Preparing for Lean Times

There's no denying it, times are strange and uncertain. Life may or may not ever return to the way it once was. It could be understandably easy to sink into a hole of despair. Or you can do like our family is doing and prepare. Who knows what the future holds. I would like to think one day we will wake up and this insanity called COVID-19 will be a faint memory. But, in all likelihood, there's a good chance, this global shutdown is going to last a while longer and have dire consequences for years to come.

Our family has decided to be proactive and focused on creating solutions to our current concerns than wallowing in self-pity. I'm not going to lie, it's hard for me to keep on keepin' on. Some nights I lie awake sick, thinking about how horrible this world has become, and that I have ten children who have to figure out how to survive in it. But, I know that God is going to use all of this for the good of His people. I also know it would be a major disservice to the Lord, my family, and myself if I remained in a depressed state of mind. Instead, I'm hoping to be an example to my children on how to adjust, pivot, and roll with the punches. We don't have to succumb to this craziness, we can rise above it, and become better people as a whole.

Our family is making some consorted efforts to create practical solutions to help us thrive during this time. We want our children to feel safe and know they do not have to worry how their needs will be met. We want to shelter them from the raging storm whirling around outside our four walls. They deserve it, and my husband and I will do whatever it takes to make sure our children are well protected. The following is a more detailed synopsis of exactly what we are implementing within our family dynamics to help us survive the dire circumstances we currently find ourselves in. 

Preparing For Lean Times

1. Reevaluating Needs vs. Wants:
• Now is not the time for frivolously spending. We are praying through each and every purchase whether food, clothing, or any other item to determine if it is a necessity. 
• We are making purchases which help to reduce our over all spending, such as our new clothe line. 
• We are limiting our shopping in person as well as online, making sure every purchase is an essential item that our family truly needs.
2. Intentional Sustainability:
• We have increased the size of our garden with plants and fruit bearing trees/bushes. We are also pursuing meat chickens and other sources for food supply; such as inquiring of neighbors and friends if they know of outlets where we can find fruit trees to pick from. So far we have found a new free source for crab apples and someone who is getting rid of their canning jars.
• As cliche as it may sound, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is at the core of our daily life. We are reusing everything that we possible can ~ just the other day I salvaged a set of stand alone stairs to use as a planter station for my herbs. ALL leftovers are being eaten. Of course cloth for as many things as possible including diapers and napkins. We are trying to become a no waste family. 
• After a month of searching we were able to place our yearly co-op order. While this does not sustain us indefinitely it will meet our dry goods needs for the next year, reducing our need to purchase these items from stores or online. We've also managed to place our yearly order for maple syrup which we cook with and we're working on our yearly order for honey. All of these bulk purchases safe us money in the long run.
3. Immune Health:
• We are focusing on eating clean. Whole foods to promote a healthy immune system which can ward of disease and infection as well as give us the energy to pursue our many avenues of self-sufficiency.
• We are removing as many toxic substances as possible from our home from cleaning products to beauty products. There was a time we had minimal of these items, but I guess you could say I became negligent. I feel now is just as good as any time to get back on that band-wagon, it's really not that hard and it's certainly more affordable.
• We are making sure we have a decent stock of herbs, essential oils and vitamins to help combat ailments. We have always done this, but I guess you could say we are upping our game. We haven't been to the doctor for sickness in so many years I couldn't even tell you exactly the last time. But, the key on this one is to be proactive with necessary supplies so that when there's a need to treat a health situation, you are prepared.

Ultimately, God is in control. But, we can be used by God to fulfill His will. Having a plan and being intentional to work towards those goals is a much more positive way to use our time these days; rather than just hiding inside worrying. It is my deepest desire that throughout these crazy times our family would uphold God's word, look for the Lord's wisdom and knowledge, and not be wasteful with our time here on Earth. We are alive for a reason. None of *this* has caught God off guard. He is still in the business of providing for His people and He will continue to do so until the end of time.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer 

Freedom Rally

Our family had the privilege of visiting our state capitol where we participated in a Freedom Rally this past Saturday. We met up with some dear friends to caravan the two hours it took to get down to the capitol. Thankfully, it was an absolutely gorgeous spring day in the South!

