12 hrs. old...my twelfth niece...Miss Polly
Thanks to my mother for offering her house and help..to my sister for her willingness to endure a day of my son picking on her son...to my in-laws for generously sharing their apples...and most of all to God for growing the fruit..I am so blessed!
My mom doing what she called the "grandma job"!
Not able to wait for the sauce!
Our littlest helper... 4 1/2 months
We stopped counting somewhere around 40 quart. Not sure how many apples we started with and not sure how much sauce we each ended up with...but I AM SURE that we have enough applesauce in the freezer to last through the winter.
(Sorry, H, that I don't have any pictures of you working...either you didn't work or your daughter thought you weren't interesting, since she took all the pics!)
I'm so grateful today that my aunt went away for a long weekend and left her berry patch to me ~
...And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Matthew 6:28-30 ESV
...a pile of laundry to be done today...
...spring clothes waiting to be washed and hung in closets... 
...bag of clothes to return to friend who loaned them to us...
...shirts to iron...
...clean clothes that came in from the line yesterday...
Thank you, God, for your provision of clothing.
So, school books got put away because I need an attitude adjustment. Soon I heard a tap-tap on the back door. It was a dear friend with a sweet treat and an "I understand you've been having some interesting times" {She's been in the new-baby-now-mom-to-four category recently too} What a blessing her smiling face was today!
What's inside....??
mmm..mmm.mmmmm!
He was a very easy, content baby. Set his own eating/sleeping schedule and just easily transitioned to sleeping all night. His first protest to life was when we decided it was time for him to stop sucking his thumb!
My two biggest boys - waiting patiently
The chefs - sweet daughter with the idea, sweet husband with the kindness to help her pull it off!
Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes - they sure know what kind of recipe this mama would pick!
Complete with a gift of bubble bath - they do know what I like !
This little plaque was tucked down in the gift...it has the verse John 16:24 which says:
Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
I decided to put it on the little stand beside my bed. Because I'm sure that the time is quickly coming that when I hear a cry in the night I will groan {big-time} and wish I could stay snuggled in my warm covers. {speaking from experience..this isn't the first time I've had a newborn!} So I put it there to remind me to ask the Lord for strength, love and patience when I crawl out of bed, again, to care for our sweet baby.
So it has been a special start to my day. I have a family that loves me. Oh that I can show God's love to them as I care for their needs.
Meet my newest nephew.....
What a sweet baby...what a blessing from above!
And if you want to know, it's really hard for me to stay home and not go visit and stay for a LONG time! Nothing like that new baby skin!
Start the day with grapefruit....they were surprisingly very sweet and good. I wondered how they'd taste. You just never know with grocery citrus. (helps that they were on sale :))
Followed with a plate of pancakes. Made with love by hubby dear! Somehow someone elses cooking just tastes so good!
All stir-fried together and put on top of hot rice.
Add a side of sliced tomatoes and you have a meal fit for a king! At least this household thinks so (with the exception of Little M...it took a little creative encouragement to get him to eat his veggies. The funny thing is that I bribed him with tomatoes. "If you don't eat your stir-fry, you can't have any tomatoes." You know. Not a typical bribing tactic for 2 yr. olds. But he's not typical. He adores fresh tomatoes.)
I decided to leave out the meat. It seems that we consume more than enough animal protein, so I thought I'd try it without and see what the hubby said. I don't think anyone even noticed. Yay for a cheaper, healthy, filling meal.
If you are really savvy with kitchen colors, you will be able to quickly tell we were married in the late 90's. Blue was the color of choice for kitchens. And yes, I still use the same dishes. Although some are starting to chip and crack. I do have some nice white dishes waiting to be unpackaged, but I guess I'm a little more sentimental than I normally admit.
Anyway...I think the blue (most of the time paired with yellow or green!) gave way after a few short years to red. And now I have NO IDEA what the hot color for kitchens is. I'm stuck in my well-loved blue kitchen. You know the kind that newly-marrieds cringe at? The ones that have old scratched Tupperware, various styles of drinking glasses, and cracked dishes? Yes, that's my kitchen. But my little kitchen has served my family well now for 12 years and I have been able to serve them many meals cooked with love in a sea of blue!
We were blessed to be able to spend a long weekend with my family. We stayed in some very nice, clean cabins (with A/C!)
Gathering around the map to try to help the late-er comers find their way. In the end, we weren't much help....this time the gps was better! The cabins are way back in and can be tricky to find!
Lots of canoe rides were taken on the private pond...thanks uncle and grandpa!
The girls hangin' out on the rafts...catching some rays!
Jump!
