Introducing.....

Here are HP (Henny Penny), CL (Chicken Little), Beatrice, and Beulah.

Amy and I are excited about the Peaches. Isn't it gorgeous? It will be made into Peach Jam.

I don't want to get too confident, but we may get the blueberries this year instead of the birds. The girls and I covered old tomato cages with tulle and put them around the bushes. We can see the blueberries ripening. Yummy for muffins. I've got a new bush to plant also, so that will make 5 bushes. All the fruit trees are planted and most are staked up and mulched. We've eaten green beans twice from the garden and gotten 4 yellow squash. There are some tiny cucumbers on the plants. Greg and Will built the cucumber support the other day, so now they have a nice place to grow up instead of out.

Its been a tremendously busy week so far and its going to get busier. I've been sewing some sashes for bible school which starts on Friday. The girls have made Egyptian Collars for the kids to decorate out of colored fun foam. Now we are coming up with a pattern for the adult collars out of glittery foam sheets. We've also got to cut straws to use for bracelets. It'll be a busy and fun weekend.

Next week the kids are helping 'Rie at her VBS.

Ballet

They practiced for months...they ordered the costumes...they played the music all the time...they were beautiful... We are praising the Lord for a Christian Ballet teacher who loves the girls and always has creative, worshipful recitals!

If you would like your daughter to be part of this ministry you can contact Abigail Patterson on Facebook: CTM School of Dance or email crosstiedministries@hotmail.com. Please tell her I sent you! The prices are reasonable and the fellowship is great!

Multitude Monday 86-120

86. cousins swimming in the pool

87. a beautiful ballet recital

88. little chicks getting used to their home

89. visits from Mom to Miss.

90. days spend with my husband

91. using my new camera to take recital pictures (bought since last recital)

92. the gift of "gleaning" in someones garden

93. Bible study on Marriage we started last night

94. Netflix...we are catching up on seasons of "24" we have not seen

95. Homestead Blessings DVD's

96. books to read and re-read

97. involvement and church & feeling like my input is respected

98. a wonderful friend who canned my 19 quarts of green beans last week

99. fresh, frozen vegies from the truck at the co-op on Sat.

100. Turkey dinner in June

101. cucumber plants that are taking off

102. huge thriving squash plants

103. staked up, mulched fruit trees

104. a small church youth group with involved parents

105. Breyer's new Chocolate Popsicles, wow, they are yummy

106. 2 weeks with no caffeine

107. gallons of tea sweetened with Sun Crystals

108. lazy nights at home

109. enrolling Katie in College Plus this week

110. a Son who has gone back to college

111. a girlfriend who is encouraging the college attendance

112. a full dinner table

113. the first ribs Greg grilled this year...Awesome!

114. cross stitch pictures

115. nasty kisses from my niece and nephew

116. lots of hugs and thank you's from my niece and nephew

117. strawberries waiting to be turned into jelly

118. a friend who likes the same stuff I do

119. Brach's Jelly Beans (I buy many bags after Easter and make them last...I hide them!)

120. Bible School this weekend at church

The Pool Hall

5 years ago, when Greg bought this house, he also bought a pool table. Since there is no room inside, the "Pool Hall" is our double garage. Its got a piece of carpet on the floor and a fancy light over the table. Here are the pool sharks in action last week!





Thats Will and my nephew Ben. They spent lots of time last week playing pool, swimming and playing the Wii. We had a great visit!

Ben thanked me many times for inviting him to visit! He was really sweet and I really enjoyed him and Bethany coming to Miss. with Granny.

Tomorrow...dance recital pictures! It was AWESOME!

Its been Busy

Last week was a pretty calm week. We got stuff done, had lots of down time, relaxed a little, etc. This week is a whole different chapter in that book of our lives.

*After picking up the girls from dance on Tuesday, we were in a bad rainstorm. I stopped at a traffic light. The lady behind me couldn't stop in time, she rear ended us. Sitting in a braked car and getting hit from behind makes your back and neck sore. Thank heavens no one was seriously injured in either car. and Praise the Lord, she had insurance.

*About an hour later, Mom, Ben and Bethany got to our house. Its really lively when they are here. It takes a while for Bethany and Hershey to get used to each other. But this visit, it happened pretty quickly.

