Sometimes I Forget to Breathe

1.  When my leadership is questioned
2.  When my To-Do list is running around in my head
3.  When I step on the scale
4.  When the house is cluttered
5.  When I have to fix dinner
6.  When I'm having a bad hair day
7.  When the checking account is low
8.  When my chicks are not in my nest
9.  When my children are criticized
10. When forest fires pollute our air

We Were the Destination

Palisade Falls

Jim took them for a day in the park.

A dear friend's cancer has returned..for the third time.  There is nothing the docs can do.  So, she is living out her Bucket List, which included a road trip, which included seeing us.  Three of her friends decided to make this dream come true and travel from Chicago with her on an 8 States in 8 Days trip.  They stayed with us two nights, and did all they could to see the wonderful offerings of this part of the country.  We wanted their time in our home to be wonderful, refreshing and a real blessing to them. 

Giggly girls staying up way too late.

 It was sobering to be with these ladies.  Knowing one is living out her dreams, knowing the other three were helping make her dreams come true.  My joy for life pales in comparison to theirs.

As they were leaving I thanked them for including a stop at our home on their fast and furious trip.  One said "Well, to tell you the truth, you WERE our destination and we planned everything else around you."  What a gift!  In our efforts to be a blessing to them, we in turn were blessed beyond measure. 

Safe travels home, girls!

Summer, So Far

Thursday; Grace leave for Hawaii

Saturday; Secretly sell our charcoal grill, and get caught

Sunday Morning; Speak to 3-6 grade Sunday School Class

Sunday; Host 3 students for Father's Day lunch

Tuesday; Host 70 ladies for Women's Ministries event

Thursday-Friday; Host 4 friends from Long Grove, IL

Friday; Andrew leave for San Fransico

Friday-Sunday; Watch David play at MSU team camp

Saturday; Breakfast and Farmer's Market with Emily

Monday; Andrew and Grace both home from travels

Tuesday; David leave for Gonzaga Basketball Camp

Thursday; Jim and I leave for Oklahoma

Friday; David to Hoopfest in Spokane, Grace to New Orleans

Saturday; BBQ at the Clark's with Bethany and Jeff

Sunday; Jim and I to NLR, and dinner with the Youmans

Monday; David to Oklahoma, Jim to Springfield to pick up G-ma, then all of us to Eureka Springs

Tuesday; Pick up David from Tulsa

Wednesday; Family Camp!

While the Cat's Away

Grace left for a 10-day vacation last week.  While she is gone, we are having company from Chicago, some that will stay in Grace's room.  In an effort to make room for guest's things in the closet, I asked Grace if I could organize her closet a bit.  She agreed.  The closet cleaning led to drawer organizing which led to furniture moving which led to under-bed vacuuming which all led to about 3 loads of laundry.  Mostly socks.  The whole organizing/cleaning process took about three days.  In said process, I organized or found or washed 13 pairs of jeans, 70 shirts, 16 hoodies, 10 pairs of sweat/yoga pants and 45 pairs of socks.  On top of that I packed away a 13-gallon trash bag full of tee shirts from old jobs, schools and teams. 

I know Grace will be pleasantly surprised when she returns to find her room in order.  I also know that it may take a mere sixteen hours to have a very large portion of the above mentioned out of it's perfect place.  I am okay with that.  Don't ask me how, but I am.

As far as our guests having any room in Grace's closet, too bad, so sad, it's not going to happen.

Schooool's Out For Summer!

I am always amuzed with the huge feeling of euphoria I feel the day after school is out.  Never have I been the mom that dreads the kids being home for summer.  I loved the new opportunities summer presented. 

It used to mean swimming pools, picnics, projects, arts and crafts, day trips, farmer's market, and a slower pace.  The joy of summer has morphed into no homework, no begging children to get out of bed, no checking power-school weekly, and no packing lunches.

From being able to do what I love to do, to not having to do what I weary of, either way, I love summer... 

 ...especially in Bozeman!

Wordless Wednesday: First BBQ of the Summer

Graduation Cards

Our mailbox has been overflowing with graduation announcements.  I came up with this little gift-card.

Who doesn't love yummy coffee drinks?

Auction!

After yard sales on Saturday, Em and I went to a Farm Auction.  I didn't need a farm, but I was a good sport and played along.

 Apparently a lot of people attend Farm Auctions.  Not sure why, most of them already have farms.

 Red things always catch my attention!

 Boy, if I could have figured out a way to get this to New Life Ranch, I would have so bid on this party barge-bus-trailer thingy.  I'm sure they've been looking all over for one of these!

 Emily wondered why this man was wearing a hard-hat at an auction.  The sky was definitely NOT falling.

I realize the tops of these children's heads seems to be the focus of this photo but it is actually the butter-churner that went for $40 to Emily's friend's sister.  These are her children's heads.

 My hard-and-fast rule about attending auctions is I have to bid on something.  I bid on and won this plant stand for $2.50.  The auctioneer thanked me for bidding.  I guess farmers don't need plant stands from Ross with the price tag still on the bottom that say $14.99.  I got so caught up in the excitement of bidding low and winning, that I also won a box of pottery for $5.00.  Please don't tell the Lockies. 

 Emily and I wore flip-flops to the auction.  We didn't know it would be held in a horse pasture.  But Sarah, Emily's farmer-friend, knew it and came in boots, cut-offs, up-do and all.  Love you Sarah!

There were guns.  Lots of guns.

Fun morning at the auction with Emily and her farmer-friends.

River Rock Yard Sales Rock!

I got a text from Em at 7:00 this morning asking if I wanted to go to yard sales.  My plans of scrubbing bathrooms, starting  my Esther study and baking all went flying out the window.  She picked me up within 15 minutes, and off we went.  To Belgrade. ALL the way to Belgrade, to River Rock which is a hugely large subdivision with no parallel streets, nor rhyme nor reason to the way they are laid out.  But we followed the signs.  I must say I was impressed with the yard sale prices in River Rock.  It was like people really wanted to get rid of things.  So much in fact, that nearly every sale we stopped at had a FREE box (or three) from which Em and I gathered a plethora of delightful goodies including a volleyball, artist brushes, oil paints, and these....

 All of this came from the same house.  And the bags o'stuff had me wondering if there wasn't a treasure or two hiding in there somewhere.  

 These are the treasures from Bag #1.  The barrettes are beautiful and worth every penny.  The glass was holding Q-tips which I promptly threw away because A) they came from someone else's house, and B) everyone knows you should never use them in your ears.  The contact case is in this photo to remind me to tell you there there were actually contacts still in the case.  But when I put them in, they weren't my prescription.  Bummer.  Bummer that I am such a liar, I did not put them in my eyes.

These are the treasures from Bag #2.  I really can't see me ever using these, even in a pinch.

Our other not-free finds included a pair of cowboy boots for me (.50), one hoodie (.50), a new shower curtain and rings (1.00), a mantle clock (1.00), new bed set for the Master Bed (8.00), two Scentsy bricks with only a couple of cubes missing (5.00), one Cabelas blue fuzzy vest that I bought because I was cold (.50), one night shirt (.25), one book for Henry (.50), one shirt (.25), two mini babies for Bailey (.25), four new travel bottles (.25),  one Pampered Chef kids cookbook for Bailey and Caden, Brainy Baby Picture Cards for someone, jacket for David (3.00), a glass body powder dish with lid (1.00), red plate (.25) and a pair of Clark sandals (3.00).  

All in all a great yard sale day!