Thick Enough….

It is a warm one hear today.  It’s not even 10:00am and the humidity is bearing down on us.  It’s harder to breathe and I think I could almost slice it up with a knife it feels so thick! 

We are standing strong here and refusing to turn on the air.  Goodness its only the beginning of June and if the air conditioning is turned on it elevates our electric bill to nose bleed heights! 

Therefore, we say NO! 

However, a little voice inside me keeps peeping, Yes! 

Yes it would be lovely not to be sweating while typing this post.  Yes it would be wonderful to be able to take a deep breath.  Yes it would be great to be able to cook a meal or wash the dishes without feeling like I’m going to melt into a puddle. Yes it would be so nice to not feel sticky and hot and sticky. 

No, No, No, I say!  We will not turn on the air.  And anyway…the boss man said not yet.  And if I close up the windows I can’t hear the sweet melodies of the birds.  And if I close up the windows I can’t smell summer even if it is humid and thick.  And I grew up without air conditioning, I can do this, I will not weaken. So see I’m standing strong.  I can talk myself right into this and my knees are only slightly weak from the intense heat!

And this my friends is my genius piece on summer humidity and air conditioning. 

Enlightened? 

Your Welcome!

 

And because I can’t post without a picture, it’s sorta like an illness with me, how about this one….

Now I’m off to bake some bread before I swelter clear outta my MIND! :)  Yeah, I’m a glutton for punishment!

M.I.A.

I couldn't take it any longer and I'm sitting at the library using their internet.

My computer bit the dust.

My internet provider seems to be having difficulties.

I've been put on a temporary enforced, not by my own wishes, blogging fast.

The timer on this library computer is counting down so I will not be visiting you all today.  Plus I have to gather my chicks whom I've left at their grandma's. 

Tick-Tock.

Just thought I would give you an update...I haven't fallen into any catastrophe...just waiting, waiting, waiting, for all this to get cleared up.

Hope to be back on-line soon!

Unintentional Break

 

Living in the country has its perks and a few detractors.

Such as having no phone service for 10 days.

No phone. No internet.

GASP!

NO BLOGGING!

A couple years ago our neighbors dug up and severed our phone line with a backhoe. Now whenever it rains significant amounts, as it has for the past week, we loose the ability to use our phone.

When we try to use the phone we get a loud buzzing and crackling which makes you temporarily loose all your hearing abilities.

We called the phone company each work day for 7 days.  Each time we got the same song and dance…it would be fixed within 24 hours.

Yesterday, 10 days into this fiasco, the phone repairman finally came.  We personally know the guy and he said it was the first time he had gotten any order for fixing our line. 

ARGGGH! Frustrating.

After the phone was fixed I tried to get on the internet, but each time I got a pop-up telling me my access was denied. 

SIGH! Oh well.

Today I finally got it all straightened around.

I’m up and running.

This unintentional break once again showed me what a time hog the internet can be. The first few days I was really antsy about not having the internet, but as time progressed I began to realize how much I was accomplishing with my computer turned off.

I need balance in this area of my life.

Less computer time and more living is what is the order of the day. Basic uninterrupted daily living. 

Simplicity at its finest.

Scattered

 

My thoughts are scattered lately.

I have tried to think of a poignant, wonderful, mind-blowing post.

It just ain’t happening! (Yes, I know ain’t, ain’t a word, spell checker is freaking out, but I ain’t carin’.)

A few of the things on my mind:

~This is our last week of school!  Let me tell you the kids aren’t the only ones cheering.

This momma is welcoming summer break with open arms. 

 

~My back is threatening revolt again.  Therefore, this past week I spent a good portion of each day laying on the couch doped up on ibuprophen and freezing my lower back out with an ice pack.

~Did you have any luck getting a good Mother’s Day picture with your kids?  I only had two with me on Mother’s Day and I asked Joel to take a picture of us.  Let’s just say it was not pretty.  There was one of us refusing to cooperate. Can you guess which one? I gave up before I blew up.

~The Columbines are in full bloom here.  Last week on a warm day I found a spot in the grass to lay down, while my children ran around in absolute chaos throwing buckets of water on each other.  They were well warned to stay far away from me.  As I watched them drench one another I took a couple pictures of the flowers by my head. I then did a bit of editing in photoshop and came up with this.  I think it would make a beautiful card. I’m wondering if there is any way to make money doing this photography thing?

 

 

Well, there you have it. 

It’s not much, but I warned you!

Sometimes you just have to blog about life and reality.

Why I’m A Cat Person

 

Meet Ellie.

Dog.  Crazy dog.

Cute, but insane.

