Our Simple Lives

As I climbed into bed last night, I could hear the rain softly falling outside.  My husband had opened our window so our curtains were softly blowing and I could hear distant thunder.  I knew it would be a perfect night of sleep.  I soon dozed off into a restful slumber.  Little did I know during my sleeping, the rainstorm was moving in closer.  The rain was getting heavier and the thunder was getting louder.  About an hour later, our little 3 year old woke up yelling, “Momma, I hear tunner (thunder)!!”  “It’s o.k,” I yell back, “Go back to sleep.”  I know from past experiences that this doesn’t work but for some reason, in the middle of a restful sleep, I never hesitate to try it!  About that time, another loud crack of thunder rattled our house.  He yelled again, this time it was as he was running to our bed!!  I picked him up and sandwiched him in between my husband and I and the world was perfect again.  As I laid there, holding my precious little 3 year old, and kissing his soft, chubby cheeks, I thought of his child-like faith.  I thought of what the Lord says about our needing to have child-like faith.  The storm rumbled on, it got louder…the lightning lit up the room, the thunder rattled the windows, and he slept on.  He didn’t care.  He was in my arms.  He knew he was safe.  All fear was gone, as he climbed up into our presence.  I need this same kind of faith in my Heavenly Father!!  I trust in Him, I love Him, I love to be in His presence…but when the storm is raging around me, do I sleep peacefully?  Do I have complete trust and security in Him?  I say that I do, but as I watched my sweet little 3 year old fall instantly to sleep and all of a sudden he was peaceful and hadn’t a worry in the world I started praying to my Heavenly Father that I would have this same kind of faith in Him.   Faith in Him…not because of anything I’ve done, but because of who He is!!!

graphics by allposters.com

I was so excited when getting back on our computer for the first time in days….I saw that I had received my very first Blog Award!!  Melinda from The Nest Egg sent it to me…Thank you Melinda!!!  And now in return, I am going to pass it on to 10 of my favorite blogs other than The Nest Egg!!  WOW, only 10..this will be hard!  Here are some blogs that I visit the most (in no certain order)……..there are so many wonderful blogs out there….sorry if I left you out!!!!! 

1. The Cotton Wife
2. Muckboots N Aprons
3. Humble Musings
4. The Back Deck
5. Storybook Woods
6. Hobbits 8
7. A Joyful Handmaiden
8. A Simple Walk
9. A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
10. Money Saving Mom

Now, all you have to do is pass it on to 10 more bloggers :)  !! 

Yahooooo!!! I’m doing a happy dance….we got our computer back!!!! …after 1 1/2 weeks without it!!  I’ve gotten all kinds of things done, that I normally don’t have time to do…cleaning out closets, drawers, re-organizing things and of course working a lot in the garden and flowers!!   I can’t wait to start posting again!!  More later, I just had to say…I’m back!!! 

   My computer is not working!!!!  We’re taking it in today to get it fixed…so I may not be on here for a while!!  I’ll miss you all!  I’ll be back on as soon as our computer gets fixed!!!  :)  Have a great week!!

My daughter recently bought herself a new digital camera…it is much nicer than mine!!! She would love to have her own blog, to download her own pictures, but I won’t let her (she says her blog would be named “Confessions of a Teenage Genius”…hmmmm, I don’t know about that!)…..anyways….I’m sharing a couple of her pictures she took

                                                   Our Purple Iris, and………………………………….

      Early Morning Sunrise from our Front Porch

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!!!

When we built our home 5 1/2 years ago, it was a priority to have a large front porch.  We wanted to be able to have a porch swing and rocking chairs that we could sit in and visit with family and friends in the morning, during lunch time, and into the night.  We spend so much time on our front porch…especially this time of year!!  Just this morning, we ate breakfast out there and then did schoolwork outside!!  It was a treasure, last summer, when I found the book, “My Front Porch” by Alda Ellis, at a flea market for $1!!!  It gives wonderful ideas for decorating, entertaining and enjoying your front porch (could be a back porch just as well!) through each season.  The back cover says:

“To me, a cheerful porch is a sure sign of a welcoming and open heart. Porches make good friends. In your outdoor living room, whether it’s a classic wrap-around porch or a small walkway lined with blooming flowers, you can play games, linger over delicious meals, take in the beauty of the changing seasons, and engage in good, old-fashioned visting.”

