A Joyful Update...

There has been a lot of life happening around here lately.  

I have a ton of things to share but let's start with the fact that... 

I am a new Grandmother!

The new grandson was born April 1st... no, I am not kidding!  LOL  He was 8 pounds 5 ounces and has been growing steadily for the last 3 weeks.  Mom and Dad are doing great, outside of a lack of sleep that is.  I made the trip out to meet him and got a week with my kids and that precious boy.  I am over the moon!  I think I am going to love being a grandmother most of all my roles.  

Just thought I would log on and share that with you guys.  I cannot wait to hold him again soon!

Day One of No Facebook...

It never ceases to amaze me that I go for weeks at a time with no substantial private messages and the day I decide to take a month off I got FOUR!  LOL  That means I went on FB but I did not do anything more than find a video my daughter asked for and answer the four private messages.  

I also spent a few minutes looking for a way to get the private messages without actually going on FB and I figured it out!  Woohoo!!!  You simply go to www.messenger.com and sign in and then you can add notifications to your PC and voila... no more FB checking!  

I did spend some time on Pinterest and Instagram today looking at some bullet journal stuff to inspire me as I am jump starting my BuJo daily use.  

Other stuff I got done today (Feb. 1st) include but are not limited to...

Two loads of laundry

Menu planning

Reading

Sam's Club run

Some writing including edits on a book review

Started Leviticus (finished Genesis and Exodus in January)

Started gathering stuff for a birthday box for the girlie

Answered a bunch of e-mail

Oh, I discovered a new tea I really like, too...

No one else is off FB in my house so I did have the question..... "Did you see what (insert random poster's name here) posted?"  To which I answered.... "Nope.... and I won't until March."  LOL

I did decide that I will continue to send Instagram posts to FB but I don't have to go there to do that.  I had a request for happy posts from afar so that is my solution.  LOL

February 2nd will contain WAY less computer tasks as I go to work and then have the afternoon set aside for reading and dinner prep... there will be lasagna.  I miss my girlie. (she loves lasagna)

So, that is what is happening from my little corner of the world today... boring... simple.... I loved every minute of it!

Photo credit link

Road Trip North...

I love going to Las Cruces, New Mexico.  It has my favorite bookstore in the whole world and a few yarn places I like to visit.  It also has a yearly event called Tournament of Bands (TOB).  This was our 10th year of going with our kids.  It was a magnificent overcast cool day for a band contest.  Thought I would share a few photos from the day for you...

The first thing I did this morning was head to Coas Bookstore for a book signing with Bruce Wilson.  He just published a new book called Death in the Black Patch.  He just happens to be the father of a sweet friend of mine.  I love historical fiction so this is right up my ally.... if I can keep it long enough to read it before my husband snags it I will do a review for this one, too.

The rest of the day was spent looking at this magnificent sky!

and a plethora of bands

This band is the one my son is part of.

It was a great day.

I also came home and wrote over 3,000 more words for NaNoWriMo.  I am sitting just under 9,000 words right now.  I am still plugging away and doing a little reading for inspiration tomorrow.

Hope you guys had a great Saturday and that your Sunday will be one that is a day of recharging for the week ahead.

Beep Beep, Beep Beep Yeah!

Oh my goodness.... I spent the entire day driving around in my car today!  

Tuesdays and Thursdays are such long days but today had an added trip up to NMSU to go and pick up tickets for a band event this weekend.  That drive is about a 45 minute trip one way.  I headed to work first thing and then left from there around 10:30 am to head north.  I acquired the 200 tickets for our band families but while I was parked (literally 10 minutes) I got a ticket for not having a sticker because I am not a student and, well... if you are not a student you would not have a sticker now would you.  