A dog who chews drywall and rugs, dressers and treasured wooden benches.  A dog who eats glass Christmas balls and light bulbs (which was up on top of a dresser) and lives to do more damage.  Some would say she is just bored and that we need to spend more time with her.  We tried. Really we did.  And she continued to destroy.  She devoured huge sections of drywall off our mudroom walls and chewed up the trim mercilessly. So now Ellie resides outside in a well insulated dog house, where she can wreak havoc to her hearts content.  When we are outside, which is almost every day, she is allowed off her chain to run and play. 

We would love to pet her and love on her,  but she is too busy. 

She’s got things to do.  Like digging, chasing, running, and weed wacking (she literally chews off small trees in the brushy area behind our house).  Her favorite toys, rocks.  Oh yes, and it isn’t any old rock she chooses.  It must be field stone of some size. If you try to get near her when she has one of her rocks, she picks it up and runs away.

And when she loses one, she just digs for another.  Above is an example.  She has dug a nice trench along her run, in her never ending search for rocks.  A small child could get lost in some of the holes she digs. 

Meet Mack.

He purrs. He’s soft. He’s fluffy.  And most importantly he sleeps…a lot!  He doesn’t eat anything he shouldn’t.  He doesn’t destroy furniture or walls.  His biggest fault, he thinks he must have a drink of water every time he catches me in the bathroom. Weird, I know! He’s mostly independent, except for around 9:00 PM, when I climb into bed to do some reading, he joins me.  He walks his furry little self up the bed and situates himself on my chest.  He purrs!  I love a purring kitty.  Talk about being content.  As I read I pet his head. After about 10 minutes he slowly gets up and settles himself at the foot of the bed, all that attention requires another nap.

I rest my case.  I am not a dog person. I just don’t have the patience for it.

In a contest between cat and dog, the cat wins hands down. Goodness, the Lord blessed me with three boys in my house.  I definitely don’t need another rambunctious body bouncing off the walls, leaving foul smells, and messing up my house!

What is your preference?  Are you a dog person or a cat person?

Thank You

Thank you to….

Jackie,my dear friend, who designed a new button for my blog

She does amazing work!  So if your blog needs a little perking up head on over to her site and take a look around.  You won’t be disappointed.

Thank you to…

Jamie, from Six Bricks High, who sent me a wonderful gift card to Starbucks when I won her giveaway.  I am looking forward to sipping a yummy treat and a bit of relaxation!

 

Thank you to…

Camille, from Flowers In His Garden, who purchased me a subscription to Answers in Genesis, when I won her giveaway.  I am really looking forward to receiving this! I know it will be a great addition to our homeschool curriculum.

 

Thank you to…

Tracy, from Jesus. Woman. Words, who gave me this wonderful award.

Thank you so much, dear friend!  Your words of kindness brought tears to my eyes.

 

And finally, Thank you to…

All of you, my readers, I truly appreciate all of you. I especially want to thank each of you who comment on my posts!  I have formed many wonderful friendships with each of you. I always look forward to reading your words.  Each time a comment is left I feel I am forming an even stronger bond with you.  So, thank you for reading my words and thoughts and for leaving a few of your own!

A Wild Hair

It all started when Joel went down to the utility room to get the Christmas tree box.  It was a simple enough task, but it grew, mutated and multiplied.  All who were within its path were swept along, struggling was useless. Before any of us (the innocent bystanders) knew what was happening, Joel has us cleaning, organizing, rearranging and measuring for the boys new bedroom. Oh yes, you read that right! All I planned on doing was taking down the Christmas tree, but before long I was helping to measure and figure. By the end of the week, with the help of Joel's dad and our brother-in-law, both who are carpenters, we had a new bedroom for the boys.

I spent the first part of this week painting.  Yesterday morning I applied the last coat and when Joel got home from work last night we began moving everything downstairs.

Now, if you are big into home decorating don't look too closely at this picture! My boys each have their own style and I let them have at it! Don't you just love the camouflage bedding covered with the white and blue crocheted afghan!

The room isn't totally finished, yet.  For hanging up the clothes, Joel suspended a piece of conduit from the floor joists! Classy, huh?!  The carpet is from a ladies home that my father-in-law worked on.  She wanted new carpeting and gladly gave us this.  It doesn't fit perfectly, but at least it warms the room up a bit and keeps their tootsies off a cold floor. But, the boys don't mind that it isn't finished and I guess neither do I!  They were so excited to move down to their new room, they were practically prancing. Actually one of them really did, I saw him! 

I am planning on making some curtains to hang up across the closets for now and one for the window, that will help finish up the room a bit.  Eventually we will hang closet doors and put in a drop ceiling.  For now it works and it supplies the much needed room for our growing boys.

Today, I am tackling this...

