Please Pray For Ada

Friends, 

Sweet Ada is still septic and very ill.  She has a substrain of bacteria that the infectious disease doctors at Neumors Dupont Children's Hospital have only seen three times at the hospital.  Despite heavy antibiotics for three days, there is still bacteria in her central line and throughout her bloodstream.

They are going to transfer her to a hospital with a higher level of care, and are trying to decide which one will be best for her particular needs.  One is an hour away, the other is 8 hours away in a different state.

Thank you for praying and please continue to pray for Ada's complete healing, for her Mama and Dad, and her siblings, especially her twin Wren.

Weekend: Garden Work, Grands, and Chickens

Saturday afternoon, Tim, Sarah and Kyle helped me weed, then we mulched the cottage garden.  We haven't mulched for five years because of the chickens.  They like to scratch it all out of the beds, but I seriously need help controlling the weeds.

It looks gorgeous.

Several of my rose bushes developed black spot - losing a lot of leaves, so I trimmed them way back. When/if they bloom again this season I will treat them with a fungicide, and try to kill the black spot.  I'm still learning so much about gardening.


Here is how the garden looked Sunday evening.

 The chickens have scratched a lot of mulch onto the sidewalk.  I should be able to just sweep it back into the flower beds, but this will be an ongoing issue for the summer.  There's Watson our big black cat.

Kamryn was over after church, but then left because she was going to stay the week at my parents house.  Its their church's VBS week and Kamryn always goes.  Nate and Kay took her to the opening event, and on their way home they dropped Klaire off to hang out with her favorites - Papa and Ahwah.  She calls Kyle Ah-Wah.  

She got to collect eggs, her favorite thing to do, and play.  She's enjoying having me read her books, and so I read a few Madeline books to her.  She says, "Moah, Moah!" (more, more!), when I finish a book.  So cute.

She sat here in the tree for a long time.

Then she saw a bird she wanted to 'get'.  "Get Bird."

Sarah went down to SC to the youth conference she loves.  Family friends took her along with them, and she'll be gone all week.  Thankfully, so we are not too lonely without her, our friends Rick and Jane arrive later today with their trailer.  This is the beginning of their summer camping season.  They spend all of July in New Hampshire at a lake with their daughter and grands.  They visit other family, and friends like family along the way, and they usually head home at the end of August.  We love that we are on the list of friends like family.

With Rachel up at WOL camps for most of the summer, and Sarah at her youth conference this week, we are getting a taste of what it will be like with just one kid living at home.  I'm thankful that God eases us into our empty nest.

Tim and I both read and had naps Sunday afternoon, but we had friends here, too.  After Kamryn left, our friend Denny came bearing snacks.  Wes dropped in for a visit, and when Nate and Kay dropped Klaire off he got to see Kaidence.  We love friends who are family.

I hope you had a good weekend.  I do have a prayer request.  Sweet friends from our homeschool co-op have three young daughters who are medically fragile.  One of them spiked a high fever on Friday, and because she has a central line, they headed straight to the hospital.  Little Ada has a BAD infection and is septic. Will you pray with us?

Friday Five

Its been grey and overcast most of the week, though we've had a bit of sunshine here and there.  

My five this week are growing things, mostly flowers.

1. Glorious Annabelles - 

 These are on the dining table.  The first photo yesterday afternoon, the second this morning with a drizzle outside.  I had to use a lot of editing on this one!



2. More Annabelles

These are at the end of the dark hallway.  Over head light on and the little lamp to the right of the Annabelles.  And editing.  But they make me so happy in their elegant simplicity next to this mirror!

3. Pretty Nasturtiums

These are planted with the tomatoes in pots on the deck.  Did you know that Nasturtiums are edible?  The flowers and the leaves both can be eaten.  They taste peppery.  Of course, don't eat them unless you know they've never been sprayed with anything.  We used to grow our own from seed, companion planted with our tomatoes, when we had a large garden.  We would always add some flowers to our salads.  

4.  Grape Tomatoes

They're growing well!

5.  Flowers from the urn on the deck table - 

Its supposed to be sunny tomorrow and I'm hoping that's true.  I have some plans for some outdoor work, I'd like to get done!

Have a happy weekend, friends!

Garden: After The Rain

We seem to be out of the constant rain cycle we were in for the last year, and so last nights rain was welcome.  We may get back into that pattern, as this is what happened last year, so we'll see.

I thought I'd show you my cottage garden this morning.

Annabelle Hydrangea

Feverfew

Daylily (I don't know the name)

Hydrangea Macrophylla

Echinacea (coneflower)

Larkspur and Oriental Poppy

Hollyhock Nigra

More Echinacea

Peach Roses

Annabelle Hydrangea (this is the same bush as the first photo)

More Hollyhock Nigra.  This get very tall! I've had them grow over seven feet before!

Gooseneck Loosestrife.  This can be very invasive, so you have to be ruthless with it.  This year I've allowed it to fill in some empty spaces, but at the end of the year, much of it will be pulled out.

Close up of Hollyhock Nigra.  I've scattered some other colors of Hollyhock, so we'll see if they come up.  I've learned in the last few years that Hollyhocks are biennial and this has been very true with Nigra.

We still don't have mulch, but I'm hoping to this weekend.  I have some weeds to pull and some to spray with my Bonide Burn-Out.

The climbing roses have developed black spot and have lots a lot of leaves.  I need to dead head my David Austin, and give all the roses a feeding.  My goldmound spirea is blooming nicely, too.  

We are hosting a family reunion with my brother's family in July.  We'll be gathering to celebrate my parents 60th wedding anniversary, so I want the garden to look its best, and really that's the way I like it to look anyway!

