Summer Excitement

I hate when so much time goes by between posts.  So many of my days of late have been chalk full of activities but by the time I can sit down to actually write, I'm dog tired and find myself crawling into bed.  I think the heat has added to my lack luster energy even though it is the exact thing my garden needs to grow.  Go figure:  I wilt and my garden grows.

We have added a new addition to our family.  A new puppy.  He is a Bichon Poodle mix and is super cute.  I am not a dog lover.  Please don't hate me for this.  I seem to have been born this way, based on the stories my mother tells me and it has been a long process for me to come to terms with adding a dog to our family of furry and feathered friends.  I knew it couldn't be a big dog, but I didn't want a little yapper either.  Two of my children are animal lovers and finally won me over.  I wasn't sure how long it would take to find a puppy that was a breed we could be happy with and wouldn't break the bank.  Despite all the talk about our depressed economy, the prices for dogs seems to be super high (in my opinion).  We acquired our pup on the Fourth of July, so we decided to call him Indie, short for Independence.  He is super cute and is quite devoted to his new family.  He is quite content following the kids around to play, but when he is wanting to cuddle and rest, whom does he seek out?  You got it...me.  I am quite aware of the irony.  I think he is a doll and know that I will love him even more when he is completely house broken and quits chewing on things.  His favorite thing to chew on is paper.  I am amazed at the paper he finds.  The kids have had to redefine picking up after themselves and yes, deep inside, I am quite pleased with this new development.  I always love a tidy house.

I have continued to coupon and am quite pleased with the money we are saving.  I even had my first money maker experience yesterday.  I LOVE Albertsons.  They have the best deals.  I intentionally planned my purchases in order to earn free milk.  I walked out with five gallons of free milk and the store paying me 2.50.  Can't beat that kind of deal.  I also ventured into the wild land of multiple transactions.  We did four and the cashier was wonderful about the whole process.

I moved my studio from upstairs into the basement and therefore opened up another room for the kids.  Of course, the debate has begun as to who is going to get the room.  My youngest little wee babe is one of them.  I have yet to decide on the second child.  I have plenty of time to decide as the baby is still quite happy sleeping in my room and I haven't finished cleaning out the room and would like to paint it a new color.

I actually had one day where ALL the clothes were cleaned and folded.  Of course, this only lasted a matter of minutes and it really takes no time for the laundry to pile up.  With a household of ten, you can only imagine how much laundry there is.  The kids wonder why I cringe when they ask to run through the sprinklers and will end up with at least six new dirty towels.  One day they will have children of their own and all will become clear.

I am working on finishing a quilt and it has been nice to have access to it without having to retreat to a bedroom away from the kids.  They get in so much less trouble when Momma is sitting right there.  The basement is the cool spot in our house and the kids eventually migrate back inside on those super hot days and the afternoons are a great time to sew.

I have a new love...among the many I already surround myself with.  African violets and other blooming indoor plants.   My grandmother had a special touch with Violets but I had always heard that they were divas of the plant world and steered clear of them.  My mother in law sent my a beautiful basket of plants for Easter and tucked in among all the greenery was an African Violet.  Without much coaxing from me, it has thrived and blossomed quite beautifully.  I acquired a second one last week and am looking forward to seeing where this new love leads me.  Of course, one of my cats has decided that she loves Violets as well...to eat them that is.  So, I have to place them away from her destructive chomping.  My new plant was knocked onto the floor and lost all of it's blooms and a few leaves.  My husband suspects a cat...and I know her name.  I love that they will bloom year round.  I need the pop of color during our bitter cold winters.

Our garden is doing well.  The lettuce is providing excitement in our salads.  The radishes are beautiful in all of their red glory, but none in my home like them.  Thankfully we found a neighbor that will eat them, as well as our Swiss Chard.  The cucumbers really aren't growing but the tomatoes are creeping skyward.  I'm hoping we will have tomatoes this year.  The zucchini is preparing to go rogue and I'm going to turn them into bread.  That is the only way I like to eat them.

The children are healthy and enjoying our long hours of sunshine.  The sun is up around 6:30 and doesn't set until 10:30.  Thankfully, they are usually passed out long before then.  Nothing like summer time fun exhaustion.  Oh, I remember back when I was a young whipper snapper full of energy and loving the summer days...

My sweet little babe is wonderfully sweet.  He is growing and changing.  Almost four months old...oh, the time has gone too quickly.  He loves to talk and is quick to smile.  He has changed so much from the newborn that cried when others held him, except for me and one of his sisters.  He spent so much time crying when he was first born and now he is quick to flash his toothless grin and loves when others will pick him up.  He does still struggle with over stimulation, but I'm hoping it will lessen and disappear as he grows.