Anytime we venture out of the house, especially when the trip is going to be longer than just a jaunt around town, it is an event!  A day trip of necessities for us is like what most people would take on a week long vacation, lol. We have two diaper bags, a change of clothes for my five year who almost always gets carsick, and of course food. It takes a lot of planning and preparation for us to go on a day trip. But this adventure was one for the books and one I will always remember. 

We brainstormed as a family to come up with the best rally signs. Since the only stores open to buy craft supplies was Walmart and Dollar Tree, we were unable to find large markers so we had to paint the signs, which took about four hours to make four signs. Sheesh, talk about a lot of work, but we were all pleased with how well they turned out and we even received complements on them. The camaraderie was amazing at the rally and we were able to share our signs with others to use once our younger crew got tired of holding them.

It took a little while for us to actually find where the rally was located, but we managed to get there on time even if we did have to walk a fairly long way from where we parked. As we were walking up to the gathering, one of the other protestors had a nasty fall. An elderly lady missed the curb and fell and smacked her head on the sidewalk. She had a horrible gash on her head as well as terrible swelling to her face. The paramedics came to patch her up, be she opted to stay for the rally. Talk about an encouragement in patriotism! One of her family members was treating her wounds with essential oils which let me know she was in good hands. (Love it when I see folks who know how to use natural medicine.)

There was a decent amount of people at the rally. People from all walks of life passionate about preserving the Constitution of the United States, pleading for the reopening of Alabama. People who want to work and to choose how they protect themselves and their family from illness. Several news outlets were there taking pictures and videos. There were even people protesting the protest. There was a strong police presence. They seemed nice and did not interfere, they even stopped traffic when the rally finished with a march up and down the sidewalks on the road where the rally was located. 

We had plenty of opportunities to explain to our children a myriad of different subjects. From what people meant by their signs, to why people were protesting the protest. It was a perfect homeschool field trip. We engaged in conversation with several different families. We shared our stories and why we were there, and what we hoped to achieve by attending the rally. It was amazing to see so many young folks there as well as family's with children. We all have a stake in this country and desire to see it moving again.

Brent Sheridan was sharp on the megaphone at the rally. He definitely managed to capture the heart of the message we all desired to make clear. Our country is not facing a health crisis but a Constitutional Crisis. We value our freedoms and hope to preserve them at all costs.

The rally lasted an hour. We had planned for a picnic lunch which we had packed the night before, unfortunately we forgot it in the chaos of getting out the door. {{Goran}} There was a fun little family owned cafe on the road where the rally was held. They let us use their bathroom a couple of times during the rally for our little kiddos who just couldn't 'hold it'. My husband promised we would come back and purchase lunch from them. 

Apparently the cafe owners didn't believe him, because when we returned to buy our lunch, they said they were shocked to see us back. My husband responded with he was a man of his word. Sadly we live in a day and age where people don't mean what they say. It is one of our deepest desires to teach our children to keep their word. Their character means something, and when you say you're going to do something, you do it. Children learn best by watching what we do.

The Alabama Capitol is absolutely beautiful. We arrived early enough that we had time to walk around and explore. The government buildings were gorgeous with emmaculant grounds. We've never been to the capitol before, but our brief experience this go-around is enough to encourage me to plan a trip down there just to explore the buildings. 

It's an unusual time for our country. Unprecedented measures have been taken to revoke Constitutional rights from the American people. While we understand there are people sick and dying, there is never an excuse to void the Constitution. Removing the ability for Americans to work and provide for their family's is unacceptable. It's time we all worked together as a united front to reach a solution that values all humanity as essential and not just a few. 

