out of the miry clay: the Popper

Showing posts with label the Popper. Show all posts

Monday, March 31, 2014

daybook 3/31/2014

For today

Monday, March 31, 2014

Outside my window... sunshine {after rain this morning}, the faintest hint of green out in the pasture, robins and other birds looking for something in the yard

Hearing... the dryer rumbling

Pondering... a nap {ha ha}

Praying...

Denise – struggling with each round of chemo treatments

Jill – gall bladder surgery tomorrow

Kim – overall she is doing wonderfully, and we still celebrate the miracle that she’s alive! -- but it’s still a long, long road to recover much of her former life or determine her ‘new normal.’

the Rettigs – missionaries to Prague, currently traveling in the US

Kate, Abby & Daniel – nearing the home stretch of spring semester {Daniel is done in less than five weeks!}

Thankful... for a good spring break with Kate & Abby at home; for my dad who made the drive to Wisc to bring them home; and for Tim who made the drive to take them back again.

Creating... {sharing} a glimpse of Abby’s project for a couple of her college friends:

You’ll never guess their nicknames – indicated by the letters used.

Wanna guess anyway? or play hangman? Wheel of Fortune bonus-round style? what is that – two vowels and three consonants?

G _ _ _ _ _ S _ _ _ _ _ _

Going... nowhere, very slowly, thank you very much.

Last week/month was a bit non-stop… Really. March Madness? Much.

Tax returns {one piece of chocolate remains}
funeral at church {I baked rolls for the meal}
the Cattleman & the Cowgirl participated in the Youth Service
attended a wedding at church – sent the bride & groom off with sparklers!
sewed a baby blanket… and ironed flannel for several more
hosted YAC supper {pancakes, egg casserole, apple sauce, etc…}
planned/dreamed of an outbuilding {protected Morton salesman from Luci}
bought and sold items via facebook swap pages {mostly fun, but consuming}
PURGED the To Go Piles at last!
delivered Meals on Wheels two days last week
created a queenly crown with the Popper
stayed up way too late almost every night of ‘spring break’ :o {I’m too old for this!}
~~nagged~~ encouraged K&A to finish their speech assignments!
allowed/helped the Cowgirl to make/order a few FREE Shutterfly projects {including Volume One of her own ‘baby’ book – yay!}
tried to follow our beloved Cyclones and Badgers through basketball tournaments {watched part of one recent game- Kentucky v Louisville – heated competition!} –> Badgers have advanced to the Final Four! woot woot
de-activated my face book account last night!!!! Yes!

Reading... I did finish the Amy Carmichael biography, but I missed the group discussion.

Here’s a tidbit from chapter 21:

Good and acceptable and perfect.

Those three words hallow pain. They take from it all bitterness, all that stings and rankles; they leave it, still pain indeed, but somehow sweetened, chastened.

Looking forward to... green landscapes

In the kitchen... leftover calzones tonight

Last week’s menu: grilled burgers/hot dogs; pizza; egg rolls; taco salad; turkey packets; ~~Hickory Park Restaurant~~ Mongolian Buffet; calzones, spinach/artichoke dip.

Saturday morning we had a Big Breakfast before the girls went back to school. :-)

In the learning rooms... Oh yes, that. Spring break is officially over, right…

Around the house... I vacuumed most of the upstairs this morning. Before/after photos would be quite humiliating. I spent more than an hour – that should tell you (me) something. It surely is time for some routine cleaning – on a more regular basis. Ahem.

The Mother Load... Tax returns are done – still need to print most of them and prepare for mailing. School work to check. Dusting! Mop floors. Clean ceiling fans now that we are inclined to turn them on when the temps are warmer outside and inside. Finish sewing baby blankets needed soon(!) Yes, Conny, there is an ironing pile too…

Noticing that... our kids sure have fun together!

Something fun to share... {last Wednesday night at K4T}

A favorite quote for today... Psalm 127:1-2 {Pastor’s sermon text}

Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

One of my favorite things... sleep.

A few plans for the rest of the week... bedtime any time before 10pm :-)

A peek into my world...

Thursday & Friday we celebrated birthdays with the Cattleman & the Popper.

~.~.~.~.~

Giving credit where credit is due:

While I am not linking up with anyone, you could read more weekly news posts at other blogs by following any of these links:

Peggy at the Simple Woman’s Daybook

Julie for adapting this daybook version as her own ‘Grasshopper Days’ ~ Perhaps I could call it the GHV Daybook. :)

You can also find a similar weekly meme in Happy Homemaker Monday at Sandra’s

~.~.~.~.~

Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord,

that thou fulfil it. Colossians 4:17

Friday, February 7, 2014

Washington’s birthday party February 6, 2014

Unplanned by us two-legged folks. But apparently something happened last spring when the flooded creek washed out fencing between the bull and the rest of the herd, including young Hallelujah, the Popper’s Jersey heifer.

So in the last week or two Tim and the kids noticed Hallelujah wasn’t just a barrel belly, she also showed signs of impending motherhood. Oh dear.

Yesterday was the day. With a high of 8F. But at least the sun was shining.

You would have to zoom in to see Hallelujah laying on this side of the hay bales in the middle of the above photo. Binoculars worked well for observing from the house…

The Popper stayed home from piano lessons to mind her new little man while he dried off inside the garage. Good pictures of black cattle are not my forte.

Later Tim decided he would have to feed Washington via a bottle. Perhaps brown cows really do give chocolate milk? Look how dark this colostrum is!

Today they are getting along just fine without a bottle… If you enlarge this you can see the little guy in his blue calf blanket.

Welcome to the world, Washington!

Monday, September 30, 2013

the favorite little sister

…is under the weather today :-(

Those blue eyes are glassy and sad. Our Popper has had a fever for at least 24 hours. And the latest reading this evening was over 104F. Worries my mama-heart.

She stayed home from church with me last night after telling me how cruddy her throat was {altho it’s still not sore!} She slept most of the time. And still went to bed early – and except for a brief cry for help at 1:30am, slept and slept. I got her up for a tiny bit of breakfast {finally took her temp} and attendance at their video Bible class. Then she slept away the rest of the morning! This afternoon she was able to do a little more schoolwork while camped out on the couch.

Yes, I have our arsenal of home remedies engaged. Gypsy Cold Care tea, homemade elderberry syrup, oregano oil, cranberry concentrate, vitamin C, and thieves essential oil. Fresh ginger to suck on when her stomach hurts. And today she’s had two mini-doses of Tylenol {I don’t think I’ve ever given our kids more than a teaspoon at a time – tho’ that is the recommended dose for a two-year-old} I just want to take the edge off the fever, not undermine its purpose in fighting and killing off whatever nasty bug is currently plaguing our sweet Popper.

Her fever is back down below 102F now, so she should be able to go to sleep. With the diffuser blowing a variety of oils. And the violins lullabying.