March 22nd

We've had two milestones in our family this week. Today was my daughter Ellie's eighth birthday. I can't believe it was eight years ago she came into this world. She had three birthday cakes this year (yes, you read that right!) and a nice family party tonight and received skates, a lap harp and clothes, among other things. She was thrilled!

The second milestone happened on Tuesday. My oldest son Paul got his drivers license. Tonight was the first time he drove alone, and I mortified him by snapping some pictures. How do they go so quickly from babes in arms to driving away by themselves??

Have a great evening.

Wordless Wednesday

Cherry Blossom Time

It's the middle of March and that means its Cherry Blossom Time where we live. The blossoms are late this year, with only a few here and there. But in a few days, maybe a week, our city will be blanketed with pink! We went to the Cherry Blossom Festival today and had a wonderful day. The weather was perfect and most of the activities were free. We had cherry ice cream, a horse and carriage ride and watched Bengal tigers perform. Samuel was exhausted, but enjoyed his ice cream immensely.

2 more days until Spring and then the next day Ellie will turn 8! I am astounded at how fast time flies. It doesn't seem possible that it was 8 years ago that the doctor placed that new baby on my stomach and I looked in wonder at this new life God had given us. Ellie was a delightful baby- she was very quiet and very unique and we all enjoyed her. We still do! She is a princess and enjoys dressing up and looking nice, but she is not above getting filthy! She loves a good romp in the mud!

She is also a good help with Samuel and will make a great mother one day.

No More Mushrooms

I am mushroomed out! I have promised all my available kombucha mushrooms for now. I will have a new supply about every 2 weeks, so check back. You can also check out www.welltellme.com. They have a thread on there for people willing to share mushrooms.

Wordless Wednesday

Ride Em Cowboy!!

Works For Me Wednesday

In the past six weeks or so, I've started making kombucha (koombushoo-I think). It is a fermented drink, supposedly full of healthy probiotics. There are so many claims on its addition to a healthy diet. I'm not sure if any or all are true, but I make it because I like the taste! I gave up soda in October- not a drop since. I was a 2 liter a day girl at one point in my life and craved soda. I gave it up because of the sugar and because I knew it wasn't good for me.

When I first read about kombucha on www.welltellme.com, I wasn't sure about it. But, I took the plunge and discovered I enjoy it. It tastes like a tart apple cider with fizz. My favorite so far has been the ginger kombucha- like a sweet, fizzy ginger ale. Right now, I have black cherry and peach brewing.

All you need is black tea, flavored tea, sugar, water and a "mushroom". The mushroom is a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast. You can buy them off of ebay and other places on the web. There are so many directions all over the internet, I'm not going to write the directions out here. Do a google search and you'll be surprised at how much you find. Do a search on google videos and you can see some videos of people making it.

I'll have some extra "mushrooms" in about 10 days if anyone wants one.

Read more at http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com.

A Mother's Prayer

I bought 2 cd's at the ladies retreat I attended last weekend. They are fabulous and just about every song is my favorite! However, they sing one song, "A Mother's Prayer" that I just love. Here is the chorus:

Seek Him, and Find Him,

Fall fervently in love with Jesus.

Trust Him and serve Him,

With every breath for what He teaches,

He'll be close when I'm no longer there,

That's your mother's prayer.

The other verses and songs are just as meaningful. I just about have them all memorized- I've listened to them that much!!

We had a wonderful weekend with our church family. Saturday we went to the farm of one of our families. Just about the entire church showed up for a picnic and a sing a long. What a blessing to see that many like minded people in one place. Sunday services were just as much of a blessing. We have a meal every week after Sunday services and it has become a time of sharing and fellowship and laughter. I feel bad for the rest of you that don't belong to a church like ours.

My husband is the pastor and he is going through the book of Ephesians right now. It has been tough for him, because of the meaty content of that book. But this week he preached on forgiveness and what it cost God and Christ and followed it up with communion. Again, I feel sorry for the rest of you that don't get straight Bible teaching each week. Paul didn't always preach this way and I didn't realize the difference between teaching straight from the Bible or teaching cultural concerns. The Bible is the best!!

Have a great Monday!

Here is a picture from Saturday of my son Sam having fun in the dirt!

"Your Silly Little Baby Face"

Check out more cute pictures at www.crazyhipblogmamas.com.

This is Samuel, our 3rd son when he was 7 months old. I love the way his face is so sweet, and so full of life. He is a blessing!

Thursday

It was an okay day. We spent the morning running around, had lunch at McDonalds, then stopped at the pharmacy for my blood pressure medicine. I came home to take my oldest to work and my second oldest to his piano lessons. I found them laying sod at my sil and very filthy! So, neither one of them got to do what they had scheduled for today.

We had a missionary over for dinner. We had this missionary over last night too, and he spoke in our church last night. He is a missionary to Brazil and is on a short furlough to raise additional support. He told us about some of the living conditions in Brazil, and I so thanked God for calling my husband here! I seriously don't know if I would make it in a country like that. A mouse gets in the house and I have a panic attack, literally. I really admire missionaries and their families in countries like that.

I have been listening non stop to the cd's I bought at the Above Rubies retreat this past weekend. The speaker's daughters, Serene and Pearl wrote all of the songs and sing. They harmonize so closely it is amazing. The words of their songs are great and unique. Alot are about being mothers. They have been a blessing to me. I encourage you to check them out.

Have a great night.

What a Weekend!

I went to the Gulf Coast Rubies Above Rubies Retreat this weekend. On Friday morning, 7 of us from my church loaded up in the van and traveled about 8 hours to Elberta, Alabama to Camp Baldwin. We arrived and were thrilled with the accommodations and location. It is right on the Bay and dolphins come every morning and swim just outside the dining hall.

Friday evening we heard Nancy Campbell speak. She is one of the most anointed and Godly women I know. Everything she says comes right from the Bible but she says it in the most gentle way. She can rebuke you and you feel good, because she has says it so gently.

She also spoke Saturday and Sunday morning. She talked about the atmosphere and the attitude in our home. Guess what? It's me. I determine whether the attitude is good or bad in my home by my attitude. Ouch. I would travel twice as far to hear her. If you have never heard of her, her website is www.aboverubies.com. She publishes a magazine that is free of charge, donation only. It's worth getting and reading.

The ladies from our church bonded this weekend. We laughed and cried together and shared deep truths with one another. God is so good. The other ladies there were great also. I enjoyed getting to know some of them. Amazingly enough, I met a blogging friend there. I am still blown away that that happened. I had no idea she lived in the Gulf Coast, so I wasn't expecting to meet anyone I knew. A few things were said and I took a closer look at her, knew she looked familiar and it clicked in my head! It was Princess Ruby (Jamie). We talked a bit and laughed alot!

I came home refreshed and relaxed. I bought 2 cd's of Nancy's daughters singing and I have not stopped playing them. They are incredible!