Life ...

It's cloudy and looks like it could rain.  The forecast is saying showers on and off and we could use some wetness again.  I would love to mow the grass today sometime between the sun and rain if it's possible.?.

The kids were off to school today healthy and blessed.  It was fried sausage links and toasted cinnamon swirl bread for their breakfast.  Ashlyn woke up while they were getting dressed and brushing their teeth.  She finished off the extra links and toast crumbs!  :)

Last night, Matthew had another little league game.  It was so exciting.  The first two practices were so cold and I wasn't sure how this was all going to work with Matthew not knowing hardly anyone on his team.  When we arrived they were given their new team shirts and hats and that was excitement for all the boys right off the bat!  (No pun intended!  :)  )  A lot of the parents were there for this game and I knew lots of them.  Even though the boys are still getting acquainted, they did great!  The Rookies played so well!

Matthew got three good hits.  He played second and third base and then right center outfield.  (They switch positions every inning.) 

The Rookies played against the Wildcats.  They both played good but the Rookies lost 10 - 7. 

After the game, Matthew was so hungry.  I'm not sure if it's an excuse or really for stomach filling purposes, but he thought he just had to have a cheeseburger from the snack stand.  They smell so good and I think maybe we just have a supper at the game sometime.  :)

During Matthew's game, Hadassah met up with some friends in her class at the park and went running.  She is running a mile today at school in practice for track-n-field next week.  She wanted the extra practice.  Her and Laurie ran almost 2 miles at the park.  So, she was hungry too.

The girls were into some 'fries', so we also swung by McDonalds for a large order of fries.  They were all happy, dirty and munching on the way home.

We miss Mike not being around, but we will survive!  :)  He's taking a 'Public Speaking' course in Orlando, FL.

Good job Matthew on your game and great running Hadassah!  I am so proud of you both!!!

We started!

We started and made a dent in our big pile of mulch!!!  It was so gorgeous and warm yesterday afternoon and I don't ever remember being so relaxed while digging into the fresh pile of dark mulch.  It came early yesterday morning, but the house needed a good cleaning first.  Then it was lunch time for Ashlyn and I (our typical wrap with veggies and meat).  Ashlyn was down for a nap by noon and then I went outside and started shoveling mulch in the wheelbarrow.  I even took the Bose out to the garage and turned on Pandora Radio and listened to uplifting music while I worked in the sun!  (Told you I like music!  :)  )  Then I took a short rest and sat in the sun.  :)  When the kids came home from school they wanted to help mulch too!

 Ashlyn wanted to help with the work too.  We first loaded up the small wheelbarrow for her but she had such a hard time trying to steer and guide the thing.  She just got frustrated.  So, we put a small pile on the back of her trike.  Worked great!

 Off she goes ...

 Here was her scooper!

We also started enjoying some garden foods!  Last night was the first that we ate some fresh spinach and cut lettuce with our salad!  So yummy and a great feeling just knowing we are benefiting from our own grown garden foods!

Another thing that started was "raining pink flowers".  Our trees in the front lawn are loaded with pink blossoms and really are so pretty right now.  With the breeze picking up this morning, the pink thin flowers are floating all through the air.  At times it looks like it's snowing pink. 

 

 

It's Friday!!!  It's sunny!!!  It's Spring!!!  It's another day the Lord made for us.  Me. 

I can't wait to find some bargains with the kids this weekend yard saleing.  We will all be going out and about! 

I also can't wait to have a date night with my man!  Love those nights and treasure very much the times we can slip away and enjoy just the two of us.  Even if it means we will be on the look out for a new grill and a new phone for Mike and get Matthews ipod on/off button fixed and check prices for a game gadget thingy for Matthew (let's just say I am not excited about this ... more on this later.), etc., etc.!!!  It will be fun!!!  I just know it!

Have a wonderful Friday!  Cheers!!!

National Day of Prayer ...

I didn't start out this week thinking I was going to have a post every day, but it looks like I'm on a roll.  Some weeks, I feel like I have nothing new to share and then other weeks (like this one) I have lots going on!

