ND/SD Trip

“Camping”

 We camped, kinda. More like ‘glamping’ 😆
I did a LOT of camping as a child, with my family and the girl scouts. My family asked what I used to do, like I’m some kind of expert. 😄
One family tradition was to use burnt wood and leave your mark on your campsite. 💖

Beach Time With Friends

 Beach time with the Hodapp kids today.

Sewing Again

Felicity also wanted to try her hand at sewing. Here’s her new teddy bear, Cuddles. 

F’s Gymnasics

This little firecracker made it!  I worried that she wouldn’t be able to do it, because she’s never tried it before, and she kept getting stuck on the top. After about 10 times, she made it the VERY last time. 

ALWAYS watch your kids at practice because you’re the 1st person they look for when they succeed!

E’s First Quilt

Elizabeth wanted to try her hand at sewing a quilt. I tried to get her to do something simple to see if she liked it. Of course she wanted squares which was not in my game plan, but it all came back to me after 20 years. She was very patient and did very well. She still won’t press the pedal on the sewing machine, but did everything else.  😆

Pics From Ely Trip

99° in the sun leaving the Ely beach

If I can keep the bunnies out I’ll have a good garden this year. Lots of heat & waterig.

Oh! Our Susie💖

BBQ!!!

Happy 4th of July. 

Mom, Earl, & us girls

I’m an Introverted HSP...May Have to Add This:

Ear Piercing! 🥰

“That wasn’t so bad!” No tears from these tough girlies❣️

Pre-piercing: a little nervous, so they’re holding hands. 💖

Kitchen Cabinets

I’m SLOWLY working my way through my house projects. Having the kids home for distance learning kinda slowed my progress 😆, but I’m plugging along.

Sand, sand, sand. LOTS of hand sanding what the sander can’t reach. 

Power tools-grunt grunt. 😆

Close up of the water damage to kitchen cabinets (under sink).

Drawers

So pretty!

“Before” and “After”. A little darker, but like it

My Little Ladies- I’m so Happy These Two Have Each Other

 Elizabeth 9 1/2, Felicity 6 3/4. ☺️

Kitchen Projects

Our kitchen cupboards are losing their luster. The ones under the sink had a LOT of water damage.  While I did touch them up some years ago, it had to be completely stripped, sanded, restrained, and poly-ed.  I’ve finished two cupboard doors and two drawer faces so far. Putzy, but satisfying.

Right: untouched, initial pic. Left: sanded down. 

Sanded, stained, last coat of poly put on. Good as new!

Crushed Concrete

Last year David removed the asphalt last spring. It was badly broken up and too thin in places. We added a few loads of class five to raise it up and level it. However it was still pretty sandy and it made a mess in the garage and house. We had 2 loads of crushed concrete brought in this wk. David spread it and level it and I threw the kids in the van and drove back & forth (and back & forth) to flatten. After the first rain and driving on it a bit more I’m hoping it’ll make for less sand in the house, good for bike riding, as well as dribbling a basketball on it!

God Comes to Women

Have you ever noticed how in the scriptures men are always going up into the mountains to commune with the Lord?

Yet in the scriptures we hardly ever
hear of women going to the mountains,
and we know why — right?

Because the women were too busy
keeping life going;
they couldn’t abandon babies,
meals,
homes,
fires,
gardens,
and a thousand responsibilities to make the climb into the mountains!

I was talking to a friend the other day,
saying that as modern woman
I feel like I’m never “free” enough
from my responsibilities,
never in a quiet enough,
or holy enough spot
to have the type of communion
I want with God.

Her response floored me,
“That is why God comes to women.
Men have to climb the mountain to meet God, but God comes to women where ever they are.”

I have been pondering on her words for weeks and have searched my scriptures
to see that what she said is true.
God does in deed come to women
where they are,
when they are doing their ordinary,
everyday work.

He meets them at the wells
where they draw water for their families,
in their homes,
in their kitchens,
in their gardens.

He comes to them
as they sit beside sickbeds,
as they give birth,
care for the elderly,
and perform necessary mourning and burial rites.

Even at the empty tomb,
Mary was the first to witness Christ’s resurrection,
She was there because she was doing the womanly chore of properly preparing Christ’s body for burial.

In these seemingly mundane
and ordinary tasks,
these women of the scriptures found themselves face to face with divinity.

So if — like me — you ever start to bemoan the fact that you don’t have as much time to spend in the mountains with God as you would like. Remember, God comes to women. He knows where we are and the burdens we carry. He sees us, and if we open our eyes and our hearts we will see Him, even in the most ordinary places and in the most ordinary things.

He lives.

Original 🖌: Heather Farrell

Holy Thursday

 In celebration of the last supper on Holy Thursday, we read the readings of the first Passover, last supper, and the washing of the feet. Then we broke bread and washed one another’s feet. I think David thinks I’m nuts, but he’s a good sport and the girls look forward to it. Since the Coronavirus keeps us at home, we then participated with Fr Ryan in mass via livestream. He does SO well with his homilies.  Happy triduum.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

I forgot to post a pic of April 1st, but here we are at April 7th. It’s been a more mild winter and a nice, slow spring.  It’s SO nice to see more green than white out there in the yard and to see the garden again. 💚

Spring Baking-Clean Out the Freezer

Zucchini mini muffins, apple crisp, and sourdough bread. A little baking to warm up a chilly house this morning!  I’m in love with sourdough bread.  I thank Brittany for introducing me❣️