ya thunk i'd up & left, did ya?

Not knowing I needed, and would, I took the summer off from blogging.  A hiatus of sorts.  Time to wade through heavy issues like homeschooling, a month of "vacation", blogger photo issues (which seem to be resolved, praise GOD!) and an unexpected trip back.  We've spent lots of time in the pool, on bikes and with friends.  It's all coming to a close as I make final decisions on homeschooling curricula and the littles spend their last week and a half surrounding themselves with their bestest of besties.  (At least those here in IL.)

With that being said, I'll try to pack in as many photos as possible because you know how I love a photo-filled post.  wink wink.

So, when I mentioned homeschool did you shake your head in disbelief?  I've ridden a roller coaster of emotions for the last 3 months - complete terror, peace, and brain-riddling confusion.  I've always said I wasn't the homeschooling type but, to sacrifice for the greater good, I. AM. HOMESCHOOLING.  There, I said it!  It's been the range of curricula that has sent my head spinning.  So much to choose from, so many different avenues.

Ever watch "Children of the Corn"?  Sorry, I had to.

Don't try that at home!  Ya can't tell dangerous non-helmet wearin' boys nothin'!

After visiting with a friend and seeing her homeschooling "library", hearing her homeschooling stories and encouragement I felt better.  She's seen it all and done it all.  Well, almost!  Friend gave me direction and the kids were able to look through and get a feel for the materials they had to choose from.  Yes, homeschool is about choice.  A blessing and a curse if you ask me...because I'm indecisive.

I learned some things, Miss K is happiest with classical style learning...here's the lesson; the work; do it.  She's very independent and creative.  I can't wait to see how this year goes for her.  The man, oh the man.  I worry about this guy.  He's bull-headed and he's going through a whining phase.  Did I mention he's got me wrapped around his finger?  It's true.  He's the one I might lose sleep over.  Such is life.

So, I never finished our Summer Tour series.  I have more pictures (not as many as I wish I had) but I'll get to it.  Slowly but surely.  Just a little caught up in the thick of things right now.  Who ever said "summer is for relaxing" was crazy!  Our summer has been a flurry of kids in and out of the house; up and down the roads we go, burnin' rubber; trying lots of new recipes; soaking up rays by the pool and finding inexpensive summer fun.  It's been good, it's been fun but, I'll be glad when we find our groove and settle in to a new routine.

We were sooooo excited to host some visitors last week.  Some our best friends from home were here. And although their stay was way too short and hindered by an out-of-the-blue migraine, we made the best of it.  Kids romped all over the yard and into the cornfields.  (Yes, a lecture followed on how unsafe that is.  Luckily, bigger kids teamed up and looked out for the littles and everyone came home safely.)  We ate like kings and queens, making a breakfast feast of homemade waffles with caramel syrup and local maple syrup, sausage, breafas luvin' muffins, and tons of fruit.  Poor Thelma could barely eat due to her aching head but, we ended on a high note Wednesday night with Uncle T's famous ribs.  The next day, we followed them south to the third leg of their trip.  That's where we had the opportunity to take the girls and do a little before school shopping at the outlet mall.  Woohoo, yay for a girls day and the perfect way to end our time together!

No, the man did not go shopping!  He seems to be somewhat of a mama's boy and he wanted to ride with the girls, while Thelma drove her car with the rest of the boys.

Fall promises more visitors and we're gearing up for them as well.  Lord I pray, by then, we'll have a routine down and they'll all get to see more of the kids since they won't be "away" at school.  There's also an opportunity to help out with the ladies retreat back home.  Miss Debbie and I laughed about my title of "emeritus" to their creative group since moving.  That's OK, I'm excited to get to work on their project soon.

Alright, it's late and I just wanted to pop in, say I'm still here and I'll see ya around.

Miss Dais and Max-a-Poo

We sure have had a crazy time here this past week.  Crazy Daisy's in heat.  Mr. Max-a-Poo's driving us batty.  Needless to say, it's been a fun couple weeks.  (dripping with sarcasm)  So, in appreciation of their "better" days, I'll share an excursion in the yard from a couple weeks ago.

