Yesterday our family grew by four! We are on our way to becoming a family with backyard chickens. It’s something that I have wanted to do for a long time and we finally took the leap and brought home four chicks. We all definitely have a lot to learn about raising them, but we are willing to learn!

This has been a welcome change to our daily life and a source of happiness for my kids. They are helping to take care of our new babies! One is named Sarah (named by my daughter), then there’s Gamma and Beta (named by my sons), and the last one is still being decided! We brought home two ISA Browns and two Golden Comets. I know it will be several months until we have eggs and I am looking forward to it! Recent events have made it harder for me to get into a grocery store to shop and also harder for me to find the organic eggs that I like to buy for the kids. I’m hoping that things are back to normal by then, however it feels good to be on our way to having our own eggs.

On another note, we’re under a global pandemic currently. Living history. The increasing difficulty to get to the store without the kids and to find the organic eggs that I liked to buy gave us the push to really look into having our own chickens.

Gov. Kay Ivey in Alabama just issued a stay at home order that goes into effect tomorrow. All of the schools have already been closed. This doesn’t affect our homeschooling activities at home, but we haven’t been able to meet with our Catholic Schoolhouse chapter. Also, we would have been at baseball or softball Monday through Friday and now we aren’t. My daughter also can’t go to her dance classes, but can practice online! This is very different from our normal day to day life and we miss our friends, but we are taking it one day at a time and trying to enjoy our family time together! Here’s a link below with some details about the stay-at-home order.

https://www.waff.com/2020/04/03/watch-live-gov-ivey-holding-joint-press-conference-alabamas-covid-fight/

One afternoon after our school work was done, we went to do some shopping. It was a good day and we went out for some “just for the heck of it” ice cream cones first. I love to treat them sometimes, since we don’t keep very many sweet things in the house other than cookies every now and then.  We went inside to eat and when we were leaving a mom took the time to tell me how well-behaved my children are. She said she had six kids and she knows how it is. I told her thank you for taking the time to tell me that. I always love the compliments, because she could have just minded her own business and not said anything to me! We happened to have been having a really great and easy day, but if it would have been a hard one, that compliment could  have helped turn it around for me!

Next, we went to Lowe’s to shop for flowers. On the way in, an older gentlemen asked, “Are they not in school?” It’s an occasional question that I get when I’m out in the early afternoon with all of them. When I told them that I teach them and that we were done, he said that his family homeschooled all eight of their children and that they opened one of the first homeschools in Louisiana. I can’t remember the exact number, but he has thirty something grandkids and now they all homeschool, too. He stood and talked with me for a few minutes when he didn’t have to! Another person to share some encouraging words when he could have just walked on by!

Later in the store, my son recognized a hydrangea. I didn’t think much of it, because they hear me talk about flowers all the time. A lady stopped and said, “Wow! He knows his flowers? How did you do that?” It reminded me that everything they are learning from me is significant, even when I didn’t even mean to teach it to them. She smiled and talked with the kids. She didn’t have to do that either.

I guess where I’m going with this is…if you have something nice to say, say it! None of these people knew me or may ever even see me again, and it was so refreshing to be encouraged by strangers. I actually used to be pretty paranoid to be out during the school day when we first started homeschooling. I was afraid of the judgement. It’s easy to be so hard on ourselves as mothers. We are critical of ourselves, but to the outside world looking in…we are still doing a good job! Next time I’m out and I see something worth complimenting I hope I take the time to do it.

I’ve previously posted how we have recently moved to a new home and met my precious neighbor. She befriended me. She made sure I knew how to keep up with local events, helped me find someone to help with my yard and dog when I’m on my own or need to take a trip, recommended a good vet, told me who the neighbors were, and she even brought us enough food once to last us for lunch and dinner.

I began to look forward to seeing her out, and she was out a lot, so we could have a quick chat or wave at each other. I admired her. I didn’t know how old she was at the time, but she walked her little dog twice a day. She would sit on her back patio and watch the dogs play. She would sit on the ground in the front and work in her flower beds. She LIVED.She took the time to talk to my kids and they really loved her. She said they could play in her yard whenever they wanted, said we could sit in her swing, said we could get any flowers that we wanted.

My six year old daughter went in her front yard the other day and stood still. She came back and said, “I miss her. I can still see her sitting there.” Our friend passed away sooner than we expected. It hit me pretty hard and I still feel her loss. I never sat in her swing when she was alive. I never got any of her flowers. I wish I would have taken the time, because I think she would have enjoyed giving us those gifts.

