We Threw a Teen Meet Up Party

Happy Sunday, Sea Day. Today is the day. Families with teens. Last time I checked, 22 families signed up for this thing. Living the Rooted Life means we're at home a lot. We homestead. We homeschool. Home birth. Except for Henry. He was born in the car. Becky, you're giving birth. You are?

You're giving birth? Oh.

We've even home-churched before. The secret to a successful Rooted Life is to stay home. And we're not even a part of any homeschool co-op sort of thing. So we bring our social life here. And I know this is unprecedented. I've never heard of anybody doing this, but I want my kids to be exposed to potential spouses. And where are you gonna do that? I did not soak the chicken feed last night. And I'm doing whole grains. It's really important that I do that. I do that because it's easier for it to digest. It's gonna be harder for them to digest this really rough— or this, you know, it's hard, it's hard. The soaking softens it. So I invited you all, anybody within what, 2 hours, and got at least one teenager in your family. Hey, and at the very least, I'm just gonna meet many of you all and make new friends today and find that a healthier way than maybe how I grew up is I've encouraged my children to just be friends with others. For the boys, be friends with girls. Then one day eventually you realize, oh wait, I have a best friend in this girl. Let's get married. And don't delay, just be friends, get to know them in that friendship level, and then there's not this attachment that has to be severed. Just be friends. Let's say that's amazing because we haven't lived through it and shown that it works. Yes, we'll see. That's where I'm going with things. Makes sense up here. A lot's going on with Mr. Meats's funeral yesterday. My mentor— you don't stay up late, let alone 11 o'clock. Let's let this soak. We'll go milk the cows and then come back and feed the chicken. Had a funeral for my mentor last night. It's just awful. It's awful. Woke up with it on my mind. The kids don't express themselves around those things too. We're kind of grumpy last night, but it was late, so I'm letting them sleep in. If I measure the daily amount in this, this NutriBalancer, start getting it in this. So now I see that and say, okay, half an inch in the bottom. All right, then I can grab a scoop. There is some from yesterday. I can smell it. It smells nice and sweet from soaking. I'm gonna have to summon my Mr. Meeks this morning. And I have a headache, tired. The kids are probably gonna be a little grumpy. The party starts at 12. We've got more to do than we've got time. Like Steve. I need to delight in everybody around me. Start this day by serving the kids, letting them sleep in. They have their own struggles with it too, you know. They just don't express it like Rebecca and I might. Come out in behaviors, and it's not easy to recognize. Cows don't care if we stayed up late last night. I'm only 15 minutes late to them, so that's not bad. I hope the cats haven't gotten to them because we put them up in the 11 o'clock hour before we left yesterday. So we're gonna get a lot of milk. Not good. Just our well pumping and pumping. Part of the problem, it sits on this road. Well, if you don't see, we're disconnected. Okay, it sits on this road, we drive over it. Slowly pulls it down. Needs to get buried under that pathway. Don't laugh at my Leatherman, I need to send it back. Missing the other end, the other plier. All right, let's just let it go through. All right, problem number 1 solved today. Caps are separated. We're gonna get lots of milk today. 