The Glenn Murphy Ranch: spring break

I'm laying in bed with wet hair from a late night shower and John is sound asleep next to me.  I couldn't have been in there for more than 10 minutes but it was enough time for him to fall right to sleep.  He had an early morning on the ranch today working cattle with Pops.  When he came home about lunch time he had cow blood on his hands and jeans, a few true marks of true hard ranch work. 

Every time we go outside I am met with the smell of orange blossoms blowing through the breeze. I'm so in love with it here, I could just sit and stare at the grove for hours.  The kids and Grammy and I had a little snack picnic under the shade of a Hamlin orange tree a couple of days ago.  We were accompanied by some gnats and Avett wanted to climb as high as he could in that tree. 

Today around lunch time the children were getting restless so I asked john to ride them around on the gator while I warmed up lunch. Grammy is the best at making bulk so we've always got plenty of leftovers on hand at a moments notice.  I was so grateful for the uninterrupted moment to fix lunch while I heard the hum of the gator in the distance and the sound of little voices becoming clearer as they zoomed closer back to the house.

Today Grammy and the kids and I took a spontaneous tour of the old Jacaranda Hotel, built in 1926.  Grammy asked if we could see a room and the receptionist gave us two keys to go and explore as we pleased. It was such a charming hotel.  When we came back down I asked the man in the lobby playing the piano if I could sing with him.  I asked for "How Great Thou Art" and he obliged.  Avett started to cry for me so I finished it with him on my hip.  The acoustics were so beautiful I could have sung there all day and well in to the night. I imagined singing old jazz tunes and gospel favorites with a classical twist.  

Afterwards we went over to Verona lake and had a disastrous meltdown with both children ending up in the lake up to their chests and me running in after them up to my thighs.  Our exit was dramatic, sandy, and wet.  Sometimes you win and sometimes you loose.

We end every night here gathered around the dining room table playing cards.  Different versions of Pitch and To Hell and Back.  I'll never forget the first time John tried to teach me Pitch.  It was the most intimidating and complicated sounding game I'd ever heard of and I never thought I'd catch on.  But then just last night I whooped Pops and John fair and square.  It was a proud moment for me mastering the family favorite, a true badge of honor in deed. 

I love Pops' theatrics as we play and how almost every decision as to what card to throw down is as if he is weighing some of the biggest decisions in life. He says something to the effect of, "Well that is just enough to get a man in trouble."  As he repeated rubs his forehead.  

Tonight as he got out a box of whoppers and offered them to all of us he generously said, "Anybody want some of this manna from heaven?"  I keep a running list of all of the best things he says, I just love him.

This ranch is starting to carve deep memories for our children.  Feeding horses hay, walking around the ranch, picking oranges, riding on four wheelers, visits to grannies, pulling Spanish moss from the trees, Lilly the Lizard on the screened in porch, dancing in the light of the headlights to Papa's music while the adults finish up a night time game of corn hole in the back yard, night time family prayers all kneeling in the living room, Avett's first movie at the theater in Sebring in the recliners, picnics under orange trees and after church, petting Gus and watching him run all over the place and so much more. Evaleigh had her first experience with fireweed a few days ago.  She fell back on the ground after Gus knocked her down and her palm landed right on it.  It started to sting and she cried as John whisked her over to the barn to rinse it off with some alcohol.  An experience not too soon forgotten.

I love that this place is a part of my children's heritage.  It makes me feel like we are a part of something special.  And we are. Something so rooted and deep and rich with a long line of their ancestors working and making something incredible of this beautiful land.  

I am so happy to come here over and over for years to come.

little home

Our Athens adventure has been off to a great start.  I have loved settling in our new little home.  There is something so fulfilling to me about making our space our own and creating something beautiful for us to live in. 

They day we moved in John, Michael, and two of my seminary boys unloaded all of our things in to our apartment faster than I thought was possible.  Ever since seeing the place a few days before that I had created and decorated each room in my mind already. I knew where the beds and furniture would go and what pictures I wanted where.

