Busy Being Blessed

That's how I felt this week.  

So blessed.  And while it's impossible to list all the ways without leaving something out, I will give you some highlights of the goodness.  

1.  Friends from Colorado!!  And I am still in awe that people would drive that many miles, get totally out of routine, and spend all that money just to come see us.  They are sweet sweet friends and I love them so.  

They stayed for the weekend then headed to MO after church Sunday to stay at the Young Life camp with family.  The next day, we drove up and met them there and spent the day at Silver Dollar City together.  

It was so fun showing them the city and our church and our "farm". 

2.  Perfect weather for SDC instead of the rain that was predicted. 

3.  An entire car load of kids crashed out on the way home. 

4.  Susie's beautiful tomatoes and peppers.  Because our's aren't so great.  

5.  But our cucumbers are crazy good.  I've canned too many pickles to count.  Today someone pulled out a quart of refrigerator pickles and 3 kids devoured the whole jar in 10 minutes.  There should be a game show for that.  

6.  The beauty of it all.  The garden is so pretty and I love being out there.  If it didn't produce another thing this year I would still be perfectly happy with just how pretty it looks.  

7.  Loud mouth roosters.  4 of them.  I love their sound.  Especially when I'm at the clothes line. 

8.  Little pumpkins just turning orange. 

9.   Bees that are not swarming and working busily.  Last week I got stung 3 times just feeding them.  And whenever I get stung multiple times (which is every time I get stung), then I lose confidence for a few days and question my sanity.  I had an inspection coming up and was a bit scared to dig in.  But it doesn't last long, and by today I was ready for it.  No stings and it took longer to light the smoker than to inspect hives.  And ya'll.  They are awesome.  One frame was dripping honey.  Dripping!

10.  LB snapped this picture of ZBoy standing on the cedar chest hooking my necklace when we were getting ready for church.   Seriously....blessed beyond measure.  

Snap Shot Of The Week

FINALLY.  She's home.  And she's never allowed to leave again.  

We missed our LaneyBug so much!  It's been a blast listening to her stories and adventures from the beach.  She went with the funnest family ever so they went out of their way to make sure she was having fun.  And she did!  

And this is what our stove top has looked like every day.  Canning, heating lids, and making bee food.  

Lots of pickles.  And lots of bee food.  

But yesterday Renee came over and we figured out the pressure cooker together.  And you won't believe this, but nothing blew up.  And we are still alive.  But what's more is that we cooked 2 chickens in 10 minutes!  I am NOT lying y'all.  That's all it took.  And it was nice and tender just like if you cooked them in the oven for 2 hours.  I am all over this pressure cooking thing.  

Then we hung clothes on the clothes line (and she liked it too).  And we talked more than we have gotten to in about 3 years.  It was time.  

Somewhere my kids got the idea they could cook an egg on the drive way.  They were sure it would work.  

They sat like this for a looong time waiting for the egg to change.  But nothing.  So I suggested we go ahead and finish cooking it in the house.  They decided it was the best egg ever.  

Fresh out of the pool and hugging on Korrie. 

What we do when we are done swimming and hugging on Korrie and Mom says you can't watch a movie.  

Star Wars puzzle. 

~My two oldest sons have been at football practice and are so sore they are walking around like old ladies. 

Christian needed a physical so Honey got him an appt with some doctor named Schmitz in town so we wouldn't have to spend a day in FSM.  We hadn't been there before and showed up a few minutes early for paperwork.  I was sooo close to having him go alone but decided to go ahead and go with him.  I did make him fill out the paperwork though.  

Then we waited.  And made fun of everything in the office. 

My Grandmother and I used to do this when we waited somewhere so I've been good to pass it along to my kids.  

She finally calls his name ...sorta.  She called him Christine.  Which of course gave us something else to laugh about.  But when she asked for my co-pay for out-of-network I knew something wasn't right.  So I asked her to check my insurance again.  And that's when something clicked.

You see, the name on the window was Dr. Hinderliter.  And that didn't look or sound anything like Schmitz.  Huh...
Looks like I would've noticed that before seeing as how we spent a good 10 minutes making fun of that ridiculous name.

