New Blog!

I decided a while back that I needed a new blog name. Our family is no longer just Elisa and Sadie! So - come visit our growing family at Messes and Miracles! (messes-and-miracles.blogspot.com)a See you there!

Little Ranchers

Our back pasture is adjacent to an old-time cattle ranch. It happens to be owned and run by a gentle-spirited cowboy named Bob - who attends our church. Erik has gotten to know him fairly well in the last two years, as they have sat together in the same table group at men's Bible Study. He called last week to see if he could "hire" our little ones - along with another family's little ones - to help pick rock to form a passage over a bog. We could see come new spring calves, drive a tractor and put in a few hours of work. Of course, we said "yes!"
Sadie - farm-girl in braids and overalls, riding the fancy blue tractor.


The kids had a blast riding (and driving) the little four-wheeler and giant tractor as they explored the ranch and saw a calf that had born that very morning. As they were driving around, Bob noticed another heifer who was preparing to give birth to her calf. She was very uncomfortable, pacing in her little area with tail high, grunting. He was confident she would deliver while we were there. So we stayed close as we loaded rocks into the tractor. Our friend Dan watched with binoculars and let us know when he could see little white calf feet emerging. We drove close, all piled in a pick-up bed, and found a place to watch - without upsetting the laboring mama. It didn't take long! We witnessed the amazing delivery of a healthy calf - watched mama lick her baby clean and nudge him to stand - within minutes! It was so cool! So neat for the kids to see! And me, too!


Calf - fresh from his mama
Standing on wobbly legs, a few minutes later.

Afterwards, we left baby to find his mama's milk and returned to pick more rock. After two loads, the kids were rewarded with four dollars each. Two were to keep, and two went into an envelope to "give to the Lord." It was really sweet.

We love living in Wyoming!


Our hard-working crew. Even baby Jonathan helped pick rock!

(I should give credit -- the pictures came from Dan's camera, and since he is actually a professional photographer on the side, you should probably know that! Credit to Living Water Photography. :))

Grace for the Good Girl

Recently, I won a giveaway for a book. It was so exciting to receive the book in the mail. I don't really get excited about new "things." New babies, yes. The new car in our garage (well, old car, new to us) - not so much. New books, now, that is really exciting!

The book is called "Grace for the Good Girl," by Emily Freeman. I was reading the description to my hubby, and he said, "Yeah, you need to read that one." I do.

I have always been a good girl. I never rebelled. I never drank. I made straight As. I wore white on my wedding day. I work hard and keep my word. And sometimes I forget that my worth to the One who made me is not defined by my "disciplined life," or my "hard work with a sweet disposition." When you're a perfectionist people-pleaser, you feel "good" when you have it all together, and you feel worthless when you don't. Sometimes you wear yourself trying to be "good enough."

This season of life has been a bit undoing. Four months of nausea, followed closely on the heels by a month-long respiratory bug, and then, more recently, a bout of pleurisy (painful inflammation in my lungs) that knocked me off my feet for a few days.... I don't feel like I have been able to keep up with anything! Not the house, not my quiet times.... our homeschool is down to bare-bones without any creativity, I haven't baked anything but cookies in months, and my little monkeys have spent more than their fair share of time quarantined indoors. I do NOT feel like a good mom. Or a good wife. Or a good Christian. The Lord has been so gracious to meet our needs and I really have managed just fine. But in my heart - fine is just not good enough.

Do you know what I mean? Are you that way, too?

Erik and I had a good chuckle last night when I read him this portion of the book.

Good Mom makes breakfast and smiles a lot. Good Mom always remembers to notice, compliment and encourage. She is fun and funny. She plays dolls with pleasure, and even makes up pretend scenarios to make the play go longer. Her patience is limitless and she never raises her voice. She wakes up early every morning and spends time with Jesus. She is consistent and kind. She makes cookies from scratch. She plays outside even when it's really hot. She builds forts with blankets in the living room. Her house is always clean, her produce is always fresh, and she has a garden with flowers and vegetables. She can sing. She makes puppets out of socks. Her kids never watch TV because they are totally satisfied to listen to the riveting, captivating stories their Good Mom makes up. Every night. (p. 31)

What really made us laugh is that my response at first was to go, "Oh... I need to do that! I need to play more dolls. And I need to build forts. And I've never made a sock puppet! And, oohhh.... I totally yelled today!" And then I remembered -- the point of the book was that I was supposed to stop striving all the time (in my own human effort) to be GOOD. And, oops, I wasn't supposed to try to emulate her description of the Good Mom. I needed to keep reading. :)

I haven't finished the book. In fact, I'm only on chapter three. But I totally identify with that straining to be good and then feeling like I don't measure up every time I hit snooze, or react impatiently, or pour bottled spaghetti sauce on noodles and call it dinner.

I get the concept of grace. I teach it to my kids. But I still forget. So, I am looking forward to the book. Because I know I'm not good enough. But Jesus is!

Turning 2!

A long list of chores is calling me... but I have been remiss in sharing a bit about Raina turning 2 (a week and a half ago).

I love that little peanut. She is a sweet little firecracker who alternately runs laughing when given a command (uh-oh!) and oh-so-tenderly shows compassion and love to her family. "Sissy get ouie? I sorry, sissy. I kiss. I kiss."

She is very verbal -- but not always understandable to the outside world. She'll rattle off a perfect sentence, and Grampa will look at me wonderingly. He didn't catch a word. She says "I love you, Mama," unprompted all the time, which melts my heart.

She loves stories. Is that any surprise? :) Recently she discovered the Brownie and Pearl series by Cynthia Rylant and requests them every time we go to the library. But sometimes she wants the names changed to "Raina and Hopie." Hopie is her soft little dolly.

She is a cheerful helper - and a giant mess maker.

She still goes to sleep for naps and bedtime very easily - though the list of story requests gets longer every night and always includes "Goodnight Gorilla."

She likes to show the girls their respective flashcards and say "What is that?" "Oh, good job!" She repeats letter sounds with Sadie and anything she scribbles is dubbed "A."

She is pretty much day-time potty trained. She still struggles some days with poop placement :), but she is doing very well!

She likes to climb. It is not unusual to spot her on the highest counter while I am deeply absorbed in a lesson with Elisa or Sadie. All the interruptions she provides are beneficial for training the others in patience, right?

She is fun and giggly and expressive. She is independent and maybe a wee bit stubborn. :)

We are so grateful for this little growing girl!