Our son wanted an update on what has been going on at home while he has been away for the past month. So, I told him to check here rather than me texting, calling, e-mailing the same information over and over. For those of you that do not know our family…sorry for the boredom of this post!

The garden is growing extremely well this year. We’ve been eating tomatoes for about a week now…the earliest in my memory of gardens for us. The beans are putting out an ice-cream bucket full every few days. We’ve even had a couple bell peppers already. Last year we didn’t have any until almost frost and then we had a bunch of small ones get hit. The lettuce is about done with the heat and the cucumbers are dong well even though I only have the three plants and I wanted to get more in where the peas were. Of course we have the usual hot peppers that none of us can eat. It always seems like a good idea and then they are way hotter than what we can handle! We’ve had a lot of dill that grew from seed that a friend gave us back in May. I can’t believe how much better it tastes than the dried kind! That is all the good news on the garden. The bad news is that you need a machete to walk through it. We’ve weeded a few times and the piles from that are thigh high. I don’t usually have such a problem with weeds. But I guess all that rain that gave the plants such a boost did the same for the weeds. And of course whenever I go out I break out in this rash that just about drives me crazy! This year it’s on my right arm. It doesn’t seem like Poison Ivy, but it is poison something. I’m the only one that is privileged to get it.

No, we haven’t done any huge projects over the summer so far. It has seemed to take all my energy this year to just stay ahead of the regular jobs. I have done some sewing and I’m planning on doing some more this week. Getting me primed for those bridesmaid dresses I need to make. I would like to take on a rather ambitious sewing project for the dining room, but I’m afraid it might do my sewing machine in! I’ll have to think a little more on that one. My Singer machine has lasted me twenty years without anything being done to it…not even a light bulb change.

The cats are well. Cassie escapes at every opportunity and is rewarded with a spray down for fleas. Herbal of course…but she still hates it. It doesn’t seem to keep her from leaving. She’s beginning to look a little scrawny from being a tramp cat and of course she avoids me because I give her a ‘talking to’ each time she returns. She just shrugs her shoulder and walks away as independent felines will do. Daisy is a little love. She just kind of flows out where she is lying and distributes white hair. She is brushed several times a week, but she still has plenty of hair. I think that is mostly her weight problem!

We are all well. We went to the Emporia Zoo yesterday. It was very sad because some vandals had killed a Black Swan on June 21st when they climbed the fence after hours. People can be so cruel. So, there were no swans yesterday. The last time we were there they had laid some eggs. I don’t know whether they let them hatch or not. But, the Zoo was very pretty with all the flowers in bloom. It was a fairly cool day, but we were there when the sun was pretty hot so the animals were all taking little siestas. The prairie dogs were the only ones yipping around their holes.

Well, that’s about all for the fun and excitement around here. I will try to update more often so you can read all about it. Take care everyone!

We had a GREAT time at the Ball Saturday night! I wanted to post as soon as I could so I would remember everything…so here goes.

I did finish all my sewing just in time. I made three men’s vest and a blouse for me. The blouse I made for myself was kind of a combination of two patterns, so it was a little tricky, but it turned out just as I envisioned, which doesn’t always happen. I had made my skirt over a year ago for something…actually my daughter’s skirt. I wore hers rather than my green one. My daughter’s skirt is black and white and the blouse I made is black, kind of a satin material. Technically, I should not have worn black, since I’m not in mourning and only younger women in the 1860’s would have been able to wear black and white if they were in mourning. But, it worked. I made jewelry too which turned out well.

Everyone there, a pretty good sized crowd, came dressed for a certain period of time. There were a lot of Civil War era costumes, about 6 hoop skirted dresses and a couple Officer uniforms. It was like you were transported to a different time. It was so exciting for me because that has always been my favorite time. Gone With the Wind was always my favorite book and movie and my greatest dream was to attend a ball.

The dance instructor was great and very patient with all of us that remembered nothing from gym square dancing days. He even partnered our three year old a couple of times and his wife was very gracious to partner her many times. As a matter of fact, everyone there was very gracious and helpful to her. She had a wonderful time and she was still going strong and wanting to stay at 11:30 when we left. There were still four more dances left at that time. I would have liked to have stayed for the couples waltz…the last dance, but with church the next morning and three children that would have been difficult.

