I remember my mom making these for us when I was a child.
I broke the muffins apart and let Sarah do the rest.
Then, biggest brother came along and added even MORE cheese.
English muffin pizzas
all you need is English muffins, pizza sauce, cheese, and an oven
to have happy children with full bellies
a good cook knows it’s not what is on the table that’s important,
it’s what is in the chairs.
It’s still so weird to think about Jacob being twenty years old. Ah yes, young moms, the days are long but I am here to tell you that what *they say* about the years flying by is true. It’s not depressing news, it’s actually very ENCOURAGING! Whatever days you have going on right now are going to rapidly pass. What a blessing. Jacob was QUITE a handful for many years and now look at him, I barely have to parent him anymore. He’s all grown up and just needs a minor parental adjustment once in a great while (considering he does still live with us and all).
Jacob’s birthday is New Year’s Eve, so for the last few years it’s been a tradition for him to fill the house with his friends and stay up all night to celebrate his birthday AND the New Year.
PICTURE ALBUM:
Rich had his laptop connected to the TV so he could watch some of the wrestling matches from that morning. Zak (the one making the face) had hurt his lower back during his match so they were trying to figure out what happened. You can see the laundry I was still working on folding….after all these years of having people over to our house I’ve gotten gotten over the feeling that “it must be clean”. I have gracious friends.
Ethan and his girl.
They are soooooo cute.
Kylee was trying to braid Grace’s hair and Sarah was watching intently because she wanted to learn to braid. You can see the braids in her hair, I had done them a few hours earlier and as I was braiding, Sarah was saying she wanted to learn…..so it was providential that Kylee decided to practice on Grace, and Sarah could get a lesson. 🙂
Playing “SORRY”
And UNO
Caleb and Jacob; Caleb is Grace’s boyfriend, Grace has a brother named Caleb and Caleb has a brother named Jacob.
three of my boys (two are missing)– Ethan (18), Jacob (20), and David (14)
And one with their Dad, too.
Time for the cake! Dixie cups making things easier. And please notice my stack of small fiesta plates. 🙂
I can’t get over it.
Look at all these wonderful people.
I LOVE THIS PICTURE SO MUCH. Grace is so cute!
Sherlock’s favorite place to sleep these days.
best friends
Downstairs in the basement….we got a new couch for Jacob. Seats 10. I love how Seth (the little guy) stayed right with the bigger kids all night.
my Caleb
And Sarah (despite the face) LOVED being able to spend time with the girls.
Parker the Dog was in heaven (and spent the night trying to steal food and chew things up in order to get people to notice him). He was resting his chin on his stuffed animal in this picture.
I went to bed at 11 and when I got up there were kids sleeping all over the place. Ethan eventually made pancakes and then everyone left and it was just our family again.
And time to take the college boy back to Vermont.
*****
twenty pacifiers
twenty matchbox cars
twenty laps around the house
twenty times watching Busy Town
twenty naps resisted
twenty days of Kindergarten
twenty little green army guys
twenty light sabers
twenty lego sets built
twenty fish in the pond
twenty walks with the dog
twenty books read
twenty trips to the orthodontist
twenty pizzas eaten
twenty pictures drawn (with sharpies)
twenty albums bought for your ipod
twenty acts of kindness
twenty sweet kisses
twenty days of your first job
twenty songs sung
and only one you.
Happy 20th birthday, Jacob!
“Go back?” he thought. “No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!” So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and a pitter.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
I am eating this right now. It is so good…….
So last night I overfilled my goulash casserole and it dripped all over the bottom of the oven as it baked and filled the kitchen with smoke. As a result, I can’t make my lemon banana bread this morning until the oven self cleaner is done. It’s 34 degrees outside, the sun is shining brilliantly, my house is once again smelling of smoke as the oven cleans. I have windows and doors open to keep the smoke alarm from going off.
This morning the first thing she said to me was, “Can I put a puzzle together?” And then she asked me, “Are the Northern Lights REAL?” After questioning, I learned that she saw a picture of them in Kindergarten. The puzzle is of Alaskan animals and the Northern Lights can be seen in Alaska so I was floored by the entire conversation which occurred much too early in the morning (6:30am).
