By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; and by knowledge
the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. ~Proverbs 24:3-4
This past weekend we went to KY for dh's 30th high school reunion. That was fun. Kids got to spend time with Granny. Then it home for the night before rushing off to Paul's orientation for college. Now that we are orientated, I must do some tasks before heading off to a woman's conference this weekend. Taking my mom with me for a late mother's day & late birthday present.
Hubby is heading to the UK while I am at the conference. Then homeschool starts, take Paul to college, then Paul's Eagle ceremony, then parent's 50th party --- then maybe I can relax. Say, around Sept 20 or so.... Because I forgot to mention that at least 2 field trips are thrown in there for good measure - one of which I am organizing. But we do get to see original Picasso's!
We had a cookout at homegroup last night for our July 4th celebration. There was talk of Mei going to the neighborhood bike parade this morning, but we stayed up too late to get up for it!
I made a yummy dessert for last night:
I used French Vanilla pudding instead of vanilla so it was a bit yellower than white.
Well, we had 2 more deaths in our family. Around mid-June it became clear that my Aunt Diann was not going to live much longer. My parents went to Michigan to visit her and ended up staying through the funeral. She was my Dad's younger sister, just 12 years older than me. She and her husband never had any children so she considered me and my siblings "her kids". She was a special aunt to all of us. She was just 61 and died of breast cancer that had returned to her digestive system. We will miss her.
Meanwhile, my brother's mother-in-law passed away unexpectedly at age 62. She had successfully fought pancreatic cancer and then developed lung cancer. She was hospitalized after having trouble with a chemo treatment and passed in her sleep. God wanted her home with him.
May we all consider how precious those are around us. We never know when God will remove us from this earth. May we treat each other as if this moment was the last one. It would make us all kinder.
How I remember my Aunt Diann. This was taken in 2000 at my sister's wedding.
We went strawberry picking Friday morning before it got hot. I thought the baskets looked small so we got 4. Turns out they held about 5 lbs each! We made strawberry shortcakes for our home group last night and 2 batches of jam today (one regular and one sugar-free). We still have about 5 lbs left over.
Two kids + mom + twenty minutes = twenty lbs of strawberries!
When you look at the things God has created, you can tell he has a sense of humor. Just look at these 2 strawberries. Like the strawberries, we are all different and some of us just don't fit the expectation of what is normal. But we all taste yummy to God!!!
My daughter Mei is a mommy's girl. She is like my shadow; she is with me a lot. Always has been.
Last Sunday afternoon she begged her daddy to plant seeds. He was planning on painting a rental property instead, but his love of gardening and his daughter won out. They spent all afternoon on the deck.
Last night he went to paint the property. When I stopped by there after Bible Study to see how it was going, Mei was with him. I was surprised but pleased that they were spending time together. When I offered to take her home, she said "No, Daddy is taking me to Waffle House when we are done." So I went home alone and they went to Waffle House.
When she met her daddy for the first time, she wouldn't let him even hold her. Now 5.5 years later, she is choosing Daddy (ok and food too) over Mommy. I felt a little rejected, but really glad that their relationship is growing. She is growing up!
p.s. I have no idea what they are going to do with all these little plants. For now, they have moved into our kitchen. We don't have garden space in the yard and we have lots of deer visitors. Guess some can grow in pots on the deck.
More signs saw today on a field trip. Some people's daffodils are blooming. Mine should bloom within the week.
How I remember my Aunt Diann. This was taken in 2000 at my sister's wedding.
