Pioneer Harvest Festival

We took a group of kids from our church to the Pioneer Harvest Festival on Saturday. Although only two from my family went, we had an enjoyable time. It was a nice day for it, perfect weather. Personally, I love history, so I really enjoyed myself. It was a good history lesson for my son too, seeing the people dressed in period costume, hearing them explain what they were doing, seeing what life was like in that time period. I think his favorite thing, aside from the animals of course, was the blacksmith shop. All the volunteers did an excellent job portraying their role, but the "smithy" really took the time to explain to everyone exactly what he was doing and why. Here's our day in pictures.

on the hayride from the parking lot to the Pioneer Village

asking this lady some questions about quilting

this lady showed us all the steps involved in taking wool from the sheep to the loom

enjoying watching this little girl make candles

inspecting her handiwork

at the smokehouse, learning how pioneers preserved the meat the father provided for his family's food 

taking a turn at sawing wood

at the blacksmith shop, the kids all had a turn at being a "bellows boy", keeping the fire at a high temperature

by means of pumping air into the fireplace with a hand-cranked bellows or forge

probably the funnest part of the day for him, meeting all the animals on the homestead, learning about their care and upkeep, and why they were needed on the farm

feeding the goats

a tunnel built onto the side of a tobacco barn, we never learned of its purpose...

mom & son

sitting on the back porch of the cabin, just outside the kitchen

We had a great time learning about the pioneers and their way of life. We watch Little House on the Prairie at our house, so he knew a good bit already as we were making our way around the village. In the HOD curriculum this year, we will read A Pioneer Sampler: The Daily Life of a Pioneer Family in 1840, by Barbara Greenwood. I can hardly wait to get to it! I just love history, and seeing how everything weaves together for God's glory. After all, it is HIS-story.

Praising Him

O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise, the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of His grace.

My gracious Master and my God, assist me to proclaim, to spread through all the earth abroad the honors of Thy name.

Jesus, the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows cease; 'tis music in the sinner's ears, 'tis life and health and peace.

He breaks the pow'r of cancelled sin, He sets the pris'ner free; His blood can make the foulest clean, His blood availed for me.

He speaks and, list'ning to His voice, new life the dead receive; the mournful, broken hearts rejoice; the humble poor believe.

Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb, your loosen'd tongues employ; ye blind, behold your Savior come; and leap, ye lame, for joy.

My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your splendor all the day. - Psalm 71:8

Father in Heaven, if I had a thousand tongues they would all say, "I love You, Jesus." Today help me to listen to Your voice and use my mouth to honor you. Amen.

    - Taken from the book Hymns For A Kid's Heart, that my youngest and I are reading together each day.

Lest We Forget...

Pondering

Pondering God's wonderfully magnificent creation...

Marveling at His majestic creativity... how everything has an intricate design... how He weaves a beautiful tapestry of nature... just because He can.

Thanking Him for choosing to display His glory, His splendor in such a way that I can enjoy it... enjoy Him.

Reveling in the fact that He has chosen to reveal Himself to me... to make His glory known to me... to bathe me in His mercy and grace.

May you delight yourself in His glory and goodness this day. 

Holidays Are For Families

We drove home to Alabama to visit with our families for the holiday weekend. I've mentioned before that both my family and dh's family live in the same town, so that means we have to share our time between them. And that means that we don't get to spend much time with either family. Sometimes I wish our families lived in different towns so we could go visit one family for one holiday and then visit the other family for the next holiday, and so on...

My Thoughts Exactly

Sometimes I have a hard time formulating my thoughts and reasoning into words that explain what I'm actually thinking. Here's a post by a bloggy friend that speaks volumes and describes my and my husband's thoughts and feelings about the adoption we are pursuing. Visit here.

Just For Fun

I thought I'd share with you who (more like what) we brought home this week...

Is she not the cutest little thing? She is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel/Miniature Long-Haired Dachshund mix, aka a Dashalier (pronounced "Dox-uh-leer"). Our daughter has been asking for a house dog for quite some time now, and when a friend from church advertised that she had a litter for sale, dd (unbeknownst to me at the time) questioned our friend about the price of the pups. This is what our friend said, "$300, but to someone I know and like (meaning you), free." (Thank you Donna!)

   

You can imagine how thrilled dd was with this news! So Daddy gave his consent, and here she is. Our first house dog. Along with all the training and house-breaking, yikes! 

This is one of my favorite photos of her. She likes to wedge herself between the cushions on the couch and go to sleep there. That's what she did for a good portion of the day today. She's only 8 weeks old so she sleeps alot (kind of like a baby).

We have chosen the name Lizzy for her. Some names that were tossed around and considered were Molly, Zoe, Roxy, Dixie, Lady, Annie, and Bailey. Oldest son even sent in his suggestions via text message!

 

She is so stinkin' cute!

Adoption Update (Pt. 3)

We have finished our 20-hour IMPACT classes. However, we're still working on all that paperwork. Did I mention there is tons of paperwork to fill out? Physical examinations, psychological evaluations, questionnaires, and essays. No kidding.

But I'm excited because our first home evaluation is coming up on Tuesday! The RD will come out and... well obviously, evaluate our home. She will tell us what, if any, changes need to be made so that our home will be approved. I'm so excited!

My youngest son keeps asking me, "Mom, do you think my new brother will be close to my age, or maybe a little younger?" He obviously thinks the Lord is going to give us a son! And I wouldn't be surprised, because although all of us have been praying about this for a long time now, he has been my little prayer warrior, consistently praying every night that "God will help us adopt a child, a little brother.) Children amaze me with their faith!

I've had some irl friends ask me about our adoption process, but haven't had an opportunity to go into great detail. So for those who don't know the whole story, you can read about it here.

We are faithfully following where He continues to lead and we are giving Him the glory.