My days are full of joy and awe and I'm so thankful for the life the Lord has lead me to.  He is ever faithful and creative and patient.  I am truly living the blessed life.  I pray you're believing you are blessed as well.

Have a blessed day.

Summer is just around the corner and we are waiting for the weather to catch up.  I am not one who enjoys the blistering heat that comes with summer, but I would love to see us actually get into the 70's.  My garden would really love for it to heat up.  It might actually start to grow.  We had to plant new cucumbers yesterday.  The gentle stems of the original plants were broken due to hail and severe down pours.  Our new cucumbers look so lively, but I can hear them joining the chorus of the other plants in their cries for sunshine and warmer weather.  I also bought two strawberry plants.  They are strong and healthy and so pretty.  I have never had any luck with growing strawberries, so I am hoping this year will be different.

All of our chickens survived the dog attack.  I believe egg production is back to normal as well.  I'm hoping they are smart enough to realize what a close call they had and how fortunate they are.  They are well kept ladies and I want to see their appreciation in eggs.

I have started planning for the next school year.  My oldest is now officially entering into junior high and the curriculum is much more challenging.  I am looking forward to seeing her brain smoke a bit.  She will be reading many great books and I am trying to familiarize myself with this new curriculum.  The grammar is freaking me out a bit.  I have never been a fan of  grammar and the Teacher's Manual is over 600 pages.  Yikes.  We will be learning this together.  I've enlisted the help of DH because he seems to be a natural when it comes to the minute intricacies of the English language.

I'm enjoying the chatter of the birds as they search for food and socialize outside my windows.  I had forgotten how early some of them start singing their songs.  Long before the sun rises, some of them are chatting away, almost as if they are overcome with the anticipation of the sun coming up and God's glory being revealed as the rays fall upon the dew laden tapestry of His creation.  The other morning I found myself contemplating their eagerness to start the day...as I was trying desperately to get another hour or two of sleep.  I was convicted of my own heart's condition at the beginning of each new day.  I want for my heart to sing and soar as I begin my days, even if there is toiling ahead for me.  I want to be eager to take on the new day, even if it proves to be a blustery one.  I want to sing God's praises purely for knowing that He is there and that the sun would not rise without Him.  I want to start each day with a joyful  heart knowing I am loved by the Creator of the Universe.  I want to infect my children with this joy and praise.  The early birds are God's gentle way of reminding me to keep my heart open and focused on Him.  I love birds.  The Lord knows I love birds and I am so tickled that He knows me well enough to get my attention this way.

May your days start with singing and anticipation as you ponder the Lord's presence in your life.

Be blessed.

Healing Rains

As I write, I am sitting in front of my picture window watching the clouds slowly thin out to allow the sun to gently filter through.  The lilac bush is bent over from the moisture that has collected on its leaves and petals.  The grass is a perky green and my flowers have finally received a soaking that wasn't from the hose.  Yesterday we had our first spring storm and it was desperately needed.  The land needed to be refreshed and it has pressed heavily upon my heart to know that I too need to be refreshed.  


I love my life and having my days filled with my children.  However, there are times when day after day I am consumed with the things of life and I am not spending time on my spiritual and emotional needs.  I need to pour the Word into my mind and let my spirit and heart be saturated with it.  I know this and yet I struggle with always finding the time to do it.  I am so thankful for the Lord's patience with me.  I am so thankful that I feel His presence even though I have been remiss in seeking him consistently.  


This morning, as the sun was trying to strain through the clouds, I looked out my bedroom window into my newly planted garden.  It had been raining steadily for several hours and the down spout had flooded a portion of the garden.  I groaned inwardly as I began to formulate a way to direct the water away from the baby plants.  Thankfully, the plants in the midst of the flood were sitting on little mounds of dirt and they were able to keep their "heads" above water.  While the rain fell upon my head, I used a shovel to redirect the water and now the water is no longer threatening the tiny sprouts.  As I reflected upon this dilemma, I realized that not only do I need to be saturating my days with the Word, but I need to be diligent in where I am applying it and directing it.  I need to be deliberate in my pursuit of the Lord.  Knowing scripture is very different from applying it and living by it.  

I am so thankful for the peace that is permeating this moment.  The storm has gently passed on and the children have scurried outside to play in case it starts to rain again.  The air smells wonderful and everything is popping with spring color.  The birds are showing up again to claim their share of food from the feeder and their chirping is always comforting.  I love spring storms and am so thankful that they have finally arrived here.  I am hoping for more rain before the heat finally settles in for the summer months.  I look forward to seeing my garden grow as it responds to the extra moisture.  


