July Birthdays

We celebrate two birthdays in July. The first is for my charming daughter who turned thirteen this month. She is turning into such a beautiful young lady. I am so delighted when I see what a Godly young woman she is growing into!! God did indeed bless us when he put her in our family!!

She is such a great big sister - and a huge help to her mommy!!

The second birthday is my beloved hubby's!! I am blessed with such a kind, loving and Godly man!! He works two jobs so that we can homeschool our children - he is a wonderful Daddy and really just the best!!! I love him so much!!!
Who doesn't love a Daddy who will dress a dolly for his little girl!! :0) Happy Birthday Honey and Ruthie-girl!! I am so blessed by both of you!!!

Blessings,
Christine

Weeds

Even though we've had less than a stellar gardening season here I still need to get out and dig in my garden - it's an urge I just can't resist. Although my garden is very late and puny for late July - I still feel the need to take care of it.

I noticed the weeds were taking root the other day - lots of them!!
So I got out my handy dandy weeding tool and went at it:

And it began to look tons better.

While I weed my gardens my mind almost always goes down the same path. I usually think about how - if I don't get the weeds while they are small they will be much more difficult to get later and how they will multiply if I ignore them and how they will choke out the good veggies I have planted.

Then I think about the "weeds" that grow in my own life - the sins that want to grow in my heart - "weeds" of anxiety, worry, discontent, gossip etc. I think about how they will grow (and in some cases have grown) until they are difficult to remove. How they will choke out the good things that God wants me to grow. Then I end up praying in my garden that God will show me what nasty things are growing in my life and that He will help rid them and replace them with His goodness.

I used to think that weeds were awful and they served no purpose - but now I think otherwise - at least in my garden they serve to remind me of the state of my heart and they drive me to Him. That's a pretty neat purpose in my book!!!

Well - in my walk through my garden beds this morning I noticed some weeds I missed last time are getting bigger fast and it's time to plant some Fall harvest crops - broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Swiss chard - so it's out to the garden for me.

Oh, before I go - an update on Daniel: He did see a neuologist for his seizure and the results were pretty much what we expected - the cause is not known. There are probably many different factors when all put together caused this brain to react. He did recommend further testing which we have decided to pursue - beginning next week. Dan is also not allowed to drive for 6 months per state law (which is probably the hardest thing EVER for an 18 year old boy!!!) So for now we are just hoping this was a one time event and praising God that he seems just fine!!

Blessings,
Christine

A Summer Weekend

This last weekend we visited a very beautiful part of our state.

The gorgeous Mt. Baker National Forest.

We found a pretty place to spread our blanket.
We ate good food.
We played and played and played!

We drove a longg time.

We admired the wildlife (even when running away from it!!)
We found creative ways to entertain ourselves in the van:
We drove through several small towns in the midst of amazing beauty:
We relaxed:
Enjoyed God's creation
And came home by the light of the moon.
What a fabulous day spent with (most) of our children!

Hope your weekend was wonderful too!!

Blessings,

Christine

My Closet

When I reorganized my closet a few weeks back I was so happy with the result!  I had a clean, uncluttered space that had a door that I could shut - with unused floor space (how often do you find that in a smaller house crammed with 10 people? :0)!! )

The next day - hiding from the kids needing a break - I found myself in my closet with the door shut and I had an inspiration.  I have always wanted a place to have my devotions.  A quiet place where I can be alone.  And here it is - in my closet!!!

I got a big puffy pillow to sit on - a pretty smelling candle for the shelf and a basket to hold my pens, highlighters and my glasses and Tu-Dum!!  My very own prayer closet!!  Now I am more thrilled than ever with my closet reorganization!!     

And I am making good use of it these days!!!

Blessings,

Christine 

Eggs!!!!

My chicken coop is one of my favorite things!!  I love my chickens.  They are so quirky and goofy!

Each chicken has such a unique personality - just like people.  They aren't the smartest creatures on earth but that just adds to their charm and there is a reason the phrase "you're a chicken" refers to being afraid!!  They are so flighty it's funny!!

But we have chickens for another reason besides entertainment - and my girls have grown up from cute little chicks and are now doing their job!!!

I'm so happy - we are now getting eggs!!!  Not 9 a day yet - just one or two as each hen is learning how to do it.  But soon we will be having an abundance of yummy, wholesome organic eggs!!

