Books and Coffee

Welcome, Company Girls and other readers.  (Don't know what a Company Girl is?  You can read more about it here.) Today I am serving coffee, tea and one of my new favorite hot beverages - Russian (sometimes known as, Friendship) Tea.  Have a seat and a visit.

We are doing quite a bit of reading in our house these days, including listening to Robert Munsch books on CD.  We've been borrowing a lot of "kits" from the library - book and CD.  I "caught" CJ reading a Hansel and Gretel book.  She (CJ) always seems to have a book close by, no matter what she's doing.  Little W is loving one about dragons that has some flip up portions to it.

Here's what I've been actively reading:

• new day, new you by Joyce Meyer - This is a daily devotional.  There is a short page to read each day.  I like it.  I'd misplaced it for almost a month and went on a hunt for it today.  I have it back in my possession.
• the Quilter's daughter by Wanda E. Brunstetter - I needed a novel one day and came home from a friend's with two - this one and another that I haven't started yet by Lori Wick.  I am really enjoying living "through" this family; I always imagined myself living as the Amish (or groups similar) do.  I think they live a very simple and fascinating life.
• One Year to an Organized Financial Life by Regina Leeds - I received this book as a review opportunity and am eating up the information provided.  A lot of what I am learning (US information) is very applicable to my life here in Canada.  I am simply leaving out the specifics and applying the principles to our life and laws.
• Fascinating Womanhood by Helen Andelin - I am just a few pages into this book.  I purchased a copy after reading this .pdf (free to download online).  The .pdf file is a series of booklets originally printed in the 1920s for single women.  Someone has compiled them; the author's name has been lost over the years.  Helen Andelin based her book on this series.  I look forward to reading more of this book.

Two books sitting on my desk, waiting for me to get to them are: Finding Purpose Beyond Our Pain and The Magician's Book.

I hope you have a great weekend!  I am going to a wedding on Saturday and hoping to spend some time fixing some maternity shirts.  By fixing I mean modifying to fit me better.  I am getting a nice collection of items to wear!  Now mostly, I'm lacking in nice, comfortable footwear.  Gonna have to go shopping! (Secondhand stores are great.)

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Company Girl Coffee

Good afternoon, Company Girls.  It's been awhile since I joined you on Fridays, or any day for that matter.  :)  My life kinda got away from blogging a bit, but I think I'm back.  I feel more like my "old" self.  However, I'm changing and growing and loving it.

I am 13 weeks pregnant; I have been very tired but thankfully have not had much in the way of morning sickness.  We are very excited.  August seems so very far away still, but I think part of that has to do with winter.  February is hard most years.  It's that in-between month - we know that spring is coming but it's not here yet.  Thankfully we have had a warmer than usual winter and we aren't quite as housebound.  Once spring gets here we'll hardly be home, I'm sure.  I can't wait to start walking again.  Then time will fly until baby gets here.

Hubby's job has been an adjustment for us, but I think we are getting the hang of his wacky lack of schedule.  We are just embracing the chaos and running with it.  We need to get a little better use of our time, but we are getting there.

School-y homeschooling doesn't happen very often, but there is lots of learning going on.  The kids are continuing with their reading progress!  I am amazed that they are learning new words all the time.  I can see that they are excited too.  We have been playing board games too.  K loves board games.  Their computer skills are also getting better.  I'm going to have to set up some online safety guidelines.  (Any suggestions for safe search engines and such?)

Oh, if you wanna see what books we are enjoying, there are a few listed on this post that I wrote last night.

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Company Girl Coffee - Homeschool Report and Books

Good morning, Company Girls! We have had a very productive week, in my opinion. Sunday morning I got a phone call that my grandfather had died; although expected it has been tough. We were unable to go to the funeral. Tuesday we had a Party Lite party! We had a good visit with friends. On Wednesday my homeschool facilitator came for a visit. On Thursday, I totally forgot the girls dance class and it was the last class before their recital that comes on Sunday! And that's just the "extras". We've also kept up with housework and school!

We are getting into Building A Life and enjoying that. So far we are learning about obedience and wisdom. Through this course, we've learned to use a dictionary. K grabbed at the concept right away; CJ is picking it up.

