Wisdom, Whimsey, and a Whistle.
Helping Moms Live JOY! No matter the challenges you face, or will face, as a mom, you have been divinely equipped to face them and grow through them. God is the Potter and you are the clay. He is molding and fashioning you and, through you, your children. That truth holds great beauty and divine security.

About Tracey

On a good day you’ll find me outdoors hiking and squeezing in some writing. I love my man and my children, [read more]

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Horse Prayers

Sep
20

Hey Friends – I am quite preoccupied right now as I am caring for one of our horses…Dot.

She has an abscess in her hoof and she is in lots of pain and hobbling around and it is awful and I am at my wits end trying to relieve her and help! I have logged many hours caring for ill children and pets, but a 1,000+ pound mammal that lives in a barn out back presents a whole new set of challenges.

Even in her pain she is still a sweet horse, working with me instead of against me in all that I am attempting to do. The vet has been here and gave me my instructions and hopefully in a couple of days we will see some relief – or they may have to take more invasive measures. We don’t want that.

{heavy sigh}

I miss my daughter now that she’s away at college, but I really miss her right now as she is an amazing horsewoman and I know she could handle this much better than I.

I know it’s “just a horse” but if you would lift up a prayer that her hoof would quickly heal I would be so very appreciative!

Blessings to each of you!

 

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Sneak Out Of Your House Dare

Sep
8

 

Psst…I have a dare for you.

Find a quiet MOMent, make sure everyone else in your home is doing something that will keep them busy.

Sneak out of the back door of your home.

Sit on the back step, or porch, or right on down in the grass.

Look around you.

Listen carefully.

What do you see?

What do you hear?

Me?

I see – trees, leaves and branches rustling in the wind, grass, strewn branches, bright sunlight, my rose bushes and bird feeder, a bird fly by, wispy shadows, a cobweb, a flying insect, my two horses lazily grazing, a bird fluttering from one branch to the next, a squirrel dancing towards a tree, my backyard oasis that fills me with joy.

I hear – wind rustling the trees, birds softly chirping, a neighbor using machinery, leaves scrapping against the driveway as they blow away, a car drive by out front, the wind is kissing my skin, something drops on the roof, more wind sweeping a branch against the house, gentle breezes, the sounds of life and breath and God’s whispers.

Taking just such a quiet MOMent…or two…can fully refresh and revive any moms day.

Praise Him for the simple, sweet pleasures found in your own back yard.

Big Hug!

Now…go love your family well!

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Tilapia Made Easy (and yummy!)

Sep
6

There are some amazing women out there on the Internet who put a whole lot into their meal preparations for their families … and then there is me.

I’ve been a mom for eighteen years and I have cooked a whole lot of meals and I have made an art form of cooking good meals the simple way!  The fewer ingredients the better.  I invent recipe’s all the time because I basically take the foods and flavors my family enjoys and I experiment!

So, in the interest of lessening your time cooking I am going to share with you the way I make tilapia.  Short, sweet and healthy – but very yummy.

Take tilapia filet’s and lay them on a cookie sheet squirt your favorite salad dressing on top, I use lite Honey Mustard. Break up whole wheat bread crumbs and sprinkle them on top of each piece.  Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 25 minutes.

That’s it!

So simple, so tasty and healthy!

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Fruit Fly Catcher

Sep
1

 

I am being driven slowly into madness.

By fruit flies.

They are evil.

Tiny red eyes evil.

Taking over my home evil.

Making me crazy evil.

(Yes, there are worse things…but they really are causing me much angst.)

Then a dim memory flashed. My parents gave me something they called a fruit fly catcher that they purchased from a Kentucky State Park. After a flurry of activity I found said fruit fly catcher, found out from The Bug Man (my hero) that I needed to fill the well with vinegar. (I’m told you can do the same with a cup, vinegar, saran wrap and a rubber band. Put a bit of apple cider vinegar in bottom of cup, cover and band with saran wrap, poke small hole in the saran wrap.)

Voila…trapped evil fruit flies.

Mwaaa haaa haaa haaa!

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Paint Your Shoes

Aug
31

Women and shoes – oh yeah, it may seem cliche, but dag-gone it, we love us some shoes!

As my daughter was packing up for college {sniff, sniff} she was making some decisions of epic proportion of what she would and would not take with her. And there were far too many “would’s” than “would not’s” being gathered.

