Knolltop Farm Wife

Today is a first for Luke and Sarah and I won't be there to see it.  Their first step, the first time they rolled over, the first time they drank from a sippy cup, I was there for all of those firsts in their life. But today, I'm really, really, really bummed because I won't be there the first time they try out downhill skiing. The entire high school is going skiing today. One hundred and one teenagers will load up this morning and head to the hill and for most of them, this will be their first time. It seems so odd to me that my kids have never been skiing.  Back in the day, skiing was very popular. There were a few kids who frequented the slopes and you could tell how many times they had gone by the number of lift tickets on still attached to the zipper of their jacket. But for some reason, it has never occurred to me to take my kids skiing...probably because I was such a failure at it....but we won't go down that mountain today. Luke and Sarah asked what they ...

I've been wanting to write this for two weeks but haven't had the time to put it down in words. I really don't have the time now, but the house is quiet and I want to write! JW left early that morning for his MMA fight in Taylor. JW, Luke and I prayed together for God's protection before he walked out the door and I continued to pray all day long. While I don't pretend to know God's path for JW and his desire to pursue MMA fighting, I did see Him at work on that Saturday in January. I was enjoying a cup of coffee that afternoon before leaving for the fight when a text came in...it was JW.  He asked if someone could read the story of David and Goliath from the Bible to him.  Overjoyed at the fact that my son wanted to hear scripture....I said, SURE!  With Bible in hand, I loaded up three teenagers and we headed to the fight. About half way there, JW called and said, "Ok, can someone read it to me now?" Because I was driving and I didn't feel t...

Fourteen months ago, JW's girlfriend, Leah Ward was taken from this earth in an unfortunate car accident. Although we miss Leah greatly and her death was so tragic at the time, we know that she is spending her boundless time in a mansion built just for her in heaven. Wanting to make things just a little easier for Leah's mom, JW decided he would make a quilt out of Leah's t-shirts. This was a big undertaking, especially for a 19 year old who had barely cut a piece of fabric, much less any other kind of sewing. JW enlisted the help of his brave grandma, who also had never really made a whole quilt from start to finish and his great Aunt Sande who was proficient in quilt making. They put the top together and then it was time for JW to quilt it. JW brought it home and I couldn't wait to see it. He unfolded it and as he spread it out on the floor, my reaction suprised me; I began to cry. You see, I saw Leah in those shirts. It was as if she had somehow come to lif...

The baby of the family has a lot of advantages but on the farm, if the baby is a boy this can work to his disadvantage, especially if he likes to run equipment but has older brothers who never vacate the tractor seat long enough for the youngest to get a chance to do anything. Luke and JW have their strengths when it comes to the farm scene.  JW is good with the cows and seems to enjoy working with them while Luke is the tractor man. He would rather load, unload, drive or wrench on anything that moves on wheels. Jake on the other hand would love to drive stuff, but gets the leftovers of the farm.  He does everything from mowing the lawn to folding the laundry.  His duties range from feeding calves and helping mix feed to making hot chocolate and keeping us from ever hearing silence. But yesterday he got a chance to be pure farmboy. While normally on a Sunday everyone does what they want....anything but work, the neighbor had a different plan in mind which included ...

While I reminisced about football yesterday, the North Adams JV volleyball team was on the brink of an undefeated season and when the left Hillsdale Academy they left undefeated!  This is a great accomplishment but unfortunately because they are "Just JV" they will stand in the shadows of a really great varsity team--which also left the floor last evening as league champions. This awesome JV team also worked hard and came home tournament champions two weeks in a row. Beating some great teams, these girls pushed through and played like winners. This varsity team, much like their male counterparts are used to winning and have proven that this season. Next week they will begin district play and should go deep into the play-offs!  I look forward to watching this team of girls play with heart and come out on top!

If was finished last Friday night. They didn't want it to be done, in fact, they thought there may have been a chance they could keep going but mistakes, overconfidence, anger and apathy were the leading cast of characters that determined their destiny that ended their hopes of ever going any futher.  Instead they will turn their uniforms in today for the last time. It was parent's night last week at North Adams-Jerome on the gridiron. The boys lined up in numerical order and waited as their parents were introduced taking their place in a line across the field. With roses in hand, some mothers were crying while proud fathers held in their emotion as the senior boys walked up the 50 yard line flanked by the two people who supported them, loved them and watched them succeed and fail over the years. I took my pink rose, hugged Lukie and we held hands as we stood and cheered for the other boys. While I wasn't nearly as emotional about this evening as other ...

It's a cool, blustery, kind of rainy day on the Knolltop.  The chores are done for the morning and now Bobby is hauling manure....an endless job it seems. It's a strange Friday, we have no games tonight which is kind of nice. After chores we can just come in and relax instead of changing quick and heading to a school like we've done for the last three nights.  While Bobby was at Sarah's game and Jake was working the chain gang and JW was at class, Luke and I milked the cows and reconnected. Although I don't always enjoy getting up early every morning or stopping everything I'm doing at 4:30 in the afternoon to go milk cows, when I get to spend an hour with one of my kids and we can carry on an unterrupted conversation about the Tigers, college plans, the ACT, the football season or whether Walmart spagettios are as good as Franco-American, then it makes it all worth it. Many life decisions are made inbetween dipping, wiping and milking.