One Year

(Following is a newsletter I wrote and planned on mailing out... but never got around to. :P)

Reflecting on the past year, our family has been blessed in many, many ways. It was one year and 3 days ago that we moved to Tennessee from West Virginia.

(photo credit goes to Rachel Clarke)

God has been good to us regarding Daddy’s work this year. His contract that allowed us to move here expired in June, but he has been able to acquire other sufficient contracts and as I write he is working hard to complete his current project. Besides work, he has studied many topics in hopes that we can use our land for something - blueberry farming in particular. A Craig’s-list fanatic, he has enjoyed adding to our farming equipment items such as a chainsaw, tractor, greenhouse, dog, lawn mower, and trampoline.



Mother has adjusted well to the inconvenient shopping locations. With an hour drive to Costco, it usually takes her about 8 hours to stock up on food for us. After the first few months of going “once a month” shopping every week, she’s learned very well the dynamics of it all. She’s always studying something new and 2010 held learning about everything from economics and end-of-the-world-scenarios to grain mills to dozens of new diets to the difference between a pullet and a straight run (chicken terms).

 Olivia (18), our  prissy (former) animal-hater and all around disliker of the country, absolutely loves living out here. It’s been a stretching year for her, to say the least. Not only has she milked a cow and gutted dozens of chickens, but she’s washed dishes by boiling water in the fire and embraced the fact that having to work hard is a daily occurrence around here. She wrote an eBook on sewing modest swimsuits (freshmodesty.com) in the spring. Getting her full driver’s license, buying a Nikon D3100, and turning 18 were other highlights of her year.

 It’s not uncommon to look out the front window and see Emma (14) bolting down the driveway in her bare feet, long skirt, and apron. She dreams of owning a cow and is diligently saving for one. She’s gutted chickens, learned to dig, kept the grass mowed (not an easy task!), and learned to get dinner on the table in a timely manner. J She tells beautiful stories to Seth and Elsia and takes them on wild imagination adventures. She’s the main caretaker of Tinkerbell and Peter Pan, our dog and cat respectively, and helps out with the chickens.

 Willa (12) has shot up this year and is as tall as the rest of the Howard ladies. She’s responsible for our 14 layer chickens. She helped with the grass mowing during the summer. For months she has been waking up at 5 or 6 am to write stories and poems before the rest of the family gets up. Her writing is absolutely amazing and whenever she shares what she’s written with us, we’re in awe of it. This skill has no doubt been improved by the many, many books she has read this year in a wide range of styles- everything from Nancy Drew to C.S.Lewis’s Space Trilogy.

 Seth (5) is growing so fast! The other day he asked Olivia to go outside with him. She asked if he had had lunch yet. He said, “Olivia! I’m not hungry for food; I’m hungry for fresh air!” He’s building a fort by pulling branches out of the forest during his outside time these days. He loves Tinkerbell, is a master at Wii swordfighting, and quotes The Princess Bride all the time. He takes good care of Josiah and is a great brother to Elsia. He likes to save his money and put it in his piggy bank. He always has a money-making scheme up his sleeve. J He began “school” this year and loves it. He’s excellent at math.

 Elsie-or Elsia (3), (both pronounced Elsie) is our little flitting fairy. She changes clothes 12 times a day and always has some sort of jewelry on. There’s usually a babydoll or three under her arm and maybe a flower in her curly hair. She is so sweet. She often makes a special effort to whisper in one of our ears, “I love you.” She LOVES gum. And “whipped cream,” which is really sour cream. She’ll eat it plain, like she does her ketchup. Her favorite thing to do is watch movies- and she usually falls asleep halfway through. Her favorites are the classics like Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. J She insists that her nails always need to be painted pink. To her, they are “my prwetty prwetty fingwer nails.”

Josiah, Jo-man, or Cutie is our little bundle of energy and joy. He is so cute and suffers over four dozen kisses a day, including the famous ‘sandwich kiss’. He toddles everywhere and gets into everything. Somehow he always knows when the dishwasher is open (just his height) and which is the sharpest knife to try to get. He’s pretty much been eating non-stop since his first taste of food last month.  It’s hard to resist when he says “please”, “more”, and “cracker” in sign language!  His helmet treatment has rounded his head out nicely and he should be finished with it January 7.


God's goodness to our family this past year has been astounding and overwhelming. We are so thankful for the ways He has grown us as individuals and as a family. To Him be all the glory and honor.


Hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas and wishing you a VERY happy New Year!