Not Quite Ordinary Observations

For Today...Tuesday, October 13, 2015

In the great outdoors...still the hint of fall, but not quite fully settled in yet. Yesterday was hot, so we had to close up the house when we got home, but it’s cool again this morning.

Within our four walls...morning routine underway. Enjoying cool air wafting in and wondering if we’ll make it with open windows all day today.

A heart of thanksgiving...for flexibility that allows us to step outside of the routine for a few days to enjoy friendship. And for and established routine that we can step back into. And for good rest.

A heart of prayer...for East End Baptist Church as we work to glorify God in all we do and for Almyra First Baptist Church as they continue to seek a new pastor (a part of my heart will always hunger to be a part of the spiritual growth of that precious church!); for farmers finishing up harvest; for us and the precious friends we enjoyed over the weekend as all of us return to routine.

Random observations...I’m holding off as long as I can before putting on a jacket this morning. We finally discovered that the hives I developed about six weeks ago are caused by cold! Ugh! I LOVE cold! I’m standing by the window right now and it’s 58 degrees at my desk. I am itching a bit, but it’s not bad right now. I can’t bring myself to put on a jacket yet. I just want to enjoy the cool air that I miss so much in the summer.

My silly children...were absolutely pinging off the walls last night as we closed out the day. They were tired from five days of fun, but they were also energized by the company we kept. It was quite funny to watch them last night!

Oh, and they now believe they can listen to Christmas music. Why? Because yesterday was Canadian Thanksgiving. Oh, and Farmer Appreciation Day. But, that has nothing to do with Christmas music. That’s just relevant because we know and love some awesome farmers.

Thoughts from the kitchen...Do you see Saturday and Sunday? My cooking plans for the week involve just making it until the weekend. No clue what we’re having between now and then, but some kind of soup is in the plan for the weekend.

On my bookshelf...Christmas books! Yes, really. It’s about time for Christmas reviews to start rolling around. So, I’m going to read a couple of Christmas books. Works for me! (Ahem…not to give any impression that the kids’ hunger for Christmas music comes from me at all. No, not a bit.)

Projects...still working on those socks. Steven’s first one is almost done, though! He’ll at least have one!  

Sounds of the moment...kids chattering as they finish breakfast and dive into chores.

From Hibbard Academy...back in the swing of things. Wow, we’ve been out a lot. But, we should have three solid weeks before it’s time for the Arkansas Baptist State Convention.

A favorite thing from last week...okay, so this picture was actually from yesterday (and there will be many more to come – as well as links to the posts I know these two amazing ladies will share soon), but it our time together started last week. I always love spending time with Joanna, obviously, but Wednesday night I got to hug Julie’s neck for the first time ever. Oh how these two ladies nourished me! Love them!

The planner...routine. Ahhhh…

Because visuals are fun...just a sample of what I found when I went up to bed Thursday evening. What can you expect after an all-out Nerf war involving eight warriors? They did such a good job picking up all the spent ammo they could find, but picking up Nerfs for days afterward is just the nature of a Nerf war. It cannot be helped. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.