Always someones child

I look at Little man and I see endless possibilities. At 7 and a half (yes, we throw in halves at this age;) the world is open to him. Whatever he dreams, hopes, believes...it is all out there waiting for him to learn it, do it, think it.

In none of my visions for his future do I depict that some day he will be 37, living at home, in and out of jail, constantly drunk, endless domestic battles, and finally, dying at a bus stop. alone. in the morning. fresh out of jail 4 days before.

In all honesty there is a part of me that wants to say, he did it to himself. the local police dept. will be less busy. there is a great example of a local high school cool kid getting by in life because he was cute, loved, envied. no big loss. I want to laugh at the people who haven't been in contact with him in years that say it is a tragedy that he died so young.

Then, I hear the sweet voice of little man, or amazing girl, or little mommy or the baby and I can't think these thoughts. At one time, he was their ages, 7, 4 or 2. When his mother looked at him, kissed his skinned knee, said prayers with him, sang songs, read to or cooked dinner for him, never did she depict that her little boy would turn out like that either!

When I look at the sweet faces of the angels the Lord has blessed me with, I can only think that yes, it is a tragedy he died so young. It is a tragedy that help always seem to escape. It is a tragedy that he was alone, the circumstances so awful, the call that had to be placed. It is a tragedy because he was someones child.......................

In a pickle.......

As any good cook, baker, barista, canner, or pickler knows, you have to have a secret ingredient in your recipe to make it unique and uber-delicious. Here's mine.

Pickles (from both cucumbers or squash)
1. Start out with an abundance of vegetable
2. Heat some pickling spice, vinegar, dill, garlic
3. heat jars, either with a canner or the old fashioned way
4. combine ingredients
5. seal, allow to sit on shelf and "pickle" for 4 - 6 weeks
6. open, enjoy!

Strawberry preserves
1. start with fresh picked (washed) strawberries
2. cook mashed berries with pectin, sugar
3. heat jars
4. pour cooked preserves into jar
5. seal
6. when ready, open and enjoy

Blueberry syrup
1. begin with fresh picked, washed, mashed, ripe blueberries
2. cook syrup ingredients, sugar, water lemon juice, high tech stuff here....
3. cook blueberry ingredients, blueberries and water, imagine
4. drain blueberry ingredients through a cheesecloth (impressed aren't ya?)
5. combine ingredients, cook
6. heat jars
7. pour syrup into jars, seal.
8. when ready to use, open and enjoy.

Really, these recipes are nothing special, there are no secret ingredients here, you can find them on the Internet.....So, what makes my so special you ask? Here goes...........................

For picking, taste testing and general helping.............




For growing, having a green thumb, loving it and just plain being way too cute.......
and the big guns who helps with all of it, the growing, picking, canning, taste testing, recipe ad libbing, cheeseclothing, clean-up and encouraging.........................


You guys are the greatest.............I am proud to be your mommy and wife! I love you......

p.s. if the final products don't taste great, well, they helped with that too :)

Indelible footprints.....

When you have the chance to hold an angel, you know your live will never be the same. How you perceive the situation, how you cope with loss, how you resume your life afterwards speaks volumes about your beliefs, the depths of your love, the way you view life, the strength of your character. There are many who suffer a lose and view it that way...suffering. There are many who view a loss as an opportunity to be thankful for all that we have.

(((For the record, I am not speaking of your immediate (anytime within the 1st year really) reaction to a shocking loss.)))

There are some that never recover from losing a loved one and then there are others who search for ways to celebrate what once was. There are some that are saddened by the resemblance of a lost loved one in one still here on earth. There are others that use the physical features of an angel to embrace the love of that angel...the angels they have on earth...The One they know who will carry them when they can't walk on their own...

This is my reason....this is my why.......... this is me..........................

BEFORE

TEMPLATE

IN THE MAKING

OUTLINED

HALF WAY THERE

THE FINAL PRODUCT

Here are my indelible footprints.................................

It only takes sunscreen

I have a friend, very dear to me. I would open my home to her in a second. She is strong, resilient, beautiful. She has 3 wonderful daughters. Beautiful, they look just like their mom. They will grow up to be strong women too, all the while loving and kind...just like their momma. I have never met her in person. Yet, through the marvels of modern technology, I can feel her disappointment, hurt, devastation at the unraveling of her marriage. This brave woman has suffered more loss, hurt, and heartache than any other friend I have, yet she perseveres.
She recently got a tattoo. For her, this was an expression of hard work, remembrance of a loved ones, a birthday present to herself.

It got me to thinking....what if life were like a tattoo?

Some of you will be shocked (and may even tune out) to learn that I, myself, am going tonight to get my own tattoo. Mr. Producer has talked about getting a tattoo ever since I have met him. I always swore I N.E.V.E.R. would. Well, like many other things in life, I have learned that I should never say never. I am getting a tattoo of something that means the world to me....you will have to wait for the post tonight or tomorrow to see pics, meaning, etc. but in the meantime, know that I have been thinking of this for a very long time, this is not a rash decision. With that being said, the tattoo artist said that I only need to do 1 thing to my tattoo after it heals to give it longevity....

