Loving This Blessed Randomocity

Source: Uploaded by user via Angel on Pinterest

Good day friends and family! I pray that you are all having a wonderfully blessed day in our LORD! It has been a drenching, wet week in my neck of the woods. But the rain has been such a blessing. We've been under drought conditions, so any bit of water received is an answer to prayer. I've not had to water my garden all week. So yay for that! :D

In fact, I could shout yay for this entire week. Random facts and blessings from the week include...

~Working off the homestead, three days this week. Two at the preschool. One on my neighbor's farm. :)

~Plenty of work to keep me occupied at home when I'm here. That means washing clothes, cooking supper, cleaning, and anything in between. :D

~Figuring out that squirrels are to blame for my sunflowers not growing. That is a mixed blessing. I was afraid it was a soil issue, causing them not to grow. Now that I know the true reason, I can just start the seeds in trays, and keep them out of reach of the hungry rodents. ;)

~Spending a wonderful evening with Justin. We went to his cousin's sons baseball game. I loved meeting more of his family. And of course seeing all the parents enthusiasm during the game was pretty entertaining. ;D

~Felt a confirming peace over my decision in being a stay at home daughter. I've had kind of a rough patch in worrying about what others think these past few weeks. But praise the LORD for answering prayer and confirming once again, this is where HE wants me. :D

~Came across this super cute and funny pic via Pinterest... :D

Source: Uploaded by user via Angel on Pinterest

~Fell in love with this quote... :)

Source: Uploaded by user via Angel on Pinterest

~Stumbled across this BEAUTIFUL song. It has now been bumped up to probably my top 5 (maybe even two) favorite songs. Listen to it! It's so sweet that I cried and squealed the first time I heard it. My MP3 player now has it on constant replay... ;D



It's been a random kind of week for sure. But that's the way the LORD has set it. And that's how I love it! :D

How has you're week been? I pray it's been a great one! :D

Have a wonderfully blessed day! Thanks for stopping by!
Angel

Kick Back and Laugh

Attention all "With Her Hands" readers. I interrupt the usual deep, serious posting of this blog, to share some silliness.

Okay, enough with the dramatics. :P It's been a slightly rough week at work, and I don't know about you, but this girl needs a laugh or two. So, kick back, relax and enjoy this pretty awesome acapella Disney medley. :D



Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Thanks for stopping by!
Angel

Sharing This Week With You

One of the major issues I have been facing with my three year old class this year is sharing. Sharing toys, crayons, you name it. Not many of them are particularly fond of putting their desires behind them, and putting what others want ahead of themselves. Well I must admit, they are improving. I mean they did so graciously share something with their teacher this week. Lots of sneezing, a runny nose, slight fever, and total lack of energy for anything. Yeap, they shared their cold germs. :(

Other than suffering through this germ the past few days, it's been a great week. I finally finished the costumes for the church fall festival on Saturday.(pics coming very soon) Just in time for the festival on Monday. And if I do say so myself, I think they turned out pretty good. I may have lost half of my hair in the process of completing them, but hey, I learned alot. And that's all that matters. :D

I went to our county fair on Tuesday. Which means I got to spend time with my precious little smiles. :D :D :D Look at what awaited me when I walked over to them...



That's right. Three ribbons. Oh yeah! Rhett won first in his breed (black Cochin bantam) and Chantal won first in her breed (White Sultan bantam) and "Best In Show" for bantams! As you can imagine, I am pretty excited.

The rest of this week has been pretty average. Church, school, eggs. The usual routine. Although, it was a tad bit different at my neighbors. I got to help package turkeys this morning. It's the first time I have helped package them, and I must say, it is a whole lot more difficult to put a 15 pound turkey in a bag, compared to a 3 pound chicken. But all went well, and thankfully it is done and over with!

Tomorrow looks to be a busy day. I will be in charge of supper. What I am making usually takes up quite a bit of time. I'm making some "Dutch Potato Soup". Soup will be so wonderful tomorrow, especially since the high is only forecast to be around 60.

