2008/06/28

Summertime, Summertime, Sum,Sum,Summertime!

With the hot sun and fierce afternoon thunderstorms comes the feeling that Summer is in swing.  We have been plodding along with baseball.  Colby was selected to the All Star Team, so we are not done quite yet.  Ben did finish and we celebrated by going to the beach.  We all came back with nasty sun burns for proof.  We wore our sunscreen, but it wasn't a good bottle for water activities.  Our skin is peeling from that and we're ready for more.  I came down with a nasty mastitis.  If you don't know what that is, ask any mother who has ever nursed her child.  I thought that the end of my life was near as the pain was so intense, and the fever so persistent.  Praise the Lord a round of antibiotics cleared it up.  Just when I was feeling better a wild blackberry bush was calling my name in the thicket out behind the house.  I had been watching the berries plump up for some time and was eager to make some muffins.  However, I misunderstood the call as it was really a family of chiggers screeching my name to attack me in my weakest places and now you will find this mother in the cool of the house scratching away at those insidious bites that have created quite the nasty bumps.  I am nearly all better from that and am feeling the need to blog again.  To tell you the truth, I just didn't want to tell about what's been going on with me, as I've been feeling very humbled by my state of discomforts.  Jake is working so hard and when we see him he is so pleased to be with us that you'd never know the struggles he's dealing with at work.  My heart loves him in such greater ways each day, that I didn't think it possible to be so enamored of someone ever.  I hope you all are enjoying the summer and I will blog again soon.   Oh yes, one cute story before I forget.  When I was sick with the mastitis, I was laying on the hammock out back trying to rid my body of the chills.  Louisa came out to lay down with me.  She was laying beside me and proclaimed how we were both so sick.  I asked her what was wrong and she said that her belly is getting so very big and that she was going to be having a baby soon.  I told her that was impossible and she probably ate too much lunch.   She is so cute and makes me laugh even when I feel my worst.

2008/06/23

First Fruits



From the backyard.... the garden and a sparrow's nest.

2008/06/18

Happy Birthday Meme

You are such a sweetheart!

2008/06/16

Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow (part 2)

Yesterday was Fathers Day.  It started off in a whirlwind and ended peacefully.  You may be thinking what kind of whirlwind is going on at the Reynolds' this week.  Let me explain.

Sunday morning Jake and I are lying in the bed fighting the call of the day to "get up."  You know the old -- I'll get up after you get up trick.  Neither of us would budge and in comes Libby.  Cute as can be with her morning hair in snarls.   She climbed in bed with us to spend some time.  So sweet.  She says she has to go "peep."  Jake sends her in our bathroom to go.  She goes in and I hear her crying.  I know that she is probably having an emergency and can't figure out her undies.  Jake runs in but is too late.  There is "peep" all over the floor.  I left to go get the dog rags and come back to clean up.  After I came back with the rags, I hear a voice outside my bathroom window.  I can tell it's Lou because it rings so sweet and stutters a bit.  I try to make out what she's saying while I'm cleaning.  She is saying, "Iiii caught a wabbit."  Of course I'm interested.  So I reach as close to the window as I can without stepping in the peep and screamed.  It's not just a rabbit.  It's a bunny, dead, entrails exposed, perfectly coiled in Salt's water bowl.  Utter shock.  Jake comes running and I told him Louisa's holding a gutted rabbit.  He yells for her to put it down.  Jake goes out and manages things, while I clean up peep.  By this time, Silas has been released from his crib and is crawling up the stairs.  Jake rescues him from a certain fall.  I go outside, bleach the patio and dog bowl.  Of course, Salt needs a good scrubbing, as his white fur is streaked with bunny blood.  As it turns out, Louisa released Salt for his morning potty time and he spotted a rabbit.  She tried to grab Salt so that the bunny could run away and was unsuccessful.  Salt gets the hare and destroys it.  Louisa later tells me this, and that she was trying to keep the bunny from dying.  I asked her why she had put it curled up in Salt's bowl.  She told me that she, "couldn't find the bug catcher."

