A Wee Bloggie Rest...

I am taking a somewhat unexpected

bloggie break for the next day or so.

We had a busy day today

and will have one tomorrow.

I will prayerfully answer

a few questions that I have received

when I am able.

Hope y'all enjoy the rest of your week.

Tuesday's Tidbits...

After our Proverbs time
and a little schoolwork,
we worked on our Tackle-It Tuesday
for a little while.
The result of our boxes of soxes adventure
was 25 pairs of socks
and 74 stragglers. Yikes.
I discarded quite a few
that I know we will never find matches to.
After we matched and discarded,
the lil' girls helped to put away the leftovers
by folding them and putting them back in the box...


I thought it was cute how the were folding
the leftover socks neatly and putting them away.

Afterwards, I took on another tackle today...
the children's rooms.
Instead of only cleaning them up,
I decided to trade their rooms
which meant moving the lil' girls' room
to Will's room and then moving Will's room
to their old one.

Here was the girls' before picture...

Even when the room was clean
it just seemed to look so crowded.
Mostly because their bed couldn't
easily be placed anywhere else.
After lots of disassembling, moving,
putting back together, and straightening up,
here is the girls' new room...




I put their vanity in the corner by their bed
and let them put up wall stickers
that Gramma had given them while she was here.
They were quite thrilled that Mama
was actually letting them put stickers on the walls.
Here they were in their little corner...


Along with moving the girls' stuff into Will's old room,
we moved Will's stuff into the girls' old room.
This was his before picture...


And after the disassembling, moving furniture,
putting back together, etc...
here is his new room...




He was excited to help decorate his room, too.
He helped nail up his world map...


Ally woke up with a lot of energy this morning
and got up before everyone else.
She came downstairs and hand-mopped
the patch of dining room floor that doesn't have a rug
and she also made some coffee for her mama. Mmmm...
She also cleaned the dining room and mama's 'hot spot'
of paper collecting on the dry sink.
She was a great help with moving the children's rooms, too.
I caught her this evening cleaning up supper...

We have been blessed with a child that loves to clean!

She also spent much time playing piano...

It was nice listening to her play
Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata"
as we finished up supper.

Also, today, Ally began piano lessons with Will.
She will be teaching him once a week
and helping throughout the week, when needed...

It was precious seeing them work together.
Will was so excited to have his big sister teaching him.
He did very well and, afterwards,
he was eager to continue practicing...


Phew! It was a very busy day in our home today.

It was, also, a delight
to speak to my beloved on the phone.
Woo hoo! Love those times!

Hope y'all enjoyed your Tuesday, too!

Proverbs Time...

This morning we had our Proverbs time.
We were in Proverbs 29
(since it is May 29th).
We took turns reading aloud
(those that could read),
then selected a verse to illustrate.
We chose to illustrate verse 11...

"A fool uttereth all his mind:
a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards."
~ Proverbs 29:11

Here was our illustration...




Ally helped with drawing the younger ones' pictures.
Here were the younger ones working on them...


These are such fun, teachable times with them...
a time when they enjoy the training and discipleship...
a time that I enjoy very much, too.

Tackle-It Tuesday: Boxes of Soxes...

As I was starting laundry,
I noticed our overflowing sock collection.
It sure does grow fast!
For our Tackle-It Tuesday,
we'll be tackling this today...






I'm interested to know
just how many matches we have.

Monday's Musings...

I hope you all enjoyed your Memorial Day.
We spent most of our day at home.
During the day,
I sewed a couple of t-shirt dresses
for the lil' girls.
I realized this morning that
they didn't really have anything
that was red, white, and blue
so I found a couple of shirts
and some fabric that I had laying around.
I also added a lil' ruffle to their sleeves...






Afterwards the children and I
made some patriotic wind socks.
They colored their wind socks...



and then we taped them together...
(somehow my stapler is still packed away... lol)




Then they had fun playing with them outside...



After that, we headed to our pastor's house
for some food, fun, and fellowship.
I took a few photos but most of them are blurry
so I decided not to share.
We all had a lot of fun, outside, playing frisbee
and the lil' girls enjoyed running around playing
and flying their newly-made wind socks.
Ally was glad she was able to
participate in playing frisbee
and helped in one of the highlights of the evening
when she accidently sent the frisbee
into the mucky pond,
which was unable to be retrieved by stick
and provoked one of our pator's sons
to jump in after it. lol
It was entertaining to see.

Though they had a nice time
the children were glad to get to bed
when we got home.
It was nice to have some fellowhip today,
though we missed Daddy.