I also loved watching my children play in the huge puddle that formed at the end of our driveway last night.  My husband was a bit surprised by my lack of stress as five children splashed and played in the warm water.  I wasn't allowed to do such things as a child, so I felt no need to keep them from just being kids.  Sure, I had an extra load of laundry and had a ring around the tub when they were done with their baths.  However, we all now have a great memory of enjoying a spring storm and that is worth all the cleaning up we had to do.  


Have a wonderful week and may you find time to spend with the Lord and in the Word.  May you feel the wonderful freedom of growing your spirit and knowing that your time was well spent, even if there are dishes in the sink or clothes piling up.  


Be blessed.

"But I say to you that for ever idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment."  Matthew 12:36

I admit it, I'm a natural born talker.  I love to get together with a friend and chat the afternoon away.  I would love to imagine that all of my conversations are lofty and worthy of the heavenly realms, but I know they aren't.  There are times that I have said things I shouldn't or have not thought through my words before they come tumbling out of my mouth.  Yikes.  I hate to recount the times that my  words have harmed someone, even unintentionally.  I could claim that others are just being easily offended and try to find comfort in that, but I can hear the hollow ring of that excuse and it makes me cringe.  Yes, there are times when others are easily offended and there is always something I say that gets their feather's ruffled.  However, more often than not, when I find myself apologizing for my words, I have been speaking carelessly.  This verse reminds me to take heed of having one mouth and two ears.  I need to listen more and talk less and this will help to keep me out of trouble.  I can still enjoy my time with friends and will hopefully bless them more often with words that bless them and are no longer just idle.

We finally had a rainy day here.  Yesterday, the rain fell gently most of the day and the ground was given a reprieve from the deep thirst it has been struggling with.  Today, my grass has finally begun to lose it's brown hue that I couldn't seem to get rid of by just watering.  We planted an aspen tree and rose bushes over the weekend and they are doing well.  I have yet to be able to keep my rose bushes alive through the winter and am hoping that this year this trend will change.  Last year I transplanted 19 lilacs in my yard and only lost one.  I was expecting to lose quite a few of them because I had pneumonia at the end of the summer and they didn't get enough water.  However, they have proven to be quite hardy and I am excited to see them grow into a beautiful lilac hedge over the years to come.  We are still waiting to plant the garden because a few of our nights are still bordering on freezing.  The kids and I are really looking forward to planting everything and watching the brown soil give forth a bright and beautiful bounty.

I can hardly believe that the school year is coming to an end.  This year went by so quickly, at least for me.  The kids would probably disagree with me.  Next year, my dear daughter will be encountering a curriculum that will hopefully be more of a challenge for her.  She has been cruising through her daily lessons and is bored.  She has learned so much more than I ever did in the public schools, but she isn't being challenged.  Her brain needs to be stretched and we are going to try and do that for her next year.  I know she can step up to the challenge.  

Being out of commission for the last year has really created chaos in my home.  Between husband and I being sick and then my not feeling well throughout the pregnancy and then ending up on bed rest for several weeks, my children's idea of cleanliness took over.  I have spent the last week cleaning and reorganizing the house.  The kids did a wonderful job of helping to keep my stress level down by helping out in so many ways over those months.  However, they are pros at keeping the exposed surfaces clean and cramming everything into nooks and crannies behind closed doors.  I'm amazed at what I find where and how stuffed the cupboards and closets are.  I appreciate their creativity, but with some of the closets, I envisioned everything exploding out upon me when I opened them.  I am thankful that most of them have been by my side as we organize and clean.  It is good to have Mommy back and feeling well.  

Have a blessed weekend and enjoy the warm weather...before it gets too hot.
 

Mother's Day Every Day

May 6, sixteen years ago, Dear Hubby and I had our very first date.  Little did we know all the excitement that God had planned for our lives.  It has been an amazing and nonstop journey.

A sweet and special and dear friend has come to grace our lives with her presence this week.  The kids and I are love having her here.  We used the birth of my son as the reason for her visit, but the truth is that we are having an awesome time of fellowship.  Yes, laundry is getting done, the dishes are being washed and we are picking up the floor...again, but these activities are only a small fraction of our days.  We are sharing stories, playing games, laughing, watching movies, doing hair, fighting over holding the baby and staying up way too late.  Ahh, the joys of spending time with one's bosom friend.

