So much fun!

My Mother's Day Present from my Mom

Oh, it's just wonderful! My mom gave me the book Golden Thoughts of Mother, Home and Heaven compiled by Gene Fedele. I'm already on page 41 and loving it. It's a book I'm certain I will read over and over. We'll do copywork from it and I'm sure I'll share encouragement from it with other mothers.

Here's a couple quotes to let you in on what I've enjoyed so far.

"O mothers! You are the guardians of infancy, the instructors, of childhood, the companions of youth, and the partners of manhood. As are our mothers, so are our homes, our churches, our world." ~ Bishop John Newman

"Were it not for the tenderness, contentment and communion of the home, the whole fabric of society in any generation would disintegrate." ~ Gene Fedele, Editor (Don't you think we see this in our culture today?!)

"Mothers, you are the divinely-appointed teachers and guides of your children, and any attempt to free yourselves from your duty is in direct opposition to the will of God." ~ Anonymous

"When boys know that their society is valued highly at home, and that all its pleasures are marred by their absence, they will willingly stay if they can have something to occupy their time." ~ Anonymous (This sentence followed a couple pages covering the importance of the friendships between mother and child, the listening ear that should always be there from babyhood on up.)

On almost every page there is something that just pops out at me! I highly recommend this book from what I've read so far!

A Copperhead

Leslie asked about the snake pictured in the post below. My boys tell me it is a copperhead. They were home with their Papa and "ran across" this snake. After taking some pictures they beheaded him (and I feel much safer)! They called me on my cell phone just to let me in on the excitement.

This is the third snake we've seen in our yard this year.

The salad in the post below is a Greek couscous salad over a bed of baby greens. I just loosely followed the recipe on the back of the couscous box. Cold salads are great because you can hardly go wrong. Just add whatever fresh vegetables you have on hand.

Soon I'll post a black bean salad recipe that we are loving! The fresh cilantro from our garden is making it all the better! Our tacos that we had at lunch today were much more exciting with fresh cilantro. Thankfully, I planted lots of it!

All in a day

Life is full of variety! Here's some pics to prove it, all of them from our home or yard.

Fun Art Education

The art education taking place in our home is informal, to say the least. But over the years we have enjoyed learning about several different artists.

This week we've thoroughly enjoyed reading Camille and the Sunflowers A Story About Vincent van Gogh by Laurence Anholt. We also read Picasso and the Girl With a Ponytail A story about Pablo by the same author. These are just simple picture book stories that are based on facts about famous artists. I would say they are geared toward elementary students but I really enjoy reading them, therefore, I believe they could be for all ages!

Who have I placed my trust in?

Through various circumstances in my life recently, I've had to remind myself that my trust must always be in the Lord and only the Lord. I've had to remember what is important in the Lord's eyes. My day to day work is important to my Saviour. He cares about every little detail of my life. He's a wonderful Lord.

Last night, at our Wednesday evening Bible study, the Lord gave me just what I needed~truth from His Word. Here are just a few verses that helped me to rest in my Lord.

Jeremiah 17:5, "Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trust in man......" Verse 7 goes on to say, "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord."
Isaiah 31:1 "Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help....." Oh, how often I turn to "Egypt" for help. When will I learn to run to the Lord for all my needs? Hebrews 4:16 says, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." I'm so thankful that my God is a God of mercy and grace. I definitely am a child in need!

My dad always taught me that when there is a "therefore" or a "wherefore" we need to look back and see why it is there for! "Let us THEREFORE come boldly" is preceded by "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."

These verses encourage my heart! It's so amazing to to think that Jesus, the Son of God, is touched with the feeling of my infirmities. He cares about my relationship with my husband, my children, my family and friends, my neighbors, and my acquaintances. He cares about the humble work I do here in my home: the laundry, the meals, the cleaning, etc. He cares and is touched when I am touched. Nothing escapes his tender watchful eye that is fixed on ME. He even knows WHY I feel as I do! Imagine that!

A Proud Little Farmer

Tonight we are going to eat of the fruit of my son's labor! Awww...and he is proud. I love gardening and it is now a double joy to enjoy this hobby with my children!

Micah's first harvest happened to be Icicle Radishes which I must say are absolutely delicious. But to be fair I should mention that anything grown from your own hands seems to be just a tad sweeter!

