Garden of your heart

Hubby's fish and other pictures

Here is a picture of my husband and 1 of his fish he caught on one of his trips to Mexico, my hubby is the one in the red tank top:

Here is one from 2 weeks ago:

Have you ever seen a horse drink from a park fountain:

That is Kristi and Cody. It was taken last fall.

This next one is my father on his bike with his little dog George.  They ride around Vegas like this.  Aren't they cute!

Moose for sale.  As Shayna was listing some books for sale on E-bay her cat Moose was helping out.  Yup he wore some stickers that said 50% off and 75% off.  I think he thought he was worth more as you can tell he was not happy about his price .

God Bless, mj

Hannah cometh....

    We have had some rain from the outer bans of the tropical storm Hannah, today.  It was the kind of warm rain that the children could run and play in and that is exactly what they did!

   Seth and I awoke to our first co-op day, and our coffeehouse day!  Seth was so excited that he was awake by 7:30 this morning.  I have tried all week to get him up at 8 a.m!  But, this morning he was up singing and playing and asking if it was time to go to co-op.  He was actually looking forward to "going" to a science class. 

   Before we left, there were chores to be done and Bible time.  Beds were made--the house straightened--Bible--breakfast--a snack and lunch put together and packed up--floors vacuumed.  Then we were off for learning and leisure! 

   Angie did a wonderful job teaching and doing three experiments with the children.  We were studying atoms and molecules.  The children even made molecules out of fruit and toothpicks-which were gobbled up during lunch!  We made copper hydroxycarbonate.  This  was a beautiful shade of blue.  I know that Seth had a wonderful time and learned, too! 

   After the co-op and lunch was over-the children dashed outside to play in the pool.  It was later in the afternoon when the rain started, and we moms encouraged them to go and play in the rain.  They willingly obeyed!  They had a blast!  Seth said he is so tired tonight because he was up early, learned alot and played hard!  Maybe he will go to bed early! 

   Supper was simple.  A combination of leftovers and beef and peppers over rice.  Lee, my stepson, dropped by and stayed for the meal.  He was appreciative as ever.  He actually acted and sounded more upbeat than his last visit--thank you Father!  Prayers answered.  

   The rain seems to be helping my garden a great deal.  Even the collards are responding a little.  I still think I am going to have to replace them.  It is just toooo....hoooottttt for them!  Oh well, live and learn.

   The storm is supposed to be in full swing sometime tonight.  Tomorrow is going to be wet and messy.  I really do not know what I want to do.  I like to iron when it is raining, so that is an option.  I could always bake, quilt on my quilt, read a book, sew or sleep.  Hmm....I guess I will just have to wait and see which one it will be.

                   That is it from the Beale Bungalow!

                                    God Bless!! 

TGIF

It has been a non-stop week.  I've had Little A and Baby R everyday, all day.  I was truely happy when 5:30pm rolled around and my house is now quiet but a bit unorganized ... especially the kitchen.        I am trying to get some laundry done.  I'm still not using the dryer.  It still has a strong smoke oder.  So,  I wash, then hang up the clothes in the bathroon on the shower curtain rod.  No clothes lines allowed in our community...strange rule!

I have  a cleaning job tomorrow.  Then I have to get my house in order.  We are hosting our HouseChurch Fellowship on Sunday.  Our study topic is The Armour Of God.  I'm not sure what is on the menu because it is a crock-pot-luck kind of meal.  I'm still trying to decide what to make for dessert...haven't had time to think about it, yet, this week.

For now, I'm going to curl up with my Bible and study our topic.

Hope ya'll have a great evening.

In Him,  Jill (the big sister)

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.   Psalms 23:1

Taking It Slow

I'm not usually one to whine. As a matter of fact, there is a joke among my friends that  my tombstone will read:  "I'm dead,  deal with it"

Now, I'm not a mean spirited person, I just don't like complaining for complaining's sake. I usually like to find the humor in things....if you've read my blog, you understand.

Today, however, I'm breaking the rules.

I hurt. I am almost positive it has something to do with the storms that are blowing in......(is that possible?)  It is an all over, crushing kind of hurt. I felt the same way when the remnants of Fay came to town. Yuck. Now I know what is meant by feeling the rain in your knees or whatever. I'm feeling it all over. It's certainly slowed me down today.

Enough already.....on to brighter things happening at our place:

Our stewardship this week focused on taking care of what has been given. With the tropical storms in the Atlantic heading our way, we worked around our property in an effort to protect what we have. We trenched in the back in attempt to channel a stream farther away from our out building. In the last storm, part of the building flooded. Normally, the stream runs underground, but when we got dumped on...it ran above too. We are waiting to see how well our prepartations work.