I'm also planning on making some dinner rolls, for ham and cheese sliders that I will be bringing to our church's monthly after service snack, on Sunday. I found a recipe on Pinterest with a poppy seed dressing that looks wonderful! I cannot wait to try it.

Well, I'm going to get off of here. Hopefully I can get some extra rest in this evening to help push this cold away soon. But before I go I just want to say...

GOD is so good, ALL the time! :D

Have a wonderfully blessed day! Thanks for stopping by!
Angel

Tidbits from the Week

Good day friends and family! I pray that you are all having a wonderfully blessed day! The weather has been quite tolerable this past week. The temps have gotten into the mid 70's most days, with lows in the mid 50's. Today's forecast is a bit on the depressing side though. It's only forecast to be about 60. In other words, I see shivering and chills in my future. Oh well...

Well, this has been quite the pleasant week. I've been as busy as can be with work, a field trip with my K-3 class, spot fishing, church, and a whole lot more in between there. :D

Monday I spent the day on my neighbor's farm, washing eggs. The production has really increased there with the new layers. It would not be so bad, if there were not a problem of the new chickens breaking the eggs horribly. I just about have to scrub each egg for 30 seconds, they are so dirty. But that's probably info you did not care to hear... :P

Tuesday was school with the three year olds. We had a field trip, so it was not our average day. We went to a local sorghum maze. The kids weren't all that fond of walking through the maze. After ten minutes, I was hearing "I'm tired!", "When are we going to have snack?", and "Can we go back to school?". Then the next thing knew I was chasing them, and trying to keep the entire maze being torn to bits! '_'



But the day turned out better for them thankfully. They had little kiddie games set up, and a hay ride, perfect for their age group. :)







That afternoon, I was able to go spot fishing with my family and a very good friend. ;) I didn't catch too many fish, myself. Altogether there were 75 fish caught, and out of those, maybe 7 or 8 were mine. But regardless, I was so thankful for the time spent with those close, and just being in total awe of GOD's wonderful creation: the ocean. :)









Wednesday morning was cleanup time from the trip. Not exactly my favorite part, but one of the most necessary. I also gave my two "little smiles", Rhett and Chantal a bath. I have entered them in the county fair, to hopefully win a ribbon or two, and to just show them off. ;) I took them down there that evening, and most everyone that was there were impressed. So I'm pretty excited about that.



On the other side of that though, I am missing them terribly. Especially because I am used to calling Rhett when I step outside, just to see him run so excitedly to me. :(

Then of course Thursday was school as usual. I did squeeze a trip to the Wally World after school. I finally broke down and bought a new phone. I've been without one for almost a year. I really don't use a phone that often, so I have been putting off a new one. But my mom has really been onto me about getting one. So I finally broke down, and have a prepaid that's a very reasonable price for my budget. :D

Today's schedule looks to be busy. I have eggs to wash first things this morning, then I hope to get a lot more sewing done on the costumes for Monday's fall party at church. Then as long as the weather holds up, I will make another trip to the maze with friends, to hopefully complete it without the worry of little kids running around with me chasing them. ;D I'm looking forward to that.

Well, I better get off of here and get busy!

I pray that you all have a wonderfully blessed weekend! Thanks for stopping by!
Angel

An Anniversary, and Annabelle

So, last week was sort of an anniversary for me. I have now been blogging for 4 years. Wow! Just saying that, and I can hardly believe it. It's amazing to me to look back through my old blog posts, and to see how much my life has changed, and to be reminded of how the LORD has so graciously worked in my life over the years. I am so unworthy of that kind of love, but I am thankful for it. :)

So for Random Friday's, I thought I would go back into the old files, and share this post I wrote in March of 2009. It's all about our milk cow, Annabelle. I hope you enjoy. :D

Isn’t it neat how God gives each and every person on this earth a unique personality? I love meeting and getting to know all sorts of people and finding out their personalities. They all have different likes and dislikes. Even the way people talk and walk can identify them as an individual.