How does your garden grow?

We Are All Flawed

The last few weeks I've been going through a time of weeding out some things in my heart, and growing forth in my relationships with the Lord and my family.  Its uncomfortable sometimes, but its always for our good, and the end result is worth it.

I think I'd gotten comfortable in where I was at, and I'd gone through a year or so of discouragement in some areas, but that discouragement spilled over into other areas and I was unaware.

We are all flawed humans, and without Jesus redeeming us, and placing his righteousness on us, we'd have no hope.

 I think that for too long, the church put forth an ideal of how Christians should be, and we all tried so hard to live up to that ideal.  But there is no 'perfect' people.  I think we need to show that we fail sometimes, but that we have a savior to forgive us and help us, and isn't that where 'be ready to share the hope that is in you' comes in to action?  No one is going to ask us about our hope, if they think we've got it all together and they'll never be able to live up to that.

 Christians have gotten a bad reputation because so many of us act so pious and above sin, that when believers fall (and the s*x scandals and bullying pastors, etc, show how spectacularly we can fall), people who do not believe scoff and mock.

When the woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus by the religious leaders, he didn't say she didn't sin, in fact he told her to go and sin no more.  However, he did challenge the religious leaders and their actions toward her.

Wrong does need to be dealt with, sometimes that means the law gets involved.  Sometimes it means that people need to believe accusers.  Sometimes it means that an elder needs to be strong and stand up to a strong personality pastor, regardless of the consequences to his position in the church.

God isn't worried about his reputation.  He isn't trying to prove to the unbelieving world that he is good.  God is good, and he wants to use us to be his hands and feet and arms and to be love in the world.  

Life is short.  Let's live in love for one another, lets help our neighbors, love those who are hard to love.  We all have them in our lives.  Loving someone doesn't mean you have to approve of their actions or choices, but that you continue to pray for them and care for them.

Weekend

Did you have a good weekend?  We did, even though it was busy for me.

Saturday Kayleigh and I went to our state homeschool convention.  Its been held locally the last few years which has been nice for us.  Tim drives us into the convention center in the city and picks us up.  No parking issues!  It was especially nice this year with having Kaidence along!

We sat in an informative session on Smart Kids Who Hate Writing.

Lots of free ice water!  It was great to be able to refill our water bottles.

Kaidence was a trooper, sleeping most of the time.  I caught her with her eyes open though.

On Sunday, I made pulled pork for sandwiches, coleslaw, and baked beans.  Mom brought Mac 'n Cheese, Lindsay brought good sandwich rolls, Nate and Kay brought drinks.  Easy Peasy way to satisfy the men in our lives who are fathers.  We enjoyed celebrating them.

Kyle is an excellent uncle, and loves his nieces and nephew.  He's comfortable with babies, and I'm glad.  He'll make a fine dad one day.

Tim is a great dad.  He grew into his fatherhood, and has excellent relationships with all his kids.  His grands think he's pretty special too, especially Klaire.  He's her favorite!

My dad is now 80 years old, and I'm thankful that I still have him.  

This week will be a slower week, and then next week our friends come for a week!  Really happy about that!

Friday Five

It's been a happy week, in a busy month, so lets get right to the five!

1. Kaidence Elyse was born!  She's so sweet!

2. New Earrings!  I have a lot of earrings, but don't wear most of them!  I'm moving those on and bought some new, fun earrings to wear!  This pair is lightweight and the colors on them go with almost everything I wear!

3. Can you be in love with a rose?

4. Feverfew is an old medicinal plant that I've seen planted in Colonial Gardens.  Used for fever and other ailments brewed up into a tea.  We've done it and it tastes terrible, but we did this for a family member who was having an issue and it worked!  The sweet little daisy like flowers and ferny leaves are so pretty in the garden or in a vase!  I even used them in a bridal bouquet last September!

5. Lavender

Lindsay gifted a small lavender in a big pot last year.  It is happy in its spot outside of my kitchen door.  I pass by this beauty a few times a day, and the scent and look of it make me so happy!

I hope you all have a wonderful Father's Day celebrating the Dad's in your lives.

A Baby Story

Today is Kayleigh's due date, but she had the baby yesterday!

They were actually going to induce her yesterday at noon, due to some rib pain she'd been having and the closeness to her due date.  She called me around 7:30 with some symptoms and I said she should call the midwives and I'd take her in to the hospital. (she delivered at our local maternity hospital)

While we waited for the midwife (busy with a delivery) to come assess her, the contractions picked up significantly. When the midwife came in Kay was already 6cm (she'd been 3cm at her appointment the day before) and definitely in active labor.

Nate arrived just at they were moving us to a regular room.  She labored in the jacuzzi for about thirty minutes and due to how quickly her labor was moving, the midwife arrived to check her again.

Out of the jacuzzi and onto the bed, Kay's labor changed again, and was more intense.  A quick check (she was now 8cm) and a full breaking of the waters, I looked at the clock and the time was 11:28 am.  

Transition is such an intense time during labor, one contraction on top of another, and Kay's was moving so fast!  The nurses, midwife, Nate, and I were all encouraging her!  She really was amazing.

A quick check, and she was 9cm.  That happened in one minute literally.  A few more contractions, the midwife checked because Kay felt the urge to push, and in just a few minutes, sweet Kaidence Elyse was born!


This just minutes after she was born.  What a sweet wee ear and dark hair.

I loved getting to hold her so soon after she was born.

Tim and I took the girls, and Uncle Kyle and Auntie Sarah to see her last evening.

What a blessing and a joy to welcome a new baby into the family!