GENA'S GARDEN

When words aren't enough...

2012-02-21T09:56:00.001-08:00

I heart my family.

Truly.

My husband is amazing.

My children are amazing.

They are brights spots in my day and in my life.

I thank God for my family.

I LOVE them.

I want to do everything in my power to be the Proverbs 31 woman for them.

Proverbs 31:21-22 says: "When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet. She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple."

With that being said - I cannot and I repeat - CANNOT - make fine coverings for my bed when my sewing scissors are used to cut things that are not fabric. I was down to one ~~decent~~ good pair of scissors that I had tried in vain to keep hidden from my ~~husband~~ children. So, when I found my one remaining pair in the bag of horse grooming supplies, I had to resort to drastic measures.

When words aren't enough.....

When "Please don't use my sewing scissors" sounds like this when it comes out of my mouth:

And when my family looks at me like I am crazy and just told a dumb joke and then they roll their eyes and wait until I am not looking to cut their cardboard. Or horse hair. Or who knows what else.

So this morning, my husband posted this picture on facebook with a sad face:

I grinned an impish grin. I laughed an evil laugh. Then I jingled the key ring on my desk, shook my head, and thought "tsk, tsk, tsk."

Victory is MINE!

XOXOXO

~~Gena

P.S. - I am working on a table topper for St. Patrick's Day. And my scissors cut like "buttah!"

Thoughts on pasta.....

2012-01-25T07:12:00.000-08:00

The "crud" has hit our house and is making its rounds, so productivity is more or less out the window. I HAVE managed to get the ruffle onto my girl's skirt for her banquet. Cuteness! She has a petticoat with a white circle skirt trimmed with a 30 foot pink gingham ruffle. The pink gingham sash is coming.....I just haven't made it that far yet. As a matter of fact, I was in bed last night by 7:00. Sheesh.

So, since I feel like I have been run over by a Mack truck and since I am not being very productive I will share what Santa brought me for Christmas. I got a pasta attachment for my Kitchenaid stand mixer!

Not long after Christmas I watched some youtube tutorials on how to use the thing and immediately cranked out some garlic fettuccine!

I used that pasta to make some chicken alfredo and it was delicious! We also had enough that we were able to share :)

Next I decided to make some spinach pasta, and the batch of pasta was so much that I had filled up my pasta rack and was out of room. At that point, I decided I would just make lasanga noodles.

I learned something very important with this batch of pasta..... The lasagna noodles needed to be on a piece of screen or something similar in order to dry evenly. Otherwise, they just dry on one side and they curl up, which makes it a pain to try and store a bunch of curled up noodles.

Out of that batch of pasta I had enough that we have had two meals with the noodles - one with marinara and one with a cream sauce, a pan of lasagna, a pan of lasagna in the freezer, noodles still in the pantry and I have even given some away.

Now here let me state that I use that Kitchenaid almost daily and it is well worth every dime that they cost and I would cry for a month if anything ever happened to it, because it is my best friend and assists me in bringing culinary joy to my household, which makes me happy. Me and the Kitchenaid are tight. We are buddies.

However, as expensive as the pasta attachments are.....and they are incredibly expensive.... how many meals or batches of pasta does it take before it pays for itself considering a pack of spaghetti is only a buck or so?

I think if we went to the Macaroni Grill (or that other "Italian" place with the olives that has HORRIBLE food but tasty salad and breadsticks) we would probably spend anywhere from $50 - $80 ish dollars on a meal dining out with our family. (Or maybe more than that? - I don't dine out much.) So if I think in those terms as opposed to the actual cost of buying pasta at the grocery store I suppose it may have already paid for itself?

Now if I could just find out how to grind my own flour.............

Yours Truly,

Coughing and Hacking and needing desperately to finish my sewing before the banquet next weekend and tired of being loopy from all the cold medicine -----

XOXOXO

~~Gena

Some January sewing :)

2012-01-17T08:15:00.000-08:00

It isn't often that my office is closed, but since it is near the end of deer season, my attorney employer decided that MLK Day was a good day for him to hunt, since the Courthouse was closed anyway. I hunted too, but the only movement that I saw in the woods was the family of squirrels doing zumba beneath my shooting house. Ha!

But before I went hunting, I decided to do some sewing.

And let me state here that I had previously made the decision to participate in the Swoon Along.....

But before I could start another project, I knew I HAD to finish something I had going otherwise my fabulous most amazing, sweet husband would say something about me never finishing a project before I start a new one and so on and so forth and I knew he would be right and I just couldn't let THAT happen!

So - I decided to finish something so I could Swoon :)

(And let me apologize for the poor quality pictures. I took these with my cell phone.)

I have been working on this off and on for a while. It is a terrible wonky mess and has LOTS of mistakes, but generally I am okay with it because I learned a lot about what NOT to do when you are making it up as you go (and why you might should write stuff down if you work on it and leave it alone for a while):

I have all kinds of seams that don't match and had to add sashing because I was way off, blah blah blah.

I am going to add 18" of white all the way around so it will be a full queen size for the bed.

This is going to be the backing:

The picture has a funky hue to it, but it is just the lovely glow of the indoor lighting. I love the farm print. It is perfect.

I am going to send it to the quilter just because I have no desire to quilt a queen size quilt on my Singer and because she will probably get a kick out of trying to straight line quilt something that doesn't have matching seams. And because I have no desire to attempt straight line quilting on something that doesn't have matching seams and because the quilter probably needs a challenge like that. :)

And I have throw pillows forming in my head with some coordinating fabric and some AB Temple Tulips. Aaaah.

And now that I have that out of the way......

Hope Valley for the Swoon Along!

YAY!!!

And I have some County Fair that I bought for $3.49/yd that I will be using for the backing. YAY!

I am also working on clothes for the Valentine Banquet.... Hannah will be in ice cream white and pink gingham. I will be all decked out in sparkly black tulle in a skirt inspired from the Tinseltown line from the Shabby Apple website and courtesy of a 50% off deal and Joann gift card I received for Christmas. I will post pics of those projects once I get them finished.

Here is the inspiration for my get up:

I ordered my red gloves this morning :)

xoxoxo

~~ Gena

SWOON ALONG!

2012-01-12T06:58:00.000-08:00

I suppose I am a glutton for punishment....

But I have all this fabric that needs cutting up into pieces......

Fingers crossed that I can pull this off and finally do something with all that Innocent Crush that I have been ~~hoarding~~ stashing.

xoxoxo

~~Gena

2011 - a year in review

2012-01-03T13:14:00.000-08:00

Yearin review – 2011

Iwas a terrible blogger for 2011. I willresolve myself to being more disciplined for 2012 (HA!).

Justa quick run down of 2011 –

January– It snowed. A LOT. As in, there was snow on the ground for awhole week. IN MISSISSIPPI.

February– My super fab hubby MADE me a bottle tree for Valentine’s Day. I also hosted a formal table for a valentine’sbanquet, helped make costumes for the children’s skit for said banquet, helpedmake desserts for said banquet, and provided musical entertainment.

March– We worked on building the greenhouse. I also whopped my knee on a tree while horseback riding.

April– My stepsister passed away on April 22, 2011, (Good Friday) and Papa lost a cousin in the tornado of April 27, 2011. Not such a good week for us.

May –Jacob graduated from high school L Sniff.

We also took a trip to Chattanooga.

June– I had surgery on my knee and all of my green things died. It is hard to utilize a water hose whilst managingcrutches and painkillers at the same time. L

July– We had our annual 4^th on the Porch at my house for the first timeever J

August– Jacob started college L Sniff. I also had to have surgery for a kidneystone. UGH.

September– I went on an amazing retreat in Fort Payne, Alabama,with some ladies from my church. My girlwas baptized. Amen.

October– Papa went on the same retreat. I heardtell that he may or may not have gone swimming in his Superman boxer briefs becausehe forgot his swim trunks J

November- A BLUR. Papa and I were both trying to finish up forfinal exams as well as deal with everything else and get ready for theholidays. Oh. And I also went and saw Breaking Dawn with myniece and daughter J

December– A hustle and bustle of activity. Christmas goings and comings and parties and gifts and Christmascantatas and Santa. And on the very lastday of 2011, we lost my mother-in-law after a very short but brutal battle with metastatic breast cancer. L

Butwe also lots of laughs and hugs and kisses throughout the year. Quiet nights with a roaring fire, game nightswith friends from church, birthday parties, birthday cakes, lots of time in thehay field, football games, cheerleading, softball, singing songs, Papa makingamazing things (as usual), and just all around general memory making.

2012holds lots of promises for us. We havelots of irons in the fire and plans and hopes and dreams for this year. Bring it on, 2012!

Hereare just a few things I would like to see come to fruition this year.

1. I hope to get some ventilation going in the greenhouse so that it doesnot get to be 130 degrees in the summertime.

2. I hope to have lots of beautiful green things in the greenhouse

3. I hope to put in some raised beds in the greenhouse for wintertimegardening

4. I hope to finish my bluework star quilt this year. Good grief.

5. I hope to see my hubs walk across the stage in a cap and gown in May!

6. I hope to see my sad little rattling go-cart make it until that point J

7. I hope to be able to go horseback riding all year and not injure myselfand spend the better part of six months recovering.

8. I hope to spend lots of time camping and cavorting about.

9. I hope to see the beach at some point this year….. it has been so longsince I have been to the beach.

10. I hope to spend lots more time sitting at my sewing machine thisyear. I miss it.

Sortof a frivolous list for the year, but hey, I am sure there will be lots morepacked in between all that stuff. Andthere is no telling what Papa has on his list...

xoxox

~~Gena

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S

2011-12-29T11:46:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year from

our family to yours!

XOXOX

~~Gena

Be careful what you ask for

2011-09-28T08:35:00.000-07:00

I went to a retreat this past weekend with five other girls from my church in Fort Payne, Alabama. It was in the mountains and there was rock climbing and rapelling and canoeing and zip lines and night hikes. We had a worship service in a cave. I have absolutely no words to describe it. To hear 100 women singing with the natural acoustics provided by the cave....It is the closest thing I can imagine of what a choir of angels must sound like.

(This band is called Owing Adam. They have amazing talent)

Women spoke to our group of women about women's issues. One of the speakers was talking about how hectic our lives are (can I get an AMEN?). She said that finally she had prayed that the Lord would just clear her schedule. I thought --- that is the most ingenious thing that I had ever heard! WHY haven't I ever thought of that? It was such a weight lifted. It was a breath of fresh air. YES! A prayer that was the answer to my prayers!

With that being said, we knew that August to December was going to be brutal in our house. And so it is. We walk around in a daze from the blur of our days/weeks. We are both exhausted. Papa is so exhausted he is not only walking around in a daze but doing it with the sniffles, so I spiked our good southern sweet tea with echinacea and elderberry and astralgus root. Two gallons of immune boosting goodness so hopefully he will get to feeling better and to keep the rest of us from falling like dominoes. Homecoming, tests, sniffles, hay, cheer practice, church, work, practice for festivals, football games, iffy heating element in the dryer, internet people coming on Friday, loading horses and tack for pony rides for a little boy's birthday on Friday. Saturday is the opening day of bow season. Papa will be hunting and then in the hay field. I will be cheering for my cheerleader from 11-12. Singing at a festival from 1-2:30. Then we will be driving an hour away to watch our boy march at halftime at his football game because it is the only Saturday game he has and the only one Papa will get to see because he has class on Thursday night.

Lord.......clear my schedule.

I have been repeating that prayer over and over and over and over. So, guess what happened? My car died. As in, I am borrowing a vehicle to get back and forth to work. DIED. (We suspect it is the alternator.) I guess when I asked for my schedule to be cleared, I should have been more specific. Instead, I just laughed and said, "Well, that's one sure fire way to do it."

Never doubt the Lord's sense of humor and timing.

xoxoxo

~~Gena

A LESSON IN HUMILITY

2011-09-12T10:02:00.000-07:00

I have posted several times about how crazy hectic our schedule is. With everything going on, Papa and I are on the go most of the time from 5:00 a.m. until 11:00 ish p.m. every day, and we stay exhausted. With that being said...

I play in the church band with the director of our AWANA program. It just so happened one Sunday that the AWANA meeting was right after our band practice. He asked if I was going to the meeting and I told him that really didn't have any plans to.

This is what was going through my head - I work every day, take classes two nights a week, play in the church band, go to cheer practice and football games, have to keep up with household chores, laundry, breakfast, lunch, supper, do homework, write papers... How in the WORLD could I possibly squeeze anything else into my schedule? For real!

He said to me - "You have got to be here anyway...Come on, we will find somewhere for you." UGH. Okay, so I go to the dang meeting. I am assigned to the TNT group. 3rd and 4th graders. The biggest group.... with LOTS of rowdy boys, not to mention my daughter and all of her friends. Now mind you, I am rather fond of these kids, but I am immediately panic ridden. Sheesh. I am internally whining.....why didn't I just ask to be put with the sweet little babies or something?

In the days leading up to this past Sunday....I have had this overwhelming sense of dread. WHY am I doing this? I don't want to teach AWANA. I sing. I play guitar. That is what I do. That is my gift and contribution. I do not and repeat do NOT teach 3rd and 4th graders. We have plenty of teachers in our church. That is what they do. Not me..... you get the idea, right?

Last night we rounded up our 28 kids (more are sure to come, it was just the opening ceremonies last night). I was staring at the faces of all these children thinking, "What have I done? I must be out of my mind." Then one of the other teachers tells the children that we are going to divide them up into classes.

What happened next shook me to the core of my very being.

Almost every single child in that room started yelling that they wanted to be in my class. To the point that I felt really bad for the people who actually willingly signed up to teach these kids. It was almost pandemonium. We finally got them settled down and then they started chanting, "Geee-na! Geee-na! Geee-na!" My face was flushed. I was embarrassed. I felt ashamed. I felt like I just wanted to weep in the middle of the class.

Have you ever had a moment where you knew right on the spot that you were being taught a lesson in humility and that the Lord was quite obviously putting you in your place? As I choked back tears I made some lame joke about them thinking that I was going to be bringing them food every week or something. I was then paired up with a lady from my Sunday School class, and we were given a class of ten girls, my daughter included.

