Getting back into the swing of things

For the first time in a LONG time I've had a blog post swirling in my head today. When I first started blogging four and a half years ago that happened all the time. I'd think in "blog." Post multiple times a day. In all fairness the past two years have been a roller coaster of relocating, baby, adjusting moving and settling. Not much time to "think blog" or even just "think" some days! I'm working on my inability to sit down and relax until all the work is done- cause the work is just never done. Don't worry- Mom knows it's her fault. :) (Kidding, Mom.)

The kids started school yesterday (photos to come soon!). They were as excited as can be- all three of them. They were up here BY 6:20 dressed and ready to go. Now we live three blocks from school and the younger two don't need to leave here until 8:15 for the 8:30 start. I'm sure it won't be long before we're wrestling them out of bed at seven. :)
Ironically? After waking between 6:00 and 6:15 for most of the summer, Landon has slept until 7:15 and 7:20 the past two days. With all of our commotion right outside his door! Isn't that bizarre?!

The little man was pretty sure the world had ended when he couldn't go with his siblings down the driveway. He wandered around a little pathetically for awhile. We watched Sesame Street (yes, more for me than him), played cars, took two walks and read a stack of books. At one point he curled up on the rug by the front door with his bubby as if to tell me where the real fun would reenter. :)We baked cookies together. Then he napped for THREE hours!

I am bound and determined to work my way through the house room by room and give each room a good deep clean. Wipe out and reorganize each cupboard and closet. Yesterday I got the laundry room and half of the kitchen done. Yeah! Today I got 8 more cupboards in the kitchen done. Slowly but surely. My goal is to be done with the main floor by Friday (remember we just moved into the basement in May. It hasn't had time to get TOO bad! The kids' rooms we did last week with them.)

We have fallen into that crazy season between summer and fall called "Canning Season." My mom and grandma both canned and I married into a canning family. I think Jake and I started the second year we were married with the help of our neighbors at the time. As with most things there are parts of it I love and others I don't.
I love the feeling of satisfaction when the jars are all wiped down, marked and lined up on their shelves. I love feeding my family healthy, homegrown foods! I love knowing exactly what went into each jar. What don't I like? Produce isn't very time-forgiving! When it's ready- it's ready and it doesn't matter what I had planned for the day. It takes lots of time- inside- and often I'd rather be outside on these beautiful days! (I'm striving for a long walk each day- Tomatoes can wait an hour!)

I'll keep you updated on what we've "put up:" (I feel like my grandma just saying that!)
21 Quarts of peaches (With 1/2 bushel on my counter for tomorrow...)
14 Quarts of green beans
4 peach pies (plus three from my Mother in Law-- Ready to be popped in the oven at a moment's notice!)
24 Quarts of corn in the freezer (GREAT sweet corn this year!!!)
5 quarts of pickles (trying these again after a long hiatus)
Strawberry freezer jam
Four bags of shredded zucchini
4 big bags of diced sweet onions
Sauerkraut from my Mother in Law (:)YUM!)
And the saga will continue as the tomatoes are just beginning to ripen up.

I'm off to read.
Despite everything that could still use doing.
Tomorrow will be another full day. :)

Max Lucado: Fearless

A couple of weeks ago I was offer the chance to review Max Lucado's most recent release.

I jumped at the chance.

To say the release of this book is timely given the state our country is in would be an understatement. I thank the Lord for the relative peace our family has experienced through it all- yet Mr. Lucado touches on many facets of fear people face despite the "economic times."

The fear of not protecting my kids. The fear of violence. The fear of overwhelming challenges. This is just a sampling of the chapters he covers with engaging relevance. Many times while reading the book I was struck by how accurately Mr. Lucado depicted fears that I thought were my own. Fear is real. We all feel it. Faith is real, too. Mr. Lucado invites us to allow "faith, and not fear, be our default reaction to threats." Over and over he points to the promises of Christ that dispel fear.

If you haven't yet read a book by Max Lucado, you are in for a treat. His writing style is completely engaging. He interweaves laugh-out-loud humor, fascinating stories and Biblical truth in a way that makes you yearn for more.

This book will stay on our coffee table for months to come.

Come on over. :)

Letter from a nearly-two-year-old:

Dear Mimi (and any other dear souls who are still checking this blog after a summer off),

It's me, Landon.

My mom has been terrible at blogging this summer. She's had a lot of fun with us in the meantime. We go places a lot. I like my car seat, so it's all good. One of the best places we went was to the zoo with you and Papa. I liked that a lot.

Mom says it was the zoo you used to take her to when she was a little girl.
She says you wouldn't buy her those awesome plastic molded animals either.
Huh.
Here are my siblings and the picnic you packed for us. I was in the back of the van with Papa. Thanks, Mimi for a fun weekend!

Another fun time was when you and Papa came to visit and it rained, so we couldn't do the bike trip we planned, but you and Ellie and my mama went on a day trip. Ellie reads from her "Betsy Tacy" books to me, but I'd rather play with cars. She told me you had lots of fun together.

Mimi, I really liked camping with you. I liked the choo choos. We got to hear them every hour! My favorite part was running down the hill between our campsites. My brothers loved the Trivial Pursuit part the best and Ellie loved the swimming. Wasn't that a fun beach, Mimi? Mom and Dad sure made us leave in a hurry. I'm not sure what all the fuss was about- I loved running around getting soaked. They set all those tents up for a couple of days when we got home again anyway- something about them being drenched?
Here's a picture from our hike I loved it so much I passed right out! Thanks for waiting at the bottom of the bluff with me. :)

Well, Mimi, I'm off to bed. Seems like something's gonna happen here tomorrow. All the big kids are excited and have these bags lined up by the door. Mom says my little world's gonna be rocked- doesn't that sound like fun?!
I wuv you, Mimi. Thanks for checking in on us. My mom thinks she'll have time to write on here more now.
Love,
Landon