Merry CHRISTmas to All!!

Recitals and farming and baseball, oh my!!

Very busy lately and the next 2 weeks are going to be even crazier! Gran - rough week after chemo and she will begin daily radiation this week. Pray for her physical, emotional and spiritual state. Emma Kate - Dance recital in two weeks so extra practices this week, extra ones next week almost 55 minutes from home, and pictures next Saturday; piano recital in 4 weeks; Awanas awards in 3 weeks (she's trying to get all her Silver and Gold done in her 2nd book before then). Ethan - baseball practice, baseball pictures, baseball games, needs new cleats (outgrown the ones that are less than 6 months old - uggghhh!) and gray, not white, baseball pants which are nowhere to be found within an hour drive of here. [Note to self: Baseball is a WAY bigger commitment than soccer - remember this!!] Farm - most of the trees have budded out (Yippeee!!!) and are now ready to be bud pruned by hand. This means carefully cutting off about 8-10 buds x 400 trees = 2 little time 2 do 2 much work! Will be early mornings in the field for a few weeks. Then there's a few things called school work, laundry, vacuuming, being on call for a friend who's past due to have a baby, cooking, grass mowing, weed pulling, and .... LIFE! So if you see this blur drive past, or don't get any emails from me for a while, just hold onto your thoughts and remember what's happening on your end so we can catch up when June gets here and things slow down. In the meantime, shoot me an email or blog post so I won't lose track of you if I don't see you. Happy Spring :) !!

Long overdue Update

My blogging is about like my library books these days - way past time to turn them in!! :) Fortunately, I renew the books online and the blog police don't come get me when I go so long without posting!
Anyway, here's what's going on:
1 - Joanna and Alex Carr are engaged!! Last weekend at the beach he proposed and we got to meet his parents and grandparents who drove all the way up from Alabama just to be there to celebrate. They've now set the date for Aug. 15th at 2pm and we are already into wedding planning mode!
2 - Uncle Carl and I got 44 more trees planted last week right before some very long, heavy rains. And today (Sunday, 3/29) we saw the first green budding leaves on three different varieties!! Wooohooo!! I can't begin to describe how beautiful those little green buds look to us!
3 - School was pretty good last week, we got through a lot of the basics but not really any "extras" like field trips or art projects. However, on Wednesday Ethan began the school day by picking up a poem book of Emma's and reading a poem to me with very little help. He then read 4 or 5 "Rocket Readers" (Level 1) and begged for me to go find Level 2 readers. (Thanks, Karen W for these - they have been great!) All of a sudden I have a reader on my hands - a glorious day for any Mom who has dealt with a very reluctant reader!
4 - Last night we had a "Blurt" Blast and then followed it up with a Pictionary contest after we all shared a meal of homemade lasagna, tomato/basil bread, salads and key lime and chocolate pie (not homemade!) for dessert. All 6 of our children (remember that Katy is now my daughter, too, Shelley!) plus my soon-to-be-son were here and I felt very, very blessed to have such a great time with all of us together. I thought of my dear friends who have family around them except for a son who is overseas serving our country and what a gap that leaves in the "family circle" and said a prayer for these brave young men and their Moms who sorely miss them.
Have a great week and I will try to do better about updating the blog.

Next week.....

School: We studied George Washington on Monday (his BDay was Sunday and we study each on his birthday, not on "President's Day") and did some games about "Truth versus Fiction" concerning that great man. We also celebrated Handel's BDay by listening to the "Hallelejuh Chorus" on youtube while we were eating lunch. Tuesday we admired the works of one of my most favorite artists, Winslow Homer (I have two prints in my living room by him which tells you how much I like his artwork!). We've also done the "normal" reading, phonics, math, etc. Social Studies has moved us over to The Netherlands and my daughter is longing to wear wooden shoes and grow tulips :) ! Science has included a new unit about diseases and health and we are planning a trip to both a Health Clinic and a Dairy Farm (to see how they sanitize the containers, etc.) ... Maybe we will get a chance to go next week....

