Julie's Garden

Julie planted a small garden this year.  We have tried gardening a few times in the past, but we haven't had much yield.  This year, Julie and Jimmy put the garden in a completely different place on our property.  Back in the winter, we had a well dug, and that left a good portion of the grassy area around our barn bare.  They decided to put the garden in that spot.

So far, this location has proven to be successful!  Here is a link to pictures of Julie's garden.  I cannot wait to see how many tomatoes we get.  Hopefully, there will be enough to can for the winter.

Today Is Our Anniversary

Who are these kids?

We were married on this day, 21 years ago.  I have now been married half my life!
I love being married, and I love my husband dearly.  He has taken such good care of me over the years, and especially these last few months.  I would not have made it through my diagnosis of breast cancer and surgeries without him.  Jimmy truly is my better half!

Jimmy and the boys left around 5;30 this morning to go fishing.  We plan to spend the rest of our day together...running errands and doing chores around the house.  We also plan to have a "date" of some sort later tonight.  Maybe Starbucks after supper.  I always enjoy a little bit of alone time with my sweet husband.

Jimmy's Father's Day

 Jimmy with his children

Here is the knife that Clay made for Jimmy.  He had it wrapped in layers of paper inside a large box.  

 a pretty Father's Day card

 another card--made by Sam

 Olivia and Clay

 Sam, loving on his big brother!

 Sweet sisters--Julie and Leah

Julie made Jimmy a scrapbook of pictures from our trip to Boston.

Happy Father's Day Jimmy!

Menu and Miles

Miles:
This week's total is 18.  The breakdown is 6,3,3,3,3.  I ran 3 this morning.  I plan to run 6 tomorrow, and then the other 3 miles on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  I did an Insanity workout last week after running 3 miles one day--Cardio Recovery.  It was tough, and I was sore!  I plan to do that workout (without running 3 miles beforehand) this Wednesday.

Menu:
Monday--pasta salad, green salad, fresh fruit
Tuesday:  tacos
Wednesday: chickpea cakes (served on buns), oven fries, salad
Thursday:  stir fry, salad
Friday:  cajun beans and rice, salad

Later this morning I am taking Olivia to our local community college campus to register her for college algebra and English Comp I for the fall semester.  She will be dually enrolled--in college and high school for these classes (they will also count for her senior year math and English credits).  She has already received her official letter of college admission acceptance, which was quite exciting!  As hard as it is to believe that Olivia will be a senior in high school, it may be even harder to believe that I will also have a first grader!  I hope I will have as much energy for the next 12 years as I have had for the past 12 years!

You can visit Orgjunkie.com for more menu inspiration.

Saturday

Well, what a full and fun week it has been!  We so enjoyed having Jim and Paige Deason stay in our home this week.  It is always so much fun to get to know new people!  Jim preached excellent and inspiring sermons each evening.  Last night's lesson, entitled What Will You Leave Behind? was especially thought-provoking.  I am also reading In His Steps, and both that book and Jim's sermons have given me much to think about, and much to improve in my life.

Jimmy has taken the older three children to Shiloh National Park to run with Koach and the other Corinth area runners.  Then while Jimmy runs even more, the children are going to ride their bikes beside him.  Sounds like fun!  I have Leah and Sam home with me.  We have a trip to town planned (Hobby Lobby, Sam's, and Kroger), and then we are going to spend some time in the pool.

This afternoon when everyone is back at home, and has had time to rest, we will enjoy a family supper of fresh vegetables and then we will work on our Bible lessons for class tomorrow morning.

We plan to finish all of our schoolwork for the year except for reading on Thursday, June 21!  We have to work really hard Monday-Thursday to reach this goal, but we are all ready to check off this school year!  June 22 is our wedding anniversary.  I am not sure what all we will do that day to celebrate, but dishwasher shopping is on my list!

Happy Saturday to you all!

A Busy Week So Far

Jimmy is off this week, and we have been so busy!  Yesterday we spent the day in Memphis.  First, all of us except Leah and Sam (who see a local dentist) had our dental check-ups at my brother's dental clinic.  After that we went shopping at Costco and Target before hurrying home in time for our church service.

Today we all went for a family run this morning, and I am happy to say that I ran 5 miles!  For the rest of the day we have been working around the house....catching up on laundry, cleaning the house and baking.  We have invited the elders and their wives over for dessert and coffee tonight after our church service.

Monday afternoon a quick but damaging thunderstorm with 70 mph winds passed through our area.  Our power went out at 4:00 PM, and it did not come back on until 2:00 AM.  We have debris all over our yard (and it was in our pool too until I cleaned it out today), and Julie's garden suffered some slight damage.  Jimmy and Julie have spent most of the afternoon building a tall structure to tie her ever-growing tomato plants to.  They have outgrown their cages!