I had argued with myself. I tried to plead my case to the AWANA director. I tried to reason with God. I don't want to. I don't have time to. I am not your guy. Excuse after lame excuse and for what? A room full of excited kids that wanted me to be their teacher. A room full of children who showed me that I was where I was supposed to be, voluntarily or not. I don't think I have ever had another in-your-face type experience of that magnitude. Last night was not the 'still small voice' that we are told to listen for. Last night it was LOUD and clear.

I had just told the AWANA director yesterday morning (concerning a completely different situation) that the Will of God was like a runaway freight train and our options are #1 - jump on and ride #2 - get run slap over or #3 - get left behind..... and there was absolutely nothing that could be done to stop it.

I think I will jump on and ride.

xoxoxo

~~Gena

Full Circle

2011-09-09T13:53:00.000-07:00

It seems like just yesterday I was marching in my first field show in college. I remember the smell and feel of the thick, soft, freshly cut and lined grass. I remember all the hours spent practicing and all the sweat and sunburn. I remember the excitement and anticipation of lining up to take the field with my smile plastered to my face and my hair tightly braided in my sparkling uniform while the air was thick with the smell of grilled hamburgers and popcorn.

It also seems like just yesterday I cried with a heavy heart and then prayed, prayed and prayed for a tiny, sick, two pound baby in the NICU that God let me keep here with me and love for all these years.

Last night I found myself on that same exact field. For the very first field show. And I could smell the hamburgers and popcorn. And excitement was in the air with the anticipation of the first show. The first game. The band lined up to march onto the field. There were sparkly uniforms and plastered smiles. Only that excited kid wasn't me this time. It was MY excited kid. And this time I was a spectator watching from the stands. And I was so excited for him. And proud.

My my how things come around full circle.

I sure do love that kid.

My cup runneth over.

xoxoxo

~~ Gena

Ten things.

2011-08-31T13:44:00.000-07:00

The list making is nice. That way I can #1 - fulfill my OCD tendencies of listmaking #2 - I can blog without being neurotically lengthy #3- I don't feel the burden of a big long blog post. So here goes:

1. I have a follow-up appointment (and x-ray no less) for the a) kidney stone removal surgery a month ago and b) the kidney stone(s) still hanging out in my urinary tract, which are driving me to the brink of madness.

2. I am on the brink of madness.

3. I have used all of my free Route 44 Sonic cherry limeade coupons and have fallen into deep despair. (Only kidding)

4. Consuming eight glasses of water each day should receive some sort of honorable mention in the newspaper.

5. My husband is going to sell and ship hay to ranchers in Texas. As bad as our summer has been, theirs has been far worse.

6. Our daughter scored 100% in GEOMETRY and MEASUREMENT on her state MCT test. This is amazing because #1 - she does not like math and #2 - it is very atypical for a little girl.

7. I love math and was very good at it.

8. This weekend I am installing a new closet system with some actual shelving (WOOT!) instead of just the closet rod so that I can [hopefully] dig out from underneath the wardrobe that is slowly taking over the house.

9. Our hectic fall schedule is already exhausting and I am already ready for finals and the end of the semester.

10. This past Saturday I got an official hunting license. I am now a hunter. (Ha!)

xoxoxo
~~ Gena

Sacrifice

2011-08-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

This is a long-ish post, so bear with me...

Sometimes in life you have to compromise and do things that you really do not want to. Why, might you ask? Because it is necessary for the common good and betterment of your family. This is a situation in which I have found myself for the past couple of years.

You see, at one time Papa was a massage therapist and working artist in a city in another state. Then his father became ill and he ended up back in his hometown running the family business with his father. After years and years and years of running a business, Papa decided he did not want to be a business owner anymore. Papa wanted a normal job where he was able to support his family and could go home at the end of the day and let someone else worry about all the problems. He wants a family life more than he wants to be a business owner. (And Papa is a wonderful family man. It suits him perfectly!) However, being a massage therapist and/or artist in an extremely (and I mean EXTREMELY) rural farm community in Mississippi was not really a feasible option, as one typically does not see the salons lined up with men clad in faded overalls, hay hats, and muddy boots waiting on their weekly/monthly massage and reflexology session. So, Papa made the decision to go back to college full-time. And it was a good decision. And it was the right decision for our family and for our future. This decision also meant that I would be the bringer-home-of-the-ye-olde-family-bacon until he was finished with school. And I was and still am okay with that.

I am extremely grateful that I am able to be that guy for our family, and that the Lord has given me the fortitude to earn a sustainable income for our household. But that is also not to say that we live the most extravagant lifestyle, either. For one, we do not dine out. (Mainly because my cooking is better than any restaurant in the county and I am too frugal to pay for substandard pre-fab food). Probably 97% of our meals are made at home. Our lunches are leftovers and sandwiches. For example, today I have a "black and bleu" salad. Yum. We do not frivolously spend money, although I do have add as a general disclaimer that working in a ~~third world country~~ quaint little town without a Starbucks is probably a blessing in disguise and a huge aid in the whole anti-frivolous spending. Basically, we buy groceries, pay bills, and then it seems like every other dime goes to the children (this week it is glasses for our boy). Whatever remaining funds we have are preciously stockpiled....just in case. And for Christmas. And birthdays. And camp. And cheer shoes. And dorm supplies for our son. And college textbooks, which make me want to cry. I think I may have to sell a kidney or half of my liver or something before next semester...(your liver does grow back, doesn't it???)

Papa also does lots of odd jobs here and there and cuts, rakes, bales and sells hay, and smelts and fixes things on the side because he is uber talented that way. We have also narrowed down the number of horse mouths we have to feed by one, which was good on the at-present finances due to the immediate cash flow from the sale of said equine livestock as well as relieving the upcoming financial obligation of wintertime feeding.

My entire introduction is leading up to this: Even though the Lord has placed me in an office where I make enough money to sustain our household.......I absolutely, positively loathe my job. (I am, however, extremely grateful to have a job when so many are unemployed and truly struggling.) My office is located in an OLD historic part of town. There are no windows save one, which is covered in dark, heavy drapes and there are scads of fluorescent lights, which adds a nice ambiance (only kidding). The Scales of Justice adorn the lobby with its ancient oriental rug, withered ficus tree and oversized intimidating leather furniture. The cleaning man never dusts my desk. I have an old print of a lighthouse with a weathered wooden fence, seagulls, and beach front framed in a country blue frame that looks to be something out of the Home Interior catalog from the late eighties. I do a lot of transcribing, so there is no music playing anywhere, since it interferes with ability to hear what is playing on the tapes. IT.IS.SO.QUIET. IT.IS.ALMOST.CREEPY. My employer is a hard-nosed trial lawyer who will turn 70 on his next birthday. He is a likable chap most of the time...but on those days when I am so burned out I could scream, everything he does irritates me. He is extremely brilliant, but also unnervingly scatterbrained. This is exceedingly challenging when I am the guy that is supposed to keep him lined out and scheduled. He forgets to tell me things and then gets mad when I don't remind him. I give him documents he asks for and then get yelled at when he loses them. He swears like a sailor. He will ask me to hand him things when they are right within his grasp and I just want to ask, "is your arm broken?" Which of course I do not do. He chomps mixed nuts and diet coke in the afternoon and crunches on them entirely too close to my personal space and breathes his peanut/cashew/macadamia/pecan/brazilnut breath in my general direction while he is trying to spout my next orders. It is vile. it is revolting. The smell and the crunching are akin to waterboarding. I yearn to tell him that my 9 year old daughter even knows better than to talk with food in her mouth, but I don't. He asks me to transcribe things that he has dictated and then gets mad when I don't hear him talking to me from his office BEHIND mine even though he can plainly see I am sitting there with headphones on and then gets mad because I have not typed his document expeditiously enough even though he has been the one that has interrupted me 40 times to show him how to send an email and then proceed drop the F bomb 6 times in one sentence when referring to the whore of a "machine" that mocks him from his desktop with its blinking cursor and confusing pop-up errors. (He actually has NO IDEA how to operate a computer....AT ALL.) We handle cases such as divorce, child custody, estates, land disputes and just about anything else you can think of. Every client who walks through the door has a sad tale of woe. It is just depressing, ya'll. I mean, SERIOUSLY.

The old, crochety attorney is very demeaning too. If I were a total flake, it would be much easier because I wouldn't realize just how demeaning he is or even care. But to be a reasonably intelligent human being and be treated like some sort of ignorant, substandard, peasant, farm girl.... Well, Some days I just want to scream. Other days I just want to walk out. Some days I have the strong urge to put my "good ole boy" farm boots up his backside and tell him to.....well, never mind. There have been days where he has crossed the line with his insults and yelling and I have put my finger in his face and stood my ground about how he talks to me, but that has only happened twice. One of which involved him spewing a slew of F bombs and me slinging a whole stack of legal pads across the office and having to talk myself out of walking out the door. But as hard as (most) days are, I always try to remember my purpose and stay focused on the goal line.

I hear the goal line approaching in every tick-tock of the clock on the wall like the little blind girl in The Langoliers. Every tick-tock is one second closer to the goal. The goal line is this: Papa's graduation date. Said graduation date is the day I will tender my resignation as the bringer home of the bacon and I will not look back. As of today, that is a total of 264 days until Papa's graduation. Eight months and twenty days. 37.7142857 weeks. If you subtract the weekends, then that is about 190 days. Then you have all the holidays, such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Labor Day, New Year's. That should get me down almost 180 actual working days. That's around 6 months. I can deal with that.

And when I am having one of those days here at the office.... this is what gets me through the day:

I visualize my husband's handsome, smiling face walking across that stage and posing for pictures in his cap and gown on his graduation day and how happy he will be and how extremely proud I will be of him and his grand achievement. And I realize that I am not spinning my wheels in vain. That what I am doing is for a purpose. And our family will be all the better because of it.

Is it worth it? Yep. Sure is. When I get see Papa walk that stage with proud tears of joy streaming down my face it will be worth every single minute that I have spent cursing my dimly lit dungeon.

And then I visualize myself snuggled down in my bed the following Monday and not having to get up when the alarm clock goes off and all is right with the world :)

xoxoxo
~~Gena

Happy Thursday!

2011-08-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

The next few months are fixing to be extremely hectic around our house, so I want to post before I get tangled up in what I like to call LIFE. Otherwise, no one may hear from me until Christmas...

1. Jacob started college. He moved an hour away from home. I cried like a fool. I miss him terribly.

2. I am grateful for facebook so I can see his smiling face and stalk his status updates.

3. I am taking classes on Monday and Wednesday nights until December.

4. Papa is taking classes as well and has late classes on Tuesday and Thursday. Also, Hannah has cheer practice on Tuesday and Thursday from 7-8 and games every Saturday until November.

5. #3 + #4 =

1) I will not see very much of my beloved Papa until December...

2) my house will not be truly clean until Christmas....

3) We will not even discuss laundry....

4) lots of crock pot meals and stadium food.

6. Tonight's supper is not crock pot or stadium food. Tonight's supper is brought to you by the letter "C" for curried chicken. And rice. Yum.

7. The prices of college textbooks makes me want to cry.

8. My sweet dog Chopper is missing. If any of you see him, please let him know that he is in big trouble and he better get his butt back to the house. He is a big oaf of a yellow lab that likes to fetch tennis balls.

9. Due to knee surgery mid-June and kidney stone surgery the first of August, our garden has been completely and totally neglected. It is so disheartening. I can't hardly stand to even look at it. It makes me want to cry. Next year will be different.

10. My husband is a sexy beast and I love him a whole bunch.

On the cover of the Rolling Stone

2011-08-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

Well, not really. However, I did recently have words with the rolling stone. Not the magazine..... the ones in my kidneys.

Three to be exact. One in each kidney and one lodged right at my bladder that was too big to pass. And, because of its location, I was not eligible for the lithotripsy procedure. Nope, they had to manually fish it out.

Let me just state for the record that the actual kidney stone did not hurt as bad as all the horror stories.

The aftermath of the surgery, however, is an entirely different story altogether.

Bladder spasms. If you have never had them consider yourself blessed and highly favored. They absolutely just do not make enough pain medication to make them better.

However..... a week post-op and three days tablet free (thankfully!) I hope I never have to repeat this episode again. UGH!

*disclaimer - I will also not be taking all those calcium supplements recommended because of my prior hysterectomy.

Yes, I will be having a water with lemon, please.
And cranberry juice
And beer on a more regular basis.

~~ Gena

Summertime in Mississippi!

2011-08-01T09:12:00.000-07:00

Gotta love those dog days of summer:

I think I will have ice cream for lunch today.

~~Gena

A CATCH UP POST!

2011-07-21T12:38:00.000-07:00

Well, yet again I have fallen behind in blog land. I just can't seem to stay motivated. I think it is because I spend my days in a dreary office with no view to the outside world in an extremely uncomfortable chair that makes my back hurt. (Although I did swap chairs yesterday....so fingers crossed)

Hmmm..... Okay to Catch all 14 of my followers up to speed since I have been so erratic:

1. The greenhouse project is semi-completed. It was wonderful and I had tables full of plants that I had grown from seeds. Then summertime came around before we got the ventilation put in, so the greenhouse is presently empty until probably September-ish. Come to find out, seedlings are not very fond of temperatures in excess of 120 degrees. Who would have thought? I am going to also put raised beds IN the greenhouse so I will have a happy place for tomatoes (theoretically) and herbs and lettuce and mustard and such during the wintertime.

2. Not long after I wrote this post my fabulous husband and I went camping and trail riding. It was a really cool thing, because the horse camp that we went to was hosting an SCA event and we got to watch fake knights battle each other with fake swords and see some really cool costumes. In addition to that, I was able to dig some oak leaf hydrangeas up out of the woods and bring them back. On the way back to camp from said woodland adventure, I had a slight mishap:

Which turned into this:

Okay, so maybe it was more than just a slight mishap. I hit a tree trying to stay out of the mud. Mr. Orthopaedic Surgeron said I ruptured the "plica." I was not aware I had such a thing. But nevertheless...it had to come out. And out it came mid-June. Upside: I was off work for three weeks. Downside: Trying to manage crutches and painkillers at the same time.

