Silver Linings Help

I told you the boys won their soccer game Sunday.  But did I mention it was two hours away? 

We left an hour earlier than I thought we needed to, just to be sure.

And it was a good thing.

Because a certain twelve year old boy, who had been looking at my GPS the day before, somehow caused Jane to prefer scenic routes. 

He also swapped out Jane’s voice for a deep-throated manly version of Crocodile Dundee (very disconcerting). 

Unfortunately, I didn’t realize he changed more than the voice until I was so far off the beaten path that I had no choice but to keep going.

What should have taken us two, ended up taking us three very long hours with not a single bathroom to be found.  I wasn’t a very happy mamma.

The return trip was even worse.  I set out for a pretty direct highway, only to find it blocked off at every place I tried to gain access.  Once again, we found ourselves traveling on narrow country roads that didn’t exist on any map.  

We were all getting pretty frustrated until we came around a sharp bend and saw this walking up the side of the road!  I was so glad I had my camera!Isn’t he beautiful?!  I haven’t seen a pheasant since I was growing up in Pennsylvania.  Their calls and visits were commonplace, then. 

But this is the first one my boys have ever seen and they were in awe of his beauty. His mate disappeared before I could get my camera out.  But he seemed to be in no hurry.

When he got to my side, I rolled down my rainy widow and fought my slow zoom.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t back it out fast enough and ended up catching only half of him.  His better half, though.  Lol!

And then he turned his back on us and walked down the bank after the female his mate. 

As we started moving again, my son said, “You know, Mom, if I hadn’t messed with your GPS, we never would have seen that cool bird.   Therefore, you guys should really be thanking me.” 

Um.  A stretch.  But Ok.  :)  Silver linings do help.  We were all pretty excited to have seen him.

But not quite as excited as we were to find an open highway. 

I Want To Be Just Like Her!

My husband got back from Europe late Sunday night, and I’m happy beyond words to have him home!!!  His hug and box of chocolate were exactly what I needed!

But before I get too far removed from what it was like without him, I want to tell you a little a about last week.  Not to make my husband feel bad, or even to draw your sympathy.   Rather, because God met me at my lowest point and did something pretty special in my heart.

Being the only parent for a few days is hard.  Being the only parent for several weeks (possibly longer) can be overwhelming. 

You’re all there is, 24-7, no matter what the need.  You’re the only taxi service, decision maker, referee, discipliner, cook, mechanic, and maintenance “man” on site.  It’s exhausting.  And stressful.

By the end of my second week, the boys were grounded for life and my sanity was threatening to quit without notice.

So when I hit a coil of thick wire with the mower, it was no small thing.   There was no one there to help me get it untangled from the blades. 

In frustration, I jacked up the tractor, crawled underneath, and for an hour and a half, I tried with all my might to free the blades.  My oldest son, bless his heart, even pulled along with me.  But it was no use.

With grease and grass from head to toe, and tears streaking my dirty face, I put the tractor back in the shed.

I was mad at myself for not seeing the wire.  And frustrated at my helplessness to fix it.

Finding the sewer backed up in the house only heightened my frustration level.  No water was going down, anywhere.  With no husband to lean on, I turned around and headed back outside.

My oldest son and I located the septic tank lid out and used a stake to try to clear any clogs.  But, poking did nothing.  And because of how full the tank was, I couldn’t even find the inlet pipe. 

It was 3am where my husband was, and he wouldn’t be awake, let alone on line.  So I couldn’t even ask him what else to try.  I called a sewer pumper and made arrangements for them to come out the next day.

There would be no showers that night.    Feeling crummy and discouraged, I took the boys outside to brush their teeth “camp-style” and told them to find a tree before they came in. 

The next morning, my husband emailed me a diagram of our septic system and a couple ideas of things to check.  I know he was trying to help.  But what I really wanted was him, not a diagram, and I felt like strangling something.   

In the end, it took the sewer guys and a hefty bill to get us back on line.

That afternoon, I ran over a package the Fed-X man had left in front of my garage door, instead of on our front porch. It contained a new server interface my husband had ordered online. 

And, no, I didn’t do it on purpose, lol! 

I just didn’t see it and pulled out like normal to head down to the bus stop. When I saw that squashed box I couldn’t believe it. 

What else could possibly go wrong??

The phone call I made to a fed-x representative inquiring about the thinking capacity of their drivers wasn’t one of my better moments.

I had pretty much hit bottom. 

But then, this basket of daisies came, delivered by a local florist.  The picture doesn’t do it justice.  It is absolutely beautiful.

