Busy as a Bee

July has been filled with weeding, and sowing, harvesting, and canning, and little else. The days are long and the nights are short, and there never seem to be enough hours in the day.

One long day of canning I noticed the temperature was steadily climbing in the house. I called my wonderful neighbor who happens to have a wonderful husband whom installed our air conditioning. The capacitor had blown. It would be morning until it could be fixed. (Yes, I do know how short a time that is! I'm blessed by these people!) That night I thought back to summers years ago when we didn't have central air, but a few room air conditioners. In the heat of the day I would get my children settled playing, and sneak off to the boys' room where I would crawl into one of their twin beds and blissfully sleep while the air blew over me. Thankfully, those days are past.

*Disclosure- CSN asked me if I'd like to review a product for them in exchange for linking back to their company. They're offering me a gift card to use toward the purchase of anything I'd like. I couldn't pass that offer up!

On Being a Parent

Life moves quickly, ever changing. Just when I find myself settling into a routine, life happens and the cart gets turned upside down. It's not a bad thing, necessarily, just different.

Children grow into young adults before our very eyes. Many assume this means the parenting days come to a close. They assume wrong. Parenting changes? Yes. Ends? Never. Our little charges become our friends, sharing their hearts, struggles, and joys. Sometimes the struggle is harder than others. There's a delicate balance when you're a parent between helping, and helping them find their own way. For several of my children, I'm now about the business of the latter.

My two older children left our home this past year: one got married, and the other went to college. Having them back in our home has been good, but we've had to step back and re-evaluate. Working on relationships is time-consuming and sometimes emotionally draining, even when things are going well, which they are.

Having older children in the home should be beneficial to both the parents and the children. For the young adults, they need a haven, a place to return at the end of the day where they know they are loved. Home should be a place where discussions can be had without being judged, where they can try new things without too much risk. At the same time, no parent wants an adult child free-loading while they are left behind to hold everything together. Relationships are give and take, and thankfully, we've discussed that for years in our home. This doesn't mean that we don't have our conflicts just like every other family, but it does mean that they aren't hearing something new for the first time.

And so, our family dynamics keep evolving. Autumn returned home from a failed marriage, Mac returned from college for the summer, Collin headed off for 5 weeks to work as a camp counselor, and Abigail, my baby, has a regular baby-sitting job earning $10 an hour!

Mac and Autumn are working 40 hour weeks, arriving home exhausted, but still pitching in to do dishes, mow the lawn, etc. This is the stuff real life is made of. Good husbands and wives can't arrive home at the end of the day and expect to do nothing but think of themselves until they return to work the next day. And so, the training continues.

As for me, I'm busy in the garden, preparing school lessons for the upcoming year, and building relationships. My husband continues to bless me daily with his patience and love. We are well. Thanks for asking!

Keeping Busy

In the past week I've:

visited the farmer's market three times,

baked and decorated two cakes,

made 19 half pints of strawberry jam,

frozen two gallons of strawberries,

welcomed Mac back home from college,

cooked many meals,

taken the children to piano lessons,

picked 12 baby chickens up at the post office and become a "chicken mama",

planted several gardens,

mulched the flower beds,

weeded,

and done load after load of laundry.

What have you been up to?

Black Widow

I went to move a few 2 x 4's off the driveway this evening and found this little beauty. I knew what it was right away, but wanted to get a little closer for a better look.

Yes. I am crazy. My lens was about three inches from her.

I followed her for a few minutes, snapping away with my camera, and moving backwards as she crawled toward me. Finally, I'd had enough, and flipped her over for a look at her hourglass.

And then I grabbed a big shoe. She is very poisonous after all.

Chilly Morning

The furnace has been off for close to two months now, but Collin was quick to light a fire this morning since the house was 62 degrees upon waking. I often find him reading his schoolbooks, feet propped on the hearth, soaking in the warmth. Daisy likes to join him.

Spring Cleaning

Every year that we've lived in this home, I've had my boys wash the entire outside from top to bottom by hand. Since Mac is away at college, Collin and I set to work. No music for us, though, and I don't think either of us missed it. We talked the afternoon away, and we finished one side. Have I ever mentioned that we have a large house? We do.

Brushing Cats

When the temperatures rise the fur flies.

I asked Autumn to take the cats outside for a good brushing; better out than in! Casper was scared to death and didn't know whether to flee or hide.

Chester, on the other hand, basked in the warm sunshine, held his head high, and enjoyed every moment.

Gallagher

Autumn picked up her guide dog puppy today.

She got to pick his name. He's a male standard poodle, and his name is Gallagher, which means "eager helper".

He's very gentle, and doesn't chase the cats or Daisy.

He has the most adorable deep brown eyes, and a white goatee.

He doesn't yet realize that Daisy can't see.

He'll get lots of practice leading the blind!

Open Windows

It's much more lively when Mac is home, and this week is no exception. He can't stand to not have music playing, or to be playing it himself. He loves guitar, but also enjoys piano and mandolin. And now? The accordion! He bought it just yesterday and can already play it with ease. The only complaint? It smells like a bowling alley.

As the girls and I walked this afternoon, we could hear polka music wafting through our open windows for quite a long way, and had to wonder what our neighbors must think of us.

A Good Thrifting Day

It seems like we'll go for long stretches where we can't find anything good at the thrift store. And then, there are days when we hit the jackpot. Today was a jackpot day!

Abigail found 6 dresses, a blouse, a skirt, and this adorable trench coat that looked like it was made just for her. She's tickled pink!

Day is Done

Bills paid...✓

Laundry finished...✓

Trip to the doctor...✓

Grocery shopping...✓

Waiting for the gas company............................. frustration.

Boys Doing Dishes

It's been four long weeks since Mac has been home, and we were all ready to see him for the weekend.

