Humble Pie

My slice of life is sprinkled with the flavor of humble pie.

There have many days, more than not, that Paul has come home to hear this-- me saying, I just couldn’t get it all done. My day has spiraled out of control, or slipped through my hands and ended up in a mess on the floor. Sometimes, quite literally.

It is maddening, painful and refining all at the same time. Maddening because I couldn’t handle the outcome that had come to be my finish line each day. Maddening because I was being tripped up by a four year old. Maddening because I still had breakfast in my hair and it was dinner time. The madness goes on from there…

I could not handle that the sprinkles of humble pie were not to my taste.

It is painful to realize you cannot do laundry, dishes, cuddle a child and eat healthy 24/7 all at the same moment... that is my pain in a nutshell. It is often overwhelming to feel the pull of this pain in various directions. Knowing that when you calm one pain, another is flaring on the side.

This is the point that Paul has always comforted me in saying, it cant all be done. That’s okay honey. Or it doesn’t matter whether you win the race each day, simple the fact that you ran your best… is all that matters… BLAH BLAH BLAH.

All the while being taught that…

"And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent,"

Mosiah 4:27

I wasn’t keen on hearing that perfect was not my recipe for the day, or most days in fact. I can remember the rare occasions when I was able to get all that I wanted done, to my liking. AND, I can remember them at the same time, because they all fit into that a SMALL space in my mind quite painfully. Needless to say, God’s recipe, medicine, or lesson of the day(s) was prosperity is not becoming of you. By this I mean to say, prosperity makes up proud, confident, mighty, and arrogant even. Oh yes, I could get arrogant over a clean empty sink, or a fancy dinner with myself done up nicely. Having well behaved children, on occasion, has been known to make me mighty and proud, painfully so in the sight of others I imagine.

This has brought us to the refining moment of the day, and quite possibly the lesson of this past decade for me. Pauls words, it cant all be done.


My slice of life is not meant to be a life of perfection, but a slice of mediocre, humble pie… served to refine me. To change my tastes, to satisfy me not with my tastes, but with God’s taste. I am being molded to HIS liking, and not my own. And it seems having it done to MY liking was a recipe for PROUD SUMPTUOUS TART, rather than the humble pie I am content to being served. That is my life of a mother, teacher, and often as a wife.

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

Ether 12:27

Paul would never have me believe I was less than perfect as a wife (wink wink), but there are days in which my slice of pie… how shall I say… runneth over.
It is okay not to be perfect, it is okay to be mediocre… if it is the best I know that day. I see that through this I can learn to be content with my failings… for in these refining moments, I can feel God’s love, and know that He is refining my tastes to His, and preparing me for a delectable dish.

The Joy of GINGERBREAD

Sharing Thanks on the Farm

The pictures below were taken on my uncles farm in Missouri. His farm was our inspiration for moving our family and home to the Midwest. Thank you Steve, for sharing your love of home and family.

"At the gates of the forest, the surprised man of the world is forced to leave his city... of great and small, wise and foolish. The knapsack of custom falls off his back with the first step he takes into these precincts. Here is sanctity which shames our religions, and reality which discredits our heros. Here we find Nature to be the circumstance which dwarfs every other circumstance, and judges like a god all men that come to her. We have crept out of our close and crowded houses into the night and morning, and we see what majestic beauties daily wrap us in their bosom.

The incummunicable trees begin to persuade is to live with them, and quit our lives of solemn trifles. How easily we might walk onward into the opening landscape, absorbed by new pictures and by thoughts fast succeeding each other, until by degrees the recollection of home was crowded out of the mind. All memory obliterated by the tyranny of the present (cares), and we were led in triumph by nature.

These enchantments are medicinal , they sober and heal us. These are plain pleasures, kindly and native to us. We come to our own, and make friends with matter, which the ambitious chatter of the schools would persuade us to despise. We never can part with it..."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

:LIST IT: Our Fall Faves

A compilation of fall frolics here in Kentucky...

