Little Entrepreneurs

My girls have started a business. They want to do something to earn some of their own money. Living out in the country makes it hard to have a lemonade stand. We wanted to come up with something that they could do. We helped them come up with this idea of making *calling cards for families.* Something I give out to new friends with our name and contact info on it. An old fashion idea that seems to be revived.

Chuck has helped them set up a web site to take orders. They have already hit up the neighbors for a sale or two. I told them I would blog about it to see if they could generate some new customers.

This business of theirs has been a great way to overcome some fears of speaking to adults. It has been a good way to learn about spread sheets on the computer, typing, record keeping...lots of great business skills.

Check out their web site and see their samples. If you want to order you can copy and paste their email address (the link doesn't work yet) with your order info. They can mail them to you for a very small shipping fee.

Hope you think their idea is as neat as I do. Thanks for checking it out.

Oops, I forgot to add that the girls traded an order of Call-Me-Cards for the bunny. Pretty good deal. =)

Harvesting my dirt

A few weeks ago I posted on my compost pile (this post). I just wanted to give a little update. After doing some reading on how to compost, I was concerned that I wouldn't have the right ratio of "green" to "brown" material. Or that it wasn't wet enough or warm enough.

Well, I think it worked just fine. I was working in the garden and needed some dirt and was able to harvest my compost pile. How great to have wonderful, FREE dirt. I didn't have to buy a bag of potting soil. All I needed was my shovel and wheelbarrow.

You can tell the pile on the left is not ready yet, but the bin on the right is ready to use. It didn't take that long to decompose. We have only lived in this house 4 months. I just started another bin on the far left with new dead leaves from a tree. Now when we add our kitchen scraps, they will all be dumped in the newest pile.

I just wanted to share that it can be done and it isn't that hard to do. Now that we have a rabbit, we can add her bedding and litter box nesting materials to it too.

In the spirit of keeping it real

A few weeks ago I asked if you could go to bed with dishes in the sink. (HERE) I was checking my email this morning and I just got up to put on a pot of tea and saw this.

We so often want to put our best foot forward. I am quick to show you pictures of my house when it looks clean and tidy, but not anything like this. I can try to justify this for you...my dishwasher was full, I was tired, Tissy had a bad day with fainting, we were really busy yesterday. But the fact is, when I saw this mess last night as I was heading to bed, I chose to be lazy.

So, in the spirit of keeping it real (thanks Julie). This is what greeted me in the kitchen this morning.

Clover

We got a little addition to the family. The girls made a trade for this bunny this week. We got her from a friend that we recently connected with. You may wonder what they traded for this sweet little thing. I will post on that next week.

We had said we would get a pet after we moved here, since we had to get rid of our dog (see this post). We had a bunny years ago and loved it, but little Clover here is a wonderful bunny. Sooooo sweet and gentle with the girls.

It is good to idea for the girls to learn to care for an animal. I am always looking for the teachable moment. We have had fun with her this week.

Antique Time

I love looking at antiques. I think it is great to re-purpose things and find a new home for something. I was able to visit a local antique fair this weekend. The weather was beautiful, I even got a little sun on my shoulders.

I really enjoyed strolling around and searching for a special find. I often go and buy nothing. This time I came home with...another stool. I have such a thing for stools and chairs. (see this post) Don't ask me why. I just find them so appealing. Especially kid sized chairs.

The caught my eye. A tea set that I had as a child. I remember keeping it in the box and all. The one I owned had a few broken pieces, but this was in great condition. I wasn't willing to pay $45 for it though. The picture of it is enough to bring back the fond memories.

This time I found the bottom blue bench/stool. I have been hunting for one to finish my "stack". I think the only thing that would have made the antiquing more enjoyable would have been to have a few friends with me. Maybe next time. =)

Quite a Story

This is such a fun story. We were visiting a new church yesterday morning and I was checking the girls in to the kids program. Chuck was in the hall meeting some people and I joined the conversation about midway through. After about a minute into the conversation the guy said "You look really familiar, have we met?" I didn't remember meeting him recently, so I said no. Then he asked where I grew up and he pinpointed right away the town I lived in when I was in Jr. and Sr. High School. As soon as he said that I knew who he was. An old friend that was in my high school youth group in Illinois! I haven't seen him in over 15 years and it was such a treat to reconnect.

He and his sweet wife invited our family over to lunch at their house that afternoon. They live on 20 breathtaking acres and are only about 10 minutes from our new place. They have a bit of a mini farm. The girls loved riding their pony and seeing the goats and cows and such. It turned out to be such a blessing of a day. The girls had a great time with their kids. And we enjoyed our time of connecting and making new/old friends.

