For the love of the farm

I've shared what my favorite part of being a farmer is, but often I'm asked what is the kids' favorite part about growing up on a farm.  Their answers often vary, depending on the day and what's on the docket for the day.  I know living on a farm is not always easy, but then there are days like today that let me know for sure they truly love it.

Big Sissy had a track meet today and I know she is exhausted after competing in 3 events:  high jump, 400, and the 200.  (She had personal bests and set new school records in the high jump and 400.)  Yet after getting home from the track meet, she headed to our monthly 4-H meeting and is now out in the barn cleaning the pens of the 4-H pigs.  If that isn't love, I don't know what is.

Big Sissy clearing 4' 5"

Bubby is always wanting to help on the farm and today he received a big promotion.  We aren't quite ready to just turn him lose, but Bubby got to do this

Bubby's solo driving debut

for the first time ever today by himself.  He is still on cloud 9 and is probably going to have a tough time falling asleep tonight.

And then there is Little Sissy who was sad I made her come inside to get ready for bed.  She wants to be right there helping Big Sissy or riding in the tractor with Daddy.  As a half-day kindergarten student that spends her afternoons on the farm, I often think she knows more about what is going on than the rest of us as she listens to every one's conversations.

Seeing their love of the land and animals is an amazing feeling for this mom.

Best Part of being a Farmer

I'm quite often asked "What is the best part of being a farmer?"  For me, this is a very easy question to answer.  You see to me it is all about my kids getting to see and work with their parents and grandparents each and every day.  Now I don't mean to imply that every day is easy, but with family by your side, it is always better.

This past weekend our family held an open house for our newly built pig barn for our neighbors and local officials.  I was so proud to see my kids so excited to talk about our family farm with all that attended.  Big Sissy even did the official welcome and introductions.  I may have had to nudge her to do it, but she wrote her own remarks.

Over the weekend, Little Sissy had a homework assignment where she had to write about who and how she could help someone.  The first thing that came to her mind was helping her dad on the farm. As a farmer, it really doesn't get much better than that.

And with the Super Bowl last night, Bubby reminded us that he didn't know if his NFL career would work with farming and that he might have to pass on the NFL.  We assured him that if the NFL called, we would be glad to manage the farm for him.

To me, there is nothing better that having our kids be so involved with the farm.  Their love of the farm is genuine and one that will hopefully continue to be passed down for generations to come.

This is the best part of being a farmer.

My baby's growing up...

So many words and thoughts have ran through my head with plans of writing a blog post the last several months, but finding the time or getting the words to flow when I have time in front of a computer has been harder said then done.  But leave it to my baby AKA Little Sissy to get me back to blogging.  You see today our little girl turned 5.

It is such a bittersweet moment with each child as they grow older, meet new milestones, and achieve new accomplishments.  But I must admit it is even just a little bit harder with the baby.

When Big Sissy was born over 11 years ago, we didn't even own a digital camera.  Flash forward to when Little Sissy was born, 5 years ago today and essentially her entire life has been documented by some form of social media...

From the announcement of her arrival on Facebook

to the sippy cup wars,

her first swim lesson,

her first day of preschool on Instagram,

and her assistance at Farm Girls Freeze.

It is all there which makes access to quick reminders of the memories a little bit easier.

So here's to Little Sissy turning 5 and my hopeful return to blogging to help document the memories!

15 things to do on fall break

Fall Break...

I don't really even remember having a fall break from school growing up.  Now I do remember maybe a half day here or there or one day off in the fall for parent/teacher conferences, but it was never a big deal at our house when I was growing up.  When Big Sissy first started school, Fall Break was a 2 day (Thursday-Friday) vacation from school.  This year our school is now on a balanced calender which means Big Sissy and Bubby started school on August 1st and now currently in the 1st week of their 2 week fall break.  While I must admit I was a bit apprehensive of the 2 week fall break when it was announced (because as a full-time off-farm working mom I wasn't quite sure how it would work), the kids and I have checked a lot off of our fall break bucket list and it is only Thursday of the first week.  (We are in overdrive as this momma will be gone all next week for work.)

