BIG News!

I had to share this. I just got a call from my mother-in-law. My father-in-law is driving her to the hospital right now for her liver transplant. She sounded chipper on the phone, even excited. I'm sure it must be nerve-wracking, though. If you would, could you please pray for her as she goes through this process? I appreciate it so much, and I know my husband and the rest of the family do also. Thank you.

It's Exciting

I am excited to call myself an honest-to-goodness tutor of children that are not necessarily my own. I officially started tutoring a couple weeks ago. My idea was to tutor children that are at the level of my boys, or below, since all that stuff is in my recent memory. That's not how it turned out for my first student, however. A homeschool mom approached me a couple weeks ago about working with her 11th grade daughter when she has essays, reports, etc. Wow! I am not the best writer. Sure, I did fine with it when I was in high school and college, but to teach somebody else how to do it? And this long since I did it myself? I didn't know how I felt about that. I guess I don't have much confidence in myself as an upper-level teacher, but figure I'll work up to it right alongside my own kids as we homeschool through the years. I did it once; I can do it again, right?

Well, I worked with her for an hour a couple weeks ago on a history paper, and I wasn't sure it helped her. Our mistake was to start with her paper already half written, and try to fix it up a bit. We weren't sure of the instructions for the paper from the on-line school. Since she forgot to bring the actual assignment along for me to see, we ended up winging it. The other problem was that she was writing about something I don't know anything about. We didn't have her history book to look stuff up in, so I wasn't sure what was going on. I can say that we did our best. One good thing, though, as an added bonus, my kids were perfect angels and let me work with K for a whole hour and a quarter without interruption. I was so proud of them!

Well, she called me to work with her again, and I went to her house this time. My kids were able to play with her 12 yr. old son while I was busy with K in the dining room. We were able to start from scratch on the project, review the lessons that they were "testing" her on, and write the paper. You know what? The grammar concepts I was supposed to help her with didn't look like anything I have ever seen before in my whole life! I needed the review in the beginning of our session probably more than she did. (Do you guys remember verbals, gerunds, infinitives, participles, and complex vs. compound sentences? I think the terminology has changed in the past 20 yrs!)

It took us 2 solid hours to complete the assignment, including the review. We both felt great about the paper, and she was even smiling when we got done because she felt like the lesson material finally made some sense to her. I was so excited. We called her mom in to see what we had accomplished, and her mother asked her to save it (again, since we had made several changes since the last save). Her computer has been having troubles, and it deleted instead of saving it! So all she had was about half the paper saved. She had to replicate the rest of it by herself before turning it in to the on-line teacher this morning. It was getting late, and I had to get the kids home for supper. It was getting dark when we left their house, and I knew it would take about 50 min. to drive home.

I have been sick about this whole thing, since we had that paper fixed up just right before it was partially lost. I just called K to see if she had any news about how well her teacher received her assignment. She was elated to say that she got a 95% on the paper. I am so proud of her. I can't help but wonder how she would have scored had the paper not been cut in half before she could turn it in.

If anybody knows any other students to send my way, let me know. I could get into this, and it sure helps while we're struggling with our business right now.

MIL Update

I am happy to say that my MIL is out of the hospital and home where she's much more comfortable. The internal bleeding must be finally contained; after a couple surgeries and several blood transfusions, she's feeling much better.

I was able to give her the quilt I made for her, and she loves it. It even matches their sitting room perfectly. (I'm really glad she approves of the colors I chose, as I'm not as good with colors and design as some of the other women in my family!) My in-laws spend a lot of time in this room, so she'll get ample use out of it. She loves that it's soft on her skin, and therefore doesn't aggravate the itching she gets, as often happens with liver patients.

More good news--she's first on the liver transplant list for our area. It could be any day now, when they call her to come in for the transplant operation. She's ready to get it over with, and we're hoping it's sooner than later.

Our Thanksgiving

I'm not getting on to moan about our Thanksgiving Day. I have plenty to be thankful for, and I am thankful for so many things.

Our thankfulness is overshadowed though with news of my husband's mother. She went in the hospital Wed. morning, and is still in tonight. She was not able to share Thanksgiving dinner with us and we missed her.

I just got off the phone with my father-in-law and he said she just got out of surgery. Hopefully, they were able to fix some leaking around a shunt near her liver. She's been bleeding internally and they haven't been able to figure out what the problem is. She is very ill this time. She is in desperate need of a liver transplant, but I fear she's too ill at this point to even get one.

