becoming garden folk

We are having a blast experimenting with our tiny garden. We have huge squash plants and awaiting our harvest (we've picked 2 and ate them) and we have 3 tall tomato plants with lots of green tomatoes. The cutest of all is our watermelon vine. There is a darling little melon growing. Mike grew up in watermelon growing part of Texas and knows how they grow. Apparently, the little buggars need a nest of dry straw to lie on!  Who knew?? The little boys love checking their produce. We hope to build a big raised bed for a garden next spring. It was so fun cooking a squash we'd grown and knowing it had no pesticides on it.

reformed VBS hater

Confession:  I've dissed on VBS for many years, since as long as I can remember. Really disliked VBS. Not sure why? Maybe the chaotic and loud environment, the cheesey paper mache crafts, the Kool-Aid in dixie cups and vanilla wafer cookies for snacks, predictable lessons and games....  I'm reformed now. Our church does a great job with VBS. We always help out in some sort of fashion. But this year, both Mike and I were huddle (small group) leaders. I had a blast! It was so well organized, bazillions of adult and teen volunteers placed all around our church property to help. The music time was so cool and even the snacks were imaginative. The group lesson times incorporated creative media resources to appeal to this high tech generation. My group was precious. 6 first graders all colors of the rainbow. The kids loved every minute of the 4 evenings. I will definitely sign up to help next year.

took the "chilin" a bit too far

Missed 2 assignment deadlines for my completely stupid Research class.  Umm, what have I become??  I'm never ever late for anything!!!

learning to chill a bit

This summer, the Lord has really impressed upon me to slow down and relax a bit. I'm not a relaxed kind of person. It is super hard for me to sit still. The theme that keeps running through my head the last several weeks comes from Psalm 39:4 Show me, O Lord, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life"  It is no secret that I'm a driven, busy person always looking for the next challenge and burning the candle at both ends. I'm learning how fast this life goes by. Suddenly, I am middle age with gray wiry hair sticking out like antennas. Don't get me wrong, I'm in great physical shape and young still. But, most likely, half my life is over (sounds a little Debbie Downer). My kids are growing like crazy and I'll never have a baby or toddler in this house again (until I have boatloads of grandkids or if the Lord has a funny sense of humor and calls us to adopt again!).  What I want to do is make the days slower, more relaxing, more enjoyable. I want to weed out the busyness that is not useful. Playing in the wave pool at our local splash park is suddenly about the most fun thing I can do! Summer 2014 is going to be the summer I enjoy long days of sun and not having to drive kids off to school everyday. Things like growing our own squash...now THAT is fun :)

It's June!

And it's hot.  But, summer has begun and we are trying to have a fun time. Abby and I channeled our inner Duggar family this week by staying home all day, didn't go anywhere for entertainment. We played trains on the floor, ate lunch up in the boys' fort, hung laundry out on the clothesline....and...drumroll....we made home-made laundry soap!  Oh yes we did. Abby worked so hard shaving a bar of old fashioned laundry soap so we could mix it in our big bucket of Super Washing Soda and Borax. I'm really excited to see if it last a year, like the blogger who posted it on Pinterest claims it will. We also made a savings jar for a trip to Gulf Shores next summer and a "I'm bored" jar for Hudson. It has lots of folded pieces of paper with fun things for him to do when he starts whining that he is bored. We made supper from scratch and oatmeal cookies.  It was a wonderful day and reminded me that I'm happiest when I'm home and being frugal and productive.
Friday is a trip to the new water park. Let the fun begin!