Have you ever tried to sneak up on a dog?

 

 

Well, it's impossible.

 

Miss Dais with her perky little ears.

"Is that a shock collar?"  We get this question all the time.  No, it's a tracking collar.  Dais is a Walker coonhound and she likes to run.  I mean RUN! 

While I was away in Kentucky, Handsome Husband let her out after breakfast one morning and she wouldn't come back before he left for work.  So she was stuck outside all day.  When he got home, he looked at the GPS and she'd run 22 miles!  Twenty. two. miles. I say.

They've ruined our yard digging for ground squirrels.  They're checking one of their holes here.  Evidently, there was some action that we weren't aware of.

 

Happy Friday friends!

 

 

 

not even that

It takes God all of 0.2 seconds to make me realize that this life is not about me.  Yep, read that again.  It's not. about. me.  On Friday, I posted this.  And it was real to me.  I'd felt so agitated and worked up lately that I could barely contain myself and so then, I'd decided to put it out there.  to share it.  and God said, "Hey!  Hey you there!  Life is good!  It's always good."  And overnight, literally, I felt brand new.  Sunday, not knowing a thing about my strife, Steve drove that point home for added measure.

Though there are days when I grow weary, weak, breathless, forgetful, God's timing is always perfect.

"Every scar tells a story.  Scars are the stories of our lives." Jesus scars tell the story of his love. for me. for you. for mankind.

Isaiah 41:10 ~ "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

You are valuable because you exist. Not because of what you do or what you have done, but simply because you are. –Max Lucado 

I spent Spring Break with my children.  I had big plans for our week but, those plans quickly faded away and other things fell into their places.  We hosted friends and played inside until the middle of the week or so when the weather changed its tune.  The kids went out to play two square, swung on tire swings, played in the sand box, hid in the barns and wagon, and rode bikes and the four-wheeler.

I spent the weekend with my incredible husband.  He plowed our garden and then came down with some nasty little cold bug.  So we watched movies and I waited on him, making tea with lemon and honey and cinnamon, hot apple cider and whatever else he called for.  He's quite self-sufficient though so most of what he needed, he didn't ask for.  He simply got up and got it himself, despite me asking numerous times, "Do you want this?  Do you want that?"

After church on Sunday, we had friends over for lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon outside until they left just before dinnertime.  She and I sat in lawn chairs talking about life.  The men and children shooting bows and BB guns and playing in the yard.  The dogs exploring. 

All around me, God's wonder shows itself.  Spring is a glorious time for rebirth, to renew and rejoice.  Yep, you can bet I'm basking it.



oh brown squirrel

I heard her whining from the bedroom.  I thought it might be the furnace man but come to find out, it was just a squirrel.  She stood in all her elegant grace, poised at the window.  All of her chest and leg muscles clearly defined.  She trembled as she gazed.  Her breath leaving small uneven ovals on the glass.  She whined under her breath.  I tried kindly explaining that she's not a squirrel dog and her daddy would be so ashamed to see it'd come to this, but she paid me no mind.  I firmly told her "No", yet she stood, still as a statue, taking in the view of the lively brown squirrel scavenging for food amongst the backdrop of white snow and barren cornfields.  The wind blew steadily and the sun played peek-a-boo as she ran to the door and gave me the look. 

She realized I wouldn't allow her to quench this thirst for Mr. Squirrel and so she circled back and to the sill again.  She gracefully stood up and placed her paws ever so lightly on the sill, barely resting them on the wood.  She stood there in all her glory, praying I'd let her out.  I wouldn't succumb to the pressure, all her high pitch whining and pacing.  I refused.  She continued on for a bit longer and then, in defeat, she lay down, only to hop up minutes later.  She sat perfectly still, heeding every little detail of the wind, the movements of the trees, she took it all into consideration. 