• Hiking
• Taking a drive... in a random direction each and every time
• Making cookies and sharing them with neighbors or friends... or not sharing 'em
• Walking through the storefronts downtown
• Giving pedi's to the girls and getting them in return ... this is Sara Kate's fav bonding time
• Movies... bringing back the oldies... BIG is always a hit in our house
• Apple picking... and indulging with Pam's blissful fruit dip...
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup toffee bits
• Mix cream cheese first, until smooth, then add other ingredients...
• ENJOY!!
• Nature studies... complete with leaf collecting and leaf rubbings-- no entomology for mama though...thats Hannah's specialty
• An afternoon at the bookstore as a family... or the library
• Making personal pizzas
• Trying a new recipe with pumpkin
• Going to the park... its cold here though
• Window shopping in Elizabethtown
• Making a new photo wall arrangement
• Purging the home for Goodwill donations... toys, clothes, knick knacks, etc
• Rearranging a room... a few flea market finds work well to spice up the room also
• Doing puzzles
• Re-arranging flower arrangements at home with fall and winter colors
• Color booking with the girls
• Giving horsey-back rides to the kids
• Reading a chapter book together, all cozied up... what other way is there?
• Webcam'ng with far away family
• Building a fire pit outside
• Raking the leaves... DUH!!

...and it can never be left without saying... family photo ops...

Abe Lincoln Birthplace

My Markie Sparkie...

This is what you can hear me calling after my little man, "Markie Sparkie." He is always on the go, looking for another adventure...

An Autumn's Walk

Just.Plain.Fun

Here in Kentucky we are enjoying the full effects of fall. It has been like seeing your favorite painting in real life, to view these brillant colors up close, for the first time out here. We have a huge yard, aside from no fence from the street, but it gives plenty of place to roam. And our three characters love it too...

Our Many Faces {of Halloween}...

Okay I am on my 3rd box of Kleenex, and praying for NyQuil to fall from the sky. And despite it all, I am here to share our festive fun from Halloween. Ain't I sweet!

Well it isn't a moment too soon, 'cause my mama has already reminded me that these pictures were due. Won't my mama be so proud of me...

Well, Halloween had all sorts of fun to be had... we brewed up some Martinelli's (from WalMart), I stewed, brewed and baked a NEW FAVE, Buffalo Nachos... move over Rachel Ray!! We cut, carved and depulped the pumpkins with some dear friends that have proven to be Godsent to Kentucky the same week we arrived here. They are sooooo ODD, but we wouldn't have had it any other way!! We had some trickin and treatin, and then said a few spells to send the kiddos sleepy to their beds. It was an evening for the mamas and papas then, to enjoy some movie reeling before calling it a night.

Love to all,...

(click on image to view in a larger format)

(Pictured here are our ODD friends, pieces of the ODD family... Pam and children, Ryan and Emery, with the girls. Not pictured Jared and Seri Odd. We love the Odds,... they make ODD, look GOOD!!)

The Thrills of the Season...

We found our hot spot in Campbellsville Kentucky. A beautiful Memorial Forest with trails, forests, views, lanscapes... all the inspiration that God can grant you in His natural world. Come enjoy it with us...

On our way home...

A view of our drive home from Elizabethtown today...

(click on picture to view larger format)

Love to all,

Tulsa Zoo Revisited

This was a trip I took with the kids to the Tulsa Zoo, after Paul had left for his new position with Amazon in Kentucky. (Can I say, outside of California, it costs less than $10 to go to the zoo.... I'll never go back to my old ways!!) This was just two weeks before we moved from Kansas to trek further east. So these pictures are a bit overdue!!

As homesick as I have been, I must say, honestly, it has always been a dream to live near the east coast, and we are nearly there. I can considered the dream fulfilled now with our place here in Kentucky. I am thankful for our place here. Indy Kansas will still hold its place as a second home to me... to our friends and family back home...

We love you dearly!!

(click on pictures to view larger format)

Our Schoolgirls

Well it seems all the new-ness of home here in Kentucky has made us a little silly. Though with each new day it seems we get a little more settled. These here, are a few of the moments we shared with the beginning of our new school year at home.

Just to share our happenings with the beginning of this school year...

Our days start off with breakfast and a morning lesson/devotional with LDS Scripture Reader lessons (this teaching material was printed in 1984, and has a wealth of visual aides and activities.)

