The Busy Bee Mama

A nothing day...

This is a peaceful evening.  There are three ducks in this picture...Donnie, me and Seth.  Robert Duncan's artwork depicts the mood of the Beale Bungalow tonight.   Very comfortable in our own little pond.  Sigh...

Today has been what I call a "nothing day".  Nothing much happened, nothing much done, nothing much accomplished.  I had plans, but as we all know the best made plans of mice and men..... 

I found myself with a knotted up neck at about 10:30 am.  I took something for it and after some schooling lessons were done...I had to go and lay down with heat on my neck and left shoulder.  My goodness--it hurt.  I, of course, fell asleep.  When I woke up a couple of hours later--I felt fine--no pain and I even had some precious energy.  Seth and I finished up our schooling lessons and a small amount of laundry was done. 

It was a beautiful afternoon, so Seth and I went out into the backyard and communed with the sunshine for awhile.  Our neighbor was out playing with some crow calling machine and the crows came!  It was neat watching the scouting crow fly by.  Then in just a few minutes later- a couple of crows flew by and perched on the near by trees.  Our neighbor said if he was hunting these crows would be "gonners"!  It was still very interesting watching the crows respond to this little black gadget.

Supper was Denise's Black Beans over brown rice with a pineapple and mandrian orange fruit salad.  Donnie and I thought is was really good.  Seth, well his plate is still on the table and he is not aloud to eat anything else until the majority of his plate is cleaned.  I can't cotton to wasting food. 

This evening is going to be just me piddling around the house getting some little chores done that I should have done today.  Oh well.... 

I am so excited!!!  Tomorrow is a special day for the kitchen here at the Beale Bungalow.  After months and months....The dishwasher is getting fixed!!!  I can't wait!!  So, I will be cleaning the kitchen really well tonight.  (This is that little piddling I was talking about.)   I view this cleaning sort of like flossing my teeth really well before going to a dental appointment.  You know, to make the dentist think you are really flossing and taking care of your teeth like you should.  Well, I want my repair man to think my kitchen is always wonderfully clean when he comes to check out my dishwasher.  Tee Hee!!!  And probably just like the dentist...he will know the truth.  (It just makes me feel better!)     

I will be having some house quests soon.  Marianne and her daughters will be staying here for a few days.  We are all waiting for our dear friend, Jessica, to go into labor.  All of us CHG's are anxiously waiting for Peter James Crawford Edwards to make his long awaited entrance into the world.  We are really excited!  Marianne, who has been traveling back and forth from Georgia, Virginia, New York and back to Virginia doesn't want to miss his arrival by going back down to Georgia, so she will bunk here for a piece. 

Please pray for Peter's safe birth.  He will be a home birth.  Jessica is 2 centimenters dialated...this will be her fifth delivery and her longest labor was like 5 hours!  I hope we don't miss it!!  Anyway, I am sure she would like everyone's prayers for her soon upon her labor and delivery of her fifth child....second son. 

Well, that is it from the Beale Bungalow.  No menu made yet.  The kitchen is calling me, so I must bid you adieu and tend to the flossing of one of most used rooms in our little home. 

Good night and God Bless!!

Today and yesterday...

This morning was marked by a beautiful, yet extremely wet, snowfall.  It turned out to be a snow rain mix, but it was still quite beautiful--too me.  The snow was coming down in large clumps, so large that one of my friends said being out in it was like driving in a snowglobe!  Funny....   (I am very fortunate that I do not have to be out in the snowglobe, but can stay in my Home Sweet Home!)

Yesterday was a very nice day for me and mine, as well.  There were the normal chores of vacuuming, dusting, laundry and schooling lessons, but everything went at such a nice pace--you know--slow and steady.  Anyway, it was quite enjoyable. 

Supper was beef and peppers over brown rice and corn--sweet potato pie for dessert.  Seth loves pumpkin pie, but I had some sweet potatoes and told him that these two pies favor in flavor and texture.  (My preference is sweet potato--yum!)  Needless to say, Seth ate two pieces then another before bedtime--that, too made my day.

In the evening I went to my CHG Jessica's house for a visit.   Marianne and her family minus one was there, too.  We watched the Ray Vander Leen dvd, He Heard Their Cry.  It was excellent!  We made it though 3 of the classes and we will finish sometime this week.  I highly recommend his teaching dvd's.  They are so well done and totally scriptural!  I love them!  So, we had a very wonderful evening and I would have stayed to finish the whole thing if it weren't for the snow coming down.  (Being from the south....I do not know how to drive in the white stuff even though I love it!)

