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Dangerous Wonder
Apr. 20, 2009
Spring Gardening
Oct. 26, 2008
Snow!
We had our first flakes of snow today! It was wet and cold all afternoon! However, it was a great excuse to bust out some old family videos and let the kids see themselves when they were itty bitty! How was your day in your neck of the woods?
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Aug. 11, 2008
My Garden
Here are some photos of my garden from a month ago.
We came back from 4th of July vacation to find our garden full of greenery!
Basil
Bell Pepper!
Lettuce
Corn
Pumpkin
Cucumber
Garden Salsa Pepper
Beets
My lettuce ready to go in a salad!
Yummy pepper!
My first Cucumber and pepper
I can hardly believe that our family can eat from my first garden! It's been quite the exciting experience this summer! The best part is that there is still more to come! More updated pictures soon!
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May. 24, 2008
Thoughts on the Clothesline
The Four Seasons on the Line
Warm spring breezes gently sways my clothing hanging on the line.
Hot summer wind brings the sound of my drying clothes snapping on the line.
Autumn gusts send my clothing twirling with the leaves around the line.
Winter gales turns my garments into stiff boards on the line.
Four seasons of clothing on the line.
by, sonshine4u
2008
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Mar. 18, 2008
Snow and more snow!!!
Yesterday we were greeted with snow falling from the sky. It was melting rather quickly because of warmer temperatures. As the day progressed we had more slush on the roads than anything.
This morning we woke up to a completely new blanket of snow covering everything. The trees are heavy with snow and everything looks absolutely beautiful.
Even though the temperatures are warming and this snow won't be around much longer, this is perfect snowman building weather! As soon as the kids finish their school work...they're outside to monopolize on this wet snow!
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Aug. 20, 2007
Bunnies!
A couple of weeks ago, my SIL called and said she had some bunnies in her garden that needed to be relocated. Soooo the kids and I went over to get Peter Rabbit and his sisters out of Mr. McGregors garden. Being that we don't live on a farm or have the space to keep cute bunnies, we decided to release them in a nice cemetary to give those visiting their loved ones a happy thought as they saw hopping bunnies. The experience was awesome. I loved holding those cute little bunnies and the kids were in heaven! The farewell at the end of our adventure, however, was very difficult for my oldest. Here are some pictures of Peter Rabbit and his sisters!
The bunny burrow.
The kids with their Auntie and the bunnies!
The next few pictures are of us putting the bunnies in a really cool new home. It was a beautiful bush that was hovering over a grave just like a little house. We don't know who Emma is, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind a few little friends hopping around her gravestone!
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Aug. 6, 2007
Bug Show!
A couple of weeks ago we went to one of the local libraries in our surrounding area to see Bruce The Bug Guy! We had a fabulous time seeing all different types of bugs native to Minnesota (some dead, some alive). We also saw bugs from all over the world. The kids really enjoyed the show...we all felt a littly buggy afterward!
Here are some pictures of our adventure!
Bruce the Bug Guy passed around several branches like the one he is holding that had live caterpillars on them. The kids all got to see these cool creatures up close!
Here is our cute little caterpillar we saw up close and personal!
A native moth to Minnesota hanging out....
Bug-eyed glasses so you can see like a bug!
Bruce holding a giant milipede.....
Giant Madagascar cock roaches and a frienly giant milipede! Talk about creepy crawly!!! There were several containers like this being passed around. Very exciting!!!!
The ever popular tarantula was second to last to visit us. Then he pulled out a scorpion! YIKES!!! My kids touched it! I'm so proud of them!
It was a great summer field trip on a hot July day!
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Mar. 23, 2007
Mud...Glorious Mud!
Mar. 19, 2007
Spring Fever!
God is so amazing with His orchestrating of things in our lives and in our world. Each season serves a purpose on earth. The rythmn of nature that keeps going day after day. The hopes and questions of seasons in our lives. We live, we learn, we struggle, we wait. All for a purpose of things to come in the next season. The 4 seasons are amazing things to watch in and of themselves. I love the beauty of fall colors and the crisp wind blowing on my face after a hot summer. I love the excitement and anticipation of snow that comes with winter. I love the warmth, freshness and life bursting forth in the spring. I love the sunny carefree days of summer. The amazing thing is that each season isn't isolated. It is part of a careful dance that relies on each dancer. If there were no spring, there would never be life. If there were no fall there would never be a rebirth. If there were no winter, there would never be a resting time for the earth. If there were no summer, there would be no fruit.
This is the same with our lives. The season we are currently in, whether it be new life, fruitful times, times of letting go, or times of waiting, will not be there forever. It ebbs and flows just like the nature around us. We won't always be in the dark cold winter waiting for spring forever. We won't always be in the footloose frolicking of the summer with watermelon juice dripping down our chins. We won't always be crying our eyes out for the rest of our lives. The good news is that just when we think we won't ever get through the season we are in, something happens and moves us to the next. The Lord in His infinite wisdom knew that we couldn't be in the dark too long. He also knew that we can't sit in grief forever either. He knows how much we need to hope, to wait, to grow and to long for things during seasons that may be difficult to be in. This in-turn makes the season of spring or summer all the more exciting and joyful! Because you persevered you can savor that new season all the more.
I have found that living in Minnesota where there are 4 true seasons every year, you appreciate the turning of each one more. This spring I am so excited to taste the freshness of spring. The new air blowing in is such a burst of hope for me. Even though there are still piles of snow here and there and our backyard is soggy, I know that soon it will be warm most of the time and my tulips will be blooming and my children will be playing outside for large quantities of time! Hallelujah! Our God is good and He gives us hope in so many ways. I praise the Lord for his wisdom of the 4 seasons in nature and in our lives.