With the boys old room empty, we decided to turn it into a school room!  I will now be able to have our books all in one place.  Not to mention a quiet spot for doing school work. And I can hang posters and maps and art work and charts all over the place and nobody will care!!!  I'm practically giddy with the notion! 

We moved in a table for a work center and an old love seat for a place to snuggle into when we read.

I have much to do to get this room into shape, but I am looking forward to the challenge.

Right after lunch I sent my crew outside to enjoy the snow while I started to move, arrange and organize. I had to stop and take a couple pictures because I could hear that they were having so much fun.

Then when noses and cheeks were rosy they came in for some much needed hot cocoa!

I love these faces!

Now, I must really head back to the school room. I'll post pictures when I am finished!

Seek and Destroy

Seven years ago right after we had moved into our new home, I heard mysterious noises in our bathroom ceiling.  I told Joel about the scratching and pattering, but he insisted I must be hearing things.

So, I let it go.

A couple of months later, after multiplication, warmth and news of an ideal hideout (I think they invited the whole neighborhood), my husband finally heard the little boogers. Yes, we had mice, in our attic. So, like any conscientious home owner we set traps. 

It worked like a charm.

Until one had the audacity to chew thru our bathroom vent and die.

UGH!

Let me tell you there is nothing as rank as decaying, petrifying animal flesh.

So, for a couple of years the vent in our master bathroom sported the chic, sleek look of cellophane.  We sealed every nook and cranny around our house trying to prevent any more mouse invasions.  But each autumn it never failed, mice came to our attic to seek refuge from inclement weather.

This spring Joel replaced the chewed through vent and we flipped the vent on and off at our leisure.  I was so grateful to have a vent in our bathroom again, it really can be a useful tool!

But my venting days were to be short lived because this morning I had to post this on our bathroom door...

You guessed it.  Another uninvited visitor has chosen our bathroom vent for his burial ground.

And once again our bathroom vent is all slicked out in a custom cellophane cover.

As of a couple hours ago, with yet another layer of tape added, we are still experiencing the unpleasant aroma of dead mouse.  I am praying for frigid weather, like I never have before.  I want the intruder freeze dried.  Because no amount of burning apple spice candles can eliminate the wafting noxious scent of dead mouse.

Next step, is entering the mice's lair for a seek and destroy mission, because we are discovering that the cellophane isn't eliminating the suffocating, putrid fumes.

Wish us luck!

Impatience- I'm Back

This weekend spent without a computer was good thing in disguise. I tackled some cleaning projects that needed to be addressed. I de-cobwebbed (I know not a word) my basement and scrubbed the bug ick off the windows down there. Then I vacuumed part of the floor and basement steps. Plus, being the ogre I am, I cruelly forced my children to clean up their playroom (also in the basement), which was littered with Legos in the oddest places. I am now the proud owner of a sparkling clean basement, except for the three boxes of Legos that somehow got spread all across the floor as soon as I turned my back!

When I tired of all the cleaning, I worked on some items that I am selling on my Etsy shop. (This is an unabashed advertisement.) It you get the time check out my shop. I am putting more items on every couple of days and hopefully my sisters will be adding some too.

Even with all this to keep me occupied, I just couldn't handle it any longer! I highjacked the computer my sister and her husband gave the boys to play games on. Thankfully it still had internet explorer on it and I was able to set up an internet connection.

Now, the boys weren't too happy about me requisitioning their computer, but I'm the mommy and it just had to be done! So, I have been lurking these past few days reading all of your posts. This computer moves pretty slow, but I just wander off and do other jobs around the house until a page loads. Hopefully, I will be back in business with my computer this afternoon.

Pulling Out My Hair

ARRRRGGGG!  C-o-m-p-u-t-e-r malfunctioning....m-o-v-i-n-g at snail's p-a-c-e.  Must shut d-o-w-n.

I won't be blogging for several days. I'm sure I'll experience some pretty significant withdrawal.  However, I can't properly enjoy my blogging the way my computer is operating at present.  S-o-o-o, I will be sending it away.  Hopefully it will come back with less of a penchant for irritating me. While I am waiting and wondering how all of you are doing, I will have to entertain myself by catching up on laundry or some other such fun thing!

*Just wanted to let you know I have been reading your blogs the past few days, but since dial-up which is notoriously slow has been aided by a buggered up computer, I haven't been able to leave comments.  Whew! That was an extremely long sentence. I'm quite out of breath. It just goes to show you that I really have been missing leaving you all comments, had to get it all out at once!  :)

Awarded

Heidi from Moms, Ministry and More has given me this wonderful award. Heidi has an amazing blog full of humor, overseas knowledge (like things such as squatty potties) and Godly wisdom. Head on over there, you'll find some great insight.

