We delivered our first order of bread today to the restaurant/bakery. The owner was very happy with our labels and the variety. Go us!! Friday I will call her and see what she needs for the following week. She also told us to bring her anything new we make.

I just feel blessed for the opportunity to work with my girls, teach them a business model and the benefit of hard work. Of course, the hard work part they got down pat; catering is HARD work!

God Is Good!!!

Today I got a call from the lady that has the bakery. She wants to order from us!!! Tuesday we will take her several of each bread we do and see what is popular. She is also interested in us doing special orders for her during the holidays.

Tonight the girls tried a new Pumpkin Bread and it was great. We will add that to our list.

Hannah will have to take the lead in getting us ready for the Farmer's Market on Saturday. Sarah will help after her lessons. I have a full week with school, a board meeting, meals, and some baking.

I am so thankful for industrious girls. They impress me to no end at how they 'step up to the plate' when we have a task to complete. I think of the Proverbs 31 woman and how God is growing them into just that. They take on home improvements projects then throw on an apron to bake.

God is so good and faithful to us.



Proverbs 31:27 - She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Farmer's Market

Today we got up at 6am to head to our town's Farmer's Market. It was cool and overcast and fall like. Everyone was set up above our railroad tracks in a long line. It is like small town America and I love it.




Here is our sample and business card holder. Hannah found this at Target and I love it.



We had a great day and sold almost all our bread. We had 1 loaf left!!




We were set up under a small tree that was actually a large problem. We ran into this dang limb several times. I finally took the small limbs and pushed them up into the tree.




Here is some of our bread. Everyone enjoyed the samples and bought all our Whole Wheat Apple and Banana bread; we didn't have enough. Hannah and I are working on quantity adjustments this week along with a few other tweeks.





We are looking toward the next few weekends and our Harvest Festival coming up in October. It is two full days so I think we will need close to 200 loaves of different breads. William, Sarah and Hayden will work this one as Hannah and I will be doing a Ladies Retreat for our church.

We Love 70's Music!!!

William and I grew up listening to 70's music and it is still our favorite. We can sing them all and we love to sing with the kids in the car. It is OUR thing!! Turn up the volume and roll down the windows, cause we gonna get LOUD!

Abba, Bee Gees, Foreigner, KC and the Sunshine Band, Chicago, and on and on.

Now, the crazy part is that we have our own dance moves invented by us. We do the the 'washing your hair', the 'mixer', the 'putting on deodorant', 'starting the mower' and the 'water sprinkler'.

The 'washing your hair' is good for fast and slow songs. 'Starting the mower' is great for KC and the Sunshine Band.

It is wonderful to see the kids all laughing and singing along. It reminds me of the memories that they will have of all of us together. Not the sanest, but dang fun!!

35 Odd Things About Me

1. Do you like blue cheese salad dressing? Yes, but not my favorite

2. Do you own a gun? Yes, quite a few

3. What's your favorite drink at Starbucks? Carmel Apple Spice

4. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?Coffee, coffee, coffee

5. Do you do pushups? NO!

6. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My wedding rings

7. Favorite hobby? Reading and baking

8. Do you have A.D.D? No... Look a squirrel

9. What's one trait that you hate about yourself? I make judgments too quickly

10. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: What are we doing for dinner, why hasn't Hayden cleaned up outside, and how much bread are we going to make for next weekend to sell.

11. Name 4 drinks you regularly drink. Coffee, Diet Coke, Coffee, Diet Coke

12. Current worry right now? How much bread to make for the Harvest Festival, 200 loaves?!

13. Current hate right now? People that can't see truth

14. Favorite place to be? Home with my family!

15. Do you like to travel? Love to travel

16. What color shirt are you wearing? Brown

17. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? NO, I like to stay on the bed, thank you!