I had to immediately head over to the parking office and explain why I was there and why I should not have to pay that ticket and then they made me fill out a paper to get it "expunged" from my record.  In the process of getting it taken off they realized I did not have a record to expunge it from so they made me fill out another form to register to park on campus for free and then told me how to come by and get a pass when I do come on campus.  The whole thing was a bit of a joke but I appeased the god of campus police and now I know how to avoid any future tickets.  Plus I got a campus map for free, too.  LOL

Once I finally got off campus I headed straight for my favorite bookstore.  I frequent Coas Books when I am in Las Cruces.  It is a used bookstore with two branches in town and one of those branches is close to NMSU.  I had five boxes of books in the back of my car to deliver for store credit and I brought 9 home with me when I left the store.  Not bad.... here is my book haul!

I went a little crazy on the Adriana Trigiani books but I loved the movie Big Stone Gap so I am trying them.  I also bought a book because it had a cute foodie picture and the word Gumbo in the title.  I have no idea how I will like it but it intrigued me so it came home with me. LOL  There is the tried and true Erica Bauermeister that I have read a book by and I know I love her stuff.  The book Dune is for my college girl and then Longbourn is just a highly recommended book by friends.  I love a good book haul!  Oh, and I paid.... ONLY $12.72 FOR THE WHOLE STACK!  Hurrah for credit!

From the bookstore I headed back home to sort tickets and then deliver them to the school for distribution.  It is my thing every fall now I suppose.  I don't load equipment or do chaperoning or offer my cooking services much and lately I don't even frequent the ballgames or most of the contests on Saturdays.  I make sure they have tickets for the big event of the season and that is it.  It is a quiet little job that affords me a small road trip and a bookstore run.  If I had had more time and cash there would have been yarn involved, too.

I also picked up stuff to make lots of pear canned goodies from and for a friend.  We are going "halves" on the final product.  She bought all the ingredients and jars and brought me the recipes she likes best and I am doing all the processing and then we share the final cans of goodies.  The pears are all from trees on her property.  I will share pictures and process when I am done so you can see everything.  

Reading any good books right now you might want to recommend?

How about canning.... do you can?  

If you do are you working on some seasonal stuff right now?

More Change = More Stress Ahead!

Mt. Rushmore - Summer 2016

As another month begins I am living with a constant knot in my stomach!  There has been a LOT of change this summer and we are not done.  I mentioned before that there was a graduation and a wedding and then we had a giant trip to 8 different states over a month's time.  After that we have had a diagnosis of congestive heart failure for one parent and a failed bypass valve with another.  I am done with drastic!  Middle boy has started back with summer band for high school and he will be a junior this year.  We have a girlie leaving for college in 13 days and neither one of us is feeling ready yet.  I may never.... children leaving is just hard.  I am, however, so very excited for what lies ahead for her.

With a new month comes new goals and plans and August is especially full of those kinds of things. Once we get girlie settled we head straight back to prepare here for the start of another school year and the hubby going back to work full time.  I am looking forward to some structure and routine again.  Summers always make me feel discombobulated!

I have books that have been started to finish and new books to begin.  A new Bible study is beginning on August 29th with Love God Greatly and my book has already been ordered.  There are cleaning projects that have been in progress all summer that will continue.  I have a ton of photos of the changes around here. There is furniture to move and some to give away. I have lined up some painting projects and photo sorting projects to keep me busy come August 22nd when I have an empty house again.  Oh, and there are always new menus to plan and a new schedule to coordinate.

I am hoping to be here more... to write more... to share more.  It is in the list of goals for a new semester.

There are also eating and exercise changes coming for me.  It may sound harsh but as I have watched our aging parents struggling with health issues this summer I have determined in my own mind that I will make my future different by being attentive now to the things that can keep me strong and healthy as I age.  I cannot stop everything but I can stop some of it.  The kids and I have all had doctors appointments, dentist appointments and vision testing for new glasses so that is behind us come this Friday.

Dan has been diligent in getting much of his stuff done this summer in regards to his health.  I am grateful that he is concerned with that.  I have watched as others in our family have not been so thoughtful of their loved ones.  It is important to care for one's own health in order to spare such stress to those around us.  You cannot take care of those around you if you don't put your own "oxygen mask" on in a plane emergency and that goes for the rest of your life, too.  I plan on making sure I am able to continue to care for those around me well for as long as I am able.

