And While I'm At It...

...let me go ahead and post this little photo.this handsome fellow (isn't he just as cute as a button) is the 29 inch, 8 1/2 pound catfish my daughter caught while we were on vacation a few weeks ago.she went out on the lake with my father while i stayed on the dock. i guess she was pretty freaked out and thought this monster was going to pull her in the water with it. funny thing, so did my dad. the other funny thing. she caught this 29 inch fish on a 24 inch barbie pole. guess this goes to show you that barbie isn't all about baking cookies for the boys.

Our Wonderful Day!

well folks, i happen to believe that today was just about as perfect of a day as anybody can have. the weather was absolutely beautiful and we went for a nature walk. now, i must admit...i have quite the hard time making a nature walk believable. don't get me wrong. i love to take a walk and study this wonderful creation that God has given us...but i just don't enjoy talking about it while i do it. this is where my enjoyment of nature and a small child's enjoyment of nature with their mom clash head on. so, i try my best. usually i will notice most things before they do and that gives me a minute to reflect silently before the "hey look"s and the "do you think it is this"s start.at the invitation of my dear friend amy (who has a blog) and accompanied by another dear friend kelly (who sadly does not have a blog) we went for a walk on this beautiful nature trail near amy's house. it winds it's way along mill creek.
they enjoyed finding leaves, nuts and flowers which had fallen from the trees and plants,and they enjoyed stopping to watch the ducks.
but i think most of all they enjoyed finding all types of fungus...oh, and having ice cream cones at the end. :) this was a completely wonderful day. one i know my kids and i will remember for a long time to come. i can only pray you were blessed with such a wonderful day too!

It's Been Too Long...So Now For Something Funny!

well, it seems i have been dealing in the land of the serious lately. and even though that time still hasn't passed here at home or in my head, here is something funny for you. because really, you don't read blogs all the time to here about other people's issues. so here for your enjoyment is a little picture story of sorts which illustrates how my little peanut eats cake...every single time. enjoy!
hmmm, this cake sure is tasty. i wonder what could make it even better?
wait, i know...
...my feet!
why didn't i think of that before?
do you want some?

And Of Course He Provides

well, this past sunday was a day to remind me that even though i feel as if i haven't heard His voice for about eight months and i can't explain why it seems all hope is lost and then there's a glimmer of hope and then that is squelched too...He is still providing. here's the story. as i think you're all aware, we homeschool. now, it's nowhere near the expense of a private school, but with bills and whatnot well...you just wonder where the money for extra school activities is going to come from. i had just mentioned to The Big Guy during my shower (my favorite prayer time by far) that i wasn't sure how we were going to pay for two of my daughter's activities. later that day somebody called unexpectedly and purchased some of my jewelry from my etsy shop. i was ecstatic just because i sold something and then i realized that what i sold was what i needed to pay for the activities, to the exact penny. God is good. and then a terrific friend took care of our family's physical needs and more. and if that wasn't enough, another friend called and asked if she could do some shopping for me that she didn't even know i needed done, but i had realized i wouldn't be able to get done. it's all these little things that serve to remind me to "remember the lillies of the field." i may feel like He has abandoned me and all that seems important and i hold dear appears to be spiraling out of control but He hasn't left me, and He won't...ever.

And Now For Little People Quotes Part Deux

well, i promised to let you in on what my seven year old really thinks about me. so, here goes.

a few weeks ago she was reading this book by tomie depaola. it's a lovely little book with the history of popcorn but oh, how she wove my age into it was not so cute. she proceeded to tell me that when she was reading this book she found out that the indians made popcorn right on the cob...like back in 1980 or something. when i informed her that i was living in 1980 she shuttered and paled.

and finally, last week we were on vacation in illinois. we were driving around and pointing out what was new since we last visited and our oldest was the only one awake to take it all in with us. after a little while she asked what we were doing. and i said to her, "we're just driving around looking, but aren't you lucky because your brother and sister are asleep and that means you have mommy and daddy all to yourself." her answer? "i think i'm going to go to sleep."

Toppins For Sale...

ok, not really. but i have finally linked my etsy shop to this here blog. you'll find it over in the sidebar. it's called handmadespecialties. yep, all one word...cause we all know they don't like spaces when you're entering in a screen name. so, check it out. i haven't sold anything yet (it's only been about two weeks so i'm not fretting... yet) but hey, maybe some day right?

She Knows Me All Too Well

this is going to be ultra short, but before i forgot all about it, i just had to let you lovely readers know what my oh too cute almost 2 year old peanut just said. i was holding her all little baby style and smooching on her (which she loves, of course!) and i noticed this big ol' line of drool coming out of the corner of her mouth. first things first, she is totally excused because the poor thing has been battling four, count 'em f-o-u-r, sprouting eye teeth for about i'd say, oh, forever now. but anyway, i commented to her about the drool and told her that a lady needed to keep that kind of thing in her mouth. i asked her "what kind of lady would leave that kind of thing all over their face?" and you know what she said without hesitation? "my mom." ah, if only i carried a tape recorder with me. tonight maybe i'll impart some words of wisdom to you from my 7 year old daughter on how old and not so interesting i am!

realizations...

well, it's been awhile i know. we were on vacation. we went to visit family. and while it's great to visit family and kick back in the twilight watching the bats fly overhead and listening to the coyotes howl (not to mention driving a 2007 mazda 6 too) but it's also great to be home. back to the norm...if you can actually call anything around here normal. :) but anywho, i have a few realizations for today...

realization #1 - school starts tomorrow. i have been purchasing books for months and planning for weeks but it hadn't sunk in yet. tomorrow is the day. remember us in prayer...please.

realization #2 - you can't let the decisions other people make change yours. unless you're talking about the saints.

realization #3 - my little girl is not so little any more. she's starting second grade tomorrow. she likes lip gloss and is worried about her clothes matching. she's starting to learn things like hospitality. it's beautiful (and scary) at the same time.

realization #4 - we need to get more of a schedule around here. the whole family is composed of creatures of habit and while we schedule school daily, we have yet to schedule needing cleaning, chores, etc. so this year we will be doing a bit more flying and hopefully lessing crashing and burning. while i don't do the whole routine, there are some parts of it which will definitely help our family.

well, there you have it.