first day of school...

Today our teenagers entered their junior and senior years of High School. I'm already starting with the sentiment around here. Saying things like, "where did the time go?", or "this is your very last, first day of school as a child" and I can't believe we just went on our first college visit.

I'm ridiculous with this kind of stuff. Every June when the graduating seniors at our church go to the front of the church and receive a blessing, I cry, no matter if I know them well or not.

I'm not sad about it, it's just strange, it's new, it's change. He has already begun to spread his wings, I can feel it and this is good, really really good. It is our job as parents to raise our children to become faithful, responsible, human beings and their job to grow up and hopefully be just that.

We are so very grateful for our children. Our littlest one, she has been such a gift, perhaps because we never expected God would bless us with another child to love. As older parents, this time around we are doing things a little differently.

I registered her for preschool again this year and once again called to tell them she would not be coming. Actually I registered her only to hold a spot while we figured out if we would send her or not.

I understand that for most people this is a no brainer, you either know that your kids will go to school or know that you would not ever consider doing preschool. For me the answer was not so cut and dry. I will probably go into that thought process another time as this post is already getting way to long.

Anyway, this morning after we watched all the neighbors kids get on the bus we went to the kitchen table for a leisurely breakfast, then played some counting and letter games.

Then we were off to the orchards for some fruit picking with some friends from church.

We picked blackberries...
peaches and raspberries...
and all the kids ran around the orchards for a couple of hours and had a great time.

The little one and I had gotten there before everyone arrived and picked lots of blackberries. She followed behind me picking and eating as she acted out the story Blueberries for Sal, which she completely remembered because we have taken it out of the library a couple of times.

Yes, we like this kind of preschool...

you win some, you lose some...

Someone really loves the new pillows I made for the couch...She is always in the same spot...

Somehow this wasn't the look I was going for...

buried treasure...

Hubby was picking this from the garden and came across these...

3 baby bunnies!
They were hidden among the potatoes.

cheap thrills...

all this happiness for a mere fifty cents...a bargain!

she's at it again...

I thought I'd give you a quick tour of my daughter's room...

She is a creative little thing...

Here is a teapot she created in art class, sitting on top of a little cabinet she also made. The background is yet another unfinished mural...I don't mind her painting all over her walls, but I do wish she would finish...

Here is where she painted Psalm 23 in the corner-really bad picture-sorry for the lighting, it looks way better in person.

One of the things I am always on the lookout for at yard sales is art/craft supplies.

This is on some found canvas, I got a while back. I picked up a whole box of canvas for her this past weekend-yippee!

This is her this morning painting her nightstand...

This wall was solid green one day when I went to run an errand, I came home to stripes and the beginnings of another mural.

This is that night stand painted and decopauged. It is loaded with inspiration...
She said this isn't finished but I love it!
That's my girl...

As much as I wish she would finish these murals, it's ok...

Like her, Like me, like all of us, like the murals, we are works in progress...

Just because something isn't perfect doesn't mean it can't be beautiful.

Mothers Group...

Her is part of the blurb I wrote for our upcoming Parish newsletter:

"Motherhood has been singly the most challenging, rewarding, joyous and terrifying experience of my life. At times it has actually been all those things within the span of one week. I am so very grateful to the Lord for providing a network of moms to share this awesome journey with.

The Mothers Group at St. Mary's is a very special group indeed. We, learn, we laugh, we pray, we play, we serve, but most importantly we are growing as Catholic women and mothers in this blessed vocation called Motherhood."

Some of the moms and kids from the group came over today for a play date.

It was a very nice day!

Here are some of the masterpieces created by our little ones.

They did stop running for a moment to partake in a little picnic.

I co-coordinate the Mothers Group at our parish with a truly lovely woman, Maria. We will begin our third year this year and it has been such a blessing in my life.

Roy G. Biv

We saw the most beautiful rainbow last night, of course the picture hardly does it justice. It was actually a double rainbow. It was bold, bright and glowy. I always consider it a gift from God when I see one. A beautiful reminder of God's great promises to His people...

We don't often get to see the whole thing...
The kids and I went to the Giant Center in Hershey to the Joyce Meyer Conference. I listened to Joyce years ago, and her powerful, practical teaching on everyday Christan living. She was a huge help at that time in my life. The reason we went last night was to see Delirious , it was relatively free-except for parking and an offering. My teenagers and I love contemporary Christan music, and this band is definitely one of the greats of it's kind. I must admit, it was a bit too heart thumpy for me at times, you know, so loud that you feel it in your chest-eek. I really must be getting old...

Delirious lead the praise and worship, it was wonderful! We left shortly after that.

It was worth the trip!

"dancin machine"

I though this was pretty inventive of her. She turns the gear and the princesses dance all at once.

many hands...

make little work...

We had a little assembly line going on here last night. We turned this bushel of tomatoes into some yummy sauce.

It came out pretty darn good. This project was started rather late in the evening yesterday. Instead of picking, washing and chopping herbs (I was just too tired), I threw in some frozen pesto cubes , I had made last week. I freeze the sauce in 24 ounce freezer containers.

The recipe is so simple. It's so great to be able to pull it from the freezer for a quick meal for months to come.

Here is my loosey goosey recipe

I core, blanche, peel, puree as many tomatoes as I have

Sautee 1 large onion chopped and

about 4 or 5 cloves of garlic chopped in large pot until tender.

add tomato puree

throw in a handful of fresh basil, parsley, oregano chopped

I usually throw in some parmesean cheese

salt and pepper to taste

If it needs it, I throw in a bit of sugar or a peeled carrot to balance acidity.

Hope you have a great day!

hangin at the library...

just making ourselves at home...
grateful...
That my dd16 (gotta come up with a better name for her/them), saw this t-shirt and really liked it , so I got it for her, it was 50% off, why not. I just thank God that these words truly reflect what's in her heart. She believes and wants to share what she knows with others. She is required to wear this color t-shirt paired with purple shorts for gym (I know, I know, someone call the fashion police). So alas, she will be clashing yet evangelizing come this school year.
Praise the Lord!