We'll be eating the beautiful white gems over a bowl of mixed baby greens. I'm sure the children will all enjoy their salad just a bit more than they normally would.

We don't formally do gardening for any of our school work but we certainly could count it! Just think of all the subjects it could cover!

So, there you go....allowing your children to garden won't just pay off financially, and physically, it will also pay of educationally (and I even believe Spiritually, I love visiting with Jesus as I garden! I think of all the teaching in which Jesus referred to nature.).

Don't forget to check out other frugal tips at Biblical Womanhood on Fridays!

All fruit is lost

Our county agent is saying 100% loss of all fruit trees and blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc.

Arkansas lost 50% of its tomato crop. Tennessee lost almost 100% and I hear that Georgia and Florida were hit hard, too. There were no new transplants to be sent to Tennessee.

Sunday at church, a little lady in her 80's told me that our food prices would go sky high. She's a wise little lady! I've always valued her opinion! I may make my garden a higher priority.

I wonder if at Christmas this year an orange in our stockings will be appreciated?

Lizards

These are great days to add to our Nature Journals, if only we would!!!

We are enjoying the Spring and all the observing we are able to do!

Blessed is the man....

that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Jeremiah 17:7-9

Another quote

Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote, "Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive - it's such an interesting world. it wouldn't be half so interesting if we knew all about everything."

Kiersten asked yesterday, "Mom, do you think God wants children to always have time in their days to play?" I thought a little and answered that I thought he would probably like for that to be. She then said she thought that God smiled as he watched children play. I think he does, too! And I asked Kiersten if it helped her to think about God when she had plenty time to play. She said, "Oh, yes! Because you can look at all the beautiful flowers and other things he made. And you can think about how He made them for you!"

Yes, I believe free time outside is very important to the health, happiness, and spiritual life of a child! I also believe this would be good medicine for any adult, too!

Elisabeth Elliot said,

"It is God to whom and with whom we travel, and while He is the End of our jouney, He is also at every stopping place."

Magazine Savings

I hate spending money on magazines. I don't have a lot of time to read them anyway but I do enjoy flipping through them for decorating ideas, craft projects and best of all, new recipes and gardening ideas. So I compromise. Instead of subscribing, I check them out at the library. This works great for most magazines. Others, that I like tearing up, (you know, when you just rip out that new favorite recipe or picture of your dream kitchen) I get at the thrift store for a quarter. Southern Living for only 25 cents is well worth it for me!

Last week I just quickly flipped through the magazines at the thrift store looking for last year's Spring issues. Today I did the same at the library with the magazines Hobby Farm and Organic Gardening.

I subscribe to and love the Eating Well magazine! I've fixed countless of their recipes and we always really enjoy them. I also feel the articles are worth my time!

Happy frugal living!

More on Milk and Local Foods

If you are interested in learning more about our milk, meat, and foods in general, I would highly recommend that you read Nina Plank's book Real Food. It's a fun book to read if you enjoy food or health topics.

Educating ourselves about what we put into our bodies is very important. It is a never ending process but always an adventure! And such a wonderful taste experience! What is better than whole foods, fresh from your garden or a local farmer?

What local farmer did you support today? We enjoyed our own fresh eggs, (thanks to our 4 pet hens), beef purchased from our deacon, pork from a local farmer, kale, arugula, chives, green onions, and asparagus from our garden. I'm so far from where I want to be when it comes to consuming local foods! But I'm taking baby steps and making progress.

I'd love to hear what you're eating that is local! What are you looking forward eating soon? I'm counting the days until we get to buy baskets of fresh peas at our Farmer's Market! Awwwww.... spring!

Milk Criminals

Richard Hebron, 41, was driving along an anonymous stretch of highway near Ann Arbor, Mich., last October when state cops pulled him over, ordered him to put his hands on the hood of his mud-splattered truck and seized its contents: 453 gal. of milk.

Yes, milk. Raw, unpasteurized milk.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1598525,00.html

This bothers me. Let me clarify. I'm not concerned in the least that free citizens are choosing to drink raw milk. But that it is considered a crime to sell a nutritious liquid that has been enjoyed for thousands of years does trouble me!

Maybe I shouldn't be able to grow my own spinach and strawberries, either? I mean, they could be contaminated.