I think what impressed me the most was the attitude and etiquette that went along with the evening. It was like everyone put on the costumes and we were back in that time period.  Everyone was ladies and gentlemen. Gloved hands, curtsies and bows. It was so different than the few dances that I attended back in school days. This was just plain fun!

So, to wrap it all up…it was a wonderful experience! I’ll have wonderful memories and I’m really looking forward to the next one. Because of this ball, I learned of a couple more and I would really like to become a part of the group that attends them on a regular basis. My husband has always wanted to be part of a re-enactment group and I think I would really enjoy that. So, now I’m going to start working on a real ball gown in my spare time so I’ll be ready!

And even though my husband never reads this blog…I just wanted to say thanks for having such a great attitude, knowing how important it was for me. You looked so handsome in your string tie and vest and it was so much fun to dance with you! It wouldn’t have been nearly so special if you had not been there!

Doesn’t it feel great when you finally get a project finished? I’m enjoying that right now with the completion of our master bedroom. Last Friday I finally finished painting it the lovely butter yellow that I love. It goes so well with the cobalt blue I also have in the carpet and the Cracker Barrel plates hung on the wall beside the bed. My blinds and curtains are all hung and I fit in the spring cleaning of that room too! So, life is good! Lol! I can say that now, but I have MANY projects waiting completion before Saturday, so I can’t spend too much time here.

I’m really excited about our plans for Saturday night. Our son takes guitar lessons from the barber in town and once a month they have a jam session down there at the barber shop. He is learning a lot and getting better every day on the guitar. Well, the barber shop and the Emma Chase cafe in Cottonwood Falls is sponsoring a Spring Ball this coming Saturday. There will be a live band playing music from the 1860’s and you can dress up in any period costume you want. So, I’ve spent a couple exciting weeks getting ready for it and I still have some sewing to do. Also did some research on-line for authentic 1860’s apparel and hair. Wow! I learned a lot! Although we won’t all be authentic, especially our son and my husband, we will be pretty close. I think it will be a wonderful evening and I’m hoping everyone will dress up too. It will be fun to see all the different clothing. There will also be a caller there for the dances and someone to teach the dances. The polka, reels, waltz were a few that I recognized.

So, that’s the excitement of our upcoming week! I probably won’t be back here for a couple weeks, but I’ll be sure to update for all of those that are interested in how the Ball went.

Take care!

At this moment, I can not remember if that is even the title of the hymn that is running through my head. I sat down to blog about Thanksgiving and that hymn started playing through my mind and I was singing along.  “Jesus paid it all…All to Him I owe…” How appropriate for Thanksgiving!

Over the past couple of months we have really struggled with some issues in our family. We have worked through some of them and are working through others. God has been faithful, standing by, waiting patiently to listen and give guidance…even during the days and weeks when our faith has been little and at times non-existent. Jesus paid it all and because of that we can have a relationship with God and look forward to eternity with Him. For that, I’m especially thankful this year. Even though in some areas we can not still see the way clear and the road looks mighty rough ahead, it will all work out…in God’s time.

So, I’m thankful, not just for the abundance that we have in so many areas, but for all the little things too. For me, I would like to share some of the little things. Some are still in need of prayer and patience on our part, but I’m thankful for being tested in those areas and it has been a wonder to see God’s hand in it all…

My husband, for the changes I’ve seen God working in Him.

Our two oldest, growing up and away from us, but so happy for them and the lives they have ahead of them. The wise choices I see them making. THANK YOU!

Our three youngest, the incredible help they have been. The blessing of having them in my life daily.

Our home…still a matter of prayer and testing, but so thankful it is ours for now!

Our church.

Friends that share our beliefs concerning God and His word and the wonderful fellowship with them. They are truly family.

As I read the above for errors, I note that I said ‘the little things’. I guess I used that word because they are the things we usually take for granted. They are in no way ‘little’ in our lives, just over-looked at times. God, thank you so much for all those ‘LITTLE THINGS’!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

As I wrote a friend of mine last night…I haven’t had much time to e-mail or blog lately. I’ve been rather consumed with the business of life right here under my nose. I do enjoy blogging and reading other blogs, but I’ve spent the past few months really downsizing my life and trying to make time only for those things that are a high priority. For me, that is my family and church. After I take care of those things, I don’t seem to have much time left for anything else. As I’m heading for my mid-forties, I don’t really even care much anymore if I am Super Woman! That is actually a relief in many ways. It becomes a hard burden to carry.

