Bonfire/Book Burning!

Christ College moved from it's building and had to empty lots of stuff out. Tom volunteered to take a book that they had acquired multiple copies of. There were literally 50,000 of them in the basement that they were unable to sell or give away. Tom loaded his big box truck up with them and it was bending the axles so he had to dump 20,000 so that he could drive the truck. He is bringing home a trailer load of them at a time, paying Will to load his wagon with the boxes (100 in each box) and take them down to the fire pit. Then he is making a big bonfire with them! Beats having to pay a dump to take them.

This shows 2,700 of them after burning for about 5 hours.

If anyone would like a free copy of Government is Too Big: And It's Costing You let us know! :)

Some praises!

Things were getting a little hairy with finances, between over $10,000 in medical bills, our van needing a new transmission, our house a/c going out and tires blowing on our car, and trying to plan a trip to MN next month to be with Angela. It was getting a bit stressful. God is always good though, and He is answering prayers. On Friday the a/c guy came out, and while Tom was sure it was going to be a total replacement of our heat pump to the tune of $5,000 (read, we would be without a/c this summer), ended up being able to be fixed for now anyway for only about $100! Tom dropped our van off to the transmission shop on Friday and they called today to say that it wasn't the transmission at all - seems to them like the engine is slipping a bit and will likely be pretty minor repairs! We took it to our regular mechanic today and will hopefully hear more good news soon. We are planning to drive to MN so these things were important to fix and the less cost the better! We have also gotten a low-interest loan for the medical bills (baah!) and will be working on paying those down. I still think it's better than paying tons of money to insurance companies over years, but hard to believe how much this stuff costs. Work has also picked up again which is always good. Anyway, thank you Lord for taking care of us as always!

Barn Photography Study

One picture, edited several ways. Photo taken by my sister Alexis.
To see more pictures, go to the Photos page and from there is a Pic A Day link.

Black Panther Falls Slideshow

We went to these waterfalls today. We had heard it was great fun, but had never gone out before. My sister Alexis came out to stay the night so we decided to do it this afternoon. It is about 22 miles out of Amherst on 60, and then a long drive down a dirt road to where the falls are. Then there is a hike along the river to the actual falls. Once we got there though, it was so worth it! We swam in the pools and then all (except Will) went sliding down the smaller waterfall into the pool below. My camera got a bit wet and so decided not to take pictures for a while - I didn't get any of the kids going down, but hope to next time. Alexis took all the pics in this slideshow that have the date in the corner, she did a great job!

Enjoy!

"You're Fired!" :D

Hello dear friends. I am pleased to announce that I am almost officially "fired" (a joke, the kids and I have been talking about when "daddy fires mommy" we can do this and that) from my office job and am very close to being home full-time again! We hired a good friend to take over the office work and he is doing well in the position. I trained for the last 2 weeks and am now just "on-call" from home to help as needed. I cannot tell you how good that feels!!!! :D

I am now re-evaluating my roles at home... big adjustments ahead for me and the kids. Tom has been pretty clear that his expectations are pretty high now that we are home - for which I am thankful! He does not often tell me what he wants/expects which makes it hard. He also very rarely expresses displeasure and is very forgiving and loving - more so than I often deserve. I look forward to working to please him.

We had our first day at home today. It was lovely. Kept the house picked up and kitchen clean, dinner ready when Tom got home, laundry done, aaaaaahh... so nice. Our a/c did go out today which is quite the bummer... but we'll survive. I was amazed at how much I can get done when the phone isn't ringing and I have to worry about being at a computer every moment!

Started some serious tomato staking here this afternoon. The last 3 years have been rough and the kids' behavior has been showing it. I always enjoy reading here for insight and encouragement when in training "boot camp".

I would appreciate your prayers as we step back and regroup ourselves now that we are able to once again focus on our family and the importance of raising our children and me keeping our home. I am looking forward to this time but am oddly nervous about meeting Tom's expectations and my own for that matter!

Mmmmmm... a thunderstorm is rolling in... better close.

Father's Day Slideshow

Births and Newborns

My dear friend had her second daughter at home this morning. I was honored to be at her birth for support and photo capturing. I am still on a high from it. There is just nothing like birth and newborn babies. Everything went beautifully - Amy, you are incredible!

Congratulations Fergusons!!! :-)

A little peek at the darling here - snuggled in a sling to be weighed.

I can see the light...

... at the end of the tunnel.

Today I started training my replacement at the office. I am thrilled to have somebody competent and interested in learning, and that we have known for years and completely trust. It is wonderful. I am putting in some major hours training the next couple weeks and then will be on-call as needed, but soon, very soon I should be able to focus on being "just" a wife and mom again. I am excited to be keeping my home again!

A Storm!

We had quite the storm today. It really didn't seem that bad, but there were major downpours and some wind. I was driving home from Charlottesville and actually went off the road by hydroplaning at an exit, the Lord kept Rose and I safe though - no damage to us or the car! Tom was home with the other two kids and the power went out and was out for about 8 hours. So, after I arrived home we all went to the shop and got the generator so that we could plug the fridge in and keep our food from spoiling. While we were gone, our poor screened room collapsed from the rain and wind. It broke in several places. We are so sad. ;(

Early summer blooms

A few more pics from our yard... blooming now!

Lamium (Dead Nettles)
Calla Lilies with Purple Basil
Coral Rose
Evening Primrose
Peonies from the bush to the table

I have a new bud on the red rose bush that I got for Mother's Day and some new growth on the pink one, so they seem to be happy. The Black-eyed Susan and Purple Coneflower are getting tall and ready to bloom. The Daylilies have put up shoots and are preparing to bloom - even all the ones I transplanted! :-) I also noticed that the hostas are getting ready to put up their shoots of blooms. There will be some pretty boquets on my table soon!