Here are a few of my favorite ideas, from this book, for spring-time:

• If you have any place/area that a flower can “climb”…plant morning glories!!!  Plant them from seed, sometime soon, and within a month you will have endless summertime flowers!!  Plant 2 or 3 different kinds, for a beautiful display of color!!  These are SO easy, plant the seeds, water them for the first couple of weeks…after that you can forget about them!…unless you have to cut them back!
• Don’t throw away old/cracked teacups or teapots.  Plant herbs in them and either decorate your porch with them or give them away to friends. 
• A couple of nights ago, we cut our first ‘harvest’ of asparagus.  A wonderful way to fix it that even children LOVE is: Cut each piece of fresh asparagus into halves or thirds (after washing it). Butter pieces of bread, both sides  (without crust) and sprinkle garlic salt on each piece.  Wrap each piece of bread around a stalk of asparagus.  Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes.  (this is the way we love it, the recipe in the book is a little different)
• Make Flowerpot Cheesecakes and serve them on the porch.  You will need:     8 new 3″ terra cotta flowerpots, 8 vanilla wafers, instant cheesecake mix, crushed Oreo cookies, plastic drinking straws, fresh seasonal flowers. Run terra cotta pots through the hottest cycle in the dishwasher. When clean, place a vanilla wafer in the bottom of each flowerpot. Next, pour instant cheesecake mixture into each pot, leaving about 1/4″ of room at the top. Place a drinking straw in the center of each “cheesecake”, and cut the straw off even with the top of the flowerpot. Sprinkle the surface with cookie crumbs to form the “dirt”. Refrigerate until cheesecake is set. Just before serving, place a fresh flower through the center of the straw. Place all flowerpot cheesecakes together on a pretty serving tray. They make wonderful table centerpieces as well!!

“It is not the variegated colors, the cheerful sounds, and the warm breezes which enliven us so much in spring; it is the quiet prophetic spirit of endless hope, a presentiment of many happy days, the anticipation of higher everlasting blossoms and fruits, and the secret sympathy with the world that is developing itself.” (that the Lord is developing….I had to add that!! )      by Martin Opitz

A few nights ago, our family attended a high school graduation ceremony.  It was a special ceremony because all of the kids graduationg were home schooled students.  RIght away, I realized it was going to be an ‘emotional’ night for me!  As I looked at each child and his/her parents, I realized this was a different kind of graduation ceremony…each one of these parents had spent every day, all day, with these children (almost adults), educating them, training them, loving them. 

As each graduate’s name was called, the parents came up on stage and the parents presented the diploma to their child.  Each set of parents gave a speech, before handing the diploma over to their child.  Some of the speeches were short and sweet, others were very long.  After we got home and got our kids to bed, my husband and I sat and talked about the evening.  We talked about what our “speech” would be like when our oldest child graduates (sniff sniff).  Some of the parents reminisced a lot in their speeches, I told my husband we can’t do that because I’ll cry sob all the way through!!  There are too many memories to mention…When the Dr. first placed her in my arms, I remember her 1st day of kindegarten like it was yesterday (she went to a school in kindegarten and 1st grade), I remember the night she was saved…and the conviction she felt…she wanted to share the Lord with EVERYONE she came into contact with, the time she won a singing contest and got to sing and dance on stage with the Rockettes (it was a ‘drawing’ contest, not one based on talent….but it was still a big deal!!), our 1st year of home schooling….and every year since then has provided endless special memories!!  But…..in giving a ‘graduation speech’ to our daughter…is this what we will focus on???  Because of the tears and emotion it would fill me with, I don’t think that would be a good idea! 

