Recent Happenings.

Hello,

          Last weekend we had a very rich and enjoyable time "camping". It wasn't really camping because we had a roof over our heads and electric lights. The whole idea of it is that it starts off as a father and son thing on Friday and then Saturday afternoon the wives and sisters show up and make it a family event. It is a time of fishing, campfires, swimming, games, and so on and so forth. There isn't any agenda really because that would just spoil it. There are good things that happen in this sort of setting. You can look HERE to see what has been happening in our lives this month. You will get to the camp out pictures toward the end of the album. Enjoy!!

Quote of the Week

Clark, holding a newly emptied ice cream bucket: "Hey make sure you save this, I need it for when I change oil."
Me: "Honey, there's already three buckets out in the mini-storage for those jobs."
Slight pause then Clark with a smirk: "But it flows better if I have a new bucket."

Maybe you won't find it funny but I did.

A Wedged Benny Bear In Great Tightness

I was washing dishes when he started fussing. I turned around and this is what I found.

Weekend in Pictures

This came rolling in Friday evening.  Thankfully only the edge caught us, it was much worse north-west of us.

Saturday we took the youth to Potato River Falls.

Then Sunday we headed for the North Shore. The lupines are blooming there right now. Brag alert ahead, I took this picture. :)

At the cabin. It was quiet and lovely. We needed the get away.

Grandma came up with us.

Benny and Grammy

Grandma telling Emily stories of when she was a girl.

It takes the whole family to build an outhouse.

Dad and Mom enjoying the fruit of their labors. I'll let mom show the pictures of the projects they did.

Mother and son  at the cook stove.

Mudding anyone? Unintentional that is.

Lots of wildflowers.

It was hot, so we went down to the shore for an hour to play. The water was COLD.

Mother & Son

Watched fireworks in Silver Bay. I was impressed with how nice a display it was for a small community.

On the way home, all tired out. He loved the cabin.

     Well, that was easier then writing a 12,000 word essay.  More pictures here and here. 
     Oh and know what happens when the Minnesota Government shuts down the state parks because of a lack of budget? Everyone just parks along the road and walks in to enjoy the park anyway. How does that help a budget crisis I wonder?
--Charlotte

A Few Pictures And Notes

Current summer table-scape.

    It is summer. Only 58 degrees doesn't qualify today as a summer day though. I did the calculations this morning, and figured out that from now through the end of August we only have three free Saturdays. Busyness!! But we are glad to have friends and busy summer schedules. I asked Clark when we are going fishing....he sighed and said he didn't know. On our "free" Saturdays perhaps?
    The peonies in the above picture are from my flower garden. I planted them two years ago, and have lots of big beautiful blossoms this year. I didn't know peonies smelled so fragrant. Makes me happy to begin reaping some rewards for the time I've put into that bed.

Cutest kid in the world, of course!

     Benny is more little boy then baby. Sigh! I was one of these good moms and plugged off my electrical outlets so he couldn't hurt himself. Well, he's figured out how to dig the plugs out. Hmm. Wonder what the experts would say about that! The other day I walked into the kitchen and discovered he had somehow managed to take the lid off of the large, new jug of olive oil. Fortunately  I hadn't opened it yet, so the foil seal was preventing disaster. But, yeah, we still love him to bits. We have also discovered he has a talent for "singing" on key with whatever music happens to be playing at the moment. We're looking forward to when he's older and we can cultivate that.
     Recently heard the song "Holy Art Thou, Lord God Almighty", from Handel's Largo.  I'd love to sing that with a choir. One of my dreams is to sing in a choir someday. I have good memories of chorus at SMBI.
     And now I must finish supper preparations. Chuck roast, oven fries, and sauteed broccoli (I get the broccoli to myself). Yummy!

"Roman Soldier" or a "Simon"

Hello All,

        I have this thought rolling around in my head and I want to put it out there to see if I am taking something out of context.
        I think we know how roughly Jesus was handled by the Soldiers at His crucifixion. They beat, mocked, and whipped him. There is another detail that we often overlook and I can't help but think there is a reason it is noted.
         