We also got started on Tapestry of Grace Year One Unit One. We are still just doing the trial but the plan is to buy at least year one. The books came in from the library (most of them) and have been quite interesting. We will get into those books a little more over the course of the next few weeks. I think we will be taking Tapestry of Grace slow this year; we'll take two weeks to do one of TOG's weeks. I think this will work well for us; giving us time to keep up with our math and our relaxed pace of homeschooling while still having a direction and a topic of learning.

I added some widgets to the bottom of my sidebars. On the right I have the books I am currently reading as well as the ones waiting for me. On the left, I have the books we are looking at for Tapestry of Grace. Or if you'd rather go to my Good Reads page, I've linked the shelves here: to read, currently reading, Tapestry of Grace.

I did do a little better with the Small Things this week. Having the tab come up when I open Firefox meant that at least I read them. Reading them is one step in the right direction.

Thanks for coming by for "coffee" today.


Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Company Girl Coffee - Homeschooling and Reading Again!

Well, it's been a while since I had coffee with the Company Girls. Have you read the Company Girl Story? I'll be telling it to my girls because they are forever asking each other to go with them to the basement. We have a "furnace-kicker-man" down there that can be a little scary sometimes. The bathroom, kids' bedrooms and kitchen are downstairs so we have to go there often.

I haven't been doing the Small Things to make my home a sanctuary. It's really been a struggle, so tonight I set up a start up tab for Home Sanctuary; now when I load up Firefox I'll see it first thing and I'll be more likely to participate.

Anyway, on to the business and busy-ness at hand . . . .

So what have we been reading? Here are just a few of the books we had out regularly this week:

1. Beautiful Mess (Diamond Rio)
2. One Year To An Organized Life (Regina Leeds) - did you know she has a new book coming out in December???
3. Great Games (Matthew Toone)
4. Tut's Mummy (Judy Donnelly)
5. Mummies Made in Egypt (Aliki)

So what have we been learning?

• We are starting the trial of Tapestry of Grace. We started by learning a little about Egypt. We are waiting for the books to get here from the library. If we like the trial (and maybe even if we don't) we are going to purchase Year 1 Unit 1 and give it a good shot. I think we'll love it - history and reading and hands on.
• We got our character studies books this week and are digging in right away. The Bible person we are going to be learning about is Daniel. Our books are called Building A Life. So far we've learned about Daniel and his friends being taken from their country and why. We've learned about blueprints and created a blueprint of sorts from our imaginations.
• We are learning about fractions and geometry in Math. We won't be done our math book by Christmas like we wanted to be, but we won't be too far off. Before spring we'll be starting the next one.
• The girls requested to learn handwriting a while ago but it was a little too difficult at the time and got put aside; we've pulled it back out and they are loving it.
• K really took to her journal about a month ago and hasn't quit. I require them to write at least two sentences, the date and to draw a picture showing what they wrote. I have seen incredible progress in both girls.
• K has had some extra instruction from our friend Mo and is improving with leaps and bounds. He has a way of teaching them that she just "gets". I don't mind either because she and I can clash heads something terrible. I can tell her something and Mo can tell her the same thing; then she'll do it. CJ doesn't respond quite the same to Mo and is better with what I tell her to do. It's great though, because one of Mo's constant reminders is obedience to Mom and Dad.
• Doing our chores has kinda fallen by the wayside, but this week we've picked it up again and the house is coming back together. The program I use is Let's Clean Up. It's free to try (for a month, I think) and inexpensive to buy (under 10 dollars US). I've used it 95% of the days since I've had it. I didn't even wait for my trial to end before I purchased the program. Easy to download and install. Easy to use.
  

Thanks for stopping by for coffee and an update on our reading and learning.

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

The Teeth Saga: The Ending

Welcome Company Girls.



My week kinda started last Thursday / Friday with some severe teeth pain; I've had some teeth that have been bothering me for quite some time; too long for my health probably. Anyway, Thursday night (last week) I was trying to get a few things done, grabbed a mini-chocolate bar while I was working and ended up almost passed out on the couch from the pain of getting the candy in or around one of these sore teeth. I took some meds and did all the tricks I could think of to help ease the pain and it did eventually subside so I could think and sleep again. However, by the middle of Friday morning, after eating a late breakfast, I was in the same pain again. It wouldn't subside at all; I called Tammy-Lee in tears. She brought me some stronger drugs and helped me find a dentist to call and offered to take the kids. The rest of the story is here.

