Sometimes All you Need is a Little Pick Me Up

 

In the midst of covid, shut downs, stress, store closures, empty grocery stores, and it being impossible to find toilet paper~ one of my dear, dear friends had a terrible, no-good, awful week with TWO of her children breaking bones in the SAME WEEK.  

It was all TOO MUCH!

So we had them over for lunch and made it a bit of a party to help give them a little pick me up.

(The PEANUT theme is a bit of an inside joke with the children and doesn't make sense outside of their relationships.  In fact, it really doesn't even make sense INSIDE of their relationship, come to think of it!)

As Corynns' sign says, sometimes all we need is a little pick me up.

Happy Days

 HAPPY  DAYS!  We had our first 'eating on the porch' dinner of 2020 a few nights ago.  It might have been chilly by the end, but oh SO worth it.  I love my porch.  I love EATING on the porch.  I love the mild weather that we have been having that has ALLOWED us to eat on the porch!  And I SO look forward to many, many more of those evenings on the porch in the future.   After a crummy winter, I am ready for the freshness that spring brings with it.  SO READY.

Our cow is dry and has been for quite some time- but Matt's brother John has a cow that freshened recently which means...WE HAVE RAW MILK again!  We buy it, of course, but at least I don't have to buy 8 gallons of milk in a grocery cart already filled with two children to the gaping stares of strangers...that is a definite perk.  And it comes with cream on top.  Because we all know how much I love cream.  ;-)  Particularly, the "ice" variety.  ha!

The other day I promised I would make stromboli for supper but I knew I didn't have enough ham.  I called down to the only business in the little town that I live in-a gas station. The kind of small town gas station that has old men open 'er up for coffee each morning at 6 am for 'coffee club'.  The kind that slices deli meat so you don't have to go ALL the way 'up town' and sells maple syrup from the farm down the road and a few frozen tubes of home-grown beef.  The kind with the whole back covered in potato chips and the corner covered in Amish romance and christian devotional books.  I called down for ham to be sliced for me and when I went to put it in the stromboli, I noticed the little note.  Small town livin' at its' finest.  That's community for you.

And SPEAKING of community...  the INTERNET.  For all its' woes, I appreciate so much the way the internet connects people and builds communities in a way that wouldn't be possible otherwise.  It makes neighbors of people states and countries away and friends of people who may never actually meet on this side of heaven.  It allows us the ability to extend the call to 'love thy neighbor' to so many more people!  Our little spheres of influence can be flung out far and wide, opening up a whole world to us. As much as the internet can be dangerous and/or harmful at times...oh, it can be so good too!

 I was reminded of this very powerful truth this week as packages started to arrive on my doorstep for the community baby shower!  I am OVERCOME!  You have NO idea how delighted we were/are as we open up these gifts, knowing that someone is going to feel so loved and cared for and prayed over who may be at a time when they really need to feel those things!

 Thank you, THANK you to you sweet and wonderful people!!

Gatherings

This summer has been so chock full of activities, it is flying by in a whirlwind.  Parties to host, parties to attend, things on the calendar.  It's kinda crazy.

And it isn't winding down!

Here are a few photos from the last few to get me (and this blog) caught up...though mercifully, not many!  Too busy for photos when you are having fun, I guess!

An Ice Cream Sundae sort of Sunday:

(Probably the boys' favorite shin-dig of the bunch!)

It's not a party until the firework box blows up and catches on fire.

NOW it's a party!

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The Newunion

The day was 96 degrees miserable so I made sure to do as much prep and cooking BEFORE the party to keep things as comfortable as possible on the day.  I didn't want any guests to be fried and I didn't want MYSELF to be fried either.

It worked out amazingly.  

Reason # 4659 that I have children:

The little one on the end was the quality control officer... she took her job very seriously.

My favorite part of party prep- the flower bouquets for the tables.  

Apparently, Ineke takes after her Mama.  

She was a good little helper, though a few flowers' heads were sacrificed in the making of the bouquets.

The most remarkable thing about this party was that, despite people coming for supper the night before and despite the party being that afternoon, we were able to hightail it outta there and head to Matt's parents' lake for an hour swim right when I am usually going INSANE trying to get everything done.

I never thought I would EVER be swimming at a lake a few hours before I was hosting a party!  I still can't believe it, actually.

That's what being crazy a few days beforehand will get you.

It was just what I needed to cool off and get refreshed and ready for all the last minute stuff.

By the end of the night, I was so relaxed and chipper and perky...

Oh wait.  Who am I kidding?  

Are those weird perfectly rectangular light irregularities and lines horrible photoshopping evidence?

Yup.

This photo is the real deal:

Slightly less perky and chipper.  Still pretty relaxed though.

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A Cricket Shower

My brother and sister-in-law hosted a little family Cricket shower for this babe o' mine.   As anyone with six children knows, by the time the 6th comes around- things are looking pretty dingy.   Cricket got some very nice crisp and clean things to wear but the best gift of all was knowing this this 6th child is being celebrated.  Welcomed.  Anticipated.  Rejoiced over.

As every single child should be.

That was the greatest gift to me of all.

When I arrived, I realized that my camera battery was almost stone dead.  Here are the few pictures I was able to get before it gave up the ghost.  I never even got a picture of the sweet hosts.  :-(

It's been a full summer, but oh, so good.  

Soles for Souls

We had a brush with fame recently and I just had to share!  We had the great pleasure of hosting Jamie and Val Soles in November on their singing tour of the Northeast. They traveled all the way from Grand Prairie, Alberta, Canada and we just happened to be right smack dab in the middle of two churches on their tour.  They spent the night in our Spare Oom and gave us a little impromptu concert in our very packed living room.

Ever heard of them?

Jamie and his wife are singer/songwriters who have a passion for putting biblical truths, stories and memorization facts to music.  His music is geared toward making these things accessible to all ages- even to very small children.

 This is how the children I do so much of our memorization work- music has a really wonderful way of etching things into the hearts and minds of people.  I am really surprised I had not heard of them- but was so glad to meet them and hear some of their music!  A whole new world has opened up for the children and I-- we have already gotten to work on memorizing some of his songs.

As a bonus, they happen to be some of the sweetest people!  Never having opened my home up to complete strangers before, I didn't know what to expect.  And in my mind, all I saw was the scratched up dingy walls, the single, solitary bathroom, the clothes rack in the Spare Oom.  But they were very kind and gracious to our meager offerings.

Not to mention:  If ever I had to pick the best laugh in all the world, it would, hands down, be the laugh of Mister Jamie Soles.  He has the most wonderfully jolly laugh I have ever heard.  (And I've known quite a few excellent laughs in my day.)  His exuberance is contagious.

It was such a pleasure to meet them.

If you are interested in supporting Jamie, Val and their important and good work you can head to their website, support them on patreon or buy some of their cd's or mp3downloads on Amazon or through their website!

His music would make excellent Christmas gifts for the children and grandchildren!  Just sayin'.

(I don't make a red cent writing this.  Just wanted to share with you their good work!)