It's Here!

The new air unit arrived this morning. I was so excited. Little Man was excited for a different reason...

I'm Hooked...

...and I am so out of shape! I just returned home from my first bike ride in... um?... 20 some years. One thing about it. You have to keep going if you want to get back home.

I had been praying about some activity that Little Man and I could do together. I'm not good at throwing any type of ball. Nor do I enjoying "wetting a hook" as he calls it (I believe he would rather fish than eat). The bugs and snakes that call the hiking trail their home "bug" me in the summertime. But biking...

We decided that is something we could do together that we might both enjoy. So, we invested in a bike for me yesterday (sure am glad we choose the one with the "wider, padded saddle"). The road that I have traveled for 16+ years came to life this morning. I had no idea there were so many wildflowers growing along its sides. Yep... I'm hooked. Now I just have to get in shape to keep up with my Little Man.

By the way... Helmets are smart. http://www.helmets.org/index.htm

• About 540,000 bicyclists visit emergency rooms with injuries every year. Of those, about 67,000 have head injuries.


• One in eight of the cyclists with reported injuries has a brain injury.


• Two-thirds of the deaths are from traumatic brain injury.


• A very high percentage of cyclists' brain injuries can be prevented by a helmet, estimated at anywhere from 45 to 88 per cent.


• Helmets are cheap.

Cousins

A couple of times a week, Little Man will ask to go visit one of his cousins. Since we had nothing planned for the day, my answer was "yes." And so was Aunt's! Little Man 2 will soon be a big brother. He showed us the baby's new room. Next time we visit, there may be another cousin!

Our Landscaping Project

While sitting at the breakfast table this morning, we heard the strangest sound. Later we discovered what must have made the odd noise.

My sweetheart went outside to find that a huge tree had fallen in our backyard. Little Man and I had just been walking right before breakfast. Their wasn't even a breeze blowing. Somehow the tree must have fallen while we were eating breakfast. I sure wish we could have seen it fall.

What a mess to clean up. I'm very thankful it did not fall last night while the children were playing under it.

Seek Ye First the Kingdom of GOD

Our church fellowship had a cookout last night. The weather was wonderful. We had a rain shower just before everyone arrived which washed away the pollen and cooled the temperature.



Our Chef... I'm so glad Mr. S stepped up to the grill before my buddy and I almost ruined the burgers.

One of the things I love about meeting in a home church setting is that we never know how the Holy Spirit will lead. No two meetings are ever the same. I was so encouraged last night by the testimonies that were shared. How blessed we are.









May we truly do as we are commanded in Matthew 6:33. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." It is so easy to get distracted by the trinkets that the world and its religion have to offer. But seek the kingdom of God!








You can always tell a group of homeschoolers, right? Only a HS dad would walk past a tree, see an interesting spider (and huge may I add), and then have everyone gathered around trying to determine what kind it is. We never did decide what it was- just that "she" had eggs.

Pixie got so much attention from Little Lady! She was one happy dog.

It's Hay Time in Tennessee

Hay season is such a busy time for my sweetheart and the Dooley Gang. Little Man and I enjoyed watching the men work this afternoon...especially that awesome orange Kubota!

Lady Named Irena

Have you heard about Irena Sendlerowa? She recently died at the age of 98 years.

"During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an ulterior motive... She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews, (being German). Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of her tool box she carried, and she carried in the back of her truck a Burlap sack, (for larger kids). She also had a dog in the back, that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in, and out of the ghetto. The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog, and the barking covered the kids/infants noises. During her time and course of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants. She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs, and arms, and beat her severely. She kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out, and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents who may have survived it, and reunited the family.

Most of course had been gassed. The childen she helped were placed in foster family homes, or adopted. Last year Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize....She LOST.

Al Gore won, for a slide show on Global Warming."

Read about "Life In A Jar" at http://www.irenasendler.org/ .

Fred Has Arrived

The big brown UPS truck (that I so adore!) came up my drive the other day to deliver our math curriculum for this fall. [MamaLion over at Shadybrook Acres had recommended "Life of Fred." http://www.stanleyschmidt.com/FredGauss/index2.html ] Somehow I didn't manage to get it in the stack of books in the school room quick enough and Little Man disappeared with "Fred" in his possession. He soon was asking for a pencil and paper! What's going on? We're suppose to be taking a "summer break" (that he begged for). I was informed that "This is fun! It's like reading a book with math mixed in." Hum... what do you know. Looks like I may be seeing the big brown UPS truck again with Fred aboard.

... And the Last Bowl of Strawberries

We enjoyed our last bowl of berries this morning for breakfast. I'm so glad Mom taught me how to make them last. (Thanks, Mom!) It has become a tradition for Little Man to go with Nana and Poppy each May to Tidwell's Berry Farm to get "The Strawberries". This year he even wanted to help make the jam. So the jars of yummy strawberry jam are on the shelf and the last bowl of berries gone. Now we'll start to look forward to the blueberries!

Here's a wonderful recipe for a fruit and veggie wash from The Prudent Wife over at http://www.theprudentwife.com/blog/ :

1 tablespoon lemon juice (freshly squeezed or good quality bottled organic)
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 cup water
Squeeze fresh lemon juice, strain and put in your sprayer bottle. The lemon juice will help naturally disinfect produce. Add some vim and vinegar! The acid in the vinegar will help neutralize pesticides. Spray fresh veggies and fruits, rinse and you are ready to go!

The First Swim of the Summer

It feels like summer out there with a temperature of 90 degrees! So Little Man, a buddy, and I went to Nana and Poppy's house to cool off. The boys had fun jumping in the water and having contests to see which one had the largest and smallest splashes. I enjoyed being paddled around the lake in one of Poppy's paddle boats. I must admit... it's nice to take a break from the normal routine.

Dooley's Open House

Just how many burgers did Mr. Burkett Witt cook this weekend at open house? The final count was over 450 burgers and about 300 hot dogs! Burkett can make anything taste great. After everyone had been served, I had the privilege of eating lunch with him. I learned so much in a short amount of time. What a godly man.

One of the highlights of open house this year was having the Kubota Road Show with us. We had scheduled it to be in Athens back in 2006 while we were attending a dealer meeting in Columbus. I'd almost forgotten how neat it is.

Friday evening, Jayson moved the truck downtown to the Moo Fest. What a hoot seeing him drive south on the northbound side of Hwy 11... especially with my sweetheart standing in the middle of the road stopping the traffic.

The Dooley Gang outdid themselves again this year!