*Wed. morning I went with Greg to the dr. to check out some concerns we both had about his health and the advisibility of him going to Haiti. We stayed there for a couple of hours and then they sent him to another dr. I couldn't go the 2nd time because of Katie's grad. party that afternoon. In the middle of this BJ calls and asks if we are ready to pick beans in his garden, ummm, no too busy today, maybe tomorrow.

*Katie's pool party started at 1. I prayed for sun from 1-3. The Lord sent us a thunderstorm about 1:45 and it lasted till 2:15 or so. Plan B was quickly thought up and put into action. After the girls consummed unreal amounts of ice cream, sprinkles, syrups, whipped cream, candy/cookies, and of course a cherry on top, we played the game Apples to Apples. They all had a blast and then got to swim again after the rain.

*We ate leftovers for dinner and then all headed to church for bible study. Then I took one of the muscle relaxers the dr. gave me for my back pain from the wreck. It relaxed every single, solitary muscle in my body including my eyelids. I had a great nights sleep.

*We got up and picked loads of green beans. It took 9 of us 1 1/2 hours to pick the 2 rows. Mom, the kids and I got busy at home snapping. My buddy is going to can them for me and I am going to sew a quilt top for her. I want to learn to pressure can, but this is not a great week for that.

*Then it was orthodontist time. One of Amy's bands broke on Sunday night and this was the first appt. we could get (their office is moving). Unfortunately, the space closed up and they couldn't get the new band on, so they put spacers back in. Then to dance for several hours, a trip to Target, dance again, then Chick Fil A for dinner.

*Tomorrow is the dress rehearsal for dance.
*Sat. Greg is cooking ribs and then we have the recital.
*Sunday will bring a full day of church with services, visiting, parent meeting, and new marriage Bible Study.

Multi- Tasking

Some days I am a great multi-tasker. I can do several things at once and get them done correctly. But today was not one of those days...

Here's what happened

Wash laundry
Hang it up
Start another load
grind wheat
mix & bake muffins
clean pan
hang up another load
mix up cookie dough
bake 2 pans of cookies
run outside because its starting to rain on the clean clothes
put more cookie dough in the oven
do another load of laundry
get something out of the attic
read email
listen to tremendous thunder storm
look at dance schedule

Did you notice anything unusual in that list? I forgot the last 2 trays of cookies were in the oven...big, stinky, blackened OOPS!!!

Some days multi-tasking just doesn't work!

Then I read my buddies blog and am trying to figure out what she means? She has a special talent for typing in riddles that my mind can't fathom. But, she is still my friend and she makes some great homemade icecream!

Praying the rain leaves this area before K's party tomorrow.

Daybook 6-1-2010

Outside My Window... It is sunny, warm, and beautiful. Temps will be in the mid 90's again today and for the rest of the week.

I am thinking... of all the things we are doing on this week

I am thankful for... Our Military: past, present & future. They protect and defend our great country and some make the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms.

From the learning rooms... No bookwork. We are reading, watching old movies, & having fun playing with & watching our baby chicks

From the kitchen... we will be making peanut butter cookies, rice krispie treats and chocolate chip muffins. We've got company coming for the week and we need snacks to keep these children happy.

I am wearing... denim skort, flowered t-shirt, blue tennies

I am creating... working on my "His Name is Jesus" cross stitch.

I am going... to be driving to ballet 4 days this week. Its recital week and the girls will be busy!

I am reading... Just finished the Gilbert Morris series (it was good) last night, so I need to find something else to read

I am praying... that we make Godly financial decisions in every area of our lives

I am hearing... Talk Radio. They are discussing a new curriculum for public schools about Civil Rights. But, it is written by a "self-Proclaimed" communist, it is very biased and is full of Hate-speech. Praise the Lord for Homeschooling!

Around the house... Cleaning, finishing laundry, baking, changing bed sheets

One of my favorite things... visits from Mom

A few things for the rest of the week... Katie's graduation party, lots of ballet rehearsals & recital, fun in the sun

A picture to share...

See the little orangey peaches on the tree? We had to commit "peach a side" again and thin the fruit on the top of the tree. It was so heavy, it was bending over and touching the ground.

Please visit Peggy at http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com to visit with more women!

I hope you have a blessed and wonderful day!