What's Up

The kids and I took a trip south for a few days to visit with family.  We got back yesterday and have been settling back in.  Sean's new floor is done and looks great (way to go, Daddy!) but most of his stuff is in Sierra's room.  I hope to get it moved and organized in the next couple of days. 

Bugs are trying to invade the green bean plants that have been untouched by this bunny rabbit.  They must have arrived when they learned that I was gone.  I sprayed them this evening which assured that we would get rain... we did.  I will try to re-spray tomorrow.  I did pull weeds.  It's amazing how fast those grow when you are not looking.

Ok, so my weeds weren't quite that big, but look at the potential! 

My main focus the next couple of weeks is preparing for school.  I have most of the materials....  it's the mental preparation that I am working on the most.  I want us to have a good year. 

Mechanically inclined

Sometimes it comes in handy to have a brother who is mechanically inclined.   Kerry fixed the door on the van.  Turns out, as we suspected, it was just a pin missing after all.  Good news was the pin wasn't missing, it had just worked itself up so it wasn't working anymore. 

Now we are wondering if the dealer would have told us about the pin and fixed it, saving us $150 for the part, or if they would have pretended to replace the handle and charge us anyway.  I guess we'll never know and we're glad to not find out. 

A couple of prayer requests.  One is for Ephraim who is recovering from open-heart surgery.  He is Sierra's age and was in her bible study class and his mom was Sean's Bible study teacher.  Everything is going great but he has a slight fever which they are keeping an eye on. 

The next one is for Coleman.  This is a picture of Caden and Coleman.  They are twin 4-year olds.  Coleman has been battling cancer for a couple of years - medulloblastoma.  It is a brain cancer.  He underwent a stem cell transplant a few months ago but they have found that he now has several tumors on his spine.  He has maxxed on radiation and the strongest chemo was given for the stem cell transplant.   Please pray for these sweet boys and their parents and family.  If you want to read more about them, go to www.carepages.com and visit carepage ColemanScott. 

Storms

 

We got some much needed rain today.  Unfortunately it came with a bit of wind.    

One limb from high in a tree broke off....   hit our new gutter leaving this dent.

Then the wind lifted the limb even higher...   and it finally landed on top of the house like this....

The limb came from the tree on the far left.... clipped the gutter and then ended up wrapped around the vent pipe.  Strong wind. 

Our first clue was when I was looking out the front door during the storm and noticed these spread out on the front lawn... and in our neighbor's driveway.  Our second clue was when Callie came running down from her room claiming to have heard a noise like something popping. 

Trying to be optimistic, I asked Jeff if those could be our neighbors shingles.  :)    He reminded me which direction the wind had been blowing.  If you look up at the first picture... you can see where these are missing from the left side ridge.  Just more evidence of how strong those winds really were.  We are blessed that it wasn't worse.  And, of course, what's a good storm without losing power?  We lost power for a few hours.  It came back on at 9:00pm just as I was putting Sean and Sierra to bed.  They were really concerned they were having to go to bed without their radios.  How could they possibly sleep without their radios???    So, right in the middle of bedtime prayers, praying for patience without electricity, praying for those who live without electricity, etc...   the lights came on!  Sierra said immediately, "Thank you God!"

Jesus Messiah

I've been hearing a new song on the radio that I have quickly fallen in love with.  I had not been able to catch who was singing it though.  Tonight, while it was playing on K-LOVE, I pulled up their website to see who sings it. 

I wasn't surprised.  Chris Tomlin sings several songs that are powerful like this one is and I have two of his CDs.  I suppose I'll be getting a third one soon.  It is not too early for me to get an early birthday gift.  :) 

JESUS MESSIAH

He became sin
Who knew no sin
That we might become His Righteousness
He humbled himself and carried the cross

Love so amazing
Love so amazing

Chorus:
Jesus Messiah
Name above all names
Blessed Redeemer
Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners
The ransom from Heaven
Jesus Messiah
Lord of all

His body the bread
His blood the wine
Broken and poured out all for love
The whole earth trembled
And the veil was torn

Chorus:
Jesus Messiah
Name above all names
Blessed Redeemer
Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners
The ransom from Heaven
Jesus Messiah
Lord of all

All I hope is in You
All I hope is in You
All the glory to You, God
The light of the world

Chorus:
Jesus Messiah
Name above all names
Blessed Redeemer
Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners
The ransom from Heaven
Jesus Messiah
Lord of all

Wascally Wabbit

Our late garden is not looking too good.  I'm pretty sure the culprit looks like this: 

Or at least if he wasn't this big a few weeks ago, he is now after all the green bean leaves he has eaten. 