          (Mark 15:21)  And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.
      
          Now my question is this: Is there a modern day application for this? Think about it, each one of us has a cross to bear and occasionally we catch glimpses of the crosses of others around us.
           
        (Luke 9:23)  And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

          Are you following my train of thought? How often do we mistake some ones cross for a fault? I am not talking about sin, but a perceived fault. We see this "problem" that this other brother or sister is having and we have some choices to make. Do we pick up a whip and go to work or do we get in beside him and help him out? Reverse the situation. Do we make it more accommodating for the whip to be used on us or do we make it easy for another to step in beside us and help? Do you get a vision of a mass of people headed up the road with arms linked and a cross over every shoulder?
What do you think, is this a legitimate comparison?

Just thinking!!

Summer and Stuff

Jalon R. and Benny after church Sunday.

    It's a classic Wisconsin summer day out there. One of those days that makes you want to just live out of doors. I planted garden while Benny napped. It's supposed to be nice the rest of the week. I read on AccuWeather today that those of us that live in the Great Lakes region might not have summer. Meaning that our temperatures won't top 90 very often. Sounds good to me!!
    Yesterday the family was here and helped us get our yard work done. It's amazing how much work you can accomplish with more then just two people. Maybe we need to hire some servants or something.
     Here is a picture for your enjoyment. It was taken several weeks ago; I found it the other day and remembered I threatened to post it.  Can't you just see the ego?

HOW REAL MEN SHOOT CROW

Don't worry, no crows were harmed in the filming of this picture. After all, pellet guns aren't noted for being able to hit their target at 100+ feet. Especially not crows.  

The Best Blueberry Muffins

We had these for breakfast this morning. I think this is the best recipe I've ever found.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons baking powder (yes, really, use that much)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup granulated brown sugar or white sugar (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and sugar. In another bowl, combine butter, egg, and milk and mix well. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and with a spatula, stir until just combined. Do not beat or over mix; it's okay if there are lumps in the batter. Gently fold the blueberries into the batter.
Spoon the batter into the muffin tray, filling each cup about 2/3 full. (It's more like fill the cups 3/4 to all the way full. The batter will be VERY stiff.) Bake for 10 minutes and remove from the oven. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the granulated brown or white sugar and return the muffins to the oven to bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes (again, optional, I bake for 20-25 minutes and skip this step), until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes in the pan before turning the muffins out.


I'd like to try these with whole wheat sometime and see how well that works and if Clark would like them. 

Busy Morning at the Bird Feeder

Hello,

          We had a busy morning at the bird feeder and it wasn't because of the cowbirds, Hooray!! I think we found a bird feed they don't like.  Yes, these were all taken today and I think a majority of them this morning in about one hours time.

There is room for a few more.....

Baltimore Oriole (Adult Male I believe.)

Another Baltimore Oriole (Immature Male I believe.)

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Female)

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Male)

Indigo Bunting

Cyanocitta cristata

        I think this was a record for variety for bird kind at our bird feeder. There was also a cowbird, a grackle, a goldfinch, and a nuthatch that happened by. My wife says she saw at least a half a dozen different orioles and about that many grosbeaks.

That's all for now!!

Normal Bits of Life.

   I'll ramble and blather along and see if if I get something worth posting.