I love how he can't wait to sit down for the meals that I prepare, and how he offers to do the dishes!

I could have them done in a quarter of the time that it takes him to finish them, but I wouldn't have near the fun.

He always recruits a sibling to help. He washes, they dry. The party gets started.

And then they crank up the tunes.

Counters get splashed, and the floor gets wet, but eventually, it all gets cleaned up.

We all laugh, and sing along at times. Except the rap stuff.

I just sit back and enjoy the show during the rap songs.

Macsta da Rapsta. That's his name.

Electricity, Electricity!

In my constant effort to reduce our electric bill I bought a timer for our extra freezer and refrigerator. So far, it's worked well. These two appliances shut off at midnight, and come back on at 6 AM. No one is opening them during that time, and they stay plenty cold. This way, every 4 days they have been off for an entire day. That should add up to some savings.

Anticipation

Photo by Collin

I'm anticipating the day that the clothesline is holding more than ice and snow!

Winter Stills

Photo Challenge: Learning

Because we are a homeschooling family, learning never stops. It happens at the dining room table, in the kitchen, at a desk, in the car, and in the yard. I love that!

This week I'm learning patience. The above picture is a hat that I've been trying to crochet all week. I've ripped it out no less than 15 times. Sometimes, the ripping out comes just as I get to the last three rows.

Each night after supper, my husband reads to us from God's word. We all learn something.

What are you learning?

Join us at Rebecca's House for more Foto Friday pictures.

Cupcake Confectionary

Tired of pink confections yet? Me either!

Inspired by a wall hanging in Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle, I came up with my own version, making a cupcake pyramid instead of their suggested three in a row. These hand-appliqued fairy cakes can satisfy any sweet tooth!

Rather than plain white fabric for the icing tops, I used fusible fleece for a more three- dimensional look. I didn't bother with the holly leaves and berries, but used seed beads for sprinkles!

A few buttons in the upper right hand corner add a little more whimsy.

A certain someone is happy to have this gracing the walls of her soft pink bedroom.

Two Visitors

Upon our return from morning errands we found two visitors sitting beneath the basketball hoop. We were shocked when they approached us as we exited the car. Having just been to the grocery store, we searched the trunk for something suitable to offer them. Hot dog buns and crackers fit the bill. (No pun intended.) After spending a bit of time with our new friends, we went to carry the groceries into the house, but they wanted to follow.

Abigail ran inside to fetch them a drink. Boy, were they thirsty! Feeling as though we had satisfied their lunch cravings, we headed inside for a meal of our own. Abigail kept checking on them, though. After about an hour's nap they waddled back down the driveway and made their way to a new destination. We were happy to have been able to provide a respite for the weary travelers.

Cleaning the Dryer

I recently received this email from a dear friend, and then promptly had my own dear husband take our dryer apart to clean it. It took about 30 minutes start to finish, and I feel much more at ease.

Just a quick note to tell a story straight from the "our" home.

I have been away from home for several weeks, returning home the day before Thanksgiving. As all of you moms know, that means my laundry is terribly behind. The stacks are almost as tall as I am! (Not joking!) And, everyone knows that this is a recipe for disaster. Of course, the dryer broke and those many loads of laundry sat there, mocking me! So we called the repairman, who makes calls to our area only once a week. We definitely live in the middle of nowhere!

He showed up yesterday, and all I could think about was getting to the ever growing mountains of laundry. So much to do. It's Christmas time, we have school to do, I STILL have unpacking to do from moving to our new home a year ago.... the list is always growing. And then he showed me my dryer.

Our dryer's heater went out, but that wasn't the amazing part. It was full of lint, absolutely full (which is a surprise, because I vacuum the thing out very often)I am not talking about the lint trap being full. The whole underside of the dryer was full. At least 3 inches of it, layered on everything, the wires, doo-dads and gizmos. (Yuck!) But that still isn't the amazing part.

After several expressions of surprise and shock (what fun to hear) and even a gasp, the repairman pointed out that the lint was heavily scorched. In the heater, along the front, and even in the plastic vent tube that leads to the outside. Lint is very flammable. It doesn't scorch, it ignites. When it does, it causes a flash fire that ignites the house- usually starting with the plastic vent tubing. It burns so hot and so fast and it happens in an instant. The repairman was surprised because we still have a house. He said it should have caught fire when it scorched. And he said that my dryer is the worst he has ever seen (what an honor for me!) He could not understand why it didn't burn, said it over and over again.

But we know why. God put those fires out before they could start. He protected our family from a loss that I cannot begin to wrap my mind around. We live 30 minutes away from everything. There would have been nothing left. If we had been asleep, it might have been even worse.

All of a sudden, all of those things that were pulling at me, all the jobs I had to see to, just were not so important. God had intervened on the behalf of our family and I saw it clearly.

SO..... Please join us in prayers of thanksgiving and praise for the protection that God has given us. I can't believe how He sees to all of the details and wonder how many times we have been so protected without ever knowing it! Some may say it's coincidence, or luck. They just don't know the care our Lord takes in preserving us.

AND..... Please clean out your dryers with a vacuum. Unplug it first!! Open the panels and clean it out. Yes, it's a pain. It will take time, but much less than cleaning up after a fire! (Besides, you don't want a repairman at YOUR house one day telling you this is the worst he has EVER seen!) And install a metal duct instead of the plastic one for venting to the outside. They will not ignite and burn. All lessons learned.

Time to add another chore to your Honey-do list!

Rice Pudding

A nice hot bowl of rice pudding is just the thing on a cold wintry night. It's also just the thing for invoking recitations of The Poky Little Puppy from my children. I don't know which I like more, the fact that they love my cooking, or the fact that they remember what I read to them when they were little.