Hope this note finds all of you doing well. We enjoyed our Thanksgiving week with all of our company. I am truly tired and thankful that our life is returning to normal once again. I slept for most of the day yesterday just trying to recover from loss sleep over the weekend. I am still very tired, but at least I am not sick and tired. I love having company, but there is something wonderful about returning to a normal schedule and a normal life with just our kids. We have returned to school this week, and will work for about 3 more weeks before the Christmas break. I try to get a lot accomplished in the next two weeks. We then take the last week before Christmas and enjoy a lot of Christmas crafts for school time. I think the weather may be cooling off a bit, and then will make me feel more like decorating for Christmas. It has been so beautiful here that I have not felt much at all like it is close to Christmas time. I enoy the Christmas holidays, but not near as much as I enjoy the Thanksgiving season.

Well, my house is still upside down from the weekend so I must go and get school back on track and clean the house.
grace and peace,
julie

Thanksgiving Soon to Arrive!

Can you tell I REALLY like Thanksgiving?? I have enjoyed the company of my mom for the last few days, and my brother and his family will arrive soon. Wow, our house is already busting at the seams with people! (Michael has threatened to head for the deer stand for the entire weekend, but I know he'll be back for dinner)!!!

I talked in my last post about preparation. I am truly enjoying the fruit of my labors. I have been busy, but because of the planning I haven't been overwhelmed. I will be preparing some of my Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. For instance, I wil saute my celery and onions for my dressing. I already have the cornbread in the freezer, and I will toast up the bread that is needed early. I will have these things together so that I can put my dressing together quickly and stuff my bird right before putting it in the oven. I have a 20 pound turkey bird so I plan on baking it around 6:00 a.m. This will give me time to get my pies and some blueberry muffins prepared before my oven is occupied. I guess the biggest turkey tip I have for anyone who should need one is to let that bird rest at least 15 minutes after you pull it out of the oven. (How do I know this you might be asking yourself)??? Well, last year we all skipped breakfast and were waiting with all the side dishes on the table. What were we waiting for you might be wondering? Yes, we were waiting for the turkey. It was beautiful and cooked to perfection. I knew I should let the bird rest, but I cut it anyway. This causes the juices to runout of the bird instead of staying in the meat. Now, I have to admit I didn't really put too much stock in this. After eating a very dry turkey last year, I now believe that a 15-30 minute rest period for the bird is a great idea! The other great thing is that by waiting on the bird to rest it allows time to bake those homemade yeast rolls that everybody so enjoys.

I know that this post has been all about food and preparation stuff, but that truly isn't my heart concerning Thanksgiving. I am so thankful for all that God has done in my life. It overwhelms me sometimes to taste and see just how good God has been to us. So many decisions have been made over the years that seemed crazy to most people, but God's eye was guiding us through each and every step. (Perhaps someday Michael will share our marriage story. Most people thought we were out of our tree, but we knew that we knew that we were made for each other)! I am so VERY thankful that God brought Michael into my life, and after almost 20 years of marriage he is without a shadow of doubt still my best friend and soul mate. I never knew until after we were married that Michael wanted a farm. Wow, that was always my dream too, and here we are living it on a daily basis. Then I look at these 5 children that we have in our home, and I realize that they are such a gift from the Lord. Words are not enough to express my feeling of awe that God Himself would live in my heart, and want a relationship with me. Now that is something to be thankful for everyday of our life.

Happy Thanksgiving,
julie

Counting Down to Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. It has always been my favorite holiday. It has become even more dear to me since we moved to Tennessee. Michael usually hunts on Thanksgiving morning with the boys while Hope and I work on the dinner. For our family, Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on what God has done in our life, and to enjoy a relaxing day with one another. This year I am very excited because we will be hosting my brother and his family and my mom for the weekend. I wish my other brother would be able to join us, but with his work schedule it is almost impossible. He is a fireman and works every third day. I find that when my family gets together it makes me long for my dad all the more. We have such a great time together, but his absence is magnified when we are togetherand he is not here with us. (My dad passed away just a little over a year ago). I know in my heart of hearts my dad would want us to enjoy good family time and not be sad so that is exactly what I purpose to do this year.

I have found that if I plan for these type of events everything goes so much smoother. This allows me to enjoy the fun instead of being behind the scenes doing all the work. I have been working to get food in the freezer for our meals over the weekend. One night we will have Lasagna and another will be a Mexican theme complete with Enchiladas and Taco Soup. This will allow the time needed to cook a huge meal on Thanksgiving, and still enjoy the rest of the weekend with family. I have also started preparing the items that can be frozen for Thanksgiving. For example, yesterday I made 3 pie crusts and put in the freezer. This will speed up the pie baking on Thursday morning! I also prepared cornbread and froze it for the dressing.

