This And That

Today is Tuesday and that means my Mom is coming for the day.  Dad drops her off on his way to bowling and they often stay for dinner.  Today it will just be she, Kyle and I because the girls are picking up their friends soon, going shopping, getting lunch out and then will be doing a sleepover at my parents house.  This is to celebrate Rachel's birthday which was last Tuesday.  They do the sleepovers there because Camp Geezer** has a swimming pool and a BIG screen tv!  **Camp Geezer is what we call my parents house.

Speaking of girls - 

Sarah asked me to cut bangs for her - 

She looks so different!  We are all loving this hair cut on her!

Here is a recent photo of her 

The chicks are all doing well.  We've not had anymore hatch, but the cochin is still broody so we'll see if we get anymore.

We've been enjoying our own and local strawberries!  These are nothing like grocery store strawberries.  They are smaller, but full of deep red color and great flavor!  

I've been enjoying playing with the Waterlogue app.  Here are some of my peonies

Since we are on summer break from school, I want to get several projects done - my bathroom vanity and the kitchen cabinets, too.
I was very happy with how the bathroom vanity turned out. You can read about that here.

My main homemaking mentor was Emilie Barnes.  She taught me (through her books) to love my home, to make it as beautiful as I could on a budget, to make it a warm and inviting place.  I even used this philosophy during missions training. (Read about that here)  One of the things that Emilie talked about was making chores more appealing and a way to do that was by burning candles next to your kitchen sink, so while you washed dishes in the evening, you could have a beautiful, soothing atmosphere.  I do this and I also put flowers on the back of the sink to give us something beautiful to look at while we clean up.  I love to have fresh flowers in the house, but even if I don't have any money to buy some or flowers growing in the garden to cut, I have used greens, and even Dandelions!  It really makes me happy to see them tucked in the midst of a messy kitchen, and reminds me that all will be restored to order and prettiness, when we are done!

I'm continuing to pray for our dear friend Vee.  She appreciates all the prayers.  I know the days ahead will be hard as she comes to terms with her great loss.  She keeps saying, "God is good, all the time" and she is trusting in Him.

That's all I have for today!  Thanks for reading and I'd love it if you'd leave a comment!