Let the music lead you

This last couple of weeks we have hit up our local(tiny!) library and August found a set of books that he loves. They are a bit longer than picture books, but not chapter books either. Each book is about a different person from History and talks about their life and some kind of character trait.

Today we read about Beethoven and giving. Many people invested in his life and music and when he felt like giving up, he persevered and gave back, with his beautiful music. 

Afterward I got on youtube and found a couple songs and I said to lay down, close your eyes and dream about what the music is saying. 

Well, there was no lying down, but there was plenty of imagining! Zade rushed over to me and said, "Mom, I thought of a new word! Musimovie!" They started creating a story of a man in the desert with a turban, sneaking up to a princess' window and trying to capture her. They went in and out of character and multiple characters throughout the music(about 30) minutes, and came up with a pretty good story! Princess, ballroom dancing, sword fights, poison, the antidote, good guy, bad guy, etc. 

I wrote it down as they performed and they loved that even more! I read it back to them and then they chose a couple other symphonies and made up new plots and stories. 

The only input I gave them was to try to think of a completely different story and characters from the one before. 

It was such a fun hour! We haven't delved into Shakespeare yet, but I hope when we do, they will want to reenact the plays! 

We finished our read aloud today also. Ralph Moody's, Little Britches. We all really enjoyed it. There was a lot of great lines from Father to son that I hope sunk into their heads and hearts. 

For the summer we kept things really simple. We wrote out 1, 2, 3 John and the kids read 2 chapter books. Zade read Sign of the Beaver and a magic tree house book and Grace read May B. and the same magic tree house book, Dolphins at Daybreak. I wanted to challenge them to read something a little harder or longer than they have been, but in the end we made a compromise of one hard and one easy. Their reward was a date night with mama. Zade and I saw TMNT, and Grace are going bowling tonight. 

Other learning happened through planting our first garden and reaping the benefits of that. Also, having a garage sale and making change, lots of life lessons and many late nights with great conversations and movie watching. 

We are moving in a week so we haven't started the traditional school year yet. We will move and get settled, spend a good week with long nature walks exploring our new area and then get back to the books. I am looking forward to every part of it! 

I will share more as we get into September what books we will be going through, but for now I just wanted to journal a little of what our summer has consisted of. 


Enjoying the last of it, for soon enough we will be snuggled up with hot chocolate and tea and gazing at the leaves changing and the snow falling. 

Castles in the sand, trusting in the Rock

To start this post off,  I want to share that sometimes things don't work out as you think they will. When I wrote this post, I was on cloud nine, but I had counted my chickens before they hatched. The next day, the guy came to work and said his wife had shown them their finances and they shouldn't be spending more money on a truck. So our truck is still for sale. God knows what we need and more importantly, He knows when we need it. Apparently our truck doesn't need to sell, just yet. 

When we got that call a couple months ago about the job, we just knew it was God opening a door for us. It was exciting, but in all reality there is a lot that has to happen for it all to work out. I was watering our garden one morning and was talking with Jesus about it all and He convicted my heart of unbelief. Ouch! 

I had asked for prayer and we have been praying for things to happen but I did in fact have a heart that kept saying quietly, "I don't think this is working out. I don't think our house will rent. I don't think anyone will buy the truck. I don't, I don't, I don't...." 

So there I was in the back yard and my eyes were opened! Stop with the "I don't" and start believing the, "God can." 

And He has! 

Our house has renters moving in the first of September. Our business is selling. The house in the mountains is working out. The job is waiting for us. We signed Micheal up for school! 

We still need to sell the truck and van but we still need them to get around, so I am praying, really believing, that God will sell them right when they need to be out of our lives. 

We are doing what we can to make this all happen, but that isn't much. God is the One that really does the work. He is the One that opens doors and closes them. Gives and takes away. We are just sand in His open palm. 

This whole transition has been a great time of seeking the Lord and waiting patiently, in hope. 

And that is great practice for the ultimate thing we wait for, the hope of our salvation, coming in the clouds to take us to heaven, where we will forever sing His praises and talk of all the wonderful things He has done and who God is! 

The next few weeks will be super busy, so will you please continue to pray that we would rest in Him, and that God would continue to work all things out. We sure would appreciate it! 

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Last week I wanted to focus on Grace turning 10 so I didn't post any of the boys. This week is nothing especially fancy photo wise, but as a Mama, these photos are precious to me.

Enjoying the summer in all it's fullness:

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Big brothers share this week's photo and little brother gets two. Family unit working together to get the job done! ;) 

The year is half over. Just sayin'. 

Being frugal: a post for my Mom

My Mom is the most frugal gal I know. She sticks to thrift stores and garage sales and rarely buys anything that is not on sale. While in my first 29 years I hadn't been so good with our money, these past couple years she must finally be rubbing off on me.  

For our garden,  we wanted affordable and tasty mixed with a pleasing aesthetic. Bluejeans and Pearls style, you know? 

I think we are there. 

We bought our heirloom seeds from Baker Creek , a few bags of soil and a roll of twine. That's it! Luckily we had the rest. 

Our lilac in the front yard needed a bit of trimming, so we -and when I say we I mean Micheal- whacked off a few branches and used them to support our 'maters. Have you seen how expensive tomato cages are? No thank you! 

Our boards for the raised beds were saved from when we ripped out our back deck last summer. 

Our potatoes were going bad so instead of tossing them, we stuck them in the ground. They weren't in the original plan for our garden. 

Bring on the frugal and beautiful!

Mom, I hope you are proud!