So because I didn't get to see a dentist on Friday, I swapped ibpro and acet all weekend and using Anbesol in between if the medication wore off too soon. Monday morning, first thing, I called our local office. They hadn't really gotten things going yet, so they'd call me if they got an opening. I remembered to specifically ask about payment arrangements. I didn't feel rushed; I felt like I could ask my questions. When I talked to reception at the other dentist office, I felt like I was inconveniencing them; this receptionist was totally different. So it took a few minutes to settle into my day because I was expecting to have to leave at a moments notice and didn't want to be in the middle of something when I got the call.

I made everyone dress to shoes for two reasons. First, it was really really cold in the house. Shoes would keep everyone warmer. Second, because I didn't need a kid in jammies when I was trying to get us out of the door quickly. And I decided to eat; wouldn't you know it, have way through my Cheerios and milk, they called! "We have an opening in 20 minutes and can you come a bit sooner to fill out a chart?" "Uhmm, ok, but I have to get my kids to a sitter; I'll be there as soon as I can." Tammy-Lee is 5 minutes in the opposite direction of my appointment and it takes five minutes to do seat belts at each end of the trip, so . . .

5 min - seat belts
5 min - drive
5 min - seat belts
5 min - drive
-------------
20 min!

So I got there when I got there and I still had to wait; but you expect that, right?

Anyway, I go in and they get me in the chair and you wait because there are others ahead of you and one dentist (I believe). So he takes a look (after an x-ray and what-not) and says, "let's pull these today." "Uhmm, okay." (No, I found out costs and such, because we are really tight.) So I called Tammy-Lee to let her know and got right down to business.

He had to pull so hard I thought he was gonna break my face! LOL! Wow, the one tooth did not want to come out. And then it fell out of his tool and onto me! LOL! They were so apologetic; I was just laughing as best as I could with my mouth wide open and being suctioned. I was just glad that he didn't drop it inside my mouth!!! I would have choked on it! LOL!

I was quite light-headed when they were finished and ended up sitting there for quite sometime afterward; I'd driven myself so I had to have all my senses about me. Then when I did get to the bus, it wouldn't start and then it did and I was able to get the kids and my meds. Then on the last block home it died! It wouldn't turn over or go or anything. I ended up walking home with the five kids, which isn't all that unusual for me, except that I'd just had 3 teeth pulled. I brought them home in a little box; the kids loved it!

So then for Monday and Tuesday I crashed on the couch; I was in a lot of pain and taking Tylenol-3 and that loops me a little so it wasn't very pretty around here. I am so thankful for Tammy-Lee and hubby, Seven and my other friend, Catherine for getting us supper Monday night and watching the kids and coming to fold laundry and just helping out whenever and wherever I've needed. Even just crying to someone on the phone can make all the difference!

Wednesday I was doing better and pushed myself to go to our dance class! I'm so glad we went even with some tension flying around and both of us in pain. (J was sore from work.) I know that our dance nights are going to become very important and fun for us.

Today I am a different person. I have energy. In under two hours, I have the more than company ready (because most of my company comes when my house is far far far from company ready). I did in 2 hours what usually takes me all day! I am so excited. I am back! I expect each day to be better. Tammy-Lee said I even sound better than I did before my teeth really got bad.

Look out world! Look out kids! Momma's back!

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Books and Coffee

Here I am, late again. But it's been quite a day; you can read about my day here. I am so tired; mentally, emotionally and physically tired.



I am participating in the Fall Into Reading Challenge from Callapidder Days. My list of books is here and I'm not doing very well. I'm on my second book but I've only read the first 10 pages or so. I wanted to finish it by the weekend. I don't think that is going to happen. The book that I chose is called The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia. Although I may set this one aside and move on to another, I will be coming back to this book. She has me intrigued in the first few pages. Another person's journey through a series of books that I enjoyed as a young person as well. I love different perspectives.

Regina Leeds book, One Year to an Organized Life, has been an enjoyable read to this point. Honestly, I did not make time to read September's material. I plan to go back to it though. I need what she discusses - routines for back to school. Even though we don't go back to school, we still try to get back into the swing of more sitdown work in the fall. But this chaper (September) fits better for me in October when the weather is getting too cool to be outside. I can't wait to read and implement the tips I know are there. I feel as if I am floundering a little at getting us back into the books.