"There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace."
-Ecclesiastes 1:1-8
Go puddle jumping and embrace the season you're in! It may not be pretty yet, but there is fun in the process!
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Oct. 6, 2006
Fall Gardening: Treasures in the Earth
Things I have learned about gardening and my garden of life:
In my previous post I explained to you that I was doing a little
gardening in one flower bed. I tore everything out...including the
bulbs (which took careful digging and salvaging). This whole process
took me about 4 hours on Saturday. Then on Monday, I decided I best get
these bulbs in place along with all the other ones that had arrived via
the postman. This process took another 5 hours. Whew! This gardening
business is not for the faint of heart! My last thing that I need to do
is put the beloved mulch on it to protect it from the winter cold here
in Minnesota.
After all this work, I began wondering if my flowers were even going to
work come spring. I started worrying that all my neighbors had seen me
laboring and then this spring when nothing comes up, or it looks all
crazy that they'll all chuckle at my efforts. I don't think God worries
about all His efforts in the garden with us. I think He's most excited
about what is growing and developing under that soil in the dark. So am
I still a wee bit anxious? Yeah, but I have learned some important
lessons through all my laboring in the dirt.
#1. When things are overgrown, entangled in weeds and chaotic...the
garden looks crazy, doesn't always bloom and needs some major work to
be done on it.
In my life I think that spiritually I am way
overgrown in some areas that aren't producing any fruit. I have found
my thoughts and actions entangled in those weeds that so easily
strangle and frustrate my life. I have to rediscover how many beautiful
bulbs are still under the surface waiting to bloom to life.
#2. So the digging up of dead plants, yucky weeds and precious flower
bulbs needs to take place. This is a long, painful (tough digging!) and
exhausting process that is bound to frustrate, weaken and tire one out.
I have to decide which plants stay and which ones have to go.
There are things like complacency, laziness,
over-commitment, lack of self-discipline, lack of organization,
piles of papers, laundry, ironing, dishes, dust, cob-webs...things that
distract me like the computer, videos, shopping...attitudes that are
not glorifying our maker and words spoken that come quick and with
volume! There are so many more things to dig up!
I had forgotten my love of the Word. My love for
being hospitable, being generous, being kind. I had forgotten who I was
in Christ. That I was dearly loved and cherished. That I am not
laboring in vain here at home with my precious children. That I have
passions to create things and to explore the outdoors, to run free and
play with my kids. I had forgotten the joys of spending time with my
little peanuts in the quiet of the afternoon with books on their bed. I
had forgotten to smell the beautiful aromas of life. As I have been
rediscovering all the beautiful things growing in the dirt waiting for
the spring, I am reminded that when these beautiful flowers bloom and
then go back for more growth, they multiply and bring more flowers in
the next season. My garden will be bursting forth with glorious flowers
more and more as the seasons and years go by. Hallelujah!
#3 I must replant my bulbs and plants for next
season in a way that will be beneficial for their optimal growth and
arranged in a way that is pleasing to the eye.
There are certain things that have to be done for
plants and bulbs so that they will grow properly. Some plants need to
be placed in a hole at least 12 inches deep, most bulbs need to be
placed in the ground 3-6 inches deep. They all need to have the roots
going down into the dirt, not up into the air.
Growing my garden in a mismatched, chaotic way may
prove to be very exciting...but probably not the most beautiful. Some
flowers flourish when they are grouped together rather than having a
lone bulb here and there.
So what can I apply to my life here? Just reading my
Bible to put a check in the box is not helping my roots grow deep. It's
like planting God's Word upside down. If I read my Bible and study
deeper and apply those truths to my life, then that is going to help my
roots be firmly planted and strectching towards the water source. Then
by being a godly example to my children, I then help in the process of
multiplying more fruit in their lives.
But if I go volunteer at Awana, then spend 1 night a
week at a soup kitchen, then go door to door handing out tracks and
then volunteer for Sunday School, lead a Bible Study, host a prayer
meeting, play guitar for worship, volunteer at the local library, be a
Girl Scout leader, help with political campaigns and lobby for the
rights of dolphins.....these are all noble things, but life would be
entirely too "exciting" and not very beautiful. It would be chaos of
good things. The Lord wants us to use our time and space wisely.
This season He may want us to work on our job as a wife and mother and
work on our attitudes and quiet times. Next season He may want us to
volunteer at Awana or Sunday School and continue the work as wife and
mom. Maybe the following season He wants your family to be active
politically in the presidential race and working together as a team for
the glory of God. Remember, you can't do it all and there is a season
for everything. If we try to do everything at once, we will certainly
fall apart and not bring forth any fruit or flowers!
#4 Mulching my plants for protection through the winter.
Some of us may be going through the longest winter
of our lives. It's dark, it's cold and it seems that it will never end.
We are in desperate need to stay full of life, warm and hopeful. The
mulch we need to cover ourselves in should be prayer, the Christian
community and our family. Without this warm blanket of protection we
will surely lose the light of life, freeze and lose all hope. If you
are needing some protection right now, please get on your knees and ask
the Lord who loves you to send you some. Don't hide away from the
brothers and sisters in Christ who care about you. Don't push away your
own family. It's time to circle the wagons with your Christian
community, your family and most of all, pure/passionate prayer to the
God of the universe!
So as your working in your garden this fall, think
about what your digging up, what you need to save and what needs to go,
where and how you will plant your bulbs and to always protect them from
the cold harsh winter! Come spring, you'll be so glad you took the time
so all the glorious color can burst forth from your garden!
Blessings my friends!!!!
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Happy Mud Season!!!!