slowly moving, moving slowly

So God is teaching us patience. We were told that they were working to close by the end of the month. Well, we didn't close today...so we wait.

Realistically the closing on our contract states September 15 or earlier so there is plenty of time. I feel like a little impatient child, stomping my foot that things haven't gone my way. So I need to grow up a little and get over it!

I am blessed with so many friends that have offered to help us move. One friend is going to be my painting buddy! I have my paint chips and my list and I am ready to go. Just so excited to see how we are going to be able to use this land in part of God's plan.

Meanwhile I box things up...a little each day...well, not today...but tomorrow.

Future plans are also to plan my baby girls birthday tea party! She is so excited and I don't want her to get lost in the busyness of the move. We have the plates and invitations ready to go. Plenty of pictures to come!

what He has done

1 Chronicles 16:8
Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.

Grocery store field trip

No, I didn't pretend a trip to the grocery store would count as a field trip. It was a real bells and whistles tour! A group that we go on field trips with organized a tour of Publix grocery store.






This was the most important part of the tour. I don't know why the manager didn't point them out herself but I made sure everyone saw the Blue Bell....sadly there was no Happy Tracks today.














The kids got to see how incredibly skilled and fast the ladies are in the bakery. She made a beautiful yellow rose within a minute!

They also gave them a squirt of icing....none for me though. We walked in their coolers and freezers but first the girls turned into Lavern and Shirley...

So hon, what size cut of turkey can I slice for ya?


We then ventured over to the produce isle....Now there have been moments that I've been in produce and I just wanted to throw my hands up in the air and scream to the top of my lungs.

Well today.... I didn't. But I could have! Hopefully the kids will understand the next time we're in produce and not scream to the top of their lungs again.

We soon sailed on to our favorite part of the tour...seafood!

The guy in seafood was great. He had a whole show to perform for the kids. I learned a lot about lobster too.

He let the kids pet the lobster if they wanted. He even brought her over to Thomas so he could pet her. This sent Thomas into fetal position and thinking of a happy place....yeah, he was not impressed!


For his big finale he performed the famous lobster sleeping jedi mind trick. I never knew you could make a lobster stand on it's head and go to sleep!

It was a great time and the kids loved it. It was also a nice escape for the business going on right now.



Now I'm going to go rub my back and fall asleep on my head.

Busy busyness

Things are going fast and exciting! So neat to see all the wonderful friends and family around us volunteering help.

It's amazing to see how quickly our little green people are growing. I'm so proud of each one of them.




We are finishing up week 10 of school and the world is giving us so much to explore. We've had earthquakes and a looming hurricane to spark curious minds. I've been fairly dependent on the computer since all my resource books are now packed but I've loved kids natural curiosity....well, most of the time.

I will miss the beautiful sunsets we have at this little house and the numerous opportunities the kids have to be with family.

We have been so blessed.

She's a Big Girl Now!!

So proud of Lauren...she road her bicycle without training wheels for the first time today!! She of course was not happy with her progress but she went completely across the yard! She is so tough on herself.

Tomorrow we start our co-op classes and Emily is sooo excited. She had a hard time getting into bed. She was preoccupied with thinking about wearing her ballet clothes.

Bicycle and ballet pictures to come soon!

tomatoes, toomatoes, tooomatoes!!!

Every year we usually have an abundance of at least one crop. This year tomatoes may have won out. I've ended up with 20 quarts of spaghetti sauce and still have more coming in..although those will turn into salsa. But this season I have had an awesome new tool in my kitchen:

The Good Grips Food Mill is so handy. I do have a motorized mill but it would get clogged with the tomato skins on. If you look closely you will see here the skins have risen to the sides of the mill. Yes! You don't have to remove the skins. I just seeded them and chopped and milled and presto!

This is perfect for us since the kids don't like the big chunks of tomatoes in their sauce. Enjoy!

Nope I don't sell 'em but I love 'em!

dough

We got to make some modeling dough for science and the kids LOVED it. For those of you who know me well...I don't care for activities that make messes. But sometimes I try to step out of my box.




The girls love any chance to wear their aprons and Thomas realized quickly that he didn't have one to wear! We're working on that one.

We had a great time and it  was much less messy than I expected. It's funny all the things that you have learned in your life that you take for granted. For example, Emily realized that you really can't scoop up some water and not have it fall out! I should have given her a bigger bowl to dip out water from but she learned something from it.


They were so excited to have their own dough to play with. They always enjoy helping me cut out shapes for my pies but this time they could do what they pleased.

Thomas was in on the fun as well. Although I've been told before, I never really understood how much the younger ones learn from their older siblings.


After the girls sculpted their creations:

Lauren made a bird's nest with eggs
Emily made a  beautiful heart with shapes inside

...we baked them in the oven to keep their shape. I think they enjoyed the creating more than the final product...since it is currently in the trash. But there are many future creating jobs to come and we all had fun!