Believe it or not,  we were in the wrong place.  

And I'm sure she had a good time making fun of that.  But why didn't she tell me we didn't have an appt and she didn't know why we were there???  Seems like something that could've been mentioned earlier.  Just saying.

We got back in the car to find another office.  And listen, I know this town is small but it was still hard to find especially when the other place has a big sign that says MEDICAL CLINIC.  Oh well. 

And this time my son had 3 long pages to fill out.  Oh the moaning and groaning.  

But the best part was the medical history page where he checked HIV Positive instead of Chicken Pox.  

I'm glad I decided to come along.  

Orphan Socks And Muddy Dogs

Lane has officially been gone forever.  She's barely communicated for the whole week except to say she was homesick.  We, on the other hand, have missed her every minute and been counting down the sleeps until she gets back.  The house is lonely and boring without her.  So we decided that she's never allowed to leave again.  Never getting married, no mission trips, nothing but hanging at home keeping us entertained for the rest of her life.  I'm sure she'll be fine with it.

One. More. Sleep.

~Today was gonna start crazy early.  I had to be in town to drop the dog off at the vet at 7.  Then I had a doctor appt at 8:15.  That meant I had to be up and ready to leave the house by 6:30.  And you know being up and being dressed decently enough not to embarrass the family are 2 different things.  And I had to do both.  By 6:30.  AM.

But when we woke up at the crazy time of dark morning there was no electricity.  I had to fix my hair by candles and a flashlight.  Forget the part about not embarrassing the family because I really had no idea what I looked like.

Meanwhile my boys were up and getting ready for football.  Josh's first day and he's looking everywhere for a sock.  2 boys with football practice means I have to have 4 socks clean four days in a row every week. Not four pairs.  Just four socks.  And I don't know about you but at our house by the end of spring I have no idea what anybody's sock situation is except that its scarce.  And I don't care because it's summer and you're not supposed to wear socks in the summer anyway.  So Josh is looking through drawers and under beds and in the orphan sock basket for another sock that doesn't necessarily need to match but just fit.  And all the while, he's wondering why mom still hasn't bought new socks.

I'm ready to leave and have to get the dog.  But I can't find a leash anywhere which doesn't add to my good humor since I haven't used a leash in months but other members of my family have.  Ahem.
I finally decide on the only leash I can find which is super old, disgustingly dirty, and half chewed up.  I turn to grab the dog when GASP!!  She's a muddy mess!!!  And we need to get into the car! 

Josh comes out to clean her up hopping on his bare foot.  He starts the water hose and sprays her off soaking the one sock that he has.

~I drop the dog off and have a few minutes before my doc appt.  Now I'm not a coffee drinker, but I love juice.  And I decided a trip to Walmart for some white grape juice just might redeem the morning.  Besides I needed to see if my clothes matched in the light of day.  Thank you Walmart for a well-lit and cleanish bathroom.

~My doctor appt turned out fine and we were both in agreement that we need to move forward to a biologic.  So even though I tried to steer clear of injections, I felt like it was the best choice.  sigh......
On to something new.... and I hope it works.

Ramblings Of Recently

This is what my kids are doing today. 

The owner of the pallet company graciously let them set up in front of his business for the small price of 3 cucumbers.  He even opened an extra gate for parking. 

It's been an hour and so far they've made $9. 

~So last night was Ethan's birthday.  We had a family dinner and a game of Minute To Win It in which he snagged the "best feather blower" title.

I told him I'd make chicken enchiladas. 

But then.

You see I was all ready to cook 2 whole chickens in my fancy smancy pressure cooker.  The directions said I could do 3 of them in 15 minutes.  3 whole chickens in 15 minutes flat!!  That is nothing short of amazing.  So I canned, and cleaned, and went to town, and did a thousand other things because I was in no hurry.

3 chickens in 15 minutes right?

But when the time came to commit, I chickened out.  See, the directions also said it could cause "bodily harm and property damage".   I decided that chickens weren't worth killing people and blowing up the house which was sure to happen since my man wasn't home to  do it for me  help.

So it was on to plan B except I didn't have a plan B and I wondered how Ethan would feel about peanut butter sandwiches on store bought bread.

