BUSY weeks and tons of photos!!!

Our summer has been so busy! I love writing and posting photos of what all we are up to, down here in GA, but the past month or so it has seemed as though we were going non-stop.  September is looking as though it will be just as busy.  We will go to the Circus, see Sesame Street Live, Sassy’s wedding is at the end of the month!!  So much to do, so much to get ready for!  Not to mention I will begin my first year homeschooling….  oh boy… 

I have had days where I went to bed thinking “What did I do today??”  Or on Saturday night “What happened this week??”  I simply cannot remember what we did. I have a calendar with the “big” things, but as for the smaller things, like laundry, working in the garden, shopping, cleaning… it all seems to run together…

These are some photos I have been wanting to post for some time now… here they are!!

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Cleaning up the Breakfast area and switching tables :)

 

**I still need to clean off this table, but at least there is more room to walk around it!! 

Cleaning, repainting and rearranging the Dining Room.  Still more to do, but I am happy with it so far!!

Lily playing with a bag full of packing peanuts..

Tons of blueberries to put away… jams and lots in the freezer

Pa gave us a lot if corn from their garden… YUMMY!!  We will be cooking LOTS of corn this fall/winter!! 

Jake found an abandoned fawn on the side of the road.  He was a calm little thing.  Lily enjoyed petting him. He just sat there.  

RAIN!!!  We finally got rain!!!!  Can you tell we were excited!!! Lily was a bit apprehensive when we first got outside.  “Mama, I need my rain boots on!!”  Then she felt the mud between her toes and proceeded to JUMP!!!  “Can I sit down??”  Um- of course!!!!  It was a FUN afternoon!!!

Lily built this with her blocks.  It is a boat (big orange rectangle) in the water (blue around) with lots of alligators (smaller orange rectangles) and a bridge (yellow piece)… 

Cherry tomatoes and carrots (or that is what they are suppose to be) from the garden…

Sweet potatoes from the garden.  Which reminds me, that is on my to-do list this week.  Dig up more potatoes… yummy!! We are not sure if this looks more like a duck or a stomach (if it is turned the other way….) But is sure is GOOD!!!

Cousins that came to visit.  Holding the kittens,

Swimming in a nearby creek…

Playing a cooking game…

 

Placemats (quilted, too) found at Big Lots for 75 cents…  SUPER CUTE!!

Swimming at Robin Lake.

 

Learning to swim with Bidi and sassy

Jumping, well, actually she just wanted to hug the turtle….

Sliding, she climbed up the other side all by herself!!

 

Before and after photos of our Home School shelf.  Jon still needs to attach the doors, but this is it.  All of Lily’s art supplies are in the bottom.  It will be hidden by the doors.  Her writing stuff is on the bottom visible shelf, then my books and Jon’s are on the two up top.  Lily is excited about it.  She keeps asking me when we can start home school.  I think she is excited to get into the art supplies…  crayons, glue, markers, construction paper, play-doh, stickers, etc… 

Happy Anniversary

6 years ago (August 28, 2004) Jon and I got married.

We met online, chatted, emailed, IM-ed for months, then decided to meet up.  He was the man I had always wanted.  He was a Christian, he came from a big family (like me), he wanted marriage and kids, he was a good ol’ country boy.  We had the same values, ideas, principles, plans and dreams.  It didn’t hurt that he drove a big truck and was in uniform.  I was in LOVE!!!   After a few short months of long distant dating, (we lived 6 hours apart, me in GA and him in SC)  we got engaged, (day after Thanksgiving).  Then married 9 months later.

6 years later I still love him, oh so much.  We have had our share of fights, nights on the couch, scares, dreams shattered, new dreams found, hopes built and then torn down.  We have had long nights of discussions, laughs, road trips, sickness.  We have been financially stable and unstable.  We have worked together so hard we both had blisters and we have relaxed so much we never wanted to return to the “real world”.

Jon is my Prince Charming.  I think he is more handsome now than when we got married!!  I cant wait to find out what our future holds.  So many adventures happening right here at home.  We are truly blessed!!!

I love you, Goose!!!!

 

first home school year

YAY!!! I have finally put together a rough draft of our school schedule for the next 4 months. We will start the first full week of September. We would have started sooner but the past month has been NON-STOP...

Mondays- Grocery store or Library (will rotate every other week...)
Tuesdays- will be art and cooking
Wednesdays- Story time at the library then nature studys
Thursdays- numbers and writing

I am planning on doing a letter a week. I hope to plan activities, books, etc. around the letter of the week. She already knows her alphabet, but I am hoping that it will make planning the activities easier. I have a few books that I will go through for activities, and inspiration (as well as getting some inspiration from you all!!!).

If we do a letter a week, including the week of Thanksgiving, then we will be around letter 'P' by the next to last week of December. I will take the last week of December off for Christmas and New Years and getting ready for the next few months. Starting in January we will pick up with remaining letters, and see how far they take us into the spring. Then, I guess we will see what happens from there...

I am excited. I was homeschooled 7-9th grades (otherwise, I was in public school), so this is somewhat new territory for me. Lily tells everyone "she doesnt go to a real school, she is homeschooled which is where she stays home and plays puzzles and reads books with Mama."

I have a busy weekend ahead. I head to Newnan tomorrow for the Consignment sale. I drop off Lilys outgrown clothes, books and toys, and then buy for the fall and winter. Then Saturday I pick up what is left over from the sale and a "romantic night away" for me and hubby- our 6th Anniversary... A special post, all its own...

