The things they say...

Kids say so many sweet things. At 3 and 4 I love to listen to Ally and Weston carry on a conversation. And the best it their singing!

I wanted to document my most recent two favorite things they said:

Ally:

"You know how much I love you momma? I love you with all my heart"

Weston:

"Momma I am going to buy you a really petty (pretty) dress for Christmas"

Five

Five.

I remember thinking last year when Weston turned four that there is no way I could possibly handle him turning five in a year.

Just the thought of it made me want to curl up and cry.

The funny thing is, I don't feel that way at all now that it has rolled around.

My heart is so full of gratitude for his life and the sweet boy he has grown into.

My momma's heart swells a little bit thinking of the obstacles he/we have gone through.

The boy that used to cry when a new thing was coming his way now walks into a room with confidence and ease.

He has to go to the dentist tomorrow and has not flinched. He is having trouble with a tooth and there could be problems, but he is so calm about it.

It is such a gift to walk alongside him and watch him grow in this life. To see him put things together and work through things. 

He is such a special boy and I am so thankful to call him my son.

Here's to turning five sweet boy! I love you with all my heart!

Love, 

your momma

Beautiful thing...

Truth is, I kind of stink at keep up with this now.

BUT

I want to.

There is a part of my heart that just wont let it go.

So here I am writing a few weeks before Christmas and quite possibly the busiest time of the year.

It's been a great week.

You know as a parent when you have a really hard week...one where something is off with one of  your kids and you can't seem to get it right.

We all have tough weeks and tough stages.

But I have noticed something about myself...I dwell on those tough weeks!

absolutely let them consume me, but when they are good I don't seem to dwell on the good quite so much, or even at all.

I just do a "thank you God for an easy day"

I have been convicted in that lately and really want to thank God for the good and the bad.

Because even when things are bad he makes them good...even better.

After a rough patch I see our family growing closer together than before and strong relationships being formed and in my heart that is what I really want, not easy.

So here is to a good week!

Picking out her finger nail polish color on Monday ;)

Helping me wrap presents. They have made getting ready for Christmas so much fun this year!

The not knowing...

It's four o'clock in the morning and we are well on our way down the road and they are giggling and talking (loudly)

The should be sleeping, but they are too excited to sleep

I know this because they just told me:

"I am to esited to peep"

All I can think about is awful this drive is going to be if they dont sleep. I mean it is a fourteen hour drive before we get to our friends' house in Texas.

We are just getting started and they are about to bust out the sunroof in excitement.

I kept thinking

"If they only knew how far this trip is ahead of them"

If they only knew how hard it is with a baby crying...

If they only knew, but they didnt.

They just knew their heart and their heart was excited so that is what they were.

And as we sped down I-44 in the middle of the night with three little ones wide awake talking loudly and squirming in their car seats I decided to just be excited too.

To just let my heart feel and to not worry and fear the what-ifs and maybes of this trip.

And I laugh behind my buckle in the dark where no one sees except for HIM. The one who continues to speak to me through the wide eyed wonder and innocence of my children.

The One who calls me near and nudges my heart and says, "do not fear" "look at your children see things how they see them"

And once again I am reminded that they teach me more than I could ever hope to teach them.

What you miss....

Hello! Whew it has been a busy and full weekend! We celebrated Easter both Saturday and Sunday and had such a great time with our families!

The kids are pooped and we have had a great Monday at home. I have been stripping beds, doing laundry and cleaning.

I love days like today.

I must admit I thought all days of a stay at home mom were like today.

Smooth, calm, children played quietly and I got everything done  I wanted to do.

BOY WAS I WRONG ;)

I know now that when they do happen to enjoy them because things aren't always so smooth and sweet.

Anyway...

Before I share a bit about our Easter I wanted to back up and share some pictures I took a week ago.

One evening we decided to go cat fishing after dinner and we all five had the best time.

Our fishing lasted about ten minutes, but hopefully the memories will last forever.

I love to catch up on Ann Voskamp's blog from time to time (when I have time). All of my emotions and feelings seem to spill out in her writing, she is much better at expressing in words than I am.

A few weeks I ago I read where she shared a letter one of her readers wrote her encouraging her to spend time with her children and not be distracted by things we think are important.

Here are here words:

I am now in my sixties.

I wish I had known then what I know now. I lost a lot of opportunities with my children and the people I love because I was busy doing things I thought were “important.”

My current relationship with my children is okay, but I can only imagine what it would be like now if I had spent more time with them, talking to them, and laughing with them. I think they managed to have those meaningful experiences in life, but it wasn’t with me.

