triples-digits

One of my tomato plants and me.

She's a beauty, she is!

And the tomato plant ain't too bad either.

Baaaahha!

I'll be here all week, folks.

Actually, I'm always here.

Always.

We're in triple digits and the jokes

aren't going to get any

better than that.

*****

Have an ice-cold lemonade

and enjoy your sultry summery day!

chalkboard painting {gone wild}

I've been a busy little bee.

I decided about six months ago

to paint a chalkboard on the end of

our kitchen cabinet.

And this week,

I finally did it.

Hooray for me!!!

Take a look:

Then I painted a space for the

kiddos in our homeschool room.

Here's what I used.

Good stuff.

And after both little projects,

I still have half a can left.

My mind is churning about where

to use the rest of it.

Never mind.

K-Man was just reading over my shoulder

and told me I wasn't allowed

to paint anything else with it.

Heehee.

We'll see about that.

a weird week

It really is a very different kind of week for us.

Macy and Eli are at youth camp in Colorado.

(Please, please, PLEASE pray for them

because the wildfires have forced the amazing youth

leaders at our church to relocate all 170+ kiddos

to another camp to avoid the smoke.

And tonight (Wednesday) is the first night of

the Desperation Conference.

PLEASE pray.

God IS at work, despite what the enemy has attempted

to thwart.)

Anyway,

today was rather odd because K-Man took the day off

and we only had Brenden with us.

The littles were with my mom (God bless her).

And Nick was playing in a golf tournament.

So we were down to our first-born.

Oh how different things would be if we had stopped

after him!

We went to a fun shopping area & to Cabela's!

He loves him some firearms.

And I continually tried to take a pic of both

of us together...but he kept eluding me.

Only-children are so spoiled.

We had a great time.

Then it was time to get Lucy and Isaiah,

in order to keep my mother from starting to drink and cuss.

Just kidding.

Sort of.

We got home and normalcy resumed:

Rough-housing.

Shenanigans.

Ridiculous boy behaviors.

Non-stop harassing.

Pillows, a-flying.

All-out brawls.

Man-affection.

Whew.

I was worn out.

And it's no coincidence, I suppose, that Brenden

had on his Show Hope t-shirt.

Our littlest guy has been shown MUCH hope.

Via, brotherly love.

*Smile*

God is really good, ya'll!!

popcorn bars!

(My apologies for the dual-font.

I have no idea why it does that.)

First of all,

you guys totally cracked me up

with your comments on my house-cleaning post.

I am glad I am not alone

in this chaotic mess we warmly call, motherhood.

And I also appreciate those of you

who boldly told me of your ability to keep

your house running smoothly at all times.

You annoy and inspire me.

And I love you.

So in my efforts to do a million things,

and not one single one of them done well,

I tried a new recipe yesterday.

Popcorn Snack Bars!

My picture is less than appealing, I suppose.

I've yet to hone my photography skills.

It's #4,239 on my list of things to do.

So for now,

just enjoy my fair-mediocre photo.

(Email me privately to book me for your weddings portraits)

The original recipe is HERE.

I trimmed it down a bit with fewer ingredients.

And they turned out wonderfully!

Here's what I did:

8 Cups plain popped popcorn

2 Cups rolled oats (not instant)

1/2 Cup dried cranberries

3/4 Cup salted, roasted almonds (coarsely chopped)

3/4 Cup honey

3/4 Cup packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

Mix the first four ingredients together in

a big bowl.

In a saucepan,

add honey, brown sugar & salt.

Bring to a slight boil & stir until sugar is dissolved.

Pour popcorn ingredients onto a greased

9x13 pan (or a larger pan for skinnier bars).

Pour honey mixture over & mix it all up,

covering all the popcorn, the best you can.

Put in fridge for 30 minutes.

Then take out of fridge and cut into bars.

It's rather sticky.

But it tastes soooo good!

Crunchy.

Salty.

Sweet.

I think next time I'll add a little butter to the

honey mixture...and perhaps make them

into balls instead of bars.

Get creative and make them your own!

desperation {camp!}

Hey, guys!

Macy and Eli, and 170+ other teens from

our church youth group,

are on their way to Colorado for camp!

They are doing all kinds of fun*fun*fun things,

plus attending the

Desperation Conference

in Colorado Springs.

Would you please join me in prayer for

them throughout the week?

That they would have fun, make friends,

and come to Jesus.

Thank you sooo much!

it is what it is.

Well hello, you!

I have no idea where my time is going this summer.

Certainly not cleaning.

I get up early in the morning and crash into bed

at night...feeling worn out to the core from what's in between.

Yet, I have little to show for it.

Or so it seems.

So,

I really would like to hear from two

groups of you:

1. Those of you who are just like me (see pic below),

who work, work, work...

yet never seem to make a blasted dent in anything.

And:

2. Those of you who really do have it all together.

You wipe your bathroom

counter-tops down

everyday.

Your bookshelves are dusted.

Your house is tidy-tidy all the time.

(Gag. Whatever. Sick.)

For those of you in category #1,

I want to know that I'm not alone.

Please, tell me that I'm not alone.

Please tell me that your bed may be made,

but you have soap scum in your shower.

Your dishes may be done,

but your floor hasn't been mopped in weeks.

Etc., etc.

And if you fall into category #2,

please, PLEASE tell me how this is possible.

Let me in on the secret.

It's time.

And without further ado,

here is my laundry room.

Photographed just minutes ago.

And no, I did not stage this whatsoever.

It is what it is.

Don't be jealous.

off the grid

(To my friend, Saro. I borrowed your FB pic!)

