Two strings are walking past a bar, and they see a sign that says, "No Strings Allowed". The first string gets mad and says he is going to go in and demand his rights. So he walks in and sits at the bar. The bartender says, "Are you a STRING?!" and the string says, "Yeah, and I...." That was it, he was thrown out. The second string looks at the first string and says, "You handled that all wrong. Watch me." Then he throws himself on the ground and rolls around and wriggles and wallows and gets all dirty and gnarly and tangled up with loose threads at the top. Then he walks into the bar, sits down, and demands, "Give me a Root Beer!" So the bartender eyes him up and down and says, "Are you a string?" And the string says, "Nope, I'm a frayed knot."

That is a joke my Daddy told me when I was a kid. He was always telling me jokes and getting a kick out of me laughing at them. They were really old jokes, but I'd never heard them before so he loved telling them to me. Now he tells old jokes to my kids.

HAPPY FATHERS' DAY DADDY!

Conversation overheard in the kitchen this morning...

Pickle: You poked me en mah ieeeee!
SweetPea: No I didn't! I wasn't even near your eye!
Pickle: Dat mean you misst.

(Pause)

Pickle: You poked me en mah ieee ugh-ens!
SweetPea: No I didn't! I didn't even try --
Pickle: DAT JUSS MEAN YOU MISST UGH-ENS!

Since Roe vs Wade, the amount of women & children at poverty level has increased to a majority, not decreased as was supposed would happen. This is because men are now less likely to marry a woman bearing their child --after all if she hadn't wanted to raise a child alone she could have aborted it. Our culture of abortion isn't freeing women from "unwanted" children, it's freeing men to be childish.

Thank God, I was blessed with a man who stepped up and decided to call me "My Lovely Wife" instead of relegating me to "My Baby's Mama". And thank God or the life of our precious son (who is almost 16yo now), and the two children that followed him.

I have friends, I've never met. I have mentors who, most of the time, don't even know I'm there "listening" and learning.

I live a fairly isolated life out here without a lot of "girlfriends". I've never been good at the whole "girlfriend" thing anyway. Never have been a very social person. I like my life to be kind of slow and quiet. I'm a stay at home mom, by choice, and I'm not unhappy about it. But, I must say what a blessing it is, that, any time of the day or night I can associate with true ladies... people I look up to for various reasons.

Some of these ladies are "rough and tough" country folks who, two weeks after giving birth at home without a midwife, can handle a sick calf and a mama cow with an infected udder, while their husband is away. Some grow a garden and preserve their harvest. They can milk a cow or a goat, make cheese, sew their own clothes or make quilts to keep friends and family warm.

Some are sassy, and city-sophisticated. They know their kids better than anyone, and their bible better than most. They worry that they may be drinking too much coffee or wearing too much makeup and they are quick to tell you about God's love.

Some have a dozen or so children at home. Some are almost through their first, full-term pregnancy. Some have grandchildren all across the nation. And many of them have children in heaven.

Some live with chronic pain and illness. Some live with fear of rejection. They juggle tight budgets, allergen-free diets, home businesses, Sunday School classes, homeschool or after school activities.

Their husbands should count themselves blessed to have them. They make their husbands richer, his work easier, his nights more pleasant, and his house a home... He can be confident in her abilities and comfortable in her arms.

Some of them are married to great guys who understand that. And some of them are married to guys who simply don't give nearly enough thought to 1Pe 3:7 "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered." or Eph 5:25-31, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh." [Or Pro 5:15-19; Mal 2:14-16; Mat 19:3-9; 1Co 7:3; Col 3:19; for that matter.] and fear the Lord who wrote these things.

I'm not saying these ladies are perfect. They are not perfect, BUT they are all trying very hard to do the best they can with what they have, while continuing to learn, grow, and love those around them. And that's what makes every one of them so lovely to me.

Thanks Ladies.
WR

I just finished reading the first book in the Little Britches series aloud, to the kids. Even though I knew before starting the book, that his father was going to die at some point, I could barely read through the tears! Rooster was a man and barely let a tear escape (but a few did). SweetPea is still crying.