With that in mind I am also preparing for another Whole30 in September... with the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) restrictions this time.  I will spend August getting ready to hit the ground running for that.

I hope someone is still out there to share all of this with.  LOL

Do any of you have big plans for a reboot for fall?

I would love to hear from you!

Summer is here.... there should be goals right?

My life has been so insane lately that I have let summer sneak up on me with zero personal goals.  It seems the big obvious goal is to make it from one thing to the next right now.  We have had three major life events and a few smaller but important events lately with more on the horizon.  I am hoping there will be a respite at some point before my daughter leaves for college but for now I think I will just give you the rundown of all that is consuming us lately.... with photos.

Eagle Court of Honor

Youngest became an OA member

Girlie had a senior recital 

Youngest got inducted into NJHS

We made a trip to Texas State Solo/Ensemble competition where Em had two first divisions on a solo and an ensemble.... that brings her total to 8 gold medals and one silver for her time in high school.

We had a last day of school... with a senior, sophomore and sixth grader.

We had a graduate on June 13th

and we added a new daughter on June 18th.

I told you.... crazy!  LOL

Now, we are moving toward getting the girlie ready to go off to college.  If I survive the summer we will start over with a new school year come August.

There have been projects, too, but we will save those fun things for another day.

Happy summer...

What are you planning to accomplish this season?

Ch... Ch.... Changes...

For the first time in 22 years I have been home alone during the day this week.

Our youngest started sixth grade at the school where his father teaches.

That would mean that I am no longer a homeschooling mother.

Our days start each morning around 5:30 am.

It was also this week a year ago that our oldest left home to become a Marine.

Seems life never slows...  it is always in flux and changing

It is one of those times in life where one might feel like they are starting over.

It is a new experience for me because, before I had our oldest nearly 22 years ago, I was in graduate school and teaching fifth grade at an intermediate school in Lake Worth, TX... just north of Ft. Worth.  Dan was in SWBTS in Ft. Worth studying to become a pastor and working a landscaping job.  

I was pregnant with our oldest my last year of teaching and I walked the stage to receive my master's degree two months before he was born so I had two months at home tidying the house and preparing for his birth.  Since that time I have never been alone.  I have had children home with me while Dan went to work each day... until this past Monday.  

It has been a strange and quiet week.

I am forging new routines and ways to spend each new day.  

I can assure you I am not bored.  The last thing I ever am is bored.  

It is quite possible that the changes in our life this past week have brought on a Lupus flare.  It has been a true Godsend to be able to rest through it in a way I never would have been able to before this week.  It was as if God knew it was coming at just this moment and that I would need this time to rest and think and plan and recover.  I am grateful it did not come one day sooner.  

I shared, not too long ago, that I read a book by Gretchen Rubin on Habits.  The timing on that read was perfect as well.  I am monitoring my days to see where I can work through habits, schedules and routines to be more efficient and productive with the times when I feel better and have more energy. Mornings seem to be the most productive time of day for me and I am craving earlier bedtimes with the early morning starts.  

So, with our first week coming to a close there will be a football game night for the teens and a weekend full of homework.  I leave you with some first week pictures... and the promise that there will be much more musing on habits and newness and change and routines and cleaning out the house, etc... because this is my new reality and I plan to thrive in it.  Bring on the change... I am ready!

Nineteenth year teaching for Dan and the others are... 

Senior year... Sophomore year... and 6th grade.... here we go!

Whole30 - Day 14.... a chatty post

Some mornings you wake up early and check your messages to find that your employer has cancelled you for the day because she is sick.  So, you grab a cup of coffee, your Bible and computer and head back to bed.  At least that is what I have done this morning.  After being on my feet baking and cleaning a kitchen all day yesterday I am grateful for the slower morning today.  I am sad my friend is sick but I am taking advantage of the down time.

It has been overcast and muggy here lately.  That is typically not the kind of weather we have in May.  It has been a cooler May this year and I am hoping that trend continues a bit longer before we head into the 100+ days.