Today is National Day of Prayer.  It's a day that our nation actually allows MORE prayer!  That's awesome!  The theme is "Pray for America".  The key verse is found in Matthew 12:21.  "In His name the nations will put their trust."

The kids are having extra time in prayer in school today and I appreciate that!  It's amazing how kids can pray!  So powerful!  I have been amazed at Hadassah's prayers recently.  It's not the one minute long "thank you Jesus for this and help me with that", no, it's much more!  It's like she reached another level in her prayer life!  That's exciting.  I think she really does enjoy praying and many nights after our family devotions, she asks if she can pray too.  "I am proud of you Hadassah!  Keep praying and making Jesus #1 in your life.  He really does care for all those little, tiny things in your life!"

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My 16 yards of bark mulch arrived early this morning and so after the house is cleaned (and it really needs it!), I hope to go outside and dig in!  Ashlyn and Ginger already found their way to the pile!  I can tell that the house won't stay clean very long with that mulch waiting on me.  One wheelbarrow at a time!!!  We have 4 yards of mushroom mulch coming yet today sometime!

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Celebrate with our nation today by spending a little bit more time in prayer!  We sure all need it in this hurting, sinful world!

Be blessed and say a prayer for a lost friend, a hurting family, a struggling marriage, teenagers that really want to make a difference and not fall into the peer pressure trap, parents that try their hardest to make good choices for their families!  For more 'fear of God' in our hearts.  If you want to change the world or make a BIG difference, try starting with you!  My heart.  My motives.  My convictions.  My love for Jesus!  That LOVE will spread like wild fire if you allow it to!

"Pray without ceasing."  1 Thessalonians 5:17

(Don't forget to turn off the music on the bottom of the page first before listening to this song!)  :)

MAY ~ A favorite month!

Flipping the calendar over yet another month for 2013 is startling.  I mean the months are just flying by.  I am reminded by the birds, by the growing garden, by the grass that needs cut twice a week, by the tubbies that set in the kids closets with clothes that are too small ... that time never stands still!  Never.  It keeps going.  And going.

I LOVE MAY!  May is one of my favorite months for a multitude of reasons. 

Everything is fresh and green and growing.

Most of my outside work is now under control and the weeds are pulled weekly.

Flowers are planted and I love to see them burst forth with color!

My mulch is arriving tomorrow, and even though this is so much work, it looks so wonderful and rich!  It helps keep the weeds down and gives all the shrubs and flowers a brand new beauty!

Strawberries begin to be harvested in May!  We love fresh grown strawberries!!!  They way out beat the ones you buy in the stores!  We love them in desserts, in salads, in Danish, on top of ice cream or even mixed in with homemade ice cream :) (dad -in-law makes the best!), strawberry bruschetta, chocolate covered, smoothies, fresh jelly on homemade wheat bread, and tons more!!!  Yep, can't wait!  My plants have some blooms on them and I dream of having big, juicy berries!  This might be the year?!!!  I can't wait to try some new recipes and maybe even get to share some with you!

Lettuce and spinach and radishes and peas are harvested and my whole family thrives on that good eating!!!

Special days ... Mother's Day and my birthday!  These two days highlight for some fun, usually a few date nights, and extra treats!

It's the last full month of school!  Things seem to speed up quite a bit with school activities.  It's track-n-field, Spring programs and piano recitals, field trips, awards assembly and more!  The kids are so pumped for all these activities and it really does make the last month go by quickly.  That's just one problem ... I like May.  I don't want it to go racing by!

