Reflection & Epiphany

I do believe I have come full circle in the past 24 months. In May of 2011 I attended a Humanitarian Medical trip to the Dominican Republic. It was a beautiful, awakening time. It brought out the fierce passion I have for serving and being active.
It woke within me a greater desire to be in the community and SERVE. I am ALIVE when I am serving.

I then came home with such a PASSION for service, and a desire to make a DIFFERENCE in the world.

I moved from midwifery when it was creating such a conflict within my family, I dive into things and give it 110%. the time it was requiring of me was taking its toll on my sweet family, my youngest children especially were struggling. So I took a back burner to midwifery and threw myself into other activities. One of which was business coaching, I absolutely LOVE encouraging and planning, helping others to find ways to make their dreams come true.

I met some incredible people during this adventure and gave of myself once again 110%.

Unfortunately the businesses or individual who NEED my service were the exact ones who were not able to PAY for that service, and part of me is OK with that, Part of me just loves to GIVE. but when I have given ALL of my time (and gas money) to others, and there is a pile of bills waiting for me at home, and a neglected home, car and farm, then the reality that I can NOT afford to give 110%  hits me square in the purse.

I look forward to finding others who will benefit from my passion and drive, I look forward to meeting the associates that can see VALUE in my service.

Here is the epiphany.

the ones who I am IRREPLACEABLE to....are the ones under my very own roof.

I may be great at marketing (because I enjoy it) and I may be Wonderful at research & development, (cause I am)

BUT I am IRREPLACEABLE to my children, and to my husband.  NO ONE can do what I can do in my own home.

The VALUE of MY time invested into my babies, toddlers and teens is worth more than any job, investment or dividend can offer.

In my heart I know this, always have, but in my ego I seek out the public appreciation for my God-Given gifts.

I KNOW the Spirit put into my heart that I am to be a MISSIONARY in the MARKET PLACE. what better way to do this than to RAISE my children in Righteousness and Obedience.

I resolve to devote ALL my talents to this temporary state, and to teach, nurture and enable MY CHILDREN to SHINE where ever they may be that WE may GLORIFY our Father in Heaven.

I have not given up. I am working just as hard as always, you just may not see the fruits of MY Labors for a long, long time.

I has resolved to continue to encourage ALL MOTHERS to learn HOW to enjoy their divine role as MOTHER, and what SKILLS they can use to magnify this Godly role.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETER!

Today is Peter's Birthday!

He turns 5 and we are throwing a party! We have invited our friends local to us and we are so excited to see them and enjoy an evening together!

We had Peter open his gifts before the party, there is a cute video of the family singing happy birthday to him on Facebook.

The kids have been having so much fun prepping for this party, Gracie has planned some fun games, Abi and Madi made decorations, and Rubi is the coordinator for everything.

This morning at 5:30 Peter and I got ready and left for Children's Mercy, Peter had an appointment to get a sedated MRI done, this is to evaluate his hearing loss as well as his brain development.

He was such a good boy, he was tired, hungry and had little understanding of what exactly was happening. But he cooperated (even when he didn't want to) and endured the IV needle, he rolled off for the procedure with our sweet nurse, then an hour later, I was reunited with him while we waited for his sedation to wear off.

Now we are heading out the door once again.... more photos of the PARTAY later!

Chores & keeping order

Keeping our home in order is a full time job!

The kids each have daily chores that must be done before they can have free-time.

Then they have extra chores that are not assigned daily, but need to be done periodically.

When I saw this idea on Pinterest. I KNEW it was going to make me a happy momma!

I take tours through each of the kids' rooms daily, typically if I find something that belongs to them out of place, i toss it out. Yep, I throw it away!

This new Concept has me in a win/win situation.

I get to put all those extra chores that must be done every day in the envelope, and put all the extra stuff I normally toss out into the bin! I will give the kids 3 days to retrieve the item, and if it is not claimed through an extra chore, it will meet its demise into the circular file!

I chose a CLEAR bin so that everyone could see exactly what was inside the box, I also laminated all the chores so that I can use them over & over. Here is the box completed. ( I laminated the envelope too, then carefully cut it open.)

Here is the jpg of the chores and the poster pasted to the bin.
Of course if you do not have chickens, or the jobs are not fitting for your family, you will get to create your own files! ;) Already tonight I have several items in the bin, including a pair of my 13 year olds' jeans :)
I'm doing the happy dance, since I get to have my walls scrubbed and the chicken coop cleaned without a fuss! :D

Oh, one caveat I made, you MUST take the job you draw out....No picking & Choosing!!

Blessings and Prayers

I have known of this family for at least 8 years, the Whicker family have adopted many special needs kids, and from a few different countries.

They are such a sweet family!

I wish them ALL the LUCK!

Life back to Normal.

We raised butcher chickens for the freezer. Back in March we got our order of 50 Chicks and with the help of our dear friend, Rebecca we had 36 ready to butcher this week.

(YEAH!)

Wes and I are  pioneers, we are constantly striving for the skills and practice in being self reliant. One of those skills is knowing what it takes to raise, kill and prepare our own food. (whether it be vegetables , or animals)

In the past we have raised chickens for eggs, beef cows, milk cows, goats for milk & meat.

This was our first attempt to raise broiler chickens.

There are certainly things we will do differently next  time, but each experience is growth and knowledge.

So here are some photos of the butchering day. (that turned into more than one day, since it took longer than we hoped!)