ups and downs of the weekend

well, well, well!

another weekend has flown by again and there was certainly no lack of action happening around here. 

from breaking out the good 'ol sewing machine{she behaved}, to kid parties, an ER visit, church potluck and back to the pharmacy on sunday, we covered a lot of bases.

how about you? did you have a relaxing weekend?

mine was, ummm, not so relaxing, but blessed in so many ways.

friday was a free for all for us.  

we i worked around the house,  the kids did a little school work, and a LOT of watching myth busters.

i was able to go for a {very hot} run, but then i was rewarded by uninterrupted hammock time.

#FavoriteThingOfAllTime.

on friday night, elly and i plugged in our old faithful{actually my mama's} sewing machine and got to work!  

saturday was a double birthday party for my sweet nephews and i wanted to make them an adventure bag.

my awesome friend, sandi, gave me the idea from this book, and hers turned out so awesome, 

i wanted to give it a try.

i didn't have the pattern or the book, so i sort of made up my own.

they were definitely not perfect, especially for my first try, but i think they came out okay.

i just used a hodge podge of vintage fabrics, new fabrics, and recycled clothes that i had on hand.

budget was the issue here, and i really couldn't go spend money on fabric.

here's a peek at what was inside.

i forgot about the compass. :/

the total for one bag's contents was $5.00.

for Lucas

the backside with a pocket

 

for Ethan

honestly, i was a little nervous about the boys liking these, but it turns out they LOVED them!

i was so blessed by that, and a few of my other nieces and nephews requested one, too.
that just did my heart good!
i have some more sewing to do, i guess.  ;)

here's a few highlights of the super fun kid party.
it was held at my in-laws beautiful 14 acre, set off on a long driveway, country abode.

 
 

now for the 'down' part of the weekend.

my husband has been battling a bad tooth for a while now and it decided to act up this weekend.

on saturday, he made a late night trip to the ER for antibiotics and pain killers until we could find a dentist to take care of it.

he endured looooong nights of intense pain, no sleep, and lots of vicodin.

i totally cringe to think of what those meds do to you, but the Lord knew what He needed at that time.

i made a trip after church on sunday for more meds and he waited it out, 

pacing and literally holding his jaw in complete pain.

i prayed and prayed and prayed as i lay in bed alone{he had to sleep on the couch}

that the Lord would just heal him and take the pain away.

i asked him to provide a dentist in the morning that would take him in and have mercy upon his poor mouth.

guess what?

he wasn't down for long, because the Lord is plentiful in mercy and compassionate to His own.

nathan was able to go without an appointment this morning and they took care of him right then.

yay!  

God is so good! 

 i did a little happy dance and lots of giving praise to our awesome God today!

like i even need a reason to praise God.  #Guilty

i did not like seeing my man in pain so i was super relieved.

below is literal proof of my happy dance and my happy man when he showed up early from work to 

get some much needed rest...pain free.

 how was your weekend?
i am so excited to wrap up homeschooling for the year!
we have a few weeks left and then we are DONE with the bulk of it.
my motto:
#KeepMovingForwardPeeps
i cannot wait to assemble and plant our raised bed gardens and spend time outside with the kiddos swinging in the hammock and enjoying fresh garden goodness.

it's going to be a wonderful week!


xo,
mary




heading over to the sweet carissa's place today

where did they go?

does anyone know where the weekend went?

wait....no...where did spring go?  that is the REAL question here.

has anyone seen either one?

because i blinked and it was monday, and according to the crazy lady who was running this morning, 

35 degrees is too cold to be wearing shorts.  now it's raining little ice balls out there!

my poor honeysuckle, hydrangeas, and flowering crab tree.

i hope they make it.  :/

 random fact about me:

i have a devout love for tube socks, no matter what the season.

apparently, i'm cold blooded.
 you can find me sleeping in them in the winter, and wearing them all summer long.

just don't make fun of the chickens{my legs, that is}.  

hey! check out what i'm doing today...

hopefully the red won't be needed much except for smiley faces and 100% marks!

