Calm Spirit

Where have I been? Enjoying a calm spirit! A week ago, my mom came up for a surprise visit. I say surprise because for a retired lady she sure is busy. I guess being the mom of 7 never ends. Anyway, she came up and took the kids and I to the Lynden Craft Show. I felt like a kid getting out of school for the day. Only shopping and coffee. No laundry, dishes, fights (amen), and such. A total treat! Wait it gets better. Then I was able to go to a women's retreat for the weekend (more about Above Rubies later). Once again, no laundry, dishes, fighting, all my meals were made for me, lots of coffee anytime, and God's word and will poured out on me !!!! It was great. Then in a couple of more days it was time to see my mom again! How cool.

We have been studying rocks in preparation for Easter (Jesus is our Rock of Salvation, the stone that was rolled away). We collected rocks and made our own.



Then we went on the Seattle Underground Tour with my parents


Here is an old bank vault that my treasures were interested in. And of course, Isobel can find a bathtub anywhere even underground!


Ok, who is shocked? It is me and my parents it was bound to happen.

We finished our day with dinner and a hot tub. It was great. Thanks moma and papa.

Next came Easter. Amen! Amen! Amen! We did the Resurection cookies, but there are no pictures because I was realy trying to focus on Everett and story. One more dinner I did not have to cook and here we are. I am back to the laundry, dishes, meals, and such. But with such joy and a calm spirit, it seems just as nice as the previous week. Thank you Lord for my family and home and the privleged position to care for it for your glory.

Field Trip to City Works

We took a behind the scenes field trip through the Parks and Rec. We were able to see where and how they make all the city's signs, a bucket truck, a police car, an ambulance, and a fire truck. Such boyville! Lights, tools, lifts! It was like being on a live Lego or play mobile set.

Mothers Note: Just glad this is a picture of him in an ambulance and not the police car.

Lesson Learned

We started our own seeds!
Step 1. Fill with dirt. (Notice no manure or pitch forks!)

Step 2. Sow seeds

Step 3. Water (Notice no water hose!)


Step 4. Pray (the whole way through)

Just in case you were wondering, the watermelon is doing well

Poop Soup & Kids With Pitch Forks

How are you still reading this?

What a scary title yet you want to know more? Ok . . .

Back out at the Food Bank Garden, we were given charge to mix potting soil. It's dirt, manure, fertilizer. It's not rocket science, but add water and two water bugs and you get "poop soup". In my children's defense, they were told to fill up the wheelbarrow with water, so thats what they did.

Ok, now mix it all up.

After many buckets of dirt and manure to make it workable, it was ready for the seeding trays. Go Bel! Everett is up next. He makes four rows for his seeds and sows them.

Next comes the label.

On to the next one . . . .

Seeds

I totally shy away from growing things other than kids. This however is a surprise to everyone, especially me. A sprout! We planted this watermelon seed (it's all we had on hand) back when we were studying creation and the days of the week. That was so long ago. I was not surprised to not to see any growth, yet frustrated as we head into the planting and growing seasons. Until Monday. Yeah, one little survivor.

None to soon as today was our first day out on the farm. Along with attempting our own garden (not counting our vegetables before they are picked), we will be doing all the same work and harvest for our local food bank. There is a designated farm in our area where volunteers prep, sow, weed, care, and harvest food to be donated to the food bank. We had a great time establishing the rows and getting dirty with grandma.

One gentleman asked how old Everett was. After I told him that he just turned 5 he was shocked. He said that he had a grandson a little younger than that, but you would not get nearly the same amount of hard work from him. He was impressed and I was proud! Thank you Lord for such a great kids. Our prayers at night are that people would see something special about us and that they would come to know that it is Jesus. Amen.