We bought this small piece of furniture this weekend from the guy down the road. He refinishes pieces and we really like him and his shop. It’s very rustic and down to earth. This small chest of drawers, very narrow but made of hard wood, has two shallow drawers and one deep drawer. From now on the mail and papers get stuffed into it rather than piled on the counter. The pile was driving me nuts.
I’m freezing..hold on…I gotta turn the fan off and shut the door….
We also bought this chest. The top opens and shuts without a latch which makes it easy to use and also no children or cats can get trapped inside of it. I’m using it to hold all the wrestling things and any back packs and bags that I can fit into it, in this way the spot near the door doesn’t have QUITE the pile of stuff it normally does in the evening. If I put a blanket on top of the chest Gentleman Gray will curl up and sleep on it too; it’s also a cat bed.
I went to the grocery store before I picked up David from newspaper club yesterday so I could get a few things for goulash dinner. And guess what? I discovered a new-to-my-grocery-store flavor of FAGE yogurt! It’s sooooooooo good!
ALSO this is very exciting…..Panera bread in the grocery store!!!!!! I discovered it yesterday by the hot soup station. I LOVE their tomato basil and I bought the white for the kids and as you can see, it’s almost gone already.
This is what I’m going to bake as soon as the oven is done cleaning itself. I said in a few posts back that I wanted to depend more on my cookbooks than the internet and when I realized this morning that I had old bananas, I went and sat on the floor by my cookbook shelf to search for a recipe……and it looks great. I found eggs in the coop this morning that I will use, too.
B A N A N A L E M O N B R E A D
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups mashed banana
6 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking soda
3 Tablespoons grated lemon peel
Grease 2 loaf pans or one bundt pan. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Blend in the eggs, bananas, and juice. Stir in the dry ingredients. Add the grated lemon peel. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.
Of course, I don’t know how it will turn out. If it’s a flop I’ll come back online later and cross out the recipe.
Lastly, we (mostly Jacob and myself) have been currently working on a room in the basement and I wanted to show you our style of decorating. It’s not so much decorating than filling up……and we love it.
Our inspiration? “The Burrow” from the Harry Potter movies….here is a picture:
Now, our room will not be the same because of the very unromantic drop ceiling but that’s beside the point. What we love is “clutter”, pillows, blankets, comfy lived in couches and chairs, rugs, books everywhere, all kinds of stuff hanging on the walls, just a very eclectic humble and cozy room…..
So far, this is what we’ve accomplished out of practically nothing (cast offs, things from the thrift store, stuff from our own storage that I had put away).
And by the way, this is only part of our basement. There is also a section which is a bedroom for three of the boys, an exercise room with a treadmill, and a storage room. This part is Jacob’s bedroom/PS4 video game room. When teenagers come over this is where they end up. Because it is the basement we threw caution to the wind and cheerfully hung things up everywhere (the walls were bare a month ago). And we aren’t done! Jacob is having just as much fun as I am with this space. It’s been a fun project for us.
Obviously not a very good photo of the curtains, but they are very cool vintage Star Wars curtains that I bought at Iroquois Antiques “back home” several years ago. David wants me to leave them to him in my will.
The wooden shelf to the far right of the photo next to the TV is Jacob’s rock collection.
The desk was already down there but they moved the two bookcases down, along with the blue chair and the rug. Michael and Jacob bought the coffee table from walmart but they are looking for another one, possibly a round wooden one.
(this is also Michael’s room when he stays the weekends with Jacob)
I bought the clock at Target. Army guys are solid medal from a tag sale. Cross stitched army guy also from tag sale. Art work from Emily to Jacob.
Old quilts covering our shabby old very very comfortable couch.
The black frame is from the Family dollar. The gold frame is from Goodwill…I love that it had seven spaces for my seven children.
“It’s not much, but it’s home” ~Harry Potter
*****
“Comfort is born out of use, therefore the comfortable houses seem to be the ones that have been lived in.”
“Clutter=finding solace and a little beauty in the things we cherish in our everyday lives at home and at work”
“I want my house to be comfortable, not perfect”
all quotes from a wonderful book titled A PERFECTLY KEPT HOUSE IS THE SIGN OF A MISSPENT LIFE. Not a life/decorating style for everyone, but I personally like it so much and it speaks my language for what an ideal home looks and feels like.