It was truly an honor to be able to express our Constitutional right to assemble and protest the current state of affairs. Lord willing it will not be too much longer before the masses realize we don't have to sacrifice anyone to effective disengage this 'silent enemy'.

With Love and Hope,

Jennifer

2020 Spring Planting Season

This year's spring planting season has been an eventful one to say the least. For as long as I can remember we have planted the second week of April. This year we went along with those same plans, only this year we've experienced some unusual weather. 

First we had nonstop rain, so much so that we could not plant any of our late winter plants or seeds.  Even though we didn't get the potatoes or onions planted in late winter like they were supposed to be, we decided to go ahead and get them in the ground (late) and pray for the best. 

Then we've had some unusually cold temperatures which have killed many of our plants. We've had to replant quite a bit of our tomatoes and peppers. We thought we'd lost our entire patch of sweet potatoes, but a fellow gardener informed us that they are growing just fine. Apparently the cold kills the leaves above ground, but the vines below are still growing. Lord willing that is the case, because sweet potatoes are one of my most favorite foods to grow.

We start the majority of our plants from seed either in recycled food containers or directly into the soil. We do buy some plants from the store such as tomatoes (not all of them, some tomatoes we start from seed), eggplants, peppers, and sweet potatoes. 

We've found that a lot of seeds that we'd normally plant directly into the soil do better if we plant them into small pots first and then once they get a good start, we transplant them into the soil. Those seeds include: yellow squash, zucchini, pumpkin, butternut squash, cucumber, some watermelon, and cantaloup.

Thankfully, even though we got our red and white potatoes into the ground late, they seem to be growing great. We planted four nice long rows, Lord willing we will have a nice harvest. We also have four great looking rows of green beans coming up. It's been a few years since we've had a decent harvest of green beans, but we're determined and we aren't giving up. We've yet to run out of them throughout the year, but we do have to ration them. It would be so wonderful to get a bumper crop of green beans this year.

We planted about a dozen rows of sweet corn. Our first planting had some skips in the rows so we've already gone back and replanted where some of it did not come up. We're hoping to put up ears of corn in the freezer as well as can corn. It's been a few years since we have had to can corn, but our supply is running low and it's time to restock. It's fairly labor intensive canning corn, but it's worth it once the job is done and we've got it to use whenever we want. 

We try to be as resourceful as possible with what we use in our gardens, with the intentions to keep the cost at a minimum. We stake our tomatoes and bell peppers using cages made with rhubarb fencing, a pole (sometimes we use a good thick stick), and zip strips. It may not be the most esthetically pleasing contraption, but it gets the job done. Our focus is to grow as much food as possible with the least amount of financial impact. 

We still have a good bit of planting left to do. It's still too cold for the plants that prefer hotter temperatures. In a couple of weeks we will be planting the watermelon, cantaloup, and okra. We will also plant another six or so rows of corn, to help stagger the harvest. From now until the end of August we're going to be full on, full-time gardening, picking, and preserving. Busy yet fulfilling days ahead to say the least.

To recap what we currently have planted:

Corn

Field Peas

Tomatoes

Bell Pepper

Hot Pepper

Red/White Potato

Sweet Potato

Pumpkin

Butternut Squash

Eggplant

Zucchini

Yellow Squash

Green Beans

Onions

Cucumbers

I try not to think about everything we have planned ahead of us in regards to the garden, because I would probably panic and have a melt down. In the long run it is a lot of work, but if we just remain focused on one harvest at a time, it doesn't seem like nearly as much work. Plus, when the main gardening season comes to a close and we have freezers and jars full of food to eat, it makes all the long days of hard work worth it.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Easter 2020

Easter 2020 was certainly a blessed day for our family. Even though we could not attend church we still kept Jesus the center of our celebration, for without His sacrifice we would not have a holiday to celebrate. To be honest our Easter plans really didn't change much other than the fact that the church doors were closed and we had to have church at home.

