This past weekend we had a dinner at the new place to thank all of our family and friends that have helped make everything possible.

As we were preparing to get the house ready to rent everyone came alongside us in so many ways and helped and encouraged us.

We are so thankful how they all pitched in whether it was cleaning, or working on the house or helping us watch the kiddos and we wanted them to know just how grateful we are that God placed them in our lives and that they are so open to helping and encouraging us chase our dreams.

The menu was grilled steak, the Pioneer Woman's twice baked potatoes, salad with homemade ranch, rolls and for dessert I made the Pioneer Woman's chocolate sheet cake.

Everything was a big hit and Cam and I worked all day Saturday getting everything ready. I made the sides and desserts and he took care of the steaks.

I picked flowers out of our yard and bought two bundles of sunflowers to mix in.

Weston and Ally were super eager to help and I tried to find as many jobs as possible that they could do to help.

Ally pretty much did all the flowers (once I cut them down) and they helped put the rolls in the pan, season a chalkboard and lots of other fun little jobs.

I was worried about the heat and the fact that it has been raining so much ....and there was thunder off in the distance. I asked God to bless the night and hold off the rain but keep it cool for great grandparents and he sent the perfect evening straight from heaven.

So thankful, my heart is full.

be better...

its late

and I should be in bed

(everyone else is)

but my mind has been churning as I watched one of my favorite shows.

its a show about a family and tonight their love and devotion to one another and the parents to their children has stirred something inside me

it has my head spinning and it makes me want to be a better mom.

a better wife.

a better woman.

I am typically hard on myself and always trying to improve

but this last year I have entered a different season where I am learning that God uses my weaknesses just as much or more as my strengths.

sometimes I laugh out loud at myself at how I was as a mom when I first began this journey.

for some reason tonight the image of all of my babies coordinating stands out in my mind.

I fretted over Easter dresses and outfits that I wanted them to wear.

I loved putting it all together... In a way I think it was a way I showed love.

dressing them sweet and nice and all.

but then all of a sudden we reached a point where I was making them miserable stuffing them in things they didn't really like.

fast forward to now and it is so different and I keep thinking about this picture

Back when summer first started one of Cameron's projects had a ground breaking and the kids and I all went.

they picked out special clothes and as we were walking out the door McCoy had an accident. His pants, his shoes and even his shirt were wet so we were scrambling around trying to find matching shoes and more.

He ended up wearing a pair of Weston's old flip flops and we went flying out the door.

We arrived at the ground breaking three minutes after ten and Cameron sent me a message to not come in because it had started and was very formal.

so we waited (and waited) outside. luckily there was a lot of equipment running outside that they watched and we did pretty good.

but as the morning went on one of them had to potty, one threw rocks at the other one and McCoy's shoes kept flying across the parking lot because they were too big.

there came a point when I wondered why I even tried.

eventually I told Cam it was time for us to go and we loaded up and I felt a little defeated.

About an hour later we got a phone call and it was Cam.

He was just calling to tell me thanks for coming.

He said something along the lines that it meant so much having us there and I remembered why we went in the first place.

For him.

It didn't matter what we wore or did; what mattered to him was that we were there.

sometimes things are worth the effort and I am learning that there isn't as much effort involved if I go with things a bit more.

I have one that wants to wear sports outfits everywhere and another who likes only certain dresses and the same popsicle shirt over and over.

and it's O.K.

it doesn't matter and I am thankful I have learned that.

but I want to be honest and say that sometimes I have to bite my tongue when they put something together that I don't agree with.

but I am a better mom than I was before, not perfect, but better.

I have learned they would rather have my attention than watch me look at new fun clothes for them online.

They would rather me give them a hug and hold their hand on the way into church than be frustrated at the outfit I stuffed them in.

and you know what's funny...

I still buy my boys the same shirts sometimes

if I find a pattern I like I usually get them the same one.

and this past year for both Christmas and Easter they ended up wearing matching shirts and not because I made them.

