My Prayers Answered

They're done! I am so beyond excited about this....The workers did a fabulous job, they cleaned it up so nicely and I got to practice my Spanish to boot! Who could ask for more. We're just waiting for a topsoil delivery and then it's time to get serious.

These garden boxes are truly an answer to a prayer. God really does listen and answer our prayers. Earlier this year I had been studying and learning about gardening on line and heard about Square Foot Gardening. I felt really strongly that I needed to add to my garden boxes, but how to find the money.....we figured it would cost us at least $1000! So I decided to make it a matter of prayer. I prayed that we would have the money come to us that we needed to build these boxes. I had no idea how it was going to happen, I just knew that it was something important that I wanted to do. I just prayed every morning in my prayers for days and days(amongst other stuff) that the way would be opened for us to do this. Well, guess what! About two weeks later we got a notification that we were receiving an "economy stimulus check" in the mail to the tune of about $1500! I had forgotten about it and really didn't think we were going to get one. My garden box money! I really do know that God listens and answers our prayers and the things that are important to us are important to Him also because we are His children and He loves us. We can pray about even the tiniest things-because they are important to us and He will help us accomplish them.

(I think I better pray now for the energy and time to get the garden planted!)

Monday Memory

Sheesh, two posts in one day.....maybe my "blogger mojo" has come back. Don't know.

While discussing Jessica's lack of immunity to chicken pox the other day, I was reflecting on the good ol' days with a house full of little ones and the plague of chicken pox that hit. We had it TWICE. Two waves of it. The first wave....

Four kids, in succesion, the oldest nine, the youngest about 6-8 weeks old. The older kids were really, really sick, poor things. I think the older you are, the sicker you get. The baby only got about 4 or 5 pox-hence her lack of immunity I guess.

No photos of the actual "event." You get a good idea of the ages. Then to top it all off, someone brought home head lice from school! (I won't name names) And the little blondie had HEAD LICE and CHICKEN POX at the same time. I was freaking out with the head lice soap, thinking I was going to poison my child with her open sores on her head and she had severe eczema to boot!

but we survived.

Next go round, three kids later, bam......one right after the other....chicken pox arrives

This time ages 1, 3 and 5. Oh joy. But they didn't get as sick and we had no head lice.

Remind me to tell you the story about when we had head lice and I was pregnant and terrified to use the "killer shampoo" for fear of damaging my unborn child. Wait.....was this post supposed to be about chicken pox or head lice? (now you know all my dirty little secrets)

Monday Makeover

Saturday, while I was in a frenzy of cleaning before the Primary meeting at my house yesterday, I decided to rearrange my family room and here are the results.....



So I thought, hey let's do a blogger makeover too, courtesy of Allie Brown's Layouts. The seasons are changing.....(we hope) and it's time for a few fall colors.. Sorry, I still have to figure out how to post a button on the blog to give her credit! You likee??

Will the Real White Flour Please Step Forward

Which is it-the right one or the left one? Can you tell???

Three weeks ago today we found out that TL has about 25 food intolerances-allergies-whatever you want to call them. Because I have certain digestive issues, I decided to go cold turkey along with him and avoid these foods, you can go here to see my tale of woe.

It's been an interesting experience trying to find things to cook. I have been so frustrated because I have looked at literally hundreds of recipes, including some of the old faves, and I have to say, oops, can't eat that, has milk, or oops, can't eat that, has tomatoes, or oops can't eat that, it has eggs, wheat, oregano, chilis, on and on ad nauseum.......

I met up with Chef Brad at of all places, a swim meet and he gave me some great advice. Turns out he is an expert on "grainology" and is a fellow wheat intolerance sufferer...... So we press forward, learning new ways of doing things and here's a photo of my new "white flour:"

A combination of spelt, sorghum and brown rice-throw it in the grinder and voila-white flour.....sort of....

So didja guess which one was the real white flour? Yup, the one on the left...

Can't even Think of a Good Title

I seem to have lost my "blogging mojo" these days. Life just happens, hormones are giving me a ride, and clever and witty sayings seem to be lost somewhere in my Spanish-hormone-befuddled brain......Today is full of all things community, church and kid so I will sign off with a great quote:

There is one responsibility which no man can evade; that responsibility is his personal influence. Man's unconscious influence is the silent, subtle radiation of personality—the effect of his words and his actions on others. This radiation, to which I refer, comes from what a person really is, not from what he pretends to be. Every man by his mere living is radiating either sympathy, sorrow, morbidness, cynicism, or happiness and hope or any one of a hundred other qualities.David O. McKayApril 27, 1948

And finally,

You go girl!

My Joy- The Ultimate Career

"I looked on child rearing not only as a work of love and duty but as a profession that was fully as interesting and challenging as any honorable profession in the world and one that demanded the best that I could bring to it." Rose Kennedy

"The homemaker is the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only- and that is to support this ultimate career." C.S. Lewis

Labor Day-emphasis on Labor

My man-hard at work.

He's a keeper-dontcha' think?