You see, the night before, in the midst of all my mower and sewer frustration, the sister-in-law of a dear friend had called me.  She had a lead on a pop-up camper for us.  I’ve only met her a handful of times on camping trips with my friend’s family. 

But when she heard we were looking for a camper a few months ago, she began searching on our behalf.  That’s the type of person she is.   

She is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. 

Although we put our search on hold while my husband was away, I thanked her for thinking of us. 

Then I cried her ear off and apologized profusely for not being able to stop.  She offered to come right down, bless her heart, like there was something she could do to help. 

Somewhere in that conversation, half crying, half laughing, I impulsively said, “I want you to be MY sister-in-law.”  To which she answered, "Ok.”

The flowers were from her.  The card in the top said,

Thinking of you,

From your new Sister-in-law. 

I couldn’t get over how sweet that was of her.  Or how encouraging it felt to have someone do something so thoughtful and so totally unexpected.  At that moment, God did something in my heart and I was reminded that He cares.  And that I wasn’t really alone.  And that He can meet my needs any way He chooses.   

I cried all over again. 

And then I decided I wanted to be just like my new Sister-in-law.  I want to be so sensitive to those around me that I don’t miss a single opportunity to encourage someone.    

First EVER Victory!!!! And My Husband Is Almost Home!

My husband is driving home from Indy!  Yaaaaay!  He should be here in about 20 minutes.  Thank you all so much for praying for him to make it home safely and without delay!

So while I wait, I thought I’d put up a quick shout out for my boys… who won their very first soccer game EVER in travel ball!  It rained cats and dogs for the entire game, and they loved every soggy muddy, sliding minute of it. 

Here’s my oldest with the ball.  He had two assists today, and several very pretty runs up the field.

And here’s my middle son who, played right D.  He never ceases to amaze me with his speed and endurance.  He consistently shut down their offensive runs and sent the ball back down the field. 

I wimped out and watched the whole game from the car with my little guy.  I just didn’t have it in me to sit out in the wind and rain, today.  I had to keep popping the windshield wipers on so I could see.  But it was a small price to pay to keep warm and still catch the great game.  :)

Great job team!!!

Sunset

Sunsets are kind of like rainbows.  And little boys being good.  And the last cookie in the cookie jar.  If you’re not quick, you’ll miss it. 

Like I almost missed this one. 

Sunsets can’t wait.  But dishes can.     

 

Wow.  It’s not often the sun shares center stage with the peach blossoms.  It almost makes you want to buy paper plates in bulk--so you don’t miss the next show!

Or buy paper plates so you can go to bed really really really really early.  :)

Which I might have done tonight if I didn’t have three boys who definitely did NOT want to go to bed early.  What’s with them?

Two more days.

Two more days till the day my husband flies home from Netherlands.

Are you praying for no more ash clouds???????  Yes?  Well, could you add a little teensy tiny prayer for what’s left of my sanity?

Thanks.  :)

I Did It All By Myself

I was going to share a few pictures which my husband sent from the Netherlands.  But I must not have saved them like I thought. 

So, instead, I thought I’d give my little guy the floor, so to speak.

 Daddy,

I sent you a picture and I thought it would be fun for you.  Um, I built a walker and I built it using the directions.  All by myself. 

And Mommy was proud. 

Mommy got it because I was being good at Goodwill.

Daddy, Um, my walker came with men.  I’m really having fun.

I hear you are at Netherlands.  I miss you. 

Daddy, um, I love you. 

Bye!

As a back story, while the big boys had soccer practice Monday night, the little guy and I went to Goodwill. 

I wanted a few new shirts and found a whole pile of possibilities.  But I hate to get anything without trying them on.  So we ran back to the toy section, found this new Star Wars Walker set, and headed back up to the fitting rooms.

He sat on a low shelf outside the door like a little angel, talking to me and looking at the LEGO box for probably 10 minutes.  While I flew through my stack.

I really was proud of him. 

As a reward, I let him put the LEGO set in the cart.

He also wanted to pick out a shirt for me.  I don’t think I’ve worn something this loud since Jam shorts were in style in the eighties.  But he assured me it was beautiful.  :)  Lol! See the sequins?  Oh boy!

I will be wearing it, in spite of the comments from the peanut gallery (my older two boys). 

All I have to say is…anyone who can go to school wearing a bright blue fuzzy knee-high on one foot, and a white footie on the other (under his jeans) and not flinch in gym when all is revealed in full splendor…  Well, who’s fashion advice would you listen to??

I’m not hearing much about the ash cloud in Europe.  So no news is good news, right?  Still praying my husband can make it home on his scheduled flight, which leaves early Sunday morning.  So pray for no further disruptions to the air traffic.