The Invitation Pillow

When I tuck my kids into bed they love when I snuggle into bed with them for a few minutes. I would guess that all kids love the same thing. They want to hug and talk about the day. We often will sing a song or two. Chuck will usually tell them a ridiculous story or play "game show" with them. It is more than just a quick peck on the cheek and a ruffle of the hair and lights out.

Tristen started putting out a special pillow for me and she calls it the invitation pillow. When she puts it out it means she wants me to stay an extra long time and give her lots of hugs and snuggles. How can I refuse? I often have laundry and dishes and chores that are calling my name. But...to stay and snuggle my little ones...is just precious. I love the name of the invitation pillow. Too cute. Too sweet. So tonight when I tuck them in and say our prayers I bet she will have out the invitation pillow.

My Forever Valentine

Oh baby after all these years you are still my forever Valentine. Thanks for making such great memories with me and traveling down this crazy path called life. I love you more today than way back then. Thanks for choosing me.

(Who wouldn't fall in love with that big hair???)

It's finally coming together

We only moved into this house about 3 1/2 months ago. We have been major busy trying to make it our own and also do some much needed updating. The last house we had we fixed it up just to sell it. Not this time. I am grateful to enjoy some of the remodeling.

Here we have some before and during pictures. This is what it looked like when we started. Pedestal sinks, cute but where do you store your things. No place for even a hair brush. I am a pretty basic gal, but I do like a little drawer for my beauty things. =)

We redid the tile, put in a vanity and after much waiting got a counter top. We have a friend who has helped with the plumbing and electric. Both our parents also helped on this big job. Only a few more things to do, but we can now use it to brush our teeth and get ready in the morning.













After months of getting ready out of cardboard boxes, this is such a blessing to me.

Ooo La La, a jetted tub is the best on some sore muscles after a hard day. I wanted to post these pictures to show the progress to our family that lives far away. It is finally coming together now.

Let it be known...

I have been challenged to think about what I stand for. What are the principles that I believe in? What is the line that I am not willing to cross? What is the determining factor in my life? Where will I not compromise?

Let it be known... that this is who I am. Deeply devoted to my Maker. Grateful for a loving spouse. I am not willing to compromise in my parenting. Always desiring to do the right thing. Passionate about quality. High value in leadership.

I feel like I am taking a chance putting it all on the line. Not hiding behind the fear of offending someone.

It is a bit like that question, "What do you want people to remember you by?" I love to ponder things like this. To challenge myself to be more authentic. More Christ-like.

I am not sure I have the exact answer, but this is what my heart and mind are thinking about today.

Move over Bob the Builder

Like I said before...take advantage of the great things in the area. I am the queen of finding fun things to do that don't cost a lot of money. We have enjoyed the workshop for kids at Lowes.

The girls are getting pretty good and they love getting a new patch for their apron. Did I mention these workshops are free??? Considering how much we have spent at Lowes in the last few months, it is nice to get a little kick back.

I took these pictures a few weeks ago at the workshop. This week they made a Valentine's mailbox. Chuck was on a trip with the camera, so I wasn't able to take any pics.

Behind the scenes...the battle continues

If you have followed the blog, you have noticed me mention that work for Chuck has been difficult lately. I deeply desire to be a helper to him and encourage him in any way I can. I lift him up in prayer every day. I am claiming scripture for him. Helping him "debrief" when he gets home. What ever I can do, which doesn't seem like much.

The other day a wrote a long email with lots of truth from the book of Daniel (what I am studying in Precepts) to encourage him. I was listing all the things I have learned about God in this study. To name a few...

• God grants favor and compassion (1:9)
• God gives knowledge, intelligence, wisdom and understanding (1:17)
• God controls time (2:21)
• God knows the future (2:45)
• God is the reveal-er of mysteries (2:47)

Well...I sent him this great encouraging email and I never heard from him. Finally when he got home I asked if he got the email. He never got it. I couldn't even find it in my sent emails. It just disappeared. Now if you ask me, that is part of the spiritual battle. I am beginning to see how much goes on behind the scenes. It is a great reminder to cover everything in prayer.

