Spider

After a trip to dump a bucket into the compost pile John came in and was squirting dishwashing detergent into the dishwasher as I noticed a black widow crawling up his back on top of his white t-shirt. I quickly but silently took my dishrag and killed it. He was a little shook up after I told him what I had just killed. They can deliver a nasty bite.

Beautiful June

We have had this pair of rarely seen Scarlet Tanagers hanging out in our yard. The male continually and deliberately runs into our windows. I am looking into this strange behavior. It may be attacking his reflection in order to protect his female? We are enjoying seeing the male up so close and the female was even hanging out in the Japanese Maple right outside our window.The look exactly like the birds in the image above. They are very beautiful.

June 8-Shop is up and running. Work is coming in and we are blessed to see this after only two weeks since the fire.

June 11-I just finished rocking 2 1/2 year old Joseph to sleep after his bath in a silent house. It was nice. John is being given a drawing lesson by Pris and the older boys are with Kenny. The first few hours of calm in over a week gave me a chance to think about the younger mom I was in those simpler days of watching the children run around content with their toys and outdoor time. I guess I am missing those days a little. I know it shouldn't be that way but to be honest it is such a scary transition time with my older ones. They are looking for their life, their purpose, and their desires to be met. If "there is no greater joy than to know that my children are walking in truth" than there can be no greater sorrow than to know that they are not walking in truth.

Of course we enjoy watching them grow and we want nothing more than to see them mature and make good decisions on their own. But I know they will make mistakes like the rest of us. Learning to trust- that is one of the keys. We are endeavoring to not be naive parents so we can know how to pray for and guide our kids. This is serious business -this parenting thing.

June-20 We took the kids out to Fort Loudoun see at http://fortloudoun.com/ ( a restored fort from the French and Indian War) yesterday in the 97 degree heat. They tolerated it quite well especially since we took some time to swim at the end of the day. Later in the evening Joshua, Hope, and Priscilla did a great job performing at a local downtown coffee shop. I especially love when they sing their own songs that they have written. It 's amazing to hear the lyrics that come out of Hope's heart. I am blessed! Go to www.myspace.com/hopeector and listen for yourselves.

The older boys went to jump off waterfalls, Kenny is golfing, and Lily and I are enjoying listening to music. I hurt my neck somehow and I am having a hard time turning it. I have never been to a chiropractor but this pain might push me to do so. The cause may be from straining it while working outdoors. I have excitedly started 4-5 different projects-building an entrance arbor, starting the greenhouse, digging in steps on the hill, digging out a decorative fish pond, and a chicken house and coop. I just had the vision and wanted to start it all at once. I guess I will have to rest since this pain is making me feel sick.
On another note. I want more of our Father right now. I want to see the Lord move in my life and those around me. HE is truly the satisfier of our soul and I want to know Him in a personal way because religion is tiring but His spirit is like water to our souls. I get tired of distractions that pull me away from what is important. People are important, prayer, and walking in peace.
Just wanted to remind myself of that today. Let's remember to keep praying for eachother!!

Big Fire

Last Friday (almost a week now) the sign company owned by our brother-in-law caught on fire and is now considered a total loss. While they were drying letters at the end of the day Kenny and my nephew in-law saw smoke and by the time they approached the area it was to late. After calling 911, they grabbed the computers and then found it impossible to save anything else but a plotter. (I'll post pictures later-our camera and cell phone were lost in the fire)
Meanwhile at home, we hear a few fire trucks but we are now hidden by trees from any view down below that I didn't bother to look out to see where they may be going. Joseph even said, "Hey mom, what's that sound?". "Fire trucks, Joe." 15 minutes later my neighbor and friend calls my phone and yells "Lori, did you know that the shop is on fire?" Fear struck me since I hadn't heard from Kenny so I jumped in the car and immediately tore down there. It crossed my mind that an explosion could have taken place and the neighbors might have called 911. I wondered if Kenny was okay. Even after I saw his beautiful form outside the building I couldn't help shaking. I couldn't believe the fire was out of control. Somehow Kenny and I both seemed to still have some kind of idea that he could conquer the beginning of a fire but the hose wasn't going to cut it as our nephew tried. They were amazed at how fast the huge place filled with black smoke and toxic fumes. There were about 10-12 fire trucks on the scene and they used 15,000 gallons of water out of the nearby pond/lake.
Ford and Lisa were on their way home from a vacation in Colorado and we were just sick at the thought of what they were about to face. They were and have been amazing about the whole thing. Even though they have insurance the amount of work in setting up temporarily and the stress of keeping clients is incredible. They are setting up shop in our carport which is now a closed in wired shop with machines all set up with production almost on its way. The office (our old bedroom we were already moving out of) is connected to the shop by our transformed plotter -room breezeway.It has turned out to be a nice set up. It hasn't been easy but it has been neat seeing everyone ( and I mean from 10 years old and up) buzzing around here as hard and fast as anyone can go. Taking our meals together has been one fun aspect of it all. Grandma and Grandpa have done an amazing amount of work pressure washing, painting, cleaning, cooking dinner several times for all of us and even helping me catch up on my laundry. Thanks to everyone for your work and prayers.