18. Can you whistle? Yes

19. Favorite color? Green

20. If you could would you be a pirate? No, can't be that bad!

21. What song do you sing in the shower? I don't sing in the shower

22. Favorite girl's name? Hannah and Sarah, of course.

23. Favorite boy's name? Hayden and William, of course.

24. What's in your pocket right now? Nothing

25. Favorite bedsheets as a child? Do not remember, did I have sheets?!

26. Worst injury? Broken ankle, hurt like heck! Or did you mean emotional?

27. Do you love where you live? YES!!!!

28. How many TVs do you have in your house? One, which is one to many

29. Who is your loudest friend? I'll never tell!

30. How many pets do you have? Six

31. Does someone have a crush on you? My hubby

32. What is your Favorite Book? Biography of Benjamin Franklin

33. What's your favorite candy? Candy Corn and Hershey's Chocolate

34. Favorite Sports Team? Braves!

35. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? Why am I getting up at 6AM on a Saturday to go sell bread in town!

Been Busy!

Sorry I haven't been posting. We have been busy. The girls and I painted the cabinet doors in the upstairs bath Tuesday.



Wednesday I had a meeting before church. After church we went out to dinner with DeGina and the kids. Always loud and fun!

Thursday me and the kids went to, my favorite place of ALL TIME!! We got a table cloth for our table we are going to use for the Farmer's Market. We bought a few other things, but kept it frugal.



The weather here has been wonderful. The mornings are cool and the leaves are changing. Did I mention that I LOVE Fall! Hannah made Hot Apple Cider last night and it was fabulous. It was hot, and appley, and cidery. And I could smell a fire burning and s'mores roasting. Oh my!




We have got to go to the pumpkin patch and get pumpkins to decorate outside. My heart just sings when the leaves turn, pumpkins and such are sitting all around and the house smells of fresh baked goods.

Finishing Touch for Kitchen

Received my decal from Etsy yesterday and I LOVE it! I got in centered on the board that goes over the sink and William put it up last evening.

Now to finish up the girls room. We took two prints that Hannah had enlarged to the frame shop today. They will go over the girls beds.

Hannah is going to sand my bathroom cabinet doors tomorrow. I bought the paint for them today. That should not take long at all. Then on to Hayden's room and the downstairs screen porch.

FALL!!!!

Today is the first day of FALL. Lets celebrate. I love fall; I love the cool weather, the colorful leaves, the smell of a fire, the friskiness of the animals, baking, festivals and sweaters.





Oh, and I love pumpkins!! They make me happy. We always go to this huge pumpkin farm and buy some to decorate with. They have some that are ginormous. We grab a wheelbarrow and fill it up!



Don't forget the S'mores either. What is fall without the magical camp food?? Magic




And Hot Apple Cider!!!! Can you smell it??





And Chili!!! I love making chili when it is cool outside. I make mine from scratch, how about you?






FALL MAKES ME VERY HAPPY!!!!

TIRED!!!!!

We cooked Bar-B-Que and stew last night. We made slaw also. Lots of slaw. Lots of stew. Let me tell you what you have to do to make REAL stew. You cook chicken and beef; someone else did this part. Then you pull the meat apart, and you grind it all up along with corn, onions and tomatoes. The tomatoes 'spit' out the end of the grinder all over you. :) After that process, you add broth and mix and cook. Now, DeGina's momma did this part in a BIG black kettle. In HER mind, DeGina had her with a black hat on and a broom. I wasn't going there.

Oh while we were tearing the chicken apart we found a part that we could not identity. I should have had a camera. My, we did use our imagination and come up with some interesting ideas. DeGina about fell out of her chair! I can not say in less than VERY close company what we thought it was. But then someone said that they didn't have that part! A discussion on eggs ensued and chicks and barnyard behavior. Hmmm.

Today we sold food and baked goods at the Blue Grass Festival for the Crisis Pregnancy Center. We started about 11:00 and went to 6pm. We had a good time and sold a lot of food. People in the South do like their slow cooked bar-b-que. I am one of those people!!!

I pray that God multiples the donations and He is glorified!!!

Memories That Are Difficult

I recently viewed a blog about a family in China waiting to bring their new daughter home. The sweet little girl is in the hospital with a heart problem and the Dr's won't release her. They are struggling and fighting to get this child to the US for surgery.

This brought back memories of our failed adoption a little over 2 years ago. At times I still long for that little boy and fight back tears. I wonder where he is and how he is doing; is he loved enough, cared for. Does his mom realize how precious he is. We just wanted to give a child a loving, caring home. I am adopted (more on that later) and I so desired to adopt.