Thanks for stopping by, Company Girls, and regular visitors.

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Company Girl Coffee - This Week Has Been Different

Welcome regulars and Coffee Girls!

I've had such a tough week, but at the same time it has been a great week.

Saturday (19th) - we baked cookies; we haven't done that in a long time.

Sunday - a nice late evening visit with friends

Monday - I forget.

Tuesday - I wasn't around online.

Wednesday - great fun at the park; I fell in the water - including my cell phone. OOPS! Great fun though, pictures hopefully coming next week.

Thursday - cleaning, cleaning.

The tough part has been some emotional baggage issues. The good thing is that I think I am making headway to better emotional and mental health.


Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Company Girl Coffee

Come watch my baby walking. She took her first steps last Sunday (so almost a week ago). I took these videos this afternoon.








Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Books and Coffee

Just a quick list today as life is pretty crazy. Not feelin' this blogging thing, but wanting to. Know what I mean?

So check out Little W's day here.

Books:

Just finished The Vision by C L Talmadge.

But Then Again I Could Be Wrong by Jim Rising; I'm reading this one now.

Also reading Every Thought Captive by Richard L. Pratt, Jr. during my devotional time.

I'm part way through an ebook called Fascinating Womanhood.

Gardening and preserving:

beans, almost all cut and froze.
peas, 5 bags froze, done.
corn, eating fresh every other day.
carrots, still in the ground.
cucumbers, just getting going.
spaghetti squash, need a lot more time.
onions, ready to store.
beets, waiting in the ground to be pickled.
tomatoes, ripening on the vine.
peaches, going to freeze (3 cases).
apples, from friends and neighbors, slicing and freezing.

We decided to freeze everything that we could; I find it easier to do that than canning at this point in my life.

Homeschooling:

We are really enjoying Beestar Math and Spelling City.
We are trying to finish our math work book (ACSI Grade 1) by Christmas; it means 3 pages a day 5 days a week. I hope we can do it; they really want to!


Don't forget to enter my giveaway here.


Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Don't forget to check out the great giveaways at Simply Sensational Divas Review.

Books and Coffee

Welcome to my blog! Grab a cup of coffee (or whatever your beverage of choice is this morning).

Today I talk about what we are reading and a short (sometimes, not so short) update. So here goes:


Now reading: The Vision by CL Talmadge
On the waiting list: the next two books in the Green Stone of Healing series by Talmadge, The Captain's Wife by Douglas Kelley and How Children Fail by John Holt.

I'm thinking about joining in on a Random Reading Challenge over at Caribousmom but I haven't jumped on board yet. It looks neat but I'm not sure I am ready for the randomness required.

Kids' read-aloud:
The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook by Joyce Lankester Brisley

We are starting to get into our daily school work a little bit now. The older two are doing 2 pages of math work each day. And our letter of the week that usually takes 2 or 3 weeks is Gg. I chose gorillas as our animal to go with the letter.

I got the following books for us to read and look at:

• Gorilla Walk by Ted and Betsy Lewin
• Good Night! by Claire Masurel and Marie H Henry
• Giving by Shirley Hughes
• Gorillas by Seymour Simon
• The Golden Goose retold by Uri Shulevitz
• Gorillas: Gentle Giants of the Forest by Joyce Milton
• Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
• Good Night, Sun, Hello Moon by Karen Viola
• Amazing Gorillas! by Sarah L. Tomson
• The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Paul Galdone
• Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

Little W picked his own books:

• At a Construction Site by Don Kilby
• Seymour Simon's Book of Trucks by Seymour Simon
• I'm a Great Big Eighteen-Wheeler! by Michael Anthony Steele
• Working Hard with the Mighty Loader by Justin Korman
• Grover's Bad, Awful Day by Anna H Dickson
• When is MY Birthday? by Ray Sipherd
• Trucks (Usborne Beginners) by Katie Daynes
• Going Places by Jesse Smith
• If I Could Drive a Tow Truck by Michael Teitelbaum

Wednesday's are library days. The inter-library loan books arrive Tuesday's and our eggs are delivered to the library on Wednesday's. (The "egg lady" brings us farm fresh eggs from her hens.) So I combine the egg pick up with the book pick up and we spend some time on the computers there (no turn taking required, usually) and we pick books. I'd stopped going, and was just sending one of the kids to get the books and eggs, but now Baby R is big enough that she can last a little longer without getting fussy while the others do there thing.