I thought I'd share some of the things we've checked off our list as well as a few we are hoping to yet accomplish and although this is a fall break bucket list, a lot of the items could be done on any break from school.  

 

15 things to do on fall break

1.  Go to a basketball game - Big Sissy's first ever school basketball game was last Sunday.  Although the score was a bit lopsided, we know the fun is just beginning.  (Go #20!)

2.  Get your craft on - Heading to Jo-Ann's with this family is often dangerous for my checkbook.  We left with fabric and fleece to make blankets, pillowcases, and maybe even a 4-H project or two for next year.  

3.  Make some of Gal in the Middle's pumpkin chocolate chip muffins 

4.  Go shopping

5.  Visit Kelsay Farms - We haven't made it there yet this year, but we absolutely love visiting Kelsay's and this year they have special fall break hours.  

6.  Get a flu shot - Big Sissy, Bubby, and Little Sissy all got their flu shots yesterday.  

7.  Check out the programs at your local library - Little Sissy has been to a few story times and Big Sissy and Bubby attended a program entitled grossology yesterday.  

8.  Read

9.   Make a new recipe 

10.  Check out The Children's Museum Guild's 49th Annual Haunted House, Wicked Workshop - Big Sissy, Bubby, and I were very lucky to be able to preview the Wicked Workshop yesterday with the lights on.  I don't think I would have made it out alive with the lights off.

11.  Spend the day at The Children's Museum - After visiting the Wicked Workshop, we decided to spend the day at the museum.  

12.  Take a nap

13.  Visit with family and friends

14.  Take a road trip - The kids and I are headed north to The Homestead Resort for this weekend as Uncle A is getting married on Saturday and we can't wait to gain a new family member.  (The Farmer is staying behind for reason #15)

15.  Celebrate the harvest - In our opinion as farmers, it is hard to beat this time of year.  We love harvest.  Although the effects of this summer's drought are making for a less than desirable harvest, we still consider ourselves very blessed to be able to raise food for our family and yours.

I hope your family has as much fun as this pigpen checking these item of your fall break bucket list!

Back to reality with the end of 2011 and the start of 2012

Well as hard as it is to believe, the Christmas season has come and gone even though my Christmas tree is still in the process of coming down this weekend.  It wasn't my intent to stay away the last few weeks, but I was trying to balance being a working mom and spending as much time as possible with my kids as Big Sissy and Bubby don't go back to school until Monday.  I don't know if I succeeded really well with either one, but during my unintentional boycott of social media, I did have some great work appointments and some fun with the kids. 

So I thought I would just share some of the highlights...

Thanks to Pinterest and B. jane brewing and her Hot Moma Makeovers, Big Sissy made matching shirts for herself, Little Sissy, my mother-in-law, and Cousins L, B, A, and E. 

Big Sissy made some yummy cookies for Santa with some special Hershey kisses.

Little Sissy got to place Baby Jesus in the manger as Big Sissy read us The Christmas Story from the bible. 

The Farmer read "Twas the Night Before Christmas before the kids went to bed on Christmas Eve in their coordinating Christmas pajamas. 

My in-laws came over for our traditional Christmas breakfast on Christmas morning. 

Big Sissy went from this

to this after donating four 8 inch pony tails to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths program and a cute new haircut from Aunt L.

We rung in the New Year complete with a pork crown roast decorated by Big Sissy and a special 2012 cake made by my mother-in-law, Big Sissy, and Bubby. 

We saw Alvin and The Chipmunks:  Chipwrecked

and we cheered on the Lady Boilers to victory!

Now it is back to reality for all of us this week as Big Sissy and Bubby head to school on Monday and I have a lot of work travel to do during January and February that starts on Monday.  So as much as we love breaks from our normal schedule; hopefully, the return of our routine will bring some regularity to our lives. 

So what have you been up to while I've been away?

