What are we doing?

PS. If you’re here from All in a Day Series I will refrain for this week due to the fact that I don’t, indeed, have my act together on Sunday mornings. We are frequently late for church or at least getting there right on time. So for this week, I will sit out and read your wonderful advice that I already know but hope I get a renewed determination to apply.

At our home, we have battled sickness for a month or more. Finally, the wave of sickness has swept on by us and we are slowly picking back up. We still have the occasional surge of an earache which could be the result of a horrible ear infection/rupturing from this little darling:

At her sickest….

We also made a startling discovery about this little man, which I hope to share in a future (hopefully-not-too-far-away), after he relapsed time and time again with his sickness bout. After herbal intervention, he is doing so much better:

Putting on his own pajamas, at the motel…

My sister-in-law and her kids spent a week at her mom’s and my children enjoyed playing with their cousins:

Quiet time after playing all day outside

Emma & Ella

A rare, decent picture of me…I don’t know what Ella was looking at…

Lots, lots of block castle-building going each day…

A side profile, taken by my son…

My daughter, the doll lizard lover, playing with her newest pet, Lizard, in her dollhouse (um, lizard house). See him?

See how dirty a country gal can get?

The latest toy, Polly Lizard-et…this girl really gets into her animal playing, let me tell you.

What a cutie…

Comfort food….Biscuits AND…..

Tomato Gravy! :)

And always….

TASTE-TESTERS!

You’re never to old to play with blocks!

One side of my living room after Spring Cleaning! Yes, I’ve started already! (Could it have to do with a book I’ve recently read that has extremely inspired me? More on that later)

Rearranging a bit…

Clutter Free!!

(Now, on to the REST of my house!)

I also have put some of my garden in!! I am super excited about that, always after feeding the chickens, heading out there to check the progress! I know we may have another bit of a cold snap, but I’m willing to cover my plants. We started our seedling indoors and have more that are germinating now. Pictures to come!

The children and I have been LOVING this warmer weather. Of course, with mixed emotions—knowing that super HOT weather is around the corner.

Today finds me with something going on with my eye, so after a small bit of grocery shopping, gift buying (our oldest girl turns SIX tomorrow), I will head to the eye doctor to see what is ailing my eye.

May the Lord richly fill you with His wisdom today. Wisdom to guide your home and lead your children in all the ways of truth.

Just talking…

ETA...if you are joining from the All in a Day linkup, I will get my post up this afternoon sometime...please come back for a visit. :) Thanks!! :)

It seems I have let a few days go by without blogging. I don’t want to get back in to a no-blogging zone, but alas, I haven’t had a burning blog post on my mind as of late.

Maybe I’ll just share some photographs and talk and such.

I am redoing my bedroom and as soon as I finished painting and hang some curtains, I will have some photos to share. :)

I’ve only got the littles up with me this morning and it has been interesting to note how things are with 2 littles. I’m reminded of when my oldest two was this size and I had no older children. :) That actually should be a sad face.

Okay, a few pictures…

I enjoy decorating for each holiday and Valentines is no exception. I don’t go all out, but I do enjoy adding a few splashes of pink (oh, how I love pink) to our neutrals of greens, browns, and reds.

The kids made a banner for the mantle. I just cut out some circles from paper plates, put some sequins, glitter, feathers, and yarn on the table and they did not disappoint.

I replaced this coffee table with the one below for a more functional, organizational one.

Purchased from my favorite store, Dirt Cheap (in lieu of TARGET), for $16.99!

Ella’s new ‘mean eyes’…she furrows her brows a bit more than this usually….

Miss this guy when he is out of town!! :/

Emory’s best ‘pirate’ pose, ‘ARGH’

I can have ice cream!

Daddy & Ella

Look at this handsome cutie….poor thing had a rough night with the virus bug last night. :(

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Yesterday, while reading my Bible, I came across this scripture and it had been a LONG time before a scripture really touch my heart like this one did. Wow.

When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. Jonah 2:7

Ever have times you just need to remember the Lord?

I love God’s word!

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The book, Boyhood and Beyond by Bob Schultz (and the other one by him) is a GREAT book. If you have sons, get this book. It is a great read to read along with your sons, but, hey, It has helped me TONS!

Just a recommendation that will be well worth your reading time.

You can get it from Vision Forum.

Have a great Wednesday!!

Scarce…

Whew…let me catch my breath long enough to do what will probably be more of a photo post than anything.

Folks, summer is here. The temps are scorching, the garden is IN, and the summer festivities (Youth Camp, anyone?) are upon us.

