Truly blessed...

I always knew I was "lucky".  I have 4 awesome kids... and awesome hubby... I love our home... I enjoy being able to work in my shop and do all of the other things I do.
More and more I am having those eye opening moments where I am seeing that I'm not just "lucky".  I am truly blessed, in so many ways!!

Living with fibromyalgia isnt easy.  Last week I had one of my worse "flares" ever.  It was hard to get out of bed... let alone function.  But still, I pushed on and didnt give up.  I worked through the appts in my shop, with Brittany's help.  (It is nice to be just busy enough I need a paid helper...  even nicer that it is my own daughter, who usually knows what I want or need before I do!)  I did miss a few things I wanted to do last week... but I will make up for it this week!  It really makes me appreciate the days I feel GREAT, that is for sure!!!
I was extremely thankful that my flare cleared up in time for Mother's Day weekend!!  This was the first Mother's Day that Stacy was off since we moved into this house!!  And of course he and the kids had big plans!  (I was woken up by the smoke detectors going off, bright and early...LOL)  I LOVE our "adventures"!!  We also included some Mother's Day visiting in our Sunday...which was really nice.
Here are the "projects" I was working on for Mother's Day--

My Grandmother's "Picture Pot"

Stacy's Mom's "Picture Pot"

 And my HUGE Mother's Day surprise--

It is BEAUTIFUL... and I was completely shocked!!! 


Let's see...
Since my last blog I have become an admin/moderator on 2 really cool FB pages--Old Structures & Interesting Places in Eastern PA... also in Central PA!!  I am LOVING the fact that I get to share my photography work, and I am getting A LOT of feedback!  :-)  It helps that we go on TONS of "adventures"!!  I am having a lot of fun with it.

Stacy and I took a sewing class together!!!  It was a ton of fun too!! I have an awesome hubby to give up his Friday night to attend a class with me.  Originally he wasnt going to go... but we needed 1 more person or the class was going to be canceled.  Soooo... he "volunteered"!  :-) 
I took that opportunity to buy a new sewing machine.  I am hoping to add doggy apparel to my shop sometime in the future.

I finally attended my first Bible Study at the church today!  It was really nice.  I was pretty nervous... since I am "new" still to the church.  But I LOVE how welcoming everyone is! 
I was really kind of bummed over the weekend.  Not having my own mother to celebrate Mother's Day with.  But over time... I have realized that God has put some pretty special ppl in my life.  It is so true when they say He gives us what we need... not necessarily what we want!! 
I reached out to Pastor Beth at a pretty difficult time for me.  I am soooo glad she was there and "all ears"... and just as awesome as she was 5 yrs ago when I first met her!   Love her!!!

I think that about sums up things lately. 
I will try to get some pics posted of our "baby" ducks... which arent so small anymore.  They are getting their real feathers... and growing every day!  It is amazing to watch how quickly they grow!!

Changes...

So I guess I will let the cat out of the bag on some of the changes and "growth" going on around here!

Our first big change was the addition of a HUGE, amazing 4ftx8ft advertising sign with a COMPLETELY new look and design!!  It was successfully hung yesterday (in Klingerstown) AND within a few hours I had a WINNER of the "find the sign" contest!!  :-)  I am so excited about our new look... and cant wait to order a new sign for out front and a few more to hang around Upper Dauphin County!! 

Our second BIG change is--
We officially enrolled Nathaniel and Brittany in Northern Dauphin Christian School for the 2013-2014 school year!!! 
I have some mixed feeling about this... but I think even through the growing pains, it was a great decision!!  I prayed a lot about it, talked to MANY knowledgeable and helpful ppl... and I think we made a good choice!!
I will miss having the kids here... and doing all of those "fun" activities we do during the day.  (Yesterday Nathan washed AND hung out his own laundry all by himself!!  I am sooo very proud of him!!)  But, I just feel like they will learn some "extras" with kids their age, that I cant provide at home.  I am looking forward to their service projects!!
I get to be very involved with the school and learning.  So that makes me feel quite a bit better about it!  PLUS it opens up some time for me to be involved in some other activities in the community.

