Encouraging Deep Roots

One thing I've noticed is that animals seem to play a central theme in most of my adventures. I seem to attract them like flies to honey. Yet, it's always in the most bizarre way! As I've mentioned we were without power for 12 hours yesterday. Dan put the gas grill up on the front porch so we would have it available if we needed it. About mid-afternoon I decided to try and boil some water on it for tea. I pulled the cover off the grill and opened the lid. It was then that I noticed a pile of grass in the corner under the grate. Well, I know that I can't start a fire in the grill with dry grass in it so I pulled off the grate and lifted up the pile of grass. Out runs a field mouse who was in the MIDDLE of nursing four babies! The mother with two of the babies still attached to her and two other babies are now running around the inside of the grill. All the while, I'm yelping and jumping up and down. Stephen & Emily came to my rescue with glo...

We weathered the tropical storm relatively unscathed. We had no power for 12 hours but it actually turned into a wonderful day of board games and "roughing" it for our family. I certainly wouldn't want to live without power, but once in a while it is good to live without our modern gadgets. Today I'm thankful for Blessings #611-625 ♥ Being prepared. It's not often that you get a chance to prepare ahead of time for no electricity. ♥ The gift of apples and pears from a friend's trees. ♥ An unexpected credit at the doctor's office which paid for the visit. ♥ A friend who bought me this gadget a garage sale a few years back. Tomatoes go in the top, crank, and sauce comes out one side and seeds and skin the other. ♥ Finding out that Stephen's endocrinologist participates in Dan's new health plan. We love her and have used her for years. I wasn't looking forward to finding a new one. ♥ Selling enough bread to he...

We are under a tropical storm warning here and are hunkering down for the brunt of the storm late tonight and all day tomorrow. High winds, heavy rains, and flooding. It just started pouring about 20 minutes ago. I've been through this many times when we lived in New Jersey. The problem here is that we are out in the middle of the woods. Lots and lots of old, dead trees just waiting to fall. We are hoping that we don't lose power because we don't have a generator. However, if we do I'm as prepared as I can be. Bathtub filled with water Pails and other containers filled with water Drinking water Flashlight and candles ready Made a number of food items to last us a few days (bread, cookies, hard boiled eggs, pasta salad, etc.) The grill is up on the porch and available in case we need that Nathan is loving all the activity at the firehouse the past few days and in the days to come. We canceled our church service for tomorrow to keep people safe....

Our lives seem to spin out of control all of the time. Now that Dan is working a full-time job and pastoring it's gotten even crazier! There doesn't seem to be time to fit everything in. Saturday was a rare oasis in the middle of a busy summer. We were invited to go to Lake George for the day with two other families. As we headed up the highway, I could feel my cares melt away and the further from home we got the more relaxed I felt. It was a good day. A day of fun. Of relaxation. Of belly laughs. I haven't laughed so hard in quite a while. It was a great day! Today I'm thankful for Blessings #601-610 ♥ Friends who love each other. ♥ Beautiful flowers. ♥ Skies that were bright blue the day of the trip. ♥ Putt-putt golf. ♥ A gift of peaches. ♥ A beautiful lightning storm. ♥ The opportunity to go to a week long language enrichment training. ♥ Working through parenting issues. ♥ Watching ducklings enjoy th...

I tried my hand a new kind of cucumber this year - lemon. They are round and yellow like a lemon and are supposed to be a bit sweeter. To me they taste like a regular cucumber. The one difference I noticed is that the skin is tougher and they are full of seeds. You can make pickles with them. I won't be growing them again next year, but I enjoyed the experience. The rest of my garden is iffy. Let's just say I hope there isn't a famine or we will be eating dirt! LOL!!! I've only gotten 2 eggplant, a handful of peppers and beans. I have tons of green tomatoes but many of them are getting blossom end rot. I have 1 measly little pumpkin growing and 1 butternut squash and some regular cukes. The only thing that keeps on producing is those lemon cucumbers!

I love living here if not for anything else but the fact that my children love it! There is enough to do to keep them entertained all day long. Nathan pretty much keeps himself busy with firehouse activities and does not have the same love of the outdoors as Stephen and Emily do. Stephen has been clearing paths through the woods all summer. He has a hiking trail carved out and marked and it is looking pretty good. The only downside is that there is poison ivy everywhere you look! A few weeks ago they stumbled upon these vines in the woods and Stephen made a clearing so Emily could swing on them. He has a ladder all set up to climb which gets her high enough to get going. She's off! Then back up the ladder to start all over again. Emily is certainly having a fun summer!

I'm going to be gone all day tomorrow so this is up early. I don't have a lot of words today. I'm just blessed and grateful to the Lord. Today I'm thankful for Blessings #586-600 ♫ The beauty of a full moon. ♫ The smell of fresh baked bread. ♫ The opportunity to get 30 hours of free language enrichment training beginning this week. ♫ Summer bounty. ♫ Vines, perfect for swinging. ♫ A daughter who gives me hugs and kisses every day. ♫ Selling 15 loaves of bread at the community market. ♫ Getting to know new people in our community. ♫ A new addition of five ducklings. ♫ Meeting people in the kid's new schools and feeling some of my apprehension fading away. ♫ A good visit with a friend. ♫ Smiling girls. ♫ Morning glories. ♫ Saving money. and finally... ♫ A husband who continually reminds me that it's all about Jesus!