I am frustrated with waiting. My FIL is a loner much of the time. He doesn't want to "put us out" to have us drive all the way in to the hospital with all 3 kids, only to find she's gone the whole time for procedures. We wouldn't mind going in, but he does seem to want to go through this in his own way. I feel so helpless just sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring. So, I leave it up to my husband to make the decisions about when to go in to see her or not. It's hard for me to just wait.

I did call her on the phone today (finally got her, since she was out of her room most of the day.) She could hardly talk to me, and most of the time she was not even thinking clearly. Plus, she was simply too weak to speak.

So, I wait and I pray. And I wish I had given her quilt to her long before now. I was saving it for Christmas. Then, a week ago, I decided to give it to her for her birthday/Thanksgiving, since we aren't exchanging Christmas gifts this year. And now, I wonder if she's too sick to know when I give it to her. I made a custom personalized quilt label for it 2 nights ago, but I can't show the pic here since it's got personal names on it. (If you want to see the label, email me and I'll send it to you. It was an iron-on, colored in with crayons and set with a hot iron. It turned out really nice.)

So, I'm off to pray some more. And hope we get to see her tomorrow at the hospital, feeling better than she has for the last several days.

Quilted Tote Bag

Phew! It's finished. I've never done anything like it before. I got inspired by the "freebies" I won in the quilt shop drawings. I decided to make a quilted tote bag. It sounded so easy, but I can admit now that it was pretty hard, and much more time consuming than I ever imagined.






Now for some nitty-gritty. The body and inside are made of Moda Cranberry Wishes charm squares. They are pre-cut 5 inch squares of various coordinating fabrics. They're wonderful for people like me that have difficulty choosing fabrics that "go together" nicely. I had to cut all those squares down to 4 7/8 inches, so I don't know why I didn't find a pattern for straight 5 inch squares. I will next time!

The bag inside and out is quilt "as you go" patchwork. I used an internal stiff interfacing. I think the interfacing was a little too stiff. Next time, I'll choose one that's a little lighter.

All in all, I think I've learned a few things through this sewing process. (I've been denying that I've been sewing these past few months. Quilting is easier if you ask me!) My son H thinks that I should make these bags to sell. I don't think that's an option, given how long it took me to make it!

Something to Brighten My Day

I have been hit with a cold. It started Mon. night when I was at the quilting club, which I have attended for about 6 mos. now. It meets monthly, and works on various projects for charity. I should have skipped this month's meeting, coming down with a cold, but I so enjoy sewing for charity groups. I took my little girl with me this time, and she was an angel. The other ladies really enjoyed her, and were pleased to find her so well-behaved. They invited her back next time.

Anyway, I've been muddling through the last couple days with this cold, trying to maintain my sanity with all 3 kids underfoot, without as much direction/school activity from Mom to keep them busy, and it's hard. My other HS friends know what it's like. : ) Well, today I got notice that I won (2) drawings for quilt shop merchandise from a recent Shop Hop that I participated in. I am so excited, because I never win anything! I won $100.00 store credit to a local shop for anything I want. Second, I won a $75.00 gift basket to another local store. This surely brightened my day.

Little Girl B's Birthday Quilt Finished (Late Post)

You all may remember I was working on a quilt for B's birthday. I did actually finish it just a few days after her B/day, the 4th of July. I have been informed, however, that I never posted pictures of it! So, here it is. She is pleased with it, and it is on her bed to cover her every night when she's sleeping. She doesn't seem to pack it around the house as much as C does with his, but she still tells me thank you frequently for her birthday present.

Some specifics about the quilt: B picked out several fabric prints, and I had to find something "to go" with them to finish it with. It is narrower than C's quilt, but still pretty big. There are 5 applique blocks on the front, and each of them are different. I pieced the back of the quilt with all manner of leftovers I had from the front, so I didn't have to buy more fabric. It's a hodge podge back, but functional. I wish the pictures showed their true colors. They don't look near as nice in these pictures.

Son C's Quilt Finished

I made a pretty big quilt for our middle son. It has duck fabrics, feathers, etc. He's just thrilled with it. Of course he hasn't told me so, but his actions speak louder than words. In this picture, I laid it out on a double-bed, and it's hanging over all the sides. That will give you an idea how big it is. I am glad, because it needs to be big enough for a tall boy/teenager. These kids just keep growing, and C is bound to be our tallest child. I'm glad he can grow into it. Oh, he sleeps with it every night, and brings it downstairs every morning. He's not carrying it around like a blankie, or anything, but he's using it for our story time each day during school, and also snuggling with it when we watch TV or something. For those of you interested in such things, the pattern uses (5) 1 yard cuts of fabric for the front, with hardly any waste. Don't make a mistake cutting it out, or you'll probably be headed back to the fabric store for more fabric.