I had bought Weston different outfits for both but he ended up wearing the same shirt as McCoy anyway...

that's the way it goes.

but I am thankful for what I have learned and pray that I continue to love them in the ways that matter and let go of the things that don't.

Barn Sale

hello again!

As promised I am back to share the next part with you about the new place.

I mentioned before about how we cleaned out the barns and out buildings.

I just have to say, those buildings are my favorite part of the whole place...that and the big old oaks on the property.

I said in my last past that I had dreams of my own and wasn't particularly excited about Cam's idea but felt led by the Lord to trust him.

About a week or so before the auction I was working down in our basement on some furniture I was redoing and had an idea.

while I was working I decided I should open a little shop out of our basement and start selling things that I made or found or didn't have a place for anymore in our home.

if you know me at all, you know one of my favorite things to do is work in our home and I always have a project going.

I was so excited to walk out and tell Cam and he was super supportive except for the part about it being in our basement. which I understood and kinda wondered how that would work myself but I just felt a little spark in my heart and knew something was going to come out of it. He told me to let him think on it for a bit and see what he could come up with.

later that night I was doing dishes and all of a sudden I had figured it out. THE BARN! THE BARN at the new place would be perfect. I ran outside to tell Cam I had thought of the perfect place and when I told him he told me he was just thinking the same thing.

we rode over right away and looked at again and it was perfect. I just loved it and the idea to have a barn sale a few times a year blossomed.

You may be wondering what does one buy at a barn sale (or sell) and honestly just about anything goes, but this sale is going to be a mix of handmade, antiques and other goods for your home.

Some of the stalls will be rented out and have a similar feel to an antique booth or craft fair booth.

As we prepare and get closer I hope to share some of the items we are going to have for sale as well as some more information about the first sale.

The date is set for the first sale! It is going to be August 6tt!

If it is something you are interested in please follow along here, or the Facebook page

I will be sharing more details about the sale and also share photos about some of the cool things we have found and are going to be selling at the first sale on the Facebook page and here as well.

Once again, thank you for following along and for all of your support and messages of encouragement, they mean more than you could ever possibly know!

our new place...

I have been anticipating sharing this story for so long and now that it is here I am afraid I wont get it out the way it should read as I type, but either way I want to share a bit about our new place with yall.

Some of you probably read on Instagram awhile back that Cameron and I bought a place down the road from us back in the spring.

You may have scratched your head as to why we would buy another little farm, so today I am going to tell you why.

Dreams.

That is the best way to put it.

Cameron dreams of a farm and cows and for the past year we have been looking to by some land so he can have some cows.

a friend of ours put a bug in our ear as they say about the place that we purchased shortly after the owner passed away. a for sale sign never went up for a year and then the last day in march this year one went up.

I remember Cam's text that day and how excited he was but to be honest I wasn't that excited.

We had been saving and budgeting but I still was having a hard time with it. I had dreams of my own...more on that in a minute.

we met with the family that was selling the place the next weekend and they told us it was going to be auctioned.

We rode the property, walked through the house and out buildings after they gave us permission and we really liked it.

we really prayed about it and I felt God urging me to trust Cam in this so I told him I didn't understand it completely but I trusted him and supported him in this.

in april they held an estate auction and I don't recommend ever buying land that way.

at one point I thought Cam was going to have a heart attack.

It was rainy and wet and we had all three babies with us, but I remember taking a walk and praying about the auction and everything the day before and I felt in my heart that God was in this and we had his blessing.

I walked back into our house after praying and my grandma told me that she was going to be selling food at an auction by my house that Saturday. I smiled because I knew in my heart God was orchestrating something beyond me.

He knew what a dream this was for Cam and I and me being the way I am he knew I would want family there...family to share it with and he did just that.

My grandma didn't know anything about us wanting to buy the property until right before it sold but she gladly let the kids sit with her while we bid.