Visit Seven Clown Circus for more Wordful Wednesday.

Where I Brag About My Son’s Model Of The Bismarck…

My sixth grader recently had to create a homemade model of a battleship. 

He chose the Bismarck for his project. 

He considered all kinds of materials.  But when we found five-pound-buckets of Crayola’s Air-Dry Clay in the clearance isle of Walmart for $7.00 each, he was excited. 

Amazon, btw, has the same buckets of clay for $12.00.  (No one is compensating me for my post.  We just had a great experience with it!)

The clay is awesome, because it dries hard without the need for baking!  It’s easy to work with and you can easily soften it, smooth the surface, or join pieces together simply by adding a bit of water.

Here are the two ships my kids created.  The big one is the Bismarck.  The little one is a ship my younger son’s worked on together.  Both turned out really cool! 

The making of the Bismarck:

To start out, he molded a large chunk of clay into the ship’s hull.  Then he created a flat deck by pressing a cutting board against the top.  He made separate pieces for the “super structure” (I think that’s what you call it, Lol!) and joined them with a little water.

Using whatever he could find around the house, he added texture in places, creating “deck” and “windows” and such.

Finally, he added lengths of bamboo skewers to make stacks, and used toothpicks for the guns.  He wanted the turrets to move, so after he put posts in the bottom of them, he let them dry separately.  Later, he was able to set the turrets in the holes he made for them.  

When the ship was dry, he painted it and added a small flag.

I think it turned out great and I’m proud of all the work he put into it!

I’m linking to “Toot Your Horn Tuesday” for the very first time.  As Leah, the host, says, “To God goes the glory.  But on Tuesdays, we get to brag.”  And I’m bragging a little about my son.  :)

Who Would Have Thought A Volcano Would Be Among My Worries This Week?

My husband is still in Netherlands, a country directly affected by the volcanic ash cloud.  His scheduled flight home Sunday morning is very much a question mark.

With canceled flights and missing team-mates, he is picking up more responsibility to keep the project on schedule.  So he doesn’t have much free time to worry about Sunday. 

Unfortunately, however, I have plenty of time for that. 

I want him home.  But I don’t want him on a plane flying through that ash cloud.           

This morning, I heard a seismologist in Iceland indicate concern that current conditions could be leading up to an eruption of the larger volcano on Iceland.  Obviously, that wouldn’t be good.

Anyhow, we’re taking the waiting and watching one day at a time and praying God works out the details. 

That said, let me update you on our week here.

Kindergarten registration went well.  My little guy joined all the other kids for a classroom visit and seemed to enjoy it.  And I didn’t cry as I saw him in the line being led out. 

Later, when I asked him if he made any friends, he shook his head.  “No, I didn’t talk to anybody.  I just watched.” 

I let him play on the school playground afterwards and he wanted me to send this picture to his Daddy. :)  No doubt this playground had a lot to do with his wanting to go back to school the next day…Lol!

We froze through two very cold soccer games this weekend.  And sadly lost both.  The second game was a closer match, though. 

On the way home, I got in trouble.  My oldest told me to stop yelling “Watch off sides!” when he is offsides.  Apparently, it was my fault the ref caught him off sides so many times. 

“Mom, every time you warned me, he looked.” 

“I was only trying to help you pay attention to your position.  Did you not want me to warn you?”

“You can yell.  But don’t yell, ’off sides!’  Use a code word or something.”

“Like…?”

“Like, ‘Boogers and Buns!’”

All three boys erupted in laughter, calling out the code words in mock warning. 

Finally, after catching his breath, my middle son said, “No, mom.  Don’t.  Seriously.  If you yell that, I’ll laugh and then I’ll go weak.” 

Um.  Like there was any chance of me yelling that. 

A Quality Of PVC Pipe I BET You Didn’t Know About…

I was cleaning up the flower beds and decided to remove this pvc pipe which I drove in the ground last fall.  It was the only thing I could find at the moment to tie up my overgrown and flopping-across-the-walk-way ornamental grass.  Only, I must have had some serious issues to vent when I drove that baby in.  Because it was in DEEP.  And it didn’t want to pull out.

I began to wobble it.  Back and forth and back and forth and back and forth.  Like you would with a fence post you wanted to pull out. 

I don’t know if you’ve ever wobbled pvc pipe before when one end is stuck in the ground.  But it’s nothing like a fence post.  It has a rather fast and reflexive spring action quality that makes it hard to feel like the one in charge of the wobbling. 