On to other topics:

We have been pulling up the pea plants and bringing in the peas. It's a lot of work; we have a lot of peas. J and I have been shelling them in front of the television in the evenings. We planted three wide and long rows. So far we've brought in 1.5 rows! And we have lots already. I'm so excited; usually our peas don't make it to the freezer.

The caragana hedge is starting to pop. It means fall is coming. The little seed pods, a lot like a pea pod, are popping open as they dry out in the summer heat. I hear them popping and dropping when I'm hanging clothes out on the line.

We were going to put the bus on the road this week. Now we are not. I'm bummed but at the same time waiting is the better financial decision. By mid-September we will have a medical bill paid and can then afford the insurance better. Then by Christmas, one of my student loans will be paid and that's even better! I guess another four weeks isn't too long to wait to have wheels.

On Friday night we are hosting a supper in our home. We have invited a few of the single fire fighters over for a turkey dinner. I'm so excited. I love having people over for meals; we are friends. And serving food is a great way to encourage people to relax and chat; we get to know each other better. J gets to know these individuals at the fire hall each week, but I don't. During the summer, I get to spend a little more time with them because we have campfires and bbqs with them, but in the winter I get to spend time with them at the ball and at our Christmas party; that's about it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed your visit here at my blog. Come back soon.

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Don't forget to check out the great giveaways at Simply Sensational Divas Review.

Books and Coffee

I have spent a good part of my time online this week entering book and apron giveaways! There is so much good stuff out there; you just have to look a little, not too hard even. One day I'll share a few links of where I go to find the giveaways I enter. Here's a taste:

• The other blog I write at: Simply Sensational Divas Review Right now we are having our official launch party for the whole month of August. Come join in!!!
• Brimful Curiosities - Monday and Friday she lists book giveaways.
• The apron giveaways are only open for a few more hours, I believe, but they are at: The Apronista.

Oh, there are so many more, but I'll have to share them another day.

I know I'm late for the Company Girl Coffee, but my DH and I usually enjoy a coffee in the evening, so . . . please join us. Have a look around.

I am sharing my story about my depression and what I'm doing to work through to a better place. I think the depression series is going to be three parts but might expand to four; I've written two posts so far.

Oh, we did some harvesting from our garden today. I was too involved to get any pictures, but we picked some peas and then podded them (is that the correct term?). I could not believe how good little W was at getting the pods off without damaging the peas inside! He loved helping even though he was so tired and should have had a nap instead. Even Baby R got in there! The empty pods only kept her happy for a short time; she knew where the action was and needed to be there.

J is closer to getting the bus ready for the road; the seats and seat belts are all installed now, except two. We now have seat belts 10, including the driver. And shelving for storage or for a table or whatever we need it for; he made a place for the stroller, behind the back seat. I have the tether hooks I need for the three car seats that the youngest children use. He needs to do a little bit of rust repair and painting. (New law states that school buses used for personal transportation can't be school bus yellow. I hope that made sense; what I'm saying is, if it is not longer used as as school bus, it can't be that yellow.) We hope to have the registered and insured by the middle of next week!

We sent out two more resumes and have a lead on another job opportunity for J. J has also picked up some work (just a day or two) with one of the new fire fighters. We are still enjoying having him home, but as every month passes and we get closer to when the parental leave runs out, we get a little more nervous. It's hard not to worry about whether or not he will have a job. We've already been through a bankruptcy; we don't wanna go that route again. We have figured out the minimum it takes to run our family and it's not very much, in the whole scheme of things. I mean we could tighten our belts a little more, but right now we're living pretty tight. So we have the facts and the information we need, and there are jobs out there that J qualifies for, so we'll just keep pushing out the resumes and keep our ears open for more unlisted job opportunities. God knows what we need when we need it; we'll just have to continue to rely on Him and embrace each day He gives us together as a family.