Books: I am almost finished with "In God's Underground" by Richard Wurmbrand. It never ceases to amaze me how a book about one subject can truly challenge you in a totally different area of your life. Here is a wonderfully amazing story of how one man stayed true to Christ in unthinkable conditions, and it really challenged me to do more to stand up for my faith and my Savior. I'm really ashamed of the fact that my life is so easy compared to his and that I spend so little of it in true fellowship with the One who Loves me most. I'll try to do better next week....

Farm: We have struggled to keep the remaining trees healthy with temps below freezing, a gas heater that sputters out on us in the middle of the night (it's like having a baby in the house, except you have to go outside in freezing temps to check on it in the middle of the night :) !) and we are certainly ready to finish getting them in the ground. Unfortunately rainy weather on Friday and Saturday will keep us from doing so this weekend. Maybe next week....

Work: D's company had another series of layoffs, and although he still has a job he now has about 7 people's responsibilities to do, which is causing him to work many long, long hours and weekends. We're thankful for the job but personally I'm worried that all the stress is going to wear on his health. Maybe next week will be better :) !

I'll let you know how things go - "next week" always looks better!

Quick Update

* Last Sunday EK was in a Christmas parade with her dance class and loved it!
* Finally got all my cards and Christmas letters sent out.
* Less than one week until the wedding!!
* Uncle Bill (my Mom's last living brother, age 88) died last week and we made a very quick trip to/from the mountains. Prasie for safe travel in really rainy weather. Please pray for my Aunt who loved him dearly and for my Mom's last living sibling (their sister) who has lost all 9 of her brothers/sisters over the past few years, as well as her husband just this September. Praise that all of these relatives know and love the Lord and look to Him for their strength and hope.
* Christmas is just a little over a week away and I still haven't done much shopping (gonna be lighter this year anyway) but have one main thing for each of the two youngest.
* My oldest daughter turned 20 and we had a wonderful BDay celebration with all of the family here last night! Happy (Belated) Bday to my beautiful daughter!
* My MIL is doing tons better on her new fluid meds and has even been able to cut way down on the blood pressure meds now.
* Please continue to pray for my SIL and BIL and niece as they face the holidays without their daughter/sister who so loved to wrap presents and decorate and shop and sing carols and dress in holiday colors.... She is sorely missed.
* Have a wonderful CHRISTmas season!!
-F

Fall Fun

Friday night our friends held a "Fear Not" party (a God-centered alternative to Halloween) and we had a blast! Go to Beth's post to read and see pics (I've smuggled these two over here from her!). My two youngest children were "Florence Nightingale" (shown playing the Widow's Mite game with her new friend) and "Wyatt 'IRK' " (shown below in Armor of God relay)! I'm sure it was a lot of hard work for the Herberts but we not only had a great time but also had a lot of discussion on Saturday about Light versus darkness, how "Mr. Rob" showed them that no amount of darkness was stronger than the light, and we talked about being a light in the world. We hope to be invited back to Beth's party again next year (hint, hint!!) but also hope to have one of our own for several families we would like to invite, both believers and non-believers, praying for it to be an evangelical outreach. (I'm gonna needs lots of help to plan it, Beth!)

My oldest daughter went to a costume party because she had a (rare) night off from work, my second son went with his fiance and her family to another family's for a bonfire and marshmallow roast. What did you do for Friday night's celebrations?

Saturday we laid out the (hopefully final!) layout of the orchard, placing 362 flags in their exact spots for the tree holes. Read about it here if you are interested in the progress of the farm. Russ helped for a while in the afternoon and then we went to a rare evening out at a steak house with him ad Katy. I must say that although that was only my third time ever eating at a LoneStar Steakhouse I have been very impressed with the food and service every time. Matt spent the day Saturday with his best friend (since they were 12!) taking pictures in the NC Mountains while his wife was away for the day.

