FAMILY IS REALLY ALL THE MATTERS

Thankfully, I got from my Dad the trait AND desire to always make time for family fun…

So…Here are some things that I’ve recently done with members of my family…

And also just random pictures…

A BABY SHOWER…

DD and I attended a baby shower for a friend of ours...







LOTS OF GOODIES...









MAMA-TO-BE AND HER TWIN...



A MOST BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL...



PICTURES THAT HANG IN THE RELIEF SOCIETY ROOM AT CHURCH...



This is my favorite picture of Christ...The artist is Del Parsons...



MY FAVORITE BOOK STORE...

We purused through the store to see all of their new arrivals...



After the baby shower and book store...

A STOP AT A&W...



They have different cute little bird houses in each corner and along the windows...

And the most yummy grilled onion burger...To die for...

Most of them turned out blurry, but here are a couple of pictures of the bird houses...







A DAY OF WORK...



A DAY OF PLEASURE...





CARD MAKING...



Pressed roses to use on homemade cards...





TARGET PRACTICING WITH HUBBY...

This gun is a .44 magnum...



It is pretty powerful to shoot...



VINTAGE TREASURES...

What a blessing I received last weekend! Oh, I was so excited!

While at Mom’s, I generally always look in the candy closet…Once a kid…Always a kid…;)

What did I see there but Gramma’s sugar and creamer set…I pulled them out, and Mom said, “Do you want them?”…Do I want them?! Of course I WANT them!

She told me that she hadn’t asked my sister to which I quickly replied, “Oh well, ya snooze; ya loose!”



Actually, my sister has never really been too sentimental that way…

I can just picture Grandpa spooning sugar into his “Tossee”…

Ahhh…Those were the days…



A FAMILY RIDE...

All we were missing on our family ride was Dear Daughter #2…

Pictured here is Dear Daughter #1 and Son...



Getting their bikes ready...



Me waiting for Dear Hubby...



Boy...



Papa and kids...



Dear Hubby and I...



Headin' down the road...





The gnats were so bad...

We had to stop at the truck stop to clean off our visors...





Of course, we had to stop by Gramma and Grampa's...



Mom is at the stove cooking her WONDERFUL dinner...

Mmmm...Mmmm...Mmmm...



Dad...



I LOVE rice pudding...



Baby Christian sitting in the highchair that was mine as a baby...



If you look in the background...

In the china hutch is the juice jar that was Grandma's...

More precious memories there...





Adrien telling Gramma a secret...



Christian on the counter...

Of course...What little child doesn't love high places...



Grampa putting his helmet on Christian while Great Grampa looks on...



Christian...On the first really warm day of the year...Waiting for Mama to take them on a ride...



Mama and boys...



Daddy and boys flying a kite...





Julian and Adrien...











And so ends a perfect day...

For family is REALLY all that matters...

PUTTING OUT FIRES

I started these new organizational goals this year so that I may improve upon myself…The year is one quarter gone, and could it be that I am even MORE unorganized? If not, it certainly seems so, and not just at home but at work, where organization is not generally a problem!



It is all quite disheartening…Nonetheless, I am vowing and praying and working harder. I cannot let this conquer me. I have prayed that the Lord will show me how to overcome, and that He will help me to listen to His answer…As I work hard, of course.

Because I am the kind of person that is not mundane, I have always shied away from anything that is so. I don’t like eight-to-fives, wearing the same eye shadow for 20 years (I have a MOST organized friend who did just that), or eating pizza every Tuesday…It just isn’t me.

On the flip side, I fear that being this way, which is not in and of itself bad, also lends itself to being unorganized. I flit here there and everywhere delving into many projects and exciting things at a time…So much so that like the spokes of a wheel, my life is a circle of splinters going off in different directions, and I'm the crazy woman in the middle!



So…While I enjoy my none-mundane self, I detest the mess it keeps me in…Thus, the organizational goals and quest to meld the me that I like to be with the me that I want to be.

I KNOW I can do it! I just have to find the way!

Over time, I have searched for someone who has found the way…Or at least A way…Generally, these people are women who enjoy the luxury of staying home…Since I am not able to do that at this time, I needed someone who works a for-pay job and ALSO successfully keeps a home…Jitterbug over at Destination 1940 is just such a woman.

She has been having a time of it lately due to health issues and in this paragraph, shares a realization…

If there's anything good that's come out this, it's that I've realized how much my life before The Experiment resembled a sick person's. I had been physically healthy for years. My ulcerative colitis had been in remission for five years, yet I was still living the existence of somebody mired in illness. Buying supplies as they occurred to me. Eating catch as catch can. Opening my mail once a month or so. Clueless about how much money I had or where it was going. Moving in a fog from bed to work and back to bed again. I was forced to live like this for the past few weeks --- and it appalls me that I lost half a decade of my life to that lifestyle by choice. It was one thing during the years that I was actually dealing with illness and surgeries. Another thing entirely when the surgeries were over and my body was physically in good order. That's the toll that depression can take on somebody.

Thank you, Jitterbug; this really struck a chord with me…My life, while very healthy physically, has been lived as “somebody mired in illness”. I indeed feel as though I “[move] in a fog from bed to work and back to bed again”…And that is NOT okay!

So…Onward with determination I march…Not trudge…March!



One more note…Today, “Organized Tuesday”, as I somewhat sarcastically deem it, was one of the least organized days. Because of the aforementioned challenges and also my great yearning to become more self-sufficient (which sets forth a whole NEW list of to-dos :/, I get down on myself and truly feel as if I am just flailing about in life putting out fires…Not strolling through in a systematized manner…Flailing!

Upon arriving home tonight, I wearily sat down and opened the computer…

My oldest daughter, whom I love so much, had a beautiful message waiting for me…

We had been discussing a woman from Pastoral Symphony Farm. This dear lady impresses me! She has NINE beautiful and wonderful children, home schools, gardens, cans, makes her own syrup from their maple trees, sews all of their clothing, cooks from scratch, etc., etc., etc. Now, dear Mrs. G would be the first to humbly say that she isn’t that great…But, (whisper) she really is. :0)

So…I had been remarking to DD about Mrs. G and how I wished that we had done more self-sufficient living while the children were growing up. She wanted a link to
Mrs. G’s blog, which I gave to her, and this was her response…

thanks! i remember you talking about the "pastoral symphony farm" now.
i think it was just as cool that you always practiced being frugal and so taught that to us. not being so wasteful and dependent on use-and-toss items is an important part of being self-suffient too! plus--it's kind of hard to have a farm to live off of when you live in town lol but i liked that we had several gardens and helped you a few different times with canning and making applesauce. we actually really DID do some self-sufficient things!

I think that it is lovely how the Lord uses others hands and sometimes their words to show His love to us…That just made my night.

So…Onward I go…Hoping to move from putting out fires…From fire to smoke…



And then, on into the clear air or organization.



Have a Wonderful Wednesday, All!