Old McDonald...

...had a farm... and he might just be the guy at the end of the road! :) Maybe I should back up a bit. We submitted an offer, they countered, we accepted. Wow... did I just type that? We are under contract for a farm! Well, I still call it a farm, it's so small it's really more of a "property" but in our hearts we'll soon have our farm! This vision is in its very beginning stages... but. This is step one. Get the land. Our closing date is scheduled for June 25. I need to get some pictures next time we're out there. If all goes to plan (which it rarely does, so this may change) we will officially own a farm by the end of June! How exciting! The *only* thing that might *possibly* change things is the Army Corp of Engineers, they have to come out and survey the wetlands to give us our boundry lines of where we can build & what we can't touch. If for some reason the wetland report would come back signifigantly more than what the current owners thought, we may have to look elsewhere. But, we know at least an acre of the property is wetlands... as long as its no more than 2 acres total we'll be fine & will love protecting our little piece of Charleston.

So about this farm... there's nothing but a lot of weeds, tree's and a big fat dream sitting out there right now... (the dream being my little imagination going wild with possibilities) In other words, its vacant land. The front 3/4 acre is cleared. The rest of the acreage is wooded or wetlands. The plan (which again, is very subjective) is to build a "cottage" for my Mother In Law to retire in. We should be able to complete the cottage within a year & our family will move into that while we work towards building our "big" house. After the main house is completed my Mother In Law (who will be retiring in 4 years) will move into the cottage. As to the farm side, we plan to move the first large greenhouse onto the land right away. The greenhouse is 96x30 feet (huge) which will give us a chance to put all 75,000 palm tree & Japanese Maple seedlings we currently have at our peanut of a house into pots so they can really begin their growth. At some point, hopefully by the end of the summer, we'll move a matching greenhouse next to the first which will be for our aquaculture farm. This greenhouse will be home to two large tanks of tilapia (about 2500 fish) which will then provide the appropriate nutrients on a hydroponics system to the rest of the garden plants in that greenhouse. This greenhouse will house all hydroponic plants which will enable us to have a completely chemical free organic garden which will hopefully be large enough in about a year to fully supply all our fruit & veggie needs along with regular donations to our church food pantry. (That's the goal anyways, we'll see how fast they reproduce) I can't wait. My veggie list keeps on growing, I can't wait to start the canning process & get some of the fruit tree's going as well! We'll probably have a miniature orchard somewhere close to the greenhouses for fruit/nut tree's as they'll grow too large for the greenhouse. We found some pear tree's that have 3 different kind of pears on one tree! And an avacado tree that produces avacado's the size of small footballs! WOW. Then we want orange, banana, plum, cherry, apple & a few pecan tree's as well. If we get all miniature tree's they'll only take up a small footprint while producing full size fruits. I'm super excited about that.

But I'm getting ahead of myself... the first step is closing. Once we've made it past the closing table we'll need to get the footers poured for the cottage, and that isn't a cheap venture. Oh, and did I mention we're going to try our darndest not to take out a construction loan? That's why this might take awhile... if we pay as we go it'll save us thousands upon thousands of interest money however the process will completely depend on how the tree business is faring. So as long as the tree business continues to thrive, we'll slowly put our vision into reality.

Sorry this was so long, but I needed to write these things down. I'm so excited & thankful... God is amazing. His timing is perfect and we are continually blessed. The process is slow, and its hard to be patient... but I continue to pray on a daily basis that we are in the center of God's will for our lives. That is above all most important. This farm is our mission, a vision... and a huge step away from the "norm" But instead of wishing the waiting period would fly by we've decided to embrace this moment. We're excited about the future, but also excited about this moment. Today.

As for this moment, we've had some fun times lately. I have two new girlfriends, Sue & Jane that I am convinced are angels in disguise. They are both the most incredible mama's and are raising their children in the image of Christ. Such a breath of fresh air. I adore these girls. Today we spent the day together at a playdate. Jane made a wonderful quiche that we all enjoyed and then made loaves of bread to send home with Sue & I. WOW! The kids had a great time as they always do together. I just love this crew. Their kids are precious, a perfect compliment to these beautiful women.

Also, Madeline got her first big girl hair cut this afternoon! Nothing too drastic, but we cut almost 4 inches off the back. *sniff* She was starting to look a little like an orphan child with her mop top hair always in her eyes. Now she has a cute little bob that looks adorable on her. So fun and exciting. :)

Elizabeth is beyond ready for Kindergarten. If ever I was worried, she has spent the week convincing me that she is eager to learn. I loaded up on some kindergarten/first grade work books this week & she has spent hours every day working on them. She is now confident in small word reading & is slowly getting the "sh" "ch" and "th" sounds down. She is also getting better at counting (something she was very behind on). I am confident that by the end of the summer I will have a full blown reader on my hands. She is such a stinker, but such a joy to be around. As she approaches 5 years old I find myself looking forward to times when I can take her with me on a mommy daughter date, just the two of us. She is maturing at an alarming speed, but still has some toddler left in her for mommy to enjoy & cuddle.

Speaking of toddler, Madeline is speaking in full sentances now. True, they are never proper sentances, but gone are the days of pointing and shouting 1 word. She'll now say "More outside time please!" or "Maddy need wipe for messy hands mama" which actually comes out sounding like "Maddy need wipe fo meshy heens mama" She talks from the time she wakes up, to the time she passes out for her nap or at night. And she runs. Everywhere. All the time. The child has one speed and it's full force ahead. My poor girl has more bruises on her head and knees from running into tables, walls & anything else that stands in the path of my little hurricane baby. But though I am one tired mama at the end (and sometimes beginning) of every day. My children are such a joy in my life. No matter how cloudy my outlook at times, a simple slobbery kiss from my toddler or a whispered I love you from my 4 year old can turn my entire day around. :)

So now that this post is approaching a novel length, I'll sign off. I'll be sure to update as we find out more on the farm! Pictures to come soon. :)