What does one do about rabbits eating their garden?  Several people say, "Get a dog". 

Our dog Sam has apparently retired from her rabbit hunting days and is content to sleep on the deck all night while said rabbit is munching away at all my hard work.  Yes, she is part beagle.  She used to catch varmints in the yard and bring them to the house to show us her prize.

I suggested to my husband that we might be able to foster a dog displaced by the flood for a couple of months... maybe a younger one that still hunts rabbits.  He didn't go for it.  

In the meantime I have tried some last ditch efforts involving spreading hot sauce or pepper around the remaining leaves but I think I am too late.  I didn't realize what was going on until things were too far gone.  I guess I was relying too much on said dog. 

More stuff

We went to the fair today looking forward to the cold front that was supposed to happen before we went.  Well, it was a few hours delayed so we walked around in the heat and ducked into a couple air conditioned buildings a few times.

Sean gave his best at the tractor pull and got 4th place. 

Callie walked around with a bunch of kids and 4-Hers for Smoke Free Day and they would all drop on the ground to play dead to show what smoking does to people. 

Sean volunteered to be a rock star with Sparky the Dog.  It was a special show about fire safety.  Sierra said, "I think Sparky loves me!" 

Tennis anyone?  Sean is taking lessons.  He ended up in a 6-7 year old class but is doing fine.  We're glad it worked out that way because his lessons are an hour and he is learning a lot more than in the younger class which was only 30 minutes.  He absolutely loves the class.  I think he would go every day all summer if he could.  Of course, Jeff has tennis fever now since he has not played since pre-shoulder surgery days.  He is hoping to get out and play with his brother soon.

Vote for your favorite

Technorati Tags: flowers,daylilies,daylily,photography,blooming flowers,colorful pictures

I had some fun this weekend snapping photos of our beautiful daylilies.  Tell me which photo you like best. 

Robins in our tree

Mary, Mary quite contrary...

How does my garden grow?  

Here is what I tackled last week.  I put out a late garden.  I'm very pleased to have these green bean plants sticking up less than a week after being planted.  Go here to vote for your favorite daylily pose - Vote for your favorite!

Click on the link below and go see what others tackled. 

4th at the Fair

We went to the fair last night.  There was water everywhere from the rain.  The weather was almost cold.   This is the first time I can say that we got cold while at the fair in July.  By the time we got home around 9:30, the temperature outside was 67 degrees.  The blowing wind and the sprinkles added to the cool weather. 

The rest of the fair should be hot like we are used to though.  We still had fun.  We will go again soon, I think, but probably not today. 

What We've Been Up To

I cannot believe how fast the summer is flying by.  

If you thought I'd never let Sean have scissors again... well, I just redirected him to cut grass, not hair. 

About a month ago, Sierra had a visitor.  Mrs. J. will be her preschool teacher this fall.  She was Sean's teacher two years ago and Callie's teacher...  nine years ago I think.  Mrs. J. has been on our mind recently because her home was flooded on 6/7 and they are not currently able to live there. 

Sierra loves her new floor.  She likes to pretend she is ice skating which looks more like dancing.  She also likes her new blue walls.  Will be a while before her room is finished.  We will get doors and baseboard back up, but since Sean will be sleeping in there while his floor is being replaced, we will wait to finish decorating until he can move back into his room.  I will post more pictures when her room is done.

Here's a project that Sean, Sierra and I have been working on.  A new garden.  We did plant some seed but not sure if it will come up.  It is certainly a late garden but we did not have access to a tiller.  I am so sore that I am almost wishing that I still did not have access to a tiller. 

I put a few squash plants out.  I'm hoping they'll do well since they got a headstart at the nursery.