Making Jam and Jelly!

I have discovered that I love making jams and jellies!

The red jars are strawberry jam.

The green jars are yesterday's creation: hot pepper jelly.

(The pepper jelly is my husband's favorite!)

Jekyll Island, Georgia

Jamie and I decided to take the kids to Jekyll today. We were there a couple of weeks ago, and it was simply beautiful and fun! When we arrived just before 11 AM today, this is the beach that greeted us!

I looked at Jamie with concern, but he assured me that soon the tide would be headed to a low...and we would have plenty of beautiful beach to enjoy. (There was very little beach, and a lot of debris!) Trusting him as I do, I decided that I would not rain on the kids' parade as they seemed unaware that we did not have a big, beautiful beach on which to play. Sure enough, within an hour...my husband was right! :-) We had a wonderful time, and I can't wait to go back!

Creating a Scrapbook!

I have always wanted to scrapbook, but I was overwhelmed with the idea of trying to "go back" and create something from all the years of pictures. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I was in Statesboro by myself (what a RARE occurrence!), and I decided to visit Hobby Lobby. While there I made up my mind that I would purchase just a few basics and try to create some scrapbook pages from some recent pictures. I convinced myself that I would just focus on one page at a time instead of trying to capture on entire event. (I am one of those people who has to break things down into smaller chunks, or I end up a large, impossible task because I have simply made it TOO BIG!)

After spending only $25, I decided to try my hand at creating a memory book that my family could enjoy. I would have never guessed that I would get so much enjoyment from doing this...I think I have found a new hobby! While I have looked online at a variety of ideas, I quickly realize that my work demonstrates the skills of a beginner, but I decided that it is okay that I am not making these really complex pages. I may work up to that, or I may simply continue as I am. I am very excited about this new endeavor, so if you have any tips, hints, or ideas...please feel free to let me know!

Here are a few of my first pages:

This is one of the pages I created to highlight our March Disney vacation. I created this one the first day that I attempted to "scrapbook."

These two are pages that I created today. I bought a couple of sheets of school-themed paper for this. I think they have turned out fairly well, so I am going to buy a few more school-themed sheets to finish up the 2008-2009 School Days section.

Father's Day 2009

I feel very blessed to not only have a wonderful husband, but he is also a terrific father!

Life is good!

Death by Vegetables!

This past week has not only been busy but also very tiring! My latest realization of why God is great is that I was definitely born in the right time period. I am not sure that I could have survived had I been born in the times where it was not just a summer ritual but a necessity that vegetables are gathered and put up for the winter. My sister Kathy and I have put up corn this week, and while I feel sure that our freezers should be full due to effort alone; they are not.

Even though the work was tedious and tiring, I did enjoy the time I spent with my sister. She is almost 18 years older than me, and she enjoyed an adult relationship with our mama that I will never be able to have. When I spend time with Kathy, I learn so much about mama that I never knew. I am very thankful that I have a sister with whom I can spend time and enjoy her company. Yesterday as I left the farm, we left each other's company with promises of meeting again next year to once again put up corn and enjoy time with each other.

Brooke's Back!

Yesterday seemed to take forever as I waited for 2:00 PM to come, so I could call and check to see where Brooke was on the route home from camp. I spoke to Mrs. Rachelle, the 4-H leader, and she said they would arrive about 2:30 in Reidsville. I was very happy to hear this, and my heart sailed when I saw her with bags in hand...ready to head home. I asked her how she enjoyed camp, and her reply was that it was...okay.

Okay, is not the response I was expecting. I really figured she would say that she either lovcd it or hated it...but what did okay mean? Once we got home, we sat down on the couch and she told me a little about her week.

It seems that Brooke does not like the idea of a public pool as she only went swimming once, and then she decided that some of the kids at camp were not bathing as she thought they should (daily)...yet they were swimming in the pool. Brooke decided that there was no way the pool could be kept clean under these conditions, so she was not venturing back in...

Brooke was also concerned that some of the kids were simply not responsible enough to be at camp because of the amount of money or other items that the kids seemed to lose. Brooke said she just could not see how someone could bring their purse with them to class, but then forget it just a little while later. Brooke was also shocked that if someone found a purse, they would remove the money from it. She told me that she just did not know what was happening these days...

While I sat and listened, I heard something that made me feel good about the job that Jamie and I have tried to do as parents. Brooke told me that the week had made her appreciate how much time her Daddy and I spent with her and Zach; she was glad that she had rules to follow, so she would know what the rules were when we weren't there to remind her...and she said that no matter how aggravating her brother could be at times...she missed having him around because he was the one person who always thought her ideas were the best ideas he had ever heard of...

We missed her too... :-)

Can you keep a secret?

Whenever someone comes up to me and says, "You are never going to believe what Zach told me," my palms begin to get sweaty and my mind races as I try to prepare my reaction for what I am about to hear. Well, this past Thursday evening when I arrived to pick Zach up from VBS, I had that moment. A gentleman, who has a son Thomas that is Zach's age, came up to me and said those very words. I smiled nervously and replied that I could only imagine what Zach had said. Thomas's dad went on to tell me that while they were eating supper, Zach asked him and Mrs. Phyllis, Zach's VBS teacher, if they could keep a secret. Of course they told Zach that they could!

Zach went on to explain that his mama was just going to die when she realized what he had done. (Now, this is the exact way that I heard this retelling, so in my mind I am silently praying that whatever it was that Zach had done...please Lord, don't let it be so bad that we have to either move or simply never go into public again!) I kept smiling and listening to the secret that Zach shared that he was sure would cause my death...Thomas's dad continued the story by saying that Zach then leaned over and whispered, "I'm at church, and I am not wearing any underwear!"

Mrs. Phyllis came up at this point in the story and told me that Zach then leaned over to her and said that you really aren't suppose to wear underwear with a bathing suit. Now, I am guessing that in Zach's mind, he thought that everyone would assume his blue shorts with loud orange blossoms on them were just another pair of shorts and not a bathing suit, especially since he was wearing a t-shirt and shoes with them. Both the adults thought this was extremely funny, I on the other hand can appreciate the humor now, but I was on the brink of heart failure wondering what secret my child had just shared with other members of our church...a secret that would make me want to die...thank goodness it was just that he wasn't wearing underwear at church.

By the way, for those of you wondering why I would send my 6-year old to VBS in his bathing suit...it was the night that water activities were planned, so I was trying to make sure he was dressed appropriately. I guess Zach questioned the appropriateness of his dress!