But, that does not mean that I don’t miss the blogging at times…the release of some aggravation or just rambling on about something. That does not mean that friendships are any less important in my life. They are just in more of a prayer mode at this point rather than face-to-face fellowship. I do pray that changes soon,  because I do believe that the Bible puts a bit of importance on those friendships between Believers. We are to bear the burdens of others, build them up, encourage.

So anyway…before I update, I would just like to mention the amount of filthy spam I’ve had on here while I’ve been gone. I’ve cleared it out occasionally when I’ve stopped by and haven’t had time to blog. That aggravates me…because that in itself takes time. It is very sad to see this world so occupied with filth. It affects us everywhere. I know this site can be accessed by whomever wants to…but it certainly annoys me that stuff like that can get through and be on here for anyone to see. So, I do apologize to those that have stopped by and seen that garbage.

Our oldest daughter’s boyfriend was here this past week end for a short visit. He wanted it to be kept a secret…so I complied. It was great to spend some time with him and get to know him better. He fits right into our family! For those that are interested, there are some great pictures of them on facebook.

Our second oldest is doing really well in upstate New York at Bible college. She will be home in about a month for the holidays. She is getting tired though between classes and work schedule, so please keep her in prayer.

The next three children are doing great. Home schooling the two is wonderful. We are having a very productive year so far. I’m up to date on my lesson plans and they are both right on schedule if not ahead. Amazing what devoting a little time to it will do! LOL All last year I felt like I was doing ‘catch-up’.

Our family had struggled with some church decisions for the past few months and we’ve been praying about that. We have worked out some things and it has been amazing to see God work already. We have started back with AWANA…all of us involved on Wednesday nights. Last Wednesday was our first night and it was refreshing to be back again. I didn’t realize I had missed it so much. Our youngest was in the Cubbie room and she had a ball. She won’t even go to Sunday School by herself. But she stayed in there the entire time without a peep. That was an answer to prayer! We will be making gingerbread houses again this year for the Christmas party. They are a lot of work, but fun too. It’s always a surprise to see the way they turn out.

Today is the day! The day when I  HAVE to get out in the yard and wrap things up for the winter. I’ve not done any yard work since mid-August. Our son has mowed and kept sticks cleaned up…but the little details have not been attended to and it looks a little ragged out there. I’m still shaking myself into November! It can’t be here already. But, today is the day and I’m relieved to finish it up until next spring when I’ll be ready to tackle it all again.

Well, onto some baking. We have a pot-luck tomorrow and I always try to take a couple of items. I think we eat half of what is there! I’m trying a chocolate truffle pie…no pie crust and that is just fine with me! My husband wanted mashed potatoes for some reason, so I will make those today and put them into the crock pot to heat up at church. So, I’m eager to get started. When the weather cools I go into a cooking mood!

I pray your fall days are going well!

What a leading question. One that has been going over and over in my mind over the past month or so. Along with the unpacking and setting up our home, starting another home- school year, I’ve been struggling with that question. I used to think I could answer that quickly and in the affirmative and now I have to give it a little more thought.

What is ‘It’, in the above title? ‘It’ encompasses the last almost 23 years of my life. One of the biggest reasons I always felt that I was here in this life, my job to do. ‘It’ is my marriage and family.

I have the unique situation that many families share of having children old enough to be on their own and a last child barely out of diapers. I have struggled with this since the moment I knew I was pregnant again with our now three year old. Before I was married I always thought I would have a couple children, live in suburbia, be on the PTA and attend all the children’s games. They would then go to college, I would go back to work or school and they would find perfect mates and I would be a wonderful grandmother. Of course during all of that I would have a perfect marriage to the man of my dreams and he would have a successful career and we would go away on terrific vacations until he retired and then we would travel together to exotic places.

WHAT?!  I just shook myself awake…AGAIN!