So, what is on the agenda today.  Number 1--get rid of yet another headache.    Number 2-finish my last load of laundry.  Number 3-do schooling lessons.  Number 4-spend the rest of the day doing whatever I want!  I told Seth that today is going to a "mommy day"--I want to work on my quilt--watch a Jane Austen flick--and read.  Sounds like heaven to me.  Whether this actually happens will be my next blog entry....stay tuned....teehee....

Have a wonderfully blessed day!  God Bless...  

The more I do the behinder I get...

My day started out sort of rough.  I woke up with a slight headache which, of course, developed into a major headache.  I mean it was a whopperdoodle combination of neck, shoulder and head pain.  I took some ibuprophen, placed a hot wheater heater on my eyes and layed down on the couch for a long while.  The pain slowly subsided and I am totally fine now, but this little "guest" put me behind in my chores.

Schooling lessons are going so well that I am actually afraid to mention them.  It seems when I talk positively about our lessons...they suddenly turn sour.   Hopefully this week will be as fun and as productive as last week.  Seth's reading is always a little off on Monday, so I am hoping that by tomorrow he will be reading as well as he did last week.

We did have fun though.  We played math games, did a small art project with our science lesson, wrote out phonograms with alphabet pasta, finished reading Swiss Family Robinson and reviewed fractions, Roman numerals and the covenant of works and grace.  It was so warm and sunny today that we did our math and Bible lessons outside at the old picnic table.  Seth said today was "fun for a Monday." 

I made some laundry detergent, did a load of jeans, made two sweet potato pies, straightened the house, but I have a great deal to do this evening.  The picture at the top of today's post is called, Working Late, by Ray Hendershot.  I think it is a good depiction of what my evening is going to be. 

Oh well, that seems to be it from the Beale Bungalow, today.  Have a great evening and God Bless...

Such a nice Monday...

This has been a most satisfactory day for me-even though the sunshine gave way to gray clouds with a soft cold rain from about 1 pm on.  That is why I chose such a bright sunlit garden picture for today's entry.  Just a little taste of warmer weather in an art form.

I was up later than normal this morning--this made me somewhat lazy during the morning hours.  I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend, so getting back into the "work week" was a little hard, but with a little prayer and effort...I managed.

I have been reading to Seth some different books...Red Badge of Courage and Sherlock Holmes to name a couple...He is reading now...finally, but I want to really wet his appetite for good books, so reading to him and having him narrate back to me is a gentle way to get him interested in reading on his own.  This method also seems to be helping with his vocabulary and recall pathways. 

Anyway, Angie (CHG) lent me "The Swiss Family Robinson" and we started that this morning.  (These are the illustrated editions for younger children)  Seth was capitivated!  Bingo!   Thanks Angie!!  He begged me to continue....which is new to me.  He is usually begging me to stop, but I had to stop this morning to get our other work done.  Remember.....I got a late start.  I think he will enjoy our reading tomorrow morning just as well as he this morning.  Sigh....

I am noticing him slowing down in his math.  This frustrates me somewhat because I know how far behind he is....but....I want him to know his math...so I am slowing down for him.  I am going to work on some math games for this week.  He definitely learns better when he is having fun.

After schooling lessons were over we did some chores.  When I sat down to rest for "just a minute" I promptly fell asleep....ugh!  Thank heavens I didn't sleep long, but I must say I did feel much better afterwards.  I felt so good that within a short time the entire house was straightened up, laundry was continued and supper was started.

I made a lovely Seven Layer casserole for supper tonight.  Nice and easy.  Starting with layer one...browned hamburger with onions followed by sliced potatoes, carrots and celery, kidney beans then greenbeans.  This is supposed to be covered by cream of mushroom soup.  I don't buy these soups anymore, so I substituted with my homemade version.   I, being southern, added a little cheese on the top.  Baked for about and hour at 350 and an entire supper was done.  I liked it, but my guys really didn't.  I was raised on casseroles, Donnie was not; Seth doesn't like much with green in it...so this meal will not be repeated very soon.  Oh well....