Ours was a domestic adoption, which probably was a mistake. You spend alot of money with absolutely no guarantee of adoption. You do not know if the agency you are working with has your best interest at heart or the child's. We went through months of anticipation, sending letters, travel to another state to have the birth mother change her mind the day before the delivery. Devastated doesn't even describe how we felt.

In hindsight we feel that the mother was using us to take care of her living expenses during the pregnancy. She never responded to our letters, which were numerous. We should have seen the red flags, but we didn't. We wanted to provide a loving home for this baby. The agency told us that the birth mother already had several children she wasn't parenting and had placed a child for adoption previously. It seemed like a good situation. Did we not hear from God?

I have tried to not spend time rethinking our decision to go with domestic adoption. Orginally we were going to do a foreign adoption. Guatamala actually. There seemed to be so many babies that needed a home and a family. Then we changed directions and went with an agency in our state. The woman that ran it seemed nice and helpful. In the end, not so.

After we lost our little boy, this woman from our agency called with another situation, telling us we were at the top of the list due to the failed adoption. This one closer to home, the mother visiting a church we knew of 2 hrs. from us, wanting to place her baby for adoption. We waited, she would call and give us 'updates'. Then we heard nothing. Later we discovered the owner of the agency had promised 'this baby' to 14 other couples. The baby didn't exist, as far as we know. Again, heart break and confusion.

We finally gave up, not knowing whether we missed God's will or what. We had spend so much money; we couldn't start over with another agency. We couldn't go forward with the one we were with either; she had deceived us. She could not be trusted. We began to question the failed adoption and whether there was deception there. But you have little recourse.

God has used the situation as a testimony to His grace and mercy. We did come through this without bitterness. We don't understand, but we trust His heart. Our children learned a lot during this time about love, selflessness, and disappointment. As I have ministered in song, I have related our story to others. I have spoke of God's peace during this very difficult time. I will never understand on this side of eternity why we went through what we did, but I choose to trust a loving Father, believing that there was a bigger picture we just couldn't see.

Life Update

Today Sarah took her first horseback riding lesson. She is taking from a girl her age that is also homeschooled. Too cool!!

Sarah learned about haltering the horse, saddling the horse, where to stand so as not to get the 'living daylights' knocked out of you (I consider this one to be very important), and how to get the horse to respect you. She never got on the horse today and I was happy with that. See, I rode during my teen years and I was thrown, bite, stepped on, clotheslined in the woods, etc. It all hurts bad when it comes from a 1500 lb. horse! And I was a good rider.

I think she will enjoy riding and being around the horses. She is a calm person, which is great when you are around a BIG animal that can spook. I am proud of her for going for it.

It looks like we may be baking bread and other items for the lady that owns the restaurant/bakery. I sent an order form today. We plan to take her other baked good soon.

Right now I am baking banana bread in mini loaves (lots of mini loaves) to sell this weekend
at a fundraiser for the Crisis Pregnancy Center where I sit on the board. We are selling Bar-B-Que and the fixins. The girls are going to make huge chocolate chip cookies to sell. It will be an all day event from 11am until. Chris, our Executive Director and my catering partner's husband, will be in rare form. This means he will be 'selling' the Q!!!

Tomorrow morning I meet with the lady that called us about managing some of her rental cabins. I am taking her a loaf of banana bread. Is that bad?! Well, I want the work. Heck, I need the work. Those of you who pray, please pray! The local economy where we live is bad and we depend on out of the area and out of state income. Our restoration business screeches to a halt in the winter; managing cabins would be a great replacement income.

I continue to be amazed at how our Lord supplies our needs. It thrills my heart and soul!

I go back to Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us


God's word is full of promises for His children. He is a gracious, loving Father. Life isn't always easy, but it is always precious with Him.



P.S. - We will get back to remodeling after this week is over. With the weekend coming up and the baking, I am swamped.

Scouting

This weekend the scouts participated in a horsemanship campout. They camped and rode horses! Hayden had been very apprehensive about getting on a horse, but decided to push forward. That's my boy! "DO HARD THINGS"!!