Memorial Day Weekend!  The very last weekend of May is something we as a family cheer on VERY loudly!!!  It's a weekend we spend with very special friends and have tons and tons of fun.  It's annual.  It's memories.  It's such a blast!  (Literally ... we usually go through this every year too.  Some want to take fireworks along to the cabin and blast them off.  Others prefer the 'not so much drama' option!  ALL the babies hate the loud pops and sounds!  Oh well! :0 )

It's time to think of being outside a lot more!  Campfires begin.  Roasted smores is something I know we will do for dessert often!  The kids will get dirty and bath time will be such a needed daily process!  Picnics!  The pools are opened and cleaned!  The weather is warmer and frost becomes a rare occasion!!!  Yard sales are in full tilt!  Sister Jody and I are ready!  We have our favorites that happen every year and on Saturday is the beginning of such 'seek and find'!  The kids come home from school and then go right back outside and play in the back yard!  Matthew swings a golf club or baseball bat ~ always!!!  He loves, loves the swing right now too!  Just swings and swings!!!  Hadassah is still doing her daily round of cart wheels.  Ever since the Olympics, she has purposed to get better with her cart wheels and flips.  She is really good by now but I get so annoyed with hearing all the flopping and falling around on the living room floor.  Just last night, we were all outside working, and I asked where Hadassah was?  Matthew and Ashlyn were on the swing.  Mike said she's in the front yard with her butt and legs in the air!!!  :)))  Oh dear!!!  At least she can flop around in the grass now!  On Sunday night, she wanted to show her friends her fine moves and as she went carting through the air, I heard one say, "I hope she has leggings on!"  Yep!!!  She knows better.  :)

That's why I love the month of May!!!  I am going to try my hardest to treasure each morning, afternoon and evening!!!  The sun is so bright and inviting outside this afternoon, that I must go out and feel the warmth.  Hear the birds sing.  Pull those stubborn weeds.  Plant some more seeds in the garden.  Glance at the clear blue sky and thank my Lord for it's beauty!  Cloudless.  I will just live out the first May afternoon of 2013 to it's fullest!!!

Enjoy May!!!

I love music ...

I LOVE music!  I always did!  I remember everyday hopping into my small Ford Ranger as a teenager and automatically turning on the radio, or tape (yep, that's what we had), or CD.  Something.  Anything.  I also had this small radio for years under the bathroom sink and every morning as I would get myself ready for another day at school, I would have music playing.  I would turn it louder if the shower was running.  Then I went through a stage that I played music while falling asleep at night.  My alarm clocks woke me up each morning with praise and worship!  That's just way, way better than those annoying buzzer sounds that make you just want to send the alarm flying across the bedroom and hope it doesn't go off again.  Waking up to songs of worship still sometimes makes me just want to lay still and listen before facing the new day.

I don't think having music on a lot is because I am afraid of silence or quiet, I just like something playing in the background.  I even remember once when a friend said something to me about always having music on.  It wasn't a correction statement or anything like that but I took it to heart and even went a few days with just quiet.  A time to pray more.  Time to think more without any distractions.  I'm not sure if it brought any more peace or calmness because I still just love when I have some kind of uplifting music playing in the house!

When Mike and I got married, this was a huge difference between us.  Mike could travel for hours and hours and never turn one single song on.  Nothing.  Just drive.  I on the other hand, go crazy if nothing is on.  When we travel to Florida, I now take a iPod along and I enjoy my music as I drive the horrid midnight - 6 AM shift!  It's quiet for the family who are sound asleep and yet keeps me awake!  Works great!  Sunday mornings was a time of praise for me before going to church.  I thought ... if I am getting ready I may as well listen to something fun or uplifting.  Mike ~ wanted quiet.  A time to sit down and read some scripture before church.  Time to meditate.  Time to put his mind to rest at least one morning each week.  For, all the other mornings, he has phone calls, appointments, customers and people needing his advice a lot!  So, I tried to play music only in the bedroom and have it quiet.  It worked.  But, now we seem to have our "Sunday morning songs" that we both love to play!  "Rescue Me" by Wynonna Judd is a favorite.  "Let the Worshipers Arise" is another must play.  :)
 
I go through stages of what kind of music soothes my soul.  After my morning devotions, I turn on 94.5 while the kids and I get breakfast and get them off to school.  Then at 9 AM, I turn on Pandora.  I am SO into Pandora Radio.  It's an online station that you put in a favorite song or artist and then it plays music that is of that kind.  Example:  I like southern gospel but sometimes I like a praise and worship mixed in with it.  I also like a country voice, so right now I put in Jeff and Sheri Easter for my station and it plays me such great songs!  It's some upbeat and then some that rests my busy life.  94.5 gets put back on at 4 - supper time!  It's wonderful!!!