3. My son graduated from high school. YAY Jacob!

4. We helped with science fair projects....( and I do believe the power was out due to tornadic weather )

5. We hosted sleepovers and learned what a "blindfolded makeover" was and why I would never want one:

6. We softballed. A LOT. I mean a WHOLE lot. And won a trophy :)

7. My husband and I each said goodbye to family members. Myself to a step-sister that passed away on Good Friday from pneumonia and my husband to a beloved cousin in Smithville, MS, that lost her life in the April 27, 2011, tornadoes that ravaged our county.

This is my step-sister and I in the last photo we took together:

(If we look really tired and ragged I will have to add as a general disclaimer that for some reason my husband and I thought it was a great idea to have an outdoor wedding in August in MISSISSIPPI.) I think the temp was 127 that day.

8. My mother and I reveled in our Mother's Day presents from my son. They are coffee mugs that LITERALLY hold 1/2 pot of coffee:

9. We harvested skullcap:

10: Hannah and Papa won the best overall design in the AWANA Grand Prix because they are awesome like that:

11: We went to Chattanooga:

And were total tourists and did all the touristy things like the Aquarium and Rock City and Ruby Falls.

We also ~~played~~ ate at a great pizza place behind our hotel:

12. We hosted the annual "4th on the Porch" shindig for my immediate family..... you know...aunts, uncles and first cousins:

There was lots of barbecue and ice cream (and a potato casserole that everyone devoured immediately), horse rides, water guns, watermelon and Big Mama's caramel cuppie cakes.

That doesn't even include all the other stuff that doesn't have pictures, such as:

a. The garden.

b. Papa working so very hard in the hay field.

c. The baler catching on fire at the back of the field by the tree line when we hadn't had rain in a month. I am glad I missed that one.

d. Swimming on the 4th of July in Ms. Jean's ICE COLD swimming pool. You can't truly appreciate this unless you have experienced 4th of July in Mississippi.

e. Me taking summer classes at the local university

f. My mom making a fried chicken supper that I (apparently) don't even remember when she came for my surgery.

g. Papa repairing hay balers

h. Painting the bathroom, which is now fabulous and trendy (although Papa would STRONGLY disagree)

i. Fishing and fish fries

j. Campfires

k. Iced coffee because it's TOO HOT in Mississippi in the summertime.

l. Jacob making the golf team at college.

m. Me sitting here realizing as I look back through this post how incredibly lucky I am. And realizing that although things may not be perfect all the time..... I am truly blessed and we have such a wonderful, happy life together.

~~ Gena

Rain

2011-07-21T09:21:00.000-07:00

It is raining. We haven't had rain in over two weeks. I thought my garden was fixing to die a slow, painful death and now there is beautiful, glorious rain.

I am grateful.

~Gena

Graduation

2011-05-19T08:21:00.000-07:00

Tonight my son will graduate from high school. I have been quite nostalgic all week thinking about the past 17 years and 13 years of school.

Jacob was a 26 week preemie. We were told he would not live through the night. When he did, we were told he probably wouldn't make it past three days. When he did, we were told that IF he lived he would more than likely have severe hearing and vision impairments and learning disabilities.

To date, his only hearing impairment is a teenage syndrome known as "selective listening." And he did finally end up having to have contacts last year.

Because I am nostalgic today I will share.....

Jacob always loved Disney movies. He could look at all of the black VCR tapes without the jackets and tell you which movie was which by the time he was a little over a year old.

I am a classical music nerd and by the time he was 18 months he could listen to classical music and tell you the names of the pieces. "Moldau, Mommy!"

Jacob never liked playing in the mud or with tonka trucks. He liked his "guys." "Mommy, have you seen my guys?" Action figures. Oh the action figures I have bought over the years. And he LOVED swords. I have said on numerous occasions that if I had the money I had spent on plastic swords and light sabers I could retire. If you ask Jacob today what the number one rule of the house is he will tell you.... "No sword fighting in the house." Said rule is a direct result of chotchkies that were lost in some of his more epic battles.

Jacob was diagnosed ADHD at 5. And let me tell you that is ADHD with a giant capital H. School was very difficult for both of us. I spent hours upon hours of sitting at the table and trying to do homework with a kid whose mind was somewhere else 99.99% of the time. His brain ran ninety to nothing and sitting still long enough to do schoolwork at school or at home was almost impossible. Exasperated is a good word to describe how I felt with him most of the time. Jacob was a happy, lovable kid, but he was HARD.

In 6th grade Jacob joined band. His band director was someone that I went to school with and was in band with in school and in college. Jacob absolutely loved him. Jacob loved band. Jacob would eat, sleep and breathe band. And Lord of the Rings. And Harry Potter. And Yu-Gi-Oh. And Pokemon. And Star Wars. But band was almost a complete turnaround for him. It was amazing. And I was grateful. He also discovered his love for writing and was in a creative writing class after school with a teacher that claimed Jacob was a genius and begged me to keep him in the writing class even if she had to transport him herself.

In 6th grade he also had a major personality conflict with his math teacher. He also failed math that year, which meant he couldn't pass the 6th grade. I tried to work something out with the school. I cried, I fought, I argued, I pleaded. Finally, I just filed for mediation with the State Department of Education and got him into summer school. He loved his summer school teacher, who ended up being his 7th grade math teacher as well. She said that Jacob having to go to summer school was pointless because he knew how to do everything that she gave him. He knew how to do his work, but most of the time he just wouldn't do it. Every year we would hold our breath at the end of the school year to see if he could pull his grades up enough to pass. And every year we would try and tell him that next year was going to be different. I fought and rallied for him for 10 years to try and keep him motivated. So in the 9th grade, his teachers called a conference to tell me that he was going to fail Biology I and Algebra I. They asked me what I wanted to do. As hard as it was, I told them to let him fail. I had fought for him long enough; he had to do it on his own. I told him that I was done. It was time he stepped up to the plate. 10th grade he stepped up to the plate. 10th grade was a lot better and he made honor roll for the first time ever.

The we moved 50 miles away to a different school district his junior year. He was devastated. He didn't want to leave his friends. He didn't want to leave his school that had grown up in with almost 400 kids in his class to go to a school with kids he had never met and a school that will graduate somewhere around 40 this year (I think their biggest class ever was like 46). He didn't want to leave the band that had 120 kids in it that went to State Championship every year to be part of a struggling little band that had 10 instrumentalists.

It was one of the best things that could have ever happened to him.

He will graduate tonight. A member of the Beta Club. The Art Honor Society. The Spanish Honor Society. He will have cords for Art and Beta Club and for being a faithful blood donor. He was the drum major of his struggling little band. He was on the high school golf team. He was on the rocket team. He organized and spoke at See You at the Pole events. He was Student of the Month.

He is also very involved in our church. He will go on a mission trip this summer. He will be a camp counselor at band camp. He has a part-time job. He teaches a class of 3rd and 4th graders at AWANA.

He is an awesome kid. Everyone and I do mean EVERYONE loves him. He loves God. He loves golf. He loves Ole Miss. He loves band. He loves his Nanny. He loves texting. He loves music. He loves ice cream. He loves vegetable soup. He likes to eat the heart out of an onion with a piece of cornbread. He doesn't really care much for vegetables, so I learned to hide them in his food. He loves Oakleys. He loves G-Shock watches. He loves Under Armour. He loves Toms. He fights with his sister. He does his own laundry. He helps around the house without me having to ask him. He is very routine. He goes to bed at 9:00 every night because that's what he does. The only thing that he knows how to cook is ramen and grilled cheese sandwiches. His laugh is contagious. His smile is beautiful. He is beautiful and perfect in every way and I am so very proud of the man that is growing into.

I have said that after all the heartache and tears and torture of trying to get him through school that I was going to dance a jig when he graduated and have the biggest shindig these parts have ever seen. I have said a hundred times that I was not going to cry as I sit here all teared up trying to type.

Jacob is going to school on scholarship to the local community college. After that, he plans to transfer to Ole Miss. He wants a degree in English. He has also talked at great length about Seminary. He feels that the Lord has called him into the Ministry. I have told him that if the Lord has called him, he most definitely needs to go.

I guess if I cry, I cry. Jacob has earned my proud tears, and he most certainly deserves them. As far as my happy dance, I may just have to do that for principle. As far as the shindig.... I think we will just enjoy a happy time with our family over my mom's chicken salad and firecrackers.

XOXOXO

~~GENA

P.S.
He still loves swords....

My Innocent Purse

2011-03-18T08:48:00.000-07:00

I love Innocent Crush. Really and truly. So much so that I have the entire set. Yikes.

I want a quilt in the red colorway and I want a quilt in the blue colorway. Or maybe just a quilt that has the red on one side and the blue on the other.

So far I have throwpillows for the sofa. But I had to do something with my scraps, so......

Nothing fancy about it, really. Just my scraps sewed together with some ta dot handles. Oh, and the bottom is ta dot, too! I wasn't even going to do a blog post but my sweet cousin Mary over at The Tulip Patch said I should post it so here it is:

I do so love that bag.

Oh, and excuse the mess on my desk. :)

xoxoxo
~~Gena

Greenhouse project: Day...Um?

2011-03-14T12:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I sorta slacked on the greenhouse postings and missed days 3 and 4.......

Anyway, today it is raining, so the plastic is going to wait until tomorrow and hopefully I can move in! I have seeds dancing around in their packets just waiting for some dirt!

The greenhouse has a lean to off the back, so we have been waiting on a break in the weather, time and a little help from our friends (cue: the Beatles.....or Joe Cocker). So, here is the finished project before the plastic goes up. Yay!

That is my super amazing husband posing in the greenhouse that he has built with his bare hands and a hammer. I don't even have enough space here to list all of the plans that he has for the inside. Some of which include but are not limited to: Adjustable shelving along the wall on the top left so I can store empty pots and various other and sundry greenhousey things.....a stainless steel sink on the back right wall (where he left the earth on its natural slope for drainage purposes.) The sink is 4 ft long, 2 ft deep and 2 ft. wide and used to be in the barn that belonged to his Uncle "Sonny Boy." I think he has plans for some sort of hanging rod system on the inside for hanging plants. He had also mentioned something else about some sort of pipe above it with holes drilled in it for irrigation purposes or some such thing......there are also milk-can light fixtures waiting to be installed after he runs electricity to it.

Here it is from the back side:

The lean-to is to house certain things like our 4-wheeler, lawn mower, weedeater, yard tools, etc. I think he is fabricating some sort of handy tool storage rack/hooks thing for all of that. He had mentioned putting the picnic table under the lean to, but I think once we get the patio cleared of all the flower pots and plant stands we can put the picnic table out there and it will be just lovely. (Theoretically the tentative plans for the patio include a massive pergola covered in white jasmine and a hot tub.....but first we have to worry about getting Jacob to college...eesh.)

I can't WAIT to get started in the greenhouse!!!! Squee!!!! We will have so many yummy things. I wonder if I can have tomatoes year round???? Or a mini-veggie garden in the winter? Oh the possibilities are endless!

Here is one thing that my amazing husband has smelted for the greenhouse. He says he's not done with it yet, but I will sneak a picture in anyway.....I think he is going to sand/smooth the edges and paint it. He cut it out of metal using one of the labels from my homemade lotion as a guide.

And just so everyone knows.....he free-handed this, ya'll! He is so talented. I just heart him. *sigh*

It is really big....probably three feet long. It is going to hang above the door to the greenhouse.

Also, just a tidbit that I wanted to share. We have some critters and things that live in the flower garden....

This is Pan. Papa has had Pan for a very long time. He sits/squats under a wild azalea. He is old and weathered, but he plays his flute nonetheless.

Hopefully we will have seedlings soon!!! I will post pictures of my dirty hands and beautiful green things.

I cannot express enough my gratitude to my husband for building the greenhouse and to the Master for giving him the fortitude to do such things and for allowing me to share a life with such an amazing man.

xoxoxo

~~Gena

The Greenhouse Project - Day Two

2011-02-15T14:31:00.000-08:00

Day two was absolutely beautiful outside. We have had cabin fever so bad....it was so nice to be out in God's great warm sunshine!

Jesse's Uncle Malchom was on hand to help brace everything as the supports went into the ground:

I was on hand to help do things like stand there and look pretty and fetch tape measures and bring sweet tea with lemon to hard-working, sweaty, thirsty men. Because I am a girl and I have accepted the fact that such is my place in the world. However, I may or may not have operated power saws and measured and cut boards to lengths of 10'4" and 14' 4 1/2". I may or may not have been up on tall scary ladders with really heavy lumber and levels and hammers. I may or may not have been laughed at by my husband for running into a brace board TWICE which resulted in an enormous contusion on my lower right shin that is black today and which board my husband may or may not have taught a lesson to with a chainsaw. I probably just toted out trays of goodies in my June Cleaver dress and apron and asked everyone in my sweet Mississippi drawl, "Can I get yawl ahnything else?"

WHATEVER!

Although, I have to admit that I was DRAGGING at the end of the day. Papa said I did a good job.......for a girl. :) I say I did a pathetic job even for a girl and that I need to workout with heavier weights because my upper body strength is virtually non-existent. Ugh. Father Time, why must you torment me so?

Nevertheless, with Papa's cheerleading, I was able to help him get the rest of the supports and braces up after Uncle Malchom ditched us to go ride horses (we still love him though).

At the end of Greenhouse Project - Day Two this is what we had accomplished:

The boards around the bottom are just temporary braces and will be removed. I want to be sure to clarify that right off the bat since it looks all some kind of wonky :)

The Greenhouse Project Day Three (which is tentatively penciled in for this weekend) should end with a roof.

And, as noted by the red cups on the side of the photo....I did bring sweet tea with lemon. But one of the glasses is my own and I was in Carhartt overalls :)

xoxoxo

~~Gena

Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T13:00:00.000-08:00

Although Project Greenhouse is underway and is my Valentine's Day present, I also received this gift from my sweet Jesse:

It is a BOTTLE TREE! And I have wanted one for forever! It's not just any old bottle tree, either. It's not some plain ole stick with some pegs on either side. This one actually looks like a tree! It was also smelted and fabricated by my dear sweet husband because he rocks!

Now I just have to figure out where to put it ..... he claims that they look....well.....ghetto....for lack of a better word.

I think it is just fabulous and I love it! (Even if it does have to be in the backyard where no one can see it from the road.)

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

xoxoxo

~~Gena

The Valentine's Greenhouse Project: Day One.

2011-02-14T09:01:00.000-08:00

It is a well-known fact that I like to dig in the dirt and grow things. Retraction: I LOVE to dig in the dirt and grow things. Green things and flowers and fruits and vegetables make me happy.