I think that's why I love my chickens so much - and why I love my garden too - knowing my work is making our backyard a place of provision for my family.  All the digging, weeding, feeding, watering, straw pitching, seed planting, composting is actually feeding my children.  It is such a great feeling to put a salad on the table for dinner that was grown in the garden or to  pull some green beans from the freezer in the winter that came from the back yard during the summer.  Going out to the coop and getting eggs and bringing them in to scramble for breakfast or put into some baked goods is so wonderful!!   And to know it was all grown without hormones, pesticides, antibiotics, or chemicals is the very best!!  I can't help but praise God every day for the satisfying job he has given me!!

Update on Daniel:  He seems to be doing very well since his seizure.  After a day of every muscle being very sore and a very bad headache (probably from banging his head very hard on the pavement repeatedly) he is back to normal.  He is seeing a neurologist tomorrow morning - so we will have more information soon.  Thank you for your prayers - they are so appreciated!!!

Blessings,

Christine

Curve Balls

I had a completely different post planned for today. But...life is unexpected. Last evening quite out of the blue, Daniel (our 18 year old) had a grand mal seizure. It was a long one - and he experienced quite a long period of amnesia afterwards. The fire truck and aid car helped out and after a trip to the ER and lots of testing he was sent home with a referral to a neurologist.

We know there is no brain tumor or anything of that nature - we don't know if there is anything else - so the specialist will let us know about that. We do suspect it may be a combination of lack of sleep, an energy drink he had with a friend and maybe some other factors that just made his brain go crazy. The thing with seizures is that there is no real way to tell what causes them sometimes.

Because this happened in front of several of our younger kids there has been lots of comforting and snuggling going on today. Grand mal seizures are very dramatic and scary to witness and since it happened at church there were lots of panic stricken teens about. The event actually was pretty chaotic.

We strive to lead a quiet life. I tell my kids the goal is to stay off the 6 o'clock news (which thankfully we did last night :0)!!!) I don't really do well with drama of any kind. The last few months we have become too acquainted with the ER - yucky stress - but last night was ickier than we've had - Hubby and I very worried (of course) - scared kids at home (of course) - but on top of that was a bunch of hysterical teenagers milling around. Wowie!!!

There is lots to be thankful for - Dan wasn't driving when it happened, that he wasn't alone, that there is nothing but his weird teenage boy brain in his head and probably many more things I can't even see right now!!

God is good and He is in charge and I'm so glad! But I am wondering...When does this Mama get a rest?!!!

P.S. Energy Drinks are forever banned for my kids!!!!!! :0)

Sew Busy

It's funny how one thing leads to another. I rearranged my closet and my sewing machine became more available which put me in the mood to sew. I sewed new valances for my kitchen windows and now I'm sewing for the girls.

Little play skirts are a snap to make. I went though all my fabric and grabbed a bunch I thought they'd like and away I went.
For a few days I just stayed at my machine - but began to get behind on other stuff - so now it's just as I have a few minuted here and there.

The girls love these little skirts and I love making them!!

After this it's on to pj pants for those who need new jammies (which is nearly everyone -
they just keep growing!!)

I don't know about you but summer is keeping me busy!!! I feel like I have less time to be on the computer than in the winter!! But it's all fun stuff I'm busy with!!

Blessings,

Christine

If I had been blogging.....

Our computer received the lovely "Blue Screen of Death" since the last time I blogged which caused an unplanned blogging vacation. After much fiddling around with it my hubby has me back on the computer - not completely sure it's fixed but at least all is backed up so that if this silly thing goes really bad I haven't lost my pictures!!

So...If I had been blogging the last couple of weeks I would have mentioned the number 273. Why is the number 273 significant? Well...back near the beginning of my bloggy break we finally got two days that reached the 75* mark. It had been 273 days since we had temps outside get to 75*!!! Those two days we went and celebrated by doing this:
and this: Yes, the weather got a bit warm and we had to dig up my garden and plant. I just couldn't leave it :0) So we'll see how it does - the latest we've ever planted - for sure!!!
The weather went right back to rainy and cold - so if I was on the computer I would have written about the closets I cleaned and the sewing I've done:My new kitchen windows - I'm so happy with them!!!
All the crocheting on my summer project would probably have made it on the computer as well:

The lovely blue jars I found at a garage sale to add to my collection would most certainly have been posted!!

And since I'm back I will mention that all of a sudden the weather has gone from rainy and low 60's to the eighty's in a day!! The pool is getting put up and my lawn chair is out, ready to spend some time playing and soaking up some much needed Vitamin D!!!
We have had so much fun playing and enjoying this summer so far!!! But having the sun out now will make the celebration of summer that much more fun!!!!