My Post on Compost

I teasingly call myself a bit of a tree hugger. I homeschool my kids, we live on 2.5 acres, I make my own bread, wear Birkenstocks, we recycle and now we have a compost pile. That adds up to tree hugger doesn't it? Maybe we are just turning into "greenies", but I have taken plastic water bottles home from a birthday party to recycle. Not just the bottles that my girls used, but collected all the bottles from all the kids. (My kids aren't old enough to be embarrassed of me yet).
We started a compost pile on the edge of our garden. This fall I dumped in all the leaves I raked from a cherry tree. I didn't have much more to add than that, but it was a start. Then I started researching for what I needed for compost. Both green and brown. Leaves and grass clippings and scraps from my kitchen. Once I started *thinking green* it is pretty easy. Coffee grounds, egg shells, banana peels, strawberry tops, orange peels. apple cores, brown lettuce...the list goes on.


The key is to keep it wet and warm. I have a hose right next to it and I spray it every day or so. I also turn it with a pitch fork. It is amazing to see this stuff decompose. I hope to put it in our garden this year. I recently added ashes from the fire. (basically burned up wood). Ashes turn into the greatest soil.











I took these pictures several weeks ago and now all of this stuff has turned into dirt. Pretty cool...

Where do you connect?

This is a thought that has been lingering for quite awhile. I believe that we all have the longing desire to connect with people. (I don't mean the needy kind of connecting, but the kind that is a blessing.) Maybe this has been in the front of my mind because we have recently moved...again. I grew up in a family that required frequent moves. When someones asks me where I am from, I never know what to say. Do I say the foreign country that I was born in? The state we lived when I was in early grade school or the one for jr. high or high school? Or where Chuck and I have lived most of our married life? Now that I have kiddos of my own, I desire for some roots for our family. Not just for the kids but for me too.

I know that I am not alone in my desires. I long to connect. With friends who share some of my values. With people that make me laugh and think I am funny. We have found most of our connections in our church friends in the past. I have also found friendships in our neighborhood, or co-workers, family, childhood fiends, people we have ministered with, other homeschool group, friends of the girls...the list goes on. But for me my newest connection has been through the blog. I have been able to connect with others and share experiences, struggles, prayer requests, trials and joys. I love that I can relate to people all over the country and travel the road with them.

So my questions is for you...where do you connect?

Highlights of the week

I wanted to share some pictures of the highlights of the week. If you caught me on Monday, you saw it wasn't a great day, and my fear of the beginning of a bad week. But as the week wore on...I became even more determined to focus on the positives. I think I am beginning to understand that my perspective and attitude have so much of an effect on how life turns out. I have the ability to focus on the positive things in life. *To cling to those things.* I am not the only one in the world that has struggles. In fact, my struggles are mild compared to some.


So, I got some perspective, and the week turned out great. My dear friend Leslie came and drove an hour to visit with me and the kids. We had a great time together (despite some ant bites on the kids). The girls were so blessed to have some familiar friends to play with.

We had an educational time at a field trip with a new homeschool group. Learned about habitats and enjoyed the great outdoors. I was able to get to know some of these families and begin to foster new friendships.









I believe strongly in taking advantage of the area that you are in and making the most of it. This field trip was at a local nature center and it is a wonderful resource. A hidden place that I had never heard of before. So glad we ventured out of our comfort zone and took a chance.

Tagged

I was tagged by my blogging friend Christine. So I am to tell you 7 random things about me. After some thought this is what I came up with.

1. In the last year, I have given up wearing contacts. I have worn contacts since 8th grade and love them, but I have had a bunch of eye problems as of recent. I miss my contacts but for the betterment of my eyes, glasses girl is here to stay. (health over vanity)
2. I lettered in badminton in High School. And loved it.
3. I cook with pepper but never pepper my own food plate.
4. I hate the sound of the exhaust fan in the bathroom or kitchen. Chuck loves any kind of noise, but it makes me feel like I can't think straight.
5. I find it ridiculous of how much we have to * move the food * for grocery store shopping. From the shelf to the cart, the cart to the belt, the bag to the cart again, then into the car, from the car into the house, at home onto the counter and then into cupboards. Not to mention getting it out again when I am cooking with it.
6. I struggle with insomnia. It comes in waves every few weeks or months.
7. My baby pinky toe nails hardly exist. You almost have to paint the skin.

The rules are to link the person who sent this to you and leave a comment on their blog so their readers can visit yours. ~Post the rules on your blog~Share 7 strange/weird facts about yourself~Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, linking their blog~Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I must confess I would like to tag some of my blog readers...but they don't have blogs yet...ehhhh hem.

So I tag Kristie M, Annie, Tina, Christy, Tiffany, Susan my sis, my nephew JT.