The Simple Woman's Daybook

For today May 23, 2011.

Outside my window...the air is as thick as butter. At times you think it's beginning to rain but in reality its just the feeling of humid air on your skin. But I'm not complaining, I love this time of year.

Around the house...children are drifting off to peaceful sleep.

From the kitchen...homemade pizza requested by the family. It's not something we make often but man is it good! We also had a spinach salad with farm fresh ingredients.

I am thankful for...bedtime rituals. Stories, questions, discussing of the day, giggles, and cuddles are a great way to end the day.

I am reading...a book by Zig Ziggler and a book about being the mom God wants you to be. I've read so many informative things over that last few months that I thought I would take a break and check out some fiction from the library. Instead, I turned to these books. Maybe I will try a magazine over the holiday weekend.

I am creating...curtains for Archer's room, finally. Soon I will begin an art project to be hung over my desk. We began the process of remodeling our office over a year ago but this wall space has stood blank. An idea struck yesterday afternoon and the necessary items are now being collected.

One of my favorite things...old friends. My childhood friend Rachel come out to visit be this past weekend. We met in church at the age of 3 and are still able giggle like 3 year olds when we are together. She sat in on my Sunday school class and as the girls spoke we would catch each other's eyes and smirk both going back to the same memories from our teenage years.

A few plans for the rest of the week...welcoming in summer!!!

Here is a picture I am sharing with you...



Archer Edward and his living name-sakes.
Mark's dad, William Edward, Mark Edward, Archer Edward, and my grandfather, Gene Archer. The Edward name continues back more generations on Mark's side. On my side I also have a nephew and cousin whose middle names are Archer in honor of my grnadfather.
Little Arch (or little Ed as his Papa calls him) is blessed not only to be named after great men but he is also blessed to be raised around great men.
Can you tell from the picture that Mark's dad is smitten with this boy?

Senior Sunday

Today was senior recognition day at our church. All of our high school graduating seniors stand in front of the church while our youth pastor lists their accomplishments followed by their hopes and dreams. My job as their Sunday school teacher is to hand them a gift from our church and then I give them a big hug and try not to cry.

At the end of my first year of teaching 12th grade girls I found my inaugural senior recognition Sunday to be a little emotional. I had only one year to get to know these girls but in that time they left a huge impression on me. We are talking about gifted young ladies who love the Lord so much that He shines from them through all their God-given talents. Beautiful, beautiful young ladies. Inside and out. I still miss them.

You could say the next year was a little harder because I had more time with this group. And the year after that... even tougher. I squeezed one of my past seniors who was home from college today so hard that she squeaked!

These young ladies bless me so much that I almost feel selfish in teaching them each week. They are at an age that we can discuss real issues and sometimes they take me deeper than I had planned. And other times we giggle and talk about hair and make-up!

The one blessing I didn't expect from teaching is the wisdom I obtain from their parents. What a great spot for a young mom to view godly parenting. I glean wisdom from the parenting of these girls as they talk about how they were raised, life at home, and I even learn from the things they complain about. The products of 18 years of parenting sit before me and I take notes!

Yesterday I saw another group move on. The 9 & 10th grade Sunday school teacher and I often combine our classes and do fun things together from time to time. Because of that I have had the opportunity to hang out with these girls since they were freshman. Through slumber parties, shopping trips, and Sunday school I have been able to share the past 4 years with them. Now they are moving on.

I'm excited to continue to watch these ladies grow into amazing women. But, I am starting to think this yearly graduation thing is not going to get an easier.

Show Stoppers

In the excitement and busyness of so many wonderful events at once I've failed to post pics of Savannah's dance recital. She took tap, ballet, and jazz but with much wisdom her dance teacher decided one costume change per recital was enough for 6-year-olds. So they had two numbers in the show, one tap and one jazz. Savannah however is very excited to add ballet to the show next year because that means one more "beautiful costume!"



I love these pictures of Savannah and her good buddy. I think most of my pics last year were of these two together.



Jazzing it up!



Back stage.



My little dancer made a lot of progress this year and we are very proud of her. She inherited my coordination but with hard work and prayer we think she will overcome it. :)

Davy Crockett has replaced Barbie

I spent much of last week marinating in Texas history, politics, and pride. One might think this is because I went to Austin to testify in favor of the raw milk bill (details here). But in reality my participation in state politics was only a small part of it.

Savannah has been learning about Texas history in school this past month, just in time to coincide perfectly with a trip to the capitol. Now I have always been a lover of all things historical but even I cannot fathom how they have taught Texas history to this age group in a way that Davy Crockett has now surpassed Barbie in a young girl's heart.