1, Why is that? I turned the fence off, but I hear that clicking. It's one of those levers you lifted up. You lift up, it might have fell back, might have fell back down. Turn it off here too. It's off now. Forgot the milking pills. Been doing this a dozen years, still forget the milking pails. Pressure's on when you come out here in the calf season. You start moving animals around, they start pressing the fence. Where were we? Animals and children, they don't care if you had a funeral. They don't care. There's no mercy. And in a way, that's a really good thing. I don't care if you break your arm, if you're sick, if you're grieving, if you're depressed, if you're exuberant. They don't care. You got to show up. And that's a good thing because I found one of nature's greatest healers is just to keep moving. Just keep moving. And when there is no hope, like the shipwreck survivors and the Skeleton of Sahara, you're stuck in the desert, doomed to die, and a group of you decides to lay down to die because there is no hope. Another group says, why lie down to die when you can walk? Walking and moving even when there's no hope left. Yeah, that walking, moving could very well create, find source to hope you didn't have but desperately needed. We're already getting a little Sore from milking one. Show your protest. Count number 2. Here comes a kid. Let's delight them. Big old smile. And I truly am. I think maybe, you know, I truly am delighted. I'll be happy to see them this morning. I truly am. There's nothing to take of that. It's just making sure I show it to them. We could have just let the calves have them last night, slept in, spent the night in Knoxville. We drove 2.5 hours to Knoxville to that thing. But no, it's— we still have to eat, don't we? But it's also good to have a daily hard, a daily commitment, a daily centerpiece. We center our life around this family milk cow, and that's been why it's not such a jump for us lately. We've been so much about time. Um, well, first of all, that that just gives you purpose and meaning and a commitment and something to be centered around. And we've been— oh, also, I think that's why it's easier to make this jump that I'm about to tell you about. We, uh, we milk— I've always milked at a certain time every day, no matter what. And I didn't take mind of the sun You know, so it might be dark at that time at one part of the year and light at another. So right now, as we're going into winter, about every month or so we push the time back. So we're milking at 6:45, not 7:15. We, you know, we change it by 15 minutes. It's not changed for them though. They got no stop— they got no clock on their hands. They don't have iPhones, so they don't know what time it is. They go by the sun, so we're following them. And it's been so good to just get up with them. Good morning! So happy to see you. What? Happy to see you, buddy. I bet you're happy to see me too, and that I've gotten almost done with your cow. I noticed during my fasting I was just more keen on anything health-related. I feel like I was just more in touch, probably more in touch with my body And that's when we— I just was totally open to the circadian rhythm thing when I've been pushing against it before. And now we're revolving our life more and more around the sun instead of time, which feels so much more— it feels better. It feels right. The sun is here to govern the day, and then that's when we're to be out and about, and then night is for rest. Little daily Sabbaths, if you will. Little micro Sabbaths. And I'm finding— we're finding blessing and honoring that. All right, I heard little Henry screaming. Kenny went and checked it out. He said he wants some hot chocolate. Chocolate! And only I can make it. All right, I need to feed these chickens, but need to make peace at the home. Zone zero. We got a 4-year-old loose who's hangry. Little 4-year-olds don't get the memo either, y'all. Hey, we had a late night. Sleep in, buddy. Henry, here I come. Just don't bother Mom. You're coming with me, okay? Why? I want to play with my friends. Because you're terrorizing— No, it's time to work. You play with Annie. Did you know Annie's coming to play games? Annie's coming to help us with the 12 and under games. So we'll separate teens and up. We got some good games for everybody to meet each other and play and have fun. And then we've got separate games for the 12 and under. Where are your shoes, bud? Can you go get your shoes? Gideon, you said you got his shoes.