I've enjoyed hanging our clothes on the line for the past few weeks. I like the pace of the task. I realized it gives me a chance to slow down and enjoy the process. This is something I haven't done well in my life. I rush through many things, trying to get it all done. Hanging clothes is not something I can rush through easily. Today I was able to get a load or two out before the cloud cover came in. The sun has definitely moved recently. It does not feel as strong as it had a few weeks ago. That's another thing I like... a chance to connect more with the outside world. I get that when I work in the garden, but I enjoy these other times too.

The night sky was so clear last night , The Eldest got a chance to use his telescope. He focused on Jupiter and its moons. We all got to look.  Good stuff!

I've started the task of going through our things to give away, throw away, or sell. It's amazing how quickly we can gather "stuff" we don't need, that just adds bulk to life. I am looking forward to decluttering and simplifying once again. I enjoy the process of letting go. I think this time my move toward voluntary simplicity has really kicked in to motivate me. It's been a slow process though, as storm prep. took some time this week.

We'll see how much rain Hanna gives us this evening. Hopefully it will be a quick run. After all, I can only take so much of taking it slow!

Naise

Mom ,what one do you like ?

Kristi is a bad girl .  While we were out shopping she picked up on 3 guys, three!!!

Here is boy friend number 1, he's cute but kinda stiff:

Next we have boy friend number 2, but he is kind of two faced:

And last we have boy friend number 3, my favorite, he cost $74.36 just for 1 date, so he must be worth it :

Who says shopping at Sam's with a cell phone is not fun .  Kristi and I had a blast .  But really Kristi you need to stop picking up new boy friends when we shop.  LOL

Teenagers what can I do?!?!?!

God Bless, mj

Tough Day

Tough day at the Manor. We were short 2 people. Just me and the cook. We managed fine with the help of the Administrator. Man she can fly with the trays!

Well I flunked my test with Module 6. Back to the books and will try again. Apreciate your prayers for this particular test. Thankfully I can have another try.

We are having a cool day here. Cloudy out there. We had some rain this am. It feels very fallish. Believe it or not..Kirk and I have had our 2nd comforter on the bed. Yup...its been that cool!

Thats all for today.

Nettie

Who has the power over my life??

I know strange title. I was at my friend AmyJo's blog the other day and she had posted a post about a friend of hers that was thinking of leaving HSB.  One of the things AmyJo brought up was how sometimes we let other people have power in our lives. This really hit home.  I have been dealing with someting similar, I have been letting one person have power over my life. This person basically has used me and pretended to be my friend for over 2 years. I thought she was a Christian but she has shown me how people can come across as one thing and be something so totally different. That part doesn't matter as much as the fact that I was letting what she had done to me keep me from doing things that I liked doing.  One thing that Amy Jo said was " Don't let that person have power over your joy or peace level." "Don't let other's rule your life" this is so true . Now please don't get me wrong, I am a Christian but that doesn't mean that I don't ever make mistakes or do things or say things I shouldn't, but if I do something wrong I have the decency and courage to say I did this wrong and to please forgive me.  If I have a problem with someone I will go to that person as the Bible says to do in Matthew 18:15 "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass agains thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone; if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained they brother."

So my conclusion in all of this (and I thank Amyjo so much for saying what she said) is that I am not going to let anyone but God have power over my life. I will not let one person steal my joy or peace and I plan on starting to do some things that I had stopped because of this person. She is only one person and if anyone "sides" with her then there isn't much I can do about that. I have so many different things going on in my life that I don't have the time to worry about such silly things.

"Brethern, I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14

I will be pressing toward the mark and high calling of Jesus. I will not let anyone steal my joy or my peace and I certainly will not let anyone have power in MY LIFE!!

New Farm Shop

Sarah Palin

Written Wednesday, not posted til Friday!

Well, we did it, we restarted school!

It's been a very strange summer for us – almost none of the things I hoped to do got done, mainly because it never stopped raining long enough to do them!

We did survive Pony Club Camp, and having the kitchen floor ripped up, and the sitting room carpeted. We took a couple of trips, though not very adventurous ones, until last weekend when we left the animals with a friend and went up to wild, wet Wales for a Homeschool Conference. It was a wonderful time of fellowship, and we came back refreshed, and ready to begin again.

I guess God knew I needed the help, because our close encounter with the notion of christian school had left me a little disconsolate.

So today, we had a kind of trial run day, since tomorrow we are off to see a friend, and then Friday we will hopefully have another run through, and then Monday we can begin in earnest – and then I shall feel like autumn is here.