• We finally have real spring and summer weather. The bird feeder was busy all day. I think Clark is going to post pictures he took earlier today. I think we figured out how to get rid of those stupid cowbirds. We found seed they don't like and the song birds do. 
• My stupid computer mouse is acting up and keeps changing the fonts on my page. I do not appreciate it, especially as I can't figure out how to get it to revert to original size. 
• I detail painted a part of my kitchen that I've wanted to for quite sometime. I sponge painted for the first time, and I love it. I think I'll do more of that. I don't have a picture to show you though. It's amazing how good a little thing like paint makes you feel.
• I figured out today that I had a crocheting stitch wrong. Duh!!
• My flower bed is planted in seeds. Morning glory, marigolds, four o'clock, cosmos, hollyhocks, butterfly weed, zinnias. We'll see what comes up. I need to get a few pansies to add color for right away. 
• Next up, the garden. I am going to have a garden after all. And I am looking forward to it. 
• I decided to paint the interior of my kitchen cupboards. After house cleaning and garden.
• Benny has a severe case of Apron String Attachment Syndrome today. I think teeth are the culprit. It looks like he might get a bunch all at once, poor kid. Oh well, as mom says, he won't do it when he's 18. 
• Chicken and potatoes for supper.
• My font zoomed again. Whatever. 
• We went to Duluth  on Saturday for our anniversary. Fun. We went to the Aquarium, drove across the Lift Bridge, and then went to Barnes & Noble. And I went to Hancock Fabric as well. There were two ore ships that went through while we were at the Aquarium, and we were always on the other side of the building and couldn't watch. There is way too much stuff to do in Duluth. You would have to spend a week there.  We came home with a few books and a game. Benny did super. Only he slept the whole way home and wanted to play until 11:30.
• Consequently, we did not get out of bed until 8:20 Sunday morning.
•  Stupid mouse.
• Singing at church was wonderful. 
• We hung out with the youth for Lance's birthday party. 
• It stormed and the electricity was off for quite a few hours. 
• You are likely getting tired of this. So I shall close.
•  My washer emitted a greasy, hot rubber smell this morning. The Internet was off. The car did not want to start. Clark's comment: "You  can tell I have to teach Sunday School this week."
• Goodbye  :)
• Stupid font.

Signs of Spring

Hello,

          Some one told me I had not posted in awhile so I guess I will remedy that. Spring is here and I believe that winter has puffed its last icy breath. Anyway, it is nice to go out and see green now instead of just mud, sticks, and remnants of snow.

Some green in my Mom's flower garden.

A flower is a pleasant sight to the eyes after a long winter.

It is warm enough to eat out side and the Grabers are enjoying that.

Pussy willows.

Leaves!! Little tiny green leaves.  (I know some one is going comment that they have had leaves on the trees for the last month.)

That is all for now!! Hope you enjoyed it.
 
Oh, and I updated Photo of the Week.

Nothing In Particular

     It's COLD out there. And this is the 2'nd of May folks. The temperature is supposed to dip to 24 for the next two nights. I think spring forgot where we live. There were snow flurries, yesterday and today. But I'd rather have snow then be facing my life blown apart by tornadoes.
     Lets see...the royal wedding. I didn't pay a lot of attention to it, until I woke up Friday morning and it was plastered all over the news. And so I watched clips and read articles and stuff. I think Americans could stand to learn a few things from the British. The wedding looked pretty simple to me. Yes, I know it cost 30+ million. More because of who it was then what it was. I liked her dress. Sure, it wasn't anything I would wear, but compared to your general run of the mill stuff you see now days, it was pretty good.  I didn't know hats were such a big thing in English fashions. And for some reason I thought the Queen was a widow. Not sure why I had that impression. Clark's comment: "You ladies are enjoying the news aren't you?" Yes dear. Lance's comment: "What's the big deal about the royal wedding?" Ummm yeah, the ladies were way more into it then the men.
     So then this morning, we woke up and saw the news about Osama bin Laden. And Clark just taught Sunday School yesterday on Non-resistance. So, I wondered, what's our reaction to the news? Are we happy? Or sad? Or neutral? I think I'm mostly neutral. And sorry for his soul. I think what's most intriguing to me about it, is the detective work to figure out where he was. I've always enjoyed stories about espionage.
     And now for the local news from our house. A certain two-foot boy has the radar to know when Mom is taking a shower. Either he pounds on the bathroom door calling for "Mam-mam", or the house gets quiet as he digs in things he knows are off limits, like Mommy's basket by her chair.  The spice of human naughtiness manifests its self very young.
     I started spring cleaning my house. I managed to get a whole bag of trash from just my living room. How did that happen I want to know? I like living in small houses, you simply can't accumulate. But I have two totes of clothing already full of clothes for my baby. That does not make me happy, but I don't think I'm going to give it away, because I do not want the hassle of trying to find clothes for another child someday. But if I have a little girl next, well, the amount of clothing totes is sort of mind boggling. And I wonder, do I really need that much stuff?! I talked to another mom with ten children that lives in a house the size of mine. And she said she had the same problem. Which made me feel a little better.
     My brain dump is complete now. I brain dumped to Clark last night, and then composed another essay  in my mind on something else in the middle of the night. Because I need to sort my thoughts about it in case I ever get in a situation where I won't be able to remain silent, but I need to be tactful. Tactfulness is not a huge character trait of mine.
    A nice warm spring to you! :)