Clay has been making a door knocker in his forge.  I really need to take some pictures of both his forge and his blacksmithing.  I think that tomorrow Jimmy is taking him to Uncle Paul's to have some welding done.  I guess learning to weld is going to be next on Clay's list!

The older girls and I have plans to learn to quilt this summer.  We are each making a small quilt.  I ordered our fabric, and it came in today!  Maybe we can get started with the cutting tomorrow.

All of my school books for next year have arrived!  And we are still not through with this year's schoolwork!  But we are all going to work very hard next week to have everything completed except for Sonlight reading.

I have to get started on my lesson and craft planning for both Rustic Youth Camp and our VBS.  I am teaching 5 and 6 year olds at camp and the K-2 grade class at VBS.  Lots of fun, very rewarding, but lots and lots of hard work!

I haven't started on my new recipe binder yet, but I did buy some cute paper!

How has your week been?

Menu and Miles Monday

Menu
I do not have a menu planned for this week.....we have a lot of staples in our pantry, Jimmy is off this week, we are having a Gospel meeting at our church this week, we have dentist appointments, eye doctor appointments, etc., etc.!  It will be a busy week, and I am not sure how much time I will have in my kitchen.  So, I plan to cook my meals this week using what I have on hand in my pantry, refrigerator, and freezer.  I will have to stop by Kroger once or twice for produce, but I am not going to do a major grocery shopping trip until the weekend.

Miles
Total miles this week will be 17.
The breakdown is:  5,3,3,3,3.  I ran 3 this morning.  I plan to rest tomorrow, and then run the rest of the miles Wednesday-Saturday.

Lynn, Heather, and I are still working on our homemaking plans.  Lynn has been busy cleaning out closets and drawers, and Heather has revamped her recipe binder, complete with a cute cover!  That is on my list for this week:  make a new recipe binder.  I want to buy some cute kitchen-themed paper to print my recipes on.  I will post pictures when I am done.

Just Rambling

Today is Friday, and my to-do list covers one whole page in my notebook, two columns!  First of all, we have school today.  We are winding down this year's schoolwork, but we are not completely done.  Here is what's left:

Sam:  finish two Sonlight books
Leah:  about 20 math lessons, and she will continue to work in her Daily Grams and Building Thinking Skills books until she is through with math.  She also has daily independent reading and Sonlight reading.
Clay:  one more general science test, independent reading, and Sonlight reading
Julie:  two more biology tests, about 10 math lessons, finish her Mississippi History notebook, and one last play to read.
Olivia:  one advanced biology test, Sonlight reading

I can continue my part of the Sonlight reading throughout our summer.  In fact, when we finish this year's Sonlight books, I plan to read The Secret Garden, and then begin reading next year's Sonlight books.

I received an email yesterday saying that my Sonlight order (for next year) will arrive on Saturday.  In three boxes.  Weighing 91 lbs.!  That's a lot of books!  I have already told my children that they cannot begin reading the new books until they have completed all of their Sonlight books for this current school year.  After that, I don't care if they read every single book before August!

Also today, I have to clean my house (more than my normal Friday cleaning) because I am hosting a bridal shower for a friend's daughter tomorrow.  Also, we are having a Gospel Meeting at our church next week, beginning Sunday, and the visiting preacher and his wife are staying in our home all week.  You know what that means!  Clean the house!  And buy groceries and cook for the shower and the potluck dinner we will be having on Sunday.

I read this passage of Scripture in my Bible reading this morning.

"And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."

Philippians 1:9-11

That's a pretty tall order--so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.  I need to think about this verse all day.  As I am diligently working on my huge list, I need to make sure that my love abounds more and more, that I use the knowledge of how I know God wants me to act and treat those around me, to use discernment....to think about the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control), and let those qualities rule my actions today.

Yesterday marked 3 months since my mastectomy.  Physically, I am doing great!  I consider myself about 99% recovered.  I have full range of motion in my arms, but I still have minor muscle aches and twinges from time to time.  So I am afraid to do push-ups or any other arm/chest workout.  When I go back to the doctor in July, I am going to ask him if doing an upper body workout would help or hinder.  I am still so grateful that the cancer is all behind me.  To be honest, I still think about it almost every day, but it is usually with thoughts and prayers of thanksgiving.  Sometimes I wish I could have skipped this chapter in my life, but what is the use of that?  It is what it is.  It was God's will for me, and who am I to question that.  I feel like I have made the best of a less than favorable situation, and I hope that those who know me in real life feel like I have done that.  I have really tried.  I still don't know when my next and final reconstruction surgery will be, and I will be so happy when I do know!  So for now, I am gradually building up my running miles so hopefully taking 5-6 weeks off for recovery will not impair my marathon training too much.

I am off to begin my busy day!