The girls each have their individual studies, it goes like this...
Sara Kate is beginning to read and is very proud to use her own abacus this year. Her studies this year include:

• Reading with Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
• RightStart Math Level A
• Life Science: Animal Kingdom (20 wks), Human Body (10 wks), Plants (6 wks)
• Aesop's Fables for Children
• Ballet at The Dance Centre in Elizabethtown
• Catching bits and pieces of the Middle Ages, with Hannah and Story of the World, Volume 2

Hannah is continuing to develop into a strong reader, as some days she reads excerpts to me from our third book in the Little House series. She continues to amaze me with her ability to visualize math sums, her thirst for science, and her talent of drawing. Truly, she is her Daddy's girl!!
Hannah's studies this year include:

• Literature beginning with On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Finishing up reading with Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading
• Second year with First Language lessons
• Writing with Ease, 2nd Year
• RightStart Math, Level C
• Physical Science with basic chemistry, using Books One and Two from Adventures with Atoms & Molecules
• History with the Middle Ages, using Story of the World, Volume 2
• Christian Studies, Book 1 by Memoria Press
• D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths and with Lesson Book by Memoria Press
• ATTEMPTING Prima Latina by Memoria Press... To be cont'd on that note...
• Gymnastics at Heartland Gymnastics in Elizabethtown

Much of what we read are literature based and history based books that compliment Hannah's Middle Ages history studies. As well as, readers, picture books, and youth books of interest for all of us to cozy up on the couch and read together.
Our curriculum is based in Classical studies, using literature as the basis for our studies, outside of mathematics. Along with Classical studies I am trying to develop a pattern after the educator Charlotte Mason and her methods of teaching and learning in the home. This is kind of the gist of our schooling at home, anymore mentioning of it and I may have a few more nappers on my hands.
We will be sure to share our discoveries here with you this year, and we hope to have you here again soon...
Love to all,

Swinging into the Season

Who doesn't wish they had a grand tree swing? When we saw this swing at the Manager's Party for the Amazon.com family, all was lost, 'cause mom was fightin' the kids for it!! So this is just a few moments from the party. It was a beautiful setting in the woods, with good friends, food, and games. Now, with plenty of reasons to celebrate...

...Amazon.com is offcially in FULL SWING for the peak season of the year.

Pumpkins @ Hinton Farms

I couldn't help but celebrate the 1st day of October. Fall seems like such a celebration... don't you agree? What better way to celebrate than to surprise the girls with a trip to Hinton Farms, to play in the pumpkin patch and apple orchards?! And if that wasn't enough, we were able to share it with our new friends here in Campbellsville, Amazon.com families, homeschooling friends, and our church family. Here is just a slice of the fun we had...

(click picture to view larger format)

Love to all,

Silliness...

While the Big Daddy is away... the Sugar Babies will play. Well at least this mama is with a quiet, sleeping house. These are pictures of the Kentucky tobacco fields. Its a beautiful sight to behold with the vivid golden, yellow leaves bursting from the ground... its like growing sunshine because its so bright.

(Did you know that while the colony of Jamestown never found the riches of gold they came here seeking, the one crop that saved them from being scrapped was tobacco? And it proved to be the riches they seeked after. I just learned about it today from a National Geographic documentary, the Nightmare of Jamestown. Great movie!)

So I added me a little disguise to celebrate All Hallow's Eve this month... or Neewollah as I like to affectionately refer to it. Have you heard of Neewollah? No, well meet me in Indy, KS for some amazing fun and you'll never go back to your old ways. You know, maybe I am just jittery about the coming New Moon movie... either way... its just some fun to share here... enjoy with me.
Love to all,

Sara Kate's 5th Birthday...

So we celebrated Sara Kate's birthday with a trip to Great Wolf Lodge in September and had a cake to make it an official birthday celebration. But, you see, we celebrated a month early 'cause Daddy can't get time off after PEAK season starts with Amazon in October (through late December). Well, mama just HAD to make something on Friday to celebrate the day she was born. So we have these dainty little bundt cakes for pumpkins, to drizzle and sprinkle to your hearts content. It was a cozy evening together celebrating this Little Lady. So its officially official... she's FIVE... going on fifteen. (Though she has proclaimed she isn't going to get old... we'll save that news for the Santa Claus blowout!!)

(Update: Sara Kate asked yesterday if Santa Claus is real or pretend...)

Great Wolf & Swimming @ the Lodge

This is a serious reel of pictures from our birthday and swimming fun at the Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, OH. We celebrated Sara Kate's 5th birthday this time around. We have spent the last two years visiting the Lodge in KC, Missouri. Now that we have relocated to Kentucky, our closest trip is 3 hours to Mason, which is just north of Cinncinati. We are thinking of braving the trip to Niagara Falls next year to visit the Lodge there. That would be an experience beyond what we could dream. NOW BOOKING for June 2010... come join us if you dare to dream with us...

Love to all...

It took FOR.EV.ER to upload all these DAMN photos... so I hope ya'll take a good look at 'em. (Nothing like falling behind on the gazillion pictures I have taken... this is hard work!)