Uh, I got mine.

No, go get— go get Henry's shoes. It's karma. He's the worst for— look, Gideon was the worst for losing his shoes. Got some black beans going. We got some beans going. They're soaked. Uh, beautiful one's making a chili for the party. As soon as that boils, I can turn it down and go. It's boiling. We turned it down. The house is a wreck, but we've got to feed the chickens. We've got to filter this milk. Henry, let's go. Am I going to carry you, the boots, the camera, the milk stuff? Kaden, can you grab the milk stuff? Sure. That milk is sitting there. Just getting warm. Better to get it cool fast, it preserves it longer, but I think we use it quick enough. Milk comes out of the mom at 100 degrees, gets spoiled pretty fast if you don't get it cooled quickly. Our chickens haven't had their breakfast. I haven't really had breakfast, but we got to make sure the animals are taken care of first. What are you working on? Fixing the mower blade. Just by the soccer field and up where we'll be around the barn. And let's pick up Winnie's hair if somebody doesn't get to it before you get up there. For what it's worth, gentlemen, I don't always enjoy this. I wish you would just sit in the Sally right now. Honestly, I wish you'd just play quietly inside and not bother people. Gentlemen, we do things not necessarily because we want to, because Papa? Yes.

Is that booty a thing that eats eggs?

No, she's not eating eggs. You got this under control, Gideon? He's moving them his way. That's good. He's at that level. The boys have figured out what they want to do. I haven't even told them. They're just doing things. Gotta do the right thing whether we want to or not. Gentlemen, that means taking the kids with you. Whenever possible.

We have to feed the pigs.

Forgot to delight in Jonah.

I hate the goats.

Almost forgot to delight in you.

The goose is—

Well, it's partly my fault this time. Didn't turn the fence— well, no, it isn't. I left, didn't I? Sheep are out. Fence weren't turned back on. Boys are looking to mow too. We had to call Mark. Can't get our mower blade off. I just need to embrace the crazy. Oh, that's Missed my turn. Missed my turn. Get in, Henry. I realize I'll miss these days, as annoyed as I am sometimes. I'll miss you riding on my back. They're gonna need hay anyway in their paddock. Where I turn this off, it's gonna be hard to tell the kids how to put it back on, so I'll just do it. Headache coming on. Probably dehydrated. We've only got 2 hours of showtime. I'm gonna have to be— I'm gonna have to work really smart. Still haven't eaten.

I do have a headache.

Oh, that's good. I would walk out too if I was sheep. Oh my gosh, I've got to clear this headache. We're about to host for 5 hours. Let's eat, let's drink, let's de-stress. You need some water? Are you thirsty? Yeah, me too. Party's over. It's like the— it's like they are busted at the party. They know it. I think this is the one we gotta kill. It's probably— it probably let them all out.

It's a real sheep.

Oh shoot, I'm gonna miss the turn. Come on, there we go, there we go. No, no, no, this one, this one's the troublemaker. Come on, let's go get that milk filtered, then we'll come back and bring them some hay. Can you help me remember, Henry? Yeah.

This headache though, I don't have a headache.

Thanks for sharing. Have you ever had a headache? No. Didn't think so. Get in, you did it! Good job! I'm gonna go through that blueberry pie way because I'm gonna eat it. No, you guys play with everybody. I wish you know I have a little bit of an advantage. That's why I'd recommend other people document their life, whether for monetary reasons or not. This camera keeps me accountable. One, I see the interestingness in my life, and two, it just keeps me accountable, helps me be patient. Helps me be who I am on cam— off camera. When I'm on— on— who I am on camera, off camera. Don't bother Mama. Don't be needy. Got it? Okay, that'd be helpful. You've seen 3— the stages of responsibility. He comes with me when they're here and he says, I want to do that. Here you go. So stage 1, they come with you.

Which one do I put it in? This one?