My life has traveled on with me as a willing rider, most of the time. I’ve generally been pretty content with my life as a whole. Yes, there have been bumps and detours along the way, but we have weathered them.

Then, our oldest went away to college while our youngest was still in diapers. That is obviously NOT the way my dream had gone. I was supposed to have been planning my new career or at least enrolling in college courses. Then our oldest graduated and the second oldest went away to college and the oldest moved back in again, but as an ADULT!

Now, the youngest is out of diapers, but I have two more children older than her needing home-schooling, guidance, training and teaching. Am I up for that task? Most days I don’t feel like it anymore. Because now I know the outcome of those younger years with your children. Not everything goes as you expect. Our two oldest are wonderful young adults and they have made better decisions for their lives than what I did at their ages…but my mind keeps telling me I’m through and the physical reality of my life is that I am not. Far from it as a matter of fact.

Yes, I am thankful for my children, all five of them. God has a certain plan for my life and our lives in this. But, we all go through slumps in our lives when we wonder if we are up for the challenge. This is one of those times for me. Yes, I have another chance to do even better this time with our three youngest. Hopefully correct some of the mistakes I made with the two oldest. And I’m sure make a whole new set of mistakes.

So, please pray for me as I travel over this speed bump. I feel as though I am caught between two worlds at times. The world of a young mother…full of expectations for her child’s future and the world of an older mother…looking back on twenty years with her child. It is a confusing time for me trying to re-evaluate my life. Trying to be everything for everyone and not having enough time in the day to do it all.

But, this too shall pass and tomorrow will be another day. It has helped to blog about this and try to get some of my thoughts out of my head and onto the screen. Do I sound selfish? I pray not. I want to do what is correct and I want to feel the joy that I have had most of my married life. If any of you have experienced this or have any words of advice, I would greatly appreciate them.

Until next time…

This is about the longest that I’ve gone between posts…over a month. But, I have most of the boxes unpacked and we can now walk through the house without bodily damage. Chaos gets to me pretty quickly, I must admit! I like things well-ordered and in their places. Another area of weakness in my life that God is working on with my full approval. I just need the patience for it…another area He is working on.

Anyway, we went to our oldest daughter’s graduation in upstate New York, packed a moving van with our things from storage and drove back to Kansas…all within a week. The first few days at home were pretty rough trying to fit all of our stuff into a small house that has been empty for two years. Just us rattling around in it. Everyone was tired, tempers were short. But, we all survived and the second oldest is now back in upstate New York starting her first year at the Bible Institute. So, we had a lot of changes in a short period of time and we are looking forward to a few more over the next months. When children start to leave home, things definitely change! I may post more on that later as I understand it better myself.

Gardening…what’s that?! I haven’t been out in the yard since the first week in August. The view from my window shows a pretty dried up expanse with neglected flowers struggling to bloom and make me smile. Another shrub is biting the dust thanks to the neighbor’s dog. Sigh…have called the city police too many times to count on that one! Maybe Barrel Cactus do well here? Would make the dog think twice about approaching it anyway. But we still have tomatoes in the garden and the garden did do well this summer even with the weeds taking a hold on the one side. We have Bermuda grass there and well, that says it all.

I still have projects outside to accomplish before winter. Using up the paint for the house on a second coat, painting the trim on the garage, moving the driveway around back and putting up the fence across the old driveway. I have a rather sick feeling about that fence having a large hole in it when someone tries to get into the driveway. But, I am looking forward to planting there next spring and landscaping that area. That may be our only area of true grass in the yard. The rest is just mown weeds!

Anyway, I pray all of you are off to a good start on the fall season with school starting and cooler weather. As for me…I’m looking forward to some cold weather and snow days snuggled with the children and a hot drink. That’s when I do my best landscaping!

For those of you that stop by to see if I’ve posted, you’ve not had much to read lately. I’ve been posting on my Xanga blog on a regular basis to keep our daughters up to date on the goings on of home. So, for those of you that are interested, check it out! You can get there on my blogroll under Far From Home.

Summer is nearing its end. I’ve accomplished a lot over the summer, especially in the yard. I hope to post here soon about all of that. The heat the past week or so is doing a number on my flowers, but spring will come again and I will have all the energy and excitement that I always do to get a good start on it all. I’m ready for fall and getting things ready for winter. Just a couple of months ago I would have been appalled to say that!