Lastly... my blog name will be changing over the summer!!  I am thinking "Homestead Hobbies"... but I am just not quite sure yet.

I guess that is enough "sharing" for one day.  We have more up our sleeve... but I will hang on to those "secrets" until the time is right!! 

Growing Pains

As most of you know... I have been doing some major changing over the past 6 months or so. 
I havent had much time to blog...  But I am anticipating that will change in the near future. 
What will also change?
The focus of this blog!!  :-)

I dont want to give away too much... just yet.  Just keep an eye out for the fun stuff to come!!  Until then, bear with me!

So much...

...going on!!

I guess I missed a few weeks of blogging!!  Things have been busy to say the least!

We started the paperwork and FAFSA forms for Courtney to go to college!!!  We are probably looking at a Fall start for her, altho we arent counting out May yet, even if it is highly unlikely.
She is also motivated to work over the summer months... since she will have to pay for her own internet and cable while away at school.  Since we are forking the bill for some of the schooling. 

We are still nursing Quackers back to health...3rd round of antibiotics.  It's been quite the journey with her!!
Runway was spayed yesterday.  Brittany has been very attentive to taking extra good care of her!  Really, she has been a nervous wreck!!  LOL
We have an E-Lop in the house with boo boo ears... she sliced them under her nails. 

I may have FINALLY (2 yrs later) found the super rare ducks I have been searching for.  Fingers crossed that this "deal" works out!
We are thinking about (privacy) fencing in the upper part of the yard, where the coops are... and putting our "guardian dogs" to work at nite!!  Our neighbors have all kinds of wild life living in their fallen down garage... and something is really after our animals up there.  We lost another chicken. 

We have started our "Family Dinner" nights!!  It was nice to have everyone together last weekend!  I think everyone really enjoyed themselves!  Looking forward to the next one.

Looking into some advertising options for my shop.  Excited about that!

Switched to a different Chiropractor...  today was my first visit... I am happier already!

Nathan goes for his hunter safety course on Saturday!!

New truck tires are GREAT!!  Love them... and they do awesome in the snow.  Too bad I got to find that out in SPRING!  LOL!! 

Still loving my Land Rover!  Way better on fuel... ugly or not!  ;-)

Stacy has been hard at work on the Escort.  The body is off... and it is in the garage for its motor swap.  He had his steering parts custom made.  It shouldnt be long now!!! 

I've gone through hell and back with issues with my hip/knee.  I am finally "over" the trauma from the hip injection... but I sure as hell wont be getting another one!!!!  No thanks!!!

I think that about wraps it up.  I am sick of this weather... and soooo ready for the "real" SPRING to show up!!!

2013... Weeks #8 and #9

Ok... it has obviously been pretty busy around here lately!
A quick recap-
*Something got in with the kid's ducks... we lost 1 and the other 2 were badly ripped up.  These ducks have seen 2 different vets... been on 2 different antibiotics... tons of wound care... one got a nasty flesh eating infection that went all the way into the muscle.  BUT, now we are seeing some recovery with both of them!  They are living in our side kitchen right now... and we have yet to figure out what got them or how it got into the coop with them!  Whatever it was got in with the chickens this week, we lost 1 chicken.
*STILL waiting on the new tires for the truck to arrive!!!  Grrrr!!!
*Last week we were still looking for another vehicle.  This week we decided on a Land Rover... and made the purchase.  LOVE IT!
*Got rid of the CRX...  It now belongs to Josh.  He is beyond ecstatic about it.
*Ordered and received a book on mesothelioma for my grandfather.  TONS of info... he is pleased with it.  Just wish my asshole mother would quit using him to pay her way in life.  He needs to really focus on himself and my grandmother!
*Stacy almost bought another Bronco.  I am so glad that fell through... more trouble than it was worth!  Now focusing on finishing the Escort!! ;-)  His dad had that thing pulled out and on a tow dolly in less than 12 hours of Stacy saying he wanted to bring it home!!  I bet he did a happy dance in the space it freed up in their yard!!  LOL!!!  I am excited to see some progress being made on it!
*Brittany is practicing with the UDA comp cheer team  now!!  They are in between seasons right now... but she is excited about cheering again.
*I will be placing my seed order THIS weekend!!  I cant wait to get out into the garden... I have TONS of ideas!!
*It is actually starting to smell like spring... and my allergies are feeling it.  I cant say I am sad to see winter go... I have had enough now.  I am sick of slop falling from the sky.  I am ready to get my hands in some dirt!
*Kids are doing good with school!
*Making good use of our "Y" membership.
I think that about covers things.  I am hoping to have a bit more time in the upcoming week to put together a more in depth blog!  Things have just been so damn crazy lately!!  I am ready for some "down" time!! 