My posting may be a bit scarce over this summer, regretfully. I think the garden will be the main reason. I normally blog in the early mornings and I’m afraid that during that time, I will be pickin’ and grinning.

Here are a few things we have been doing:

Horseback riding…Erin and her ‘boyfriend’/cousin, Blake…take note that he became her boyfriend after he rode her on his horse…. More…..

Erin & Evan…

Emory was a bit nervous…I think the older we get, the more nervous we get…

Daddy trying to coax Ella…. :)

Aren’t they beautiful?

They are in the pasture right behind my in-laws house.

More Summer things….

After some Berry Pickin’

Helping Mama de-stem the Mulberries…

Fresh Mulberries! Ready for jam…

All Crushed…I made 2 pints and 1 half-pint jar full of Mulberry jam. It is delicious! I picked more today…

~Summer Babies learning to wave bye-bye~

Cute Kids ready for YOUTH CAMP!! :)

Shucking Corn…

Country Bumpkins!

Looking for worms…

Good Garden Helper!

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I hope you will stop by for a visit this summer! I love to hear from each of you and visit your blogs. Today is Sunday and I must rest (husband’s orders…:o) and recuperate from a week of Youth Camp late hours!

Later, Tater! :) (Sorry, but I’ve sure been digging a lot of potatoes….it’s affecting my speech even. :)

What a Blessed Weekend!

Good morning, readers friends! I trust that you had a wonderful weekend filled with God’s blessings upon your family. No doubt, you did, because:

Every good and perfect gift is from above. and cometh down from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17

Thursday night was my first ever Piano Recital and it turned out great! The weather was awful and I thought that would surely hinder our crowd, but we had a turnout of about 35 people, I’d presume! My students did splendidly:

my older students…one is missing due to being out of town…

My youngest student, with lil sis admiringly looking on…

one with my only male student :)…and the refreshments

A close-up of the cake….yummy…made by my Aunt :)

Then Saturday night, lo and behold, we were invited to a Sweet 16 fancy-smancy birthday party! I could even bring a date! See who I brought…

He’s been my date for 14 years now! :) Oh, and he was in mid-song during this picture. He is so known for his singing ability and to be able to find an appropriate song for every situation/occasion. :)

Oh, but here is the Birthday Girl (yes, she is pictured in one of the above photos):

Our best friends who sat at the table with us:

My childhood friend married my husband’s childhood friend….:)

Sunday morning found us in front of the opened freezer door, trying to get some relief for my crouping daughter. Ella and I stayed home with her from church. Erin spent lots of time resting (i.e. watching Dora..ha) and I straightened up the house a bit. Before the ‘men’ came home, she and I made a pizza for lunch.

working on the crust….

Puttin’ on the toppings…

More toppings (the peppers are fresh from the garden)…..Bellpeppers, olives, peps, banana peppers, portabella shrooms….

Ready to go in…..

There is nothing quite like the satisfaction of making and eating your own homemade pizza! It was really good, even if I did forget to put the salt and oil in the crust. :)

Before the kids napped, I read to them a little out of our current Read-Aloud,

During their nap, I worked on a project that I will unveil in a separate post tomorrow. I also started to work on organizing the kids’ rooms. I feel like that is a project that I need to revisit every month for it to stay organized! Anyway, I sorted blocks, littlest pet shops, animals, small trucks, baby toys, baby dolls, magnetic toys, etc…into separate bins. I even broke a sweat and I’m not so sure I rested enough for a Lord’s Day. :/

While the men went back to church for Evening Worship, Erin settled back in front of Dora (I never let her watch that much Dora, or anything for that matter, but, I digress…we did swing for awhile). Once I noticed she seemed very lethargic and her cheeks were flushed. I decided I’d better check her temp. It was 101.8. I thought I would wait a little before I gave her medication so the fever could do its work. I made some cookies, Chocolate Chip Mint Cookies (for you, Amy, j/k) and then worked some more on my organizing. Erin’s fever seemed to get worse, so I told her to get in the bathtub and then I would take her temp after her bath. It was 103. I gave her Tylenol and within minutes her fever was completely gone and she was playing. I told my husband that someone was praying for our little girl. I have never seen temperature go down that fast!

Here she is…doing a quiet activity before bed …making a clock…(she loves to sleep in her slip)

Here is Evan playing with the newly organized small trucks:

I’ve got to take more pictures of Emory…he is practicing the guitar and taking lessons from his Dad now. I will have to get a picture of him playing. He really does look like a natural.

Well, today has begun. The children are awake and it’s time to begin our day! May you be blessed. :)

PS. Check out our Garden Tour in the post below!

Thank you for your comments. They are so encouraging to me. Honestly.