Turns out we cooked the chickens in the oven and whipped up some tacos.  Beef.  Even though beef isn't Ethan's favorite and I feel pretty bad about that.  Except I promised him chicken enchiladas next time as long as he comes early to figure out the pressure cooker with me.

~The A/C got fixed this week!  Did I tell y'all that?

~I think our canning total is about 6 gallons of pickles so far plus the 11 quarts from before.  LB is becoming quite the canner and I would not be able to do nearly as much without her.

~We all miss our LaneyBug.  Only 4 more sleeps!

~My favorite things this week....

*My clothes line.

Y'all.  Clothes lines are where it's at.  Who knew?  I love standing out there pinning them all up and then taking them down.  Nobody else cares about this chore so it's all mine.  In fact, everyone else isn't quite on the clothes line band wagon and they are begging me to stop hanging up their underwear for the neighbors to see.

*My new book.  Happy Happy Happy by Phil Robertson.  And no matter what you think about Duck Dynasty, the 2 Duck Commander books are terrific.

*Improved bee lids.  Because of the dry weather, I'm having to feed my bees again.  This was unexpected and disappointing until I figured out that the reason I hated it so much was because the feeder jars didn't fit right and it was too hard (and disturbing to the bees) to manhandle the whole thing.  So I had my father-in-law fix them for me with his fancy saw and bee feeding is a breeze.  Plus my bees are happy.

*A call from some Colorado peeps planning a trip for next week!!  Yessss!  We haven't seen them in way too long.

~My not-so-favorite things this week....

*A dog that is digging in our garden.
*A broken weed eater and tall grass around my bee hives.
*A terrible RA month.  When I went in for lab, I asked in my sweetest voice if they could possibly move my appt time up to immediately.  Since I frequently buy eggs from him, I also threw in like 20 egg cartons to sweeten the deal.   I figured this would be impossible since he's the kind of doctor that you have to wait months for.  And while it required a meeting with the office manager, they generously moved me up to Monday.  And I could not be more thrilled.  Something needs to change and I would appreciate your prayers if you think about it.   

Barge Tour

I had this on the calendar for a long time.  

A barge tour of the Arkansas River!  

We got to ride on this boat. 

Ready to go! 

The ladies that ran the boat were a lot of fun taking pictures of everyone and getting everybody included.  They told us the history of the river and what all it is used for today. 

I don't know how many miles we went down the river but the tour lasted about 2 hours.  

Once we stopped in the middle, we could climb up top, walk around and take pictures. 

If any of my local friends are looking for something different to do call the nature center and sign up for the next tour.  It's free but you have to reserve your spot.  

Our Texas Trip And Turtle Racing

Texas Fun!! 

a LOT of driving! 

We always enjoy the farm.  Whether it's helping Paw Paw with chores or catching all of Nana's fish.  

We took a ride through the woods and looked at the deer blinds and feeders.  I got to spend some time in their garden and sample my mom's pickle recipes.  This is Laverne and Shirley, my dad's new pigs.  Don't you love them?

LOVE these people! 

So the main event of the trip was turtle races.  

And I have to be honest with ya, it didn't sound like all that much fun to me. 

But we had a turtle so might as well....

I was WRONG. 

Turns out turtle racing is much more fun than it sounds! 

We had 2 tiny cutsie turtles we were entering but found this big one on the side of the road the day before the race.  His name is Phil. 

Nice and big and actually pretty social not hiding in his shell.  Plus he was proving himself to be pretty fast when it came to trying to get away from little boys.   We entered him into the patriotic decorating contest, but even with this tank/gun thing he lost.  

The winner...get this ya'll. 

The winner had 50 American flags around his shell with the pledge of allegiance in the middle. 

So yeah, Phil lost.   

Not only that, when it came to race time, Phil was a total dud. 

He just sat there!   

A big party pooper, not even participating and disgracing the family name. 

Needless to say, he didn't get to race again.  

Then there was Carl and Shelby.  The little bitties. 

Shelby was pretty fast but too indecisive.  Halfway through her race, she changed her mind and decided to take the long route.  After she lost, Mally looked her in the eye and said, "You can't do that! You can't hesitate!!"  

