Time

 The clock is ticking and the hours and days are rolling by. Days are quickly turning into months and on September 26th we celebrated one month on our land. 

When we first got here, it was scorching and there was little relief inside as we were still working on the insulation. We have the whole place insulated now and the temperature has been in the 70s and 80s lately with lovely little breezes. Fall is here. 

You can see little signs of it here and there, some leaves are just starting to change colors, and nights are starting to turn cool at night dropping into the 40s. 

There are so many things I love about our land and living in Missouri. The sky each night is filled with more stars than I have ever seen. I love watching the kids have room to play, watching as they hurry in the morning to go outside. Their days are filled with shouts of joy and laughter as they ride their bikes or jump on the trampoline, or play with their toys and walks through the woods. 

Then there are the people, honest, kind, caring, hard working men and women who have welcomed us and our kids with open arms. Our new church has been a God send. Acceptance, when you have children with special needs is huge. There is no doubt our children have not only been accepted by our church and community but also embraced. 

We had only been one Sunday when they told us about Wednesdays Youth Night. We decided to go on Wednesday to check it out and they were having a talent show (they do them once per year in September we later found out). They asked if any of our kids wanted to join in the talent show but we did not have anything prepared or routines memorized. Gavyn however loves to preform and asked to join in and wanted to dance on stage. They found some music from Madagascar, I Like to Move It, and asked if he wanted to dance to that. He said yes and when they called his name he jumped up on stage and strutted his stuff. After his turn was over, he did not want to leave stage so they said he could stay and help announce others. When one girl got up to play her violin, he gave her a countdown to start, "One, Two Three GO!" Everyone loved him and came up to meet him after the talent show was done. It felt wonderful having people accept our kids for who they are. 

Even the doctors and dentists are loving and kind with our kids. 

Veronika loves her new dentist. 

She did great with the orthodontist.

Mark is working hard each day, I see how it wears on him, never having a break, going non stop because time.... time is moving quickly and there are only so many hours in the day. Fall is here, and winter will be riding on it's heels all too soon. We still need to insulate under the house and put up the skirt around the outside to keep the cold air from coming in from the flooring. So many projects left to do, but time is our enemy. Mark spends each day working at his job and in his spare time he is working on the house. 

While the clock ticks away, and with millions of things that need to get done, sometimes, you just have to step away. Last weeks sermon at church was about rest about remembering that running yourself into the ground will not only make you less productive, but that even God on the 7th day rested. We were reminded that while we need to get everything done, we also need to take a break now and then to recharge so we can get back to it. 

It's fall, and that means pumpkin patches. There are tons of local patches, but staying local meant that as soon as we got back from the patch, we would be tempted to get back to work. We needed a day of rest and just take a break for the day. I found a patch that was 3 hours away. So after church we headed to the pumpkin patch. It was a much needed and welcome break. 

The children's train was a bitter sweet moment. The youngest three kids were excited to ride it, but as they climbed in we could tell this would be the last year they would be able to ride.  They are growing up so fast. 

Train Ride at the Pumpkin Patch

Trying to launch the corn into the buckets for a prize. We tried and some of us came pretty close, but we didn't get it in. They sure did have a lot of fun trying though!

We took a nature walk around the lake where there were giant catfish and some other very large fish in the water. The kids enjoyed feeding the fish. We visited the pigs, turkeys, goats, cows, ducks, and chickens, played some games, did a hay ride, and picked our pumpkins. We finished our trip with apple cider and apple cider donuts, bought some jam, and some dilly beans and headed back home. 

On the drive we saw several deer and the hilly winding roads rocked some of the kids to sleep. It was a good day off. 

Now we get back to work with projects around the house and yard. Ticking off our to do list as we go, mindful of the passing time and all that still needs to be done and which ones are things that need to be done and which things are things that can wait. 

(hopefully we will get our well put in soon and be able be have running water, we currently are having to buy bottled water - we do have IBC totes and plan to use rainwater catchment, however it has not rained in 3 weeks) 

This is what washing dishes looks like currently - I feel like a pioneer at times, and while I do not exactly enjoy washing dishes outside in a bucket I am thankful for the food that dirtied the dishes, the sun shining that I don't have to wash them in the rain, and the people who invented environmentally safe soap so I don't have to worry about the soap hurting our land. It is times like when I am washing dishes outside in a bucket with jugs of water that I am able to think of all that I have to be thankful for, rather than dwelling on the negative. 

We are being stretched and growing and are learning to be thankful and grateful for what we have, and apricating what we have. Each time a project is done, we enjoy it so much more than we would have if it had all been easy.

So thankful!