If you are following along at home you will know that I am currently in the middle of the "Boundless Energy - Now Give Me a Damn Twinkie" phase (Days 12-15) of the Whole30 right now.  I am neither bounding nor craving at this point.  I am just plugging along.  I have not had any crazy dreams but on days 11-12 I did experience the "tighter clothing" to a small degree (a few days late)... just a bit of the bloat for a day or two.  Everything seems to have gone back to normal now, though.

I suspect I have not moved through some of the phases as others have because of several factors.  One, I had pretty much eliminated soy, MSG and nitrites/sulfites from my diet before I ever started this process.  I am allergic to soy and have some pretty serious reactions to the other chemicals... like massive headaches and hives.  So, I ditched those some time ago.  Secondly, I have Lupus and Fibromyalgia junk going on that other people don't deal with.  I think it slows the process of recovery a bit because I still have arthritis, pain and stiffness, and fatigue.  Those won't disappear quickly I am afraid.

I also began eating a more whole food diet several years ago.  This round, for me, was more about ditching sugar and other possible allergens.  I am finding that some things are getting better but I feel I still have a long way to go in relieving the arthritis, body aches and stiffness.  I find that overdoing it activity wise is playing a greater role in the aches and pains than diet right now.

The only thing I am still hanging on to is the coffee.... I do love my coffee but I drink mine black so the only issue is the caffeine.  If I go on to do a second Whole30 at some point I might ditch the coffee and see what happens.  I am limiting my coffee intake to mornings only at this point and am certainly sleeping better because of it and the food choices I am making now.

I don't miss dairy except for my occasional yogurt.  I find that healthy fats and avocado are a great way to curb the cheese I thought I could not give up.  I had stopped drinking milk a long time ago and drink the Cashew and Almond milks with 25 and 30 calories per serving (no sugar) and they suffice very nicely for me.

The only grains I miss are the occasional bowl of oat porridge at breakfast because I just like it. I miss a good bowl of rice to put stuff on top of at dinnertime.  I did eat a lot of rice before I started this process.  I don't know about wheat.... I don't seem to be craving a sandwich or dinner roll and such.  I think over a longer period of time I would miss the treat of biscuits with gravy or a scone or cookie with coffee but it is not something that is torturing me.  I baked cookies yesterday for that event and had no trouble, whatsoever, resisting the urge to taste anything.  My 10 year old was a fine taster of all things sweet yesterday.  My husband came in and devoured a plate of samples I left for him and approved, too.  He is still a sugar addict.  LOL  If it is in the house he will eat it.  His day is coming.

I have been eating some repeat items this week.  I made up a batch of the Sweet Potato/Brussel Sprout Hash and have had that several mornings this week.  I also finished off my Paleo Chili and have had another round of the Zoodle Spaghetti with Paleo Meatballs.  I made a few chicken breasts up to cut up on top of salads for lunches and a homemade vinaigrette to go with it.  We had a Curried Chicken Broccoli Coconut Soup last night that the family ate over rice and I just had plain.  I have also had my Paleo Shrimp Fried Rice (grated cauliflower) a few times.  I will post a collage of food from the week tomorrow.

I think Dan is getting hamburgers for the kids tonight because it will be a rushed evening and the recital falls at dinnertime.  We have to leave the house very early to set up a reception table for a recital with those cookies I baked and a bowl of punch for my MIL.  She is playing a piano recital tonight that she has been preparing for over a year.  I will eat something here before I go and pack a Larabar and a bottle of water just in case.

Well, I am off and running now.... getting breakfast and another cuppa coffee and then gathering supplies for tonight while my youngest is plugging away with his school stuff.

I will have some links, books, and a recipe or two to share with you tomorrow.  I will have more time to work on a collage and putting that together in the morning.  Have I mentioned how much I love www.picmonkey.com ?  It is FANTASTIC!  See you soon!

Newsy Hodge Podge...

I am confined to one end of the house today.