Life is different these days for our family in a myriad of different ways, but especially in the sense that we have a little one experiencing all her 'firsts' and then we are missing our oldest who no longer lives with us. It's a really unusual season of life that's for sure. All the emotions are present; so much joy and excitement to share with Abby Lou's firsts and yet a touch of sadness that our oldest isn't around much. Even though our oldest wasn't there for all our traditional Easter activities, he was able to attend Easter dinner. 

Over the years we have collected quite a few plastic Easter eggs. They even have their own tote, lol. There was a time it was only me filling eggs and putting them together, now I have helpers who love to help out in that department. We don't fill all the eggs with candy. I buy one bag of candy to divide amongst the eggs and then the rest are left empty.

Thankfully, I plan throughout the year for holidays or we might have been in a pinch for Easter this year with all the stores being closed or with limited stock. To make each holiday extra special, I'm in a continuous state of shopping the clearance racks ~ this helps to keep our holiday expenses well under budget.

 Easter morning we had all the children eat breakfast, tidy the house, and get dressed in their Sunday best before opening their Easter baskets. I didn't spend a whole lot of money on any of the children's baskets. To keep things simple the younger crew all got the same items while the older children received the same. We didn't do much candy, mostly just little trinkets such as coloring books, bubbles, and a deck of cards. I made my husband a basket of his favorite snacks and he surprised me with a basket of my favorite healthy snack items too. 

After days of beautiful warm weather, Easter ended up being rainy and cool so pictures had to be taken on the porch ~ which wasn't as easy as it may look. {{sigh}}

Six of our seven handsome sons.

Our three beautiful daughters.

My husband was joking around, because let's face it taking family pictures with 11 people is eventful to say the least, and of course when the camera snapped he wasn't smiling. I promise he wasn't mad, but can we just say there is never a dull moment in our crazy life, especially when taking pictures!

Easter dinner wasn't anything fancy just a few of our favorite dishes. The children did call it a mini Thanksgiving, which I thought was sweet. Everything was homemade and a family effort to make. Our two oldest sons even contributed to the dessert menu, which was so very thoughtful. 

Easter Menu

Ham

Hawaiian Rolls 

Deviled Eggs

 Potato Salad

Dressing

Macaroni and Cheese

Potato Casserole

Punch

Easter Trifle 

2 Ice Cream Cakes

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Crackers

We did manage to get one group photo of all our children even it it was after everyone had changed out of their good clothes ~ this mama will take whatever she can get.

Due to the dreary day on Easter Sunday we opted to hunt eggs a couple days later. We usually attend a couple local church sponsored Easter egg hunts, but this year those were not happening; so I wanted to make sure our annual family Easter egg hunt was extra special. I was especially thankful that I had collected all those plastic eggs, because with our crew we need them. Even with as many eggs as we have, it didn't take long for my little egg hunters to find all of them. 

Once all the eggs were found my husband hid one egg that held a five dollar bill for the older children to find. The first time around no one could find it, so he hid it again. After some serious hunting our oldest daughter found it ~ only because she stumbled over it and the egg fell out of it's hiding place nestled inside one of our potted plants. Fun times and wonderful memories for sure.

Easter is such a special holiday to celebrate because without the death and resurrection of Jesus we would not have the hope of heaven. I'm so thankful our family was able to enjoy the day with each other and our treasured traditions. We enjoyed sweet tokens of love, good food, and delightful fellowship. Our family has been showered with blessings from above and for that I give all the glory to God.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer 

Spring Around the Homestead

Sorry Y'all I know it has been awhile, but life ebbs and flows for sure, and life has just been extremely busy. I've actually had 14 posts ready to go for a couple weeks now but getting everything set up and published has proven to be a little more challenging than I'd prefer.

We have been super busy around the homestead lately, gearing up for what we hope and pray is a bountiful harvest year. We've had so many projects going on from sewing, soap making, starting seeds, sewing seeds & planting plants in our big gardens, making new flower beds, and of course continuing with our homeschooling efforts.