We moved our oldest daughter to her own room. Prior to this all three oldest girls shared a small room. It was overwhelming for all of us with the amount of stuff that was in there. And they didn't even have a lot of toys in there. Just the fact that there were three beds, 2 desks and a dresser, etc. Three people make a lot of stuff. So we moved her to the guest room; now we have no room designated for guests, but we'll move her over to her sisters' room if needed. She has worked out a deal to get some more furnishings or paint; I told her and her dad agreed, tentatively, that if she keeps her room clean for the whole month of August she can have a night table with a drawer for socks and underwear and an alarm clock / radio for the top. Today is day seven and she's only had one reminder in the last seven days. I took some time to speak with her the other night about how she was liking her room; she's loving it, even thriving there I think. I'm so glad we decided to do it.

Ok, well, that's quite an update, so I'll leave it at that. Tell me about your week. Leave me a comment. Thanks for stoppin' by for a virtual coffee.

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Don't forget to check out the great giveaways at Simply Sensational Divas Review.

Books and Coffee

My life has been crazy lately and yet not really. I don't really understand it, actually. It seems as if I have no time for anything. I'm not blogging like I usually do, but that might not be a bad thing; for a while there I was blogging A LOT!

So settle in with your coffee (or other beverage of choice) and have a visit. You can read about our dates this week here.

I haven't had time to read this week. I've been busy preparing for Simply Sensational Divas Review Launch Party. At this point we have about 20 giveaways and 10 or more products / books being reviewed throughout the month of August. I am only doing part of the work required to get this party off the ground and I am feeling a little overwhelmed, but so very excited. Please stop by and check us out, enter some giveaways and share some linky love.

This coming week is pretty empty so far. I mean, it never takes long to fill up, but there is nothing written on the calendar so far. That's a good thing. I need to catch up on some housework and some sleep. I don't wanna get what DH has. He's so sick. And up until today, he's been doing the laundry for me. I need to get back on that. Next week is the start of a new month so Flylady starts in Zone 1 again. Zone 1 is the entrance and porch area. It needs my attention, badly! Oh, and I need to start the new month of Regina Leed's One Year to an Organized Life. I need to find a focus for the month and post about that as well as recap last month. (Did I have a focus last month? I don't feel like I focused on ANYTHING last month!!)

You'd think that by now, we'd have a good routine going. J's been off work now for 7 months. Well, I guess we do have a good routine going, but it is very very different than (or seems different than) most people's routine. Maybe I just need to get comfortable in this routine. Doing that means to me that DH will then get a job and I'll have to get used to and comfortable with a new routine again! We go to bed so late (between 12 and 2 AM) and we get up so late (between 8 and 11 AM). It seems the day is shot before it gets going, but we do make the best of our long evenings (sun is still shining at 10 PM) when we are feeling well by doing gardening in the cool of the evening.

Baby R turned 9 months old this week!!! I just figured out that she is just 2 days older than Stellan. When I realized that, I was all the more thankful for this roly-poly cherub who knows a joke and gives a joke already. She's my sweet cuddly tubby-tubby baby. See:

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Books and Coffee

Well, come on in and have a seat.

My book list hasn't changed much from last week. Actually, it hasn't changed at all. I'm still plugging away, but will be moving on to How Cleaning My Room Changed My Life (a children's book) in the very near future (next week).



Check out my Date Night post for a recap on our week and what I hope to do this coming week.

Not much to say today; I'm sick and I'm tired and I'd rather be in bed. But life as a SAHM, doesn't always allow for that. So I'm off to start the morning coffee and get my morning routine done. I'm hoping that doing a few little things will help me to feel better and face the day with a smile. Even though I can't breath through my nose. I do not like summer colds!

Tomorrow is going to be a fun day! It's going to be really warm and the fire departments in our immediate area are getting together at the river for a big barbecue. I love how family orientated our departments are. My kids are going to have a blast. I just need to feel better. Maybe I should have some milk, because W would say, "Milk feel you better, Mommy. Yep."

Unfortunately though we had to choose between two activities (fire department wins hands down). The community is having a teddy bear picnic with games and face painting and lunch provided. We really like attending those community activities too, but we can't do it all.


Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Books and Coffee

I love books and I love coffee; I even love books and coffee together. Here's what I've been reading:

I finished If Mama Don't Laugh, It Ain't Funny. I am still working through Who's the Blonde with dh. And I started two new ones: Healthy Child Whole Child and Inside My Heart. I am loving them both. Healthy Child Whole Child is my kind of doctoring; I can't wait to get into it more. Inside My Heart is on my mp3 player and I've listened to Chapter 1 and 2 twice because I needed the message badly.



My husband (and I've bragged about this before) is learning and growing and becoming the man God wants him to be. I want to take back what I've said. Okay, no, not really! I just realized that when he learns and grows and develops and becomes more like Christ, that my dh and my God both require me to learn and grow and develop too!!! And it's hard work! I've come to realize that I'm not who I should be nor do I really want to be who I am. I want to be better. I am not more spiritual than J is, I'm just at a different point, working on different things. And yet our learning and growing is working together to make us a better relationship with each other and with God and with our community. I am actually very excited about these changes and growth in both of us. But it is hard work.



Robin McGraw in her book, Inside My Heart, talks about making choices and to live with purpose and passion. I once felt like that; I lost it and had started to give control to whomever else. I was not consciously making decisions for the best of me and my family and what God would want for us. I was just floating down the river, so to speak. I don't want to do that. I want to live with purpose and passion. Robin McGraw talks about how she always wanted to be a wife and mother; that is me too, I never really dreamed of being anything else. I only took the post-secondary education I did take because I hadn't got married yet. I am re-finding my passion and my purpose; I am going to start again to do my best at my chosen profession. I am going to be J's helper, J's wife.

I was reading some blogs this week and every other one it seemed spoke on the topics J and I have been discussing (and sometimes fighting about) the last couple of weeks. Over and over again, I read things I believed to be true, things I want to put back into practice, things I've known all along that I needed to do. I want to be the best housekeeper I can; I want to be the best wife and the best mother. I want to keep learning and growing and doing better.

Join us for coffee at Home Sanctuary.


Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Company Girl Coffee

I can't believe I forgot to talk about my new look!

I want to say a HUGE thank you to Miss Jocelyn over at A Pondering Heart Boutique who did the hard work on the new design and to Sarah Mae from Like A Warm Cup Of Coffee where I won this great prize!

Please, take a look around. Check out the "Navigation" links on the sidebar. Most of those are pretty self-explanatory. Link-love contains my button and banner - which I absolutely love!!! Just go exploring! I hope you love the easy navigation as much as I do.

Now, I've been asked a couple of times, "Why the dandelions?"

Dandelions are plentiful in our area. Do you have those nasty weeds, er, I mean, flowers in your neighborhood? I get bouquets of these "plowers" (W speak for flowers) regularly, every summer for the last 6 years or so. That's reason one!

Reason two: The picture of the four stages of the dandelions is descriptive of the stages of life. The people in our life are from all the stages - babies, children, babysitters, parents, aunts and uncles, and grandparents. We are at different stages of learning and understanding. We are maturing and at different levels of maturity.

I am loving the color yellow. It is cheery and bright and fun. I used to love blue and only blue. I'm changing too, just like the dandelion.

And don't you just love my new signature; and the little divider thingies and . . . oh, isn't the whole thing just lovely!

I hope you enjoy your visit.

Oh, I wanted to share with you today some books on my bookshelf. I'm very excited to be getting to these books over the remainder of the summer. It's quite a list.

How Cleaning My Room Changed My Life

But Then Again I Could Be Wrong: The Book of Rants

If Mama Don't Laugh, It Ain't Funny

The Vision: Green Stone of Healing Series - Book One

Fallout: Green Stone of Healing Series - Book Two

The Scorpions Strike: Green Stone of Healing Series - Book Three

Healthy Child, Whole Child

A Promise to Believe In

and I'm still working on the following:

One Year to an Organized Life

Who's The Blonde That Married What's-his-name?

And I just finished and reviewed Lenore Skenazy's Free-Range Kids. You can find my review here at Simply Sensational Divas Review.

I love that I am getting into reading more. Somehow I want to get the children slowed down to read more this summer too. Maybe I should make sure they are enrolled in the library's summer reading program and then set aside a time each day that we all read quietly. Then create or have them create a list of books they want to read.

Hmmm. Quiet time, in the middle of the day.

Hmmmm. Might be a really nice idea.

What do you have planned for slowing down and being quiet this summer?


Striving to learn and live God's purposes,