What also amazes me is how God can give animals personalities as well. Call me crazy, but just about every animal that I have taken the time to love and care for has a unique personality. Its just so amazing to me! Even chickens and cows have their own personality and a way of doing things.

This brings me to talk about the newest addition to our homestead, Anna-Belle the cow! I know this is old news about our her being here, but until recently I’ve not taken the time to get to know our family milk cow. She truly is a breed all to herself (even though she is a pure-bred Jersey).

To me she seems to believe that she is royalty. We’ve probably put that idea into her head by calling her "madam" or "her majesty". You would probably call her that too if you saw the way she strides around in her pen, with head and feet held high.

She’s a very demanding and rushing sort of bovine. If you are not going fast enough in the milking or feeding, she will will take to stomping with her impatience. I’ve had to give her numerous lectures on her Yankee ways(she grew up on a farm that was owned by people from New York). I’ve tried to explain to her that she is to now behave as the southern belle she is expected to be, and to be patient and never in a hurry about anything.

You would never believe it was true,but we have a watch-cow! Whenever the dogs make a fuss about anything she has to find out what is wrong and then put her two-cents in. It’s quite humorous seeing her "moo" when something strange comes up in the yard.

Anna-Belle is also a sweet girl. Whenever you walk out to her she comes running up so eager to see you. Then she puts her head down and looks up at you with those long, dark lashes, as if she saying to you "please pet and love me". It’s so precious. Then when you do rub that favorite spot on her neck, she runs off and starts leaping for joy. Too cute!

Well, that’s about it. I hope you enjoyed getting to know Anna-Belle a little better. I just love my cow! And I hope that you will now be willing to get to know some your animals a little better as well.(Just so long you are not raising them for food, and that could be a problem later down the road... )

I pray that you have a great day! Thanks for stopping by!

Shycountrygal

What great memories this post brought back for me. :D

Have a wonderfully blessed day! Thanks for stopping by!
Angel

P.S. Here is the link to my old blog if you would like to give it a look at. http://homesteadblogger.com/shycountrygal/date/2008/10/

Busy, Yet Wonderful Week in Pics...

Whew! What a week it has been! Busy as a beaver would be putting my schedule mildly. And the next few days look to be much the same with the final two days of the fall camp season in swing. But thankfully, it is the last two days, and then it's time for some rest and back to work at home. :D

Even though I have been crazy busy, I have had several blessings in the few spare moments that roll around. I thought today would be a nice day to show them to you. Enjoy!

Our church held a service at the home of an elderly shut-in. What a blessing it was to see the joy on her face at the ones that were able to share all of their talents. From singing, instrument playing of all sorts, and Scripture memory, the goodness of our LORD was so evident that night...











We were also able to roast a few hot dogs and marshmallows on the fire, just for fun...



Saturday was a successful day indeed. I was able to attend a local book sale with my mom, sister, and her friend bright and early. I found several books for my hope chest on country decorating, a Frank Sinatra Christmas CD, a BEAUTIFUL, illustrated version of Pride and Prejudice, and well as a new favorite from Lynn Austin...





I went folks! I saw "Courageous" right after the book sale and lunch. Let me tell you what! You HAVE to see this movie. I love the clear picture of salvation it presents, as well other spiritual matters that are discussed. It's a must see for everyone. I must warn you. You may develop a mild case of bipolarness. No joke, one minute my stomach was hurting from laughing so hard, then not even a minute later I was balling my eyes out. I hope to go see it again this weekend. :D




I was in charge of refreshments for Sunday School this past week. I made blueberry muffins to share...



And here are a few random moments from around the homestead the past few days...







Wow Annabelle...



Hmmmm...



My crazy dog, Kaia...





I was kinda, sorta, stalking them maybe... ;)



The leaves are beginning to die, I mean change colors...





You definatly know cold weather is on the way when the Wax Myrtle bushes are filling out with berries...