I stifled a case of the giggles and wobbled harder, determined to loosen it up and maintain control. 

But as wild as I wobbled that thing, not even a sliver of space was created at the base. 

In the end, I had to give up. 

The pipe will have to wait for my husband to get home from his trip.

But before walking away, while I stood catching my breath and admitting defeat, I gave a quick glance down the pipe.

And let out a snort.

No  doubt I just unwittingly caused a pretty severe case of shaken frog syndrome. 

Can you get arrested for that? 

You know, I really should start a whole new category for all the crazy places we find these sticky little frogs. 

That’s two frog related posts in one week.  Sorry guys.  What can I say?  These things are everywhere and they never cease to catch me off guard.

Did I tell you I had one stuck to my back door the other day?  If he had only knocked, I would have let him in and offered him milk and cookies. 

Not. :)

It’s Coffee Break Time!

Grab your mug of coffee and walk with me!  It’s another beautiful morning!  This time, I promise, we’ll look at all the beautiful blooms.  :)

My husband transplanted this forsythia in the back yard.  Now we have some on just about every side of the house.  In the background is the pond area.  I LOVE the bright yellow of this bush.  :)

Around the shaded front porch, we have lots of Ajuga.  It shoots up beautiful spikes of tiny blue flowers this time of year and makes a wonderful ground cover.  The leaves will turn kind of purple later in the summer.

Our apple trees have had a tough life.  But after a really hard pruning the year before last, (seriously, I was embarrassed to call them trees when we were done!) we have a bounty of blossoms this year!

Our Norway Spruce trees are just getting ready to shoot out tender new growth.  And behind this one is a redbud, showing off.  :)

All right.  This has to be one of my favorite plants.  Its common name is lungwort.  So named because of the spots on the leaves. Its beautiful little flowers start out blue, change to purple, and eventually fade to pink.  Its foliage stays beautiful all summer long!

In just about every flower bed, we have deep purple irises.  And some of them smell like wild grapes.  (I love them!)  But my new favorite is this compact little periwinkle iris.  We only have a few, but I just LOVE the color!

And finally, this last flower is a perennial I brought from Pennsylvania.  It’s blooming by my driveway.  I don’t know what it is, so if you recognize it, please tell me!  I’ve never been able to find it in any of my gardening books.  It has fern like leaves and is doing well in partial sun.  It doesn’t really spread.  Its more of a clump.

But aren’t the little blue flowers pretty?  I like the color blue.  Can you tell?

I’m so glad you were able to come along this morning!  I always jump at the chance to wander around with my camera and enjoy God’s beautiful creation.  And it’s always better with a friend!  I’m thankful for what God has given us.  And for the health to enjoy it!

Maybe next time it will be warm enough to sip iced tea on the porch swing.  Which reminds me.  I need to show you my latest favorite place to sip morning coffee! 

Happy Thursday!

It looks like several of my friends have memes going on that fit right in with my frame of mind today.  If you have the time, you might enjoy checking them out, or jumping in!!  At least bookmark them for later.  :)

     

Changes: Then And Now Pictures Of Our Yard

I thought I would show you some of what Spring is doing in our yard.  I took this picture of the beautiful colors one evening last week.

The colors are pretty.  But to fully appreciate it, you almost have to see what it was like when we first looked at this place in late March of 2003.

We planted some redbud trees as well as shade trees.  We’ve also put in lots of flower beds. 

I’m so glad we took lots of pictures before we bought the house.  It is rewarding to look back now and see all the changes.

If you stand by the garage and look out across the front yard, this is how it looks.  It’s a beautiful morning here.  There is always something blooming.  Right now, it’s Phlox and Irises, mostly.  And the redbud, crab apple and purple plum trees add a colorful canopy.

We’ve made some changes to the side yard, too.  It was pretty much a scruffy field with some brush growing in the middle when we first saw it.  The only accents were a few broken down vehicles of sorts.

This was what it looked like from the window seat where my computer is now.

Depressing, wasn’t it?  But, in some ways, it was a blank slate.  We cleared the brush, added my wood shop, put in a circle drive and then planted some flower beds.

This is the same view today.  The maple in the lower middle is one we planted our first year here.  I’m guessing it’s 25 feet tall or more now, providing some wonderful shade. 

At the base of the tree, there is some pretty vinca (I think) blooming.  I got a start from a friend and love the pretty little flowers.

If you were to follow the driveway past the circle and back through this picture to the right, you would eventually come to what was once a bog.  It was totally unusable, accept for breeding swarms of mosquitoes.  I don’t have a real good picture of it because it was so inaccessible.   

