Summer Time

School is out for summer!!!!!!  I know that an English teacher should know better than to put 6 exclamation points at the end of the sentence, but it seemed appropriate for the announcement of summer.  I have spent the morning doing a few relaxing chores.  I cleaned a few windows, and straightened up the front porch a bit.  I also made homemade cinnamon rolls for the children.  They have complained vehemently about my lack of cooking.  I still stick with the story that I cook almost daily, but  I don't make all the baked goods that they have grown to love.  Summer time will find me baking again.  Last night I made 2 loaves of Banana Bread, and I enjoyed every moment of the process of baking and being in the kitchen.

I am planning on enjoying the slower days of summer.  We will still have to adhere to a schedule because both Jacob and Hope play high school sports.  This will require several trips a day to the high school for me, but I get to come home in between! 

Keep an eye out for posts coming more often.  I love writing and it is something  that I have missed dearly.

grace and peace,
julie

Graduations Galore

Graduation came for Joshua this past Friday night.  This was also my first graduation as a teacher at our high school which is the reason for the robe.  I managed to do my job as a faculty member and as a mom without shedding one tear.

 We celebrated Joshua's graduation as a family.  Then we headed to the house with grandparents to enjoy a BBQ dinner on our front porch.  We picked up a few extra friends along  the way to eat dinner with us.

Today I took a day off from being teacher and went to celebrate our daughter's 8th grade graduation.  She won the Presidential Gold Award for fitness.  Her brother won the same award last year.

Hope enjoyed her special day with a limo ride with 14 of her friends to Chattanooga.  They ate at a nice restaurant and then went to a park for a carousel ride.  Afterward, they enjoyed ice-cream at another shop,  and tonight she will be heading to a graduation party with friends.    

I am on the countdown to the school year coming to a close for me.  I have had a wonderful year, but I am looking forward to a few months off to enjoy being at home again.  My kids are looking forward to big home cooked meals!

grace and peace,
julie

Tired and Punchy and a Bit Emotional

First, let me say point blank that I am tired.  The kind of tired that makes one a little bit punchy.  I believe it could be cured if I could go to bed and sleep for three days, but alas sleep doesn't come in the month of May it seems.  The word of the month is HECTIC.  Now that my rant is over I will move on to the more important things of life.  Matthew celebrated his 21st birthday with us this year.  It was a bit unexpected that he would actually get to be home, but I pulled together one of his favorite meals and we celebrated.

Next, both of our families gathered at Cedar of Lebanon State Park to celebrate Mother's Day.  We chose that particular park because it was a  halfway meeting point for all of us.   Here is a picture of my family with a few of us missing. 

In between celebrations, we have had to prepare ourselves for this child's graduation.  (Not the little one...she doesn't belong to us.  However, she does think that Josh belongs to her.  He calls her Bug, and she has his heart).  We  had Senior Awards Day at our high school.  Josh was given a standing ovation when it was announced that he had joined the Marines.  It was overwhelming for me.  Enough said or I might just cry again.  Sleep deprived people are a bit emotional.

Then today was his last day of high school.  After his final test, he came into my classroom.  He wanted to let me know that he passed all of his tests.  We talked a bit, and then he said, "I'm out of here."  He walked away, and I was left realizing that would be the last time he would walk out of my classroom.  I was also left a bit sad that he didn't give me a hug, a thank you, or his usual, "I love you."   I could have cried, but I looked at my room full of students and chose to go on with Julius Caesar.  Then after class I noticed that I had a text message from Josh.  It was a simple, "I love you."  He didn't forget after all!  He just didn't want to share his feelings in front of my students.  It simply made my day.

Oh, did I mention that I am tired? 

grace and peace,
julie

Sunday Scripture

"Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another."  Romans 14:19

grace and peace,
julie

Michael ordered our bees a few weeks ago.  They came in this lovely cardboard box that didn't allow any bees to escape during our drive home from Chattanooga.

After we arrived home, Michael and Seth went to put together the frames for the new hive.  This time around we only purchased one hive of bees.  We have enough equipment to run four hives, but we have learned not to get in over our heads.  We are taking the mistakes that we have made in the past and applying them to our life today.  We wanted to start out simple to get our feet wet again, so to speak.  One strong hive of bees will produce more than enough honey for our family and plenty to share with others.  When we did this "farm thing" in the past, we wanted to make money from it.  This time we want to produce for our own consumption.

If you know me, you know how much I despise the bees.  I don't mind them as long as they leave me alone.  However, they usually fly into my hair, which is probably due to the hairspray that I use.   All I have to do is keep the  bees out of my hair and Missy out of their hive.  Both of those things are easier said than done!

grace and peace,
julie

A boy and His Bread

Jacob came home the other evening from having dinner out with another family. As we were talking, he explained that this family drove quite far to go to a favorite restaurant. The reason they liked this place so much was the sourdough bread. I am sure they did not expect him to be a connoisseur of sourdough bread, but he is. He took one bite of the bread brought out by the waitress and announced, "This is nothing compared to my mom's sourdough bread!" While I was thrilled he liked my bread better, I surely wished he had been a bit more gracious about it! What's a mom to do? Well, I plan on baking the boy some sourdough bread and then I plan on teaching him some manners!

 grace and peace,
julie

My sourdough recipe can be found here.