Here are some favorites right now that I enjoy each day!!! 

 

 

 

So, if you are a little like me and enjoy some great music, turn on your radio today!  Or put in your favorite CD and turn it up just a little louder.  I promise it will be an uplifting and a great moment!  :)

 

Busy weekend ...



What a busy weekend!!!  Goodness, I almost need today just to chill and relax and catch my breath!  So how perfect for a rainy day and maybe even take a nap this afternoon!!!???

 

Our busy weekend started Friday right after I picked up the kids at school.  We came home and cleaned out lunches and chilled just a bit before heading off to set up for a yard sale.  All last week, I was packing up a trailer with attic clothes, misc. items from the around the house and we cleaned out the cellar that had things stored up for years.  Seriously, with living at the same house for 12 years ... things accumulate!

 

Mike and I made a team with bringing down tubes of clothes from the attic.  I put them all in the trailer and Friday afternoon, I set them all out all at the garage sale.  I had around 20 luges of clothes!  I kept most everything that Hadassah and Matthew wore.  I kept thinking that it's such a shame to get rid of it if I only wore it on one child.  Then when Ashlyn was born and I started going through Hadassah's old clothes, I realized that there was so much that I wasn't going to use anyway.  10 years in between the girls is kinda long to think you might reuse clothes. 

 

With Matthews clothes, I thought the same things.  Why get rid of it if I only used it for one boy?  He's already 7 (almost 8) and so I set out a bunch of his clothes and shoes to sell too.  People that knew me and stopped to yard sale shop ... when they realized that I had so much clothes to sell were shocked!  I was too!  :)  Like I said ... things just accumulate over the years! 

 

The weather was perfect and we had lots of shoppers Friday night.  I came home so tired and ready for an early bed because we were going to get up early for more sales Saturday.  Hadassah and I were out of the house by 6 AM Saturday morning and we hoped to sell out!!!  :)  The yard sale went well.  A bit chilly in the morning but when the sun began to shine, it warmed up nice!  My sales were great but I still have a ton of clothes left!  I am hoping to set up again in a few weeks  and then donate the leftovers to charity!  My attic is not going to be filled up again with the same items!  :)

 

Matthew and Ashlyn were with sitters and then were taken to the Gospel Express Sale Saturday afternoon, so Hadassah and I went there for a late lunch and reconnect with the kids!  They had a blast in the straw maze and being with cousins.  Thanks Jody and mom for watching them for me!

 

It was so nice and warm Saturday afternoon that I just wanted to relax and finally do nothing when we got back home.  I got my beach chair off the garage shelf and sat on the back porch for an hour.  The warm sun felt so good on my face and my eyes just couldn't help but close for awhile!  Birds were singing in the trees.  The children were in the back yard being kids and running around.  Swinging on the swings.  Drinking soda under the shade tree.  Hadassah even curled up Ashlyn's hair and she did another photo session with her.  It's so cute to see these two sisters connect and have a total 'girl blast' together!  Ashlyn loves all the attention and Hadassah loves to doll her up!  Take a look ...



 

 The front cherry blossoms are filled with these beautiful clusters of flowers right now!  They look so pretty!  Hadassah pulled a bunch off and added them to Ashlyn's photo's!  Way to cute!

Mike never got home from work till 6:30 PM!!!  They were so busy at his shed lot and sold lots of sheds!  I am so thrilled to see his hard work prosper and flourish!  Spring and summer are the busiest months for the shed guys and so I try to be patient and take it in stride!  They work so hard and have some very long days.  I appreciate your hard work Hun!!!  Anyway, we had planned to be with Mike's parents that evening.  We picked them up at 7:30 and went down to Mike's sisters house. 

