Our Weekend

Our Friday night tradition of sleeping wherever you want meant that Mally was able to talk her daddy out of his spot. He slept in Christian's bed since he was out of town anyway and I got a new sleeping partner. One that talks a lot and sings and giggles. But when it finally comes down to actual sleeping, she's pretty good at it.

So Saturday morning found us still in bed at 7:30. And it was heavenly.

The day was filled with all manner of work and play and busyness and laziness. Stuff like tilling the garden, cleaning out both refrigerators, dehydrating garden goodness, reading, music playing, and watching a scary YouTube thing. (Thanks Lane).

Zekey has a new library book that he's in love with. It's about dinosaurs but is a cross between a comic book and something that's actually informative. He wanted me to play a game that's in the book where you hide a dinosaur toy and the other person has to find it and you give them clues. Well the dinosaur toys were all the way out in the garage and the closest thing we found was a tiny orange ninja man.

So we hid and hunted Ninja Man. Afterward he read his other new book to me and smeared lotion on my hands and feet. It was like a spa day with entertainment.

Meg and Grandma and Grandpa came over for supper. Burgers and fries, manicures, Sherlock, and a discussion about why I always accidentally send Pinterest pins to Charlene and how to fix it. (Nobody knew).

The night ended with a broken something-or-other in the boys' bathroom forcing them to shower in the girls'. And then Mally deciding she was never getting married because BOYS, and she'd just live with us in whatever house we live in forever.  I decided not to hold my breath since I've been burned by that one before.

Tomorrow is church. And date night. And my boy comes home!! Just the right way to end the weekend.

Summertime!!

What will we ever do when these 3 day weekends are over?  We are becoming quite spoiled.

The first day of summer was celebrated by having friends over, making popsicles, and....picking up the new swimming pool that Nana and Grandpa bought the kids!  They are crazy excited over this!!  Only we didn't have time to set it up because we were due for dinner at the other grandparents.  Gotta love that! New pool, popsicles, AND no cooking dinner...bliss.

Only we couldn't pick up the pool until we emptied the trailer.  The trailer was full of last year's broken pool pieces, various broken bikes, and an old dishwasher that's been here for almost 2 years.   This required the dreaded trip to the dump which we had successfully avoided for the past...well, many many years.  My man HATES the dump and claims he gets a flat tire every time he goes.  Not to mention the $30+ dumping fee.

But this time it couldn't be avoided.  We racked our brains trying to think of a place with a big enough dumpster and then spent the 30 mile trip looking all along the way.  But no.  We finally got to the dump, held our noses, dumped our stuff, and went to pay.

$3.45.

It cost THREE DOLLARS AND FORTY FIVE CENTS!!  Why did we think $30?  Why did we wait so long and deal with that stupid dishwasher for years when for three dollars and forty five cents we would've been done with it a long time ago?  Sheeeesh.

Dinner was delicious as always when my mother-in-law cooks.  Steaks, world cup soccer, Sponge Bob, and getting some Meg time.

Now the pool is up and the Lord is helping us fill it with so much rain.  We already have our first cases of sunburn for the season and the water wasn't even deep enough to get completely wet!  They are LOVING it.

Baseball is chugging right along.  Our games keep getting rained out so the season has been looong.  But fun.  Unless your last game starts at 10pm.  Then it's not quite as much fun.  And afterward there's a lot of this.....

This guy is taking FULL advantage of the summer and squeezing in every fun thing he can do before school starts and busy life begins.  He's out of town AGAIN this week and we are missing him already.  But he's also using the time that he is home to be super helpful by doing things around the house, running errands, and running his little siblings here and there and everywhere. 

Our garden is growing and we are needing to pick cucumbers every day.  This week I tried fermenting them but I think I used the wrong kind of salt because they just aren't looking like they should.  The good thing is that I have plenty to play with until I get it right.  

This dog. 

She is the sweetest little love of a thing except she's also a ferocious killer that can't be trusted around anything with feathers.  

She also likes to torment the cat.   

Happy Summer!! 

T-Ball Fun!

Can you tell this guy had a fun t-ball season?

Ready to bat. 

My favorite!  So excited to get the out! 

First time across home plate! 

Adam Boy!!

Coach Rachuy was super fun and encouraging.  I hope Zboy had as much fun playing as we did watching!!

Some Big News and Other Stuff That's Not So Big

I love this life I have.  Seriously.

Last week I got to see a whole bunch of cutie pies at our church's VBS.   I helped with snacks while Christian and Josh ran games and Lane helped with the preK.   Fun stuff.

But.  My other church's VBS is going on right now and it's SOOOO hard to stay away!  There are old friends that have come back plus my own Awana peeps.  I miss them....a LOT.

Look at my garden goodness!  We also have lettuce, basil, kale, and some green tomatoes.  I don't have high hopes for my tomatoes this year.  After we had them all planted, I read that the variety we picked is a stingy producer.  Grrrrrr.......  And sure enough they are slow going.

We added some guinea chicks to the mix.  We have already lost 1/2 the population because KORRIE.
This farm life is expensive.

We've been spending a good deal of time at the ball fields.  The baseball season is nearly over but it's been a blast.  We bring snacks and water and lawn chairs and take pictures and visit and yell and clap.  My kids bring a soccer ball and play with anyone else who has to be there because their brother has a game.  Jess had a great time with this baby girl last night.  Isn't she the sweetest?

Date night this week and we tried a new pizza place, looked in the window at the pawn shop that was closed, and came home and watched Carol Burnett.

So you are all caught up now and are you ready for some big news?

BIG NEWS!!!

This summer we are starting foster parent training!!  I am beyond excited.  I've been wanting to do this FOREVER!!  My mind is swirling thinking of a million things.