The shadows all around are beautiful this time of year...



So, how has your past week gone? I pray that it has been a blessed one for you. :)


Have a wonderfully blessed day! Thanks for stopping by!
Angel

Today's the Day!

Today's the day everyone! It's the opening day of the new movie "Courageous"! :D

So, in case you have not heard of this movie yet, I'm here to spread the word today. Here is the plot according to the movies official page...

Four men, one calling: To serve and protect. As law enforcement officers, Adam Mitchell, Nathan Hayes, David Thomson, and Shane Fuller are confident and focused. Yet at the end of the day, they face a challenge that none of them are truly prepared to tackle: fatherhood.

While they consistently give their best on the job, good enough seems to be all they can muster as dads. But they're quickly discovering that their standard is missing the mark.

When tragedy hits home, these men are left wrestling with their hopes, their fears, their faith, and their fathering. Can a new found urgency help these dads draw closer to God ... and to their children?

Filled with action-packed police drama, COURAGEOUS is the fourth film from Sherwood Pictures, the movie making ministry of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. Riveted moviegoers will once again find themselves laughing, crying, and cheering as they are challenged and inspired by everyday heroes who long to be the kinds of dads that make a lifelong impact on their children.

Protecting the streets is second nature to these men. Raising their children in a God-honoring way? That's courageous.

And the trailer to really get you excited about this...



I don't know about you all, but I am so ready to head to the theater and see a GOD honoring and glorifying movie. A movie where I won't have to worry about any inappropriate conduct making an appearance. I can't wait to go see this movie. This weekend perhaps? ;)

Have a wonderfully blessed day my friends! Thanks for stopping by!
Angel

A Random Blessing...

So, I got an unexpected and quite welcome surprise today. I found out that I am not needed at camp today, and will not have to go back until Monday! :D And since I did not know this till the last minute, I washed eggs yesterday, and have no job to go to today! YAYYYYYYYY!!! ;D

So, how will I be spending my randomly day off? Well I already started it out by sleeping until 9. Boy was it nice to not have to slap my alarm clock this morning. :P Around noon me and my mom will head off to a local Mennonite bulk store we have not been to in quite awhile. Perhaps just maybe I can get her to stop in for a quick visit to my favorite antique store that just happens to be along the way, as well. ;)

After returning home I hope to be able to make some oatmeal cookies to take to our church's family fun night. Then it will be off to church to enjoy some music, games, and a special time of fellowship with church family. :D

I'm just so thankful that the LORD once again squeezed a wonderful surprise into my otherwise crazy schedule. I'm so blessed, and so thankful for HIS goodness in my life. :D

Here is a song to reinforce how I feel about that...



Have a wonderfully blessed day! Thanks for stopping by!
Angel

You Lead, I'll Follow

A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps. Proverbs 16:9

How many times I have had this brought to my mind, or better yet, needed it pounded into my stubborn brain. That no matter how many times I "take" my life into my hands, it is always the GOD of the universe that is in control. When times get rough, the only thing I need to do is step back, take the back seat so to speak, and let HIM take complete and total control. The same thing goes for the good times as well. So, lead me LORD, I wanna be yours...



Have a wonderfully blessed day everyone! Thanks for stopping by!
Angel

It Won't be My Fault If I Die An Old Maid...

Okay. So I was browsing around this morning on the web, and came across this poem. I just had to share it with you for Random Friday. I just about fell over laughing when I read it! :P Anyway, I hope you read it and enjoy. And for all you other single ladies out there, I hope it brings a good laugh to you. ;D

It won't be my fault If I die An Old Maid

My mother pretends for a wife I'm too young,
and says that men will deceive me.
But let her look back, she'll soon hold her tongue;
if not, 'tis no matter, believe me,
Sweet gentlemen, don't be a moment in fear,
and suffer a damsel to keep singing here,
remember a thought to no girl is so dread,
as the terrible one--that she may die an old maid.

