Blessings,
Friday, June 25, 2010
~is it okay for mom to go to work?~
Just saw this shared on Facebook and I thought it was a good description of my beliefs as well. Please don't take offense if you're employed full-time -I used to be also. I think Proverbs 31 describes a woman who is willing to do whatever it takes to help her family, but her family is her PRIORITY. I simply couldn't keep my family as my priority when I worked full time.
Blessings,
Blessings,
Thursday, June 17, 2010
~saucy dreams~
Hot weather is here and the long, leisurely summer I was dreaming of seems out of reach. Since finishing school, our days have been filled with welding classes, family reunions, baseball, softball, cleaning the house....and laundry :-P
I had dreams of a garden big enough to feed the neighborhood. This was the year I would finally take the time to do it! Nothing was getting in my way. Nothing! My plans also included growing everything I need to can my own spaghetti sauce - tomatoes, onions, peppers, basil, oregano. My secret sauce would be available with the twist of a lid! I can think of nothing better than putting in extra hours up front to make dinner prep quick and easy. I've been formulating shortcuts for years, but this would be the ultimate! (I should probably mention I've never canned, either unless you count the summers helping my Aunt Bev stir her sauce and tighten the lids!) In my mind, this would help me become more like the Proverbs 31 woman. "She gets up while it's still dark, provides food for her family....she plants a vineyard....she sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks."
Instead, we've had baseball and softball games to prepare for and play. Glen coaches Grayson's team, so he's particular about summer activities on game days. Outdoor activities are inevitable, but not for too long. No sunburns for us whitey's - and no swimming on game day for sure! The regular ball season just wrapped up, but Grayson is on the allstar team, so we're not done yet. (Uggh - I mean, YEAH!)
The past few months have been full of good intentions. After several weeks of rain, my in-laws bought a tiller after hearing of my plans, but all for not - it never started! Finally last week, I walked into Lowe's and priced raised garden beds. They're marked down, but still a little pricey - this is an experiment, after all! I looked for tomato plants and guess what was on clearance?!! They were marked down from $9 to $1 so I decided to buy five or six. When the lady at the register rang me up, she said she'd give them to me for 50 cents if I'd buy them all! SOLD! Sixteen tomato plants for $8! Surely owning sixteen plants makes me a gardener;-)
Once again, I had big plans. Saturday I would "work the ground" in my backyard and begin my journey. As I'm cleaning house Saturday morning, Glen was mowing and trimming the yard. I hear him stop and I begin to hear a noise. A rhythmic sound - with intention. I step out back to see my husband with a post-hole digger! NOOOOOOO!!!!! That's my job! I've been planning this for years in my head. It never included Glen doing the work - or using a post-hole digger for that matter. Though it will help you to get the plant in the ground, I don't think it's the ideal way to plant them. Where I imagined hours of time spent tending, nurturing and contemplating, he saw a task to check off of a list.
After calling Dig-Rite to mark the utility lines in our yard, the only suitable place to plant was smack-dab in the middle of the back yard. The final straw was that somewhere along the way, one of the many owners of our 75 year old home decided to get rid of their concrete patio by covering it with 6" of dirt! Guess where the patio was? Yep - smack-dab in the middle of the back yard! The only place left to plant them is in the front yard! Since I don't think our neighbors would appreciate this, and there are probably codes restricting it, we'll look for other options. The raised garden is looking like a better idea everyday - especially since for now, the plants are in rows on my driveway!
I'm convinced there's a conspiracy to keep me from gardening, but I'll diligently tend to my potted plants for now.
Oh, and while reading Proverbs 31 again, I think I found a loophole. Proverbs 31:14 says, "She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar." Could this mean a trip to Sam's and Aldi's? Or possibly Mexican take-out? I think it could......
Blessings,
I had dreams of a garden big enough to feed the neighborhood. This was the year I would finally take the time to do it! Nothing was getting in my way. Nothing! My plans also included growing everything I need to can my own spaghetti sauce - tomatoes, onions, peppers, basil, oregano. My secret sauce would be available with the twist of a lid! I can think of nothing better than putting in extra hours up front to make dinner prep quick and easy. I've been formulating shortcuts for years, but this would be the ultimate! (I should probably mention I've never canned, either unless you count the summers helping my Aunt Bev stir her sauce and tighten the lids!) In my mind, this would help me become more like the Proverbs 31 woman. "She gets up while it's still dark, provides food for her family....she plants a vineyard....she sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks."
Instead, we've had baseball and softball games to prepare for and play. Glen coaches Grayson's team, so he's particular about summer activities on game days. Outdoor activities are inevitable, but not for too long. No sunburns for us whitey's - and no swimming on game day for sure! The regular ball season just wrapped up, but Grayson is on the allstar team, so we're not done yet. (Uggh - I mean, YEAH!)
The past few months have been full of good intentions. After several weeks of rain, my in-laws bought a tiller after hearing of my plans, but all for not - it never started! Finally last week, I walked into Lowe's and priced raised garden beds. They're marked down, but still a little pricey - this is an experiment, after all! I looked for tomato plants and guess what was on clearance?!! They were marked down from $9 to $1 so I decided to buy five or six. When the lady at the register rang me up, she said she'd give them to me for 50 cents if I'd buy them all! SOLD! Sixteen tomato plants for $8! Surely owning sixteen plants makes me a gardener;-)
Once again, I had big plans. Saturday I would "work the ground" in my backyard and begin my journey. As I'm cleaning house Saturday morning, Glen was mowing and trimming the yard. I hear him stop and I begin to hear a noise. A rhythmic sound - with intention. I step out back to see my husband with a post-hole digger! NOOOOOOO!!!!! That's my job! I've been planning this for years in my head. It never included Glen doing the work - or using a post-hole digger for that matter. Though it will help you to get the plant in the ground, I don't think it's the ideal way to plant them. Where I imagined hours of time spent tending, nurturing and contemplating, he saw a task to check off of a list.
