The Joys Of Family and Hearth

We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if we only seek them with our eyes open. This is a natural spring located close to our new home. It provides delicious, cold, fresh water1  This is the Condonquet Creek, it run through our entire neighborhood.  A beautiful little spot we found while exploring one day.  The kids love exploring the creek and all the wildlife that lives in it. Especially crayfish! happy girls are the prettiest.  Fishing Derby! Raising girls right! Teach them how to fish and take care of the home! :)

    home is the nicest word there is. Laura Ingalls Wilder     I think Laura said it best when describing home. Home is generally used in noun form. To me though Home is a feeling. And it's created by the woman of the house usually. Over the years I have taken that task to heart. I worked hard to create a home where my children and husband felt safe and loved. A place where anyone who entered our home felt comfortable, regardless of their financial status, marital status, education level, race, religion etc.   We've entertained the very rich and homeless in our home. We've broken bread with people with Masters Degrees and those who never made it past an 8th grade education.   We've had every form of religion in our home and some who believed in nothing.   We always held true to who we were though. People knew when they came to our home, they were entering a place where Christ comes first, where a bunch of children would be ...

I wish I could say that I managed to stay on top of things for the past 9 months while separated from my husband, working full time, some kids in school, homeschooling other kids.. I wish I could say it was so awesome. But it wasn't. It was hard work. I'm in the new house for just over a week now and I'm starting to feel settled. It feels amazing to be back with my husband under one roof. To be able to care for him like I want to. He has grown so much since being separated from me. His demeanor has calmed quite and bit and he is so happy. It brings me much joy to see him so happy. What I am missing is my oldest children and my grandbabies! So what I have been working on is making this house our home. The other night my husband came home from work. ( He works crazy hours) I usually am waiting outside on the from porch for him to pull in. We sit out on porch and chat about his evening. Well when we came in, he took a huge deep breath and said... "it s...

I'm currently looking out my bedroom window at the pink hue in the sky. The sun is setting over the mountain. It's a much different scene then the sun setting over the bay. Beautiful none the less. I remember 9 months ago, thinking what a breeze this would be for us. My husband took a job out of state for the betterment of our family. I sent him off to live alone, while I held the fortress down home. It seems easy in my mind back then, I compared it to military men doing their tours , pa Ingalls leaving on a hunting expedition. It seemed so romantic back then. But the past 9 months have been extremely trying, scary, joyful, exhausting, peaceful, and just downright a big mix of emotions. I felt so lonely at times even though I was surrounded by my children.  This was my children's first year in public school, the first year in over 20 years that I went back to work full time and the first time I've ever had to experience life as a single mom. While I was blessed ...