I'm working on H's quilt now. 2 kids down, 1 to go!

Pain in the Eye

Hubby Ch got a metal shaving embedded in his eye. He woke up Thurs. night/Fri. morn. with pain. He didn't think too much about it, so went to work. When he got home, he worked on stuff around the house. Then he mentioned he wished he knew what he had done to his eye because it hurt. He's asked me before to look in his eye to see if I can see anything. Well, this time I did! Of course, everything like this happens on the weekend. We waited until after 9 a.m. to start calling around for an eye Dr. open on Sat. I finally found one, at the local Wal-mart. We took him in, and the doc proceeded to scrape the metal out. It was no easy feat. Evidently, the longer metal sits in the eyeball, the more it starts to spread out, molecularly! So, he waited about 32 hrs. to have it taken out, and it made it much worse. This is a picture of the metal fragment "before" it was removed. It's the small black speck below the pupil. He's feeling better now. And I am hounding him with taking the eye drops as prescribed.

Too Much to Write About

I will attempt to catch you up on our recent happenings. I can hardly believe I didn't write one blog post during October, but I did have a lot going on. This post will give you some of the goings-on, while keeping it a brief summary.

• Brooke started speech therapy at the local public school. It was a major pain getting her set up. In fact, it simply cements my belief in homeschool. I cannot believe the disorganization and hassles that went on just getting her started, and I am not exaggerating. In fact, today, when I took her over to the school for her scheduled session, (and it's a solid 17 min. drive one way), they made us wait 25 min. before they finally told me (after I asked them again, where the teacher was!), that she was sick today. She was sick yest. and called in again today. Hello!! Why didn't anybody call to tell me? We had to turn around and drive home with no session for our efforts. So, though it's a royal pain in the neck, we're going faithfully 2 times a week for 20 min. a session. Our drive time almost doubles her treatment time.
  
• I have been attending a women's seminar at church. It's about every 3 weeks. It is by a well-recognized local homeschool leader in our community, actually, and the meetings are very good. I've been to 4 meetings now, and there is one or two left. They have been very inspiring, and are helping me to think about how I can be a more Excellent Woman, able to influence and nurture my family for the good.
  
• The economy is hurting our construction related business pretty badly. This has been a major stressor. Trying to figure out what to do to help, I have sought part-time work that won't require me to put the kids into school. Also, hubby has a hard time getting home at a "set" time since he's running our business in town. He can't simply punch a clock and leave stuff for the next day. I had 2 solid job possibilities, but they both fell through.
  
• Another option for making some money, and certainly hubby's idea was selling stuff on ebay. I got it all set up, and sold 3 things, but the time involved, and the hassles of not getting paid, then the fees for listing the stuff, cement my distaste for the value of making any appreciable money on ebay. If it works for you, I tip my hat to you.
• Quilting--I have been quilting. I've finished 2 quilts since my MIL's quilt, and have 2 more half done, with one more started. I'll show you pictures in separate blog posts soon. Not only have I been quilting, but I've got 2 neighbors hooked as well. They are quilting away, and bring me their quilts to show me. It's neat to see them so excited about it, and it's neat to have some quilting friends to share with. My one neighbor L hadn't used a sewing machine since 7th grade in home-ec. She's about 7 yrs. older than me, so it's been a long time. But I love to see her having so much fun with it.
• Our homeschooling endeavors are going pretty well, though. We are finding much more consistency and less resistance this year. It's kind of nice to see the kids growing up in a lot of areas. Are they perfect kids? Certainly not. But we see progress in certain areas. This has not been easy either, when our school time has been cut into so much with the speech therapy.
• And finally, we have been very involved in following politics and the economy. It's pretty comical to see our kids "talk" politics and issues with people they meet when we go into town to run our errands. Even the little one can tell you what she thinks about what's been going on. All three of them are full of opinions. : )
  

Well, it doesn't look like much when I put it all down on "paper".

Our Eldest is 11 Yrs. Old Today

Happy Birthday, H! Our oldest son was born 11 yrs. ago today. I can't believe that much time has elapsed since I became a mother. He was born in a little community hospital south of here. He has kept us on our toes since day one. He walks to the beat of a different drum, and is definitely a non-conformist, though not for the sake of rocking the boat. He continues to make us smile with his quirky sense of humor. We are so blessed to call him ours.