I was trying to offer advice without being a nagging mom, but she couldn’t seem to grasp that her dorm room only had so much space – unless she wanted to overtake her roommates space and that wouldn’t go over well!

I pointed out to her that if we were packing it all in one suitcase we were both sitting on the suitcase trying really hard to get it zipped. That was the word picture she needed to get that she needed to narrow down her options.

Wow…I just realized I am rambling because all I really wanted to do was tell you about her one of kind shoes. Humm, I think I just got tripped up on memory lane…I suppose because I miss her. 

It happens, when it does I just soak up the memory a MOMent and then move on. This is a reflection of my current circumstance, so it is what it is. {you too will experience this someday – it’s normal I think}

So…back to the one of a kind shoes. She hesitated for an instant on whether or not to take the shoes, I was counting on her leaving them…so I could wear them. But – she took them.

But hey – wouldn’t YOU want to wear these shoes she created?

 

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Plant A Pineapple – Really!

Aug
30

When we lived in South Florida we bought a little home in charming neighborhood from this sweet elderly couple who had lived there nearly two decades and it was adorable.

This couple had quite the green thumb and we inherited some amazing plants that provided us with sustenance many months of the year. We had orange trees, lemon trees, grapefruit trees and key lime trees that were full to overflowing with fruit.

I used to write up our favorite key lime pie recipe on cards and mail boxes of fresh key limes to friends and family back home in Kentucky. Bringing others that kind of fresh fruit happiness was really fun.

In addition to all the citrus we also had two pineapple plants and I was amazed when they began to produce their fruit…if you have never seen the beginnings of a pineapple growing out of a pineapple plant you are missing a tender joy! Imagine your typical pineapple, then imagine it went through a shrink machine…itty bitty tiny winy adorable baby pineapples!

Well – I got so excited today when I bumped into Tickled Red … because now you and I can experience this tender joy right in our own homes!

Yippy zippy!

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Family Room Explosion

Jul
27

What happens to my family room when teen son is told to clean out his room and closets…or else!

And…the hallway outside his room has become an obstacle course for bare feet!

{heavy sigh}

Progress is slow…this IS DAY 2 !!!

 

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Major House Dump

Jul
25

Well – our house looks like it has been ransacked! And it has, by us.

It appears that in the last several months (and years) more and more junk has managed to accumulate in our home. As a result we cannot get to what we really need or what’s important because there is too much junk in the way.

With our oldest about to go off to college she is in the process of de-cluttering and giving away much in her room.  Our son has definitely outgrown much of the clothing in his room and many of the toys in his cubbie holes and holding areas need to go.

My closet has clothing hanging in it that probably literally has dust on it – as I have a tendency to wear my favorites over and over and the others hang waiting to see the light of day.

One of the things we “got” as a family when we were in Rwanda is that we have far too much and that too much keeps us weighted down and ultimately can become a joy stealer and drag us down. Rwandans have so little and are filled with joy at the simple unclutteredness of life!  There little keeps them more dependent on God and the lack of clutter provides clarity.

As I stand here looking around at the disarray and clutter all around me I had an “ah-hah MOMent” of epic proportions.

All this junk and stuff is representative of my inner life.  The accumulation of unnecessaries, holding on to the unneeded , the clutter in my inner closet gathering dust – all this keeping me from freedom.

Yet another tangible reminder of my need to daily read God’s word and get rid of the old lies that store themselves away in my head.  I have a real need to cling to His “like new to my heart” truths of how much He loves me and how my thought life, when uncluttered and cleaned up can truly free me up to more authentically bring glory to Him.

Are you in need of a major house…and thought life dump?

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Mudventure!

Jun
22

Over on MomLife Today we have a sublime listing of summer fun ideas for you to ramp up the woo hoo at your place over the summer! We are hoping our mom community will try some of the ideas out and better yet, share their fun ideas with the rest of us!

We jest not on the ideas we suggest for fun-filled summer days!  Case in point…a water fight…which led to a mud bath at the little Eyster Ranch!

If you are curious about just how that turned out I invite you to visit me over at MomLife Today where I share our mudventure…photos included!

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You Definitely Are A Mom If…

Jun
11


Your front door looks like this!!!

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