Since I don't have a real job...

...I get to spend my mornings doing things like this:



Making fresh donuts from my freshly milled flour! I have this incredible donut recipe that makes the fluffiest donuts you have ever eaten.



And of course you must drink ice cold, farm fresh raw milk with them!


It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it!


I tell you, this not having a real job thing is pretty fun. I think everyone should try it.

Summer Goals

My goals this summer are going to be ones that are attainable. I don't want to get disappointed, so I am going to make them simple so I can feel like I have really succeeded. What are your goals this summer???

1. Swim at Foster Falls as often as possible
2. Bar-B-q lots of goodies
3. Pick lots of berries
4. Watch lots of birds and butterflies in my garden
5. Pick lots of flowers from my cutting garden
6. Sweat like a hog
7. Drink lots of iced tea
8. Make smoothies
9. Invite friends over
10.Have fun, fun, fun

Sunday Grilling

But it wasn't meat that was grilled. It was me. By two teachers. Back to back. At church. While we ate lunch. They don't get it. They stare blankly at my disdain for institutional education. I am not qualified to teach. How can I possibly teach high math? Who tells me what books to buy? How do I report to the government? They know a homeschooler. Who can't read. Or add. All homeschoolers, therefore, must be ill-educated. They ignore the fact that homeschoolers out score all other students. They win the national bees. Frankly, I don't care about test scores. Or bees, unless they are bumble. And then, I love them. Because they make honey. And honey is really incredible.

But I did not like being grilled. Or singed. I forgot all those clever come back answers I had rehearsed. I made one of them mad. I hope. I said moms know best. She left the table.

Next time, I will leave the table. Or say something clever. Or turn up the fire.

Cat on a Warm Barn Roof

Mittens has an afinity for napping on the apex of our barn.


She got aggravated to have her slumber interrupted with all the picture taking, but you couldn't tell by looking at her face, could you?

It's a good thing looks don't kill.

Wanna play cards?

Here's a fun card game to play (with me) and you could end up with some really cool non-cash prizes.

For instance, if you play your cards right and come over to visit, say in 2-3 weeks, you could have some very fresh black raspberries. My bushes are LOADED with buds and should start fruiting very soon. And if you really know how to play cards, you could get a hot from the oven raspberry crisp.

While you're at it, if you draw an ace or two, you could very easily win a hand at some of the best bird watching in the southeast. I currently have indigo buntings, goldfinches, housefinches, bluebirds, woodpeckers, nuthatches and the elusive great-crested flycatcher. The rose brested grosbeak should be making his way through here ANY day now. Now that would be a winning hand, eh?

We just got another load of the best grass-fed beef you can find, so if you play your cards right, you could land some freshly grilled burgers. Or fillet mignon, depending on how you play your cards...

Oh, there are simply too many goodies to list, but for me, it's all about the game. I love games and I especially love games where everyone's a winner. Let me shuffle the first hand and see how it plays out, dueces are wild.

Boring update #999

We are just not exciting people. We are not sky diving, solving world hunger or world peace, for that matter. It is a simple life for us, and it is just the way I like it. I hear from my friends who are driving to 5 places in 1 day and have their kids in 3 activities each, spending every Saturday sweating on a bleacher from 9am til 3pm. That is not for me, and it never has been. Praise the Lord that I married a guy who shares my penchant for being cozy at home. There really is no place I would rather be than to be at home. We do not live in a lavish home, but we feel like we have such a park-like setting here, we really have no need to leave.

So my updates may sound dull and non-evenful, but really we are living the good life and are content to just be.

We made a huge jambalaya last weekend for our Life group. Daddy would have been very proud of how it turned out, even with brown rice! He would have never guessed it was brown. We sat around the table chatting and eating 99 different flavors of jelly beans. What more do you need?

Tax season is over! WHEW! I have really enjoyed my little part-time job and especially loved the little extra "fluff" money I earned. I felt so proud when he gave me a bonus after my first week, little did I know I would get one EVERY week thereafter! WOO-HOO!!! Can you say "new washing machine and dryer"??? Cha-ching!

As if that weren't good enough, my boss wants to hire me permantly and set me up in a home office doing various accounting projects. I am thrilled! It will really bolster our budget and allow us to get a little cush money in the bank. Thank you, Lord!!!

So, we may be boring and predictable, but truly, we are living a life of abundance, contentment and harmony. And to that, I give all the Glory to God!!!

A Camping We Must go...

... a camping we must go, hi-ho the dairy-o, a camping we must go. Sorry, but I just had to sing that little jingle first.

The kids went camping the last 2 nights:



We have been itching to pitch that tent since the day we got it from Uncle George and Aunt Deanna as a Christmas present. It was finally above freezing at night, so a tent pitching we went.


Doesn't it look like we drove up the mountain and camped in a state park? Nope, we be back yard camping! We used to backyard tent quite often with our friends the Callahans and several times with our Cub Scout pack. We wanted to give the kids the camping they were craving without being surrounded by a zillion other campers and not have access to a private bathroom. Oh, we will be going to one of those places, to be sure! But to break the tent in, we were thankful to just camp in the backyard, burn a huge fire and enjoy! They had a blast with their flashlights, snacks and cats to snuggle.