Sunday we got to visit with Joanna for a while; I'm cooking a pot of "Chicken Stew-pid" for supper; the children went and visited with Gran while I cooked. (Yes, she's home from the hospital and doing well although very weak and will have to daily monitor her fluids to ward off another possible attack and potential congestive heart failure.) We played a game of badminton before Joanna had to go back to school, ending when it was getting pretty hard to see the birdie with the new early sunset time.

Tomorrow is a full day of school (including doing a life-sized outline of each child on which we will label their major organs), taking a tractor radiator to a "specialist" about 25 miles away, dropping off soil samples on the way, and getting back in time for dinner and dance classes. I really do loving being a wife, Mom, farmer and homeschool teacher. I can't imagine what joys I would be missing if it were any other way. It may not sound much to you but then you don't see the smiles, feel the hugs, hear the laughter, smell the earth and trees, that I do. My prayer, though, is that your world would be as wonderful to you!
Happy Fall!

Happenin's 'round here....

On the farm -
We've finished the last batch of pear preserves, picked (and eaten!) lots and lots of muscadine grapes, cleared out the garden and planted fall cabbage and collards, transplanted some small pansies into the flower beds which are still beautiful while they await the first frost, tended to the four little pecan trees that we are growing from seed for experimental purposes, picked a few apples and getting ready to harvest more over at a relative's house (hoping to have enough sunny days to dry them), and transplanted two tomato plants from the garden into pots so that we can hopefully continue to have tomatoes after the first few frosts. We've confirmed our tree order and D has plans to help two different pecan growers in the next few weeks as they shake, harvest, dry, sort and package their nuts.


On the home front -
This week we have visited Alamance Battleground for their Living History Days (see Beth's post and pictures), talked a long time about flintlock muskets with the 6yo, crammed in several days of all 8 subjects, went to piano lessons, soccer games, practiced Awana verses, made black walnut ink for the quill pen that we made last week, painted my MIL's rental houses steps (5 sets of steps), sorted fall clothes and packed away summer ones, and will be going to the State Fair . We're planning on helping add to one of the ag exhibits next fall which will include pecans as a NC crop, so we are going to enjoy the fair but also to be thinking/planning how to help with that particular exhibit in the future.

In the family -
My uncle that we went to see a few weeks ago passed away during the early morning hours on Monday. So I took an unplanned trip to my sister's late Tuesday night, rode with her to/from the memorial service, and returned home late Wednesday. Thank you for your prayers for my safety - the drive couldn't have gone any smoother! My aunt and the family are all doing well.

In my heart -
Lately everywhere I turn I am reminded that God has a covenant with each of us as believers in the redeeming grace of Jesus. Not a contract (dependent on our actions) , but a covenant (eternal, unbreakable, unchangeable). It's just almost unimaginable that no matter how we screw up we are still His children, still saved by grace, still loved by an Almighty, Eternal Creator. Eph. 2:8-10 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

Down but not out....

Two weeks + ago our house got hit by lightning. Thankfully, although the youngest children and I were home no one was hurt and there was no fire or damage to the house. Unfortunately, the electronics didn't fare so well. We are currently without a computer, modem, printer and have had to replace phones and answering machines, a tv, the satellite dish, the phone connections outside, and repaired the AC unit and fridge. So don't expect to hear from me much until I am replugged. Sorry. I'm currently typing this at the public library with dozens of people clickety-clacking around me, my children whispering sweet "where do I find this book" in my ears, and some long-legged construction worker kicking his boots under the divider table into what he must think is a table leg (it's mine!) :) ! I'll try to catch you up soon on all the happenin's at our house but for now know that we are all well, all back in the good ole US of A, still gardening, haven't started school yet, and missing emails terribly (how ever did I live in the old days of say, 8 years ago??!!!)
Hope everyone is doing well on your end and I look forward to catching up on blogs soon!!
-F