SUNSCREEN. SUNSCREEN. SUNSCREEN. SUNSCREEN. SUNSCREEN. SUNSCREEN.

After I received my friends email of her troubled marriage (which I pray for all involved the Lord will repair). Mr. Producer and I laid in bed and talked about the increasing frequency with which divorce seems to be making its mark on couples we know. Sadly, it is happening to people whom have been together a long time, 8, 10, 12, 30, 40 years. Sadly, all of them have children. Unfortunately, there is not one race, religious preference, or age group that is immune to this horrible epidemic. As for me and Mr. Producer, we are great, but we are always vigilant!

Wouldn't it be wonderful if life were like a tattoo..........

Wouldn't it be great if there was only 1 thing you needed to do to be certain you were maintaining the longevity of your marriage. Wouldn't it be awesome to know that it would only take a kiss a day for your marriage to last forever. Wouldn't it be easy, perfect, wonderful to know that the answer to marital longevity could be summed up in one word?

Unfortunately, like all the best things in the world, there is nothing, not a one singular word/act/thought that can make your love, marriage, relationships, last forever....in the real world, it takes more than sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen.

To all my friends, family, readers, and loved-ones whom have entered into the battlegrounds of divorce, make sure you have sunscreen close so you don't get burned, know that you use to once love that person and how you BOTH deal with your children sets the stage for how they adjust, and finally, remember always that I will be here, doing the only things I can, sympathizing, listening, praying..... that is my 1 thing...my sunscreen.....my longevity.........praying............

Eeeekkkkkkk

For a brief moment, my world is perfect. I. Am. Blogging.

A month. Has anyone noticed it has been a month since my last blog? I have. There are so many un-posted entries that have run through my head. So many funny stories unshared. So many thoughts, dreams, ideas kept to myself. So many chores, demands that have kept me from one of my true loves. Writing.

I am back. Feeling rusty. Cloudy. Too many thoughts fighting to get out. So, for now, to take it slowly, catch you up and well just share here are the top 10 reason's (either in pictures or words) (in no particular order) why I have longed daily for but have invidiously been unable to blog!

Enjoy! And yes, I realize that this is why I may never be uber-popular. You can't become a household name if you are a hermit............

Reason #1 - this handsome man, aka, Mr. Producer, took some vacation time... who can blog when they are blessed with a week of husbandly help, love, fun and remodeling......

Reason #2 - twin terrible, err, tremendous 2's.... more will be written on this topic I am sure...

Reason #3 - strawberry picking... taste testing....

.....countless quarts of strawberries, 20 pounds of sugar and 34 jars of preserves later.........

Reason #4 - much needed relaxing time spent with BFF, her goofy hubby and sweet baby girl....really need to do this more often.....our 5:30am wake up calls are far from relaxing ;).....

#5 - watching my precious kids act like kids....and joining in.........

#6 - watching the boy and his arm and wondering what the future holds....... man he's good.....

#7 - conquering jungle gyms, swinging..........

.....Easter egg hunts..........

.......... and cake, of course.........

#8 - and perhaps the biggest reason of all - remodeling (I know, I know, this would make more sense with a before picture...... different camera, computer......anyway just trust me.....this was TONS of work)

#9 - Strawberry picking again, with out of state family......................

#10 - just plain having fun, being silly, loving life and letting our hair down, or up, or out....whatever................ it was fun!

I hope you enjoyed my month in review. I promise I will never leave you again for this long, but when you look at these beautiful faces above, can you blame me? Ok, can you at least forgive me?

Why chaos?

5 chickens. alive. pooping. digging. pecking. (each other) egg laying chickens.



4 kids. 1 who loves to wrangle the chickens. 1 who loves to watch younger sister wrangle chickens. 2 who think they want to potty train. themselves. in the nude. in the backyard. standing up. (even though 1 is a girl). Standing girl locking self in house. Oldest son climbing through window to let her out.



1 husband. mending fences. cutting bushes. fixing decks. chainsawing trees. modifying chicken coop. bagging leaves. hauling debris. chicken chasing. removing screens. (see above)



1 mommy. baking bread. baking brownies. cooking mashed potato's. watching 4 kids. giggling at 1 husband. grilling chicken. (not the live ones;). washing laundry. garden planting. cleaning potties. washing hands. thanking God for the blessings. Did I mention giggling?!!



Yep, just another day (compacted into 20 minutes) in the life of this urban country, laughing as I go, mommy!!!

Confidential

Notice from funchaosx4 A.K.A. granola girl to idreamincountry

Blog a post already, would ya?! ;)

Yes, I am still wearing a bra, thanks for asking ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)

Does this statement make me no longer a "family" blog? LOL!!!