On the morning of December 31, Jacob woke up and smiled. It was his nineteenth birthday and he was looking forward to being home all day long as the center of attention, with lots of family and friends saying Happy Birthday over and over, and generally making merriment in his honor. As the first of seven children, he always felt his very best in a crowd.
His sweet girlfriend was the first to arrive. The day was sunny and pretty.
Emily and Jacob spent time together until she had to go to work.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, I was very busy making meatballs out of 10 pounds of hamburger.
M E A T B A L L S
I have opinions about meatballs. The ones found in the frozen food section of the grocery store are miles away from being as tasty as homemade. The only ones I have found pre-made that I will pay good money for are a brand that costco sells in the refrigerator section. They are sold in bags of sauce and they are very good. But I haven’t been able to find them lately and also they are a bit more expensive than homemade.
I didn’t like making meatballs until I thought to myself, “I DO like making cookies and they are the same exact concept”. Big bowl, dump in ingredients, mix, and form into balls on cookie sheets. Bake at 350. EASY!
Here is a basic recipe, but the sky is the limit with meatballs. Simple is best.
4 pounds ground beef
2 eggs
4 slices fresh bread, town into bread crumbs
1/2 finely minced onion
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup tomato juice
Mix together, form into balls, bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until done.
At this point you may cool them and freeze for later, or use them in your favorite recipe.
For Jacob’s party I put them in a crock pot, poured sauce over and turned the dial to “warm”. I prepared buttered noodles and kept them in casserole dishes in the empty oven to store until dinner.
A note about sauce. I do buy prepared sauce and keep it in the pantry but lately I’ve been cutting the saltiness of it by adding a big (28 oz) can of plain whole tomatoes to the pot. To me this has a fresher taste and is more “tomatoey” rather than “processed spaghetti sauce”. A plain, simple, but high quality sauce is nice for simmering meatballs because the meatballs flavor the sauce deliciously.
The house began to fill with teenagers. Jacob is blessed to have great friends in his life and also a birthday that falls on a great party day—New Year’s Eve—and for the last few years the day has turned into an all night celebration for them (not me. I hate staying up late.)
With Ethan and a couple other boys on the wrestling team, we try to have lots of fresh fruit and veggies in the fridge at all times. And it’s good for all of us to eat them.
Caleb’s mom won the “best dip” award (no prize, just the title) by sending along a a couple bags of waffle fries for us to bake and then serve with this dip:
1 tub of sour cream
diced chives (a couple handfuls)
a pack of bacon cooked and diced
a cup of shredded cheddar cheese
Mix together and chill for at least an hour and then top with a little more chives and bacon. Serve with waffle fries.
amazing…so so good
Our old couch is now down in the basement along with a TV and the game systems. So this year it became the kid’s favorite hang out place. I just had to control my curiosity and not go down to see what they were doing constantly.
Just once in a while. And it’s always interesting. Who would have expected seeing Ethan with a tower of dog biscuits on his head?
This is the face of someone whose heart was saying all day long, “How can my darling baby boy be 19 years old?”
Rich is always trying to get kids to do sit ups and push ups with him.
TIME TO EAT! but first a birthday blessing……
directly followed by a little bit of wrestling
not sorry Tessa….you’re beautiful even with your tongue sticking out….
LOVE LOVE LOVE these SMILES!
Emily came back as soon as she was done with work. She couldn’t wait to dive into the meatballs because I had only let her have one of them that morning.
even more wrestling
They were watching a football game together. (Caleb is a huge football fan).
Eventually it was presents and cake time.
This was Seth about to almost put his dog in the flames. *sigh* thank goodness Emily was there to intercept. Blowing out the candles couldn’t happen fast enough, in my opinion. I think Parker the dog was nervous, too. He helps me keep things under control.
Moist Chocolate Cake
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup baking cocoa
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup canola oil
1 cup brewed coffee, room temperature
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the oil, coffee and milk; beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla; beat 2 minutes longer.
Pour into a greased 9 by 13, or for a layer cake, two greased and floured 9 inch round baking pans. Bake at 325 for 25-30 minus or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely before frosting.
BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
1 cup butter, softened
8 cups confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 to 3/4 cup milk
Spread frosting between layers and over top and sides of completely cooled cake (note: this is plenty of frosting to top two 9 by thirteen cakes kept in the pans, which is what I did for the party).
(I doubled this recipe for two 9 by thirteens)
recipe source: taste of home baking classics cookbook
Thank you to Emily and Ethan and his girlfriend Tessa for serving out the cake and ice cream.
Jacob had a wonderful birthday and it was fun to see him enjoy himself. One of my favorite things about him is his ready laugh.
That’s frosting on those pants.
By the next morning, after a night of doing who knows what, the teens were all watching Sesame Street of all things. We ate breakfast prepared by Emily at about 8:30 and then people began to either 1) leave or 2) crash all over the couches to sleep.
Jacob had a lot of changes in the last year and we look forward to seeing him continue growing and learning throughout this next one, too. His last year of being a teenager.
Time flies. And we are having fun.
LOVE
JOY
PEACE
forbearance
kindness
goodness
faithfulness
gentleness
self control
against such things there is no law.
Good evening, my friends.
Today is a wonderful day. I am finally feeling more like myself. Thank the Lord for doctors and modern medicine. After I got the kids out the door for school, my oldest son Jacob got up and showered. When he came downstairs he told me that he didn’t have to go to college today so I mentioned that I was going to go shopping in about an hour. I had some photos to pick up and some things I needed to get. He right away showed his willingness to go along with me without even being asked…he said, “Oh, than I can show you those legos at the mall that I wanted to get the boys for Christmas.” It made me smile that he wanted to go with me.
He drove me after I said I would give him gas money. Gas money is very important to 18 year old young men. He talked to me the whole time we were together. And if he wasn’t talking, he was singing along to his music. He and his girlfriend share a spotify music account now, isn’t that romantic? They also did community service together yesterday by picking up litter along some of the main roads in our area.
Jacob LOVES music. He has quite a varied collection, from classical to Christian metal.
We went to several stores, including Starbucks and Five Guys (burgers) for lunch. Then he drove us to his school so that we could pay for his next semester. He walked me around and showed me the library. He loves his classes, his professors, and the campus. I’m so thankful for the way he is adjusting and becoming independent. The place he works for originally hired him for the Holidays, but recently asked him to stay on full-time. He loves his job and the people he has met.
The chickens get bowls of old leftovers and they love it. It looks sickening to us humans, though. I always have to laugh when I hand a bowl over to a child and say “run this down to the chickens” and they do, while gagging.
Just beyond the hens, in that spot that looks like briars, is a small little pond nestled down a bank. I love that little pond, and so do the chickens. They make their way down and drink from it. Beyond that (the building you see) is our garage.
Holiday FIESTAWARE display!
precious children coming home off the bus
Dear teachers, your students notice everything you do. The other day I told Sarah she would make a good teacher someday and after sitting there thinking about it she said, “No I don’t think so. It’s such hard work! And I don’t know how to make a star!”
Tis the season for gingerbread men. She brought another one home today. It’s a paper plate painted brown, with a circle at the top of it for a head and oval arms and legs decorated with glitter. Only it looks more like a brown turtle then a gingerbread man.
Saturday morning these guys went to a wrestling practice.
Grace brought her rabbit inside for a little while and we had such a time watching funny Gentleman Gray visit with him from the top of the cage.
I put a small box inside of her cage yesterday and she had a great time chewing it up into a bed.
beauty in an apple core
beauty outside the door
Going back to the aloe vera plant. Just a few months ago the planter contained one big “mama” plant that was so big that it was tipping the whole planter over unless I balanced it against the wall. The appearance was beginning to bother me so I cut it right off and threw it away. It has been a delight to see so many baby plants grow up in it’s place. I hope to divide it soon and share with friends. I’m sure there is a parable in there somewhere.
Tonight I am picking my dear friend Hannah up from the airport and I cannot wait.
I’m very disappointed that Sarah, after feeling better for two days, is back to being sick. She is not a person who is calm during sickness, either.
That’s why I have the extra time to do this blog post on a Saturday morning. She is sick in bed next to me and if I leave she gets all upset. She needs me. She is currently sound asleep after being awake most of the night. When she stirs, she immediately whimpers and fusses, because her stomach hurts. I pat her and get her what she needs. (a very tiny sip of water, tea she refused to drink, and syrup from a jar of peaches, of which she had a small amount). Mostly she just wants Mama.