We got a new air conditioning unit on Friday and while they were installing it they discovered rusted ducts in one section.... down the main hallway between the living areas and the bedrooms.  They are tearing the whole mess out today and installing new ones.  We finally made the switch from evaporated air to central heating and cooling and I could not be more thrilled!  We will finally have a cool summer inside while it is sweltering outside.  I just took an allergy pill, though, because this will be a rough day of rust and dust and dead bug stuff coming from the vents until it is finished. 

The kids are all preparing for AP exams this week and so our schedule is going to be long and crazy for them and there are two birthdays this week.  My Daddy turns 78 and my husband turns 50.  We will try to carve out time for a Dr. Pepper cake and maybe some homemade ice cream.  We would typically just buy Blue Bell but, well, there is none right now in the freezers at any of our stores in town.  We don't buy anything else so, to us, homemade is the only other option.  Dan will not be heartbroken over it, I can assure you. 

I caved on the read-a-thon at some point around midnight on Saturday because I had church on Sunday and needed to be wide awake for that but I did finish A Raisin in the Sun before I closed my eyes.  This was the second time I have read this play.  I plan on watching the play with my daughter at some point over the next few weeks.... the Sidney Poitier version and a newer version made just a few years ago.  Em finished the book over spring break so it will be a treat to see it together.  It is coming from Netflix in the mail.  

Dan and the boys had a camping weekend while Em and I did the Secret Church on Friday and read all day Saturday.  She was working on her studies for history while I read other books.  She made it out to praise team practice and then youth study Saturday evening.  The men folk got in early Sunday morning and then we did our typical crazy Sunday schedule.  The Korean church celebrated Dan with a cake yesterday.  They have loved on us well since we started there almost a year ago.  They are a precious group of people!

There were two cakes... Dan had the smaller of the two and the second one was for a 47th wedding anniversary of a couple in the church.  Dan is always glad to share.  You can see from his body language in this photo below he is not an attention seeking person.  He is always humbled when people celebrate him in any way.

My man!

I am taking on a few more work days lately so that my friend can get to doctor's appointments and physical therapy.  She is doing very well and I am glad to be able to help out.  She is very generous with feeding and compensating us for our time, too.  I love spending time with her.  We have become quite the pals over the last year.  She is a precious woman.  

Everything is good news coming from our oldest and we are grateful for all his amazing opportunities.  The teenagers are so crazy busy they barely have time to breathe but we have about 5 1/2 weeks of school left before summer begins for them.  There will be scout camps and youth camps and mission trips this summer so it won't slow down much but this will be the fun stuff with no homework.  Our youngest is getting excited about going to public school next year and we will no longer be a homeschooling family come June.  It is bittersweet but I know God has designed such an amazing situation for us to be able to home school and then "public school" our children with some of the best teachers we could ask for.  We do have quite an unusual opportunity where we are because of Dan's job and because of the situation with our high school being connected with a military post.  We have some real quality educators and many are Christians, too!  

I am starting the Whole30 plan on Friday this week (May 1st).  I am making some menu plans and continuing to read the two books I have on this topic.... It Starts With Food and The Whole30 both by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig.  I will do a big grocery run over at Sprouts on Thursday of this week to load us up with the good stuff.  Dan is doing at least dinners with me and the kids are usually game for whatever I am serving whenever they are home so no worries about them.  I know there will be a request or two for muffins and desserts but they have been given notice we are doing 30 days off of that but they will get to keep their tortillas and bread for sandwiches and breakfast burritos.  They will live.  

Some of you might like to see some more of my decluttering for 2015 so I worked on one of my desks last week.  Dan had refinished this a few years ago and it got piled on when my paper shredder broke.  I got a new one and so I went through everything and either ditched it, put it in a new home, or shredded it.  Here is the progression...

Piled high and ready to topple

I can see the top but the notebooks are still piled high and ready to be cleaned out

The finished product ready to use for a workspace.  Look at that lovely old desk!  It was my Meemaw's vanity desk way back when I was a wee lass.  It used to have an old mirror that went with it but that wore out many years ago.  I have a little bench that goes with it but prefer a chair so the bend is somewhere else in the house.