Christmas Tradition #1 from the pigpen

I realize Christmas is still 45 days away, but I must admit with the first sighting of snow today I'm starting to get in the mood.  Now that doesn't mean I'm ready to decorate my house, but I have surfed the radio stations a few times looking for a good Christmas song as I love Christmas music.

Any way, I thought in the days leading up to and after Christmas, I would share some of my favorite family Christmas traditions with all of you.  Some have been passed down to me by generations before me and others are ones that we started right here at the pigpen.

Christmas pajamas are tradition #1.

I don't know where I got this idea, but every year since Big Sissy's first Christmas I have bought the kids a new pair of Christmas pajamas for them to wear on Christmas Eve.  They love putting on their new pajamas on Christmas Eve and, selfishly, it ensures that the kids looks pretty good in their Christmas morning pictures.  (Their hair can often be another topic, but at least they are dressed in something that matches as opposed to some of Big Sissy and Bubby's random pajama concoctions.)

I try to coordinate the pajamas as much as I can, but this is getting harder and harder with Big Sissy getting older.  (I can't believe she is 9.)

Today I stopped by Gymboree as I had a return to make and it must have been meant to be as they were having a sale on their Christmas pajamas.  I was able to pick up a pair of coordinating pajamas for Big Sissy, Bubby, and Little Sissy for $12.99 each.  The icing on the cake was I still got a refund after I purchased all 3 pairs of pajamas and made my return.

Now I can't wait to give them their new pajamas on Christmas Eve and capture their smiling and happy faces on Christmas morning.

What Christmas traditions does your family have?

What a busy, but fun few days

The last few days seem like a whirlwind.  Big Sissy and Bubby were on Fall Break last Thursday and Friday and we tried to squeeze in as much fun as we could and that didn't end until just a few minutes ago as we just got home from trick-or-treat.

On Friday afternoon, we headed up North for a quick 24 hour visit with my family.  My Aunt S came home from the hospital on Thursday so it was a blessing to be able to spend some time with her.  (Thank you for all the prayers and thoughts.  Please keep them coming as she still has a long road ahead of her, but she is doing much better than she was two weeks ago this time when she was suffering from an unknown at the time drug reaction.)

On Saturday, we had a family Halloween themed birthday party for Big Sissy, Bubby, and two of my nieces, Cousin B and A.  Their 4 birthdays fall within a month of each other between October and November so we have tried to celebrate all of their birthdays together the last couple of years which always is a lot of fun for all involved.

We headed back home late on Saturday night so everyone could sleep in their own beds and be well rested for Sunday as we decided to head to Kelsay Farms after church on Sunday.  You see I just happen to be lucky enough to know those Two Maids a Milking personally so they were kind enough to give us free tickets to visit the farm this year.  Thank you again, Amy and Liz!!

Now I realize you may find it odd that as farmers, we would want to go tour another farm, but we love visiting Kelsay Farms.  You see they are dairy farmers and there is just something about the cow.  I have always been a fan and it appears my kids are too.

In fact, Bubby tells us all the time that he wants to have dairy cows in addition to pigs when he gets bigger so time will tell.

Any way, we had a blast at Kelsay Farms and were even lucky enough to spend some one-on-one time with Miss Liz.

We might still be in the corn maze if she hadn't been with us.

Now Kelsay Farms is closed for 2011 as they are only open to the public during the month of October, but I would suggest that if you live close that you put it on your calendar now for 2012 as it really is a lot of fun for all ages and Bubby highly recommends the chocolate milk.  

Much to Big Sissy and Bubby's dismay, they had to head back to school today, but we squeezed in a little bit more fun as we went trick-or-treating tonight.

Trick-or-treating in the country is slightly different than when you live in a subdivision, but we wouldn't trade it for anything.  My good friend Miss Megan from Gal in the Middle did a great job of explaining trick-or-treat when you live in the country so be sure to check it out.  Let me just say our evening consisted of 2 1/2 hours in the car, 7 stops including one in a corn field, and over 41 miles on my van.

Needless to say, all three kids are fast asleep and I'm not far behind.

Happy Halloween!!!!