BTW, I've haven't accomplished even one of the things on my to do list. Boohoo!

WR

Ya' know I've got that Feedjit widget over in the side bar.... well I've noticed that a few of my repeat visitors arrive on the same page every time, a page other than the home page. And then they don't stay long. So I'm thinking some of you may have bookmarked my blog while you were viewing a category or a post. If that's the case, then when you show up it may look like I haven't posted anything new 'cause it's the same thing you were looking at the last time you were here. So if this is happening to you, [I'm posting this in as many catagories as I can so maybe you will see it] just click on the "Home" link in the menu at the top of the page to check for new posts.

I'd also like to invite y'all to look around the sidebar. I've added a link to a page where I will be adding videos and audios about Christianity, Health Issues, How-to, and whatever else strikes my fancy. I don't have much there yet, but I wanted you to be aware of it.

There's also a new gadget from Blogger called Followers. I didn't know what it was all about, but the description basically said it is for people who like like my blog, to let me know they are following it. It also lets folks who read my blog, find the blogs of other folks who read my blog.I figured that was cool so I added it.

Anyway, I want to encourage y'all to look around and take a little more time checking out the blog.

WR

The kids and I saw this the other day.....

...and we were all laughing pretty hard. Then I said, "It's true! We do! Don't we?" and nudged SweetPea for some backup. She stopped laughing, looked at me, and with all seriousness...........

..........You ready for this?..........

..........She said...........

"I'd rather poop butterflies and rainbows."

WR

I've been counting my blessings lately and thought I'd share a few of the things on my list. These are not huge things, nothing profound, just little things I've been thanking God for -- you may think some of them are silly but am thankful for every one of them.

• Tomatoes from the garden that are piling up all over the kitchen counter.


• Fresh figs, summer squash, and peaches given to us by family.


• Blueberries, found on sale, to eat with my cottage cheese.


• A second freezer with frozen tomatoes, figs, grapes, and blueberries in it for when the fresh ones are all gone.


• Harvesting onions, peppers, or greenbeans right out of the garden when I need them for something I'm cooking.


• New recipes, that my family loves, from friends I haven't even met.


• A bag of free pecans that we picked up various places earlier in the year.


• Learning where the good pecan trees are so we can pick up even more next year.


• Watermelons on the vine and lots of cantaloupe blooms (and the hope of cantaloupes soon).


• Wild bees to pollinate our garden and ladybugs to eat the aphids.


• Purple Martins who kept most of the moths out of the garden and flies out of the house (the flies have always been really bad here, 'til this year).


• Being able to see such beauty every day when I walk outside.


• Wildflowers and weeds in my yard, instead of a boring stretch of plain ol' grass.


• Learning how to tell which weeds are toxic, which are useful, and which are just very pretty if you give the a place of their own to grow.


• The fig tree that we thought had died last year, came back this year and is doing well.
  
• Finding little things on sale that I can use to bless others.


• All the people who have blessed me so many times in so many ways.
  

Dr. Gary is our chiropractor. He's a Christian, a husband, a father to four boys, and a really good chiropractor. (He also likes garden-fresh tomatoes.)

I've had mild back pain for years. At times it was worse than usual but then it would ease up again. I just thought it was something I had to live with. Then I got pregnant with Pickle and my back started getting worse. I hoped things would go back to normal after the birth.

Some time after that, Bull injured his back and started having tingling in his legs that just wouldn't go away. Some days it was so bad that he couldn't concentrate on anything else. He decided to try a chiropractor.

The first one he went to wouldn't give him a plan of treatment that ended with recovery. He seemed to want dh to just keep coming back --and tell all his family and friends how much they all needed see the chiropractor too. There was a heavy pushing of products and services and they wanted Bull to invite everyone he knew to come to "parties" at the office were they too could hear about these products and services. And to top it off, Bull was not seeing any benefit from his visits. So he stopped going, but his back wouldn't let him just forget the whole thing.

About that time, someone recommended Dr. Gary. So Bull decided to give it another try.