John Ervin and Anna Ruth live in a small rancher and we were looking forwards to some good settlers games!!!  We picked up some pizza and wings on our way there.  When we arrived, Matt & Lena and Mike's grandparents were there to surprise us.  We ended up all gathering around the small kitchen eating and fellowshipping.  We moved into the living room sipping on coffee and enjoying each others company.  Soon, Ben & Rosie and the boys stopped in.  We had quite a crowd and a full house!  Why are the stop in and last minute parties the most fun!?!  We soon felt like Steve's and Ervin's should have been there too ... but it just all happened.  No plans.  Just stop in's.  On the way home, I told Mike that all I know is that his sisters must really love him because they crashed our party!  What a trip!  We never did open up the settlers game box.  Now, we just have another excuse and reason to gather again soon!  :)  Thanks John Ervin's for hosting us "stop in's"!

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Sunday morning came too fast but the sun was out bright by the time I crawled out of bed.  I made some fresh coffee and grabbed a donut from the sale yesterday and delivered a treat to Mike in bed.  That's so much fun once in a while! 

We all went to church and heard a message on "Losing the fear of God".  With the bombing attacks, shootings, and all the terrible things that are happening in our world today ... why?  Are we losing that fear of God that keeps us humble, repentive, and grateful for Jesus?  The message was great!

We were home for lunch and then relaxed.  At 4:00, Mike started texting some friends and inviting them to come over for burgers and fun!  We realized that our grill officially died and so I baked two dozen homemade burgers in the oven.  I thawed some baked beans I had in the freezer that were waiting for a last minute crowd to serve to.  I cooked a big bowl of pasta and made pasta salad.  I mixed up some fresh lemonade and then we waited to see who would show up.

Leave it to our wonderful groups of church friends ... they ALL came!!!  We ate at 6:30 and as the night went on, families just kept coming.  Originally, we hoped we could sit by the camp fire and chat outside, but the weather turned chilly and it started to drizzle.  We had 12 adults, 20 children and 1 dog all inside our small home!!!  It was crazy fun!  Thanks guys for ALL coming and spending the evening with us!

At 10:30 last night, Mike and I were cleaning up the house and again went to bed so grateful for our wonderful friends and people in our lives that mean the world to us!!!  We are so blessed!

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Looking outside the window today, I can see the flowers that I planted last week drinking up the raindrops that are sent from above.
 
Most of my flowers are planted and growing!  With some mulch around them yet ... they will look heavenly!  I did mostly petunia's again.  My window boxes have Bubble Gum Petunias and lots are in the ground out front.  I also got some of these fire red ones and mixed them with yellow.

 My Impatient's will be planted this week.  I wait till May to plant these.

 Begonia's are eye catchers and do so well!  I have a few dozen of these planted around the house too.  They are becoming one of my favorite flowers!

 Here's the Bubble Gum Petunia. 

 

My garden foods are growing too!  I might even get some fresh veggies out of it this week!  The lettuce is coming up so nice and I removed the hot caps from off the Butter crunch lettuce.

 I picked a radish to see how they look.  Still small but will be picked soon!

 

The sugar peas are getting taller.

 

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Every now and then this happens.  Ashlyn got into Hadassah's markers and wrote all over her toes.  She thinks she is painting her toe nails.  Not the best job ... but hey, she is a toddler.  What can I expect?  With another explanation to her that markers are for papers and not for toe nails, we tried to clean her up.  She will probably have marker marks on herself for a few more days.  It's hard to get that all off!

 

The dryer is still going.  The groceries I bought this morning are all put in their right place.  Ashlyn is sleeping so peacefully in Matthew's bed (her favorite nap time spot) beside her babies, Anna and Kate. 

(I should post a comment on these babies.  They were both given to Hadassah one Christmas about 9 years ago.  She was just a toddler back then and Hadassah played and played with them.  The givers were my cousin Kate and my mom, Anna.  That's where the names came from and now we have a Baby Kate and a Baby Anna.  They have been downstairs for years and now Ashlyn is giving these dolls a rerun of fun!  I don't know what it is about these two dolls that makes them a favorite ... but they are the most played with dolls at our house!  So, thanks again Mom and Kate for the dolls you both gave a long time ago!)