Weslandia

I wouldn't run out and purchase this book the next chance you get but I would suggest that you check to see if your local library has a copy! My little boy checked it out and loved it. I then enjoyed the book and recommended that my husband read it. He said he loved it and that he could identify with the boy, Wesley, in Weslandia written by Paul Fleischman and illustrated by Keven Hawkes.

I know there are only a handful of you who read my blog but I would like to encourage us all to be ourselves, the people God created us to be. Peer pressure doesn't just affect the young. I try to think about why I do what I do. Am I living the life that I want to live or am I just doing what everyone else is doing?

Be your own individual! Enjoy the day!

Marriage To a Difficult Man

I am loving this book~Marriage To a Difficult Man-The Uncommon Union of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards by Elisabeth D. Dodds. I love Sarah and I'm not even finished with chapter 4! Her life is inspiring me!

Just listen to this paragraph from Chapter 3, Yes, Yours, My Love Is the Right Human Face:
"Actually the Edwardses lived frugally, but it was instinctive with Sarah to do ordinary tasks with flair. She was the kind of woman who took the trouble to tie her hair with a ribbon for breakfast when many wives came down tousled; who spent an extra minute to stamp a design on a block of home-churned butter; who knew how to give a flourish to simple dishes with parsley, spearmint, or sage, all grown in a square of herbs by the kitchen door; who, when she had a bowl of peas to shell, would take it out into the sunshine in the garden. She put in day lilies, holly hocks, pansies, pinks....Wallpaper wasn't used until 1740 in the colonies, but New Haven had been one of the first towns to use plaster on interiors, so it is possible that Sarah had brought up with her the trick of mixing clay and water to make soft gray walls."

I'm currently borrowing this book from Kari's library at Healed Waters. She must be such a generous lady to freely mail out her books to anyone that requests them! I'll be looking to purchase this book! I want to underline and highlight and read this to my children!

Prayer

I believe our Father loves to hear our very detailed requests. He's quickly answered many of mine! But I also need the little reminder in the poem below!

Do not presume to know what's best
When you begin to pray;
But say to God, "Your will be done,"
Then trust His perfect way. ~Sper

A year ago

Amazing! I can remember reading the verse that says, "Life is just a vapor, which quickly vanisheth away." and thinking that only God looked at it that way. But I'm beginning to realize that the years are passing like a vapor. My sweet baby is far from an infant. I won't call him a toddler yet just because he MUST still be my baby. Let's not make him any bigger than he has to be.

It was just two years ago that I joyfully realized God had answered my years of prayer and I would be having another baby! I can vividly remember, as if yesterday, the prayers I prayed for this child, the peace God gave me when I was put on bed rest, and the certainty that this child was called of God. I still believe this by faith, there's no doubt there! I still weep as I pray for God to work in his little heart, even now!

It's amazing what little ones absorb from their environment! Today Zeke took a little New Testament and as he flipped through the pages he sang in his sweet little voice, on and on. It wasn't long and he was "preaching" to us. Oh, what a joy! What a blessing to have this gift straight from the hand of God. I'm so unworthy of this honor! I'm so grateful for the grace God pours out on my parenting, for His forgiveness and for the ever trusting hearts of little children!

I think I'll go watch him sleep! There's nothing prettier than a baby sleeping, unless it's their smile greeting me in the morning.

I Stand Amazed In The Presence

This hymn makes my heart sore every time I play it. I can hardly play it without singing it at the top of lungs! :) But then I can't sing because I get so choked up with emotion! I'm overwhelmed with the sacrificial love of my Saviour, for one as worthless as me!

I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how he could love me,
A sinner, condemned, unclean.

How marvelous, how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be;
How marvelous, how wonderful!
Is my Savior's love for me!

For me it was in the garden
He prayed, "Not my will, but thine;"
He had no tears for his own griefs,
But sweat drops of blood for mine.

How marvelous, how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be;
How marvelous, how wonderful!
Is my Savior's love for me!

He took my sins and my sorrows,
He made them his very own;
He bore my burden to Calv'ry,
And suffered and died alone.

How marvelous, how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be;
How marvelous, how wonderful!
Is my Savior's love for me!

When with the ransomed in glory
His face I at last shall see,
'Twill be my joy thro' the ages
To sing of his love for me.

How marvelous, how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be;
How marvelous, how wonderful!
Is my Savior's love for me!

~Charles H. Gabriel 1905