We had an early Mother's Day celebration yesterday.  We had another family over to celebrate with us and the husbands made dinner.  It was quite yummy and we couldn't wait to eat the leftovers for lunch.  My children were very generous with their external expressions of love, yet what truly makes my heart soar is knowing that I am loved by 8 amazing people.  I am so blessed to have Mother's Day every day.  They love me sacrificially and fill my days with joy, love, and affection.  Yes, we have the usual blips on our radar with rebellion, selfishness, tears, disobedience and such, but I never have a day where at least one or more of my children don't bless my socks off.  God has given me such amazing children.  I'm so thankful and am humbled by how much He has given me through my children.

Dear Hubby left this morning for the next week.  This is the third Mother's Day that he has had to be away from home.  He says this is the last time, but I'm trying to not get my hopes up.

We have decided to embark on the adventure of using coupons.  The kids have been super helpful with clipping and alphabetizing them.  I'm hoping that all of our efforts will show up in our pockets within the next few weeks.  I have friends that really believe that working the system really pays off...so, here's hoping.  Maybe one day I'll actually have one of those jaw dropping shopping trips where 95% of my purchase is free.  That would be so awesome and truly blog worthy.  So, we are in search of as many coupons as we kind find each week.  I'll let you know how things turn out.

Our seedling are doing AMAZING!!  I wasn't joking when I said we prayed over them and the Lord has not disappointed.  Many of the plants broke through the dirt days ahead of schedule.  Some even a week or so early.  We have had to remove the top covers to make room for the beans and at this rate, our seedlings are going to be huge by the time the ground is ready to receive them.  It is so exciting for the kids when they imagine how much produce we could actually be blessed with this season.

I'm off to take my turn holding the baby, even though my reason trumps everyone else's desire:  he's hungry and I've got what he wants. 

Have a wonderful Mother's Day, be blessed and may you feel the presence of the Lord continuously.

April Showers...Snow...Brings May Flowers

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."  2Cor. 4:7

They are calling it "The Wedding of the Century" and I was able to watch it.  My two month old made sure I would be awake for the ceremony and then woke me up again for "the kiss".  I'd been planning on watching it in reruns, but my son must have thought I would be upset if I couldn't watch it live.  It was beautiful to see and I pray that they happy together for the rest of their lives.

I must admit that growing up, I hated the idea of having a garden.  My mom had huge gardens that produced large amounts of veggies.  I hated being out in the sun picking weeds and adopted an overall bad attitude about the whole process.  However, as I have grown older, I have hopefully grown wiser.  It is never too late to grow as a person or to discover something new about oneself.  My children were the reason I ventured into the vast universe of gardening several  years ago.  Their desire to start a garden could only be denied by the hardest of hearts.  We had to move a massive amount of rock in order to find the dry and mineral depleted soil.  We toiled away under the hot sun to help the land produce and were rewarded with many, many tomatoes.  More than we really knew what to do with.  We missed having a garden the next year because we were in transition and feeling a bit overwhelmed.  Once we had a permanent place to live in our new state, I got the gardening itch.  However, the last two years failed to really produce anything.  So, this year, we are going to try again.  I find myself really enjoying the process and appreciate many of my children's joyful expectations as they work alongside me.  I have discovered something new about myself and am so excited to try again, with the Lord's help, to get the soil to bend to our will. 

Yesterday, we began again... the children and I started sowed our garden seeds.  We started the process while the sun was shining, but it quickly became a cold and blustery experience. Lydia and Makayla hung in with me until the end and we now have a bounty of dirt sitting in front of our big picture window.  We planted several types of flowers in little pots that our neighbors blessed the children with for Easter.  We also filled 100 "cells" with tomatoes, cucumbers, bush beans, jalapenos (via the neighbors), and carrots.  The kids and I said a prayer over them when we were done and now we are looking forward to planting strong healthy plants outside in several weeks.  Since the last two years have not turned out well for us,  we are changing the position of our garden this year.  We have quite a bit of work ahead of us.  We are going to have to remove some grass and will put up a fence in order to keep the deer away.  We will also fertilize the soil in hopes of receiving a bounty for all of our efforts.

Yes, I'm still enjoying being the mom of a brand new baby.  Number eight, none the less.  This is such a sweet season in my life and the Lord continues to pour His peace upon me.  The "transitions" are coming less frequently and the kids and I are sliding back into a smoother routine.  My teenager continues to slowly grow into a woman and I am trying to be mindful of her changes and trying to dig really deep in those moments that require extra patience.  She will be a woman in the blink of an eye, discovering the Lord's calling for her life and I don't want to have that moment arrive while I am looking the other way.  She and I are very different and at times this can be very challenging.  She is her father's daughter in so many ways and our perspectives are often times polar opposites.  I pray that with time and patience, these differences will give us both wisdom and a deeper appreciation and understanding for each other.  She is a gem and I'm so excited to see what her Heavenly Father has in store for her life.

