Yes, I AM alive!!

Ok, Ok. The complaints have started to trickle in that I've been slacking off long enough and that I need to get back to blogging. Sigh! What's a mommy/grammy to do when there's too much to do and not enough time to do it all in?? At least no one can accuse me of spending too much time on the computer blogging, huh? Anyway, I do have several announcements to make...

First of all... Hooray!! I'm going to be a new Grammy again!! Around the first of July Son #1 and his beautiful wife told us that there is a new little bun in the oven due around the last of February (on Son #1's birthday to be exact!!). Please keep my daughter-in-law and the baby in your prayers as she has a bicornuate utereus--meaning that it's heart shaped. The doctors have to stitch her cervix closed (a cerclage) so that she doesn't go into preterm labor. This pregnancy will be more of a challenge since she has a 20 month old toddler who loves to get into as much trouble as he can find. :-)

The garden has been keeping me busy. I cannot even begin to keep up with all of the weeds this year what with visits from family and friends, helping DH with repair work, remodeling projects in the house and all that jazz.

I've managed to process about 75 quarts of green beans this year. I planted some bush beans several weeks ago that have bloomed profusely and which I expect to get a big harvest from very soon.

Pictured here are my pole beans. The green ones with the purple speckles are Cascade Giant Stringless. The solid green ones are Ideal Market Beans. And the gorgeous purple beans are Purple Podded Pole Beans. They are really tasty. In fact my kids eat them right off the vine!! Aren't they beautiful?

Not so pretty anymore but delicious food for the winter when hot, humid days of picking, snapping and canning are just a distant memory. I love that summer goodness when those chilly days come calling.

The last of July saw Daughter #1 another year older. It's hard to believe that 22 years ago I gave birth to my first daughter. My goodness, how time flies!!

Son #5 had his 9th birthday the first week of August with lots of family present. Most importantly to him, Son #2 flew in from Hawaii the very day of his party for a little visit (the first visit since he left 9 months ago) What a happy boy!! He still misses his big brother a lot.

Gotta love those trick candles!!


I can't believe that he's come and gone already!! What a crazy, hectic visit. There was so much that we had hoped to do but there just wasn't time for. But he'll coming back around Christmas time with his Fiancee so that he can introduce her to his crazy family. Poor girl!! She doesn't know what she's getting herself into!! :-)

So that was announcement #2 if you weren't paying attention!! Son #2 proposed to the woman that the Lord has filled his heart with love for and she said an esctatic "YES". They are tentatively planning a May wedding in Hawaii which means that we need to get to saving up our money for us all to fly over there!! That's quite a wad!!

So yeah, there's been a lot going on for us. But I'm thinking that things are going to slow down a bit now.

I plan to start school with the kids August 24th. I've been busy getting our little schoolroom ready, getting everything organized and putting in a few small orders here and there for supplies and stuff we need this year. I'll try to post a picture of our little schoolroom when I'm all done getting everything just the way that I want it.

Until next time!! And yes, I will try to post more often!!