Oh, To Live In The Country Again!

Over the weekend, we visited a historic farm that is literally minutes away from us....yet it was our first visit there. It was the most perfect day to visit. The weather was great, and it was a needed escape from "city life".

This farm was once owned by Paul Revere's grandson....and finally owned by Mr Foster and his daughter, Caroline. I wish I could have taken more photos, but my battery ran low. There was a Gothic mansion, a beautiful flower garden and cottage, just lots of quiet & green.  Have I shared we have a secret dream of being farmers? Greg shared, he would either like to live in the city or country....action, or slow. I'll take the country, with an occasional trip into the city. This farm visit made us miss our last house so much.

There was a building with all the Foster cars on display. Sam asked me to take several photos of him getting out of the car. He was hoping to go home and make a stop animation film, but {as I shared} dang battery.

There was some faux cow milking. That is hard work. Greg impressed me with his extensive knowledge of pig & chicken farming as he chatted with a local farmer. He is pretty serious about his farming dream. Oh, if we were a tiny bit younger. But, Greg reminded me of all the people who followed their dreams successfully after 40. Now, to put some courage behind that dream. Problem is, we have a few dreams. Maybe our dreams will come find us?

The milking of the faux cow was their favorite part. Mine favorite part was spending a day away from honking cars, and away from stores, and just soaking in the quiet.

Made me think of this post.

Hope

The last couple of weeks have been the fastest, steepest, most nausea inducing roller coaster I've been on in a while. Through it all, we've leaned on friends {sometimes realizing who were true friends, and who were only on the surface}, we've leaned on family, and we've leaned on each other. Most of all, we've leaned on the Lord. Truly, I don't know what people do in tough situations when they don't know God...or, at least know they can turn to the Lord. His word has been an unbelievable source of comfort. At times, we've actually found a passage, read it out loud to each other, and closed with "Can you believe that? That's just what we are going through!".  We've come together as a family in prayer. We've even softened our hearts by praying for "our enemy". Prayer! It's amazing that we have that direct line to God...anytime, anywhere.

Through these past few days, we've made some big changes....and more changes are to come. For sure. I've had moments of discouragement, but most important....and I share this because it defies circumstances....I've had many moments of joy. Even deep down belly laughing joy. I'm excited, and worried, and happy, and sad {and tired}. My only explanation...God.

Remember this post? How one of my goals in our new city was to truly have a relationship with the Lord? Well, I've realized that I do. I've seen His hand expose things that needed exposing. I've seen Him lead us to things that resulted in hope. For a while, I've been telling people that what is going on is not a big deal, but then I realized that it is a big deal. And it's a deal that He will lead us through. Yes, I have some moments of doubt. Pressing on past those moments and keeping my eyes on hope {and joy} is what I need to do. This trial has changed us, brought us closer, and made us look at so many things differently.

We've promised ourselves that we will not forget this lesson....this lesson that we are in the middle of. When we come through {and we will} we will be different. Sorry for all the vagueness. I may share more soon.

This roller coaster is running out of fuel, and I can only thank God for that.

Resting

This blog post was really good. Really good.

"In a world of reaching, how do you rest?"....Ann V.  
(isn't that the truth? really resonated with me)


"There’s always something barking loud in you that you need a bigger field.
A better kid, a bigger house, a greater life, a grander point."

Well, I won't keep quoting. It's worth the time to read for yourself.

Wait, one more....

" Sometimes the way to win is to never enter the race."

Chatting & Ice Cream

I have been so very tired. I blame it on the spider incident. Ever since I saw that thing dangling over my head, I've had sleepless nights. One time, I turned on the fan thinking that if the spider's friends come find me, the wind will keep them from getting close. So, now because of the lack of sleep, I  have puffy bags under my eyes. I do own some caffeine cream that is supposed to reduce the puffiness, but I'm too lazy tired to apply it.

The other day we all had a craving for 'smores. All we had were marshmallows (chemical free, thank you Whole Foods) so Greg ran out to get Graham crackers and chocolate. When Greg was growing up, he rarely looked at price tags. Me, I pride myself on being a frugalista (I like nice things at bargain prices). That even pertains to my chocolate. When he came home with the 5lb bar from Trader Joe's because it was the best value.....well, I just about cried. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? Sadly, the bar was way too thick for the 'smores, but it hasn't stopped me from devouring almost the whole bar in just days.

Onto our new everyday joy...... " 'Ol Red " the ice cream machine.

 We have come up with different concoctions.......coconut milk & fruit, mostly being our base. This batch we added blueberries & chocolate chips.

 It's so easy. We freeze the base, add mixture, press on button, and wait several minutes.

Yum. It was pure joy.....though, I wasn't a fan of the frozen chocolate chips. Maybe sprinkles next time?

Lots of Little Things

Well, wanted to give a quick update. A lot has been going on, but really nothing huge. It's all those little things. Before jumping back to last weekend, let me share my morning. It involved waking up to find a spider above my head. Thankfully, there is a cathedral ceiling in our bedroom. After many minutes of laying and waiting for it to move, I finally called down to the boys to share what was going on. Sam quickly raced up the stairs to my rescue. The next several minutes involved "stealth spying" as Sam put it. A few times the spider shot down on it's web only to spring back up, which caused me to scream loudly {7:45am-sorry neighbors}. We propped chairs, turned lights on....did everything to get it to come down. Once it finally hit the floor all chaos followed......my whole body gets nauseous at the sight of a spider. Eventually, we attacked it with a lotion bottle and went on with our morning.

                                          {this was our stealth spying hideout}

Last weekend, we went on a long walk/scooter ride through a really neat forest. We met many dogs along the path.....and Greg and I often rode the boys scooters while they jogged behind. I'm sure we were a sight to be seen. On the way home, the boys spotted a garage sale and asked to stop while Greg waited in the car. What did we find? The most awesome & ridiculous thing I've purchased in a long time....a red unicycle {$2!}. I told the gals at the sale that the look on my husband's face would be priceless when he saw our purchase. I was right. Thankfully, he threw back his head and gave a loud laugh. How could I pass up a $2 unicycle?!

Also priceless was the great bookstore near our house. We lingered in there forever.....finally leaving with a few fun books for the boys. I love love love bookstores, and this one was a homeschooler's dream.

Almost forgot another red & spontaneous purchase. While at Costco, I sent the boys and Greg to look for lightbulbs. They came back with a red ice cream maker. The price was right....I checked later and it was 2 times more on Amazon. We are loving it. Our first concoction was coconut milk, a little sugar, and raspberries. So good!!

I'll leave you with a few photos of the boys own cardboard arcade. After watching a video of Caine's Arcade online, they decided to make their own and invite a couple of our neighbors to play {no charge, and they gave away some of their old toys as prizes}

                   {see that pile next to the ball game? that's all going to Goodwill. Phew!}