My first priority right now is getting our school plans in place for the fall.  I'm using some new stuff, learning different curriculum, and working on a schedule.

In the meantime, I'm reading books, thinking about what I need to do to my house, and hoping to start paperwork next week.  I'm also praying now for whoever will come and stay with us for awhile.  EXCITED!!

Some Of My Favorites This Week

Here's some things I'm loving this week...

~While we were in Colorado, Rommel had a fan kinda like this.  When we got home, I bought one right away.  My goal for this summer is for our electric bill to stay under the $300 mark.  I know when canning season hits, that'll be HARD!  But still.  This fan is FANtastic!!  I wish I had 4 more.  But at $60 a pop, we will have one for awhile.

~My next door neighbor had a garage sale.  And I love garage sales of my friends because they usually have stuff I like.  We scored some new Tiger shirts and hats and several brand new candles.   I've been needing some new candles, so this was a gift just for me!  It inspired me to clean the whole house since everyone knows you can't light a candle unless the house is clean.  Then Jess surprised me with these roses from the front yard.  The smell is heavenly!!

See that bud vase?  I never remember not having it.  It was my mom's when I was a kid and now it's mine.

~So for all sports teams I like my boys to have the number of their birth.  Christian has always been #3 on every team unless he just had absolutely no choice.  And here's our caboose, #9 , looking fierce in his t-ball shirt.  LOVE.

~Me and my boy watching Nate's game together.  I have to admit, baseball is funner than I thought.   I'm enjoying the parents/grandparents too.  Way less intense than soccer and football, and that's kinda nice.

~Farm News:

Garden goodness!  The Lord has graciously given us so much rain with the perfect balance of sunshine and we haven't had to water a single time yet.  Our lettuce, basil, and kale are growing beautifully.   We have a few green tomatoes and peppers and we picked one zucchini.  Slowly we are adding tomato cages.  Last year we just staked them, but cages are far better.  Aldi has them for $1.49 each.  We have lots of tomato plants but I keep telling myself we will have these cages for years to come so the investment is worth it.

The bees are doing great.  I've decided to run double brood chambers this year.  That means more bees and a stronger hive but possibly less honey.  A stronger hive means less chance of pests and more ability to over winter.  We added vented covers to both hives since it's getting warmer and the bees are hanging out on their porch more.

We lost 2 more chickens this week.  One was because of Milo, the other was Korrie.  Grrrrr......
But we also added 4 Guinea chicks!  We are hoping to let them free range and deal with all the bugs, but with Korrie's killer instinct I'm not sure that's even possible.

Every Knee Every Tongue

One of my goals for 2014 was to memorize the whole book of Philippians.

I am nowhere close!  And here the year is half over already!  But I do read and re-read those 4 chapters all the time.  Sometimes in my Bible, sometimes on my phone, and sometimes I listen to it as I'm getting dressed in the bathroom.

This week I've been stopped by Philippians 2:10-11... "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

It will happen.  Someday.  Every single person.  But the question is, will it be too late?  Will Jesus look into the face of someone I love and say, "Depart from me, I never knew you"?

I've been praying for my family, my friends, my church, my Awana kids, anybody at all....even people at the grocery store that God will bring them to the place of bowing and confessing.

And if you are questioning, if you are struggling, if you are doubting this whole Christian thing...know that I am fighting for you on this side of heaven.  I don't want anybody I love to be lost.

An Unexpected Getaway

While life was chugging along for us in AR, exciting things were happening for some of our friends in Colorado.  Graduations and a surprise birthday party!  

I thought it would be fun to take LB since she hasn't been anywhere neat in a long time.   But it's no easy thing to travel so far with so many responsibilities at home.  I decided to go.  Then changed my mind.  Then Meg said she and Ethan were driving it and we could ride down with them.  I said yes.  Then I changed my mind.  

But I woke up Thursday morning and it was the first thing on my mind.  And I knew it was now or never.  So I texted my man to ask if we could fly standby on his dad's AA passes.  He hates standby and I figured he'd rather not since it was just the two of us going.  BUT SURPRISE!  He thought it was a good idea!  

That was 7am and by 10:30 we were sitting on a plane.  

My girl was soooo happy!!  

It was 4 days of love and bliss.  Our friends were so flexible and provided everything we needed and way more.  It was like a red carpet was rolled out for us!

4 days of awesome food, comfy beds, games, good talks, Bible study, church, parties, laughs, and pure sweetness. 

I love those people. 

Isn't Ms Gertrude beautiful?  We got to surprise her at her 90th birthday party!  She is just precious.  And it was special to be there since we also got to be at her 85th party before we moved back home. 

Rommel and Pam were the perfect spur-of-the-moment hosts!  I wish I had gotten pictures of more people.  WHY didn't I take more pictures??

LB got her Ella fix.  Aren't they adorable?  And Ella's momma is an amazing cook that fed us multiple times like it was the easiest thing in the world. 

This was a big graduation year for our homeschool CO peeps.  And one of the reasons that this was the perfect time to visit is because W's family had just moved to Arizona but came back for graduation.  So many friends in the same place at the same time! 

Congratulations graduates!

I was so grateful the Lord worked it all out.   But back at home I was getting bad news about my sweet Joey's condition.  And I prayed for him.  And for us.  And that we could get seats on the planes home (standby ya know) so I could be with my kiddos and help them process the whole thing.  

On the last flight there were 2 seats and 4 standby passengers ahead of us.  They never showed!  And we got right on and flew home.  God is so good. 

As Pam says, "I feel like God's favorite."  He is so incredibly good to us.  

A Piece Of My Heart Is Gone

And there are just no more words...