The Summer List

I began making my Summer List yesterday.  I hope to finish it today.  It is already very, very long!  And I have not added any creative or fun things to it yet.  I listed each room or area in my home and made a list of every drawer, cabinet, closet, shelf and piece of furniture that needed cleaning out.  Today, I will finish the cleaning out portion, add some deep cleaning items, and also some fun/creative items.

I also ask my children to make a Summer List too.  They list areas in their rooms that need cleaning out as well as creative and fun projects that they would like to complete.  We are still doing school, but it is dwindling down.  Mostly we have reading (my reading aloud to them which continues year round and their independent reading) and math left.  A little bit of science.

After the lists are made, we begin working on them.  I will work on the list bit by bit, day by day.  Usually I will set a timer and work for 30 minutes at least twice a day.

I have found that if the children and I do not make a Summer List, the weeks fly by without us accomplishing much.  We still have plenty of unstructured free time, but I also want us to be productive too!

Do you have a Summer List?

Ten Reasons My Kids Like Being Homeschooled

I have a post today over at The Homeschool Classroom which lists 10 of the reasons my children like being homeschooled. When I asked my children this question, they were quick to give me a list!

Here is an excerpt:

More free time

My older children are well aware of traditionally schooled children’s school hours.  They realize that those seven to eight hours of school plus the hours spent in after school activities and then time spent doing homework adds up to a lot of time!

They appreciate the fact that they can complete their schoolwork in two to five hours, depending on the age of the child.  In their free time, my children enjoy playing outside in our woods, bike riding, roller blading, swimming, reading, games, dolls, books, and various other toys both inside and outside. Having more free time leads to reason number 2.

You can click here to read the entire list.

Menu and Miles

The miles:
The marathon mileage build-up training program that I am following (www.marathontraining.com) has you run 3 weeks where you gradually increase your total mileage, and then the next week you back off.  Then you repeat that cycle of 3 weeks of building and 1 week of less miles.  For me, this is week 4, so the total miles this week is 12.  I will run 4 days this week, 3 miles each day.

The weekly menu:
Breakfasts and lunches are basically the same here from week to week.  Here is my supper menu for this week.

fresh vegetables cornbread

veggie burger chips

15 bean soup cornbread

pasta with pesto EHH 205 or tomato sauce

stir fry vegetables rice

BBQ wraps onion rings

cereal or oatmeal

For more menu ideas, please visit Orgjunkie.com.
Have a great week, exercising and eating!

Running With the King 5K

Today our entire family, minus Olivia who is out of town with a friend for a few days, ran the Running With the King 5K, here in Tupelo.  Even Sam!  This was Sam's very first 5K.  In fact, this was the very first time that he has run 3.1 miles.  He has run 2 miles a few times, but this was the longest distance ever for him.  About a month ago, Sam told me that next time, he did not want to run the Fun Run (1 mile).  He wanted to run the 5K!  So I signed him up!

 Jimmy with the children before the race.

 I am carrying all of our race packets to the van while Clay waits to warm up.

The weather was perfect for a race!  I think the temperature was around 60 or lower at the race start (7:30 AM).  For today's race, our family ran in pairs:  Jimmy and Clay--with the goal of breaking 21 minutes, Julie and Leah, and Sam and me.

We all had a fantastic race!

 Leah and Julie after the race.  Leah ran a PR!

31:53

 Sam, flying to the finish line!

 Sam's official time was 36:52.

Sam had a racing plan.  His plan was, "No walking, no jogging.  Only running."  That was a lofty goal for a 6 year old!  He stuck to his plan except when we got to the water stop.  He walked for a few seconds while he drank his gatorade.  Then he threw down his cup, and began running again.  

The second part of his plan was, "When I see the finish line, I am going to turn on the speed!"  And he did.  The last three tenths he ran a sub 8 minute pace.  I could not keep up with him!

 Sam, cooling off after the race

 Sam and Jared

 Daily Mile Friends:

Greg, Me, Scotty, Lynn, and Jimmy

 Our annual family photo with the King

 Sam getting his trophy!  3rd place in the 9 and under age group.

 Leah getting her 2nd place award.

My children and Lynn's children who ran the race.

Clay and Jimmy did meet their goal!  Clay ran a PR of 20:30! 

Three Things

Recently I have been studying the book of Ephesians.  A few verses in chapter 5 have stuck with me.....

"Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.  And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.  But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.  

Ephesians 5:1-4

From those verses, I gleaned three things.

1. Imitate God.
2. Walk in love.
3. Give thanks.

That's pretty simple isnt' it?  Simple, but at the same time, hard.  In my Bible study notebook, I listed all of the attributes of God that I could think of.  And then I pondered imitating them. What a task!  But if I walk in love (I read 1 Corinthians 13 to remind myself of the characteristics of love) and give thanks in all things, I am on the right track.  I will fail every day.  Every day.  But I strive to keep on attempting those three things.