I took this picture after the kids and I got home from the auction and I was getting ready to hose off their boots.

it was such a good day. our hearts were so full and I will never forget how excited we were to call our parents and tell them what God had just allowed us to do.

We closed a few weeks later and they took our picture with the older man's jumble of keys.

Then the work began! HA!

We knew right away the wisest thing for us to do was to rent the house because we were so content with where we were living there was no need for us to move.

we started right away and cleaned out the workshop and the barn as well.

it took three solid days to get the barn and workshop cleaned out and we did it as a family and it was such a blessing to all be together work hard towards a dream.

McCoy passed out on me right before we were about to finish up that first day and I remember how good that felt.

Cam and I were a little worried about how the kids would do but their hard working little spirits shown bright and they found all kinds of ways to help and wanted to take home every little thing we found out of the buildings.

We purchased the property in April, closed in May and have been work work working on it this summer and the house is about finished and we are meeting with our potential renters tonight.

We have shown it several times, but my prayer all along is that it would bless who lives there as much as it blesses us to have them there.

and last week God sent the perfect people.

I am so thankful for ALL of the ways God has blessed this dream of ours so far. there is no way I could blog every single detail and story that has happened but each time something happens I am so thankful for His hand in this.

One of our biggest concerns was our kiddos and how we would balance everything and it has all worked out so well. we have included them as absolute much as possible, but when the days would get long (or weekends) we would ask grandparents to watch them or let them nap at their house while we worked.

what we didn't anticipate was how much they would enjoy being a part of it.

they love "our new place" and have each learned so much right along side their momma and daddy

I don't know all the details of God's plan for this place, but I know He does have one and I am so thankful.

Believe it or not I have more to share but all the kiddos are waking up so it ends here today.

But earlier in my post I mentioned something about dreams of my own and that is what I want to share with yall tomorrow

thank you for reading along!

The Ice Cream Truck

One of my favorite things about our little place is our neighbor Ms. Tracy. She lives right across the road and has stables and gives riding lessons. There is always someone coming and going over there and its just fun!

She sent me a message the other day that an ice cream truck was going to be at her place at 5:30

so, the kids dug through their piggy banks and we headed over.

It turned out to be a double blessing because Cam was working late and I am always looking for things to do when he does so the night doesn't seem so long and lonely.

We had so much fun.

They wanted me to take pictures of what they picked but McCoy was too busy eating the (black) eyes off his.

That koozie is holding his beloved old cell phone my grandma gave him. 

Such a sweet night with my sweet people.

Our mini vacation this year...

Hello friends.

I am sure that many of you have gathered if you follow along on Instagram that Cam and I took our kiddos to Branson this weekend.

I had a family reunion and we were able to stay one night and do some fun things with the kids before spending Saturday with my family.

We looked into staying at a resort or motel, but the one that I found didn't have any availability for our dates and deep down we knew the wisest thing for us to do was to stay at Cameron's grandma and grandpas trailer they have down there.

When I first think vacation I think big splashy fun, but in reality our family is young and they are amused with the littlest of things and they don't pay much mind to the things we think are important.

once again they teach me more about life than I feel like I am teaching them.

we rolled into town late afternoon and Cameron actually had to work for a little bit on a project so the kids and I headed to Target to kill some time.

we had a ball and I always love finding a little something.

As soon as we stepped into the trailer to drop our bags before dinner a wave of memories came flooding back. Cameron and I stayed at the trailer the night before we went to the hospital to have McCoy. Cameron's grandma watched the older kids numerous times when I would go back and forth for doctors appointments both with McCoy and our fourth little baby.

My heart filled with such joy and gratitude for all the life that had happened in that little trailer.

I snapped this picture of a magnet on Cameron's grandmas fridge. the definition of her name

is.so.her

We went out to dinner and then decided to take the kids out on the strip in Branson.