Memorial Day...

We thank and remember those

that died for our freedom

and the freedom of others.

We praise and thank the Lord of all

for Him Who died

for our ultimate freedom

from sin and Hell.

"Greater love hath no man than this,

that a man lay down his life for his friends."

~ John 15:13

A Memorial Trip and Saturday's Stuff...

We were invited to our assistant pastor's home
for supper and fellowship this afternoon.
I decided to leave the house a little earlier
so the children and I could stop at
the Beirut Memorial and the local veterans cemetery.

First we stopped at the Beirut Memorial.
Ally read aloud a poem that was displayed...






Then we read aloud the names on the wall
and prayed for them and their families...




Also, near the memorial was another memorial
honoring those from September 11, 2001
and those serving in Iraq...




It was a steel beam from the World Trade Center...



Afterwards, we went to the veteran's cemetery.
It was a sobering reminder to see so many headstones.
Each one had an American Flag next to it...




As we were leaving the cemetery,
there was another section containing many
older-looking headstones

so we got out to look.
Then I sat in the van with the lil' girls
as Will and Ally walked together,
looking, reading, and appreciating...


Many of them were from the 1800's...
many were during or right after the Civil War.
They enjoyed reading many of the inscriptions together.
The oldest one that they noticed was dated...
Born 1694 Died 1766


It was an interesting trip.
We enjoyed many discussions while we were there
and on our journey in the van.

Afterwards, we arrived for supper
and then had a lovely time of fellowship and fun,
playing a few games.
It was a great time.

We look forward to the Lord's Day tomorrow.

All Gave Some...Some Gave All...

"...from these honored dead,
we take increased devotion
to that cause for which they here
gave the last full measure of devotion --
that we here highly resolve
these dead shall not have died in vain..."
~Abraham Lincoln,
Gettysburg Address~

The Power Behind...

This was posted on a message board.
I do not know the original source of the graphic.



"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord,
and in the power of his might." ~ Ephesians 6:10

100th Post Contest Winner...

This morning, Will helped me
by drawing a name for the winner
of our 100th post contest...





The winner is...



Congratulations Amy at Life's Small Treasures.
Please email me with your shipping info.
Thank you to those that participated.

Hope y'all enjoy your weekend!

Friday's Fillings...

Aside from traffic,
our trip for Ally's checkup went well today.
As I was leaving the base today,
I wondered why there was so much traffic...
silly me... that 'mother brain' of mine
tends to be off in space sometimes.
I just didn't put traffic
and Memorial Day weekend together.
I sure felt silly at my realization
and learned not to make appointments
on a holiday weekend again...
especially when the appointment
is a little bit of a distance away.

Since Ally has been feeling so well,
we are not trying any other remedies...
well... except for a few basic things
that we will be doing.
Another thing that I learned today
was how having your child keep
a detailed dietary journal for a few weeks
and then sharing it with someone
can be quite convicting and embarassing
all at the same time. {{sheepish grin}}
So, ahem, we will be working at
omitting more sugar from our eating.
Sad how I could just deceive myself
in thinking we weren't really having much sugar...
until I heard the things listed off of Ally's journal.
Ouch!
Intentions are nothing but intentions
so we will be taking some overdue action
in changing our eating habits.

There are a few minor things
that she will be working on, as well...
like actually wearing her glasses
and drinking water without ice
(sounds a little stange, maybe,
but we are giving it a try
to see if it helps with her stomach).

Anyhoo... after the journey home,
we rested briefly and then had company
for our sourdough pizza night.
Can I just say... YUM?!
We had a brief, but lovely, time
of food and fellowship.
I'm looking forward to a decent night's sleep.
Hope y'all enjoyed your Friday. ;o)

Oh, by the way,
Ally did finish the dress
that she was working on yesterday.
You can see it by clicking here.

Last Day of Contest...

Today is the last day of our 100th post contest.
You can click on the above graphic to join in.
The contest will end at midnight tonight
and we will announce the winner tomorrow morn.

Today we are going for a follow-up appointment
with the holistic practioner for Ally
and then we have our sourdough pizza night
with some friends,
so I will be scarce in bloggie world today.

Hope y'all enjoy your day!

Show and Tell Friday: A Childhood 'Friend' Returns...

This is my first time to participate
in Kelli's Show and Tell Friday.
I've enjoyed seeing others'
show and tells the past few weeks or so
and thought I would join in.
Something I would like to share
that is, particularly, special to me
is pictured below.