 

lately, it seems like every weekend is jam packed full.

last saturday, we went to  a birthday party at chuck e cheese for my two year old nephew.

it was nuts, but the kids loved it!

i, on the other hand, saw millions of little green germs waiting to infest my family.  germ-o-riffic!

here's the birthday boy, blake.  isn't he a doll?

 

henry with stewart.

cousins!

 

on last saturday night, we had a guest speaker at our church from Bible Tracts Inc.

it was so awesome! Mark Smith is the director there, and his desire to spread the gospel through tracts is totally inspiring.

he definitely sparked a flame in our hearts to be more active in telling others about the gospel.

oh! and you should have seen jack and maddie yesterday!

they were handing out tracts to all of our closest neighbors and when jack came back in, he was beaming from ear to ear.

he said, "my heart just feels so happy, mom!"

they definitely  challenge and inspire me to be more bold in my faith.

>>>---->childlike faith<----<<<

if we tell them{the kids} that the Bible commands us to tell everyone about Jesus  they say, "well, let's tell them then!"
they don't ask questions.
not like me, anyway....

"what will they think of me?" or "will i offend them?"

guess what? the Bible says people will be offended, but God will take care of that.  

we plant and give the message, but He gives the increase.

so, yes, by all means, let's tell them!

this saturday, we went to a baby shower for my nephew and his beautiful wife. 

they are having a little boy in may, so we got to 'shower' them with gifts.

they are the cutest couple ever.  :)

so then on saturday night, we had a group of men at our church from Pacific Garden Mission.

it.was.amazing!

they sang and gave their testimonies of how the Lord swooped down and picked them out of  lives of abuse, drugs, and addictions, and gave them new life and hope in Him through Jesus! 

they sang old gospel hymns{my fave], and brought a little chicago to our country church.

we're planning to take a trip down to chicago to tour the Old Lighthouse{the mission}.  

you can go have dinner there, tour the facilities and even hear an unshackled taping.

have you ever heard of unshackled? if not, you must check it out!

in other random news, we were reunited with kit cat after his weekend stay at the vet.

i never EVER thought i would say this, but.....i love this cat!

i was practically wiping tears leaving him.  uhhhh, when did that happen?

it all starts out so innocent and 'just for the kids', but soon you find yourself buying scratching posts, little bird and mouse toys, and chewy treats.  ay yiyi!

 i am usually totally against indoor animals{for us} because of my clean 'issues', 

but he is so sweet and has slowly crept into our hearts with his crazy motormouth and snuggly self.

the kids adore him, too, if you couldn't tell.  :)

my morning coffee station...it's called survival, people.

while shopping at walmart{ACK!} the other day, i found myself being drug over to the lego section...again.

i tried and tried to fight it, but there's no stopping it now.

lego mania has officially begun.

another random fact about me:

i like to change things in my house a lot.  just little things, but change, nevertheless.

it makes me happy!

i  managed to squeeze in a quick curtain change in the bathroom on saturday.

light and wispy it is!  i picked up a pair of curtains from ikea about 8 months ago, so they were due to be hung.  

$4.99 makes my bathroom a whole lot brighter!

{not that you can tell from this grainy pic} 

 

last but not least, the biggest news of all..........

our hill of Calvary is growing!

i cannot wait to post more pics of this soon.

what's better than a free, fun, teachable project?

 

 

what's random in your life lately?

did you notice my new weird profile picture?

i want you to know that i really, really am glad to have you here!  :)

you make me smile, encourage me daily, and i love ya!

 i'm off to sample the pretzels that my girls just made.  literally...they just made them.

they even took {lots of} pictures all by themselves.  future bloggers?   i think so!

"train up a child in the way he should go..."  just kidding!

 btw, this whole sharing the kitchen thing is killing me!

and so is the constant obsession with baking breadish type foods.

 

blessings to you all.
:)

xo,

mary