 We had weeks of rain which made it difficult to plant our early spring crops. But we did manage to get in the ground some white and red potatoes as well as some onions. We planted double the onions than what we did last year. Lord willing we will get a decent harvest.

I'd really like to experiment with some different varieties of onions in the future. But, I am grateful we were able to find these onions still available; since finding garden plants and seeds isn't as easy as it has been in years past.

I know I've said it many times before, but I'll say it again; I truly love that my children have the opportunity to learn how to grow their own food.

Everyone gets their hands in the dirt around here. 

We added a new fruit arbor to our homestead. This one holds ten muscadine plants, which is like a grape. Grapes don't grow very well down here, but muscadines are a great alternative.

We started many plants this year including this entire flat filled with tomatoes. 

We also planted an assortment of herbs which were given to us by some dear friends. 

We did purchase a good bit of plants this year: tomatoes, several pepper varieties, sweet potatoes, and eggplants. We are hoping to preserve more seeds this year for next years garden, reducing our need to buy plants.

Unfortunately, due to a very late cold snap, we lost most of our sweet potatoes. We are planning to replant them this week.

Our fruit bearing bushes and trees are looking very good this year. We currently have blueberries, pears, apples, peaches, plums, blackberries, and figs. 

Even though we purchased 'late blooming' fruit trees and bushes they often get a little excited over early warm weather and bloom a little too soon causing us to lose our harvest.

We are fervently praying that this will not be the case this year. We are all super excited and hopeful for a bumper crop of fruit this year! 

Currently in the ground we have tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, pumpkins, onions, white & red potatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, field peas, green beans, and corn. We have a good bit of seed starts growing to help stagger our garden harvest. 

I've been collecting canning and preserving items over the weeks such as vinegar, sugar, and canning lids. We have been diligently working to wrap up household projects and finish our academic year before the harvest begins. It won't be long before we're knee deep in produce! Fun times ahead for sure!

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

What's a Doula & Why Every Pregnant Mama Needs One

I have a few more posts I originally wrote from my last blog that I'm transferring over here to Country Mama to Many. Most of the posts I alter or rather retrofit to be current and relevant to my life now; but I find that this post shares my heart exactly and I'm going to leave it as it is. I wrote it two years ago shortly after giving birth to our 9th baby. Today I am four days shy of being 40 weeks pregnant with our tenth baby. my thoughts are still the same regarding a doula and I believe they are a true asset to helping mamas get through labor, delivery, and postpartum recovery. 

Three weeks ago we welcomed our ninth baby into this world and our family. Lydia Rose was born on December 30th after a ridiculously easy labor and natural delivery weighing in at 9 pounds 1 ounce. While labor and delivery was a piece of cake my immediate postpartum recovery was quite the challenge. Praise the Lord it was nothing life threatening, but difficult nonetheless. After everything settled down, I became acutely aware that much of my postpartum issues could have easily been minimized and maybe even avoided if I had only included a doula in my childbirth plan.

What exactly is a doula? Well, a doula is a trained and qualified labor, delivery, and postpartum advocate for the MOTHER. I'm not yelling at you, but simply stressing that a doula's primary focus is to assist the mother in whatever needs she may have while in labor, birthing, or during the postpartum phase. The actually services provided by a doula can range from helping the pregnant mama the last few weeks of pregnancy, to helping with pain management techniques during labor, as well as assisting with breastfeeding. Every doula has their own set of services they provide. I highly recommend you interview multiple doulas to find one that will best fit your needs during the final days of pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum.

Prior to my pregnancy with our eighth child, I had only vaguely heard of doulas, as they were not exactly prevalent in our rural Alabama town. But, with the arrival of an avid natural childbirth OBGYN to our community, the interest and need for doulas quickly increased. As natural childbirth classes and resources became more readily available so did the demand for trained doulas. When I became pregnant with our eighth baby, I was educated on the advantages of having a doula be apart of my childbirth plan. After witnessing the blessing many of my friends had experienced while birthing with a doula; we decided to hire one too. It truly was wonderful to have someone directly working to meet my needs so that I could simply focus on delivering and cuddling my precious new baby.