Here is a picture of him at 2 1/2 mos.

It Was Bound to Happen

It happened. I knew it would, and it finally did.

We went to buy mice to feed our snakes. They come home from the pet shop in a little cardboard box. Sometimes the shop keeper tapes it up really well; sometimes not so much. Well, H put the box on the floor of the car, and proceeded to step on it (accidentally) just enough to cause the box to collapse on one end. (In his defense, the box was not taped very well this time, even though I mentioned my concern to the pet shop worker when we were checking out. Also in H's defense, nobody else wanted to hold the box all the way home either, so the burden was not entirely on him.) We didn't know the box had a gaping hole in it until H looked down and saw a white mouse in the car. He hollered, and the mouse ran! He climbed into the panel that covers the wiring, etc. in the front seat foot area of the car. Now what?! H saved the day, redeeming himself! He coaxed him out with a crumb of food, and H caught him. Phew! That was a close one.

And let's just hope we learned a few lessons from this.

A True Confession

I have a confession for you all. You might think badly of me for saying this, but I just H-A-T-E hate to brush my kids' teeth. (Anybody been reading the wonderful kids' books lately about Clementine? If you have, you know what I mean with the spelling.) I try to maintain patience, as my frustration does not help the situation any, but it's SO hard. They don't want to open their mouth wide enough for me to see anything. When I can't see what I'm doing, I poke them in places they shouldn't be poked. Oops....sorry! And their tongue continually stays where it shouldn't: in the way! They have to spit and swish and spit again, something like 50 times during the teeth-brushing session. This really annoys me. And the whole brushing production lasts much longer than it really needs to.

So there you have it. I am a horrible, impatient mom.

My Boys in the Kitchen

This is a funny one. I can't wait to tell you. My boys got out the big brand new jar of applesauce, and served themselves some. They ate 3/4 of the jar (the jar is the big one!), before they reported to me that the applesauce was spoiled, and maybe they shouldn't eat any more of it. In fact, they wanted me to take it back to the store to get our money back because it was bad. You know what was going through my mind now: Oh, no! Will they get botulism because they ate so much of the stuff?

I started my investigation. I tasted the applesauce from their bowl. Yes, it was very BAD. Yuck! But something wasn't quite right, and now I'm starting to get suspicious. I checked for a "Best By" date label and I didn't find one. I wondered if the seal had popped up when they opened the jar, but there was no way to check it after the fact. Next on my list: checking the rest of the kitchen. You know what I found? Ground Cumin with the lid off. I sniffed the cumin, and Yep! Sure enough, it smelled like the "spoiled" applesauce. Do I even need to tell you how my boys are just like their dad in a certain area? If a little of something is good, then a lot of it is even better. They must have used a lot of cumin in their sauce, from the pungent taste of it. Long story short, we need to keep working on our reading lessons, but also on not assuming we know what something says without sounding it out. They thought they had doctored their applesauce with Ground Cinnamon. We all had a good laugh about it. But I still can't get over how they ate so much of it when it tasted so bad!

Menace to Our Neighborhood

We've got a coyote on the loose, and he's getting very bold. Here is a picture of him. (Click on the picture to blow it up bigger so you can see him better.) In the middle of the day, he ran across the entire width of our property, across the property of our neighbor, and into a bunch of pine trees. He's been spotted several times, by many different neighbors. A couple neighbors are planning a hunt soon. This is because the coyote has taken down a couple goats, many chickens, and even a horse lately.

This Moved Me Today

This You-tube video touched me this morning. I don't know how to upload it directly to my blog page, so you'll have to go here to see it. Please watch it to the end. (It's not very long.) That's where it will get you.

Silly Girl With an Imagination

Our little girl has always had quite an imagination. From a very young age, she has never ceased to make up colorful stories to entertain us. For the longest time, she considered me her "pink mama". According to her, she had 9 mothers, each a different color. Luckily, I was always her favorite, though she sometimes missed the others. This story continued for about a year when she was 3 yrs. old.

Lately, she's come out with some interesting play-acting scenarios. They crack me up. Here, she's a "Native American Indian Woman." The "feather" sticking up in the back of her head is nothing more than a play cooking spatula, stuck in her headband.