With the weekend behind us and another week of "real life" right before me, I am grateful!  Grateful for our health.  Healthy foods.  Foods that give us nutrition and energy.  Energy that never seems to end with the children.  Our three children keep me busy but that's when I realize that my life is full of fun, laughter and tons of events that I never would dream to miss out on. 

Have a blessed Monday and if it's raining at your house today, take some 'time off' and enjoy the moment!  Enjoy the day that the Lord has made.

"My Calendar" ...

What does your calendar do for you?

Is it filled with events and upcoming activities?  Or is it a place where you write a short journal of what already happened?

It's all of that and plus for me!  "My calendar" is my 'go to' when I have appointments, events or reminders.  I use it every single day!  (Well, a few weeks ago, I thought in the morning that I didn't have anything on "my calendar" today and so I didn't bother to open it up and look.  Later that afternoon, I suddenly went running to "my calendar" and sure enough ... I forgot to go and help Matthew's class do a painting project I was looking forwards to helping with.  I felt bad for not showing up and forgetting but more I felt left out because I really wanted to help with this project.  Bummer.)  That's why I keep my life schedule in "my calendar".  This might sound like it runs my life and in a sort of truth it does.  When I have something I need to do on a certain day, it gets written down and then most times remembered!!!  :)

For example, this morning I had written down that the kids get pizza lunch at school today.  No need to pack a lunch but just send with them a snack. 

"My calendar" is something I started 12 years ago when we got married.  Not just having my schedule to care or think about but also Mike's appointments and events, it was my solution to a much smoother way of remembering!  Now with children in our lives too, it is sooo helpful. 

I used to use it as a journal too but now for the past 4 years or so, I also keep a private journal.  This is something I do daily and write down any memories of that day, any fun things we did, or any cute quotes the kids say.  Way too many times I think, "Oh, I've got to remember that one!" but then if I don't write it down in my journal, I forget what they said.  "My calendar" and journal work hand in hand!

"My calendar" is also VERY helpful when I scrapbook.  Since I can't ever seem to catch up on scrap booking and always have pictures from seasons ago to crop, it's much easier to remember when the events actually happened because I have them jotted down in "my calendar".  This blog has also been a tremendous help with the details and my thoughts that I might decide to also put in my albums.

I would never want to do without "my calendar" and I know that May is usually the month with so many notes and reminders written all over the pages.  School is in the last quarter and so with all the last activities, parties, field trips, track-n-field, plus lots more ... I don't need to fear I will forget a single thing!  It's all written in "my calendar".  :)))

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It feels so good this morning with knowing that the school fundraiser we helped with yesterday is now over.  It feels good knowing that the weather is saying 70 degrees today.  That alone energizes me.  My outside needs some working at again and I hope to spend my afternoon out in the warmth. 

I also have been waiting for a warmer day to work in the attic.  I plan to have a yard sale on Saturday and I have tons of clothing from when Hadassah and Matthew were small that I plan to go through and sell what I don't want anymore.  Today, will be a 'yard sale preparation day' for me.  It feels good to be going through my 'not needed anymore' items and put them in the small trailer that's setting in our driveway.  I would much rather, much rather, be out going to yard sales and not one having a yard sale but sometimes things seem to build up and I want to get rid of them.  "One persons junk is another persons treasures!"  I hope someone will find my things as treasures too!  :)))

My coffee cup is all but empty and if I drink the last sip it will be cold.  I'm off to doing more laundry and then love on my toddler when she wakes up and then get to my yard sale things and go outdoors! 

I hope you have a lovely day and I am looking forwards to having a cold glass of meadow tea on my lunch break!  We are enjoying this summer drink!  Also, it tickles me that my supper is already planned out!  I said to Mike last night that I should make chicken salad from our left over chicken I made for our supper.  Now, the tickling is that when I checked a favorite food blog this morning, she posted a pineapple chicken salad recipe.  I might just try it tonight!  Perfect!!!

I feel blessed today!  God is good all the time and all the time God is good!