A greenhouse has been an on again/off again topic of discussion for a couple of years now, but my husband decided to build me one for Valentine's Day. We had actually priced the pre-fab greenhouses online, and that wonderous gladiator that I am married to stated that for the price, he could build me something twice as big for less money out of better quality materials. Actually, the most economical greenhouse we came across was 6'x8' and it was $479. Well, the greenhouse project measures 15'x20' and has a 12'x20' lean-to, which will be used as storage for our yard tools, lawn mower, weedeater and 4 wheeler, which currently reside wherever they happen to land, so long as they are out of the weather.

Day One: Gathering Supplies. After we got everything together - tools, nails, wood, tape measures, marking pencils, stakes, levels, saws and minus a speed square, which we still haven't found - we began marking it off around lunch-ish and augering holes. Jesse didn't want me involved in the augering process because he said it is dangerous and because I am a girl.....

(Let me state here how I do so love those overalls)

I may not be able to help with auger, but considering this was my view I don't think I minded one bit.

I sure do love that guy.

I will post updates as we progress on the Greenhouse Project. It is a trial run for the barn raising, which will be coming up in our near future.

xoxoxo

~~Gena

P.S. - See my mosiac paving stone? It is the sunrise. I heart it. It is beautiful. I made it myself with broken glass and portland cement several years ago. It is fabulous :)

Blogging Blues

2011-01-26T09:48:00.000-08:00

Ever get in a rut? Well, I guess that's where I have been for the past couple of months. My last post was on December 9, 2010, and before that it was Thanksgiving. Hm. What's been going on in Gena's Garden since December 9, 2010?

Well, we managed to finish everything for the Nativity Ride with .47 seconds to spare. Papa made fabulous functional angel wing frames. I quilted wings out of white sheets and leftover scraps of batting. We made square necked tunics out of white sheets and I stitched gold greek-key ribbon around the neckline. Papa made all of the armor, too. He is amazing.

And as it ended up..... it rained for the nativity ride. So instead of a hay ride like we had planned, we had to load everyone in the church bus. We read scripture to the children at each scene and then we would sing Christmas songs in order to allow our angels and other characters time to make it to the next scene and set up. Papa even got to be a wise man! :) All was going well until there was a big bolt of lightening and I realized that my firstborn was now standing outside on an aluminum ladder strapped into a metal harness with a 10 foot wingspan wielding a huge sword hoisted high into the air like He-Man as he proclaimed "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

Needless to say the term "lighting rod" instantly came to mind and I was ready for the Nativity Ride to be done. But, it all came together and was just lovely and the children enjoyed it and all the youth and other characters had a great time. Maybe next year it will stay dry and I won't be so nervous.

Christmas was lovely. I got to be off work Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Then I was off work for New Year's Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. We worked the rest of the week and then it snowed, which meant I got to be off on Monday again. Rock out. We sledded, ate chili and snow cream, and made a snowman. I know it's little, but it was toward the end of the day and we were cold.

We actually had snow on the ground for a WEEK. That's right, a week of snow in rural Mississippi. Who would have thought?

Other than that, life has been pretty run-of-the-mill around our house.

Hannah has her last basketball games this weekend, so we are fixing to go into preparation for softball mode, although I have to say she was a basketball playing FOOL at the last game. I just can't believe how much she has improved since the beginning of the season. I am so proud of her progress. She even ate the gym floor twice and was playing with blood running down her knee. Eesh. That my GIRL!

Lately, Papa has busied himself with designing and building and welding a 2 wheel horse cart. I don't have any pictures to post yet, but I think he is going to paint it today so it should be ready by the weekend. His creativity matched with his ingenuity and determination never.cease.to.amaze.me. People ask me all the time, "Is there anything you CAN'T do?" If they only knew...... how silly my little sewing projects and cheesecakes look next to a moving, functioning vehicle crafted by hand from metal scraps. Good grief. It reminds me of that episode of Saturday Night Live with Paul Simon where they are stranded on an island and it's Christmas. Paul Simon's gift to Victoria Jackson was a potholder woven from palm fronds and some seashells he found on the beach. Victoria Jackson then gives him a watch and describes how she smelted the cogs for the watch out of copper she mined from the mountains and then killed a wild boar and soaked the hair in resin to make the watch hands. Ha. That is me and Papa. I am basket weaving palm fronds and he is smelting a chariot. :)

As for me, I have actually finished a couple of projects. I made a plain ole lap quilt out of some layer cake precuts. Nothing fancy, but it is sure warm. I also quilted a top that I pieced last year from a Moda Candy Kisses layer cake. Again, nothing special. Just precuts and straight line quilting. But I have to say that it is the warmest blanket ever. I absolutely love it and it is currently folded and hanging on the back of my rocker in the living room and I use it daily!

This morning I finally took the scissors to my Innocent Crush. I am going to make some throw pillows for the living room before I start in on a quilt. I can't make up my mind what kind of quilt I want to make out of all that delicious fabric, so I will start with pillows and go from there.

The strips that were leftover from where I cut my blocks are going to be a new purse, I think.

I am also working on a table for the Valentine's Banquet at our church. The Banquet is to raise money for the kids to go to camp and my girl is finally old enough to go this year. The table hostesses provide everything but the food. Now, for those of you who know me, froo-froo decor is not on the list of things that I am good at, so it has really been a struggle for me to pull it all together. The other part of the banquet, however, involves me baking and preparing desserts and providing the musical entertainment. Now THAT is right up my alley. Woot!

I will be sure to post pics and do better about keeping the blog updated. Hehe.

xoxoxo

Gena

Long time.....no post.

2010-12-09T09:58:00.000-08:00

We have had so so much going on and I am the world's worst about foregoing the blogging when I get in busy mode.

Thanksgiving was AWESOME. My coconut cream pie made with coco lopez rocked the house!

Papa and I went Black Friday shopping too. We actually skipped the doorbuster madness and when we made our way into the city we were able to peacefully navigate the town and shop for about 13 hours. I do so love my husband :)

We also Saturday shopped and had a movie date watching Harry Potter.

Since then, our daily existence has been a complete and total WHIRLWIND!

Our sweet baby Hannah was in a Christmas pageant:

She didn't place, but SHE SHOULD HAVE. DANGIT. Isn't she beautiful???

(*DISCLAIMER* - and no offense to anyone - Let me state for the record that I completely and totally abhor the whole pageant scene. I try to instill morals and values into my sweet baby girl and teaching her to smile and wink for a trophy is not on the list of life skills I wish for her to have. I usually throw the pageant forms away when they come home in her backpack; this one just slipped through. I prefer things like 4-H and Girl Scouts over "beauty" pageants. Those are wonderful programs that teach positive skills and have nothing to do with how pretty she is, her clothing or her sashay across a stage. I would much rather her know how to change her own flat and other such things and be self-sufficient than for her to think she can woo an audience with a flashy smile and coy eye bat.......Ugh. End Rant.)

After the pageant had reached its conclusion, we moved onto the next item on our schedule and had lots of last minute arranging and re-arranging of itineraries to get everyone corralled and situated and that weekend Papa got to fly solo with the kiddos while I went to the Deeper Still women's conference in Birmingham, Alabama, with my sister and 22 of my other sisters from church. It was AWESOME and just the thing that I needed. You know, when you car is on empty, you fill it back up with gas. Nothing like those spiritual fill-ups when you feel like you are running on fumes. YEAH!

Since then we have been trying to get everything together for this coming weekend. The children have their Christmas party at church. Papa was asked to make some angel wings for our angels. I was thinking clothes hangers and pantyhose, but not Papa. He is the maker of things. He is the maker of amazing things. He has smelted fabulous functional wings with a big cross on the breastplate. Our angels are going to be the warriors from scripture instead of the sweet cherubs depicted in today's time. He totally rocks. I will take pictures once we are done; I am currently quilting wings and making tunics. They have to be done by Saturday. Today is Thursday. Eesh.

We are also having a talent auction. I have my quilt with me prepared to sew binding on my lunch hour. Even though our projects are due by 6:00 Saturday, our angels have to be there at 4:00. So really I am short two hours to finish everything. Jacob has a Christmas parade tonight and is taking his ACT Saturday morning. Sheesh I am already tired.

And it is cold.

And I need bread and milk and eggs and butter and I don't want to go to the store because it is cold and I have a heater under my desk.

Plus if I leave at lunch I can't work on my quilt.

I love my crazy life and all of the people in it. And....word is, I might have another sister if my brother behaves himself :)

~~Gena

Thankful Series

2010-11-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

Today I am thankful for:

1. Waking up to the smell of turkey. Heaven help me.

2. Mashed potatoes....with real butter and heavy cream. Katie bar the door.

3. Gravy....even if it I had to make two separate gravies because I cannot deal with the chipped "guts" in mine. Aagck!

4. Homemade mac-n-cheese with french fried onions. Oh my.

5. Ree's green bean casserole. Quick! Someone fan me; I am swooning.

6. Sweet potatoes.

7. Homemade yeast rolls.

8. Chicken and dressing.

9. Coconut cream pie.

10. Being blessed by the Almighty to be a phenomenal cook.

11. Seeing the look of pure bliss and contentment on the faces of the people I cooked for :)

I am also thankful to all of those who went before me. I am blessed to have a warm happy house with electricity and running water and a stove and refrigerator and dishwasher. Despite the frantic madness of the food preparation, the first Thanksgiving feast was not quite as convenient to prepare. When thinking of the death and disease and sickness that the early settlers and Pilgrims had to endure just to get here and how the first Thanksgiving was so they could offer thanks to the Lord after having survived in the wilderness for three years... Thank you. Thank you to our forefathers who sought a better life. Thank you for sailing halfway across the world and not having any clue what you were getting yourselves into. Thank you for establishing a Christian nation and a tradition of giving thanks; so that I too can join hands with my beloved family around a delicious feast in my warm and happy home and give thanks to the Lord Almighty for the bounty of blessings that He has abundantly bestowed upon each and every one of us.

Isaiah 58:11 - The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. (NIV)

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my family and friends near and far. I love you all.

(let the Black Friday festivities BEGIN!)

Love,

~~Gena

Thankful Series

2010-11-24T06:35:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for:

1. Crisp fall days.

2. Waking up sans alarm clock on Saturday mornings.

3. The ability and know-how to prepare a bang-up feast for my peeps tomorrow.

4. Paper snowflakes.

5. My daughter's freckles.

6. My son's brown eyes (like mine).

7. Guitars.

8. The prickly ash tree that grows out in the woods behind our house.

9. The field of wildflowers that grows on our property.

10. Not having to work the rest of the week!

~~Gena

Thankful Series (Make Up Post)

2010-11-23T12:51:00.000-08:00

Well, this is to make up for the post I didn't get to yesterday.

Today (Yesterday) I am thankful for:

1. Shrimp and grits for lunch. You people have no idea how I love Cajun food. Or grits. Or grits with gravy and green onions and tasso. And shrimp. The clouds part. Angels sing. Planets align. I lose consciousness.

2. Being able to type one hundred strokes a minute. Especially when I have to work on something that literally takes me all.day.long. to type.

3. Having a small market/grocery in my rural community and not having to go to Kroger the week of Thanksgiving.

4. Watching my husband and daughter engage in warfare with paper planes made from pink (for girls) and blue (for boys) paper planes.

5. Making a more aerodynamic paper plane than my my gladiator husband until he tapes three together to have giant wings and lift and it is like a torpedo coming at me going 78 mph.

6. Having a gladiator husband, who also doubles as a cowboy and farmer. *sigh*

7. Having a gladiator/cowboy/farmer husband that loves to play paper planes with a 9 year old little girl and takes her to dentist appointments and then to eat Chinese food.

8. Having a 9 year old little girl that says the egg drop soup at the Chinese place is almost as good as mine.

9. Watching my gladiator/cowboy/farmer husband do the Risky Business slide almost every single day on our wood floors. It makes me smile every time. One day he will fall. I would have fallen the first time.

10. Not cooking supper the week of Thanksgiving and having a family that is totally okay with that.

~~ Gena

Thankful Series

2010-11-23T12:04:00.000-08:00

I missed yesterday. Yesterday was madness. Tons of appointments, phone ringing off the hook, court, one child with an appointment at the dentist, lunch with the other, visits from hubby and both children and typing up a bill for a client that is going to be more than most people's mortgage. Sorry about that. I will TRY to throw in an extra. :)

TODAY, however, I am thankful for:

1. My daughter making two (2) pecan pies last night. She is Nine. She rocks.

2. Lunch with my son yesterday. He is definitely not a little boy anymore :( He ordered caesar salad and shrimp bisque like a grown person. *sigh*

3. Not having to go back to the grocery store for anything with which to prepare Thanksgiving, as the grocery store will be a very scary place from now until Thursday.

4. Friday lunch dates with my husband.

5. Fried rice and chopsticks.

6. Moscato.

7. The glorious full moon that we had on Sunday night.

8. Being the first people in our neighborhood/community with Christmas lights up.

9. Cinnamon.

10. Wet autumn leaves.

~~ Gena

Thankful Series

2010-11-21T07:00:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for:

1. Wool socks.

2. Scarves.

3. Crocheted or knitted hats/toboggans.

4. Insulated leather gloves.

5. Boots. All of them.

6. Rainbows.

7. Sweet tea with lemon.

8. Farmers.

9. Horses.

10. Tractors.

~~ Gena

Thankful Series

2010-11-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for:

1. Leaving work at lunch yesterday.

2. Having gainful employment.

3. Awesome Cousins-in-law ;-)

4. Mylanta and Pepcid (can someone say gallbladder issues?) :(

5. A husband that VOLUNTEERED to go grocery shopping with me for Thanksgiving. Muhahahaha.

6. Family photos.

7. Gingerbread lattes.

8. Christmas ornaments made by my children.

9. My big, soft, comfy bed.

10. Sleeping late.

~~Gena

Thankful Series

2010-11-19T07:31:00.000-08:00

I am digging this thankful series. I will try and continue it through Thanksgiving :)

Today I am thankful for:

1. Daylight savings time.

2. The sunrise.

3. The sunset.

4. Hot coffee on cold mornings.

5. The smell of rain in the fall.

6. Sewing machines.

7. Sunglasses.

8. Mulled apple cider.

9. Eggnog.

10. Christmas music.

~~Gena

Thankful

2010-11-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I posted a list of ten things that I am thankful for. I think I will do that again today.