Some parents focus on the now, or on the past  (I tend to do this!).  To an extent, nothing is wrong with reminiscing, but our focus on parenting should be in their future. Our goal should be to raise up warriors for Christ.  Our focus should be grounding them in Christ, and teaching them to make it on their own (in a family setting..they may stay at home..get married, or as an employee or college student…whatever the Lord has planned for them).  I read a book when my kids were much littler, it compared parenting to shooting an arrow (sorry, I don’t remember which book…I read SO many parenting books at that time!!).  Our goal in shooting our arrows (raising our children) should be for the arrow to stay in the air…to fly with a purpose.  Not only stay in the air…but how high will the arrow soar?  how steady??  And then, not to just ‘fly’, but to hit the target…not just anywhere…but right on target, where the Lord wants them to be.  Soldiers reflect the past, in order to correct mistakes, and I’m sure when they reflect on their achievements, it  boosts their confidence. However, this isn’t their “focus”.  Their priority is in training for today and for the future. 

When our oldest child graduates (and each of our children), I pray we will be able to look her in the eye and tell her, along with everyone else there, that we did ALL we could (with the Lord’s strength and leading) to prepare her for whatever lies ahead.  Our prayer is that at that time she will be ready to live a life as a servant of Christ, and SO grounded in her walk with Christ, that nothing can move her!!

Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

It has been said that our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength.
Charles Spurgeon

A few days ago, I shared with you my dilemna of a lost rabbit and our newly planted garden.   Oh what stress it caused me!!  This year, more than ever before, I am so proud of our garden….(I was just reading “The Book of Stillmeadow” by Gladys Taber…more about this book later….and she was explaining how each spring they planted what she thought was the most perfect garden ever…only to discover by harvest time, that they had learned yet more lessons on gardening…she wonders if there really is a ‘perfect’ garden other than in our hoping and anticipation!!)  In February, I started some heirloom seeds inside…they did so well; even in the transition to outside!!  So, this year, we added a new “heirloom” section to the garden (if anything, it sounds so pretty, doesn’t it??!!). If done correctly, at harvest time, we can save some of the seeds and replant them next year….some of these seeds have come from Vietnam, Thailand, and some of them have been preserved back from the 1700’s.  I love history, so I feel like I’m adding a bit of history to our garden!!! 

O.k…so back to the lost rabbit…I was losing sleep over the thought of it destroying my garden.  I had always defended those rabbits!!  My dh wanted to get rid of them, after our neighbor didn’t want them…and they were just so cute, I wanted my daughter to be able to have them.  They are the kind of rabbits I dreamt of as a child, of getting them in my Easter basket.  I used to like them…until now.

The scary part was that each time we spotted Peter (the rabbit), he was getting closer and closer to the garden.  Yesterday, my daughter came running in yelling that she had spotted him, under the trailor (which is maybe 2 feet from the garden…my strawberries, specifically!!)  I looked at my husband and said, “You have to get your gun.”  My daughter looked at me like I had lost my mind.  My husband did as well.  He said, “I can’t shoot her rabbit!”  “What about my garden?!” I asked.  He ran out the door, grabbing a sheet (hmmmm, was he planning on catching the rabbit with a sheet…not exactly my thoughts)! 

My true, sinful, terrible nature came out.  My dh and all the kiddos went on a rabbit chase, while I was ranting, “If you don’t catch that rabbit this time, and he chews up my garden, I’m going to be so mad!!  Why can’t you just shoot it?”  Ever so often my husband would look up at me like I had lost my mind! 

Now that I’ve made a long story even longer and admitted to my awful behavior…they caught the rabbit!!  He is locked up again….never to taste freedom again!! :)  I feel a little bit guilty now and I apologized to my daughter for my selfishness.  It’s easy to do that now that we both got our way, her rabbit is locked up again and is still alive :)  !!!

    YIPPPEEEE!!!!  This past weekend, I

received the latest issue of Mary Janes Farm magazine in the mail!!!!!!  If you are a farm girl or even just a farm girl at heart…..you’ll love this magazine!!!!!  It has all kinds of healthy recipes, gardening tips, vintange type craft ideas, and lots more!!!