By then I had recovered from the birth and surgery (my second C-section) and was starting to understand that a lot of things were just not getting better --and my back was one of them. I was having back pain that was waking me up every night and I started each day in pain. So, Bull decided to make an appointment for me too. Dr. Gary got Bull in working order fairly quickly and help me immensely (our insurance doubled our copay before my treatment was over, and I was feeling so much better that I decided to stop going for a while).

Then recently, when pickle had been walking for a few months, we began to worry about his inability to go two days in a row without falling down and hitting his his head. The boy constantly had a bruise or knot on his head somewhere, and I regularly watched him for signs of a concussion.

His feet tended to turn in, but the left foot more so than the right. And believe it or not his adorable little baby b*tt crack was crooked! It veered to the left at the top and it had been that way since he was born, but thank God that was beginning to straighten out.

Still, the constant falling was not getting better, it was getting worse. Once, he gave himself two busted lips, a bloody nose, and a bump on the forehead, by falling repeatedly on the hardwood floor, over the span of three days. So we took him to Dr. Gary.

He told us that Pickle's hip joints seemed loose, especially the left side, and if after a few appointments we didn't see any improvement then we should take Pickle to a pediatrician to have x-rays done (it takes a special set-up to x-ray toddlers) to check for serious abnormalities. Well after a few adjustments, things seemed to be improving so I made a few more appointments.

(please excuse my bare naked bed)

I think it has a lot to do with this little guy. He loves the box,...

And they have always said he is...

..."THE BEST TOY!!!" we've EVER given them. LOL!

Sweetpea, on stage, playing the grand piano.

Muddy Rooster! LOL!

While I'm waiting for pickle to wake up from his nap so we can go to the library, I figured I'd post some photos I took at my parents house yesterday. They have an emerald isle, secreted away, in a sea of subdivisions. And they really make the most of their little paradise. They have planted a veggie garden, grape vines, fig, peach, apple, and pear trees, blueberry bushes, flowers and greenery galore, a weeping willow, a corkscrew willow, and numerous other trees and shrubs. Needless to say it is beautiful! Here's a small glimpse of what you'd find there, if you were to stop by for a visit (click on the photos for a better view)...

Willow trees and garden

Blueberries

This pretty fellow

Young figs with...

Grape vine in the background

The fountain/bird bath

The birds

An odd fall leaf in Spring?

Can you find the toad? He's staying cool by half burying himself in a shady spot.

Here he is!

I just wanted to brag on my Princess (SweetPea). She is learning to cook and one of the things we are doing is reading a book called The Mary Frances Cook Book, written by Jane Eayre Fryer in 1912. The author wrote several books about the Mary Frances character that were aimed at teaching children different skills. So, of course the cookbook is about learning to cook. You can read it online at http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/html/books/book_64.cfm

Here is one of the recipes, from that book, that SweetPea made...

MILK TOAST

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 slices toast

1. Make ready the toast.
2. Heat the milk until smoking hot.
3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan.
4. Throw the flour into the butter. Cook until it bubbles a little, stirring all the time. Take from the fire.
5. Pour 1/3 milk upon the butter and flour, a little at a time, stirring with the back of a spoon to press out the lumps.
6. Place over fire, and gradually stir in the remaining milk.

Of course, she did it on a modern stovetop so the process was a little different, but she has helped me in the kitchen often enough to figure it out.

Here's how her breakfast turned out:

And there was enough left for me to enjoy Creamed Eggs!

It's yet another idea I got from my online friend, HB. It basically consists of milk toast with chopped, boiled eggs in it. Very good. I really enjoy it and have it for breakfast pretty often (and sometimes for lunch).

WR

My Husband was flipping thru the channels and came upon something that made my daughter exclaim, "Parachute Racing?!". Apparently, people were running a race with parachutes trailing behind them. And so the next question was, "Daddy, why do they have on the parachutes?". To which my very intelligent husband gave an answer that involved words like aerodynamics, drag, wind resistance, etc. My adorable daughter didn't miss a beat and replied with, "Oh. I thought it was to slow them down." ºÜº

WR