Rich is gone with Caleb (10) and Seth (6), who needed to be weighed for football and get their pictures taken. Tomorrow morning is their first game (of four). He is stopping to get Pepto Bismal for Sarah when they are done. I hope and pray it helps.
The kitten is still unnamed. He doesn’t like to be left alone, the older cats won’t have anything to do with him, the dog is harmless but scary, and consequently he adores his humans. As soon as we touch him, he purrs loud like a little motor. He is curled up in the wrinkles of my down comforter right next to Sarah’s leg.
The strong and manly football player. 😉
Jacob is looking for a job but for now he has Fridays free (no college classes). So he and I went to the Brimfield Antique show yesterday. We left the house at about 9 in the morning and came back home around 1:30.
Jacob loves Army related items from all eras, but especially the American Revolution time period, guns and other weapons, stones, and tools.
I like all the suzy-homemaker type of stuff…..and fiestware dishes.
Right away I bought these two chop plates. Chop plates are a little bit bigger than a dinner plate. The bottom one is vintage light green and the top is Post-86 retired yellow.
The prices at Brimfield are somewhat on the high end and I usually take photos of things more than buy them. This is a harlequin milk pitcher that the seller was asking 45 dollars for. Harlequin is not Fiesta, but was made by the same company. A lot of collectors of fiesta end up collecting Harlequin as well but so far I have not branched out.
The weather was gorgeous. It started out cool and misty but then slowly cleared (but stayed cool). By the time we left the sun was beginning to blaze again. I wore a shirt over a sleeveless shirt so I could take it off and tie it around my waist if necessary.
I also enjoy taking photos of things that I know my friends and family would like. (my son Caleb loves the Patriots).
My friend B and I both love vintage Strawberry Shortcake.
My boys all love Batman.
This reminded me of Uncle Rog
For all of us who miss the Farm.
My mom in in the process of furnishing a dollhouse. I probably should have bought these. They were so heavy, I have to believe they were just as fine of quality as real, full sized kitchen things. Imagine baking tiny cakes. The lady was asking 45 dollars for them.
I asked the mommy if I could take a picture of her dogs. Are they adorable or what?
I looked through this very old diary and was immediately pulled back into the past. I adore this sort of thing…the penmanship, the history, and just by chance I opened it right up on my birthday…77 years before my actual birth.
“Snowed all day. Did not go to church. Moss-sick with a cold. Mr. Miller preached his first sermon.”
Jacob with a gun made out of rubber.
little cups I liked
we took a lunch break
the food is especially delicious
Jacob’s fries were handmade and covered with made-from-scratch bacon alfredo cheese sauce.
I had a lobster sandwich, fruited cole slaw, and boiled red potatoes.
and Jacob’s fries
Jacob spent most of his money on stones, which is loves to study and collect. He has a shelf in his room for them.
It takes a very long time to decide, I was amused watching him. And the lady told him lots of cool information. He also looked things up on his phone to learn even more. Part of what makes life so interesting is when you take a topic and study it for yourself, because you want to and not because you have to.
These are some of the things he purchased.
But now….I have saved the best for last!
I probably would not be as excited about Brimfield if the fiestaware lady wasn’t there with her 1,000s of pieces. A lot of her things are “seconds” (second rate fiesta, with tiny imperfections) but if you take your time and look at things carefully you can find some good pieces. Regardless, it’s fun to see so much of it in one place and to see some items you may not see in the local stores.
I tried taking a selfie with my son but as you can see he was bored out of his mind. He will not be getting any fiestaware when I die. He told me he was tired of it!
I made a couple selections which I will show you at the end of the post.
But first, here are some vintage pieces from another booth.
Jacob manhandled everything and when I made him stop, he left the tent. *sighs with relief*
The same vintage seller also had a set of lilac (limited run).
I bought nothing from the vintage seller. But it sure was excited to see it all.
These were my purchases. I brought them home and washed it all. I put them on my dining room table, which was spread with a Fiesta tablecloth.
2 chop plates, a new Lapis vase which will look beautiful with wild flowers in it, a shamrock soap dish, and a lollipop box which I love and already put lollipops in.