I just cant tell you how special it is to do things with them that we used to do with our parents when we were little.

We wanted to surprise them with go-carts and were so excited to find a kiddy track where the older two were able to drive their own.

They had so much fun and even got stickers that they were so proud of.

We bought McCoy tickets to ride a little train since he wasn't old enough and he was ok with that but he REALLY wanted to drive one of those "race cars"

We stopped and got ice cream and ate it on the back of Cam's truck and watched the cars go by.

the next morning we had a quick breakfast that I packed for the kids and they drew grandma and grandpa pictures thanking them for letting us stay at their little trailer and then we headed to reunion.

we had a great time at the reunion and a big group of us took the kids swimming down at the lake.

the whole weekend was just perfect. I enjoyed everything about it so much. and it was such a sweet reminder money isn't always the answer.

Most of you know Cam and I started Dave Ramsey back in the winter and it has taken some getting used to denying ourselves what we want or think we need, but the outcome of the sacrifice far outweighs the benefits.

I have noticed how much more present we are with our kids and not always distracted by the next thing we want to buy or do.

Anyway...maybe a budget post should come later. But I wanted to mention that incase you are reading along and wishing you could do something fun with your family but cant make it happen this year.

Love Lived out...

On my side of our bathroom sink underneath my jewelry hangs a little handwritten note that is over ten years old.

It's from my dad.

I don't really remember all the details of when he gave it to me, but I do remember it was attached to some money that I needed before school at the sweet age of sixteen.

It must have made an impact on my heart because I kept it and found it again at a time in my life when I really needed it.

Cameron and I had just moved to Texas and I was struggling through missing my folks, city living and finding my way through unfamiliar territory.

I was unpacking and there it was and I still remember how my heart felt when I found it.

it was one of those moments ya know.

Fast forward a few years and it sill means the world to me to have that sweet little note from my dad and it hangs in our bathroom for me to see.

it reads

"have at good day"

no typo, my dad wrote "at" instead of "a"

and I think that is why I love it so much

its so him

The older I get the more I can relate to my parents and the stronger my adoration and respect grows for them

parenting is the greatest and the toughest and I often find myself not knowing exactly how to get out in my actions and words the love and hope I have for them in my heart.

my dad is much the same way.

he never gave me fancy gifts or loved on me with big words, he lived out his love in simple and meaningful ways.

The time he lived it out most was last year when Cameron and I lost our 4th baby in the second trimester of my pregnancy.

I remember talking to my dad on the phone that night after we got the news and he was giving me pep talks about how to be strong and to get through this.

but I knew what he was trying to say and the very next day I saw it and felt it.

my mom had to work the day of my surgery and so badly wanted to be there, but when she called and said my dad wanted to come I was a little shocked.

he isn't the kind of dad that handles girly personal things well, and I kind of felt like this was one of those times.

I think I might have said something about it not being necessary, but for the first time in my adult life my dad was really hell bent on a life issue with me.

I asked cam if it would be ok if he came and so the three of us headed to Springfield the day of my surgery.

and it wasn't until it was time to wheel my back that I saw why my dad wanted to come.

a part of me believed that he was coming to keep cam company or because my mom couldn't come, but it was then that I realized he came for me.

I expected it to be hard for Cam when it was time for me to go back. he always says its so hard to see me hurt and know that there isn't anything he can do. he squeezed my hand and kissed me good bye.

and then it came time for my daddy and I could see how much he loved me and cared by the way he told me good bye.
he was hurting because I was hurting and the only way he knew to show how much he cared and loved me was to be there.

and as the wheeled me away I watched the two greatest men I have ever known walk down the hall to the waiting room to wait for me to get out.

And that picture will forever be engraved in my mind.

I am so much like my dad.

I fumble through words trying to tell people how I feel about them and it usually doesn't come out the way I hoped but I truly pray that I live out a life of love the way he did that day.

so simple and strong and true.

"have at good day"