I am choosing a new area to work on this week.  

Eating the elephant one bite at a time is just the way to go for me.  

 That's the news from our little corner of the world.  I will work on a linky post for later in the week with lots of stuff to read and check out.  

Spring Break is here...

We started our spring break with a Saturday at Merit Badge University and a Jazz Festival Contest.   Dan took Em to perform on the piano with her jazz band Saturday morning and I took our middle boy up to New Mexico State University to work on his climbing merit badge.  It took all day for him to complete it.  They went up on the mountain to do the climbing and repelling and fulfill the requirements for this.  

While he was on the mountain I spent time visiting with other moms and some scout leader friends from a variety of troops in the southwest area that I have met over the past 12 years of our time in scouting.  I also wandered around the campus a bit to check out the farm animals.  It is an agriculture and livestock school to a large degree.  I loved the sheep!  They have been lambing over the past few weeks and the lambs are all so sweet.  The different breeds and coloring on each are fascinating.  This particular photo was taken during a feeding time so they are lining up to eat in the trough.  They are used for trials for masters and doctorate students to use.  I learned that you can keep four sheep for every one cow in the spaces provided and that many trials are done on sheep instead of cows.  The information transfer to cattle application works because they are so similar that they get valid results for both animals.  I had a great time just watching sheep and visiting.  It was nice to have the down time.

On Sunday we attended church, ate at Dan's parents and then went to see Son of God on post at the Grand Theater.  I love going on post.  The boys always gravitate toward the giant chess board.  They are so funny carrying those giant pieces around to make a play! 

We woke to temps in the upper 30's and lower 40's this morning.  It has been a bit cooler the last few days and it has been nice.  The heat will be here soon enough.  

The chickens are back to laying daily... at least the three that are not BROODY!  Our two Australorps are broody now and we are contemplating some baby chicks to shove under them to draw them out.  We wanted to add a chick or two this season anyway so this might work out for us.  The only problem is that we need girl chicks because we are not allowed to have a rooster in the city limits.  I am not sure how to handle it if I have to take a chick back and make "Mama" mad that her baby is gone.  I will need to talk to the chicken guy out at the feed store to see what he recommends and go from there.

Aren't these eggs beautiful?!?!  

Dan (and two of our boys) and a guy that works at our church (landscaping guy) started a walkway in our front yard this morning.  They knocked out the border this morning and will lay in the sheets of flagstone tomorrow.  Dan has been saving up money to get this done and I am so glad to see some curb appeal work being done so soon.  I say soon... we have only been in this house for 11 years now.  LOL  I mean soon because of how fast we were able to save up to do it once we made a plan.

So, we have only just started our week and have been super hard at work it seems.  I don't plan that every day is this busy over the break but I did knock out some laundry and deep cleaned on the kitchen some this morning.  I also made laundry detergent and made a grocery run so we can eat the rest of the week.

I am still working through some study materials with the Good Morning Girls and the If:Equip groups as well as staying on my caffeine, gluten and sugar fast.  It seems to be taking some time to detox this time but I am not miserable like I have been in years past when I have done this.  I am still having the achy-ness and headaches but they are tolerable.  It helps to eat really nourishing food and drink lots of water through this process.

The rest of the week holds some gardening chores and chicken coop cleaning and relocating.  I need to fix my Adirondack chair and repaint it for a new season.  There will also be sewing and crochet and reading.... those things I truly enjoy so they are not like work to me.

I will keep you posted on the chick situation.  LOL  You might get a recipe or two this week, too.  I am still cooking and baking all the time.  I need to discipline myself to write things down and share them with you.

Are you on spring break this week?  

What are you working on in your time off?  

I would love to hear!

Half a month gone...

Life seems to be flying by and Thanksgiving is almost upon us again!   October is always what we call "Band-tober" because it is loaded with rehearsals and contests for the entire month for our children's marching band.  It is a little nuts and even more so when we have a child getting to do the featured solo (which happens occasionally).  Our daughter was the flute soloist and there was a flute ensemble feature part this year, too.  The whole section did a beautiful job.