This was looking towards the neighbors house in 2003, over the part of the bog which would become ours. 

Now, it’s home to a beautiful pond area.  I don’t think I got the angle quite the same, but you get the idea.  My neighbor still has the mountain of dirt he excavated from the pond piled in his back yard.

Here’s another angle, more from our back yard.

See how full the pond is getting?!  It’ probably about 8 feet deep in the middle, and my neighbor has started to stock it with fish. 

I got a little side tracked on my original intent to walk through the yard with you today.  We’ve hardly seen any of the flowers, Lol!

I guess we’ll have to take another walk tomorrow!  (Think I can twist your arm to join me again?)  Don’t forget your mug of coffee, though!   The mornings are still kind of nippy. :)

Trash…To Side Table Treasure

I didn’t forget my walk around the yard.  I’m thinking of going tomorrow.  Want to join me?  Bring a cup of coffee and enjoy some spring beauty with me on our stroll!

But I’ve been meaning to tell you about one of my successful little projects.  A while back I told you how I found a GROSS and totally GROWING glass of tea??? behind that black bowl chair on the bookshelf?  It was gross.  Trust me.

I vowed to find a little side table so we would have a place to set drinks right out in the open.  Where they wouldn’t get forgotten.

Then, not more than a week later, the boys and I were out for a walk (in the snow, no less!) and I saw this cute little square table in a neighbor’s trash.  That’s it, above.

I carried that thing all the way down the road, with my boys laughing at me and putting some distance between us.  But I was sure I could fix it.  All that was wrong with it was a very wobbly leg.  The screws had pulled through the particle board.

So I took it apart and used wood glue and a couple of clamps to reconstruct the top of the leg.  Then I carefully drilled new holes in slightly different places, applied a layer of wood glue to the joint, and screwed it together again. 

It fits perfectly in the little spot next to the rocker, and now we don’t forget the drinks we carry into the TV room!  And you certainly can’t beat the price!

See what trash others are converting to treasure at Trash To Treasure Tuesday!

A Few Updates

My husband’s plane landed in the Netherlands during the wee hours of yesterday morning.  Pray his work goes smoothly so he can come home on schedule, April 25. 

I’m officially flying solo. 

We had incredible soccer games Saturday and Sunday.  (Jane, my little GPS buddy, did a fine job of getting us there, btw.)  Although both games were loses according to goals scored, the guys played incredibly well.  Fans were on their feet the whole second half of the game, Sunday!

My boys are numbers Seven and Eleven.  Isn’t that a hoot?  We didn’t plan the number pair, but it gets a lot of chuckles.  And makes it easy for me to remember when I’m looking for them out on the field. 

Maybe the Seven Eleven store chain should sponsor them?!  Or donate a new camera so I can take better pictures of their namesakes… Lol!

Tomorrow is Kindergarten registration and orientation.  It’s a BIG thing for us.  I say us, because although it’s big for my little guy, I think it’s bigger for me.  I’ll try to save my tears for the actual first day of school in August. 

But no promises. 

How does the little guy feel?   He’s sitting on the fence about the whole going to school thing. 

And I’m sitting there with him.

My Dad gave the family a scare.  Apparently, he couldn’t breathe Saturday night and my brother called 911.  With a pace maker and a history of heart problems, Dad’s symptoms were cause for alarm. 

After lots of tests, doctors concluded he had an acute case of bronchitis and eventually sent him home with an inhaler.  Thankfully, my brother and Sil live close to my parents and were able to stay with mom. 

Being so far from family stinks sometimes. 

Spring is turning everything beautiful.  I can’t wait to share some pictures of our yard this week.  I’ll leave you with our Cherry tree for now. 

I don’t say it nearly enough, but…

Thank you, guys.  Words can’t tell how much your encouragement has meant to me.  Seriously.  You all are more than followers.  You have become sincere and special friends and it’s a joy to share the journey with you!

A Chicken Soup Kind Of Night

I wasn’t going to participate in PSF today.  My soul is feeling weary, and several of us here are fighting a nasty cold. 

It’s the cough-all-night-and-wake-up-cranky, kind of cold.

In fact, the plan tonight was to deliver our fundraiser stuff as quickly as we could, find some chicken soup, and send everyone off to bed early.

Only, one of us didn’t make it through his chicken soup.  And his snoring little self gave me permission to stop my frenzy of mother duties. And sneak a picture before I carried him off to bed. 

Those few unexpected minutes of snuggle time did more than the soup for me. 

Sigh.  

It was like a hug for my weary soul.  And I highly recommend it.