself around for a week and jot down how you spend your time. Are you wasting too much time on facebook or other social media outlets? Let's get real, it does suck your time and often your energy if you are falling into the drama like some soap opera. Look for ways that you can add or take away activities that will get you closer to your goals. Then write a realistic schedule that you can stick to. I include things like housework, activities with the kids and even meals on mine. When I do not follow some type of schedule things do not get done.

3. Learn to say NO! Come on, practice it with me, No! You have no business signing up to make eleventy bagillion dozen of cupcakes for the school PTA event when you know you do not have time. Now, listen, I have nothing against PTA'S or any other group but if you are signing up to do a bunch of things that will just make you miserable all while making your family subject to your misery, don't do it. Half the time we only sign up for these things so we as Mom's can be part of the COOL PTA Moms group anyways. We are more concerned with fitting in then we are with whatever benefit the bake sale items are going to be sold for.

4. Take a time out from your phone. Yep, I said it. I am horrible with my phone. I am always worried about someone trying to get ahold of me and I am not available to them. Guess what? Even if someone does call while I am away from the phone, they will leave a message. Amazing how that works. During your phone time out get your things done that you dislike doing the most. It goes that much quicker.

5. Make a to do list every night for the next day. I know many companies tell people to do this as part of goal setting training. You know why? It works. I personally love having a handwritten list so I can cross things out as I accomplish them. But you can use your smarty pants phones and gadgets too...whatever works for you.

6. Chill out. It is not that serious. Whatever you are going through is what it is. I am not saying that it isnt difficult but find something positive and cling to that truth. My friend Colleen who passed last November had a great attitude as she was fighting stage four cancer. She taught me that life is what you make of it and you can choose to make it miserable or you can handle it as it comes with a great attitude. She chose to be a rockstar at life and live like everyday was her last. So maybe you had a bad day, the kids are driving you nuts and your laundry isnt quite complete...take a deep breath, turn on some great music, dance around like a loony and purpose to get it done tomorrow. It will still be there waiting. Dont let life's busyness steal today's joy. It is so not worth it.

7. Personal Responsibility. (warning this may hurt a little) Take responsibility for the life you have created. Stop focusing on who did you wrong, the if only I could haves, woe is me nonsense... No one is required to make your life better or easier-that is your job. You are not entitled to anyone doing the work for you. So stop making excuses and and just do it.

Choose love and be blessed wildly,
Wendy xxooo