2008/06/10

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow.


Got my hair cut.  Mom, here's the picture you asked for... 

2008/06/09

Mercy

For Christmas my dear husband purchased me a book.  It's our custom at Christmastime to exchange books with each other.  The book I'm speaking of is, "The Valley of Vision."  It's a collection of prayers and devotions written by a varied number of Puritans.  Saturday morning I was reading one of the prayers and I was stung by what I read.

"If  thy mercy make me poor and vile, blessed be thou!
Prayers arising from my needs are preparations for
future mercies;"

Can you imagine the conviction of my wickedness?  I've always pictured mercy as being spared from being poor.   I had never thought of God's mercy as being "poor and vile."  Of course that is His mercy.  His mercy is sickness and suffering.  His mercy is that we, his elect, won't go to hell.  We are in his fold.  Being in his fold is merciful.  I need to view all things as his mercy.  Because as his elect my life is an extension of his mercy.  All the good and all the bad. 

2008/06/05

Gated Communities


Things are crazy around here and I wouldn't have it any other way....  Well actually, I would take a nap without worries of an outbreak of chaos, and I would drink 6 cups of coffee just for pleasure if I knew I could still take that nap..  Silas is a busy little man and has inherited this little gated community for the time being.  We'll return it when the time comes that we can't contain him.



You may think that he doesn't need containing.  Look at this.  He does.  He is busy and quick as any other healthy, soon to be 1 year old child.  He reminds me of Colby in his looks, and his disposition is much like Ben's.  He loves to lean his head on my shoulder and play bashful with strangers.  I enjoy it so much when he does.  He keeps his mouth open a good part of the day and there you'll see his tongue, hanging out.  (This picture to the left wasn't staged.  I grabbed something from the fridge and Silas climbed in.)







Speaking of Colby, I knew he had big feet because he's been wearing my flip flops to the pool. What I didn't realize was that he has a man size foot.  Measuring in at a 7.  I was so proud when I went to purchase his shoes, but stunned when it donned on me that I would need to pay Man prices.  So, he received his first pair of man shoes in the mail yesterday.  When did that boy get so big? 

2008/06/03

Baked Ant Casserole....

This is what's going to be on the menu for dinner if gas prices continue to rise and the kids don't thoroughly wipe down the counters.

We are doing well. My mom was here last week and the kids are desperately missing her this week. She made dozens of pancakes and we ate more fish than we normally do in a year. It was such a treat and we were even able to escape the palace for a few hours and go to lunch and do some shopping. We ate Subway for lunch and went to TJ Maxx. I bought two bath rugs, for our bathroom, and a pair of black leather flip flops, all for a low price, making good use of some birthday money.

Oh yes, I haven't mentioned the orange crayon that went safely through the wash and then melted in my dryer. That was a lot of fun. If you ever find yourself in a similar fix, try Comet. It worked like a charm.

We had a wonderful Sunday, celebrating the Lord's table in the morning at church. Communion has become such a celebrated part of my life. It may seem strange, but as I recognize the intents of my heart and as my sin is revealed, confessed, and forgiven, the Remembrance of Christ and meaning of the sacraments has become an awesome celebration. Unfortunately, I have spent some time in my walk, neglecting to fully understand and appreciate Communion.

This week is our last week of school. The kids are pleased and if you listen closely you might hear the scratching of lead on paper as they hurry to neatly and efficiently complete their work.

We are having fun working in the garden as well. Tomatoes are growing and the basil has been picked so much that I am going to have to let it be for a few days so it will re-establish itself. I planted 3 pumpkin seeds and the plants are so huge, that I think I will have to uproot 2 of them. Eggplant, crookneck squash, green beans, and cucumbers are all establishing themselves too.

Enough of what's streaming through my head. Have a blessed week friends and I will post again soon.