Now Carl. 

Carl was a beast. 

This tiny turtle won 3 races, knocking 12 other turtles out of the finals.

It was so fun hearing the crowd erupt when his tiny legs were scrambling across the finish line. 

Unfortunately Carl lost in the championship. 

But barely. 

I think those little legs were worn out.

Happy Birthday To Me!

I'm home!!  We had a great few days in Texas with my family but it is so nice to be back home to my family who stayed behind.  

And to top it off...it's my BIRTHDAY!

And Ya'll, my family is so sweet to me.
I woke up to a yummy smoothie and lots of hugs and kisses.
And the dining room decorated with piles of presents!  

Mally wanted me to open her's first.  She wrapped it herself and planned far ahead of time what she wanted her daddy to get from her.  Chicken Poop Chapstick....my fave.  Have you tried it yet?

Look at my new pocket knife!  Do you need me to open something for you?  Cause I can. 

I love this picture!  It proves I really am his mother.  

Me and my sweeties.  Do you see that shiny pot?  It's a pressure canner!!  And lots of new canning jars...and a food processor because we broke ours...and notebooks...and 2 new books. 

And the good news is that our A/C should be fixed on Monday and I can put that canner to good use. 

And I'm sooo excited ya'll.  Because I have loads of cucumbers that need my attention and  1/2 gallon canning jars and I've never used that size before.   

I know.  Don't even say it.  

So then my man and kiddos had black belt class today and Jes and I had the neat opportunity to work with Church On The Streets (COTS).

We served up 160 hot dogs, chips, beans, and potato salad and met some new friends. 

Including this cutie pie.  I carried him around, serving with my other hand, and listening to people tell their stories.  Definitely gonna do this again!  And again.  And again. 

Then guess what?  My son drove all this siblings home from TKD all by himself while Honey and I went to lunch.  I've never been so glad to get that phone call saying they were all home.  

Grandma, Grandpa, Meg, and Ethan came for supper.  Burgers (thanks Dad and Mystic!) and fries and chocolate cake.   Golfing, swimming, gardening, and talking each others' ears off.  

And now its quiet.  Meg and Ethan took 3 kids to spend the night.  

The rest of us prayed for Lane who leaves at 5:30am (!) for Florida. 

I'm glad she was still here for my birthday. 

It's was a perfect day. 

Our Saturday

Funny story. Kinda.
I sent Lane to the feed store to pick up eggs. The young man that works there (we don't know his name so we named him Jake) starts off with "what are you doing tomorrow?"

And Lane's like... Gulp. " um working"

Then he goes on to tell her to invite us all to the BBQ they're having today to celebrate 20 years. And Lane was relieved because she thought he was gonna ask her out!

Ok so it wasn't that funny. Or maybe you had to be there.

But in any case, I'm like "BBQ at the feed store! What could be more fun than that!?"   Somehow my man didn't agree. So no BBQ.

Instead we.....

~We took a big walk with Korrie but ended up with 5 dogs at one point.  Seriously when you walk in my neighborhood it turns into a dog party.

~Headed to the garden to pick the goodness of the day.  Then LB and I canned 11 quarts of pickles and 1 quart of zucchini pickles.  We made spaghetti sauce in the crockpot for supper with onions, basil, and parsley from the garden.  We dehydrated the rest of the harvested basil (a first for me) and make a plate of sandwiches.  Guess where the lettuce on the sandwiches came from?  The GARDEN!!

Are you sick of hearing about it yet?  I can't help it.  It's our best garden ever and I'm in love.  I may be singing a different song at the end of the summer when I'm sick of canning, but for now it's terrificness.

The air conditioner is still not fixed and that means I have to be careful heating up the kitchen for cooking.  Meaning no real canning since nothing can be processed.  But the fridge will be full of pickles for awhile.
Aside from that, it hasn't been bad at all.  And actually I kinda like it with the windows open, the ceiling fans running and the attic fan going.



Just look at my new clothes line!  I tell you, I think I was born about a hundred years too late.