Hayden learned something new about himself and something about horses, which I happen to love. I rode during my preteen and teen years and loved very minute of it. Horses are intelligent, beautiful animals. And they have the softest noses!!




Being at someone's ranch, they had to wear helmets which doesn't make you look terribly cool, but it is safe. Safe trumps cool. You go boy!

The Nielson Family

On Saturday, August 16, 2008, Stephanie Nielson was in a plane crash with her husband, Christian Nielson, and his flight instructor, Doug Kinneard, near St. Johns, Arizona. Doug Kinneard passed away soon after arriving at the Maricopa County Hospital.

Christian & Stephanie remain in critical condition at Maricopa Burn Center. Christian has sustained burns on over 30% of his body. His wife Stephanie’s body was burned over 80%.

Stephanie is a sister blogger with 4 beautiful children. Her blog is called Nie Nie Dialogues. Friends and family have set up various opportunities to donate to their recovery.


Cards can be sent to:
c/o Christian and Stephanie Nielson
Maricopa County Hospital
2601 East Roosevelt St
Phoenix, AR 85008

Divine Provision

I am continually amazed how God provides opportunities for us. And today we have been provided not one BUT TWO!! He is an awesome God!

We received a call from a cabin rental company that would like to talk to us about managing some of their cabins in our area. This would involving cleaning and being on call if a client has a problem. Also, we would provide bids for staining the cabins. I meet with the owner next week. I pray that we find favor with her and are able to meet her expectations.

DeGina called and told me that we have an opportunity to provide baked goods to a local restaurant. The lady would like a sample of several of our breads Monday; so we will bake this weekend. We will start with whole wheat bread, honey wheat bread and banana bread. This is a wonderful opportunity for us also.

William and I have been concerned how we were going to manage through the winter. We do not do exterior work once the temps drop below 40 degrees. These two jobs could take care of that.

Ikea

Today we went to Ikea in the BIG city to look for desk chairs for the girls and a floor lamp. Their stuff is pretty nice and inexpensive SO I figured we could brave the traffic for a visit.

The store was overwhelming. Two floors of STUFF! They have stuff for your stuff!!! We walked and walked and walked. Did I mention we walked??

We found two chairs and a great floor lamp. And two desk lamps. And a picture. Not bad...

The girls have Sarah's desk to finish and the shelves to build. Then they have to arrange all their STUFF.

On September 11, 2008 our nation will pause to remember the greatest "wake-up" call in
our generation, the terrorist attacks on 9/11/01. As part of Awakening America, a call is being issued for Christians across the nation to mark this significant day in our history with powerful prayer for America and the lost individuals of this country.

In every one of the 3141 counties in the United States, during the noon lunch hour on September 11, Christians will unite around their county courthouse to cry out to God with focused prayer for their community, their lost friends and family, and for the spiritual condition of our nation.

Moving On II

Today the girls are working with their dad on building their desks. They have chosen birch wood for their desk and the shelves over the desks. All sorts of sanding and such are going on outside as Hayden and I do school. Periodically someone comes in for something or for advice on colors, etc. Not that they then take that advice!

We just spend 10 minutes trying to decide how best to cut a 6 ft x 2 ft board for shelves; I am tired from the mental work. :) Everyone was not in agreement so I finally took a sheet of paper and demonstrated by folding it for those that are visual learners!!! That broke up the meeting and off they went to the home improvement store. Thank goodness!

The desks should be in place by this evening and possibly the shelves also. The girls are really thinking through each step and decision, which shows maturity and makes the momma feel good!

Moving On

The kitchen is done except for waiting on the decal I ordered to go on the board over the sink. It is going to be beautiful. It says "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want".

We have now started on the girls room. SEE, you start one project and one leads to another. Yesterday we painted the walls in their room, after removing all their stuff. When Wm. came home, he removed the bunk beds, which was no small task.

They are going to put in two full beds and build two desks for themselves. Yes, I said "build two desks". They need to be narrow to fit the space and they want something simple, so they are going to design and build them. I am proud of the girls persistence in all this. They are learning a lot and realizing that there are many ways to a goal.