Hope you all are doing well. Have a great weekend... I am hoping to post photos Friday of what all we have been up to around here... :)

Taking time

I am a firm believer that if you want to build on something you take time to do it.
Whether you are building a house, you take the time to find blueprints, materials, etc to build it. Or if you are trying to build a relationship you take time to spend with them, to learn about them, to connect and bond with them.

This has been on my mind lately. Do I take time to spend with friends? Do I take time to make sure my friends know that I am interested in their lives, that I want to spend time with them? How do I show that I am interested in what is going on in their lives. How do I show them that I care, that I am here for them, that I will do what I can for them??

I dont want a one sided friendship. I dont want to be in any kind of relationship where I am 'taking' all the time. I want to be able to give back, I want to be able to give of my time, my resources, my experience, my love.

I know that any relationship is not going to be equally balances at all times. I know that there will be times that I take more than I give and vica versa. But I want to know, if it is even possible, that if I have a moment where I need something that I will not me pushed away, that I will not be made fun of, that reguardless of what I am in need of at that moment, my friend will be there, offering of their time and love, to help me through...

I have enjoyed reading all the blogs. I may not have time to write myself, but I like to at least check in and make sure you all are doing well. To see how I can help or pray for you all.

I have so many inner battles right now, this is just one of them. Most of them deal with friendships.

I think it is a good thing when a friend can come to me and point out an area where I need to work on and it is said not only with love and honesty, but not critical. If I have something I need to work on, tell me. I will probably be at the book store the next day finding a bible study covering it, wanting to be better...

I had a friend tell me a few months ago that I didnt trust God with our finances. It was VERY true! I didnt. I knew he would take care of us, but I didnt trust him completely. I do now. Partly because of the conversation, partly because of our situation, but I dont worry about the bills. I balance the check book regularly and I pay the bills, but I dont worry about where the money will come from. God has us covered!!

Anyway- this is a whole different blog, a different night, a different mindset...

These are my midnight ramblings :) I think I may need to change my blog title :)

painting

I got home from Bible study last night around 9 pm. Both Jon and Lily were asleep, and I felt froggy and decided to paint. YEP- at 9:00 at night, I taped off the walls in my dining room, pulled furniture away from the walls, unscrewed the outlet covers and gathered my paint supplies.

I am SO excited. I painted for only an hour, but got most of it done. I went to sleep giggling, I was so happy with the color we picked out. The room is going to look GREAT once it is done.

Today, Jon is home so we are rearranging the living room, the dining room and the kitchen, trying to make the furniture fit the best in each room. I cannot wait to post photos of the kitchen and the dining room once they are finished and cleaned up!!

YAY!!! Super excited...can you tell? ;)

real quick

I am about to head out to do my bi-monthly shopping. Lily is rolling all over the floor asking "Mama, when are we leaving???" I usually try to head out closer to 9 am, I have to drive about 40 minutes to get to a decent grocery store, it is near 11:30 now. So needless to say- I am, once again, running late.

Feelings of exhaustion, neasea plus other things have been bothering me lately. Family in town, busy schedules, going here, going there. Jon working less and less hours. So many projects that need to be done around the house. So many events coming up. Bridal shower (hosted by me) for my youngest sister this upcoming weekend. Consignment sale the following weekend- I still havent gotten things tagged and priced. Circus, Sesame Street Live, Weddings, Anniversarys, up coming holidays... all things I am excited about, but seem to be caving in on me. Will I ever catch up? Will there ever be a break?? I need to hire a nanny to come play with Lily, a house cleaner to clean the house and do the laundry and I need a friend, willing to sit in the hot upstairs while we put tags on clothes and laugh and drink lemonade....

I have finally finished painting my "homeschool" shelf. I cant wait to show you all. I am super excited about it. One project down. The dining room suite sold, so furniture has been moved around, making more room. The shelf will finally hold all the books that are holding my chairs down :) We will finally be able to sit in chairs while we eat. Although, Lily has LOVED having picnics on the floor pretty regularly. :)

LouLou and Chance, Gengie and Georgia coming to visit this week- SUPER EXCITED!!!! Lily has already asked if Loulou and Chance can spend the night with her. (Chose a night, Lou... You are ALL hers!!)

Good buys, awesome finds. I love sales. I found some beautiful placemats at BigLots last week. Granted they are for the spring, but buying on sale is one of my favorite things to do. I also love to decorate for the seasons!! So I am prepared for spring, now!!

The puppies are just about ready to rehome. 8 puppies, all free to good homes :) They are just too cute, I would keep them all if they stayed small. But we definately cannot feed 10 LARGE dogs!

Ok, this is my ramblings for this morning. Alot of things coming up in the next few weeks. Tons of excitement!!

Happy Monday!!

4 year old theory

We have buried a few pets this summer due to one reason or another. A few days ago, Lily asked "Mama, is heaven in the ground?" Not exactly sure what to tell her, I said it was up in the clouds, far away where we can't see. "Mama, is Lovey's calf in heaven with Jesus?" Still not sure what to say... "Yes, he is"
"Mama, I want to go visit Jesus." "One day you will, darlin'." "When, mama?" So I start to tell her about accepting Jesus into her heart, that when you love him and want him to help you be a better person and to show love to everyone else and be like him, you ask Jesus into your heart. "Mama- I want Jesus to be in my heart now!" (I'm smiling by now...) "Ok, well, all you have to do is ask him to come live in your heart."

A few minutes of silence (which is rare with her), and then... "Mama, where is Jesus going to put all of his stuff? He probably has alot of clothes and toys and books and his toothbrush." "What are you talking about, Lily" "Well, if Jesus comes to live in my heart, then he will have to move in here, (patting her chest) and there really isn't that much room!"

LOL- I am still giggling about this conversation!!! I love how her little mind works!