Happy Birthday, Jude!!!

One year ago, our family was blessed with Jude Aaron Jeffrey.  Born on leap day amid tornado sirens, your arrival was one for the memory books.  But the best part has been the every single day this past year.  From the beginning days of life with your newborn smiles and little sighs to your army crawling and belly laughs of today, you bring an abundance of joy to our family.  As I reflect on the last year, it is hard to believe that it has been a full year but equally hard to remember life before you.

So Jude, this is you at age one....

• You are SO happy!!  You have an easy smile that brightens your whole face.
• It is amazing that at such a young age, your adoration of Abby and Micah is so appearant.  You immediately perk up when they enter the room.
• You are a mama's boy.  You love to hang out with daddy, but when time comes for bed and comforting, you are all about mama--which is a new thing for me.  Clearly a reflection of being a stay-at-home-mom:)
• You started army crawling at age nine months and can MOVE on our hardwood floors.  It is so cute to watch!!  Although, you are testing the waters of "normal" crawling.
• I love to smell of the top of your head!--every mother understands:)  
• You bring such a sense of peace to my heart when I hold you.
• You love to laugh!
•  Your absolute FAVORITE activity is bouncing!!  Sometimes, we just sit and watch you bounce in your bouncy seat.  You grab onto the side of it with both hands and just jump.  Even when you are not in your seat, your legs still move like your bouncing:)
• You LOVE your pacifier!  When you are sleepy, you hold onto it and pump away:)
• You are fiesty!!  You are definitely the most active of the three children at this age.  If you aren't sleepy or asleep, you are moving, grabbing, climbing, grasping, jumping, or doing anything where you can move.
• You love to swing at the park---come on warm weather:)
• I have enjoyed being your mommy for the past year and look forward to watching you grow, learn, love, and every day in the future!!  I thank God for a happy, healthy boy that has blessed our family.  We love you so very much.

Rachel

Sunday Afternoon Sledding

 Jude's First Time in the Snow

 Jackson LOVES the snow...he even went and jumped in the pond!!  Brr!!

 Me and my little sidekick

 A boy and his dog...how sweet!

I think that ride down the hill was a little fast for him...he looks a little wobbly!

 Snow Angel created by Abby

 Micah wanted Daddy to make a snowball for him.  Once Josh had formed it, Micah threw it in his face!! :)

 Worn Out!!

 Daddy's turn slide down the hill

 Look at those rosy cheeks!

A fun day in the snow leads to happy but tired kids!! 

So God Made A Farmer

The unmistakable voice of Paul Harvey soundly described the heart, motivation, and life of the American farmer in last night's Super Bowl commercial for Dodge.  The role of agriculture in all of our lives is vital, yet most often forget the person actually laboring to produce the products we all use on a daily basis.

I had the privilege of being born and raised in rural Kentucky into an agriculture family.  The grunts of newborn piglets, tobacco hanging in the barn, the rumble of a tractor, long days of working as a family, and the scent of fresh-turned soil were frequent scenes on the landscape of my childhood.  And these traditions ran deep-both of my grandfathers were farmers as well!  At a young age, I understood the importance of hard work, family, conserving and protecting the land, the joy of a new birth and the sadness of death, and was able to see the wonders of God first-hand.  A child raised on a farm has a perspective of life beyond many adults and those lessons learned in childhood are the foundation of adulthood.  My participation in my local FFA chapter at Central Hardin High School sparked a deeper connection with agriculture.  My passion for FFA and agriculture inspired me to work diligently to achieve personal goals that I wanted in the FFA.  As a result, I was an officer at the chapter, regional, and state level and participated at the national level in competition.  Consequently, I was led to major in Agriculture Education at Murray State University.  (It is amazing how the Lord works because three weeks after showing up on campus, I met Josh.)

Although my career choice did not lead me to being a farmer, I chose to teach the youth about the importance of agriculture as an agriculture teacher and FFA advisor.  I pray my seven years of teaching led to more students leaving my classroom with a greater respect and understanding of agriculture than entered.

God has now given me the opportunity to leave my career behind and raise my children full time.  My main role as a mom, in conjunction with my husband, is to "bring (my) children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."  (Ephesians 6:4)  My second goal is to teach them responsibility, a strong work ethic, respect for all things living, the importance of helping those in need, and a strong sense of community--all of which is a direct result of a life in agriculture.  Although we are not farmers, Josh's job as an agent for NC Farm Bureau allows us the opportunity to be closely involved with the agriculture community.  My background in agriculture education allows me to serve as a member of the Northwest FFA Regional Endowment committee to promote support for local FFA members in the Northwest FFA Region.  Although my children will probably not be farmers, my prayer is they are strong members of Christ's church that respect and love all of His creation and understand and respect agriculture.

Thank you to all those that labor to feed America and thank you to all who support those farmers through various sectors of the agriculture industry.  E. M. Tiffany said it best in 1930 when he penned the FFA creed: "I believe that American agriculture can and will hold true to the best traditions of our national life and that I can exert an influence in my home and community which will stand solid for my part in that inspiring task."