After we complete their room, we are going to redo Hayden's room. He wants to paint the walls and redecorate. Then on to the living room and decks!!!

We are remaining frugal in all of this. We have only purchased some paint. As far as decorating, we are just moving things around, decluttering, making it ourselves, etc.

More pictures soon!!!

I Almost Forgot: The Sprayer Debacle

When we got to the painting part of the cabinet redo, we intended to spray the doors. SIT DOWN... this is a long story.

William had the sprayer in his work van, of course, along with the tarps. So, Hannah and I went to get the paint, then out to the boonies to the job site to get the sprayer and the tarp.

I asked him how the sprayer worked. First mistake! He said, "put the paint in it and turn it on". Ok, now as a woman I am thinking, "it ain't that easy". I mention this. He rolled his eyes, put the box with the sprayer in it on my back seat and threw in the tarp. He said, "don't leave it with the paint in it after you finish, it will mess it up".

AND HE THOUGHT THAT WOULD BE THE ONLY PROBLEM. huh.


We come home and pull out everything. I put the tarp on the driveway and get the sprayer out. This is where the easy part ends.

I try to pour the paint from a big paint bucket into a small paint sprayer; not so easy. The paint runs down the side of the sprayer. ( I see Wm's face) Cringe with me. There is a big spot on the tarp. Cringe again with me.

I yell at Hannah to get a cloth and remind her that she does NOT want her father to see the sprayer in this condition; he was talking earlier about a new sprayer he had JUST bought. I clean off the outside and turn the baby on. Oh my. It makes a grrrrr noise followed by a spllllpppllppp so as to cover everything in sight. (cringe with me people)



The paint splatters out all over my cabinet door. I am not sure what I said at this point, but I am pretty sure I do not want to repeat it... ever... in front of children... or at church. All I see is this huge job going down the toilet and Wm. shaking his head while shaking his ruined paint sprayer at me. (ok, he isn't mean, but at that point, I was imagining horrible things)

I CALL HIM! Why isn't this thing working. He says, "the paint is probably too thick". WHAT?? I bought paint, this is a paint sprayer; this isn't ROCKET SCIENCE! He told me to read the directions; that I needed to measure the flow of the paint. Are You KIDDING ME?! So, I hung up and pulled out the directions.

Now, I am more frustrated. The directions are all in spanish. I am thinking "why did he keep the spanish directions and throw the english away". I actually said this to our daughter sitting at the table with me. Hannah yanks the directions from my hand, looks at them and exclaims,


"MOM, THERE ARE THREE LANGUAGES ON EACH PAGE, AND ENGLISH IS ONE OF THEM!!"

Hannah says "we will brush the paint on". For some reason the child thought this would calm my nerves. I was so excited, I couldn't contain myself. Really

So, while she runs back to the wonderful home improvement store, I set about cleaning the prized paint sprayer. I cleaned and cleaned. Took it apart and cleaned some more. Thinking all the time, he's gonna kill me. FYI - paint can come out of a sprayer FOREVER!


William comes home later and I show him how I took apart and cleaned his paint sprayer. I tell him more about our debacle and how we OVER CAME. We go outside to look at the cabinet doors we had painted with a brush. The girls and I are so proud. I am happy that the sprayer is clean. Oh no, but this isn't the end...







He says, "I got that sprayer from Russell, I didn't know if it even worked".

OH NO HE DIDN'T?! Did he just say what I thought he said? Oh yes, he did. He didn't give me the good sprayer; he gave me a hand me down he got for NOTHING.

Our New Cabinets, etc.

Well, I promised I would post pictures of our most recent home improvement and here they are.

Of course, redoing the cabinet doors meant cleaning out all the cabinets, taking the furniture out of our dining room and cleaning the floors also. We decided to paint our newest bookcase and pull out all the books in two bookcases and see what we could store. We also pulled all the pictures and such off the walls and are rethinking our decor. And pulled all the stuff down from above the cabinets to reduce the clutter.


SO HERE WE GO!!



No good home improvement project is started without a trip to the local home improvement store. We knew we wanted a shade of green for the cabinets.

