Friday's Ramblings

It has been a good week. A very good week. David and I committed some time back to using Tapestry of Grace as our spine curriculum going forward. Lord willing, we will use it all the way through. To say that I am excited would be a gross understatement. And I know David is excited too, because he has been playing with the book lists, organizing, prioritizing, sorting by what our library system has, and highlighting in various ways within Excel. And we have been on a book buying binge the last couple of months.

But this week in particular has been good. Sunday, a dear friend informed me that not ONLY had they officially decided to homeschool their two boys next year, but she purchased Tapestry too! Yeah! Thursday morning, my other dear homeschooling mom friend told me that she and her husband, after a lot of prayer, talking, and reading ALSO have purchased Tapestry! The support will be wonderful and fun!

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This week has been refreshing in many ways. It's always nice to feel a renewed sense of community with people. Not only my fellow homeschoolers, though I need that too! But I also got a chance to get away last weekend with 3 other friends - friends that from the exteriors, you would say, "really? You four?" Our interests, hobbies, life walks, etc have all been so different. And yet, we had deep fellowship because we had the most important thing in common - our faith in the Lord and our desire to see His Bride, the church, truly beautiful. It is such a blessing when God opens your eyes to see, again, the gift of fellow saints.

And yet, with true community comes greater pain. One of our dearest friends here lost his father yesterday. It was sudden and unexpected. And because we love our friends, we hurt for them. When a fellow saint is struggling with how to help their teen, you feel it more personally. True community hurts more, doesn't it? And perhaps that is why we are seeing less and less of true community. Especially in the church. It takes time, which we often have parceled out to too many places. And it hurts. Hurts to see others hurt. Hard to hold each other accountable. And yet, there is deep joy in knowing that you have THAT kind of community.

Ummm, there's a hole in my wall!

The Great Chimney Demolition of 2010-2011 (and Lord willing, it WILL end in 2011 and not extend to 2012!) made great strides this weekend. In December, when David's brother, Migl ( Jack's new spelling for Michael) was here, they managed to knock the chimney below the roof line so that a new patio roof could be put in. This is about where they got it:

This past weekend, David and buddy Todd, got the rest of it out. This involved:

* 9 hours of jackhammering
* dust. dust. more dust.
* that's really about it

You know you have good friends when they will give up a Saturday to literally have their body jerked around by a jackhammer. Todd has new appreciation for "Shaken, not stirred." And then, his darling wife, Wendi, brought the men a nice big lunch from Pei Wei, because she knew I was a little tied up with the kiddos. And she knew that David could not have gluten OR grains. And she knew what he could have from Pei Wei that would meet his needs. We are blessed with good friends. Which I may lose by posting this picture....

And if I am totally honest, I have to say I was LAUGHING when I took this picture. How cruel am I that I laugh in the face of such misery and pain? But oh....those poor tired faces....and they still had about 4 hours left after this picture was taken!

So at the end of the day, I had this:
Yes, that is my living room you can see THROUGH THE WALL. But the chimney is out and we are nearly ready to reclaim the lost wall space that was wasted in the fireplace that we never once used.

Next on the list, besides the obvious fixing the wall is scraping the popcorn ceilings in this room. Messy, but nearly as messy as the re-texturing is after....I find that stuff they spray up there in the strangest places for months afterward. Ah well. As Jack puts it, "We keep working and working on this house. And pretty soon, it's going to be the best house ever!"

Garden Fun!

This past weekend my family came down and helped get my garden in. David and Jack had been building the boxes over the past week or so, and it was time to get them filled and plants in.

We did 5 beds, each one about 4x8. Raised bed gardening is recommended in Phoenix as it is more water efficient and easier to keep tabs on the health of the soil.
My mighty men, flexing their muscles. David hauled a ridiculous amount of dirt from the front driveway to the backyard!

The kids had so much fun watering the plants once they were in...
My brother helped get the fencing up to keep the bunnies and dogs out....
And Pete did lots of cuddling with his Papoo...

It is very exciting and somehow satisfying having a garden. Granted we have not actually gotten anything out of it yet....but it will be good. assuming the frost didn't kill everything. But here is the lineup for this planting season (we get two short planting seasons in Phoenix...one in Spring, which is now, and one in fall):

*broccoli
*cauliflower
*sugar snap peas
*Green beans...lots of 'em
*cilantro
*basil
*parsley
*carrots
*cantaloupe
*watermelon
*cucumbers
*peppers ... bell and hot
*tomoatoes

And some sunflowers and various flowers that bugs hate. =)

Later this afternoon, we will go take all the coverings off the plants and see how bad the frost was to them!

From the mouths of babes....

Or at least 5 year olds....

I was tidying up the house for the 5th time this morning while Jack was busy doing something at the table. When I came to see what he was so absorbed in, this is what I found. I love it. God IS good because He WAS good. Has always been good....and thus can continue to always be good. And then the only response that you can possibly come to when that all sinks in: I love Him.