I am thankful for:

1. Being Southern.

2. My church family.

3. Being healthy.

4. Having healthy children.

5. Thinning shears. Truly.

6. Sitting by a fire.

7. The smell of a fire.

8. The glorious oak tree on the ridge behind my house.

9. My son being a senior in high school.

10. The mountains.

~~Gena

Thankful

2010-11-17T12:07:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for:

1. My salvation.

2. My family. All of them.

3. Warm sunshine.

4. Cool breezes.

5. The smell of hay.

6. Leaves in the fall.

7. Flowers. All of them.

8. The sound of my children laughing.

9. The ability to sing and play guitar

10. Big strong arms to hold me tight.

What are ya'll thankful for?

~~Gena

Papa's Mini-Me

2010-11-10T14:36:00.000-08:00

This year Papa did face painting at Trunk or Treat at the Church. Now, keep in mind that Papa had art scholarships and is FABULOUS.

He searched high and low for the perfect face paint and then bought them in bulk.

Needless to say, we have lots of face painting supplies now :)

Fast forward to a few nights ago when, out of boredom, Papa and Hannah decided to have some fun with the face paints. It was decided that he would make her into a little Jesse. Hannah REALLY dug this idea and donned her fave outfit - ye 'olde Carhartts.

It was really funny to see her "in character" trying to be like Papa. She had a deep voice.....she swaggered....she called me "baby."

Bahaha.

This is her trying to be "hard"

I thought this one was so sweet. It oozes love.

Here is the thug "gangsta" look

The resemblance is striking :)

I sure do love those guys.

~~Gena

Talent Auction

2010-11-09T12:45:00.000-08:00

Our Church has an annual talent auction every year where we auction off our talents for the Lottie Moon Christmas offering, which is used by the Southern Baptist Convention to support our international missionaries.

I decided that I would auction off my talent in the form of some Christmas cheesecakes a couple of quilts.

I am open to suggestions, too. I asked my neighbor, Audrey, if it would be better to donate cheesecake vouchers or actual cheesecakes and was told that the actual cheesecakes would probably sell for more money, since people would be going to Christmas parties and such.

How about an eggnog cheesecake in a gingerbread crust? YUM. Do ya think that would go for a hefty price at auction, or is it just me since I think eggnog is one of the greatest things ever and should be its own food group???

As far as the quilts go, I have one ready for binding and another quilt top finished that is ready for the quilt sandwich.

Here is the almost done quilt ready for binding:

This was made with precuts from Moda "Swanky" by Chez Moi. I quilted 1/4" on either side of the seams in a standard grid pattern. Nothing fancy, but a pretty and functional quilt that will hopefully keep someone warm as well as fetch a good price to help spread the Gospel overseas. Since the blocks are a standard 10 inches, it would measure roughly 50x60....minus the seam allowances, that is. I could have added it up and did the math but.... well, I just didn't. :)

Don't forget to leave me some comment suggestions about the cheesecakes!

~~Gena

MAKING TIME

2010-10-27T11:41:00.000-07:00

Farm life and kids take up a lot of our "spare" time. We have been cheering and footballing and practicing and hay-ing and sometimes we do not have a lot of time leftover to do fun stuff sans kiddos.

However, we decided to take some time to ourselves this past Sunday and it was well worth every single second (despite the tornado that came through in the wee hours the next morning *sigh*).

After church we saddled up the horses and went for a beautiful ride (all day long) out in the woods.

This is Sundance:

We have been working with Sundance for a while. And while he is technically Jacob's horse, Jacob doesn't really care too much for riding, so we have ample opportunity to work with him. Sundance is one of our Haflingers and was a therapy horse, which means that he has been trained to be slow and easy. That is a wonderful trait to have and he is not very high spirited, however, he's not a lot of fun if you are an experienced rider such as Papa, who has to do all sorts of tricks just to get him to walk at something more than a leisurely pace. :) When discussing Sundance, Papa in the true spirit of Ricky Bobby says.....I want to go FAST!!!

That being said, our first order of business was to get him out in a wide open field and RUN THE HECK OUT OF HIM. So, in order to do that we reasoned that if I could get far enough ahead of him he would probably run to try and catch up. So......I am sitting on my lovely, nimble and graceful Sally and we take off - galloping along. Sundance doesn't move. I get about halfway across the field and Sundance apparently has a light bulb moment. I hear THUNDER coming up behind me and some very colorful language from Papa when all of a sudden Sundance and Papa BLAZE past me and Sally like we were just standing there. He outran us from halfway across the field!! WOO HOO!!! Sundance finally "got it!" No more therapy horse for you! You get to be a big boy like all the other horses and run like the wind! Papa said that moment was the fastest he had ever traveled on a horse.

And then he said Yeehaw.

And then we did it again. :)

After a couple of hours out in the woods, we stopped for a break and took a few pics:

Sundance thought our phones in the ziplock bag was a prize for him. He is like a kid.

(We actually had more pictures, but unbeknownst to me they were DELETED?! Papa may or may not have been the culprit....)

Afterward, Papa grilled *ahem* steaks. We had a fire going and since I wanted to stay outside by the fire, he just made us an outdoor candlelight dinner complete with roses on the table :)

Considering the mass amount of clean up from the storm/tornado, I suppose the Almighty knew that we needed to have that day, as we will probably spend every weekend from now until winter cleaning up debris and repairing damage.

The Lord works in mysterious ways. And I am grateful - it was quite truly a perfect day.

~~Gena

H is for Hannah's Hamilton Homecoming!

2010-10-18T11:45:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was Homecoming weekend:

Go Lions!

Too bad we lost; they did such a GREAT JOB cheering the team on! :)

A little halftime pyramid :)

And then onto the dance they have been working so hard on. Can you hear that MUSIC?!?! I KNOW you can........ Hey Mickey you're so fine.....you're so fine you blow my mind.....HEY MICKEY!

THEN.....onto some Homecoming fun with the peeps. She is so pretty :)

The "Cha cha slide????"

(We just sat against the wall reading the paper and feeling like old people - LOL)

I reckon it was worth feeling old to see her have so much fun :)

~~Gena

CHEER!

2010-10-01T07:45:00.000-07:00

Hannah is still our favorite little pee-wee cheerleader.

She has grown SO much since last year:

Last Year's Picture

Isn't she pretty?

Here are all of the little cheerleaders at practice this year:

Here's Papa at the game showing his school spirit! ;-)

Here is Hannah trying not to have her picture taken before the game:

(I love the big blue in-you-face pompom even if the photo is horrifically overexposed.)

She just wasn't feeling it before the game, apparently...

However, she put on her game face and she was ready to G-O!

Everybody say hello to Morgan in the foreground....HEY MORGAN!!

This year Hannah even gets to do real cheerleader stuff like making pyramids. She even LOOKS like a real cheerleader!! Impressive too--I took gymnastics and couldn't even do a cartwheel. Eesh. The Almighty blessed me with many many talents but athletic ability just wasn't one of them. I guess that is why I sing, play guitar, cook and sew...but I digress.

My girl is the one on the bottom left with the pasty-white-just-like-her-Mama-complexion-that-can't-go-outside-without-a-million-spf-sunblock and the long flaxen locks hanging almost down to her waist. Look how strong her legs are! :)

(My apologies to the coach for posting a picture of her backside without her knowing---I am sure she would just love that---good thing she's family, huh?) If she was turned around you would be able to see her amazing shirt with the blue rhinestone paw print that is for sale at one of the local places that sells school spirit stuff. I heart that shirt. I NEED that shirt. Hey Papa---I NEED one of those shirts, ya hear??? :)

I don't think we have won a pee-wee football game yet, but those little cheerleaders sure are working hard!

~~Gena

Finished Projects

2010-09-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post a few of my completed projects that I am quite pleased with :

Completed. One baby quilt for the first great-grand. Washed, dried and oh so soft and cozy :)

Project number two:

Ahhhhh. My orange bento box table runner. I so completely heart this. I love the orange, I love the bento boxes, I love the pinwheels randomly at one end and the polka-dot binding.

Here is a shot with the backing, which I also love (and which also came from one of Hannah's last year fall dresses that I made and she has now outgrown):

Yay. Pumpkins.

I didn't do a whole lot of quilting on this. I wanted something simple and not fussy. It was all about the bentos on that one. :)

Finally, my controversial project number three. Eesh. In theory it was supposed to be wonderful, and I am quite happy with it in spite of its imperfections.

Somehow I went all wonky and I am not quite sure where it happened? Basting? Quilting? Squaring? Who knows. Whatever. It doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things and I don't think the world will come to and end. Hehee.

Don't know what happened there.... Oh well. I reckon the Jennifer Paganelli fabric can make up for the wonkiness of the thing, right???? :)

Baby Quilt

2010-09-21T12:37:00.000-07:00

Well, the first great-grand is on the way. Not mine, mind you! My mother's. My oldest sister is fixing to be a grandmother, which is really weird for me. One of my siblings is fixing to be a GRANDMOTHER. Eesh!

I am not finished with it yet; I am in the process of hand-stitching the binding. This was also my first attempt at the whole cross-hatching thing. I will have to take more pictures one I have it finished since this one doesn't really do it much justice.

When I asked my niece what the colors were for her nursery, she said blue, green and brown. Now, after looking at this fabric (since I am making this for a little boy) I have decided that it must have totally been a God thing, since I have no idea why I had this fabric in my stash to begin with. After all, even as big of a tomboy as my little girlie is, I still don't think I could talk her into frogs, turtles, snails and crickets.

Great-grand number one is coming in January. Great-grand number two is due in March via my older (the oldest of all of us) brother's firstborn daughter and first grandchild. I am waiting to see if I need more boy fabric or if I will be making a girlie quilt.

What fun!

~~Gena

What Now?

2010-09-15T11:29:00.000-07:00

What should I do with this?

Hmmm.....Decisions, Decisions.....

What about all of these????

Suggestions?????

~~Gena

Okay, I'll admit it.

2010-09-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

We are total dorks :)

Here were are - Papa and I - working around the house....typical Sunday afternoon......when Papa spotted this:

COOL! A big praying mantis on the door. Boys never grow out of it. Did you hear that?

THEY.NEVER.GROW.OUT.OF.IT.

So, Papa has an idea:

Of course, my picture of him doesn't look as realistic......but the look on his face more than makes up for it :)

I am glad we can be total dorks together; it's way more fun that way :)

Happy Monday!!

~~Gena

Sewing projects

2010-09-08T14:25:00.000-07:00

Hannah has been itching to learn to sew on the big machine and a mom can only take so many pooched-lip pouty faces, right?

Off we go. I wanted to do something simple with her so it wouldn't be so involved with meticulous piecing plus I was multi-tasking and right in the middle of the responding to the Q&A for the local paper, so we just randomly started sewing blocks together. When we made it to a 9-patch block I had a "light bulb" moment. Ah-ha! We could make a few blocks, add some sashing and have a fab table runner for Christmastime.

Wham bam a lam......I added the sashing down the sides and quilted it for her and did the binding. I told her the binding was a lesson for another day.

(This picture is also taken on the red crushed velvet couch that I dearly love....meanwhile, Papa is over in the corner twirling his moustache and counting the days until the swanky reverse- camel-back-diva sofa goes to live with cousin Jamie and we have living room furnishings more suitable for cowboys; and preferably in a less vibrant color. *sigh* I suppose it is hard to look like a proper cowboy or a farmer when you are sitting on a sofa whose style is called "The Marilyn Sofa." Poor Papa....but I digress.)

Hannah was so excited about her project and started talking about when she had "little children" she could show them too. So, before we basted, quilted and bound, we cut some scrappy numbers and appliquéd them onto the back so that she would always know how old she was when she made it.

I think I am going to sign her up for 4-H. She did a really good job and caught on very quickly. It seems right up her alley.

~~Gena

THE Pie

2010-09-07T09:02:00.000-07:00

Alrighty then.

I posted this recipe on facebook and everyone went nuts. So, I decided to to a step by step with pictures....kind of.

Step One:

For the crust:

1 package Pecan Sandies cookies, crushed (this can also be done in the food processor)

1 stick melted butter (I guess margarine would work, but organic unsalted butter is my fave)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix ingredients together and press into pie pan. Cook for 10-15 minutes and remove from oven.

Step Two:

1 package of caramels, unwrapped (Papa is REALLY good at unwrapping caramels; I just have to resign myself to the fact that I may lose a few for the cause during in this process)

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Heat in saucepan over low heat until melted and pour into crust. Let cool.

As you can see, I had my bowl of caramel in a bowl of ice because I am really impatient during this whole cooling process.

Step Three:

Toasted pecans

These go on top of the caramel layer

To toast your pecans, melt some butter and toss the pecans lightly and toast them in the oven until brown-er...you know, since pecans are already brown they will just be brown-er... halves, pieces, chopped....I don't think it really matters as long as they are not whole in the shell. But anyone that tries to use whole pecans in the shell probably doesn't need to be cooking to begin with. Seriously.

I actually didn't melt butter this time. I used olive oil cooking spray. I cheated. I altered my own recipe. Sue me. You couldn't tell the difference.

Step Four:

1 8oz. package softened cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar

Mix together with mixer and spread on top of the COOLED caramel/pecan layer.

(This is why I had the bowl of caramel in the ice.)

Step Five:

This is a two-step layer.... in this layer we are basically making chocolate whipped cream. This is really easy so long as you pay attention to this really important part: YOU HAVE TO LET THE CHOCOLATE COOL before you add it to the whipped cream. Otherwise, your fresh whipped cream deflates/melts and the chocolate separates and then you might be tempted to swear or cry. It can get really ugly. There was some serious wailing and gnashing of teeth in my kitchen once. It was only because I had really talked this pie up to my Mom and was trying to pull of this fabulous dessert and showcase my grand culinary skills and it ended up being the ugliest pie I ever made. My mother was very gracious in trying to repair my damaged ego and told me how good it was despite the way it looked.

ANYWAY. So you HAVE to let the chocolate cool.

Okay, back to the program.

1/2 a bar of Baker's semi-sweet chocolate (which actually used to be a whole BAR. Now it comes divided into all these squares.....so I guess that should be modified to 1/2 a BOX of Baker's semi-sweet.