He may look like an average,
not-too-difficult to find Pillsbury Doughboy
but there is more sentimental worth
hidden in him than his pudgy, appearance can tell...



To know why he is so special to me
you must follow me back to my childhood...

When I was just a wee one, around the age of 4,
I owned a little, vinyl Pillsbury Doughboy
that my mama had given to me.
She had mail ordered him
by saving the proofs-of-purchases.
An inexpensive little fellow,
but I was glad to have him.
I'm not sure how long I had owned him
but I do remember the fact.

That year, we had to make a move out of state
and my mama donated a large amount
of miscellaneous items to minimize our packing.
Among those items, was my doughboy.
I remember, as a child, being sad at the loss of my toy.

After the move, I recall seeing commercials
of my long, missed doughboy.
The ones where they would push his tummy
and he would giggle.
I would say to my mama,
"Remember my toy doughboy?"
I sure missed him...
I know, a petty thing,
but as a child it had seemed worth missing.
As I got older, I would still think fondly
of that silly, ol' doughboy I once had...
especially each time his commercial had played.


Fast forwarding to years later...
My mama was there when our eldest came into the world.
As I was experiencing contractions and such,
my mama pulled out a little gift for me.
It was wrapped in shiny gift wrap and a bow.
I opened it up to find a cute, little doughboy
just like the one I had when I was little.
My mama and I shared a laugh and a cry
over such a silly thing.

And as I looked through the gleeful tears,
I started examining this little fellow.
Such a familiar face.
Then I saw a very familiar mark.
It was just like the mark I had
on my doughboy when I was a little girl...


It was a faint, orange-ish circle
on the back of his neck.
How interesting to see that same circle
on another doughboy!

Then I continued examining him.
I lifted his head up, where I could see
underneath his neck
and I saw something quite surprising...
Inside was smudged writing
that said, "Christina, Love Mom"!


You may not be able to see it in this photo,
it has smudged more since this happened.
But we couldn't believe it!
It was the exact, same doughboy
from when I was a little girl!
After all of those years,
it had been found!
And my mama wasn't even looking for it.
She had seen it at an antique store
and thought she was just buying one
that looked like the one I had owned.

My mama and I will always remember this story
and we, still, to this day laugh over it.
It's a story that I will share with my children,
and, perhaps, their children, too.
He may be just a silly, little toy
but he's sentimental in worth to me.

Thursday's Things...

Today has been a day of beautiful weather for us!
The younger children were eager to
spend most of the day outside.
Will and Carolynne came through the house
and went into the garage to search for boxes.
When I asked what they needed boxes for
they replied that they were going to be vikings
and that their job was to find a ship (and bedrooms)
while Beth collected sticks for a fire.
I was thrilled to see them using their imaginations
and I was tickled as I watched them play...


Here, Will was chopping the sticks
that Beth had collected for their fire.

And here were Will and Carolynne
inside of their viking ship...

Carolynne's room on the ship
was too small for her,
so she and Will shared.

Beth was sailing away
in her own quarters...



After their viking voyage (to Alaska),
I found them getting inside the box.
They were standing it up and tipping it over...
a fun 'ride', apparently. lol...




While I was outside, I checked on my tomato plants...

They seem to be doing pretty good so far.

I wish I could say the same for our other plants...

The cucumbers, lettuce, and green beans have drowned
(well, the green beans may still have a chance).
Our rain gauge had a total of 14 inches in it
from the other week!
But we are glad the tomatoes are still alive. YUM!
And the flowers have finally poked out of the dirt...




Inside the house,
after finishing up some of her "homework",
Ally began cutting fabric for her new dress
that she is working on today...


And, later, she began sewing on it...

She hopes to get it finished today.
It's such a pretty plaid print.

For lunch, the younger ones had a picnic outside...





After lunch, they spent some time playing
a game of croquet in the backyard...

It's always a joy to see them playing well together!

Also, this afternoon, I read aloud to the younger ones
from our Christian Liberty Press Nature Reader.
We were reading about brown thrashers,
which really interested the children
seeing we have been having them in our backyard...

After our reading time, we took a little nature walk
to see if we could find a nest from the brown thrasher
but we were unsuccessful in finding one.
We did have a nice time, though.
We saw a few birds and spent time listening
to some new bird calls that we do not know, yet.

I was, also, delighted today to 'speak' to my beloved online.
It's always wonderful to hear from him!

I hope y'all have enjoyed your day.
I'm off to make supper.



"This is the day which the LORD hath made;
we will rejoice and be glad in it."
~ Psalm 118:24