In the pictures below, can you guess who she's supposed to be? Why, she's "Bindi, the Jungle Girl". I had to laugh when she came into the school room carrying a giant green rubber snake with her brother's grabber. The snake, of course, was held at arm's length so it wouldn't bite her. She also has a very good memory! She's only seen the Bindi show once that I know of (and it wasn't a snake show!). If you look closely, the two pictures of her holding the snake without the grabber, she's holding the snake behind the head properly so he can't bite. It was so cute to see her painstakingly pick him up ever so carefully "the right and safe way" she said.

Of course, I do take the time to teach her not to ever touch a snake unless I tell her it's safe. This is a precaution we must take since we have 2 pet corn snakes that a fellow homeschool family passed on to us several months ago. She is not to be outdone by her brothers, and loves to hold them too.

Hornet Sting Update

Son C's hand and arm have finally lost most of their swelling, though it's still itching. He was stung early Sunday morning, so this has gone on for several days now. We did visit the doctor, and yes, we need to get the epi-pen, to have on hand, just in case he were to be stung again. The next time could be the "biggie". So, we'll get our insurance in a syringe, just in case. The doc gave him a DVD and a pretend injector that he's been practicing with. He's most interested in the fact that the shot can shoot right through his blue jeans if need be. Boys are so practical sometimes!

The OTHER Labor Day

I got this "meme" from Hillside Hollow. It looked like fun.

How long were your labors?
#1--About 20 hours. Pitocin sped things along artificially. Actually, this (early) labor was several days long, but I'm only counting from when my water broke to delivery.
#2--About 12 hours.
#3--About 16 hours.
What does it say about me, the mother, that I can't remember exactly how long my labors were?

How did you know you were in labor?
#1--My water broke with a slow leak. I waited several hours to call my doctor, to be sure it was really a broken water bag. I didn't want to look silly and be sent back home!
#2--Contractions getting stronger and closer. My water never did break with him until my first push for delivery.
#3--Water broke at home again, but more gushing this time.

Where did you deliver?
#1--Hospital. Pitocin, Epidural, Doctor, the whole 9 yards.
#2--Birthing center. Midwife, Doula, Water birth.
#3--Home birth. 2 Midwives, Water birth.

Drugs?
#1--Pain-causing pitocin. Yuck! Epidural. Scary. I don't want to do that again!!
#2--No drugs except for antibiotic for beta-strep.
#3--No drugs at all. (Still beta-strep positive.) I used natural methods to fight beta-strep.
Water birth works wonders for pain control.

C-Section?
#1--The doctor thought I would need a C-section. I would have had one if I had gone another hour.
#2--No.
#3--Very close to c-section again, but because she was in breech position. I prayed non-stop for 2 weeks straight, then God helped me turn her with my own hands in utero, at home one morning in the peace and quiet of a sleeping household on a Sabbath morning. I still claim this as a personal miracle.

Who delivered?
(Stated above.)

How big was your baby?
#1--7# 5 oz. Born 4 days after due date.
#2--9# 2 oz. Born nearly 2 weeks after due date. He was over-cooked!
#3--8# 6 oz. I used several natural methods to induce my labor. She came on her due date.

Now it's your turn. How about sharing your labor stories?

Bad Luck With Bees and the Like

Our family has had more than our fair share of bee, wasp, and hornet stings. But one of us seems to get stung the most. It's happened again. Our second son C got stung by a wasp or hornet or whatever yesterday on his right hand. Now his hand is so swollen up he can't even snap his pants, use a fork to eat, build with his legos, or anything else with it. It just so happens, he's right-handed, so the problem is compounded. He is simply miserable. It's swollen half-way up his arm also, and it stung him on the hand. I figure I need to get him to the doctor to see about the need for an epi-pen just in case it happens again. It could be worse next time!

I took pictures of his 2 hands, the swollen next to the other "normal" size hand as a comparison. He forbade me to put the pictures on my blog. He's embarrassed because it looks "so ugly", he said. Just picture a latex glove that somebody decided to make a balloon out of. That's what it looks like.

I've given him benadryl a few times to help the reaction. If it helps most people to feel drowsy, it's caused him to be either hyper-active/anxious, or maybe he's just over-tired. I can't figure out what the trouble is, but he hasn't slept from it at all. We are, to say the least, miserable from the benadryl as well. It's going to be a long rest of the day.

