And SUMMER begins!

Summer officially begins today for us, as daddy is now home full time since school is out! Today he is hard at work putting the pool up, that the kiddos will no doubt be spending hours upon hours in. This is usually what he does each year as the official kickoff of the summer begins around here!

For us, the summer will be full of:

~sunny days
~splashing in the pool
~pony play
~picnics
~time with friends & family
~water parks
~boating at the lake
~vintage trailer camping
~bug hunting
~smoothie drinking
~vbs
~gardenening
~day trips
~popsicles
~farmer's markets

There will only be ONE summer like this one, so make tons of memories with your kids!!!

What could be more precious???

...than your 4 year old daughter coming in from the yard, holding a bouquet of dandelions-sweetly handing them to you, while saying, "For you, mommy, beautiful flowers!"
Not much...in my book. My heart is full. :)

Nature at it's best...lined with sheep's wool!!!

If you have read this blog long, you may remember this , a birdnest we found in a very unlikely place. Well this year, we have found some interesting ones as well, and one in a very special little spot! We have many trees all around our property, with lots of birds, which I love. Take a look at my front porch wreath:

Do you see a birdnest there??? Let's take a closer look:

Yes, tucked in behind, built right up against the house, a tiny nest with 5 little blue eggs! AND...the amazing thing is, it is lined with some of Molly, my sheep's, wool! How cool is that???

The other day, we were out in the yard and saw this...

It appeared to be some more of Molly's wool streaming out from a hole in a little tree. When I climbed up on a bench to peek inside, this is what I found:

A bigger nest than the one in the wreath, this one cushioned with lots and lots of Molly's wool, so much so, it's coming out of the tree, still attached to the nest like thread coming off a spool. What a beautiful, natural, creation of nature! I am in awe of how God created even tiny little birds with the skill above and beyond even something I could come up with!

Getting it done!!!

My to-do list is often WAY too long. This week, though, I resolved to get it done!

Completed:
Picked up raw milk and grass fed meat from the local organic dairy farm.

Groomed and worked with the ponies.

Called World Vision, and signed up to sponsor a second child, a little 7 yr. old girl from Cambodia..I hope to introduce you to her soon!

Began my list of books I want to order for our upcoming homeschool year.

Sent in my payment for a local csa organic farm delivery! This is to supplement our own garden. Can't wait to see what we get each week! I plan on eating raw, fresh, garden grown fruits and veggies all summer!

Made appointment with the farrier.

Still need to do:

Call back supervisor at work, who called the other day since the flu season is now apparently over.

Finish painting trim in master suite.

Finish painting trim and ceiling in entry way.

Pull weeds.

Work on the enourmous mess in the basement.

Work on the enormous mess in the garage.

Make Vet appointments.

Ministry Mondays...a foster care focus!

Today I want to share a small ministry I know about in Washington state. Even if you are not in WA., this ministry is worth checking out. I am so impressed with them, they are called A NEW FOREVER.

The beauty of this ministry is that they have built support teams, which give people the opportunity to help those that are out there fostering children in their community. They have people doing everything from providing meals, to providing respite, to even helping a family build on an addition to their home in order to make more room to care for foster children. WOW! This is all taking place within the body of Christ, within the church, and it's a ministry I would love to see in every single christian church. The Lord tells us to care for orphans, and if we aren't going to be the one to bring them in and care for them in our homes, this ministry gives people other opportunities to care for them through these amazing support services! I can say that it would make fostering/caring for orphans so much easier if I had that kind of support! I talked to these people once and they also told me that they have a very high percentage of people in their church that are fostering and adopting, and that, to me is incredible...the way it should be in all christian church's. These kids need caring, christian parents, and there are so many out there...maybe more people would step in and foster if they knew they had more support? A NEW FOREVER...what a beautiful ministry!

Partyin' with ELMO!

Today Baby L turns 2!!! We will be having an Elmo themed party later today, and we are so excited! We are so happy to be able to share this special day with her, and so blessed that we will be able to celebrate many more. She is such a fun, happy, silly little girl who brings so much joy! Stay tuned for birthday photos!

I must share...

I must share a new blog I recently found, and a post that was beautifully written...go and read, here.