The first day of fall has come and the leaves are falling over her swing. I finally took the time to sit in it. I didn’t bring my phone or a book, but I just enjoyed the peacefulness of listening to the leaves fall to the ground and crunch under my feet. I wondered how many times she had done that. I found out she lived to be eighty. We only got to know her the very last two and a half months, but she made a big impact on me. I hope I take the time to enjoy my life like she did and reach out to others and listen to little children laugh and tell me stories. She took the time and I hope I do, too.

I keep waiting for the right time to start up my posts and I guess now is as good of a time as any! A little over two months ago we moved to a new state. Our next door neighbor reached out to us and we became friends with her! It is a post for another time, but she was dealing with some sickness. I hadn’t seen her as much the past few weeks. I called her and spoke with her on the phone. Got updates from her family. Today her son called to tell me that she had passed away. I feel heartbroken. He told of how her eyes would light up when she talked about me or the children and how she really enjoyed getting to know us. I wish we had more time with her. We grew to care for her very much and I am really going to miss her. She is going to be missed by many.

Later tonight our doorbell rang. Another neighbor brought over some beautiful mums (which I almost went out and bought myself today, but didn’t) and a card to welcome us to the neighborhood. I realize now how great our little area is and how nice the people are. We are going to miss our friend, but I’m grateful that God gave us these few months together. I’m grateful to the other neighbor who chose today to bring us flowers and a card and help ease the hurt of losing a friend.

It has been a while since I have updated! In my introduction I stated that we would have a fourth child, Lord willing, in December. It is now February and the Lord was willing! Our baby girl will be two months old this week. She is a precious addition to our family. We are all enjoying her. Her big brothers and sister have been a tremendous help. Bringing home a newborn with older children (all 5 and older) has been a different experience from bringing home a newborn with 5 and under children! My oldest child is now 10 years old and an extreme help around the house with cooking, picking up, and with our dog.

Our daughter came in to the world differently than my other three. She is our first since my husband joined the military so my first experience at a military hospital. Originally, I was a little upset and worried that I wasn’t going to be able to have the same doctors and nurses that I was used to. Before he joined, I was a labor and delivery nurse so I was obviously really familiar with our hospital and staff!

Prior to her birth, I had about a week of prodromal labor. On the day she was born we spent a few hours that morning at the hospital with not many changes. A doctor, who turned out to be the one to deliver her, allowed me to go home to labor and a nurse that I will never forget sent me information to help her change positions so labor would progress. I went home around nine in the morning and took a nap, a bath, tried the positions that she gave me, and before long it was time for my husband to take me back to the hospital. We arrived just about twenty minutes before she was born. I was only in the labor room for three minutes! It was such a whirlwind. I have not had an epidural with any of my children, but this was my first to also have no pain medication at all. I don’t say that to brag. I say that because I am so proud of myself for sticking to my goals. Each labor and delivery is a personal experience. Our bodies are amazing and I am continuously in awe at how God created us.

I was so proud of myself and the support that the medical team gave me. The day she was born was the first day that I had ever seen the doctor who delivered her! He was fantastic. Everything worked out just fine and the way it was supposed to.

I attempted to plant some sunflowers in my own yard this year. They did not grow very big at all, but even though they are small, they are pretty!

My kids enjoy playing baseball in the yard with their friends. One of the tiny flowers was accidentally stepped on and broken. Initially it made me sad. I noticed a few days later that the flower was reaching back up towards the sun!

Even the leaves were wilted, but the sunflower kept on! A few weeks later, I noticed that there was a little bloom!

I thought about how I could apply this to my own life. Instead of feeling broken, I can make the best of a situation and never give up! Things in my past have left me down and feeling depressed. It took me much longer than I would like to admit to change my mindset to look for the positive! I am hoping to never let myself get that low again. This tiny flower makes me smile!

Things in life may not always turn out the way that we imagined. Once we realize how to live with what’s broken, we may realize that things turned out just as beautiful.

Hello! My name is Jenna. I am a wife and mother who now stays at home with our three children and (Lord willing) four this December! I have been married to my husband for a little over ten years. We have two boys and a girl and several pets that we love and care for!

The sunflower happens to be my favorite flower! I have always loved how they will turn their face to find the sun. I believe that we can live this way ourselves. Life comes with many challenges and we have the choice to look at the negative side of things (the shadows) or the positive side of things (the sun) and that choice can change our lives!

We all have our days where we struggle with bad attitudes, but I try to look at the bright side of things and instill that quality into my children! To look at each situation and pick out the good, while also being well equipped to deal with the not so good! I have gone through stages in life where that was not always the case and honestly, it was miserable.

This is a place for me to share a little about life with you and a place for hopefully my family to check in with us, also! We do not live near any of our family, but that is another story to tell. Enjoy your Monday!