When my swimmers jumped out of the pool I watched them devour a plate of sandwiches and a bag of chips.  The chips didn't come from potatoes in the garden in case you were wondering. 

I did something I've never done before.  I got my son to drag out a cot under a shade tree for me to take a nap outside.   Oh it was such a beautiful day!  I grabbed my pillow, my water, and my book and was so excited to read under the tree with the breeze blowing through the leaves.  

My man and the kids were busy playing soccer in the front yard and it was perfectly peaceful.  But before I could get started, Mally came up "to visit" since she's not such a soccer player.  So we laid on the cot together and I read her 3 chapters of the Duck Commander book.  And she loved every minute of it laughing at all the funny parts.  A girl after my own heart. So my outside time was better than I had planned. 

I love those teeth!!  

She picked us some juicy blackberries from the neighbor's  our blackberry bush and some for the chickens too.  

Now it's round 2 of swimming.  Then dinner and getting showers and ready for church. 

A perfect lazy day even without BBQ.  

Thankfulness

I've been wanting to blog for days now.  But have you ever had that time when you feel like God is dealing with you in all sorts of ways and it's best just to be quiet?  And try to figure out life.  And be nice.  And at the same time, you have all this regular work to still do when really all you wanna do is sit and read and pray.  A lot.    That's me.

I remember saying just weeks ago to my man how content I was.  With our family, our house, ministry, everything.  Now I'm wondering if that's a dangerous place to be.  Not discontent with coveting, mind you.  But maybe just complacent or even apathetic (heck, maybe just tired) even though I wouldn't have called it that at the time.  God has a funny way of keeping me on the discontent side of things and pushing me further.

And while I don't have anything figured out, I do know this.  I am extremely grateful.  And so I thought I'd tell you about a few of those.

~My God is awesome.  The Great I Am.  The Door.  And I am so unworthy.  And so thankful to be His.

~I was getting a big head.  Because lately every book I've read has been stellar.  So I was fancying myself a good book picker outer.  Need a good book?  Ask me.  

But then I realized that every single book I've read lately has been recommended by a friend.  Turns out my friends are good book picker outers and I'm just a good follower.  :)

I am thankful for good friends and good books.

~After a hard RA month.  I have been feeling so much better for 2 days now.  I can usually make 2 fists at the same time and I'm not hobbling at all.  Big happy sigh......  But this is where I'm most grateful...I'm not holding this too tightly.  I've been in this place before only to crash days later and be SOOOO disappointed because I was hoping and praying it would stay.  For now, I'm just thankful for the strengths and abilities for this day and not concerned with what tomorrow may bring (or not bring).

~I am grateful for my church family who has taught me so much these last few years.  There will be a day when every tribe, tongue, and nation will come together singing "Holy Holy Holy" and it gives me goose bumps thinking about it.  Once in Colorado our church combined services with the spanish speaking church. It was probably the best service I have ever been privileged to be a part of.  And it reminded me of a tiny picture of Heaven when we will be singing the same song with no barrier of language or anything else.

~My family is precious.  My hard working man is out mowing and making things nice for us.  My teenagers are helpful, kind, and talkative.  And my younger ones keep things so much fun for all of us.  My oldest is happy and sweet and has been able to spend some more time with us lately.  And my little one is standing in line for the computer......

Summer Fun!

I forgot how fun summer is. 

The kids saved their Christmas money to buy a new pool!  Even with only an inch of water they had a great time.  Now its full and getting lots of action.  

Honey has taken every Monday off in June.  So last week we loaded up and had fun at Silver Dollar City! More Christmas present actually...

A new fence Josh built for the cucumber to climb.  Today he built another one.  Everything is doing great except the cabbage and cauliflower.  So we pulled those out and planted more tomatoes.  As part of our summer schedule, everyone starts their day with 30 minutes of garden work.  

My bees are multiplying like crazy and working hard.  The bee people say this will be the best honey flow year in a long time.  I added a honey super 3 weeks ago and have already had to order another one!  Go Bees! 

As far as school goes, we are doing what we can.  The days are different with gardening or lunch with Grandma or Daddy being home.  But we are still keeping what I call a skeleton schedule on most days and I pressure them to finish earlier with no goofing off so we can do other stuff!  This leaves room for Bionicles and swimming.  

