We have lived to tell about it!  I am still traumatized over the storm.  I went into town (about 30 miles a way) to buy groceries, etc.  We were there quite a few hours.  The weather looked nice when we left that morning.   After leaving the Wal-Mart we had to get animal foods at the Tractor Supply.  That is where we heard the first of the horrible storm approaching.  The cashier told us it was southwest of where we lived.  We got gas and there we heard the storm had tornadoes associated with it.  We are new to Texas and this weather thing.  In Vegas the only weather issue is heat.  Out here in Texas it is so unpredictable.  Anyway, we started heading back home.  It looked scary and dark, but it was pretty calm so we continued home.  After all what else did we have to do but drive home.  (I had $800 worth of food and stuff in the van that would spoil)  We were fine for the first 20 miles.  Then it looked as if the black sky was sitting on the area where my house is.  We reached our small town and still had 5 miles to go.  That is when the storm hit us straight in the face.  I have never been in a storm like that before.  I definitely had never driven in a rain that overwhelmed the vehicle and made it impossible to even see your hood.  I kept driving trying to keep my van on the road.  (it is a 15 passenger van)  The wind was blowing it all over the road way.  The kids were frightened.  We were all praying.  I just kept driving, straddling the shoulder, using the white line as a guide when I could see it.  Finally we saw our mailbox and turned into the drive.  I have never felt happier to be home.  My husband was just leaving to come and find us and help lead us home.  It was so scary.  I wish there was a way to convey the feelings I had.  Praise God we made it home safely.

I am in a little town.  It is between Abilene and Fort Worth south of I20. We are in Eastland county.

In Texas it was hot and muggy today.  There wasn't much sun out today.  We went to church this morning.  It was such a great message.  I felt convicted and motivated all day long.  After church I came home and made lunch for everyone.  I put a movie on for the little kids and ran with a couple of my older kids to buy tomato and pepper plants.  We bought 30 tomato plants and 20 pepper plants.  So now the garden is getting fuller and nicer looking.  We have 145 onions planted and 50 potatoes planted.  I am not sure what we are suppose to plant next, but I am excited to find out.  I am trying to get used to things out here in Texas.  It is another country compared to Las Vegas, NV.  My oldest son started planting the veggies as soon as we came home.  I went inside and started dinner.  Our church had a children's musical planned for tonight.  After dinner I took 10 of the kids to the musical at church.  It was very cute!  My son stayed home and planted the veggies.  My oldest daughter stayed home and finished the laundry.  When we came home from church it had rained.  I was happy the tomato and pepper plants were already in the ground  (he actually still had a few pepper plants to finish planting).

I don't have anything exciting to write about.  Oh!  This isn't exciting, but it is something.  We are all being eaten alive by some bugs.  I am assuming mosquitoes, but who knows?  I have at least 10 all over me, and some of my kids have 5 times that amount of bug bites. 

Have a great night.

blessings,

Bren

Today it was very warm here in Texas.  There was a breeze (as usual), but it was nice and warm.  We are in need of some rain.  All of the grass and flowers are a little sad looking.  They are much harder to pull when they are dry rather than green and healthy.  We burned weeds all day again today in our fire pit.  The kids are loving having the fire going all day long.  My husband repaired fences on and off all day long.  We continued picking weeds.  My oldest son made homemade ice cream.  In Las Vegas we had an ice cream maker that used rock salt and ice.  I found an ice cream maker at Costco that doesn't require anything.  You just have to freeze the bowl and add the ingredients and it mixes it into ice cream.  My son made chocolate ice cream, mint and chip, and tonight he made coffee ice cream for tomorrow's dessert.  If anyone has a fabulous ice cream recipe please let me know.

We have Trading Days in our little town.  It is a swap meet.  Tomorrow we are going to go to trading days to see if there is anything I can't live without.  I love antiques and country furnishings, but with so many in one house I have to be careful not to clutter or crowd us out.  I have to have everything neat and organized.

Anyone in Texas?

Blessings,

Brenda

Well today we picked weeds.  Well, actually they are wild flowers.  My husband said they will crowd out the grass which the animals need to eat.  I actually cried out in protest the first time he told me we should pick the flowers, because it felt like murder.  They are so beautiful and there are so many of them.  We have 22 acres.  They cover at least one-third of the fields.  We gathered all of the kids and picked weeds for at least a couple of hours.  The kids are such great helpers.  We couldn't have done it without them.  Tomorrow we will finish the first field and move to the next one.  To help understand how many flowers we are picking, we filled the bed of a regular pickup truck 4 times.  We have a fire going trying to burn all of the dead tree branches, and we started burning the flowers.  They didn't burn real easy at first because they are green, but after half a day they were burning much better.  I can barely move.  The back of my thighs are killing me.

If you want to know some of my background and learn about my children and their adoptions, you can go to homesteadblogger Many Hands Make Light Work and read all about it.  I am no longer writing on that one.  I had trouble getting my password and getting it to work.  In the mean time, we moved and things changed and I decided to start fresh.

Thanks for the words of encouragement.  It has gotten a little easier, but still it is so different than what I thought it would be.  It is a little lonely (I left my parents for the first time.  I am ONLY 39 and I feel it is much too soon to cut the apron strings. ) My sister moved here with us.  She is staying with us while she closes on her house.  She has 6 kids.  So, our house is full.  We must have been quite a sight picking weeds.