Tell your readers that the cost of distraction is mighty high. It can cost you your life and your happiness. Take it from someone who knows

To read the full post click here.

Her words pierced my heart. I drove yet another stake in the ground on this journey of motherhood and told myself I wouldn't let distractions keep me from loving my babies and being with them.

If there is anything I want to accomplish in this life it is to love well.

To love them well.

To find a way to pour out this abundant love God has given me.

I pray they see Him in me. I am not worthy and I know I fail them, but I want them to know I desired His best for them.

I am thankful for women who share how the failed and what they lost.

Humility speaks loudly.

So that night we went fishing.

I didnt stay back to do laundry, or to have time to myself or to sweep the floors.

I ran outside and rode along, I chased joy with my camera and looked out over the evening and thanked God for all had given me and for gently reminded me to enjoy it.

Just Wednesday

We have had a very busy week this week.

Preschool, new mom meals, lunch dates, birthday parties...all on Monday and Tuesday

but yesterday, yesterday was just Wednesday

we stayed home all day

did laundry, cooked dinner and played outside

Monday we shopped in the pouring down rain and Tuesday bounced back and forth from rain to sun

but Wednesday was beautiful and while baby brother napped we played outside

I told her she was a good momma taking her baby for a walk and she replied "thank you" :)

Spring is slowly sprouting here and its appearance is making us have itchy eyes and runny noses

We retired in before daddy got home because I wanted to make a special dinner. My husband has been studying for his professional engineering test and we haven't seen as much of him lately as we usually do and it has been well, hard being by ourselves so much. Makes me wonder how I ever did it when we lived in Texas and he had such crazy long hours!

He is going out of town today and will be gone while he takes his test so I wanted one last meal to bring us all together again before he leaves.

I made the Pioneer Woman's Rigatoni & chicken thighs. My husband loved it!

Afterwards I cleaned up and they all went back outside. I fought my inner Martha when I looked at my floors and let them lay and ran outside to take a ranger ride with my family!

I am so glad I did.

We rode our property over to our neighbors. It is beautiful right at dusk.

There are tons of deer and there is an old house on the property that is close to one hundred years old.

It blows my mind every time we see it because my husband said a family with eight children lived in that old house. 

It's just a little square.

Today is Thursday.

It is already a full day at 8 am

We have errands to run before pre school, meals to pack up and deliver, we want to meet up with daddy before he leaves town, hopefully a sweet new niece to go meet...and so on

It wont be a leisurely day like Wednesday, but it will be full and fun and just as rewarding.

I was thinking yesterday as I prepared dinner....

"We cant have busy days like Tuesday and Thursday if we don't have slow recharging days like Wednesday"

gifts....

I have been receiving some really neat things lately

this sign included

I have also received a very very random assortment of other things

pecans, zinnia seeds and a pizza pan

All given to me at different times for various reasons and when I got home and unloaded the seeds and pecans I laughed.

They were given to me by my grandparent in laws and I thought it was so cute that they thought I would enjoy those things.

What seems small to some can make a big difference to others.

I am sure they didn't think long and hard about giving me nuts and zinnia seeds, they just gave.

The sign was given to me by a sweet girl that was in a Bible study this past winter.

She made each of us one and gave them to us the last night.

I cant speak for every girl there but this beautiful act of kindness meant so much to me.

I don't know if each of these people that have been sending little things my way have over thought their gifts, but I can say if it had been me I most likely would have.

I want to serve and give to others but usually things like"Oh they wouldn't really want that" or "they will think that is silly" flood my head and used to keep me from "doing"

but The Lord is constantly transforming my heart and I think less about what people will think when I am giving them something and I just do it and ask God to do the rest

to have His way

But when someone gave me a little something it struck a new cord 

our days on earth are often so challenging and hard and not always happy and it can be such an encouragement when someone has thought of you even in the tiniest of ways like a cottage cheese container full of pecans.

At least that is what happened to me. My heart was greatly encouraged by their random gifts and in the quiet of the afternoon while my babies were sleeping it was as if the Lord was saying, "you are not forgotten" "you are loved" by me and by many, take heart my child in these long days.

Like I said, I am sure no one thought the Lord would speak to me through their gifts, but HE DID.

He used what seemed small because that is how He works.

I am going to use the pecans to make Easter story cookies with the kids and soon we will plant the Zinnias and watch them grow and hopefully they will bring us as much joy and excitement as they did last year.

This lesson reminded me that it is ok to be small, to give small.

We can offer all that we have in Jesus' name and let God do the rest.

