I've got some new readers, so I thought I might take the opportunity to introduce myself a little more formally and give a little background on life as we know it.

My name is Hannah and this is my blog...Farmhouse654.

I've been married to Mr. Farmhouse for almost 14 years.  We started out life in an adorable two-bedroom home in town and stayed there for over two years, before moving to a ranch-style home on four acres outside of town.  We did lots of updates to that home and property and absolutely loved every minute there.  We were completely content, except for the fact that our three girls shared two bedrooms and it was getting just a little bit tight as they continued to grow.

We had so many great memories in that house. 

We brought all three of our daughters home there. 
We raised bottle-calves, pigs, and chickens there. 
We spent 10 Christmas mornings there.

We made updates to the house, added a few outbuildings, and even survived a tornado that picked up one of our barns and threw it to the other side of the property.

Our second home was such a special part of our journey.

However, in May of 2017, an opportunity presented itself for us to sell that home and buy a farmhouse on ten acres.

So in July of last year (after some bumps in the road), we made the farmhouse our home.

And that was the start of Farmhouse654.

Now...a little background on the wife & mom of the family who lives here.

Mr. Farmhouse and I grew up right here in this town. 

We are hometown kids and I can't imagine raising our girls anywhere else.

Our girls are eleven, (almost) nine, and three.

They are so alike and so different in so many ways.

We love Jesus and love our church.

We believe that God's calling for us is to love Him and to love people.

We try hard to do this, but fail miserably a lot of the time.  We're thankful for grace!

I've been a teacher for the last twelve years and will be leaving the classroom in May to move into the position of the Director of Special Services in the district where I currently teach.  I run a photography business on the side and work for my parents, who own group homes for adults with disabilities.

We are busy and blessed.

The girls are involved in our church, play sports, take dance classes, and enjoy piano & guitar lessons once a week.  

We love to be outdoors and spend time often just sitting around in lawn chairs in the back yard watching the girls play basketball or shoot skeet.

When I have some free time, I like to document our journey through this blog.

So there you have it.

Some of where we've been and where we are now.

Someday I'll tell you all about where we're headed...our goals and dreams for the farmhouse.

But for today, I'll just go rock our sweet Mattie-girl while we watch another Barbie movie.

Make it a great Monday, friends.

​❤️🏡❤️

Ah, parenting.

Isn't it grand?

You wait nine months for this little bundle of joy to be put into your arms and then you question every single decision you make for the next 18 years.

There are so many joy-filled moments that come along with raising kids.

And let's be real...some moments that are, eh...not so wonderful.

Diaper blowouts.

Toddler fit-throwing in public.

Eye-rolls from the pre-teen.

Sibling arguments one minute and them teaming up against you in the next.

And perhaps the most difficult of parenting challenges...struggles with friends.

I was a young girl once.

I knew that our girls' friendships wouldn't always be beautiful and wonderful and easy. 

After all, we are all human.

However, I have been struggling with something that I believe most parents struggle with...

The tendency to make an excuse.

A few years ago, one of our daughters was having a hard time with a girl who she considered to be a good friend.

This classmate had kind of distanced herself from our daughter and hasn't been the kindest at times.

When I mentioned their friendship, I could tell that there was some tension there...a bit of a strained relationship.

I heard of things the friend had said,
faces she had made,
and other behaviors that would be frustrating for a friend.

However, when I would ask our daughter about her own contribution to the situation,
she admitted that she sometimes snapped back at the friend,
avoided her at times,
and probably was not acting in the way that I would expect her to act...
regardless of how she has been treated.

And my tendency, as a human and as a mother, is to make an excuse for her actions.

But it's not okay.

It's not okay for a child to treat her friend unkindly.

It's not okay for a student to talk back to a teacher.

It's not okay for a player to roll her eyes at the referee...no matter how ridiculous she thinks the call was.

When we, as parents, make excuses for our children's poor behavior, we are reinforcing the choices they are making.

We are justifying the disrespect, the lack of kindness, and the inappropriate behaviors.

I fear that we are raising a generation of entitled youth who don't even understand the concept of respect.

Whether it's respecting their elders,
respecting authority,
respecting their peers,
or respecting property.

I'm afraid the concept of respect (even when it's undeserved) has gone out the window some days.

And I'm afraid that every time I make an excuse for my child's lack of respect or justify her actions, I'm contributing to the problem.

Friends, we have to stop the cycle.

I'm not talking about respecting adults who are abusive or pretending like there's no issue with peers who are exhibiting bullying behaviors.

But in the majority of our day-to-day interactions with other human beings, we should be showing kindness...
showing mercy...
​showing humility.

And we should be teaching our children this attitude, as well.

This week, let's really help our kiddos be accountable for their behavior.

Let's try to not make an excuse when they don't make the right choice.

Let's support that teacher...that coach...that referee.

It's up to us. The parents.

It's not up to the iPad.

Not up to the TV.

Not up to their older siblings.

Not up to their teachers (although we teachers try to set the same expectations in our classrooms).

Let's set an expectation for how they treat people.

Let's work hard to raise a generation that we are proud of.

It's up to us...and it's a challenging and rewarding responsibility.

Happy Tuesday from the Farmhouse, friends.

May the force be with you.

❤️🏡❤️

December 31, 2017 marked the ending of an era in our little town.

My grandma played her final song as the church organist.

She has played the organ at Adrian Christian Church for my whole life.

In fact, the first wedding she played for was for her cousin Ed & his wife, Darlene.  They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this year.

My parents reminded me that when my brother and I were preschool age, we would sometimes go sit at the funeral home on the couch in the piano room while Grandma played for a service.

We must have been pretty good kids, because I cannot imagine having my sweet three-year-old Mattie-girl sitting in the piano room during a funeral!  

I can remember Grandma practicing her hymns on the piano in their dining room and the organ that set in their bedroom.

I can remember sitting on the front row on the organ side while Grandma played for the church service every single Sunday for years and years.

Actually...that's still where we sit.  

And from now on...she will sit there too.

Surrounded by her children,
by her grandchildren,
and her great-grandchildren.  

Surrounded by some of her dearest friends from Sunday school class for the last five decades, or more.

Surrounded by church family...young and not-so-young, new friends and old friends, meeting every week to worship the One who is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

If you have any memories to share of Grandma's organ playing years, we would love to compile them for her. 

If she played for your wedding, for a funeral of a dear loved one, for your Sunday school class, to accompany you for some sort of special music...please share these stories so we can share them with her.

​❤️⛪️??❤️