After calling Dig-Rite to mark the utility lines in our yard, the only suitable place to plant was smack-dab in the middle of the back yard. The final straw was that somewhere along the way, one of the many owners of our 75 year old home decided to get rid of their concrete patio by covering it with 6" of dirt! Guess where the patio was? Yep - smack-dab in the middle of the back yard! The only place left to plant them is in the front yard! Since I don't think our neighbors would appreciate this, and there are probably codes restricting it, we'll look for other options. The raised garden is looking like a better idea everyday - especially since for now, the plants are in rows on my driveway!
I'm convinced there's a conspiracy to keep me from gardening, but I'll diligently tend to my potted plants for now.
Oh, and while reading Proverbs 31 again, I think I found a loophole. Proverbs 31:14 says, "She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar." Could this mean a trip to Sam's and Aldi's? Or possibly Mexican take-out? I think it could......
Blessings,
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
~flapjack attack~
Tickets are now available for the Lancaster's adoption fundraiser! $5.00 for all-you-can-eat pancakes at Applebee's in Sikeston on Saturday, July 10th from 8-10am. We'd like to get 20 people to sell 20 tickets, if possible. If you'd like to buy tickets, you can contact me or go to the Lancaster's blog here. They have a "donate" button. If you'd like to donate to their cause to bring Lori home, you can donate online there also.
Blessings,
Blessings,
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
~i'll take it any way i can get it~
Yesterday was Memorial Day, and although I have many veterans in my life and I am thankful for my freedom, lately any day that Glen has off has become a day to "catch up" on cleaning and organizing. I know Glen must LOVE this!
We started the day by having breakfast in bed, made by our sweet 12 year old, Grayson. She's learning the finer points of cooking, and we're letting her practice on us;-) Last time she made omelets, Glen informed her that he likes "the works" on his! She made sure I got everything she needed from the store - and she loaded his omelet down with ham, cheese, onion and God only knows what else... I'm a simple girl - cheese only, please.
So that was pretty much the end of our holiday. From the time we got up, we got busy. Glen did yard work (and Riley helped), then showered, then started organizing the bedroom. Closets, drawers, you name it.....even my jewelry box! That thing hasn't been organized in a decade!
I cleaned in the rest of the house, while the kids cleaned in their rooms. They weeded out clothes that don't fit and even cleaned under their beds (I don't even want to know what lurks under there!) - and yes, that took all day. I am ashamed to say that as much as I love a clean house, with everything neatly in it's place and the smell of (insert your favorite scented cleaner here - mine is Pine Sol), I cannot keep it that way for the life of me! I don't know if it's because we're so busy and we're in and out of our house so often, or if it's because we homeschool - so the kids are always there (the down-side to the up-side), or if we're just slobs! Whatever the reason, I hate the fact that I can't keep it together. One elderly lady from church always says, "One day you'll have all the time you need to keep a clean house. Just enjoy those kids!" I don't want to wish my time away with my kids, I'd just like to enjoy them in a clean house;-) The easy answer here is to hire someone to help, but I can't justify spending the money when I'm home! Also, at this point, I feel I need to clean up for the cleaning lady;-)
As a side-note, after I walked into the bedroom last night, exhausted from the day, I looked up at my pretty wrought iron candle holder hanging on the wall to find that Glen had conveniently turned it into a hat rack. I was too tired to fight about it. I'll sneak them into the closet at some point. Right now I'm just grateful for his help - and I'll take it any way I can get it!
Blessings,
We started the day by having breakfast in bed, made by our sweet 12 year old, Grayson. She's learning the finer points of cooking, and we're letting her practice on us;-) Last time she made omelets, Glen informed her that he likes "the works" on his! She made sure I got everything she needed from the store - and she loaded his omelet down with ham, cheese, onion and God only knows what else... I'm a simple girl - cheese only, please.
So that was pretty much the end of our holiday. From the time we got up, we got busy. Glen did yard work (and Riley helped), then showered, then started organizing the bedroom. Closets, drawers, you name it.....even my jewelry box! That thing hasn't been organized in a decade!
I cleaned in the rest of the house, while the kids cleaned in their rooms. They weeded out clothes that don't fit and even cleaned under their beds (I don't even want to know what lurks under there!) - and yes, that took all day. I am ashamed to say that as much as I love a clean house, with everything neatly in it's place and the smell of (insert your favorite scented cleaner here - mine is Pine Sol), I cannot keep it that way for the life of me! I don't know if it's because we're so busy and we're in and out of our house so often, or if it's because we homeschool - so the kids are always there (the down-side to the up-side), or if we're just slobs! Whatever the reason, I hate the fact that I can't keep it together. One elderly lady from church always says, "One day you'll have all the time you need to keep a clean house. Just enjoy those kids!" I don't want to wish my time away with my kids, I'd just like to enjoy them in a clean house;-) The easy answer here is to hire someone to help, but I can't justify spending the money when I'm home! Also, at this point, I feel I need to clean up for the cleaning lady;-)
As a side-note, after I walked into the bedroom last night, exhausted from the day, I looked up at my pretty wrought iron candle holder hanging on the wall to find that Glen had conveniently turned it into a hat rack. I was too tired to fight about it. I'll sneak them into the closet at some point. Right now I'm just grateful for his help - and I'll take it any way I can get it!
Blessings,
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