Mother preaches forever against men, the vile gender,
and says every look is alarming,
but, between you and I, this she says only to render,
for I know that she thinks you all charming.
Three husbands she has had in the course of her life,
now I only want one, sir, "Pray who'll have a good wife?"
Now men don't be stupid and look half-afraid!
Speak boldly, or else I must die an old maid.

Men boast they are kind, and easily had,
and lovers are willing and plenty,
I vow it is false, for I've not got a lad,
although I'm turned one-and-twenty.
The man I love best now stands in full view--
don't look so sharp, sir! I did not mean you,
but that handsome man there--O, what have I said,
but it won't be my fault if I die an old maid.

- The Quaver; or, Songster's Pocket Companion:
containing upwards of One Thousand of the most popular Songs, Toasts, Sentiments, and Recitations

Have a wonderfully blessed day everyone! Thanks for stopping by!
Angel

A Great Week!

Whew! What a week of VBS this has been! And to think that tonight is the last night? Wow, does time fly by when your having fun. :D

So, everything this week ran remarkably great! Snacks were good, lesson time was filled with GOD's goodness, game time went by smoothly with lots of laughs, and arts and crafts, well, I kept right on schedule, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. :)

I had a lot of fun with arts and crafts this week. Working with all different ages of kids was alot of fun. But, the LORD also taught me a few things through it. Things I pray that I can remember all the time... For instance, not getting so upset and downright angry when teens do not listen.

I had a bit of a time with keeping some of the teens calmed down and quiet enough to where I could show them how to complete the craft. Being my unfortunately bossy self, I may have lost my temper once, and wanted to throttle some of them, but hey! I showed self-control there! ;D

I just have a very difficult time of keeping calm when kids are not behaving, and especially not listening. The LORD showed me this week that yelling does not solve everything, but most of the time, a calm quiet, very serious voice does the trick. That is something I pray I can master by the time I'm married and have kids... ;)

I also learned that I need to stop being so overbearing. Being bossy, I have a tendency to also want things done my way, or no way. And well, I was showed that I need to get that under control... ;)

But overall, I LOVED working at VBS this week, and am sorta sad to see it done and over with. There's next year's though, and I am so looking forward to that! And I am so thankful for the LORD's goodness and mercy through this whole week. :)

Oh yes! My mini-vacation for the weekend is back on. With Emily no longer a threat to our coast, my dad feels secure enough to head out bright and early tomorrow morning to visit his family in West Virginia! I am really looking forward to a change in scenery. :)

Well, I need to get off of here for now! I pray that you all have a wonderfully blessed day!
Angel

A Good Day For Her

So, my dear sister wanted to tell all of ya'll thank-you for the birthday wishes. She was so excited to have people she knew, and those she has only read about, wish her a great birthday. :D

I believe she had a wonderful birthday. She had 6 friends come over for dinner, a scavenger hunt, and a camp out. So there were alot of giggles, girl talk, not much sleep, but all around good fun. :) I was the official photographer of the grand event, as well as chaperon when mama and daddy retired for the evening.

So, let me share with you some of the day...

All the beautiful girls(and one awesome little guy) before the scavenger hunt began...



Oh dear...



And so the race begins...





















SUCCESS!!!



"Let's find out what's in here!"



Ooooo...



Ahhh...



Lots of fun goodies! :D







Make a wish sis! :D



Enjoy that cake girls!



What's a birthday without a ton of cards and gifts to show we love one, and make them smile...



"Beauty and the Beast" soundtrack from yours truly...



Very pretty these are...





Must have been an intresting card...



And to complete the day, the little brother drowning the girls with some cooling waters...





Even though yesterday and last night were a blast, I am looking forward to a nice quiet evening. I love teen girls to death, but after staying awake until 2:30 am listening to giggling and the typical girl talk of that age, I could really use some peace and sleep right about now... ;)

Have a wonderfully blessed day everyone! Thanks for stopping by!
Angel