Hearer and whisperer …

I think it is safe to call John the “hearer of snakes”. He is still working on the whisperer part! Seriously – he has super-sonic ears, I’m telling you. We all went for a walk the other day doing our usual snake check. Disappointed that we didn’t see one, we turned to head home when John heard a sound and said “that’s a snake!” Although, I was initially doubtful, he was right – it was a snake!! (I have been known to dismiss snake rattling sounds for leaves, cicadas, etc.) This time, it was hiding under a dead log – the same place we have seen one before. Yuck! I have left the picture small for you squeamish types, but here is the proof :) It’s another crotalus horridus.

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Now, for the whisperer part – the kids and I went and watched Paul Daily break a horse to ride. It was really fascinating and we all enjoyed it. Throughout the approximate 2 hours, he weaves his testimony and faith in God through the training of the horse and how it relates to each of us. Check out their website for more information.

Just getting started – the horse initially just ran around and around the pen.

Persistent “helper”

After calming and working with the horse, his daughter went for a ride.

 

He was kind enough to allow a picture with our kiddos.

Sugar cookie recipe

I don't normally share recipes, but this one is SO good I can't help myself. I found it a couple of years ago on allrecipes.com and have made it a few times. It is super easy and the cookies are really good. (note: this recipe makes a lot of cookies)

Best Rolled Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

If you know me well, you know I love icing and these cookies are just as good without icing. Enjoy! And if you make them, let me know what you think.

And the answer is ...

Yep - the letter 'e'.

Sorry, Don, no cd :)

**update** - I didn't get this one, but my husband did (thought I could stump him). Our friend, Don did also and was hoping for a prize.

Brain teaser ...

Here is a fun brain teaser from our school today - can you guess it? (I didn't :)

What is the beginning of eternity, The end of time and space; The beginning of every end, And the end of every race?

Random

Can you guess what this is? I just absolutely love it. We finally watched “How to train your dragon”, and the next day, Savannah sewed her very own dragon. If you haven’t seen the movie, I’ll explain just a little bit. The main character, Hiccup, is supposed to be a ferocious Viking and kill dragons. In an attempt to kill one, he wounds it, but doesn’t have the heart to kill it. He helps it by creating an artificial tail and befriends it. That’s all I’m going to tell you, I don’t want to spoil anymore of the movie :) Savannah’s version is a hurt wing, so she built an artificial wing for it. It also has the little “saddle” to hold on. Just very cute and creative, in my opinion.

She was kind enough to share her sewing machine so I could finish up the valances for the master bath. I like how they turned out (if they look uneven, it’s because I had to shoot at a funny angle because of the shower :). The countertop in this bathroom is called African something or other, so I thought the cheetah print was appropriate. It finally looks complete in there. There is only one room left to finish the valances, but I don’t have the fabric for that room yet.

Random question – why do we consider the plants that grow well weeds? And the plants that we spend money on, that don’t grow so well … somehow those are special? This little vine is growing in a little pine tree and just looks so pretty, I think. The bumblebee doesn’t mind that it is a weed, either.

Itty bitty snaky

John and I went for a walk this morning and when we got back to the house, here was a little friend waiting for us by the car! It was a baby – really hoping it doesn’t have siblings!! We think it might have been a copperhead.

Stairs and more …

These are the stairs that John built! Don’t they look nice? Please don’t overlook the staining job, either – that was my contribution. Please disregard all of the extra building supplies under the deck … John does not have a shop yet. Everyone with me now – awwww, poor John. :) I do feel badly for him and hope that someday, we will be able to build him a kickin’ shop!

Part of the encouragement for Savannah to agree to sell the camper was that we could afford to get a pool. It was later in the season when we actually purchased it, so we got it for less money – whoo hoo! Our biggest problem was filling it – we have an adequate well, but at the time of filling, we had not had a lot of rain. So, we just kind of trickled water into it every day and filled it very slowly. I conveniently am not showing you the water because it doesn’t “look” all that great – we have a lot of iron in our water that reacts with the chlorine. It is kind of like looking at lake water, but the water tests good for chlorine and pH :) The kids have finally gotten more confident in the water, so it has been worth every effort. It is also nice for us big kids to cool off.

 

Don’t you just love this picture? We had a fun, family evening. John dug a fire pit and built a stand for the pot to sit on. Then, he (with just a little help for me) made campfire stew, using onions and tomatoes from our garden. It was a fun memory-making kind of night and I’m so glad that my hubby persisted in pursuing it :)

Kind of a fun story about the dutch oven – we had looked for a sturdy pot at Wally World, but didn’t find anything suitable. Saturday, we still didn’t have a pot, so Savannah and I went into the Antique mall nearby and they had exactly what I was looking for – now, how often does that happen? I was so excited!

Thought this was a cute picture :)

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On a completely different note – I have been really enjoying reading through the Bible chronologically. I am currently in Isaiah and all kinds of verses are just jumping out at me – I love that. This recently struck a note with me:

Isaiah 32:16-17 The LORD’s justice will dwell in the desert, his righteousness live in the fertile field. The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.