"We cannot do great things on this Earth, only small things with great love."

                                                                                                                    mother teresa

The Farm

This past weekend my husband went to a motorcycle race with his brother so the kids and I drove out to my mom and dad's and spent the day at their farm.

I love our little place and there is no where else I would rather live, but my parents farm will always hold the most special place in my heart.

Seven years ago this September Cameron and I were married there in front of their farmhouse.

I remember hopping in my car as soon as we got back from our honeymoon and driving straight to the farm and when I cleared the trees and saw it in the distance I started to cry.

It was so hard to leave.

I had no idea the plans and adventures the Lord had in store for my future with my new husband, but I had made a vow to trust Him and we both agreed we would go wherever he planned to lead us.

Now here we are six moves later and living back in Missouri and I now enjoy the farm by watching my children learn and enjoy it much the was I used to when I was a little girl.

I love seeing my kids get excited when I mention to them that we are heading out to grandma and papas. They immediately throw on their rubber boots and Weston usually wants to tote a sack of tractors to show his papa.

They love my niece Halle

She is four years older that Weston and six years older than Ally, but years and age differences have not kept them from becoming best friends.

I have three brothers, but I am closest to my brother Blake, Halle's daddy and seeing his child love and play with my children the way we used to strums a special string in my heart.

Halle just bought (or her daddy ;) ) her first dairy heifer as her 4-H project this year.

She named her Estella and meeting "stella" as the kids call her was one of the main reasons we went out to the farm in the first place.

Her calf is a little spunky and this is as close as we could get to her.

I am so excited to take the kids to our local county fairs this summer to see Halle and Estella :)

My brother Blake and I showed registered Guernsey's too when we were younger!

Halle and Blake went home after working with "Stella" and the kids and I stayed the afternoon.

We didnt plan on staying for dinner, but we did and I am so glad.

The kids love to go help my dad feed the big herd hay.

Usually I stay behind and help mom do the dishes and take care of McCoy, but mom insisted I go out with them that night.

I think she was wanting some snuggles ;)

I am so glad I went.

It was chilly and when we climbed into dad's old farm truck a rush of memories flooded in.

They stood up in the seat and told me about the hay bale on the back and how papa fed it to his cows and what is sounded like when he unrolled it.

Ally climbed up on my dad's lap just like I used to I whispered a prayer of thanks.

One of the hardest things when we lived away was that we had to live in the city and it broke my heart to think of my children never knowing what life in the country would be like.

God heard, God knew my heart and had a beautiful plan all along.

As we pulled back into the driveway the sun was setting and I can't tell you how special a barnyard is at dusk.

The kids weren't ready to go in so my dad let them feed "stella" more grain, sorry Blake.

My dad and the kids ended up playing out in his barn for another thirty minutes after I went in.

We headed home in the dark with strawberry milks and bags of crackers in tow and I drove home with a smile on my face the whole way as my babies slept soundly after playing hard all day.

hello there.

my name is Lyss

I love coffee and living in the country.

I am most comfortable in my cowboy boots and probably wear them with things I shouldn't.

I love to grow things and have big hopes for our garden this year.

I love to dance and my daddy taught me everything I know about twirling around a dance floor.

I was raised on a farm in Missouri with my three brothers.

My husband is an engineer and after we were married (like a few days after) we packed up my little world and he moved me to Texas where he had began his first job months before.

While I hated living in the city I quickly fell in love with Texas.

Almost two years after we were married we became pregnant with our first, a son and then after he turned one we became pregnant with our second, a girl :) and this past October we welcomed our third child another son.

I stay home with all three of our little ones and it has proved to be a great blessing and big challenge at times.

When I first became a mom I thought I had to have it all figured out and be a perfect mom (I knew everything anyway; ahem)

And now four years and three kids later I am learning to embrace the imperfections and uncertainty and learn as I go.

I have learned that the greatest gift from motherhood is that it draws me closer to my Lord and Savior. The struggles and joys bring me daily to me knees in thanksgiving and confusion.

I don't have to have it all figured out and I will never be perfect.

But it is a beautiful ride and God is writing a beautiful story day by day.

I blogged the ins and outs of our days while we lived in Texas and as my children grew older the documenting of their daily activities became next to impossible.

I love to write.

I journal all day everyday and I have missed blogging so much.

While I don't know what to tell you to expect reading here I CAN guarantee it will be my heart.

There is beauty in sharing and it is something I have greatly missed.

So welcome, I am truly glad you are here.

You are a gift to me to be here reading my words and thoughts.

My prayer for my life, these writings included is that God may be glorified in all I say and do.