Ice Skating Adventure

Long time homeschooling friends of ours are moving out of state. One of the boys had his birthday party at the ice skating rink before they left. I am happy to say that the couple times the boys have been roller skating must have paid off, because they were skating like old pros! C fell something like 10 times, by his own admission, and H fell a few times also, but they were really throwing caution to the wind with their skating. All of their falls tapered off toward the end of the skating. Other than it being so cold, and us not knowing how cold it would be (thereby forgetting coats and gloves!) they had grand fun.

B stuck pretty close to the wall, chance to fall. She would pass people, though, if they were hanging on the side and wouldn't move for her. I think she only fell once, but like I said, she was very cautious. She made and didn't give herself much of a me put skates on, and I might have been okay except that my feet hurt something terrible! I couldn't get the skates to fit right. Oh, and I was very cold. Yes, it was my own fault. : )

We're going to miss our homeschooling friends after their move, but we know it's for the best for them. I hope you're reading this, V. Family!

Quilting Blog Post Updated--see below.

I am using a different web browser, and it's letting me post pictures!! Now you can see the quilt pictures after all.

Also added, the rainbow picture in the "I Must Admit" post a little farther down.

Out Our Front Window in the Morning

I have posted pictures before of the view from our property in the evenings. Here's a picture of what I saw when I got up the other morning. It was so neat. We've seen them before, where they passed right over the house!! That was exciting for the kids, to be sure.

Mother in Law's Quilt Finished

Well, I am excited that I got my mother-in-law's quilt finished tonight. She has been very sick, and I want to have something to give her if she goes into the hospital again, or if and when she gets a liver transplant. The colors in the quilt will match their house nicely. The darker color is a dark rust, not red as it appears to be in the picture. And if you are wondering, the fabric is "Dandelion Girl" by Moda. You may also be wondering: "Yes, I am a lazy quilter." This quilt was entirely machine sewn, including the binding which was also machine finished. But at least I'm getting some quilts made. I know it wouldn't be happening if I had to hand sew them. : ) I've now finished 4 quilts in under 5 months. This quilt has been the smallest so far, and is a large lap size. Oddly enough, quilting doesn't seem to take up too much of my time. I actually think I am keeping up with housework better, because I have this fun outlet of something "just for me".


I am very UPSET right now, though, because I cannot get Blogger to upload any pictures. I seem to have "pop-up" blocker, and even if I turn it off, I am still not able to load any pictures. I cannot even get the "Help" menu page to display if I click on it. Where can I go for help if not on the help page?

Somebody, Please Help!! I'm begging now..... I am very visual, and I don't feel like blogging anything if I can't attach pictures of what I am talking about!

UPDATE--I was able to upload pictures using a different web browser. Hooray!!!!

I Must Admit

This may sound weird to some of you, but part of me is disappointed that we may not see very much of this Tropical Storm Fay. Don't get me wrong, I know how devastating a hurricane or tropical storm can be, but I always secretly hope for a mild tropical storm anyway. It's not just the much needed rain that we would get from it, but the excitement and change from the mundane that I must crave on some level. Yesterday, the kids and I were hurriedly doing laundry, to catch up, and baking. Planning for the storm with the kids' input was pretty fun. And now that it might not be coming our way necessarily, is a bit of a let down I suppose. We're not out of the woods yet, so maybe we will get a little something out of it after all, but it looks like we may just miss the rains it is supposed to bring to some lucky counties. And yes, we pray that people will be safe, and that their property will weather the storm unharmed. But part of me still hopes we will see just a little of it in our neighborhood!


Here is a picture I snapped this morning after a 20 second rain shower. When I saw it out my front window, it was a full rainbow! I ran to get the camera, but when I came outside with it, half the rainbow was missing already.

Okay, I lied. Blogger will not allow me to upload any pictures! I hope it is a quirky thing that is solved soon, and not a problem with my internet protection software (which I've had for a while now without this problem). Otherwise, I am stuck up a creek without a paddle. Any ideas??? I've never had this problem before.

UPDATE--Obviously, I've figured out by now how to post pictures using a different web browser.

What a Day!

Today was a huge day for me, in more ways than one.

First, it was our second Sabbath at church (hubby too!) in as many weeks. This is huge.

Then, church itself was SO neat. There was a real archaeologist visiting, and we got to see real pictures of some really cool stuff. He shared with us pictures of the site of Noah's ark in Turkey. He is going there on another expedition/archaeological dig again in 3 weeks. Then he showed us pictures and explained all about the places where the Crucifixion and burial of Christ occurred, explaining it all against Biblical texts to explain it. He then taught us about the ark of the Covenant, again relating history to the Bible, etc. It was really neat, especially since one of my boys told me just this week they want to be an archaeologist when he grows up. (Yes, this may be just another of their many passing fancies, but still: It cannot be yet another "coincidence". God brought this into our life NOW while it is in the boys' forefront of thought.) If you want to know more about this topic, visit this website.