Uh, either one. We'll do that one, it needs more. I'll get you some more too. Stage 2, I told him what to do and then let him have the autonomy in that. And then the boys, stage 3, figured out what to do. Go ahead, hit me. He wants— he thinks he's looking for his toys. He thinks we're in the Suburban. Listen, I'm gonna help you because you helped me. Okay, okay. Do you think we took it? You find it? Got them? Okay, good. Bring them up. Good boy, you found them! Can't believe chores take so— took so long. Well, they didn't. We just got a late start, didn't we? It was an hour and 45 minutes. Oh my. Oh boy. Henry, get in. This will make me feel a lot better. Mom, you got soup? You got chili? Are you gonna charge it to chili? I'm gonna put that on your list. Not as big of a list as I, as I fretted. Clean up, games, mow, chili. We're dividing and conquering. Are you sniffing because you're cutting onions or because you're so Sad. Okay, both. Both. Lush. You're making a chili? Yeah, a chili from the land. Yeah, our peppers, our onions, our— like, no, it's not. Oh, it's not our hands, it's our garlic, our beef, tomato sauce. We will never let that happen. I will never let that happen again because one thing that fast has shown me is what I really like. And I really like onions and garlic, which it's time to plant. And new to that list that was not there before, soft-boiled eggs. Broth-based soup. I could only have one vegetable, it would be onions. What would be y'all's? And by the way, tomato is not a vegetable, it's a fruit. Here's the plan: 12 o'clock meet and greet, 1 o'clock potluck. What? Did you tell everyone that? Yeah, 2 to 4 games. Team games with me, little kid games with, uh, Annie. Rebecca, I hope you can come with me. I'm so tired. I know, you're just gonna stay over here and take a nap. I'll handle the party. I'm a very social person, but I feel like yesterday was a very emotional kind of drain too. It was very social. It was social at that for the last couple hours. Super reunion. It was. Those are complicated feelings. I'm so sad because he wasn't there, right? Yeah, he would have loved it. It's sad because that's what Joel Salatin said about his dad and the party they had for him. You would have just loved it. You had so much fun. Why didn't we do it before? Well, then they did it right. That's That's the right funeral if you loved it. Hibiscus tea incoming. People get to have her famous hibiscus tea. She's got the chili going. Your famous chili too, by the way. Got some cookies going. Most socialized homebodies anybody's ever known. Josiah's string trimming. The mower's scooting around somewhere. Mark saved the day, finally cooking my breakfast. I guess it'll be lunch. My gut may or may not be ready for a potluck, but I'd rather eat now and then just be able to visit with people. Put a little schmaltz in that. Frying the onions first before I start the soup. It's 12 o'clock, a little after. Chili's ready. Cookies are ready. It's time. It's a little after. Just wolfed down my soup. Chili's ready. Keep it warm. We have a meetup until for about an hour. Cookies are ready. Fish sitting out for tonight. Henry and Gideon, let's go now. Friends are here. They know us. You all know us. That's not weird. We get it. We don't know you, but we fix that. We fix that as much as we can. It's only weird if you don't introduce yourself. If you— it's only weird if you assume I know you. See me in the wild or at an event, say hello and say, "I watch your YouTube channel." There, how about that one? Be like, "Hey Justin!" Yeah, don't do that because then I'll think, is this somebody from high school I should be remembering?

No, be like, oh hi, I love your videos.

They come for us, but then they meet each other, and that's already happening. We don't have to rush over there, guys. They're taking care of themselves. 22 families have signed up. We've got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Hey, how's it going? How are y'all? Good. I'm Brian. Justin. Good to meet you. Yeah, happy day. Hi, here for the teen families? Okay. Okay, my goodness, we have a lot of people. We have a lot of people showed up. Oh my gosh, look at this. Look at this. Annie! Say hey, hey mom.

Yeah, hey mom.

She's been watching out for me. She'll send you the times now.

Yeah, and she keeps me posted on everything you guys are doing.

So I find out about it from her before you do. I love that.

Yeah.

All right, well.

And she says I'm not supposed to say everything. What she says.

So, oops. I can't believe how many of y'all came. This is awesome. I think the last time I checked, 22 families signed up, so hopefully you're all here. This is crazy. Let's see what you can get at our homestead potluck. Ooh, rice, some soup. Ours, the chili. What'd you make? Grape jelly and chili sauce meatballs and some deviled eggs. Bet you those cookies will be gone. Salad. We got another chili. That's appropriate for this fall day. Deviled eggs, brownies, carrots. Look at this, chicken rice. That looks good. Mashed potatoes, potatoes, more meatballs, more soup. You're just making friends, huh? You're just making friends. Should have done this earlier, but Lily told me— I think I'm embarrassing Lily in this outfit. She said, you got holes in your pants and poop on your knees. Okay, touche. Definitely have two women in my life now. How's that? We've just had lunch. It's a great time. I'm having a great time. It seems like everybody's having a great time. It was a little awkward at first. I felt like everybody was, you know, just— nobody knows anybody here. I mean, they know us, but we don't know them. They don't know each other. But everybody has warmed up so quickly, and now everybody's having a good time. I don't know if I've ever had a party— oh wait, we did. I was gonna say I don't know if I've ever had a party where I don't know anybody. Ah, well, it turns out we knew a couple of people that, that came, but we didn't know they were coming. Anyway, most people are strangers. It's kind of— that's a different kind of party, isn't it? You guys feel like family to us, so it's good to finally meet you all. Has anybody ever played, uh, Two Truths and a Lie? Yeah, we're gonna go around the families and youngest, youngest to oldest of the family. So is you two a family? Yeah. This family will speak something about themselves but one of them is going to be a lie and two of them are going to be true, and everybody else has to guess which one's the lie. Okay, does that make sense? That we've all been to Hawaii, that's the lie. Because get in, Henry hasn't. That's a trick question.

