Blueberries

Summer also means blueberries for our family.

 Our usual picking spot, about 35 minutes north in the country, did not have berries this year due to a late frost that killed all the berry flowers. We were very disappointed when we found out this news. We decided to try another patch, closer to town.

We were so very excited to finally be out picking!

The weather was very hot, but that's just part of it I guess.

 Emma was very eager when we first got there

 

 Olivia was a diligent picker. She wanted to fill her very own bucket.

 Ethan was a diligent picker, too! He would get some berries, and then pour them in my bucket.

 

 Elijah was a great picker for about the first two thirds of the time being there.

 

 Beautiful berries

 

 Emma became completely disenchanted with picking, the bugs, the heat, and the lack of water (my fault), about half way through our picking.

 

 

 

 Sweet Mom, huddled by a bush faithfully picking, in her wonderful sun hat.

 

Hot and buggy...

 Precious five year old

 

 Tired, but faithful little picker. She had her a half bucket at this point.

 

 "I want to go home, Mommy!"

 

 Heading to the berry barn to get some water and pay for our berries

 



 33 weeks pregnant...and very, very hot!

 

 The closer we got to leaving, the more smiles Emma delivered.

 

 Beautiful pasture nearby. Oh, how we love open farm land...

 

 Sweet littles

 

 Beautiful sunflowers near the blueberry bushes

 Me and my babies...thankful for another wonderful (hot) memory :)

 

Emma was the happiest when we were home, bathed, and sorting our berries...

 

 

Tomato Tradition~

It's summer, so that means it's time to can!

A tradition started by my mother before I was born...

One she instilled in me from as young as I can remember...

And one that I am teaching my children to love and appreciate.

~Olivia washing the tomatoes/step 1~

 

 ~Ethan boiling the tomatoes for a few minutes, then putting them into cold water to cool/step 2&3~

 

 ~cooling toms~

 

 ~Me, cutting the softened tomatoes into a pan, preparing them for cooking/step 4~

 

~Emma, just being precious, drying off a tomato after it has been washed by Livy~

 



 ~Emma's tomato~

 

~Ethan wishing he could help me cut the softened tomatoes~

 

 ~getting fresh cooling water~

 

 ~cooling toms, waiting to be cut~

 

 ~tomato love~

 

~My sweet, diligent boy, helping me stir the first "cooking" of tomatoes/step 5~

 

 ~filling the jars, with the hot, cooked tomatoes/step 6~

 

 

~removing air bubbles with a knife/step 7~

 

~add lemon and salt to filled jars for preservation/step 8~

 

~add lids, and water bathe for 40 minutes/step 9&10~

 

~discard cutting scraps, and tidy kitchen while waiting for jars to water bathe/step 11~

 

~sweet Elijah playing with his pattern blocks. He had no interest in the tomatoes~

 

~enjoy the beauty of your handy work/step 12~

 

Thank you, Mom, for teaching me the art of canning...

 

Titus 2:3-5

 

Understanding the Love of God

Ephesians 3:16-19

"16.That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17. that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18. may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height- 19. to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

It was such a long time ago that these words were written by Paul.

They were words chosen by the Lord to be put in the Bible for us to have and live by.

Yet, I ask myself, do I know the Love of God? We all know that we love God. We live for Him.  We serve Him daily. We obey His word, but do we know how much He loves us? Have we tapped into understanding how vast and how great His love is for us? If we could grasp this, how would this change our lives?

I recently came across an excerpt from one of Beth Moore's Bible studies that I love, and wanted to share:

     "God's love for me extends in every direction. Because I am His child, all that is behind me must be worked toward good, even when I have failed (see Romans 8:28). In addition, everything ahead of me belongs to God. My future is entirely His, and His love extends through circumstances I have not yet known (see Jeremiah 29:11). No matter how deep I sink into a pit of despair, His hand can extend that much deeper to lift me out (see Psalm 40:2). No matter what heights this human experience can boast, God's ways are higher. Every day I spend with Him, I am lifted out of insignificance to ascend and take my place in God's High calling in Christ Jesus (see Isaiah 55:9; Phil. 3:14).

    Can you say to Him, ' I want to experience every part of You that is possible on this side of Heaven'? If you can then you will 'know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God' (see Eph. 3:19)."

Lord, through your grace, let us come to understand the breadth, length, depth, and height, of Your love for us.

Blessings~

Abbie

Comfy Goodness~

I am very excited about the my latest sewing project. I am making a stash of newborn fitted cloth diapers for our little gift that is due in August. Now that it is summer, and I am not homeschooling, I have plenty of time to sew! (smile).

(Inside of diaper~Infant Prefold in Indian Cotton)

I have a wonderful mentor friend who is an amazing diaper seamstress.I used her tutorial found here. She has been available to answer so many of my questions. She has made the start of my diaper sewing journey so much easier! I am hoping to make a collection of diapers as beautiful as the ones she made!

(Outside of diaper~Bamboo Velour~sand color)

I made a few trial diapers using scrap fabric. They turned out pretty well, and helped me realize things I needed to change or be aware of when I started using my good fabric. A couple days ago, I made my first real, usable cloth diaper(shown here in these pictures)! It turned out great! The fabrics are amazing, and the diaper feels so soft and snugly!

(Outside)

(This is a Bum Genius Flip Cover that I'll use over the fitted diapers)



 

I cloth diapered some with Elijah(my third child). You could say I got my feet wet with him :)

With Emma(baby number 4), I was even more inspired, and "almost" exclusively cloth diapered her.

Now, with number 5, I am to the point of "making" diapers!...wow... :)

 (Finished diaper, my kindle with my "goal" picture, and the trusty vintage Singer)

 

So Happy! :)

Raindrops and Puddles~

 

It's so easy to say no all the time.

No to all the little things our kids want to do that will just cause more work for Mommy.

 But, this day, I said yes.

What does it matter if I have to help them dry off and change their clothes?

What does it hurt to do an "extra" load of laundry?

 Such joy for them...

 So out of the box from our everyday routine...

 Yet, so needed.

Needed for them to play and jump in rain puddles.

To abandon all carefullness, and just have fun.

To take a break from the normal, and enjoy God's rain.

 It's so easy to say no...to stay within the confines of our schedule...

 But, the happiness it brought us all...

 To lay aside the next thing that should be done...

And just say yes.