There is a famous saying that "youth is wasted on the young".  As I get older, I find such truth in these words.  I would have wasted fewer of my days worrying, pining, and lamenting.  I would have been searching my days for people to love, cherishing those that loved me and being less selfish.  I cannot hit the redo button, so I pray that I take advantage of the days I have left, committing my heart and life to the Lord and allowing Him to transform me and use me to His glory.  I know this will continue to be a life long journey for me and I pray for the wisdom and sensitivity to not waste my days. 
 
Be blessed and enjoy your weekend.  May it be full of THE peace that passes all understanding.

"If your house is REALLY A MESS and a stranger comes to the door, greet her with, 'Who could have done this?  We have no enemies.'"   Phyllis Diller

Life has been a bit on the crazy side.  A virus took over my computer and it took several days to get rid of it.  It was not pretty, but thankfully, it is now gone.  The kids were wanting to know what virus meant, so I told them it was a type of bug that made my computer sick.  For some reason, they took it one step further and decided that the computer had ants.  It was funny hearing them talk to each other about computer ants.  I appreciate their creativity.

We spent a day pitting 80 pounds of cherries and then canned them all.  We made jelly, jam, pie filling and canned some of them in their own juices.  It was a long day, but great fun and now we have a huge bounty to show for our efforts.

The end of summer is swiftly approaching and we are scurrying around trying to get "everything" done.  We are waiting for the garden to turn its final corner so we can start eating from it. 

Two birthdays to celebrate this week, doctor's visits, preparing for a truck load of furniture to be delivered that my mom in law selflessly gave us,  spending time with friends and...on the horizon...preparing for school.

"It takes a heap o' living to make a house a home!"  Edgar A. Guest

Deep breath. 

I am having trouble uploading pictures, so that will hopefully be fixed soon.  Then I can SHOW you what we have been up to. 

Have a great day and I'll be back soon.

Chicken Dance

Introducing Clara Cluck!!!!  This is my 78 year old mother-in-law doing a dance routine especially for her grandchildren.  She started doing this four years ago at Christmas.  We were rolling from laughter and have enjoyed each opportunity to see her shaking her tail feathers.  This photo seemed like a great lead in to let everyone know that we will be moving our chicken coop on Wednesday.  

Our next door neighbor made some anonymous complaints about our chickens and demanded that we move them.  We were led by the Spirit and decided to be peacemakers and agreed to move them.  However, I told animal control that we did not have the finances to move them immediately and that she would have to wait for awhile.  The animal control officer surprised me by saying that he and some friends had talked about our situation and were willing to come and move the coop for us.  He blessed our socks off.  The Lord's ways are mysterious, but we are so thankful for them.  So, on Wednesday night, these wonderful neighbors are going to be taking down part of our chain link fence and pulling our large coup to another section of our yard, re-fencing our chicken yard and putting our fence back together.  All I can say is:  WOW!!!!  I'll try and remember to take pictures for you to see.  

I am in the process of re-purposing an old window frame.  I'm making it into a jewelry holder.  This is one of my first re-purposing projects.  I am really looking forward to the finished product and showing off how it turns out.  

The garden is exploding and the kids are out there every day looking for new tomatoes.  They are still small and green, but they are there.  Our peas are out of control!!!  We had to take twine and connect it from the pea fencing to the gutter so they have some more space to climb!!  I had no idea they grew so tall.  Our beans are strong and healthy but they have yet to latch on to their strings.  Our corn is growing strong and only our cucumbers are lagging behind a bit.  I really hope we get a ton of cucumber.  Tomatoes and cucumbers are my absolute favorite and the kids eat them up too.  

Did I mention that our mosquitoes are vicious this year?  With the extra rains, they are taking over!!!  They are also biting through clothes.  The city has already spayed twice this summer.  Yikes!  That lets you know how bad they are.  They end up chasing us indoors even though we want to be outside in the evening when it has cooled off.  I was reading an article about what mosquitoes are attracted to.  It said that there may be a stress component involved.  They are not attracted to you if you are stressed out.  Maybe I need to find a way to be more stressed...at least for the summer months so I can enjoy my evenings out of doors.  


Have a wonderful day...until we meet again...be blessed.