2013 week #7

I am really running behind on my blogs!!  I have been sooo damn busy!

School is coming along.  We have had some bumps in the road... but that is to be expected.  Both kids have been working on putting together some HUGE portfolios!!  I am impressed with both of them.

I FINALLY have peace and quiet from the drama!!  Knock on wood!!

The 2 month long saga over truck tires has ENDED!!  Tires have been ordered and will be in by the end of the week!  We also replaced the steering stabilizers... and got an alignment done.  I think maintenance on my truck should be about done.  Only thing left that I want done is having the rear checked out.  I am not liking that funny smell that seems to come from it.
My CRX gets inspected tomorrow... driving season is fast approaching. 
Now, I am really hoping my hubby can turn his attention to his Escort project!! 

We had a busy weekend.  Saturday was a get together at Stacy's parents... Sunday we went to my grandparents to celebrate the girl's birthdays. 
I didnt get much of my  "weekend" things done.
Yesterday Britt and I had PT in the morning... the afternoon was spent on getting all of the kids hair cuts and picking up a few things we needed.  Once we got home I threw together some soups... and called it a day!

Brittany is going to make her first attempt at cheerleading again... today!  She is nervous... but I know she has this.  The Physical Therapist has been giving her some great exercises to improve her stability!  And boy... does that girl have some rock solid abs now!! 

Oh... Stacy and I actually followed through on a date night last weekend!!  It was more of a Valentine's day date... but it was awesome!  He took me out to dinner... then we took the truck up the mountain to watch some beautiful snow fall!!  LOVED IT!! 
Yea, we need to do that kind of stuff more often.

And... lastly...
We are trying to put together a team for "Logan's Walk" for autism.  I really hope we can pull it off!!

That's it for now. 

Logan's Walk and Run

This year we have decided to put together a team to participate in the 8th Annual Logan's Run & Walk for AUTISM !!!

DETAILS--
Saturday April 6th (my birthday)
City Island, Harrisburg
The 5K Run starts @ 10, Registration @ 9. $20 fee... with 3 cash prizes available! 1st-$125, 2nd-$100, 3rd-$75
The Walk starts at Noon... Sign in @ 11, no fee
There will be refreshments, entertainment and vendors!

We are looking for people who are willing to help out for a GREAT cause, who would like to join our team!!!

I have a bunch of fundraising ideas... but we NEED a team first!!!

We are also looking for business sponsorships... which will get the business's name on the event shirts and other things... depending on the amount they donate!

ALL MONEY RAISED GOES TO THE GREATER HARRISBURG AREA CHAPTER OF THE AUTISM SOCIETY!!!
THIS IS A GREAT CAUSE!!!

1 in 88 children born today will be diagnosed with autism!
The Autism Society is a leading voice and resource for the autism community in its grassroots efforts to educate, advocate, serve and support those affected by autism.  The Autism Society is able to serve individuals and families living with autism as a result of events like this one.
Please run or walk with us to promote autism awaremess and support the local autism community.

We are asking for business sponsorships with many included benefits- 
*publicity and exposure through area media (radio and TV)
*promotion of your organization in print on facebook and the web
*increased visibility with loyal customers
*positive image in the community

For more details... contact me!!