2 Tbs. heavy cream

Melt in saucepan over very low heat or in a double-boiler if you are fancy enough to have such a thing. Then let it cool while you are making the whipped cream.

yummy melted chocolate :)

Whipped cream:

1 pint of heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup of powdered sugar (cause it is so good that way)

Mix ingredients with a mixer on high speed until you have whipped cream. Divide in half.

To one half, gently fold in the melted chocolate until you have fabulous chocolate whipped cream and spread on top of the cream cheese layer.

I actually stopped taking pictures at this point, which I know is sort of anti-climactic, but it was all I could do to fend off the hoard of ~~vultures~~ children and Papa who were waiting to pounce. Don't worry; I'll fix it.

Now, the rest of The Pie is simple:

On top of the glorious chocolate whipped cream goes:

The other half of the whipped cream. YUM.

Finally, I suppose the last step is optional. However, the way I see it....if you have made it this far - seeing as how the pie only has somewhere in the neighborhood of 64 fat grams per slice - you may as well just go ahead and proceed:

Grated chocolate. I usually use Hershey bars and a plain ole cheese grater. However, you can use the other half of that Baker's semi-sweet bar as well. :)

And even though I quit taking pictures, (and with the exception of the fake crust in the picture) your end result should look something like this:

Let me know if you try it and how it turns out! :)

Ours was FABULOUS.

~Gena

Moments

2010-08-30T07:33:00.000-07:00

It just happens with us......

I sure do love that guy.

And it shows.

~Gena

Mornings...

2010-08-25T07:59:00.001-07:00

Oh how I do so love that man...

Have a good, happy day my sweet :)

~Gena

What you DON'T see......

2010-08-24T08:26:00.000-07:00

Along with our horses, we have 4 dogs: Lexi, Spike, Chopper and Max, and they are family.

First, we have Lexi. Lexi was a shelter dog so we are not real sure about her lineage, but the first question we are always asked about her is if she is a "cur," so I guess we can just go with that. She has a very quiet and easy temperament and is extremely good-natured. She will "load up" and stay loaded until you tell her she can get out..... Well, unless she rides with you to the co-op, because they have lots of cats to keep the mice population under control, and Lexi likes to eat cats for breakfast, lunch and supper. During such times she doesn't stay "loaded up." Instead, she is sits at the door of the co-op with a string of drool that goes from her mouth to the concrete as she longingly stares through the glass at the big, fat, lazy kitties stretched out across the 50 pound sacks of horse feed. (Needless to say, this is the reason why we do not have any cats at our house and why we DO have lots of mouse traps.....) Lexi also loves her mama's biscuits and gravy :)

Here you see Lexi:

Next we have Spike. Spike was also a shelter dog. He is not long out of the puppy stage and he never strays far from home. He lacks the adventuring spirit of the other three dogs. He always runs with them......but only to the edge of the property....and then he is over it. He is a very simple, playful little fellow who loves to nervously eat up all the slobbery sweet feed dribble from his very precarious perch underneath the horses. He loves to play fetch, but only on the front end. He needs a little practice on the part where you actually bring it back - ha. And at the end of the day when the other dogs return from their follies chasing beavers and wrangling snakes along the creek (where they suffer multiple snakebites that have to be doctored), Spike accompanies them only from the edge of the woods, running triumphantly to the house with the other three, just like he has been with them all along and is finally returning from his courageous journeys....

Here you see Spike:

Next we have Chopper. Chopper is the only one of our dogs that was not a shelter dog. But he was the neighbor's dog. Now, we didn't take him from the neighbor, nor did the neighbor give him to us. The only way we knew his name was Chopper is because our daughter rides the school bus with his daughter, who informed our little one that the only reason Chopper was at our house was because our dogs were in heat......which obviously wasn't the case since all of our animals are "fixed" - except Chopper. The neighbor actually came and got Chopper several times. He tied him; he chained him. Chopper always came back. Having three dogs already, we didn't really see the need to have a fourth dog. So, when it became apparent that the neighbor had given up on trying to retrieve his ~~faithful~~ companion, we decided that we would let Papa's cousin have Chopper, who subsequently broke the log chain they hooked him to and was back on our doorstep the following morning. At that point we delcared Chopper an official part of the Pounders family and took him into the folds. He is a very cheerful sort of chap; a big-footed baby. He always has this worried look on his face and he LOVES to play ball.....tennis balls are his favorite :)

Here you see Chopper:

And finally, we have Max.

Max is some sort of Jack Russell mix. He is the smallest of all the dogs and probably does not break 12 pounds. He is missing part of an ear from an action-packed run-in with a groundhog. (Those things are MEAN!) He will ride on the 4 wheeler with the best of them and can be very loving and affectionate when he wants to be. He is very protective of us and for some reason seems to think that Spike is a threat to our safety. Or maybe he is just trying to toughen Spike up?! Regardless, whenever Spike tries to play with us, Max always jumps in as the Alpha Male in an effort to subdue our evil tormentor. Now that we have figured out what he is doing, we can just act like Spike is bothering us and Max comes to our rescue. I often feel sorry for poor, innocent Spike as we have many laughs at his expense. To his credit, Spike usually is completely oblivious to Max's heroism and usually just stands still until Max has backed down and then just goes on his merry way.

Max is the biggest dog on the hill. Or at least he thinks he is. Just ask him...... The UPS guy is terrified of him. He reminds me of a crochety old man. And, his teeth are all jacked up..... poor little Maxey.....

Alas, I would love to show you a picture of Max. However, whenever I try to catch a shot of him, he always seems to elude the camera. You see, he is a mighty beast who hunts creatures unknown in the vastness of the forest behind house. Max's adventures have almost reached legend status at this point and Max sightings are now talked about over supper tables all over the hillside.

So, instead of a picture of our beloved Max, I will show you this fabulous picture of Papa's plant that he has had for a VERY long time.

I am quite certain that he believed we couldn't see him.

~~Gena

Lessons in Farm Life

2010-08-24T07:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my dear sweet husband taught me how to operate the tractor. If there were ever any doubts before, I think I am now an official farmer.

Thank you.

That is all.

~~Gena

GAME DAY!

2010-08-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

Well, Game Day finally arrived! We played Weir and beat them 42-0. I didn't take the first picture of the band.....sorry Jacob :(

(Also, my hair looks freakishly black at the bottom in this photo. No worries.....it is all the insanely bright red that you see elsewhere...just strange lighting)

The band did a fantabulous job even if I did forget to take pictures. Oh well, they didn't dress out anyway because it was so hot.....

We did, however, manage to snap a few shots up in the stands as we sat in the sweltering heat eating our cheeseburgers with someone's else cheese on them (ahem....as in nacho "not yo" cheese). Sorry. Bad joke......

Hannah D cheesin'

Hannah's partner in crime :)

My mother came to watch the game and just as we were leaving, Papa's dad decided to go too....

Papa's Dad (Pop) and my mother (Nanny) watchin the grandchillens

Anyway. Game day was just as lovely as I had hoped it might be.

Good thing too.....last year's first game was rained out along with most all of the rest of them. This will be our banner year. I just know it.

~~Gena

Cowboys

2010-08-19T07:59:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying that if someone had told me back when I was in high school that I would be a farm wife with a hillside full of horses and dogs, two kids and a cowboy husband I would have probably (1) tried to punch them in the face; (2) laughed uncontrollably at the very idea that I lived a life other than one in the bright lights of the big city full of culture and music; and (3) gave them an entire list of all the reasons why I would never be caught dead in a pair of barn boots or an apron and why I would never be seen with a hoe or shovel in my hand or have dirt under my fingernails.

Good thing no one ever told me that, because I would sure be eating all of my words today...

That being said, you can't help but love my sweet Jesse. He has natural charisma that makes people flock to him like the Pied Piper. He has a gentle way and an easy smile. He stops and picks turtles up out of the road so they don't get run over. (He REALLY does!) He is so good-natured and will do absolutely anything for anyone and works harder than anyone I know. He loves his family and he loves his critters and is very protective and nurturing to both. He loves the land he grew up on and the house he grew up in and is very loyal to the dirt that he claims as his own. He has a deep respect for that land and he is just as much a part of it as it is a part of him.

A while back I posted about the moments in life that make you realize how lucky you are. (A link to the post can be found here.) I can't help but have those moments with him. Those moments are just as easy and natural as he is. They always astound me and leave me with thatfeeling..... like God is snapping his fingers trying to get my attention so that I never forget how lucky I am.

*sigh* :)

These were taken after our walk to the back of the pasture to go love on our horses. It was a nice cool afternoon. It was breezy. We held hands and walked side by side until the horses got too close behind us and I was wearing flip flops so he told me to walk in front of him so I wouldn't get stepped on. We picked wildflowers on the side of the creek. I told him to watch out for snakes. We played with the horses. Hannah's ~~sweet and gentle~~ horse tried to bite me. Then it was clouding up so we decided to walk back...... he was only going to be a minute; I was going to wait in the car.....but when I saw him up there I ran and grabbed my phone to snap these pictures.

Because the storm is coming.

Because the hay can't get wet or it will sour and ruin and our horses will be very hungry critters this winter.

Because he is awesome.

~~Gena

Now What?

2010-08-18T08:56:00.000-07:00

Now that the wedding madness is over......

Now that the garden madness is over......

(that was never actually there to begin with due to the relentless triple digits and lack of rain)

Now that the kids are back in school and everything is back to (semi) normal.....

Now what do I do?

Well, for starters I guess I could do this:

After I do this:

To all of this:

While visions of sugarplums dance in my head.....

The end result is a surprise for another post.

Happy Wednesday!

~~Gena

SCHOOL DAYS

2010-08-17T09:19:00.000-07:00

I love the beginning of the school year and all of the excitement of the coming season.... Sweaty teenagers marching about barefoot in the soft grass with tubas and bass drums and trumpets and maces trying to find that "blue dot" sprayed on the ground in the 16 beats alloted for them to get there..... Sweaty teenagers doing flips and pyramids and the sound of smacking football helmets and the knowledge that we are fixing to get a break from this scorching heat and that fall is soon to follow......

Ah - the first day of school.... new school supplies, clothes, shoes. That means new teachers too. And homework. That means Friday nights are coming and I am beside myself. I can feel the excitement in the air! I can almost smell the intoxicating aroma of stadium food! When it comes to Friday nights, all of my food principles go out the window. On Friday nights I am a total meat hypocrite. A band nerd since the age of 10 and now the parent of a band nerd since the age of 11 AND the parent of an up and coming (peewee) cheerleader, I have grown up on stadium food....and I love it. I can't wait...

The children also get revved up about the beginning of the school year. They stay up all night the night before in anticipation of the "first day of school."

Alas, although I can hardly contain my excitement, theirs is very short-lived.

Ah, those lovely peaceful mornings...before anyone else wakes up and all is quiet and serene and I get to see my sleeping babies:

"Mornin!"

What I really want to say is ...."Hey come on! UP AND ATTEM!!! Don't you REALIZE what time of the year this is??? Don't you REALIZE that in just a few short days we will be in jalapeño nacho bliss in the midst of the roaring crowd of rabid fans?????? DON'T YOU REALIZE??????

I think I could just about dance and cavort about with last year's pompoms. And they would know that it is totally typical behavior for me :)

I wonder if they can sense how excited I am about our first football game this Friday night and about all of the games thereafter????? Do they realize that I am like Ralphie waiting for that Red Ryder at Christmastime? Do they share in my joy and excitement about the new school year? OF COURSE THEY DO! I am quite certain of it.

Just not first thing in the morning.

~~Gena

POST-WEDDING POST

2010-08-17T09:03:00.001-07:00

Well, the wedding is over and it was fabulous. It really was. :) It was also hot as all git. The cake fell. The flowers were wilted. But it all went off without a hitch and it was perfect... just as it should have been. And regardless of the heat, the flowers and the cake, I am still married to the most wonderful and fabulous man ever. Seriously.

How could he not be wonderful and fabulous with a smile like that?

He was definitely the calm in the storm and hung in there through all of my craziness and panic about flowers and decorations and cakes and getting ready and food and rehearsals and everything. Actually, I think maybe I just hung in there with him ...... Hmmmmmm.

Thanks again, to everyone who helped make it a special day. I am not going to list everyone individually, but they know who they are and I love them and thank them all.

~~Gena

Countdown....8 days to go.

2010-07-30T09:10:00.000-07:00

Well, what does a girl do with 8 days left to her wedding????

She did this:

Yay! Something I can check off the list! :)

I may be out of pocket for the next seven days......as of noon today I am officially off work until after the wedding but I will update as I can for the handful of people who may/may not be keeping up with my ~~lack of~~ progress.

Coincidentally, Hannah and I have matching skirts for the rehearsal supper in the same fabric AND I am going to probably use the same fabric to wrap the bouquet handles.

~~Gena

Countdown.....9 days to go

2010-07-29T07:25:00.000-07:00

What does a girl do when she has 9 days left to her wedding????

She slept. And then she got up early and picked tomatoes :)

Papa did make some FABULOUS signs though :)

~~Gena

Countdown....10 days to go

2010-07-28T07:55:00.001-07:00

So, what does a girl do when there are 10 days left to her wedding??? A wedding in which everything is DIY with a laundry list of things yet to be started, much less finished?

Well, first she does this (with help from Papa and Jacob):

Then she does this .....(riding the 4wheeler):

So that she can do this:

~~Gena

Countdown.....11 days to go

2010-07-27T08:29:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday was the start of the countdown....did I check off anything from the list????

Yep. The whole praying for rain thing came to fruition. Torrential downpour. An inch and a half before bedtime....plus it rained last night. Yay!!!! The squash was starting to die out....the watermelons had quit growing....everything had quit blooming....the rain was definitely needed.

I cooked supper, snapped green beans (that I blanched and bagged this morning) and went to bed early.

I had every intention of going to the corn field this morning and didn't quite make it.....

Looks like I will be busy after I get off work today, huh?

And that tonight we will be having sandwiches :)

~~Gena

Countdown.....12 days to go

2010-07-26T06:37:00.000-07:00

The wedding is in 12 days. TWELVE DAYS! I am working all this week, but as of Friday will be off until August 9, 2010. Yay.