We settled on a color that was a light moss green.





Once we settled on a color, the cabinet doors had to come down. Enter Sarah, master of the drill!! She blew us away. That girl can handle a drill.

And she put the doors back on! IMPRESSIVE.




Next we SANDED! And sanded, and sanded, and sanded, and sanded.... Ok, you get the picture. We were covered in wood dust. Hannah was our chief sander, the girl is the SANDING QUEEN! Makes me think of "Dancing Queen". I love Abba, but I digress.
and sanded, and sanded, and... sorry, it just went on FOREVER. We took turns because you would stop sanding and still be shaking. I am not even kidding.








Here is the pile of doors that we decided to take down, so we could sand, so we could paint, so we could clean, so we could redecorate, so ......



Here is the dining room without furniture; I'm liking it. This is before we painted the bookcase on the left a dark green. The raccoon on the fireplace isn't staying there.








We took all our books from our downstairs bookcases and here they are in all their glory on the deck. It did give me an opportunity to go through them. Hayden graciously brought all these books back in to me so I could stack them back in the bookshelfs.

There are twice as many upstairs. :( Oh my goodness...









We put two coats of pigmented paint on and a coat of clear for protection. We put all the doors on the floor of the dining room to dry under the fans. This process, start to finish, took two days.

We have cleaned, sanded, painted, dusted, rearranged, etc. for two solid days. We are very pleased with the results.








Wait for it, Wait for it, Wait for it ....














Tada!!!! ( these were taken after dark, more daytime pictures to come!


Paint - $30.00
New Kitchen mat - $19.99
Time spent with my kids - PRICELESS

Teaser

The girls and I are painting our kitchen cabinet doors!!

Of course, this led to extensive cleaning, redecorating, etc. in the kitchen and dining room. We are taking pictures and will have the WHOLE story here soon.

NO blood shed so far. Kevin will be disappointed!

HIJACKED!

HI EVERYONE. We've hijacked mom's blog.

Aloha from undisclosed location.






**VERY funny girls!!! Hannah and Sarah went to a hotel last night because there is a weird odor in their room. Here is how they spend their time, highjacking my blog!

Sarah Palin for President!

Have you heard this woman speak?! Oh my goodness!! She is articulate and a fireball. She is well versed on the issues concerning Americans and fearlessly speaks to them. I AM IMPRESSED!

She is what we need; a real woman with a real family, with real problems, that face them head on and stay together. She seems genuine; something that we haven't seen in a long time from politicians. I AM A FAN!

John McCain couldn't have picked a better VP.

William's World

This is my husband's ministry, the sound board. He has worked in this area for the last 20+ years. He has always done my sound whenever and wherever I sing; and has done it at most of the church's we have served in.

I have discovered that it requires a lot of patience and a calm spirit. Over the years I have learned the board and can run it when he is not available; but my personality is more 'excitable' than his so I get tense if there is a lot to do. I would rather be on the platform singing!

There is so much to this job because the flow of the service hinges on everything in the sound booth going smoothly. Muting mics when someone isn't speaking, making sure batteries are not half dead in all the mics, lighting, music, recording, volume, odd noises coming from the speakers, etc. It is busy from the beginning to the end.


William does it with ease (most days) and provides me a great degree of security as I minister on the platform. It is his gift and he operates in it well.

God Continues to Provide

Eagle Restoration started a new job today and we got a call on another one that is sending their deposit. William will continue to look for other employment because we do not get jobs during the winter; the biggest downside to our business.

Hannah is looking for part time employment and is looking into colleges close to home. She went to an interview today at a local coffee house/restaurant. Because of her catering experience the lady wants her full time or almost full time in the kitchen; which will not work with school. She has in other applications in also.

We continue to seek what God has for us even if it means change. We do not want to become stagnant in our walk with the Lord. We know He has great plans for us and we want to know those plans!

In other news: Our studies are going well. Charlotte Mason is a great method of education, but it does require alot of reading and planning. Hayden has to be dramatic when I ask him to do something difficult, which is just our "normal"! Sarah studies quietly; my easy student. Hayden, not so easy!! :)