With all this said....I did have a nice day.  Sometimes, being a homemaker is so rewarding.  Here lately, I have been in a not so rewarding phase.  Nothing I do seems to bring any form of satisfaction.  Then I kind of had a revelation from God....I don't need to be like others.  More dirt rubs on that clean rubs off.  I think this is about the one hundredth time God has revealed this to me....I am such a slow learner.  Sigh...  Anywho, I was just myself today....doing what I like to do without having anger or guilt was kind of nice. 

Now, I need to go and do the dishes.  Have a nice day and God Bless.

A special Valentine...

      Happy Valentines Day, Jesus!!!

It is lightly snowing again...

We are having a light snow this morning.  It is barely sticking to the ground and all the roads are clear, but it is so pretty coming down.  Today is going to be a day where I will do some chores and prop myself beside a window to watch the snow fall.  This will probably be repeated until the snow stops.  I just love looking at falling snow.  Sigh...

Let me see...what is going to be going on here at the Beale Bungalow today.  Well, Donnie is already out doing some running around getting some little errands run.  Seth will probably play his Wii and with his Star Wars toys most of the day.  I, on the other hand will be getting caught up on some laundry, reading and possibly some cookie making while I watch the snow falling. 

Yesterday, while I was at coffeehouse, I had a ham slowly baking in the oven, so we could snack off of it today.  Donnie really liked it which is good because that is what is on the menu today.   

I have decided to double up on ALL my supplements to ward off these mood swings I have been experiencing.  I am much calmer this morning since I done this.  I think I would rather have the hot flashes than the mood swings, but it is what it is and the extra supplements are helping.  (Much to my husband's pleasure...poor thing.)

I hope everyone is staying nice and warm.  God Bless.

Painting the church...

Today was a different sort of day for Seth and I.  Instead of doing our daily school lessons, we went to our church and painted.  It was a very nice "break" and we had a good time as well.

Our church has been in a construction phase for about two years.  It all started when one of the ladies noticed a separation in a wall.  Engineers were called in and sure enough we had structural problems.

The church building is old and several additions have been done over the years.  The problem was actually the ceiling supports.  I think they are called buttresses--they were failing.  The engineers said that the sanctuary was unstable and 27 tons could come down on our heads, so with God's leading and His many blessings we have rebuilt.  DEBT FREE!!!! 

The stories of the many blessings of this project are so numerous that it would take a long time to just tell you of the ones I know of.  Anywho, much of the work has been done by the church members, so today I joined the ladies painting party.  Everyone pitched in and before we knew it we everything done that could be done.  Many hands make for light work.

Tomorrow we will do our schooling lessons before going to coffeehouse, so Seth will stay on track. 

Well, that is it from the Beale Bungalow.  Have a great evening.

God Bless...

A white surprise....

I woke up this morning feeling the blues again, so after I got Donnie off to work I curled up on the couch for a morning nap hoping that I would feel better when I woke up for the second time.  It was a chilly morning so I wrapped up in my afghan and before I knew it I was waking up two and a half hours later! 

Upon waking I noticed that the livingroom seemed so much whiter than normal....I looked outside and it was snowing!  We were expecting rain, but there it was falling from the heavens....the whitest purest snow!  I just stood and took it all in.  Falling snow some how serenades my soul.  I cannot explain it.  I felt a million percent better than I did earlier this morning.

Once again I went to my back door--opened it--and just stood there absorbing that wonderful refreshing cold white light.  Sigh...it was fantastic.  I felt rejuvenated and turned on my heel and started my day with a bounce in my step.  

The coffee was on, laundry going, the house straightened, the beds made and breakfast was on the table with a sleepy son waking up and enjoying the same sights that I was.  We both love the snow.  Now, I know that I may not feel the same way about it if I lived in New Jersey or Pennsylvania or even Northern Virginia...they are dealing with feet of this frozen manna from heaven....I am only dealing with an inch...but that is the way it is here in Hampton Roads.  We are so near the coast and the warmer temperatures of the high and low pressure systems that we usually get rain or a few inches at best.  So, this morning was an added gift from God.  Smiling....

I was able to do some little odd jobs off and on all morning and into the early afternoon.  You know--little jobs like cleaning the microwave, cleaning out the refrigerator, washing down all the counters in the kitchen, and straightening the schooling supplies...just little jobs that actually brought a smile to my face when they were completed.  Falling snow just makes me content.