Her pedigree is fine.  And her stance?  Regal.  She sat, just listening.  More circling ensued and then, she approached me and put her front feet up on the couch as to ask, "PLEASE, let me out.  I'm in agony."  Again, I snubbed her.  She doesn't give up easily.  She has a great deal of fight bred into her bones and coursing through her veins.  All of her commotion roused the big guy.  He faithfully got up, sauntered over to the door where he sat as if silently pleading for her case.  He held his post for a few minutes and then, understanding I was not going to budge, he lay down.  He quietly gave up while he watched her circle and whine, circle and whine.

We played this game of hers for some time before she eventually surrendered and fell fast asleep on the floor.  But not before rallying the troops and convincing the big guy that he needed to follow suit.  And finally, I walked away, leaving them to play their own game.

an afternoon nap

the view from here

Sitting around,

playing with the settings on my camera,

I got this.

A view of our Christmas tree.

Strange but, the teensy lines were mesmerizing in all of their busyness.

One Miss Crazy Coonhound went on a little moonlit adventure.

So, I suited up and headed out into the cold night air.

I found Miss Lady before walking deep into the woods.

I was just along the edge when she came galloping towards me.

We made our way home and she climbed into my lap on the couch.

I couldn't deny her sweet puppy dog eyes 

and we settled in to wait for her daddy to get home.

He was none too thrilled to see this but,

she is his beloved Walker

and for this reason,

she gets away with things sometimes.

Hope you're having a relaxing Monday evening too.

a day in the life of Daisy

This lady went out last night.

She made some new friends.

And then they got down to business...

treeing THREE coons!

Her daddy says she's "coon crazy!"

So, this morning, she was out romping around with Max

while her daddy cut up a tree in the yard.

And because I'm a sucker, they wandered into the kitchen

where I shared some leftover homemade biscuits and sausage gravy.

She knows I can't resist those adorable puppy eyes,

those long droopy ears and all her delicate wrinkles.

~ especially that one on her forehead ~

Then, of course, some other people wanted to love on her.

Because she's irresistible.

But instead, she lavished her lovin' on them.

She fancies ears.

And her affection is sweet and unending.

And they giggled and laughed.

And because she's so coon crazy and likes to stay out late,

it was time for a nap.

~ This was at 2:00 ~

~ And she slept til 5:00! ~

our week in review

I know I haven't been here in awhile,

so I feel the need to do some catch-up.

Sunday, we shipped K off to 4-H Camp.

Monday's mild weather ushered us out for some target practice.

'Cuz he knew his sissy was doing this very same thing at camp, too.

It was just the two of us.

Daisy-Boo serenaded us with her complaints.

Mama and her babies graced us with their presence.

She's so beautiful with her white speckles.

We're missing 3 hens now.

Not-so Fantastic Mr. Fox and a friend were spotted in the field behind the house.

They're dead meat!

Last week, I took a canning class.

Previously, I knew nothing about canning and up until recently,

I'd never had the desire to sew, garden, can.

Anything absurdly domesticated.

Monday night, we made mulberry jam.

'Cuz we're drowning in mulberries here.

 This morning, I was weeding in the garden and the UPS man drove by.

He went to the next house, so I didn't think anything of it.

Then, he came to our driveway and because the dogs were making such a ruckus,

he honked the horn and I ran through the yard, muck boots and all, to get my package.

I knew it!  It was my canning cookbook!...

Now, check out this quilted table runner I'm working on.

I'm gonna hand stitch some glass beads on to it,

hoping to give it a little extra.

I've never, ever quilted anything.

So, I started with the simplest of patterns.

How can you go wrong with four triangles to form a square?

Answer:  you cannot

Boring, but simple

Sometimes, I really like simple.

Also, it's totally wrinkled because K wore it on the first day at camp

and it hasn't made it to the washer yet,

but she got lots of compliments.  So, I just had to add it! 

It was a plain white tank top/undershirt that was now too short,

but otherwise, it still fit just fine.

Will try to make a tutorial soon 'cuz a friend of K's wants one too

and K has one more top to chop!

Lastly, while weeding our garden, we found some seriously large caterpillars.

So, the kids put them in a bug catcher, immediately they made chrysalises and today,

K noticed that they had hatched.

So they fought over who would hold them.