Hearts in Service Blog

I had planned on not subbing today so I could get some housecleaning done, but we had a change of plans. Yesterday at church, Emily was swinging and in mid-air the swing broke. She did a flip in the air and landed on her arm, fracturing the bone right above her wrist. So this morning was spent at the orthopedist's office. Oh well. It goes with the parenting territory. She is home today and we are taking it easy.

Our home is in such a strange location. We live on a commercial street that dead ends into the train parking lot next to our house. The property holds three buildings: a huge white home that used to be the local funeral home, a building behind it that I used for 3D Girls last year and our home where the funeral director used to live. Directly across the street is the train platform and other than the few minutes the train is in the station, the street is deserted. While our front yard overlooks the train platform, the backyard looks out over rolling hills and a meadow. So it's the best of both worlds. We have a picket fence that surrounds the front of the property. It gives us some privacy and protection. Parts of it were replaced this year when a car hit it and knocked it down. The parts that were not replaced have seen better days and we really felt that it was an eyesore. Fortunately for us, we have a wonderful landlord who is a blessing to us. He is a Christian and he ...

After my whiny post yesterday and going to bed feeling very sick to my stomach last night, I woke up and felt kind of blah this morning. However, after lounging around for about an hour or so, I got up and got productive! Here is what I did so far today: ♥ Did a crossword puzzle and watched a movie (that was the lazy part of the day) ♥ Made blueberry pancakes and sausage for breakfast ♥ Cleaned up breakfast dishes ♥ Showered & dressed ♥ Made French baguettes for lunch ♥ 3 loads of laundry - washed, dried, folded & put away ♥ Planted herb garden - basil, cilantro, dill, rosemary, and spearmint ♥ Planted vegetable garden - beans, cucumbers, squash, and pumpkin (tomatoes & peppers will go in next week) ♥ Picked & washed lettuce and spinach ♥ Made lunch (tossed salad, fruit salad, baguettes, cheese) ♥ Cleaned up lunch dishes ♥ Made, copied and folded church bulletins ♥ Made lemon poppy seed and molasses crinkle cookie dough and chilled ♥...

This is how I feel lately. Dry, uninteresting, uncreative, nothing new to say. Much of it is because I have been subbing a lot lately...A LOT! I love teaching and I love children, but by the end of the day every creative, interesting thing has been sucked right out of my brain! We've had car repairs, as well as needing money for a couple of other big bills so I don't want to turn down these opportunities when they arise. So, I'm not sure how interesting or fresh some of my blog posts will be over the next few weeks, but I'll try! I'm going to be working in my garden this weekend so hopefully I will get inspired. My thirsty creative juices certainly could use some water!

Psalm 19:1-6 ~ 1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, 5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.

My lilac bushes are in full bloom in the yard and it smells wonderful! They are my favorite flower and I love their scent. We have a large crab apple tree in our yard and a few weeks ago there was not one bloom on it. I thought for sure we were not going to get any fruit this year. However, the weather has been extremely warm and we've also had a few rain showers and yesterday I walked outside to this sight. The tree is loaded with blossoms so it looks like we may be getting a good crop this year. Between the lilacs and the apple blossoms, my yard smells heavenly!

Nathan turned 19 years old today. It's so hard to believe that he is so old. It seems like just yesterday, he was a sweet little baby. The past year has probably been the most challenging of his life, yet we have seen him grow by leaps and bounds. The tradition at our house is that you get to pick the meal. So Nathan chose a Middle Eastern dinner. We had Pakistani kima (curried beef dish), flat bread, fattoush (salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, mint & parsley) and I have cookies and cream ice cream churning in the ice cream maker. It was kind of a weird day because we had a church work day so the majority of the day was spent working. However, he enjoyed his day and definitely enjoyed the dinner! Happy Birthday, Nathan!