For many different reasons, we opted not to have a doula for our ninth pregnancy. Looking back, I now realize I hadn't truly grasped the significance of having a doula present for my labor and delivery (until after my baby was born); even if I was well educated about their specific, yet unique services and had used one before. But, one reason I didn't pursue a doula was because I prefer to be left alone during labor. Most folks would equate a doulas greatest job to helping mothers with pain management techniques during labor. I just assumed, since I didn't need a doula during my labor, that it was unnecessary for one to be present throughout the remainder of my childbirth experience as well: unfortunately, I was gravely wrong!!

After I deliver my babies, I kind of go into a 'mini shock'. I literally just can't function. I can't talk, much less communicate my needs. My attention AND everyone else's traditionally turns to the baby at this point. Yet, the mother, who just birthed a human being is kind of tossed to the side as she's roughly doctored up and a sheet is thrown over her. A beautiful and wonderful event can quickly turn into an unnecessary catastrophe. I can honestly say, out of all nine of my deliveries, the best and least traumatic was the one where I had a doula at my side; forseeing my needs before I even knew I had them. Husbands are great, don't get me wrong, but for the most part, even they are clueless as to what a mama needs during the throws of childbirth.

The great thing is there's no excuse these days why most pregnant mamas can't experience the blessing of a doula as most insurance companies, even medicaid, gives allowances for doula services. Labor, childbirth, and postpartum is hard enough without having to suffer through unmet needs. With a doula's services, I can assure you, every mama will receive the care she deserves. I'd encourage all pregnant mamas to research and educate themselves on the benefits of having a doula present during childbirth. Regardless of your childbirth method, a doula truly can help to make labor, delivery, and postpartum a peaceful event for every mama. And this my friends, is exactly why every pregnant mama should include a doula in their birth plan.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Christmas Pictures 2019

Christmas Pictures 2019.

If I could only have one thing for Christmas every year it would be pictures of my babies. Last year was a total bust due to the fact that I let another photographer take our Christmas pictures ~ NEVER again. I never saw those pictures and I can never get that moment back!

I started learning the art of photography 11 years ago because photographers in our area are overpriced and undependable. While I may not be a professional, and I still have much to learn, I'll take my pictures over no pictures any day of the week!

Lydia Rose, a few weeks shy of 2 years old. 

I try to narrow it down to just one picture per child, but Lordy be that can be hard when they all turn out so stinking cute!

Titus Alexander, 3 years old.

Since we've taken our Christmas pictures this year, Titus continues to ask quite often if it's 'picture day' again, lol.

Samuel Carter, 5 years old.

Matthew Tyler, 7 years old.

Joshua Cole, 10 years old.

Lucas Tanner, 12 years old.

It's hard finding appropriate poses for boys, especially as they get older. Thankfully my boys seldom give me fits and do whatever I ask in terms of posing and taking pictures. I think their mantra is "hurry up and get it over with, please."

Tabitha Paige, a few weeks shy of 14 years old.

Elijah Jackson, 16 years old.

Isaac Tristan, 19 years old.

So thankful for my 16 year old who was willing to take a few Christmas pictures of dear ol' mom and dad. He's getting pretty good and just may put me out of my yearly job pretty soon.

I didn't think this year's Christmas pictures were going to happen either. We had scheduled a trip to a local Christmas tree farm, but we had last minute scheduling conflicts. To be honest, I don't care where the pictures take place as long as they happen, I'm good to go. Sadly, I'm realizing the older we all get, the less likely they will happen to the extent, I'd prefer. But, I 'll take what I can get and be grateful, treasuring all the pictures I can take of my precious gifts from heaven.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

P.S. I can't wait for next year when we get to add little Abby Lou to the mix!