Backyard Bliss

We have a very nice sized backyard with big trees, tons of shade, nice grass and a big deck, but for some reason we have never really used our backyard that much. My hubby even built a nice playground for the kids to play on (that the stinkin' squirrels have eaten the daylights out of), but still......not much playing has taken place back here. Britt and Corban always wanted to play out front, which I'm not such a big fan of, but that's where the other kids were. Nobody ever wanted to play in the backyard. This summer things have changed......... thankfully! Josiah absolutely loves to be outside and he's only 3 so the backyard is the place to be. He has taken to swinging like a fish to water and can be found there most every afternoon. He's been known to swing non-stop for at least a half hour at a time (no stopping).

We have a little neighbor girl that comes over most days to play with Josiah and he just adores her. She is 6 years old and plays so nicely with him. He calls her his "cousin". He knows cousins are special people so she must be one. On the other side we had a new neighbor move in last fall and he has a son and daughter that don't actually live there, but are there several days each week. The little boy is Josiah's age and his sister is 5 so they all really enjoy hanging out with each other.

I absolutely LOVE that they are just using up all our yard has to offer and enjoying every minute of it. We also got a new gas grill this year.....we had a charcoal grill previously and I wish we hadn't waited this long to get a gas grill. It's so much faster and easier. We've been enjoying every tasty bite that comes off that thing....yum! Lastly, my hubby built me a little (4'x8') garden bed to grow some veggies and herbs in. We have never had enough sun in our yard to have a veggie garden until our neighbor cut down a huge tree in his yard last fall and it just really brightened the place up.

a couple kinds of basil, ready to make some pesto..can't wait.

I didn't get many flowers planted this year,

but ones I did manage to plant just look lovely

and the phlox have never looked prettier. Must be all the rain. It's really the little things in life that are the sweetest. Kids playing, fresh veggies & beautiful flowers. What more could a girl ask for? Ok....I can think of a couple things, but this is great for now. What little things are you thankful for?? This post is linked up to Gratituesday and Tuesday's Unwrapped

Gratitude

I'm so very grateful for good friends that take care of you in times of need. In loo of our tree on the van and hubby in a cast situation, I sent out a prayer request at church for Eric's healing, pain relief and to see if anyone had a chainsaw that could help with the tree. I cut on it quite a bit last night and got lots of branches bundled up so the city would take them Friday, but really now, I could only do so much with my little saw and loppers. Well this morning I had a few emails and a some phone calls from our church family to help with the tree. Praise God! Well Matt J. called at just the right time and could help the soonest so he won!!! woo!hoo! for him...oops, I mean me! He said he would be over this evening as long as nobody beat him to it. He has such a servant's heart and is just a great guy. His wife, Sarah, is a good friend of mine and called this afternoon to see if she could bring dinner. My answer was "I'm not broke, he is.... I can still fix dinner", but she insisted and brought dinner anyway. It was super yummy! thanks Sarah! (It wasn't that long ago that Matt was laid up for about 6 weeks with a torn ACL so she knows my future better than I at this point.) Did I mention they live like 45 minutes away from us? Did I mention that not only did Matt cut up the tree and pull out the stump, but he hauled it all away? What great friends and a wonderful church family we have. Like I said before....God is good all the time! Visit Laura over at Heavenly Homemakers for Gratituesday

All things work together

I was looking at some old photos last night and ran across some photos of Josiah on the day he had his heart surgery almost 2 1/2 years ago (he was 13 months old). I was thinking about a conversation we had in Sunday school the other day about how God allows things to happen to us, but he can always use those situations for good. Sometimes you may be put in a bad situation, but you can use that as an opportunity to share the love of Christ with someone you may have never crossed paths with previously. Other times I think the Lord allows things to be "wrong" to help save ourselves or lead us to a bigger problem that needs to be fixed.

All things work together for the good of those that love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Let me explain.....when I was pregnant with Josiah I was planning on having him the regular old way since Britt came naturally (Corban was a planned c-section....another long story), my Dr. felt I could do it. Well Josiah turned breech at the very end and so we had to do a planned c-section once again. During the hour long prep for my surgery they monitor you very closely and that is when they noticed Josiah had a heart arrhythmia that never showed up before so they knew they would have a cardiologist come in and look at him when he was born. So they did and the cardiologist ran tests and determined he had a hole in his heart and that it would more than likely close on it's own by 6months of age...good news, but still a concern. The cardiologist also noted that he watched the Patent Ductus Arteriosis (PDA) close while he was doing the testing. The PDA is a heart valve that is open during gestation and allows the blood to by-pass the lungs, but after birth it closes within an few days. We went back to the cardiologist at 6 months and found that indeed his hole had closed up beautifully...thank you very much Lord! We also found out that his PDA had opened back up for some reason and that is was a rare occurrence for this to happen. He didn't feel like it would close on it's own, but wanted to wait another 6 months to see and if not he would have to have surgery to repair the valve. It was a long, anxious 6 month wait. Josiah was never a very good eater, he never ate more than a 4 oz bottle at a time and was a sweat head with the littlest of effort. Well, it all became clear after the PDA diagnosis that his little heart was working extra hard to do the simplest of things. When I brought these concerns to his pediatrician (before we knew about the PDA) he was never too concerned because he was large for his age and seemed to gain weight just fine. Ok.....crazy mommy is a little paranoid somethings wrong. Something was wrong and without all the little problems along the way, I fear we would not have found out the BIG problem before his little heart was just too tired. I am so thankful he turned breech so they would have to do all the monitoring before surgery and find the heart arrhythmia and then find the hole in his heart that would then lead us to the cardiologist who thankfully found the open valve that needed to be repaired. Seems like a long chain of events, but God knew exactly what He was doing and I'm so glad He is in control and not me. Left to my own devises I would have had him naturally and who knows how long it would have taken to figure all this out. For those who don't know, Josiah did have his heart surgery at 13 months of age and has done beautifully ever since. He eats great....obviously, you don't get to be 50lbs at 3 years old without eating good and he is no longer a total sweat head. A sign that his heart is not working on overload. I am so very thankful for God not leaving us to our own will, but that his will is done. Here he is with Daddy shortly after waking up and several hours later playing in his bed. Later that night, he was at home running around like a maniac and NOT sweating...it was great! check out Gratituesday and Talk about it Tuesday for more stories.