Savannah fell in love with Austin and the capitol building. Every cannon we passed she asked if it was from the Battle of Gonzales where the Texas Revolution started. If you don't know the story of that famous cannon, google it cause I'm not telling it again!




We spent 11 hours at the capitol building last Wednesday. In between site seeing and waiting to testify we spent time on the beautiful grounds outside. We even had a tree that was "our" tree to hang out under. I think that's when you know you have been there too long.




Representative Brian Hughes welcomed us with open arms to Austin. He even gave Savannah his business card and when we walked away she said, "I am a six-year-old kindergartner and I have Representative Brian Hughes card. How cool is that!"




Savannah even bonded with one of his staff members. She helped to make it a good experience for Savannah.




I was suppose to testify for the bill sometime after 4 but the session ran long and I did not testify until 11pm. At that point things around the capitol kind of slow down and Savannah started feeling right at home. She was never bad and was even more patient than myself at times. Eventually our committee hearing started and she fell asleep in my lap. After testifying I carried her 300 or 400 yards to the car at almost midnight...in heels.




The next day we went to the Texas State History Museum which was wonderful! Show me another museum where kids learn to ride side saddle!




And it was the museum's 10th birthday so everyone got in free.



After reading every monument and children's book about the Texas revolution we drove home listening to The Yellow Rose of Texas, The Eyes of Texas are Upon You, And Deep in the Heart of Texas ALL the way home. All the way. By the last hour of the trip I started feeling like I needed a little time in Colorado! No seriously, our girls trip was a blast.

Easter Fun

We could not have asked for a better Easter. Saturday morning our church held it's big annual Easter egg hunt. Before the hunt the children gathered on the set of our Easter drama, The Sacrifice and listened to our pastor tell the true story of Easter and what it means to us. Everything around them looked like Jerusalem and the cross was before them. I pray that my children will someday understand the joy I have on Easter Sunday which has nothing to do with bunnies, eggs, or pretty dresses. For now they are content to listen and ask questions.




Easter morning we attended church and were fortunate to have my in-laws with us. The sermon was excellent, grounding, and inspiring. My Sunday school class however was a different story. Whose idea was it to have prom the night before Easter? My girls are champions for even coming to Sunday school the day after prom (they were all drinking red bull bless their hearts!).





After church we had a wonderful lunch of grass-fed all natural ham from Shady Grove Ranch (it was wonderful!), salad greens and radishes from our CSA, a homemade buttermilk dressing for the salad (my favorite! I think I'll put the recipe on my food blog soon), green beans, biscuits made with freshly ground flour that had been soaked and fermented, and deviled eggs brought by the in-laws.




Then of course we hunted eggs!




There were some out in the open for Archer and other hidden well for Savannah. Archer found the first one and was content to sit down and play with it. Papa helped him along though and then Archer got the hang of it.





After the egg hunt Mark and Savannah got their guitars out and Archer played under the table. Mark would play something and Savannah would try to play along. Strumming the wrong notes she would stop and try to tune the guitar saying, "I don't think my guitar has that tune." It was pretty funny.

All in all we had a beautiful day.

Vocabulary

Archer's oral vocabulary as of today.

Car-ee (car-must be repeated 3,000 times per day)
Truck (again, must be repeated 3,000 times per day and anytime an engine is heard. This includes mowers, planes, helicopters, and blowers.)
Ball
Cat
Dog (followed by "oof oof" for the bark)
Down-ee (meaning I want down or up)
Ma ma (momma)
Drink
More (You can't take a bite of anything without him noticing and wanting more.)
Hair-ee
Oar-ee (orange)
Ear
Eye
Toy (means tree, not toy)
Stick
what-is-it (more sung than said, as one word. Can also mean where is it. And very cute)
Ow (as if in pain but it really means meow. Usually used when speaking to a cat.)
Bye (actually meaning "bite" as in, he wants a bite of what you are eating)
Boo

This post is more for my documentation than your interest. 20 years from now I want to still remember every sweet word.

In the picture above Archer discovered water in the bottom of an open cooler where I had made yogurt. This was followed by an outfit change in dryer clothes. Good clean fun!

Podcast 2

Our second podcast is finally up! It's been ready for a week but I was having techinical difficulties. Like Savannah in the previous post, I am humbled daily with the fact that I am not the best at everything. And nothing will knock me on my rear end quicker than a mischevious computer.

Listen now.