Wednesday

Wednesday....exploring, playing, laughing, swimming, digging, wadding, talking, discussing, finding, loving. It was a fun kind of morning!

Blessings...they surround us every day.

Fireworks & Family Time

Sunday was full of family time, friend time and community time as we all went with our daughter to help with her 4H clubs car wash fundraiser. Perfect afternoon with sun but not too hot either! Home made pizza's for dinner then off to the Memorial Day fireworks close by. A great way to close the day together and appreciate all of those who have served.

May your families have a blessed Memorial Day Weekend.

Saturday

3 day weekend is not a true term for myself. I usually work at least 6 days a week and I don't usually have holidays off. So true to form, I worked Saturday, taking today Sunday off and going light tomorrow Monday but still working. Sometimes when work feels so over powering in my life I feel lack in other parts. I feel tipped out of balance. I had a long hard week just like any working parent has some times. Work meetings running over, extra hours having to be put in. I can always tell when I'm working too much...I'm crabby, I do not feel like a great mother, nor a great wife and even in working so much I usually don't feel like a great employee either. When my life tips out of balance I don't feel good at anything. Per a friends suggestion, a few weeks back I had ordered a book. 'Jesus Calling'. I wanted a daily devotional. On the hardest day of last week, the book came. I turned to the page for that day in tears by myself in my room at the end of the hard day. And I read....

I, the creator of the universe, am with you and for you. What more could you need? When you feel some lack, it is because you are not connecting with me at a deep level. I offer abundant life; your part is to trust me, refusing to worry about anything.
It is not so much adverse events that make you anxious as it is your thoughts about those events. Your mind engages in efforts to take control of a situation, to bring about the result you desire. Your thoughts close in on the problems like ravenous wolves. Determined to make things go your way, you forget that I am in charge of your life. The only remedy is to switch your focus from the problem to my presence. stop all your striving, and watch to see what I will do. I am the Lord. 
Romans 8:31-32; Micah 7:7

If I'm honest with myself, I do go to the Lord in prayer- but I need to more often. I need to go to him first before my focus on problems take hold, before my worry consumes me, before my feeling lack creeps in.

I am so very thankful for this life and everything the Lord has provided for my family.  

Family is everything.

So speaking of family...yesterday Saturday we spent the morning cutting down weeds in the yard, cleaning out animal cages, cleaning house - doing those extra weekend chores. Our daughters beloved first guinea pig passed away...he had lived a long good life and was old, and it was time. We had a backyard burial. It was sad yet we were all at peace with the great life he had lived. We all loved him dearly.

Then we escaped for the afternoon into town, hitting up a few stores, some in and out french fries for a snack, and picked up a movie on the way home for the evening. That eve our son played outside till dinner with a friend in the yard- being boys- building bug villages out of yard materials. Our daughter read, listened to music, sang and finished up a birthday list. We all came together for dinner and settled in for the night with a few movies and to bed late. A wonderful family day.

 Me and my big girl, Sadie.

Count your blessings, be thankful and go to the Lord when you are faced with challenges in Life.

Happy Sunday friends and family.

Animal Weekend & Chickens

The weekend has been full force animals around here...Saturday brought a Rabbit show for our daughter. She brought 2 out of 4 of her dutch rabbits to the show nearby. They both did well. She also got a new bun (another dutch) that she gets to pick up this week which she's thrilled about. And here I told her when we got to the show...no more. And what happened? We got one more. But with the promise of cutting down on her guinea pigs. She's in the midst of shifting gears from guinea pigs to rabbits and still very interested in showing in larger shows and possibly judging. So show day took up our whole day- but it was fun and we all got to be there and share in her excitement, chat with friends and hang out with other rabbit-loving folks like ourselves.

Today Sunday morning, our son and I have not only cleaned chicken pens but also let our newest ones have sunshine, outdoor time and play time out in the dogs yard! Love this kids passion for his birds, and any bird for that matter.

Pure happiness in my heart when I see both my children with their animals. Looking forward to afternoon skype with family, working in the yard, praising the Lord and having the day with family.

 Momma's Black Beauty baby

Fun family days with animals.

Around here

Around here...I haven't posted for over a week. Its been mellow on the home front, busy on the work front and we are settling down into a routine for catching up on home schooling and learning. Our daughter has been making plans to bake and sew this summer for fun and our son has started building his own website to teach other kids how to do things on mine craft. Our daughter got settled into a new 4H club and we went to her first meeting. We still have a few lingering boxes around the house and still have our storage units to empty. Around here today, hubbie is weeding the dogs yard...the kids are playing together- I love hearing their voices and they discuss, plan, create, imagine together...and momma is finishing up on work and looking forward to finishing up on some kitchen cleaning later too. We also got some chicken handling-cuddling-play time in today. We've been watching cooking shows in the evening as a family and enjoying having Netflix back for documentaries- the kids favorite! It feels like care free summer days. Easy breezy, the weather has been comfortable, the heat hasn't hit us too hard...yet. We are all looking forward to planning our trip to see family in June for our daughters 15th birthday. We are also looking towards the fair here as always. It feels good to be home bodies right now as we are developing our routines and continuing to settle into our new home. Its been 1 month since we left Idaho. It seems like longer.

 Our babies.

 Dogs fenced back yard...now weed free thanks to hubbie!

Thankful for all of our beautiful days together.

Sunday

Still not back into all of our normal routine...some how we ended up 'having' to do laundry on Sunday...the kids some how had no shirts left amongst other things. With no washer or dryer yet we ventured to the laundry mat down the road for a few hours to wash and fold. Back home the heat was rising and we decided a trip for some swimming at the lake was in order. Picked up a pizza and headed on down- water was a bit too cold for this momma to get in past her knee's but the kids and hubbie were happy to jump right in. Our kids enjoyed snorkeling and hubbie enjoyed floating...momma had a great time just watching, soaking in the sun and the light breeze and attempting not to already think about Monday! A great family day once again.

 Great weather, beautiful view and family...what more could you want. We are so thankful.

Afternoon Play

After a Saturday morning at home of animal chores, building a table, working in the yard, doing dishes, cleaning and organizing the house....we deserved a much needed break and a short trip to the water. Traveling to go pick up an animal cage and finish up an errand, we took a break at the park and playground next to the water to play, and have some fun before heading home for a family movie night. A nice day where we got things done and got to relax as a family together as well. Beautiful weather, clear skies, gorgeous water and family time. A perfect day as always when we spend it together. We are blessed.

We have a beautiful life.