Oh my word.

These four boys (and I do mean, BOYS),

one of which is my Brenden,

are off-the-grid, camping in Wisconsin...or Michigan...

or Minnesota.

We aren't exactly sure.

But wherever, all I know is...

they had to canoe to their campsite

and have no cell service.

I bet Brenden that before by the second night

they'd be in a Hilton.

But that's just based on my own experience.

I do not likes not having contact with all my baby chicks.

Wahhh.

carrots and goggles

We had a most delightful weekend.

Father's Day started with breakfast in bed

for a much-deserving K-Man,

then pizza for lunch from his favorite pizza place...

then fried chicken for dinner!

We just went from one meal to the next.

That's how we roll.

And roll and roll and roll.

*****

Looky looky what I picked from my garden!

We've never before had any success with carrots in the past.

If only you could have seen the giddy smile on my face

when I started pulling these beauties out of the ground.

I was skipping around like a school girl.

And there's about 72 more to pull.

Wootie, woot woot!

And unrelated to carrots,

I couldn't resist showing you more goggle pics.

This poor child has no idea

what the real purpose of goggles are.

They are never securely on his eyes.

Yet he insists on wearing them.

Always.

I'm pretty sure he thinks they are for decoration only.

Or a flotation device.

Clearly.

That's all for now.

Have a great week!

video {when a man loves a woman}

When a man loves a woman.

Or something like that.

(I ran into the post office...and upon returning,

Kman and Nick locked me out...insisting

that I dance before I was permitted

back into the car).

Actually, it seemed more like harassment to me.

My martyrdom continues.

thursday evening {waffles!}

Ok so we had whole-grain waffles for dinner.

And bacon.

And smoked ham.

And scrambled eggs.

It's a great go-to meal.

Though as easy as it always seems in my brain,

it never comes out as such.

Doing waffles batch by batch means,

serving dinner, batch by batch.

At least that's how it goes in our house.

Eggs.

It takes so many blasted eggs

to feed my crew.

Isaiah (being the youngest) was the first to get waffles, hot off the press.

And second to me (because I'm a martyr),

he was the last to leave the table.

As I, the martyr, was waiting for my waffles to finally be

done, Lucy brought me some flowers she picked.

She was already done with her waffles.

That's how slow I make waffles.

At last!

My waffles were done.

Here's my ham, eggs, waffles, and me!

And as I happily ate my last-batch waffles,

K-Man washed the dishes.

I was in utter bliss.

I mentioned a while back that

I was opposed to butter because I was infatuated with

margarine.

Hahahahaha.

That is way in the past now, baby.

Butter is where it's at.

Butter, butter, butter.

Butter in the morning,

butter in noontime,

butter at suppertime.

Last piece of ham.

All mine.

Then I laid down for a nap.

It's the least I could do.

Being the martyr that I am.

So that was my Thursday evening.

I do hope yours was as delightful.

hands-free multi-tasking

Every single time this hands-free phone thingy

commercial comes on,

I tell K-man that I MUST have it.

I must!

I could multi-task like nobody's business.

Oh, the possibilities!

But he has never bought it for me.

Not even hinted that he would.

And so I continue to have numerous tasks that go undone,

all because I can't talk and work at the same time.

Yes, that's it.

That's it exactly.

However,

while I was on the phone today,

my main-man rigged up my own hands-free device.

Free of charge!

No shipping or processing fees!

And once again,
I have fallen in love with this man

all over.

Let the multi-tasking begin!

Or something like that.

*Does the degree of my dorkiness here clearly reflect

my summertime insanity?

Oh, good.
I was so hoping you'd grasp that.

'bout my t'mators

My little garden is thriving so much, I can't even believe it.

It's amazing how things can survive if you

feed and water them.

I am happy to announce that I am currently

keeping two gardens, 60+ chickens, six children,

and one husband alive.

Alive!

I am incredible.

And so is God's plan for sustaining life.

I do give Him credit for this idea.

Take a peak of the plant-life.

(And the poultry in the background)

I have been getting a couple tomatoes, almost DAILY.

So can't believe it.

But many of them have black bottoms.

This makes me very grumpy.

Along with many other living things on my ranch that

don't do things my way.

Anyway,

for all you gardening experts,

what gives?

Tell me your thoughts 'bout my t'mators.

Go.

they will make me big and strong

So here's a conversation I had

with Mr. Saiah (Isaiah) today.

Isaiah,

"Mom, can I eat the plants on my strawberries?"

Me,

"WHAT?"

Saiah (as his friend Justus calls him),

"The plants on my strawberries, can I eat them?"

Translation:

The green tops.

Me,

"Umm, no...you shouldn't eat them."

Saiah,

"Yes, I will eat them. They will make me strong."

The End.

pitiful things

I'm happy to report that

Macy has made a great recovery

from her wisdom teeth removal.

It's been one week and she's almost back

to her old self,

short of still taking it easy on food choices.

Here she is

rolling her own oats for oatmeal.

She's so thrilled that I took a photo!

And in other news:

Here is kitty cat looking so pitiful through

my kitchen window.

And here are two pitiful grown men

who just couldn't take the longing looks anymore.

They opened the windows and let them in.

You have no idea the pitiful things I deal with

around here.

Send help immediately.

what's happenin'

Here's what's been happening

in our parts:

Sweet friends came to visit!

Swimming!

Playtime outside!

New little kitty cats!

I would like to introduce you to,

Dino and Daisy.

They are the sweetest kitties ever.

Ever!

And that's about it.

Whew.

I'm exhausted!