A Quote That Inspired Me This Week

You say, 'If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.' 

You make a mistake. 

If you are not content with what you have, 

you would not be satisfied if it were doubled. 

--Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Saw this on another blog early this week, and loved it. How true!

The Late Great Bathroom Project

     So, after my moan here, Benny adjusted his sleeping schedule, and I got my bathroom done.

     Before. As in, a long time ago, like when we moved in. It was ugly, trust me. At least the flooring was new.

 

     I started painting it a long time ago, then the project was stuffed while I did baby and other things. A few weeks ago I waded in again. Origanally I was going to paint a dark green strip around the top and put up a wildlife border. Then I saw a picture online that gave me another inspiration. The bathroom is small, and I wanted to make it look bigger. So now we have...

...this!

And I really like it, I think. (Sorry about the picture quality.)

     It's still bare-bones, there's a few pretties to add yet. I'm planning to have a wildlife/north-woods theme. I'm hoping to find some figurines, bear, moose, loon, etc. I can't decide if I like the green shower curtain though. Might have to replace that.  And I'm going to find a curtain for the window instead of those silly shades. But having the painting done feels really good. My next painting project is likely going to be Bendick's room. I've been looking online for ideas. And then there's my bedroom, the main bathroom, and the living room walls, most likely in that order. Since I average a painting project every year and a half... well, you do the math. By the time I am finished, we'll move, and I can start again!

 Quote Of The Week:
       Clark, after he spent about four hours in the backroom: "We have too much stuff!! All we need is table and chairs, food, the clothes on our backs, and our Bibles. Everything else can go!!"

It's Spring!

    The last two days have been lovely!! Benny and I enjoyed being outside. Benny discovered that dried leaves are fun to crush, but not so fun to eat. :)  I cleaned out my flower bed and took note of what survived the winter and my gardening abilities. Afterward I sat down with a Jungs Seed magazine and did some more dreaming and scheming. I think this year I'll add butterfly bush and hollyhocks. I also want to try morning glory again. Last year they never came up, but last year was a dud year for gardening, at least for me. Today I planned to rake leaves off my lawn, but I discovered the rake is still solidly frozen in a cake of ice in the shed. I'm afraid the grass might grow before the rake is freed.
     I'm ready to tackle spring cleaning and organizing. It quite overwhelming to think about though. But it's going to feel good when I'm done and stuff is organized and unnecessary stuff is thrown away. Then I can go buy more stuff....hopefully NOT.
     Speaking of buying stuff, we went to a thrift store in a town about 45 minutes from here. It was a fun store, and I found quite a few treasures. One of which was an old rocking horse. His mane and tail need some help, and he needs a few coats of finish, but it's good and solid. I knew it was one of those things I'd kick myself for the rest of my life if I didn't get it. And Clark didn't think there was much question about whether or not to leave it there.  Someday perhaps I'll show you a picture of it.
     Tonight we are going to have hamburgers for supper. That will be a nice spring time treat. Clark also talked about starting on our back room. I think we've finally figured out how to turn it into a bed/storage area that's going to be workable and look nice.
     Another thought, it struck me when I was reading Genesis 1 this week, that God created heaven. I guess I always thought that He lived in heaven, and stooped to coming to earth. But nope, He created heaven too, on the second day. Wonder why we don't really hear about it. And it makes God seem way bigger, if he has to stoop to even fit in heaven, let alone earth.
     That's my thought for the day. Enjoy spring!!