You should do one like Jonah has ridden a horse before.

Okay, we're going for we've all been to Hawaii, somebody has had 3 surgeries, and, uh, I forgot the other one. Youngest to oldest, say our 3 things.

Jonah has ridden a horse in Pisgah.

Our whole families went to Hawaii. One of us has had 4 surgeries. She lied. What'd she say?

Jonah has been to Pisgah. Jonah has ridden a horse.

Okay, you don't think he's done it? Okay, you think the surgery is a lie? I think the Hawaii one's wrong. The Hawaii one's wrong. Okay, we have not all been to Hawaii because Henry did not go to Hawaii. Look at all these Wonderful teenagers. You teenagers, did you think there were this many other kids from Crazy Parents? So the rules of this game are I'm going to ask a question. We're going to get to all know each other. Okay, so I'll ask a question, and if it's positive, you've got to get up.

Switch chairs if you have ever milked an animal.

That's you, boys. Hey, there's a chair somewhere. I'm sorry. Oh. If you live on a homestead, get up. Hey, it's some people. There's some people. If you've ever caught a fish, get up. Oh wow. Okay, you've caught a fish. Tell us about it. Um, you've caught a few fish. What kind? Small ones. Do you eat them?

Uh, once.

Game, a soccer tournament for 12 and under.

Wow, we're like assembling our own youth groups. You're chicken! Go, Andy!

You're in your element.

Totally.

Just realized something. We haven't played soccer on this field since It's the hurricane. It's been recovered. It's been recovered. Look. Oh my gosh. It's just wild. We are playing soccer on this field again. It's been over a year. Starting to wrap up the party. We're getting gifts. You just roast coffee for fun. Snuck away and put in our dinner. We had to have something easy for tonight. The teens are all clumped together. Which is nice. You've said good— our goodbyes. This is great. I couldn't have wished for anything better. It's gonna be hard to pry away the teens. They really hit it off.

Oh my God, no you don't, no you don't.

How'd the party go, Annie? How'd the 12-year-old and under— hey, didn't you get any numbers? I got like 10. Johnny, you get any numbers? Yeah, a lot, I guess. We have a whole group. The question is to Josiah. Josiah, did you get any numbers? No, I don't have a phone. Time to eat supper, catch it before the sun goes down. I'm skipping it. Yeah, a lime from Squeeze Citrus Farm, 8 times the nutrients in a quart of water. That's where it's at. Intermittent fasting, skipping supper. All right, how was dinner, everybody?

Pretty good.

Okay. They are already group chatting. Man, that's great. All the teens got together, got into a group chat. That was their own initiative too. I'm humbled. Thinking about Mr. Meeks and stuff, I think if God is using me to bring people together, if that's true, that's a big calling and I'm very appreciative for it. So thankful for it. I couldn't be more thankful grateful for anything. Wow, we were able to bring together 22 families today. Lights out with the sun. We're gonna try to get our walk in before it gets dark. Eyes are going down with the sun. I feel like I'm more in tune since my fast with my body. It's something right about it. Feels great, uh, feels great skipping the evening meal. That doesn't feel right for me. Pigging out at breakfast right before sunup is good. It's interesting, this journey we're on. Anyway, I can't believe that just happened. That went so well. One of the tests is if that went well, maybe we can do this nationwide. Other people can host, other people can meet each other. Maybe. We'll see. Happy day.