Here is the list of things yet to do (right off the top of my head)

1. Cake - why did I decide to make my own cake anyway? (ha)

2. Finish the Favors

3. Get the music together and on the flash drive

4. Print the programs

5. Make Tristan's pillow

6. Pray for the flowers and hope they hold out for 12 more days.

7. Pray for rain for the flowers so they make it 12 more days.

8. Make the directional signs

9. Pictures of me and Jesse for the Bride's/Groom's table.

10. Make all of the floral arrangements....

There is way more than that on the 'to-do' list, but that is a good start. Now. This is where is REALLY gets fun. Yesterday, out in the garden I made a discovery:

Oh dear.

I mean....WOO HOO!!! The corn is ready! (Insert -sad face and look of sheer panic- here)

I am so glad that we have fresh corn ready to be harvested. But omigosh. It is so much dang work. And there is so much wedding stuff to do. And the peas have to be picked. And the figs. And the green beans probably. On top of us both working everyday. I reckon the corn will be gathered a few dozen ears at a time. It is all I can do at once after I get home from work ....sheesh.

And only having a limited amount of time remaining, one can imagine that I have my nose to the grindstone focusing every ounce of energy on all things wedding, right? Just what does a girl do with 12 days left to a wedding day?

This:

Hmm. I just realized that I had my jam count wrong in a different post. That is: 17 jars of peach/blueberry jam, 3 jars of passionfruit jam, 6 jars of apple jelly, 2 jars of pepper sauce and 5 jars of salsa. Not pictured is the 12 jars of apple butter that has already been relocated to the pantry.

Guess we will see how things progress throughout the next 12 days.....

I am already exhausted!

I sure hope my makeup artist brings a lot of concealer with her to hide the dark circles under my eyes :)

~~Gena

Lucky

2010-07-23T07:44:00.000-07:00

When you are in the throes of the hustle and bustle of the day-to-day routine, it can be easy to just go into auto-pilot mode. Clock goes off... Get up... Make Coffee... Watch the weather... Worry about Papa working so hard outside because the heat index is going to be 112 AGAIN... take something out of the freezer to cook for supper... Get ready for work... Make Papa a cup of coffee and set it on the nightstand... Phone - check... purse - check... keys - check... lunch - check... *kiss* Hannah D.... *kiss* Papa - " *have a good day my love* ... drive to work... make regular coffee... make decaf coffee... type, type type... *LUNCHTIME* ... type, type type, type... 5:00 - YAY!!! That is basically my day Monday through Friday. And no, I am not complaining; that is just the routine of things. Everyone has their own routine of things and that is the one I happen to claim for myself.

But there are times ---when you least expect it--- when you will have one of those moments that stop you dead in your tracks...when you realize just how dang lucky you are. Moments that make you realize that the routine is just a means to an end... when you see how the things that truly matter (for me anyway) always happen aside from the routine... moments where you forget about the routine altogether... moments when you are just in the moment .... These were my moments yesterday.

On our way to the garden... because that trailer needs to be unloaded right quick... just sit here and look pretty... it will only take a minute.

And what a fabulous minute it turned out to be.

Oh how I do so love that man. My cup runneth over. Sometimes I cannot believe that God allows me to share a life with Papa. But He does. And I am amazed. And I am humbled. And I am truly grateful.

~~ Gena

Sewing formalwear.....

2010-07-14T06:50:00.001-07:00

My current (and very important) project is/was Hannah's flower girl dress. Why I didn't just BUY her a dress, I have no idea. I must have been feeling overly ambitious when I bought the fabric on mega sale during Black Friday. I mean, cotton is one thing..... But brocade, taffeta and organza?!?!?! I think I momentarily lost my mind..... I must have had some kind of moment where I thought I could actually pull this off. Then, in the midst of this whole dress-making process I began to berate myself and was thinking, WHAT IN THE WORLD MADE YOU THINK YOU COULD PULL THIS OFF? Ugh. Compounding these issues is the fact that I have also waited until the last minute. Not procrastinating, mind you....but mainly because I bought the fabric in November of last year and the wedding isn't until August of this year and Hannah is a growing 8 year old girl and I didn't want her to outgrow it before she got to wear it and have all my work be in vain and end up having to buy a dress ANYWAY. Well, with three weeks (ish) left, it had to be done.

The idea and picture in my head was (theoretically) simple: beautiful silver brocade bodice with a sash that ties in the back with big, fluffy ballgown skirt. Piece of cake......

The organza has pretty sparklies. Not glitter, but actual little rhinestone-ish type sparklies on the fabric......which translated to not being able to iron it AT ALL for hemming purposes because even on the lowest setting the iron was melting the glue that held the sparklies on and they were coming off and sticking to my iron. UGH. After a momentary *panic* moment, I did the only other thing I could think of to do at the time. Now, ask yourself....did she totally freehand/eyeball a hem on fabulous sparkly organza??? Yep. I sure did. Turned out pretty good too, I might say, even though it took me quite some time to meticulously double fold the fabric and sew three inches, stop, double fold, sew three inches, stop. You get the idea.

I was able to iron the taffeta, which was a blessing, since with taffeta you can BREATHE on it and it wrinkles. The silver brocade? A royal pain. There are silver hairs all over my house. They were floating in the air like dandelion tufts in the breeze with every stroke of the needle. I had to stop repeatedly and remove all of the fuzz from my needle. The skirt was a sandwich of the taffeta lining, 4 layers of netting and then the organza overlay. All six layers had to be basted together and then gathered and attached to the unravelly silver brocade bodice.

Surprisingly, I didn't get upset, run out of patience, have a meltdown or lose my mind. I took my time and was determined NOT to get in a hurry or rush through it. I hummed and sang and thought of Cinderella's ballgown and how pretty Hannah was going to be. Now, it's not perfect; I had a couple of DOH! moments but not anything people are going to notice, and nothing worthy of ripping it out. I am quite pleased with it. I realized at the end of the day that I actually sew a lot better than what I (apparently) give myself credit for. I was sort of awe-struck---as in---"Wow" I can't believe I MADE that!

My sweet little tomboy was VERY tired of fittings by the end of the day..... She was definitely not feeling it in these pictures - ha! She will be the best flower-girl ever!

She is so pretty :)

~~Gena

Ten Things.....

2010-07-08T13:48:00.000-07:00

I have stated on many, MANY occasions my disdain for the town in which I work. After I met my sweet, wonderful Papa Bear I moved from Small(ish)town, USA, which included some FAB eat joints and a couple of Starbucks (oh the money I have spent on triple venti white mochas……) to Paradise, USA. Now, Paradise, USA, is wonderful. Beautiful; gentle sloping hills, green things as far as the eye can see, flowers, songbirds, the whole nine yards and there are very few people who live there. A true rural southern community. Not incorporated. We have a school, a family market, a fish house, a gas station, a family clinic, a dollar store, a post office, a local library (about the size of my living room that is on the verge of closing due to a lack of funds), a parts store (since we live in a farming community) and a chemical plant which probably employs almost half of the community. There are a couple of banks and a slew of Baptist churches along with the food pantry they support and the place where all the farmers take their peanuts to be processed. Life is good in Paradise where everyone knows everyone and the whole community is at the football field on Friday nights where the bleachers are a solid mass of blue and white. God has definitely kissed the land upon which we hang our hats and I am eternally grateful for the lush and bountiful landscape that I am able to breathe in daily.

The town in which I work, however, well let’s just say that it leaves much to be desired. The shopping mall was probably nice with its 6 stores back when it was built 30 years ago. There is no Starbucks, ergo, no white mochas to be had. It is a dirty concrete jungle cramped in between a giant muddy waterway and a horribly polluted river that is notorious for flooding, which only adds to said pollution. With that being said, since it is cram packed in between two bodies of water, there is ONE way in and ONE way out. Now, this is not nearly the size of Small(ish)town, but large enough that it makes the “rush hour” traffic an absolute nightmare. It reminds me of when I lived in coastal South Carolina and had to evacuate for the hurricanes…….if any of you have ever had to evacuate for a hurricane, you can totally sympathize with my plight. Bumper to bumper starting from the center of town where it starts to thin out on the outside of town until you are finally able to breathe and see God’s country the closer you get to Paradise, USA. I dread it every single morning. I curse it at lunch. At 5:00 my biggest priority is to get out of the Jungle and get to Paradise as fast as I possibly can because that is my ultimate happy place. God’s country with the people I love. Yes, a happy place.

Now. Since I have made my loathing of this place common knowledge, I will have to be brutally honest and state that I do not absolutely positively hate everything about this town, which is the purpose of this post. There are things that I like about this place and I have managed to find several happy things and places scouring this town on a daily basis Therefore, I am going to share 10 things that I love so I do not seem like the eternal pessimist. And, just as an *FYI* I did not have to sit and rack my brain for these…..they came quite naturally.

First and foremost – THE YARN STORE. I think I literally heard a choir of angels sing when I opened the front door. This place has got any kind of yarn you could want. It is organized by weight and goes all the way around the building. So you work your way down from the big tremendous super mega bulky wool yarn down to the most delicate hand-beaded sequin silk yarn (Artyarn – which is breathtakingly beautiful and coincidentally goes for a whopping $125.00/skien). There are hand-dyed hanks of yarn and exotic fibers. I bought some FABULOUS mohair in there to make my beautiful sister a scarf. It is the same pale blue as her eyes and hopefully I will get it finished before Christmas. (ha) Not even in Small(ish)town did we have such a rare gem. I think I shall pay them a visit tomorrow, actually…..it has been a while.

Second (and really in no specific order): The gyros. An old college friend mentioned gyros at this place across town and I was curious since I love me some good lamb. It probably comes from a fond childhood memory of my Father taking me to a place called Keifer’s in Jackson, Mississippi, that has AMAZING food. My first experience with a gyro…. Anyway, this place in the Jungle is a non-descript Chevron station, referred to by the locals as “the sandwich shop.” They make the biggest, fattest gyros I have ever had. They are SOOOOO good and are CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP, or as Papa would say, they are “economical.” The place is literally packed every time I have been by there and there is always a line. Yum. Love that place. They probably make more money off of the food than they do beer and cigarettes, which for the rural south is saying A LOT. J

Third: The grocery store across town. Now, this may not seem like a big ordeal, but TRUST me – it is huge. I am definitely a foodie and it has been quite distressing to not have a good grocery anywhere. Now, the local market in Paradise is wonderful for when you need to run and pick up something quick and easy for supper, or if we need bacon for tomorrow’s breakfast. But to out and out grocery shop? Boy, have I been down in the dumps for a WHILE. However, today – yes today – and the whole inspiration for this post – I went to the grocery store all the way on the edge of the other side of town. It took me twenty minutes (on my lunch hour) to get there. I had the same experience as I did when I went into the yarn store and when I went into the Village Cloth Shop in Dekalb, MS. Jaw dropping. Choir of Angels. Now, I have been in far greater grocery stores, but it has been a while and in much bigger places. This place, however, totally rocked. Oh, it was wonderful! It was CLEAN! They had variety! They had organic foods! THEY HAD MAYFIELD TURTLE TRACKS ICE CREAM! Be still my little southern heart. I was like a junkie in a crack store. Seriously. I spent $170.00 at the grocery store on my LUNCH HOUR and had to cram all the cold items (and ice cream) into the office refrigerator! LOL

Fourth: Beans and Cream: Ah the local coffee/ice cream shop. Have I mentioned how I love both? Now, it is not really that local to my office, since I have to drive across to the other side of town, but they BY FAR have the best coffee in town. There is only one other coffee shop and I reckon I will have to check it out before I can make that official, but I do love that there is at least one good place in town that I can get a hot cup of heavenly Joe.

Fifth: the YMCA. Yes, the Y. I love the fact that I am right across the street from the Y. I hate that I do not utilize it more and am going to try and make it a point to do so for stress relief purposes J

Sixth: My job. Alright. I do tend to really gripe about my job. And my boss. But here is the skinny on both: They aren't really as bad as I make out. I do not have a physically demanding job. I am a paralegal. I do, however, have a stressful job when we are under the gun and fighting a deadline and my fingers will only type so fast. But all in all I love the fact that I am the only person who works here and I am lucky that my office is across the street from the Courthouse, which has a lovely clock tower that chimes every 30 mintues. I sit in solitude for most of the day and I am able to enjoy peace and quiet. Working in a place like Wal-Mart (although I am not dissing Wal-Mart or their employees) would drive me crazy. Too much hustle and bustle,,,,,too many people,,,,,,too many opportunities to be subjected to the swine flu and any and all other such maladies. I do love that I can sit at my desk in the quiet and if it is slow I can do things like sit and type posts on the things I like about the town I hate. I love this old office that looks and smells like an old law office and I love the bazillions of dusty old law books all down the hallway and covering all four walls (floor to ceiling) of the library. J

Seventh: My boss……well, let’s just say he is a one-of-a-kind. An old, hard-nosed trial lawyer. He is quirky, no doubt. He is horrifically disorganized and has tons of senior moments. However, he is also almost 70 and runs 4 miles every day. He was a member of the military as part of the special forces. He knows every single thing about the history of this town, as he is 4^th generation of his family to be rooted here and still lives in the ancestral home. He walks all over downtown running errands and picks up business on his way back from the post office, and does things like trade legal work with the lady that owns the local shoe store for free shoes. He jokes about settling his cases over eggs like a gentleman at the local Hardees. Sure, he treats me like I am a mindless set of boobs, but he was there when the civil rights movement and women’s lib were in full swing. To him, I am just a secretary that is supposed to look pretty, type and make coffee with a smile on my face. He tells me that he expects me to be a lady….... He is something straight out of a John Grisham novel. He does not know how to use a computer (which he refers to as “the machines”) and sits back in the law library piled under dusty law books doing research while he eats his afternoon snack (every single day) of mixed nuts, tropical trail mix, grapes and diet coke. He is a GOOD attorney and he is sharp as a tack. I would let him defend me for anything, if I could afford him…….ha.

Eighth: The healthfood store. Nothing really that spectacular about the healthfood store; I am just thankful that there IS one J

Ninth: The Riverwalk. The Riverwalk is not really along the river. It is along the Tenn-Tom Waterway, but whatever. It is 2.5 (I think) miles of trails along the waterway and through the woods. It is always neat and has really nice landscaping and is absolutely beautiful in the fall. I love to walk out there and probably will when it cools off some. It is just too dang hot right now.