I want my children to learn this lesson of planning ahead early on in life. I feel like over the years I have wasted so much time in a panic because I didn't plan ahead. I want my daughter to catch this vision early in her life! After all, the holiday is about God and people instead of turkey, but if all we do is mess with food then we have lost the meaning.

grace and peace,
julie

Sunday Afternoon

I can hardly believe that Sunday is here again. It seems that just yesterday we were enjoying a quite Sunday! Many things have been tackled this past week in spite of Michael's long work hours. He did some car repair on both of our trucks. He has continued to work on removing the large tree out at the front of our house. I have been working along to get our home put in order for company that will be here over Thanksgiving. We even took Saturday for just a day of fun. Our zoo was hosting a free day, and we decided that our children would enjoy a day out as a family. We had a wonderful time. I was very thankful for a day to relax with everybody.

I have also started on my winter farm to do list. I find that taking time to plan in the winter is crucial for summer success in the garden. I spend many afternoons in the winter reading and researching for our upcoming garden. We are wanting to add at least 4 more raised bed over the winter months. I am sold on raised bed gardening. (Thanks Cheri)!!! I spent way less time this summer weeding than I ever had before. I was very happy with the production of the raised beds. I was able to plant in them by myself. By that I mean it wasn't back breaking work. Michael quickly tilled the bed for me, and then I was ready. Right now I have lettuce and collards growing in 2 of our beds. However, I planted the collards way too late. I am still hoping to reap some a little later.

grace and peace,
julie

Taking things for granted

I have found myself guilty lately of taking the blessings of the Lord for granted in my daily life. It seems that life just has a way of happening when I am not paying attention. All too often, I am planning the next event or chore that needs my time and attention and not really taking time to enjoy the things I put my hands to. (Can anybody relate or am I by myself on this one)? Well, God does have a way of getting our attention and He has done just that the last few days. I am so thankful for all that He has done in my life, but more than that...I am so thankful for who He is in my life. I often ask my children a question that helps keep me on track. Are you seeking the hand of God or the face of God? Are you seeking God's blessings or God Himself? I am thankful that He takes the time to get my attention.

grace and peace,
julie

Resting

We have been required by our bodies this weekend to slow down a bit and get some much needed rest. Michael's work schedule has been very long, and will probably continue this way until Christmas. He gets so frustrated when his body shuts down and MAKES him rest. I believe that God built our bodies to do just that so that we will stop and take care of ourselves by getting some much needed sleep! We did awake early this morning, and he headed out to our woods to deer hunt. Michael always takes at least one of our children with him whenever he does anything. I am so thankful for this because it is great for our kids to spend time with him. However, this morning I was happy to see him head out alone. I know for myself there are times that I just need to get alone. These are times of refreshing for me, and it gives me time to just be still before God. Michael has often said that being in the woods is a precious time for him with the Lord. I pray that the Lord meets him there this morning. I am also praying that a nice deer would end up in our freezer! I personally do not like deer meat, but everybody else in the family enjoys it. For me it is a state of mind rather than taste, but I will work on it.

I remember not too long ago when people would share their fresh killed beef with us it was hard for me to cook it. I liked my meat wrapped in plastic on a nice tray with a label. Now I am just the opposite. I would love never to have to buy meat again from the grocery store! We are working on that too.

Speaking of grocery stores...if you plan to make soap you can no longer purchase lye (at least in our area) at the grocery store. I went all over yesterday looking for lye. I had to laugh because most of the people just looked at me like I had 2 if not 3 heads because they didn't have any idea what I was talking about. Finally I found an older woman who worked there, and she at least knew what lye was. She informed me that they no longer carried it. I finally got tired of looking, and called TnFarmGirl. She informed me that our local stores where no longer allowed to carry lye because people could use it to make meth. UGHHH!!!! (Maybe that is why all the young people that worked at the grocery store was looking at me like I had 2 heads...they thought I was going to brew up a nice batch of meth)!

grace and peace,
julie

Just a quick note

The weather here is still beautiful, and we are working very hard to get a few things caught up around here before winter sets in for good. We are also hosting my family for Thanksgiving this year, and working to get everything in order for that weekend as well.

Michael has asked me to locate garlic bulbs to plant this fall. Does anyone have suggestions as to where I can purchase good quality organic garlic bulbs to plant? I checked Johhny's Selected Seeds, and it is in stock. However, I wasn't sure if it was at a good price or even good quality garlic. I plan on purchasing Herrick Kimball's book concerning making garlic powder, but I was wanting to go ahead and order my bulbs before receiving the book. (That is about the way I do things. I am the one who gets the pigs, and then says "oh, where should we put them"???)! Michael is the planner of the family so I guess we balance one another out pretty well. He is working VERY long hours right now, and I am just trying to help him out a bit by finding the garlic bulbs for him.

grace and peace,
julie