After church, we high-tailed it home to eat really quick, then I headed back to the church without hubby and boys since they had other plans (it's nearly an hour's drive one way, which I made the round trip twice today!) for the beginning of a series of meetings, a mini-seminar if you will, for ladies. The speaker is Linda Werner, the founder of Circle Christian, a homeschool organization no less! She has more recently founded Legacy Principles also. Well, she shared a powerful message with us, and she'll be back 4 more times before the end of the year and I can hardly wait to hear more. She's helping us to figure out God's calling for each of our lives personally, as women. God has a mission for each of us, and we can cooperate for His glory, or be stagnated with inactivity. I'm excited and I feel empowered tonight to impact the lives of my family and neighbors for good. I pray that God can use me in a major way.

After that, we viewed the movie titled, "Lord, Save Us From Ourselves". This was also very powerful. If you ever get the chance to watch it, I highly recommend it.

To top it all off, on my way out to my car, I got talking to a lady that has been an acquaintance of mine since we see each other off and on, attending the same church for probably 7 years now. We've never really connected before, but suddenly we were holding hands, praying and crying together in the parking lot. I'm a pretty private person, so this is HUGE for me. I am reminded from time to time that all of God's children, though we are all so very different, we are all really VERY much alike!

So, that pretty much wraps up my incredible day. Only thing is, I have so much to process with all that impacted me today, I may not sleep for a while yet. This post helped me to start organizing everything in my head. I've got a lot to think about!

We Did Go!

A little update concerning my last post. And thanks, guys, for your kind words regarding this situation. It's certainly very exciting for me.

We did all go to church together Sabbath, our hubby/dad included. We were on the road by 8:00 a.m. sharp, and probably the first ones ready for first service, which starts at 9:00 a.m. sharp. Here are a couple pictures. The one of me is a rarity, since I'm always the one behind the camera. Hubby declined a picture, as he usually does if I ask him before I snap the picture!

So, now I am praying that this will become a regular occurrence for us. I have so longed for our church-going to be a family affair.

I'm Hopeful

My husband quit attending church with me 3 years into our marriage. He has not been anti-Christian, and has remained an honest and moral person, but has not been practicing what he believed religiously when we were married 14 1/2 yrs. ago. It has been pretty hard for me to hold my tongue these past 11 or so years.

Imagine my surprise when he told me several days ago he would attend church with me and the kids this Sabbath. We'll be digging into his closet tonight, to find something that fits, so we don't have to worry about it tomorrow morning. I am holding my breath, and praying, hoping that nothing comes up to sway his decision.

Tonight's Sunset

This is what it looked like after the rain. It was taken from the front porch of our house.

4th of July Birthday Girl

Our sweet daughter is 5 yrs. old today. I don't think I can get any pictures uploaded due to poor internet coverage, but I'll try. Stay tuned for lots of pictures of our vacation trip to Georgia. It's just beautiful here, and even better, we're enjoying lovely weather.

To celebrate B's birthday today, we picked blackberries, went wading in the Toccoa River, and we are going to count lightning bugs and watch the big fireworks show in the local town. What more could a birthday girl want?

Re-Vamping Daughter's Quilt

Subtitle: Sometimes it Pays to Procrastinate

(This is a similar block, "before" re-vamp.)

I don't think I can get B's quilt done in time for her 5th birthday now, since it's coming up soon (4th of July). I never did sandwich it, and therefore, it has been sitting, and sitting, and waiting for something more. I figured it out! I dove off the deep-end today, without much thought (which is not my normal style), and did my first applique' right onto her quilt! Now I have to do several more, but I think it will be well worth the extra effort. I just wasn't happy with the results of the quilt top before. I'm so glad I procrastinated this time. She LOVES the one block I have fixed up so far.

(After re-vamp. I also tried the "fussy-cut" technique. Can you tell?)

I Thought Our Time Had Come.....

Yesterday, I wondered if our middle child (8 yr. old boy) had broken his ankle. It got hit really hard by the edge of a metal scooter. He wouldn't walk on it for probably 40 minutes, and I figured it was our turn to head to the emergency room for an x-ray to check it out.