The summer reading program at the library is in full swing.  Mally has already finished!  We look forward to this every year.  

I am working on next year's school schedule.  With my oldest son playing football and taking different classes I know it'll take us awhile to get into a consistent groove but I'm shopping for books and laying out what we will be learning and what supplies we'll need.  Hello Back To School Party!! 

As for the rest of the summer....

A trip to TX

Lane's going to Florida.  And I'm not. 

Youth camp 

Canning

Popsicle making

More swimming

And Silver Dollar City (maybe with CO peeps!) 

And probably a lot more Bionicles 

Catching Up

We had the family over for Fathers Day and grilled yummy food.  Problem was, there were flies EVERYWHERE.  Like thousands of them.  Like Egyptian plague numbers y'all.

At first I figured there must be something gross in the trash cans.  And the unfortunate thing about that was that trash day was still 4 days away.  But since we had the same fly population on the front porch then we decided that couldn't be it.

So I thought I would get out my yellow fly swatter and go to town.  As if.
The first swat broke the whole thing.  The whacker part broke off the stick part and then it was useless.
That's what I get for buying fly swatters that come in a 3-pack for 99 cents.

But my man pulled out this spiral yellow strip that hangs from roof of the patio thing that is supposed to catch flies.  And I didn't like that.  Because that's super ugly and gross looking hanging there with dead flies like we are displaying our latest collection for everyone to see.   After about 10 minutes and 200 flies later I decided it could stay.

But then he pulled out the big gun!  The blue light bug zapper!  And let's just say that was the entertainment for the rest of the evening.

~Our sweet friend, Mr. Jay called us over this weekend to pick green beans.  LOTS of beans.
Today we finally got around to snapping them all and it took 8 of us to do it in about an hour in a half.
Now I have to figure out what else to do.  Freeze?  or Can?  Since I don't have a pressure canner (and I like to mention this to my man every chance I get) I suppose they will be frozen.

~Today we picked kale.  And one green tomato that fell off the vine.  Josh and Nate built a new fence and we did a bunch of weeding.  Weeding, fence building, and bean snapping took all morning.  Then we came in sweaty and filthy to start lunch only to remember that the breakfast dishes still weren't done.
This farm life is hard!

~Have you ever tried freezing fresh juice into popsicle molds?  I have kale, celery, and carrots to juice and I was going to mix it into frozen orange juice and freeze it.  Do you think the fresh juice part will separate?

~My little man is in his bed (one hour reading time) singing a VBS song.  So cute.

~I just wrote my first book review on Amazon.  Big deal...I know.  But I've always kinda wanted to do that.

~And now the afternoon plans.... change out of grubby garden clothes, make dinner and popsicles, and read Hank The Cowdog to my peeps before Daddy comes home.

Today's meals....
Breakfast - scrambled eggs, and smoothie with banana, strawberries, and coconut milk
Lunch - leftover everything
Dinner - meatloaf (don't tell my kids), mashed potatoes, green beans
Snack - almond cookies or smoothies

No Greater Love

If you liked Kisses From Katie (Pam and Amanda, I'm talking to you!) then you'll like this one too.

No Greater Love by Levi Benkert


Levi was just a normal guy whose life wasn't going so great.  Then one day a friend calls to ask if he'd be interested in helping rescue babies in Ethiopia being murdered because of a tribal superstition called menji.  (How come my friends never call me with a question like that?)

What started out as a two week trip turned into a new calling for him and his whole family.  He came back home, sold everything, and moved.  (Be still my heart!)

The rest of the book chronicles his journey, hardships, and triumphs.  Full of raw emotion and refreshingly real.  Levi doesn't come off as a save-the-world-supersaint, but instead has chosen to be transparent with his failings and setbacks.

"In the end, or at least for today, I rest in the conclusion that I'd rather be known as the fool who told his own story, mistakes and all, in the hope that others may be encouraged when they hold me up as an example and say, "At least I'm not as messed up as that guy!" (pg xvi)

I loved this book.  Every page of it.  No boring parts.  And I carried it around everywhere and read it every chance I got.