"And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a caretaker." So God made a farmer.
God said, "I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the field, milk cows again, eat supper, then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board." So God made a farmer.
God said, "I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt and watch it die, then dry his eyes and say,'Maybe next year,' I need somebody who can shape an ax handle from an ash tree, shoe a horse with hunk of car tire, who can make a harness out hay wire, feed sacks and shoe scraps. Who, during planting time and harvest season will finish his 40-hour week by Tuesday noon and then, paining from tractor back, put in another 72 hours." So God made the farmer.
God said, "I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bales, yet gentle enough to yean lambs and wean pigs and tend the pink-comb pullets, who will stop his mower for an hour to splint the leg of a meadowlark."
It had to be somebody who'd plow deep and straight and not cut corners. Somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed, and brake, and disk, and plow, and plant, and tie the fleece and strain the milk, . Somebody who'd bale a family together with the soft, strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh, and then sigh and then reply with smiling eyes when his son says that he wants to spend his life doing what Dad does. "So God made a farmer."--Paul Harvey

Rachel

Bathtime Buddies

Bath time!!  Those two words spark elation in children while striking fear in their parents!!  The kids love a chance to splash, be naked, play in bubbles and all the other fun things associated with bath time.  However, for a parent, it is a lot of work--bathing, rinsing, drying off, putting on lotion, pajama time, and then cleaning up the bathroom.  With three kids, it can consume a large portion of the evening.  I generally try to streamline the process by bathing two at once.  Now Abby likes to give herself a shower (but I still have to rinse her hair) but Jude is now old enough to be in the bathtub with Micah.

Although I usually am soaked through by the time baths are over, I couldn't help but enjoy bath time the other night with the boys!!  Sometimes the days seem really long, but the years are short.

Rachel

Only At Our House

So most anyone that has known me and Josh for more than five minutes know we have a soft spot for animals.  In the past 8 1/2 years of marriage (this is embarrassing), we have had two goats, five fish, ten rabbits (some unfortunately met our dogs), three cats (all ran away from the dogs), and about 45 dogs!!  I know!!  That number is shocking, but it includes four litters of puppies, several "temporary" dogs that we found new homes for, and several that passed away.  Now I love dogs, but my husband is down-right pitiful when he sees a dog or any animal in need of love.  When we first moved to Boone, he missed his dogs so much, that we went to the humane society just so he could love on a dog. 

At Christmas, the one dog that has been with us since the beginning, Jackson, came back to North Carolina with us for a brief vacation.  He had been at our neighbor's house, but hopped in the car with us without prompting when we stopped by our house in Kentucky.  The kids have LOVED having him here.  He is a super mellow dog that sleeps the majority of the time.  But having a dog means walking a dog.  We temporarily live in a condominium complex, so we can't just open the door and let him out.  Fortunately, we are the last condo in the complex and we are next to woods were Jackson likes to roam free, sans leash. 

Last night, Josh took him for his last walk before bed and was gone for the usual 15-20 minutes.  He came back in and said that Jackson was really spooked during the walk and Josh said he noticed something large in the woods.  Now if it were me, I would have just forgotten about it and came in.  Not Josh.  He felt the need to investigate.  So he went back out with a flashlight. 

In the meantime, the two older kids were crying because they overheard Josh say he had seen something.  Micah had decided it was either a werewolf or a Big Foot (but he had determined that our woods weren't very "squatchie" enough so it couldn't be a Sasquatch.  His favorite show is "Finding Bigfoot" and he is now almost obsessed with Big Foots.)  Anyway, as I was trying to calm their fears, a knock sounded at the door.  Abby ran to answer it and this is what we saw....

 
A MINIATURE HORSE!!  See!!  Only at our house can we find such strange things.  Of course the kids were WILD!!!  Abby immediately named her Snowball.  Crazy!! But we live in a condo.  What were we going to do!!  We attempted to call security, we tried to call one of Josh's clients that owns a farm with horses--to no avail on both fronts.  Either Josh and I stood outside on the patio with this horse for a little while, hoping we could find someone to take the horse.  The kids even moved down to the door so they could look a the horse. (They are so funny!)

Still trying to contact someone, Josh let go of the horse's halter for literally 10 seconds and that horse bolted and was determined not be captured again.  Josh even tried to go find her, but she was gone.

Of course the moments of elation for Abby quickly turned to sorrow because that horse was gone.  The full spectrum of human emotion was experienced by her in one night.  It took quite awhile to calm her back down.  I don't know what she thought we were going to do with that horse, but she was already making plans in her head.  I felt so bad for her.  But she was able to capture a picture on her LeapPad that she can look at when she wants.  I guess she will tell everyone that she used to have a horse, if only for a short while.

Most people that live in a condo wouldn't find a horse, but only at our house can we attract these animals!!
Rachel