Happenings...

Blogging has taken a back seat lately. I didn't mean it to be so...it just has happened this way. Don't get me wrong, I love to blog. When I finally found a little time to do so, I just couldn't come up with much to blog about. So I'll just share a little with you about what we've been doing the last month or so.

We've been relaxing...



And sharing hugs...

Traveled to Jacksonville, FL for hubby to preach a camp meeting. Here he is (far left) with the other ministers and the host pastor (center). We had a wonderful time getting to hear the Word of God 3 times a day and sharing in fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ. We were also able to make some new friends. I love camp meeting.

Gracie all wired up after one of the camp meeting services...

And all tuckered out after another service...

I've been lovin' on my babies...

Took a relaxing trip to the Great Smoky Mountains...stayed in Grandparent's house, so the trip was free!! :)

Had a homeschool awards ceremony with some friends of ours. Don't I have the cutest students??





Been letting the sunshine dry my laundry...

Keeping busy outside...

Working hard to stay cute...





And sweet...

Been swimming....




And getting red...

Watching the cornstalks get taller and taller...Can't wait to taste that sweet corn!!!





A tender green bean needing to be picked...

Waiting for the tomatoes to ripen...




Harvested some red onions...

And some red & white potatoes...I'm making potato salad tonight!!

Tomorrow we celebrate Madison's birthday. She turned 8 years old on June 11, but we've been so busy that we're just now able to have the party. Hopefully I can post some pictures from that over the weekend. We'll be leaving on Monday headed for a town called Paint Lick, Kentucky for hubby to preach another campmeeting. We won't be home until next Saturday. I am so ready to be at home for a while. Too much traveling is not for me. I'm such a homebody!! Good thing God didn't call my husband to be an evangelist!!

Just Living Life...

Life is good. We are all well. School is pretty much finished and summer is upon us. I've just been enjoying life as a mommy and wife. The sunshine has been beckoning me everyday. I've managed to walk almost every day outside. My relationship with the Lord is growing more each day and I'm resting in Him. What more could I ask for.

The garden is doing wonderfully. We are eating lots of salad growing from the dirt in my back yard. I will never cease to be amazed at how God designed this earth and the fullness thereof!! I can plant a seed and after a season of rain and sun, I have fresh food. God is just awesome!

June will bring us travels as well as July. Hubby is preaching down in Jacksonville, Florida in June and preaching in a little town called Paint Lick, Kentucky in July. I know.....Paint Lick is a funny name, but it is so beautiful up there. Lots of rolling hills.

I plan to resume homeschooling full force sometime after our summer travels. That's just the beauty of homeschooling. You can do it whenever you want. I love it!! There's no other way for me.

I hope to stay on the blogging bandwagon this summer. We'll see how it goes. I do plan to visit all of my bloggy friend's blogs regularly though. I very much enjoy all you girls write about.

The Pig Got in My Garden...

You didn't know I had a pig, did you? Actually, it's pigs. We have three of them...two girls and one boy.

I was outside walking this morning minding my own business. As I approached my house, I saw what I thought was our dog in the garden. The closer I got, the more I realized that this animal was too big to be my dog. The pig and the dog are basically the same colors...black and white. Then it hit me. Oh no!! The pig is eating my lettuce. So I ran as fast as my 6-1/2 size feet would carry me back to my house. Hubby was inside praying. I hated to interrupt him, but it just couldn't be helped. I WAS NOT GOING TO TRY TO GET THAT PIG BACK IN HER PEN!! No way, not me. Well, I banged on the window where he was praying and he immediately ran to the window. I'm sure I looked half crazed, being all sweaty from my walk and wide-eyed from seeing the pig in the garden. He went running outside still in his pajama pants and t-shirt. Thank the Lord, there was a slop bucket handy. The piggies know what is in those buckets when their 'daddy' comes to the pen with it. So he was able to get the pig to follow him out of the garden easily. He got her in the pen but he lost his house shoe in the mud in the process. hehe!! The other house shoe cannot be salvaged. It was covered in pig mud. Yuck!! He looked at me and said, "I lost my house shoe." I told him we'd buy him another pair today. He deserves another pair since he saved my tender lettuces. So.....how has your day been so far? =)

I'm Not Dead...I Promise

I just cannot believe I have not posted in nearly a month. I am truly a slacker.