Sweet whole wheat goodness

I really like the idea of using whole wheat flour in my baking since it's much more nutritious than white flour. I also like the idea of using "unbleached" flour....who wants their flour bleached? eww! Anyway, I've found that Bob's red mill Whole Wheat pastry flour is great for use in pastries (hence the name) like cookies, muffins, pancakes, quick bread etc., but could never find a whole wheat flour that I liked for bread and roll making. Most made the bread much too heavy and just not very tasty. I have managed to make a decent roll before with white flour (the best, my husband says), but always came up short in my whole wheat roll endevors. Not any more! I have found, thanks to Laura over at Heavenly Homemakers (she grinds her own...seriously), that Whole Wheat flour made from hard white wheat is much softer and lighter in texture, but has the same nutritional value as that made from red wheat. Once I learned this I went searching and let me tell you, this stuff is hard to find! Sure, I could order it online, but I find that to be a hassle and I certainly don't want to pay shipping charges. I finally found some and it is made here in Kansas so it's local and I love that. It is Hudson Cream whole wheat flour and I found it at Price Chopper. It is so much lighter and softer than regular whole wheat flour and doesn't weigh down your dough. I'm so thankful to have finally found a better alternative than regular old processed white four and it still tastes great! visit Laura's Gratituesday, Kitchen tip Tuesday and Talk about it Tuesday

Sweet relief

I am extremely thankful for my Dr. who gave me some sweet relief yesterday. I, of course being all knowing of medical things, told people I just don't think I have "dry sockets" when they would bring that up as a possible reason as to why my jaw/head/mouth hurt so badly almost a week after having my wisdom teeth pulled. I was certain the antibiotic just wasn't working to clear up my infection and I just needed a different one......Wrong!! I have "dry sockets", whatever that is. I do know it's extremely painful and pain medication just won't touch it. When you have dry sockets they pack your little tooth hole with this nasty tasting little piece of gauze, but I tell you what I could have hugged that nurse....my pain was gone in about 10 minutes and I went skipping out to the car just as happy as could be. Well, as happy as I could be with a nasty taste in my mouth. I have to keep going back every other day to get a new nasty piece of gauze put in, but hey it's much better than feeling like your jaw is going to explode. I can actually think today....so happy for that. My house is a natural disaster area, but the kids go back to school tomorrow and I am going to reclaim my house. It feels good, to feel better.....even if it's not perfect yet. God is so very good! Visit Heavenly Homemakers for more Gratituesday and Laura is doing a tutorial on Sour Dough starter.....that girl has lots of info ladies.

Mercies new each day

I am thankful for a God that shows his mercies to me each and every day!

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father; There is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not; As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be. Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided; Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me! Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, Sun, moon and stars in their courses above Join with all nature in manifold witness To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide; Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Head on over to Heavenly Homemakers for more GratiTuesday

They played "Christ" music!

This morning I am so very thankful for my sweet little 8 year old boy who was so excited when he came home from school yesterday and announced that "they played that song mom, you know the one I've been singing and can't get out of my head". Let me explain. At the beginning of the school day (public school) they play a little music to get the kids attention and then they have morning announcements. It's a fun little thing the kids seem to enjoy and the music is acceptable music, but yesterday it was very exciting. Exciting enough that Corban remembered it throughout the entire day and rushed home to tell me about it after school. "It was Christ music" he announced. As a family, we generally only listen to K-love or our local christian radio station and Corban is pretty musically inclined (definitely gets that from his dad) so he knows all the songs by heart and sings them constantly. I'm not even sure what song it was, but it was obviously one he's been singing lately and likes very much. I am thankful for his sweet heart and his wish that they would play "Christ" music everyday so all his friends could listen to it and love it like he does. For more Gratituesday visit Laura's Blog

An attitude of gratitude

So very thankful for many, many things in my life. Here are a few I thought I would share with you today...

• A heavenly father who loves me unconditionally
• A wonderful husband who always puts my needs/wants above his own (although I try not to take advantage)
• A smart, silly daughter that makes me giggle
• A son who genuinely cares about other people
• A 3 year old who woke to a dry bed this morning (this is a rare occurrence lately)
• A nice home to live in (realizing many are losing theirs lately)
• A stocked pantry, fridge and freezer
• Steady income ( seems simple enough, but many are without these days and we too have been there and know how it feels to be unsure of what lies ahead)
• A car that gets us where we need to go (and back)
• Family that lives close
• Friends I can always count on in good times and in bad

check out Laura at Heavenly Homemakers for more Gratituesday