While I was folding some blue jeans and thinking about a curriculum for next year that I might want to try with Seth...I felt as though the Holy Spirit was whispering into my heart.  I have felt very defeated over homeschooling my son.  He is 12 and is now just learning to read.  I cannot put him on ANY chart for learning...He learns very slowly.  This is extremely frustrating for me.  Anyway, back to the jeans....I was folding and thinking when the HS spoke this..."You do not homeschool for "personal satisfaction"....You homeschool out of obedience to God."  Wow!  I actually had to run to my journal and write it down so I would not forget this.  Plus, I know me, I will have to ponder this and dissect it until I get to exactly what I believe the Holy Spirit was trying to tell me.  (I must be moldable now, because the Holy Spirit has been talking with me a great deal here lately.  Hard times seem to plow up fallow ground making the soul soil soft for the implantation of His Word.)  Sweet....

This was a pivotal revelation for me....those with panic attacks are usually trying to maintain a degree of "personal satisfaction".  It is usally called "control".  It can also be called "Ungratefulness" and "Selfishness".  Yep, sin has a lot of different names...Time to dissect and ponder.

I am boiling up and chicken for either Chicken 'N Dumplings or Chicken Tostada Pie.  I will decide which one when it is time to put it together.  I am leaning towards the pie.  We will see.

The Midnight Chocolate Cake was pretty good.  I have had a request for the recipe.  I will give that in my next post.  I need to go and find the recipe again. 

Well, that is pretty much it from the clothed in white Beale Bungalow.  I do hope you and yours have a wonderfully blessed afternoon and evening.

God Bless.... 

A nice winter's day...

                               Artist: S. Kendrick

It has been a nice cold crisp clear winter's day here at the Beale Bungalow.  All the snow and ice are now gone with more rain forcasted.  Oh well...it was nice when we had it.

Today has been lovely.  No rushing, no stress, no blues!  Yey!!!!  The sun was out and the natural light flowed into our home and filled it with everything calm and pleasing.

Schooling went very well.  Seth is finally reading and I am so excited and proud of him.  He is going to be an overcomer!!  Yes!!  We are plowing through math and other subjects as well. 

The routine housework was done....laundry, dusting, vacuuming and mopping.  I baked a Midnight Chocolate Cake today.  We haven't eaten it yet, but is sure smelled wonderful while it was baking.  The reason I chose this recipe was because I had more than the usual amount of coffee left over and I wanted to use it up somehow.  So, I will let ya know if it is any good on my next post.

Supper was pretty good, to me.  I don't really think my guys liked it much, but that is okay.  I can't win them all.  The last chore I have to do is finish cleaning up the kitchen.  This is a job that I have not enjoyed in a long time.  Funny, I used to live in the kitchen and now I am trying to find any excuse to not be in it.....oh, I will be glad when menopause is over and I can get back to normal. 

Well, that is about it from the Beale Bungalow.  Just a nice day.

Have a great evening and God Bless!!

(Jessica, I have been praying for you all day long.  Love you!) 

A lovely Winter's day....

The snow storm has turned out to be just a dusting, but God has lightly coated the trees in the crisp white of the robes of heaven.  Everything is absolutely beautiful!  I love it. 

I have found myself, several times,  going to my back door and just standing in the open doorway breathing in the "white cold".  While I was cleaning our bathroom I stook at the opened window doing the same thing.  This has been so wonderful for me.  I am thankful to have been able to see and enjoy the snow and it's cold temperatures, too.

We, as a family, went to the store for some last minute provisions for Super Bowl Sunday.  While we were in the store the temperature dropped a great deal, so we knew that the colder part of the storm was beginning.  After the groceries and treats were put away I laid down for a much needed nap.  My neck is still bothering me, but it has improved since my nap, I have noticed.  (For this I am truly thankful!)

When I got up the snow was falling and somehow that gave me some energy, so I piddled and putzed around the Beale Bungalow getting some odd jobs done.  Then I got busy...the house has been vacuumed, dusted, mopped and wiped down.  Two loads of laundry have been done with a load of towels waiting for their turn.  I even made some applesauce for my guys.  It has a nice productive afternoon.

Darkness is upon us now, so it is time to settle in for the evening.  We are having pork bbq with cole slaw, applesauce and french fries.  I am going to do some baking this evening, so the house will have that lovely "someone is in the kitchen" smell.  Winter is a lovely time here---today!  

Have a blessed Winter's evening and God Bless!!