I kept trying to get him to even try and stand on it, and he wouldn't. All I could do was give him some Tylenol and put an ice pack on it. We got Dad on the phone, and he had him do all kinds of goofy stuff. Before I knew it, C was standing on his bad foot/ankle only, with both hands on his head, and bending over at the waist, as if bowing. He started laughing it was so goofy, and we knew he would be alright. I am SO glad it wasn't broken. We've been pretty lucky so far. With 2 boys, both of which can be quite physical and daring at times, I always figured it would happen by now. Thank Goodness it hasn't.

Incidentally, the kids' dad had broken several bones by the time he was 6 yrs. old, and nearly cut his tongue off as well. The accidents didn't stop as he grew up. He cut his thumb off when he was 17, working on the farm, but they were able to reattach it.

Getting Into Show Business

I was informed by hubby recently that we have a couple water trucks going into show business. Okay, I'm getting a little carried away and exaggerating just a wee little bit. But, the truth of the matter is we sold one of our manufactured water trucks to the guys with Ice Road Truckers (this show is on the Discovery Channel, I believe.) They will use our truck to spray water on areas that are getting deep ruts in the ice road, to kind of fill in the uneven places with a build-up of new ice.

We also rented 2 water trucks to a company here locally, and they will be using them in the filming of a TV commercial that Tiger Woods is starring in. Our trucks will not be shown in the commercial, but used to spray water, simulating a rain storm.

We also have a couple trucks employeed with the firefighters to fight forest fires. Our trucks' water cannons can shoot water at least 100 ft. away, which is good since not all deep-woods fire is easily accessible.

I found this amusing. I hope you do too.

Me, Too!!!

Our 4-year old little sister wants her "quilting" sewing pictures on the blog too. She actually started sewing before her big brother, and was in fact his inspiration, but I never posted the pictures.

B is just practicing at this point, on real pieces of scrap fabric, but doing more "free-style" than anything else. She wants to start a quilt now, but I told her she needs a bit more practice first. She can, however, start a new piece of fabric while holding the strings so they don't get pulled underneath. She can be sewing, leave the needle down, and pivot the fabric to make a sharp corner. And she can finish a piece of fabric by clipping the threads with some snips. I will assure you, she is very careful and cautious with all of this. I was more willing to let her sew (as far as safety measures go) than I was the boys.

In one of the pictures below, notice how I had to raise up the foot pedal so she could reach it. I've got silicone hot pads underneath the phone book, as well as on top of it, so things don't slide around.

After All These Years

It took me a long time, about 17 years in fact, but it's finally finished. Here is my college quilt that I started, entirely forgot about, and discovered it in the closet, with about 10 % of the quilt top sewn together already, when I started my butterfly quilt a couple months ago. The colors are so dated, in country blue and mauve! I am pleased it turned out better than I thought it would. It was difficult because I made some mistakes on it (17 yrs. ago) and tried my best to fix things this time around. I didn't want to waste all that fabric by throwing the whole thing away! It amazes me that I cut out the entire thing with regular scissors, not the time-saving, highly accurate gadgets of today: the rotary cutter and mat. Without further introduction, here it is.

Don't you think it will make a nice picnic quilt for the park, or even a snuggle-under throw for our school room, for our family story times? Our school room gets a little chilly sometimes.

Boys Can Quilt Too

Our 8 yr. old son has been sewing the last few weeks, but it has all been for practice. (The picture of him above is from a month ago.) Yesterday was different. I put him on a real project, and he is just thrilled. He has started a quilt. I got some inexpensive fabric, and made a bunch of charms out of them. Charms are usually pre-cut 5 inch squares. These are homemade charms. He's gotten (20) 2-patches sewn up, and he will need (48) 2-patches for his lap quilt. We're doing something a little interesting. He is not pinning anything together. He's using Elmer's glue dabs instead. It's working wonderfully.

Incidentally, I looked into a sewing class for the boys. For just a few hours of class time, a local shop wanted $125.00 plus materials costs, for each boy!! I may not be a fabulous seamstress, but I can certainly teach them enough to get started for that price!

He is so excited and proud of his progress. I'm excited too. Anything that catches his interest, and helps him to keep busy, will keep him from aggravating the rest of us. He has a lot of energy that he sometimes doesn't know what to do with.

I was nervous that my husband would think I was trying to feminize him. But no worries. He thinks it's great. I also mentioned the fact that at the big quilting show/competition in Paducah recently, I heard the top 3 quilts were all made by men.