The men all left and I had 6 hours to my self before John and the children came for the night.  I remember unpacking boxes with full steam ahead speed.  I was a machine! By the time they got here there were only two boxes left and almost everything had found its place. The only reason all of the pictures weren't hung is because I couldn't find a hammer. Ha! I'm notorious for banging holes in all of the walls, I have a bad reputation for it according to my mother and sister. 

I love making our home a beautiful place where we feel the spirit.  I love organizing it and knowing where every item is.  

We are so happy here and it is just the right amount of space.  In fact it is so fantastic going from an enormous house that I could clean and tidy for an hour after bedtime at night to something I can clean in 10 minutes flat! I don't even have to unplug my vacuum to get to the whole house. It is bliss here.

So here are some pictures of the place we call home now.

Happy home! 

break

This week I was able to go take a break from all of life.  I had reached a point of frustration in motherhood and life and I desperately craved and needed some time to pray and think and sort things out for my self. So, when Amy invited me to join her in Myrtle Beach for a couple of days I jumped on that opportunity!

I enjoyed the 5.5 hour drive listening to John Bytheway talks the whole way there and they whole way back.  Stopping on the way there to surprise a sick McLain household with slushies and a cherry limeade from Sonic.  Then on the way back costing my cousin Brit and her family. 

I had time to pray on the beach, take long walks, read the first 1/3 of Stephanie Neilson's book Heaven is Here, I journaled twice, we watched 3 movies, ate PF Changs in bed with chopsticks and a whole little of San Pelligrino, I wrote music out on the porch, we played cards, and talked, i read my scriptures, and just sat and thought about my life.

Stephanie's book is gave me just the perspective I was craving and needing the past few weeks.  Sometimes being a mother is just plain hard and exhausting in every way possible.  But it is also wonderful and full of joy and eternally important. I'm so grateful for a couple of days to myself to remember how sacred my role as a mother is and to prioritize all of the things I want to do and be in this life. "Shortly, Nicholas would smear food everywhere, and the table would erupt in noisy conversation, but those few seconds before the prayer fueled me. I had learned that doses of quiet joy like that can be brief, but their effects are long-lasting and often carried me through the busy and challenging times of running our household." -Stephanie Neilson #heavenishere

The answer I feel like I got from God regarding my motherhood is that it is ok if it is hard.  It isn't supposed to be perfect and that I am to make the best and most of everything. 

I came back renewed reenergized and ready to tackle the task of being a great mother!!

tale as old as time

Two weekends ago Evaleigh and I got to go to the Fox Theater with my Dad and Grand-Jenny to see Beauty and the Beast.  She was transfixed the whole time.  She dressed up in her Belle princess dress and felt so special.  We ate at Mary Mac's Tea Room.

I am so grateful for our children's grandparents and the time they take to make special memories with our children.  My father always made special memories for my sister and I growing up.  He took time to teach us about the arts and creativity through giving us opportunities to see performances and I've never forgotten it.  The magic of those nights lingered for a long time and it is where my love for music and performing began to grow.  I know Evaleigh will remember this for a long time. 

When it was over we asked her what her favorite oart was and she said, "Everything!"

It was so fun to see her feel special. 

two little monkeys

Two little monkeys caught jumping on the bed.  

Our move to Athens has turned out to be the best possible thing for Evaleigh and Avett.  It has been heart warming to watch them grow in to not only better siblings but friends.  They stay up past their bed time giggling in to the night and chatting about who knows what that sounds like the most exciting conversation. John or I have to pop back in with reminders to "go to bed!" Sometimes gentle and sometimes not so much.  We love to look at each other with a grin as we hear them over the monitor concocting plans or laughter making the lights spike to their highest frequency. We smile at one another with an indentical silent thought that this is just about the best thing in the world.  The first few weeks we let it go on in to the night some times as late as 11pm.  Once we let them experience the joy of room sharing it was time to get down to business.  Now most of the time they are asleep within 20 minutes or so.

They are sharing and growing together.  If Avett gets upset Evaleigh will offer to give service and will slowly run his cheeks as he sits in my lap until he calms down.  Then they start to laugh all over again. 

Avett loves her so much and if Evaleigh is ever in another room he asks me, "where's sissy?".  She is one of his absolute favorites. 

We love Athens and are settling in so well.  We've made some friends, found some great food, and we love our little apartment.  We are so happy here.