It’s going to take me a little while to get used to this.
Will I ever get used to it? Please tell me I will.
On this very morning, the last day of August, Jacob and I went to the car dealership to finalize the purchase of his very first car.
I sat in my vehicle as he pulled away, with a police car following him (it just so happened).
I felt extremely nervous for him, the same kind of nervousness I feel at every major event, and full of adrenaline…I know in my logical brain that all is well and that this day is not as shattering as I feel that it is. But there is a disconnect between my head and my heart. Or is it a battle– a battle that my heart ALWAYS wins in these situations?
I watched him drive away, slowly and carefully, with a police car right behind him and several more cars, too. They were all probably wishing he would go a little faster but it was his first drive in his own car. (other than the test drive)
He was on his way to his first day of college. English class started at 11 in the morning.
I went next door to the grocery store and picked up groceries feeling completely alone, with heart palpitations, shaky hands, and burning eyes. Thank goodness for Rich, who was texting me that he loved me and everything was going to be okay. I saw young moms with their small children in the carts and I couldn’t stand it……I wanted one or two of mine back……but then, think of all the many times I went grocery shopping wishing I could concentrate and just get it done without the little voices asking me for everything they saw or little feet trying to run away from me in the parking lot?
A few times I caught myself talking to myself out loud in the store.
I kept wondering if Jacob was getting into an accident. I know it sounds terrible, but he is a new driver and the roads can be so busy…he has to drive the highway every day, he has to merge and change lanes and …… (!!)……
There was nothing to be done but go on my merry way, trusting my Jesus, but feeling a little bit lost just the same.
I came home and put the groceries away, let out the chickens, changed into shorts, made salisbury steak in the crock pot.
I finished my book and ate Cinnamon Bun Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. I had to! It was therapy — and it was delicious.
I finished up my Bible reading for the day. I love the book of Job. I’m also reading 2 Corinthians. There were two verses that “jumped out” at me today (you know what I mean?)
“As God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving and God will receive more and more glory.” 2 Cor. 4:15 (*more and more* I love that!)
“For we live by believing and not by seeing.” 2 Cor. 5:7 (what an unusual way to live, a way that works only by the “magic” and power of God Himself, through faith and constant communication with Him. I love how life in Jesus is so strange and wonderful. Think about it, there are probably angels all around me, my family, your family at this very moment, and I know for a fact that God Himself is always always near!).
Jacob texted me at 12:15 to let me know that he had made it to school and had his first class. I was so relieved. His day is done at 2 (right about now!) and I will wait like Forrest Gump at the end of the movie until he pulls into the driveway. I can’t wait to hear all about it.
I am proud of myself because I didn’t let on one bit to Jacob that I was nervous for him. I didn’t want to be anything but supportive. So don’t tell, ‘k?
Having conversations with no one at the grocery store AND the blog today….I’m getting scared now. LOL
2011 VW Jetta TDI and my grown up son…
Simply trusting every day;
Trusting through a stormy way;
Even when my faith is small,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
Trusting as the moments fly,
Trusting as the days go by,
Trusting Him, whate’er befall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
Brightly doth His Spirit shine
Into this poor heart of mine;
While He leads I cannot fall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
Singing if my way be clear,
Praying if the path be drear;
If in danger, for Him call,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
Trusting Him while life shall last,
Trusting Him till earth is past,
Till His gracious advent call,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
We are leaving on Friday to go on a nine day vacation.
I am busy organizing, packing 72 complete outfits in 72 large ziplock bags, and preparing food. The house is in an uproar.
Three children had dentist appointments this morning.
Also, Jacob took his driver’s test today.
While I was waiting for him to be done (there were three kids ahead of him) I nervously drove to Goodwill and found……six sage green fiesta teacups…..making me even more excited with life in general!
Naturally when we got home I took a couple of pictures.
Sage is a brand-new fiesta color. Why anyone would want to donate Sage fiestaware is beyond me.
My guess is that they came in boxed place settings and maybe the person decided they would never use them, so they gave the teacups to Goodwill and kept everything else?
Regardless, it will be a pleasure to use them and they look so pretty on the shelf.
And he passed with a perfect score.
Good to be Home 