Tenth: Strawberry cake at Café on Main. It is the Bell’s Best strawberry cake with strawberry icing. Enough said.

There it is – my ten things I like about the concrete Jungle. I hate the commute and I hate the traffic, but I spend my lunch hour every day trying to find redeemable qualities. And just for an added bonus:

Eleventh: The Farmer’s market. It is a true gem. There are local musicians playing street music and college kids selling homemade soy candles right next to the typical southern farmer selling blackberries their kids picked and the Amish selling their baked goods across from the hippie guy with the organic farm that looks like the unibomber, and the children selling their sunflowers out of 5-gallon buckets, and my neighbor who makes her summer spending money selling homemade salsa.

With the 25 rows of peas/beans that Papa planted for us, I might join in on that action!

~~Gena

Happy Birthday Jacob!

2010-06-24T14:17:00.001-07:00

Today.....Seventeen years ago......

I wake up. Jacob's Dad goes to work. I am having horrendous abdominal pains. We just bought and moved into our house and are still waiting for the phone company to turn the phone on (back before everyone had cell phones) so I have no way to call anyone. I get scared and drive to my mother's house because I know something is wrong. Immediately she knows something is wrong. She drives me to the doctor. They know something is wrong. I am dilating and it's too early. They wrap me in a sheet and send me to the hospital because there is no time.......... An hour later I am fully dilated. Placental abruption. Nothing they can do. The doctor says we have to deliver. Twenty-six weeks. Six and 1/2 months. My due date isn't until September 20. It's June. Everyone is in a panic. My mother is hysterical. My sister is holding my hand telling me everything is going to be okay. They take me to the delivery room. My water breaks. The doctor is swearing. I am crying. They put me to sleep. Two pounds and 5.2 ounces later I have a very sick baby boy and am told that the likelihood of him surviving the night is slim to none.

Today, seventeen years ago, I became a very scared and frightened mother.

Today, seventeen years later, I have a HEALTHY, strong, handsome, intelligent and wonderful son that is perfect in every way.

Happy Birthday Jacob!

I love you more than you know.

~Gena

WATERMELON!

2010-06-08T11:21:00.000-07:00

Now, I love me some watermelon. In this picture I was enjoying the leftover Memorial Day watermelon. I enjoyed it all down the front of my shirt!!! (even though I was trying very hard to be careful)

So, Papa made me a bib :)

We have 3 different kinds that Papa planted in our garden....

Congo:

Black Diamond:

and Sugar Baby:

Yum. I can't wait.

~~ Gena

Summertime

2010-06-08T07:27:00.001-07:00

I just love summer and the wonderful things that God puts on the planet.

I have a garden full of sunflowers and I didn't plant any of them. They came up from last year's crop.

I suppose God thought we needed to enjoy them again this year, and for that I am grateful. They are indeed quite beautiful.

~~Gena

Memorial Day Weekend 2010

2010-06-01T07:12:00.000-07:00

We have been so busy it seems like May has just FLOWN by! Papa has gotten our summer garden planted, we have been softballing, planting flowers, riding horses and fishing, trying to figure out wedding stuff (that's right, WEDDING STUFF!). Needless to say I have gotten way behind on my posts - ha!

Anyway. This weekend was Memorial Day weekend, and I have to say that it was a wonderful weekend.

We started off on Saturday with Papa and I deciding to go berry picking. So, we set out on the 4-wheeler and stayed in the woods half the day picking berries along with some skullcap flowers. Then we picked peaches. PEACHES!!!! Yay. I didn't get any photos of the actual picking, but here's the harvest:

I made peach preserves out of the peaches, an afternoon tea out of the skullcap and made a FABULOUS pie out of the berries:

Sunday was a quiet day. We had church and worked on wedding stuff. That's right. WEDDING STUFF! (YAY!) And then watched tv while I let Papa draw on me with Henna :)

(ignore the bruise)

Memorial Day was lovely. I got up early and rode my horse while everyone was still asleep (yay me) and then we went fishing over at our lake and then...... we did this:

We invited our family too.....My mother and step-father and Papa's parents and uncles. We had fish, fries, hushpuppies, coleslaw, watermelon and homemade vanilla ice cream! What is a summer holiday without the ice cream freezer churning in the background??? :)

Then I serenaded everyone.....note the captivated audience! :)

Afterwards, Hannah and Papa needed some cooling off:

I don't know how our weekend could have been any better.

Love some summertime.

~~ Gena

STRAWBERRIES!!!

2010-05-04T09:28:00.000-07:00

My boss gave me a flat of fresh strawberries from the local farm. They were so sweet and delicious! So, what is a country girl to do when she has an entire flat of strawberries????

Well, first she sweet talks Papa into slicing them all while she prepares everything else :)

What a wonderful Papa

Then she puts them on to cook.....with a bunch of sugar and a whole lotta love!

Then she does this:

YUM! Papa's favorite!

~Gena

Breyer's Basketball Goal

2010-05-04T08:52:00.000-07:00

Hannah got a basketball goal this past Christmas, but somehow putting it together just kept falling further and further down the "to-do" list. Mainly because, well, we have been busy. Fishing and exploring are important things, you know! Anyway, Papa decided that it was time to get that thing up and going. Now I know you may be thinking that assembling a basketball goal is hardly blog-worthy material, but this is good stuff!

Before I share the photo of the finished product, I must explain the story behind it so that you will understand why I think it is so special :)

At Hannah's 7th birthday party Jacob was clowning and made THIS picture:

We got the biggest kick out of him doing a "promo" for Breyers Ice Cream. It was one of those impromptu shots that end up being priceless. Needless to say, that photo has morphed its way into other random shots over the past couple of years...

Me with Hannah's horse Shyanne

Jacob promoting the FAB Dove ice cream

(*Note (again) how Hannah makes her way into the pictures - ha!)

I think there are actually more, but I cannot locate them at the moment. Anyway, imagine the huge smile on my face when Papa texted me THIS photo:

Not only can we play basketball, but now we have another happy picture to add to our Breyer's collection.

I SURE DO LOVE HIM.

~Gena

It's Been A While

2010-04-29T11:38:00.001-07:00

I just realized that it has been almost three weeks since I posted anything. That is a long time with everything we have going on at our house! So here is a quick recap of the past few weeks:

We have:

FISHED

DANCED

BIRTHDAY'D

CIRCUSED

OOHED

AHHHED

( DON'T YOU JUST LOVE PEONIES?)

HARVESTED

POKERED

HOSPITALED

YIKES! Poor Granny :(

MADE EGG ROLLS

TASTED SWEET VICTORY

VISITED FAMILY

GOT CUTTINGS

DODGED A TORNADO

ATE FROZEN YOGURT

HAD HOMECOMING

AND HORSED AROUND

(bad joke, I know)

We have SURE been busy :)

And that is just some of what's been going on. I will round up the rest of our happenings and get them posted :)

We also had a funeral for Lester the bullfrog. Hannah said they found him laying in the yard and he was "all skinny and the dogs had eat his eyeballs out." Well, at least I never said Hannah was the frilly dainty type.

~~G

Jacob's New Contacts

2010-04-09T08:17:00.000-07:00

Jacob had his eye appointment yesterday. He needed a new prescription and this time he decided he wanted contacts...

Well, we had some trouble getting them in. He has some trouble getting them out. As a matter of fact, it was a LOT of trouble. Jacob tried. Papa tried. I wanted to want to try, but I can't deal with eyeballs *ick* so I just took pictures. And laughed. Jacob laughed. Papa laughed. Hannah mocked and heckled and walked around doing what Jacob is doing in the above photo. Sorry Jake. Ha.

You have to admit that is pretty funny...

Papa said we should laugh like that every day! :)

The first one finally got wrinkled up - under his eyelid - and he totally freaked out :(

The second one came out about an HOUR later.

This morning didn't go so well either. He ended up taking his contacts to school with him and Sweetheart helped him get them in during Band.

Although he can see everything, it looks as though we may be shopping for glasses now...at least until he gets the hang of the contacts. Keep practicing, Jake!

~Gena

Lotion Recipe!

2010-04-09T08:15:00.000-07:00

I love love love lotion. I love to use lotion. I love to make lotion. I found this lotion recipe from the folks over at Design Sponge.

Here is the link to their recipe:

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/04/made-with-love-rose-body-lotion.html

It is beautiful in these Weck jars. I need to remember that at Christmastime! Also, they use an emulsifying wax to make theirs; I have always used soy lecithin and beeswax. The emulsifying wax may save me a step!

Lotion is so super easy to make. Just make sure that everything is sterile.

The Design Sponge recipe rocks because it all mixes together on its own. Using the soy lecithin and beeswax I have to run it through the blender....and I have found that a hand blender is much easier than a regular blender and makes cleanup a LOT easier. However, if I can skip that with the emulsifying wax then all the better!

They make the comment at the end that there are no preservatives in their lotion, and that can be problematic when it starts going bad, so here is what I do in my own lotion to fix that (or at least postpone it a little while):

When I make mine I usually have my oils in one pot and my water in the other - I add vitamin E oil to the oils pot because it is a preservative and will keep the oils from going rancid. So is rosemary essential oil, but I am pretty sure that neither I nor Papa want me smelling like my herb garden.

To the water pot - I usually add a couple of drops of grapefruit seed essential oil - it keeps the water from stagnating and gives the lotion a clean/fresh smell.

OILS:

Grapeseed oil is so good for your skin - it has all the super antioxidants and it is light and not very greasy.

Coconut Oil.....love me some lotion made from coconut oil - it is also super good for your skin and makes a really thick creamy lotion.

Olive oil...I have only made one batch of lotion with olive oil, which I proceeded to use on my face... it didn't go over very well. I think it was too rich or oily for my face. It was lovely on my hands and legs, however.

I have made some with Walnut Oil, but I didn't like the smell. It almost reminded me of sesame oil, which is lovely in stir fry but not on your face and hands. blegh.

WATER:

I always use distilled water. However, I have made lotion before where I used water from cooked flower petals and that turned out quite nicely.

I can't wait to try this "recipe" with the emulsifying wax; if it turns out I reckon I will make lotion for everyone this Christmas :)

~~Gena

FISH POND!

2010-04-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

Papa has been meaning to clean the fish pond out. He actually meant to do it for a couple of years now, and finally it was an absolute MUST. The breaking point was that Chopper had played fetch in the pond a few times and Papa decided that he must have knocked the fountain loose or some such thing after I pointed out that we were losing water....fast.

Chopper in action

In an effort to rescue the fish, Papa starts unloading the *couple* of aquatic plants that were planted in the pond. Well, the aquatic plants had apparently multiplied into one GIANT aquatic plant with a tremendous root system that encompasses the entirety of the fish pond.

Pobre Papa. His hour long +/- project turned into two entire days.

However, the fish are safe and happy and have a new pond to swim in with an all new fountain for us to enjoy. In the process of removing the plants and draining the pond, Papa began to get the feeling that he was not alone...... after seeing 'something' in the water for most of the day, Papa finally came face to face with his companion.....

BTW - I suppose now is as good a time as any to mention that we are Democrats - LOL. But nevertheless - LOOK AT THE DANG FEET ON THAT THING!

The bullfrog was awesome, and both of the children wanted to hold him. Jacob looks as though he is contemplating squishing him in his photo:

Jacob and "Lester" the bullfrog

Sweet Hannah with "Lester" the frog.

Once the flower renovations are complete, I will post the "after" pictures of the fish pond.

~Gena

HAPPY EASTER!!

2010-04-05T11:00:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday started very, VERY early. Nanny came and spent the night so she could go to Sunrise service, which was at 7:00 at the high school gymnasium. I was singing with the praise team, which meant I had to be there at 6:30. After sunrise service we went to the church for breakfast and then had Sunday School and regular church and finally home. So, after a 6 hour Easter celebration, it is time to cook!! (yawn!) I was SO sleepy. After we ate, Nanny went home and we commenced with the egg hunt. We actually ended up with the same amount of eggs we started with, so that in itself is to be commended. I was sure Chopper would end up dropping a mouthful of eggs at my feet hoping I would play fetch, or we would have that last egg that no one could find whose hiding place we couldn't remember.

Easter picnic with Nanny, Pop and Malchom

(Jacob was with Sweetheart)

Happy Easter everyone!

~Gena

Softballs are NOT soft!

2010-04-05T08:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here we are at softball practice....I am kicked back in my mama chair reading "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer when all of a sudden I hear that blood curdling scream that makes every parent's knees buckle. You know the one - when you KNOW without looking that it is YOUR child. Dear oh dear. I looked up and saw my sweet baby girl standing at second base with her hand over one eye, screaming and looking frantically for her mama with the other one. Needless to say I thought I was going to throw up. In that split second of wanting to chop the softball to bits with a hatchet for inflicting such pain upon my baby, logic somehow kicked in and kept repeating "Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic - DON'T PANIC!!" After some tylenol from a better prepared (or maybe veteran) parent and an ice pack from the concession stand, I assured her that she was okay and calmed her down, then praised her for doing such a good job stopping the ball (part of me felt completely heartless for suggesting such a thing!) and told her it was her turn to bat (again, feeling completely heartless). I was afraid if I just scooped her up and ran home it would have put an end to her wanting to play softball and I was trying to be supportive and encouraging without being the fretful panicky mother than I KNOW I am. So, what does Hannah do? She gets up, wipes her nose where she had been crying, puts on her batting helmet (courtesy of Uncle Jimmy and Cousin Jamie via Tanzie Brown's house!) and knocks it to the outfield. That is my GIRL!! I have never been so proud of her. She is so much stronger than I am. And, I told her that we can learn something from everything that happens...in this case it is to GET THAT GLOVE UP! But gosh, even though I try to be positive about the whole thing, her eye just breaks my mama heart into a million pieces :(

Day One - Thursday - Impact :(

Day Two - Friday

Seeing her sporting that shiner while laying in her bed with all of that sweet pink gingham around her and holding onto Mr. Snuggly (whom she so dearly loves) just made me want to cry. :'(

Day Three - Saturday

All I can say is she is ONE TOUGH COOKIE.

Day Four - Easter Sunday.

She is beautiful - black eye and all!

Today is Day Five - Monday......we have practice tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed.

~Gena