The month of April has been so unbelievably busy. We're about to wrap up this school year so that has taken up most of our time. We also had a revival last week and you know how that goes. Especially since we pastor the church and we have to entertain the evangelist. But it was all good. We also are finishing up piano lessons for this year. Madison's recital is tomorrow night. She's nervous about it but she will do great. She always does. I have a lot of confidence in her.

I have some things I want to post about. Our garden is doing wonderful. We'll soon have lettuce galore. Guess I'll be eating a lot of salads. I'll probably be giving some away too. One can only eat so much salad. :)

I have been stopping by all of my friends' blogs and enjoying all of your posts. I haven't fallen off the blogging wagon altogether. Maybe I'll have something more substantial to write about in the coming weeks. I hope you all are having a lovely spring.

My Baby is Five!!

I just can't believe my baby is already 5 years old. It doesn't seem that long ago that she was born.

She has so much personality and has brought so much joy and laughter into our family. The girl really cracks us up all the time. She's just a big hoot!!

We celebrated her birthday on Saturday at Chick-Fil-A (love that place) with a few friends she invited...mostly girls. It was really nice to just show up somewhere and let somebody else do all the work. The folks at Chick-Fil-A were wonderful and we had a whole room all to ourselves.

I got some really cute pictures I'd like to share.

Afraid of the cow

The birthday girl & daddy

The birthday girl & mommy

The birthday girl with mommy & daddy

Such a cute cake

Make a wish, sweetie!!

Opening one of her cards

All smiles today!!

With her little group

The birthday crew

I hope you had wonderful day!!

Hello Sunshine!!

I'm so happy. The sun is shining and it's supposed to be about 70 degrees today. Yippee!! We've had lots of rainy, gloomy weather on and off for the past month. So glad we got the rain, but I'm so glad to see the sunshine again.

We put in our cool weather garden a couple of weeks ago, so I'm sure all this rain has been very beneficial. Now the sun and warmth are on the horizon and I'm looking for good growth in the garden.

We planted two types of lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, red potatoes, white potatoes, sweet onions, red onions, and green onions. I can't wait to try them all. This is the first year we've planted lettuce, so I'm hoping they turn out good. I love fresh salads!!

Here's some pictures of when we first got them planted. They've grown quite a bit since these pictures were taken.

Rows of lettuce

Lettuce

Close-up

Tilled, but not yet planted...ready for the summer garden veggies to be planted!

A view of part of the garden in front of our building.

March 25th

Today, my sweet Grandma would have been 82 years old. She was the most wonderful woman in the world to me.



She was taken from this world nearly eight years ago. I'll never forget the day I received the phone call. I was devastated.



You see, my Grandmother raised me. I was given to her by my Mother on the day she brought me home from the hospital. I'm so thankful she took me. I loved her as a Grandmother and a Mother. She was just so wonderful!



I'm sure it wasn't easy taking care of an infant. She was 50 when I was born and she already had some health problems. She didn't let it stop her from loving and caring for me.



She was born during the Great Depression so she was a very frugal woman. I didn't so much like her frugality growing up, but I sure appreciate it now. I wasn't used to having any excess growing up so I'm fine without it now. Don't get me wrong, I am very blessed and have way more than I need but I can do without it easily.



She passed away while I was 7 mo. pregnant with my second child. She couldn't wait to see her. It would have been her first great-granddaughter. She already had two great-grandsons. I can't wait to introduce my children to her that she never got to meet when we get to Heaven.



So today is bittersweet. I still miss her terribly. I so long just to talk to her and hear her sweet voice again. But I'm looking forward to a reunion with her in Heaven. I became a little more homesick for that Land the day she died.