With this award comes a meme. It is by no means a small one. The original plan calls for a listing of seven items under each heading. (So if you decide to play along you can either list 7 things under each heading or cheat like I'm going to do!) Well, ladies, I'm just a simple girl, really. I don't have that much to say about myself, so I'm going to make it easier on myself and you. Like Heidi, I will be listing one fact about myself under each topic. That way I won't be losing my readers half way through this post (hopefully)!

1. What I Did Before: I graduated with a BA in Elementary Ed. and taught pre-school for a year. A couple of months into it I realized I'd made a mistake. My heart was with my precious baby boy. I taught the rest of the year, loved the children I taught, but then called it quits. I needed to be home.

2. What I Do Now? I am putting my education to good use! Teaching my four children is showing me that college didn't prepare me all that well! It's a new and challenging experience everyday and I'm lovin' it.

3. What I'd Like To Do? Get away for a few days. No laundry, no dishes, no cooking, I just want to relax, relax, relax!

4. What Attracts Me To My Husband? Oh where do I start! His humor, His dark hair and chocolate brown eyes, his deep dimples, his willingness to work hard to support our family, and his wonderful hugs that make me feel so loved and safe.

5. Favorite Food: Um- I can't pick just one. So I will list a few.

• Homemade bread
• Chocolate chip cookies
• Anything Pasta
• COFFEE- one of the basic food groups, right?
• Soups- comfort food at its finest.

6. What I Say Most Often: That's Crazy!

7. Pick Seven Other Bloggers: Okay, here goes, I choose.....

Jamie at Rose Cottage. I have been reading Jamie's Blog for 9 months now. We share the love of homeschooling, nature and picture taking. Jamie's blog is full of beautiful pictures,wonderful insight and inspirational thoughts.

Amy at The Kings Table. Amy's blog is light-hearted and full of fun. She posts some really interesting items that she finds on the internet. Her posts always make me smile!

Amy at Little Toes and Cheerios. Amy is full of honesty and sincerity. She keeps me laughing with all the adorable posts about her daughter and mommyhood.

Marisa at Small Moments Captured. This is my beautiful sister's blog. She is one of the most creative people I know. Let's just say she is very artistically inclined! She is very busy with my niece and nephews and I know she doesn't get to post as often as she wishes, but when she does post her thoughts are always beautifully expressed.

Angela at Becoming Me. I just recently found Angela's blog, but it has touched my heart deeply. She writes beautifully with emotion and strength. Her posts always give me something to ponder and learn.

Jackie at Our Moments, Our Memories. Jackie has some of the most amazing posts. She is a wonderful writer and is able to write so that you can see right to her heart. She has a wonderful sense of humor and you can feel her joy in what she writes.

Kristen at We Are THAT Family. If you want to laugh this is the place. Nobody can leave Kristen's blog without chuckling. She takes every day life and turns it into comic relief. Plus you get the added bonus of the wisdom she imparts about the many different aspects of parenting.

If you get a chance, check out these blogs and leave them a some love with a comment or two!

Have a great weekend!

Friends

To The Wonderful Women In My Circle

When I was little, I used to believe in the concept of one best friend, and then I started to become a woman. And then I found out that if you allow your heart to open up, God would show you the best in many friends.

One friend is needed when you're going through things with your man. Another friend is needed when your going through things with your mom. Another when you want to shop , share, heal, joke, or just be. One friend will say let's pray together, another let's cry together, another let's fight together, another let's walk away together. One friend will meet your spiritual need, another you shoe fetish, another your love for movies, another will be with you in your season of confusion, another will be your clarifier, another the wind beneath your wings.

But whatever their assignment in your life, on whatever the occasion, on whatever the day, or wherever you need them to meet you with their gym shoes on and hair pulled back, or to hold you back from making a complete fool of yourself.... those are your best friends.

It may all be wrapped up in one woman, but for many its wrapped up in several... one from 7th grade, one from high school, several from the college years, a couple from old jobs, several from church, on some days your mother, on some days your neighbor, on others your sister, and on some days your daughters. So whether they've been there 20 minutes or 20 years, pass this on to the women that God has placed in your life to make a difference.

Auther Unknown

Under the Weather

Influenza has claimed us as unsuspecting victims. All six of us have been so miserable. It will be two weeks since we first got sick and we are slowly recovering. We started back with school this week, after a week off. We are taking lots of breaks, especially in the afternoon. I have been letting the boys just laze around and watch PBS cartoons. This is the first afternoon I haven't taken a nap. I think my strength is starting to come back. I don't feel so run down. Joel hasn't seemed to fully recover yet and I think he has a sinus infection now. He has an appointment today after work so we'll see what the doctor has to say.

I will be so happy when we get past cold and flu season. It has had us in its grasp way too much this winter. I feel like someone has been sick almost every week since the end of October. I am ready for some relief from playing nurse.