Garage Sale

My children have been asking me to have a garage sale for as long as I can remember. Well, we finally had one. Unfortunately they were not here to help out. But, it was a success. We sold just about everything we had out to sell. We made a nice profit and the best part of all is that we de-cluttered our house. We advertised by making a sign to put out at the front of our neighborhood and lucky for us, there were other people having garage sales too so we had a fair amount of traffic. Saturday morning it was a bit chilly for a middle of July day in Indiana. We were in jeans and sweatshirts and I made hot chocolate.

Crazy...

I promise to have another garage sale but this time my kids will be able to help out because I think they would have liked it.

Knocking

I came downstairs last night and I heard someone/something lightly banging into the door.

I couldn't see what it was by looking through the glass on the door

so I walked out through the garage.

This is what I saw. He was flapping into the door and wouldn't/couldn't get away.

Nathan and Mackenzie came out with a box to try and help the little bird.

They got it into the box without touching it and moved it away from the porch.

The bird then hopped out of the box and across the grass over to our neighbors yard.

I've never see a bird act that way before.

We all hope he makes it.

Kidless

Thursday, my mom came from Ohio to visit. She helped me with some sewing and went with us to the Monon Center (a super-fun aqua park), and had the undivided attention of the kids. Well she took those kids to her house and they will have been there for over a week. Now some would say, "How lucky are you!" To which I would reply, "It is quite lonely." Yes, Nathan is home and we have gotten so much done but I really miss having them here. I miss the hugs and kisses, I miss the requests for lunch, dinner, dessert, or snacks. I miss the requests to go outside and play. Mostly I just miss being mom. They are having a great time minus a titch of homesickness. They are coming home on Wednesday and I can't wait!

July 4th

The 4th this year was kind of a yucky day. It was drizzly, if not raining, most of the day. We had planned to ride our bikes at Pendleton Falls so we went anyway. There wasn't any thunder or lightening so we figured we were all right. Pendleton Falls has some really fun bike/walking paths that weave around through the woods,under a bridge, over a stream and around a pond. It was a fun morning minus the sore bums.

Our kids hadn't ridden their bikes much since school got out and it was a little tiring.

*memo to me: start riding bikes every day.

That night we let our kids light their own fireworks. This, obviously, was a major milestone. As they are lighting the fuses Nathan proceeds to tell them about lighting bottle rockets and aiming them at his friends while at a birthday party when he was young....not the best image to give our children. The all successfully lite the fireworks and then we headed over to the Soelbergs for another show.

Sparklers...who doesn't have a memory of holding a sparkler

and writing a name or making a design.

Mackenzie did have a spark fly off an burn her foot a little bit but other that that...

The kids had a blast...even though it was raining.

Happy 4th of July!!

Silver Lining

Unexpectedly, Nathan was laid off from work, again. Yes, I still got that horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach and I did cry, once. But amazingly I feel a sense of peace and comfort and I know that we will be alright. I, being somewhat of a control freak, want to know exactly what alright means and I don't but I have learned that when I put my faith and trust in my Heavenly Father things work out. I know He loves me and my family.

So amidst this cloudy news we found a silver lining in our backyard.

Amazing...

It reminds me of the primary song.

Whenever I hear the song of a bird, or look at the blue, blue sky, whenever I feel the rain on my face or the wind as it rushes by, whenever I touch a velvet rose or walk by our lilac tree, I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world Heavenly Father created for me. He gave me my eyes that I might see the color of butterfly wings. He gave me my ears that I might hear the magical sound of things. He gave me my life, my mind, my heart: I thank him reverently for all his creations, of which I'm a part. Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me.