Once that is over I get just a tiny glimmer of hope for some rest and then all-region season begins... all-region middle school band, all-region choir for high school, all region high school band.  On top of that are all the rehearsals for Christmas programs that step up the practice time.  It can be quite overwhelming and invariably I let the old blog go during such times.

I am trying to organize my home and my thoughts as we are heading at breakneck speed toward a new year, too.  We are clearing out stuff and getting ready to shift lots of furniture and rooms to make it more comfortable for us and to be able to give Dan a desk space that he has needed for years.  I just hope he does not let it pile up once it moves into the house.  I might have to make a curtain to cover his space at some point.  I kid... sorta... ;)  Hmmmm.... maybe a partition.  Maybe...

Oldest is preparing to move out soon so I am going to reclaim the sunroom, too.  I am thinking of turning it into a sunroom/mudroom for garden tools, work clothes, some cute wicker furniture, and a small partitioned area for my kitchen shelf that is being stored out there with stuff on it.  I would actually like to clear the kitchen out enough to move everything in but that would also require a remodel which is out of our price range at the moment.  Eventually...

For the next few weeks I am currently doing a Thanksgiving study and then an Advent study through the Good Morning Girls website.  The studies keep me focused on what is truly important.  I am also reading a few books that are Advent and season related.  One is called Christmas is Not Your Birthday by Michael Slaughter.  I have a few Advent devotional/seasonal books that I have pulled out to read through December, too.  If you are interested in keeping up with what I am reading you can go to my Good Reads link in the sidebar and it is updated as I add and finish books.

The chickens are doing well.... they are back to laying better since the molting Rhode Island Reds and one broody Australorp.  We have just been loving them through the process and they are rewarding us again with delicious eggs.  They are sweet curious creatures.

My tomatoes and carrots are still going strong so I am letting them stay in the garden to run their course.

We have opted this year to wait on turning on the heater and it has been rather pleasant in the house with it off.  My sinuses are thanking me for not tormenting them with that dry dusty air, too.  The temps have not been too unbearable... lows in the 40's and sometimes into the 30's but I just throw on a cardigan and continue moving to work around the house and yard.

I am still baking for anyone who wants to order and am currently taking orders for Thanksgiving.  I am also still doing 2-3 shows a month with Pampered Chef and enjoy those events that get me out and enjoying friends.  We use the extra money I make to pay for music lessons and incidentals that crop up with kids... and there are always incidentals when you have kids.  You moms know exactly what I mean!

So, I think you are up to speed.... hope I have not bored you with my little update.  Life is not complicated around here.  In Him we live and move and have our being...  (Acts 17:28)  God is good all the time and in everything and we are grateful.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Leann

Middle of the night trauma...

About a week ago we had a centipede enter the house through my sunroom... where the oldest lives.  Instead of killing it he just moved to the couch to sleep hoping it would disappear.  I suppose this is an ongoing pattern with this kid... ignore it and it goes away.  NOT!!!

So, it made it's way into our house and into our living room.  I tried chasing it down and it escaped behind the bookshelves and then I did not see him again for the next four days or so.  I prayed throughout that time that the children would not be hurt or freaked out.

Sometime in the night last night he decided to come into my bedroom and make his way to my bed.  At approximately 1:00 am I felt the little scratchy legs and a mouth about to chomp so I literally flung it across the room, heard something hit the wall and I switched the lamp on to see it scurrying across the floor.  At this point Dan and I were wide awake and that sucker was going to die before I dared close my eyes again.  

So, he died...

and it took me a solid hour to wind down enough to go back to bed.

I sat up in bed with the light on and read until I was calm and ready to close my eyes again.

This could have been so much worse!

He could have gotten in bed with one of my children and bit them.

He could have succeeded in biting me.

I am grateful for God's protection.  

I am grateful for answered prayer for my family.