Canning With A Two Year Old

Our garden has been quite productive lately. This weekend are old former neighbors let us harvest pears from their tree...it's an annual tradition. So with just under a gallon of tomatoes coming in each day why not throw in 36 pounds of pears. We are extremely grateful and extremely busy.

Did I mention we have....
a two year old?
A two year old boy?
A two year old boy with red hair?
A two year old boy with red hair in love with tractors?



Alright, now that we've established that, let's start canning. Today we started with our first load of pears for the day. Pealing 12 pounds of pears can make you a little, um, tired. Especially when you've already done 12 pounds the day before including a full 7 quarts of spaghetti sauce. (I'm using this as a disclaimer for  the following events)

When you decide to sit at the kitchen table to peal your pears guess what happens....everyone wants to sit at the table with you...(I heart kids)...So what happens when the two year old of the group wants to invade personal space to see what's going on? Yep, you guessed it, drool in the fruit fresh prep bowl. So mommy goes to make a new batch of fruit fresh and get back to work.

I've explained my outdoor canning area. Well it can get complicated. You see you need to move what you've prepared inside..well to your outside canning area. This means for brief periods I am ...outside. So what happens when you walk outside with a two year old inside? Yep, you guessed it, he gets the butcher knife to play with. But don't worry he was fine..as for mommy? She's taking down her Mommy of The Year Award.

So back to the outdoor canning area. So now said two year old son is positioned strategically in the "canning area". So what happens when he goes to examine the propane tank intake cap? Yep, you guessed it, he drops into the operating stove with two burners blazing. Mommy was able to retrieve the cap with her handy tongs that she also used to hold her Mommy of The Year Award over the open flame.

So that's pretty much what it's like to can with a two year old...it's pretty simple really.

T School

Thomas has his own desk at school...

it has a wonderful view....

of tractors...

of course.

I will miss that window.

God's Plan

Jonathan and I have sought God's plan for our lives. We have looked in so many different directions. When we met our lives were going in separate directions. He was headed to Egypt, I was possibly headed to somewhere else in the world. For Jonathan, a huge door shut, as in September 11th...yeah, he doesn't really blend in to that population. For me, too many doors were open. So began our journey to our current place in life.

My Dad asked me one day, I think I was in high school, "Sherry, what would you like your life to be like when you grow up?" I told him that I would have a family and live in a home with lots of land and animals. I wouldn't say that it was a "when I grow up, I want to be..." kind of moment but it is a vivid memory that I have.

I've not been motivated by that conversation but tried to be motivated by what God had planned. Do I have selfish desires?...you bet..but God never ceases to amaze me when the desires of my heart line up with His plan.

The last two months I've been bummed and really felt directionless even though we had previously felt led towards Pickens...I doubted...maybe I didn't pray hard enough or was to consumed in my desires to see God's will for us. How I forget that it doesn't matter what I do to "be good" it's my heart, my faith and trust...I think I was working on a mustard seeds worth of that. So what now?

We will sign on a property this week that would fulfill that conversation with my Dad. My hope is that we can use it in some way to glorify God. He definitely makes life fun I just have to figure out how to make this a moment of our Quiet Life Academy...haha!

Can Can Can

I've had a few friends ask me about canning. I really enjoy it, right now without kids, but I'm so looking forward to when they are older and can help out. There is just something about grabbing food from your yard and preserving it.






Last year I had fun making some pear preserves. The pears came from Jonathan's cousin's tree and the girls helped pick them. I love knowing the history of my food. That was a fun day too.








 So last summer/fall I did all of my canning inside our house. This summer we are in a small family house and it has been in the high 90's to 100's and the A/C is struggling. So we have a new set up.

This is just heaven! (I know it's sad) I had forgotten how much I like cooking on gas. It has three burners and can heat up the canners in no time.


I've even been able to run two canners at the same time!! Yeah, I'm pretty pathetic. I get a little too excited about this stuff.


I highly recommend setting up an outdoor kitchen. I'm looking forward to being able to have a nice set up with a water supply in the near future.


And if you're wondering, we still haven't heard anything on the property. Still praying and battling my hopes getting to far up.

I Found Nature

The other day the girls were out playing with their cousin, "B", when Lauren came running in the house. "Momma, I found some nature!" I turned to see her proudly display a cicada molt.

I'd seen them before and just figured it was a dead bug.


 I must admit...I'm not a bug person. They can live in their God given area and I will live in my bug free one...except for butterflies, ladybugs, honey bees (from a distance) and um, yeah I think that's it.


 But my inquisitive little people seem to want to draw me out of my box. Honestly, I was interested!

We went straight for our insect books and I jumped online and found this neat time lapse photos.


They are the sounds of summer for sure. We now have collected 4, oh, and a bucket full of worms.

Hurry up and Wait

The last few days have been a stream of excitement and busyness....is that a word?...anywho, we came across a little house and some land!!! At this point we've made an offer and have our ducks in a row trying to patiently wait. Jonathan and I have been praying for God to show us how we can be a part of His plan. Our prayer is still the same. Within a few days we will know if our kids will gain a larger education of moving. ....to whatever God's will is for our little family.