We leave this week for New York to go to our oldest daughter’s graduation from Bible Institute. I’m really looking forward to it. I just pray the ride there goes alright with the two year old. She is not a good traveler. After a rough couple of weeks, (which you can also read about at Far From Home), she really is in bad shape for a long trip. But it will be great once we get there. Then our two oldest will be home for awhile. It will be wonderful to have all seven of us together again.

So, stay cool everyone…I can smell the pumpkin pie and turkey right around the corner!

I haven’t written here for a couple of weeks…so I thought I’d better catch everyone up. I have been trying to stay pretty relaxed. Just taking it easy and resting. I think we all need that every once in awhile.

Everyone made it up to New York and then back again. The two oldest are having a great time up there and they both really love their jobs this summer. The oldest is the STC secretary. Her sister said the job is just right for her. The oldest is a little OCD, (wonder where she got that from! ;)) So she is having a wonderful time being in charge of an office and organizing everything. I guess she has posters plastered everywhere.  The second oldest is working in the bookstore and loving it. I’m really happy for them and I’m excited for their summer. What a great opportunity!

Husband and son made it back, a few days later than I expected, but they’re here. While they were gone I found out who makes all the laundry and cooking! LOL So I had a mini-vacation from that. They retrieved some more of our things from storage. It always amazes me how much stuff my husband is able to get on our little trailer! So, we now how our head and footboard for our bed, our carpet for our bedroom. That took a day of arranging last week, but it is nice to have it all set up again. Now I just need to finish painting the room I started on a year ago! But, I have the easy part left now.

He also brought back a couple dining room chairs, which we needed, so now we can seat 12 people comfortably. For those of you that have eaten at our house, you know what a blessing that is! You came to our house to eat and you brought your own chair. I also have my wall clocks, a couple of Cracker Barrel rockers which took a good cleaning before I could bring them in the house. But, they have good memories. Those rockers were where I sat and nursed our youngest, and sat, and sat…you get the picture! I always felt like that was about all I did for the first six months of a new baby’s life.

Anyway…we have more stuff now and we will be getting the rest when we go to New York for our oldest’s graduation in August. I have no clue where we will put it all…but it will be wonderful to have it out of storage and feel like a move that we started two years ago is finally over!

But oh, the work I would like to get done inside the house before that all arrives! I have a couple ceilings that need to be redone and it would be so much easier without all that furniture to stumble over. Will have to see how it goes!

The garden is doing fantastic! We should be eating tomatoes in another two weeks! We’ve already had some banana peppers, jalapenos, green beans and even some potatoes. That same dog broke off the tops of the potatoes, so I dug them up so they wouldn’t rot. And of course we’ve been eating lettuce and spinach for a couple of months now. I had the best lettuce crop ever this year. I even had a lot of cantaloupe come up in my compost pile, which I transplanted. They are flowering now, so hopefully we will have some cantaloupe! We’ve had a lot of rain, so it has been hard to stay ahead of the weeds this year. My son and I have both spent way too many hours bent over pulling weeds!

Landscaping is coming along well too. I started a brick walkway to the backyard last week. So I made another flower bed next to it and planted some grass seed. My parents gave me a ton of Hosta, so I broke that up and planted it in the shaded bed with the Impatients. Those two beds are looking good and they are getting crowded enough now that the weeds are at bay. Hosta is one of my favorite shaded area plants. But they are usually pretty expensive. So I was VERY thankful for the Hosta.

Well, that is a quick update…which turned into a little more! Hope your summers are going as well!

I say that with sadness. The last couple of weeks have been very busy with a graduation party, an early 18th birthday party, making a party dress for my second oldest to take with her. All of this to make ready for our second oldest to fly from the nest.

She just left with her father and brother for the long trip to upstate New York where she will be for the next year and a half. She will join her sister there. I am happy for her…but give me a few days to process this new phase of my life in rearing children. For those of you that have not experienced this yet…hug those little ones still with you. Enjoy the years you still have to spend with them before they leave. It all goes by all too quickly.

Cherish the time that you have.