LOVED.  IT.

Meet Korrie

This is what my guys found while camping ......

All alone and covered in ticks. 

So they cleaned her up.  Fed her.  And named her.  I think the naming part was the kicker.  Cause you can't just leave a puppy in the woods when she already has a name.  

She fits right in.  She stays outside being good and just waiting for the next somebody to come out to play.  

And It's Over

After being off school more weeks than I kept track of, it's time to get back at it.  

Whimper....

But ya wanna hear how awesome it was?  

Well it all started when the temperatures rose and I decided there was NO WAY we could do any more school for awhile.  Because ya'll...it was so nice!  So we didn't.  And instead we just played outside.  All day.  Every day.  Pretty much.  

Then I get a phone call from Wendy saying something I thought I'd never hear.  She and Yvette were coming with their girls!  SQUEEEL!!  All the way from CO and just to see US!  Oh. My. Goodness.  

There are no words.

These were the first friends I met when we moved to Colorado.  Our girls hit it off immediately and they made us feel so welcomed in a place where we didn't know a soul.

Wendy is an awesome prayer buddy.  Pure love just oozes out of her.  She is so easy to talk to.  Straight forward and to the point, full of wisdom, grace, and good humor.  I always learn so much from her whether it's in person or just a phone date.  She is so much fun to be around.

Yvette has the sweetest most gentle spirit in the whole world.  I want to be a mom just like her.  I wish I could record her and watch it over and over again and study the sweet way she says things.  She is super generous and has taught me tons about grace and the importance of speaking life into someone's life.

And I just couldn't believe they were coming.  Honey kept asking, "Are you sure they are coming all the way here just to see us?"  ....I know!!

So we cleaned and shopped and tried to think of anything and everything to make their trip a fun time.  

Meanwhile my man scheduled some time off and decided to take the boys camping with his parents so we could have the house (and extra beds) to ourselves.  

And oh it was wonderful.  

There were times I would sit on the porch with my friends and think, "They are REALLY here!!"  

We talked about anything and everything.  Nice serious talks that have substance.  Drank a lot of tea. 

Cooked some food.  Walked.  And Talked.  Toured the city.  (That didn't take long.)  Visited with the girls and Meg and Ethan.  Shopped.  Ate snow cones.  Rode the train.  And talked.  

And it was perfect.  

And such a gift! 

Meanwhile...

Grandma and Grandpa were taking care of the rest of my family.  

Eating lotsa good Grandma cooking. 

Boat rides

Catching river monsters.

Looking good!

 And bringing home stray puppies.  Ahem.

Then on the last night, with the boys all home, we had an awesome worship service.  And it was the perfect ending.  LOVE.

 It was so hard to say goodbye since we have no idea when we'll get to do it again. But it was such a blessed week!

It All Depends On Where The Pictures Are

Or the way we say it in the south....It all depends on where the pictures are at.

But maybe you're one of the fancy types that would say, "Depending on where the pictures are located...."

Whatever.

The point is I would love to tell you all about our little vacation, complete with pictures.  But the thing is...(there's always a thing) some of the pics are on my phone and some are on the other computer and I'm not in that room right now so today we get to talk about Day 1 of VBS so that I won't have to get up and walk 15 steps.

As in Vacation Bible School y'all!!  My fave.  (You did know that didn't you?)

First of all.  My room looks fantastic!  A castle with dragons.  A girl dragon and a boy dragon.  And I didn't have a thing to do with it and I feel terribly guilty about that.  So I promised to help with the clean up/tear down....like that would even come close to making up for my lack of decor help.  But it's all I can do and I'm glad Misty's still my friend.

So remember I have 3-4th grade boys.  With 1 girl.  9 of them to be exact and they are the best bunch of day 1 VBS-ers ever.

Snacks first.  And Nate woofed down 2 dragon scale cupcakes because Cole is a bit picky on that front.  

New friends!!  

Game time!

Craft time making name tags.  

Today we contrasted the good kingdom and the dark kingdom, played a game, ate extra snacks (of course) and ran out of time way too soon.

Only 4 more days left.....