What Happens

When the guys go hunting and find an old watering trough.......


They go on a roller coaster ride...

And fish......

They cross the Delaware.....

And take a bath....

 Then they do some funky version of  hear no, see no, say no evil....

 But mostly they just make me smile......

DREW!!!!!

  WOOHOO!!! Andrew got his bear!! They are pulling stands today and heading home on Friday.  I made it through.... I know they have to grow up sometime but having him at 13 sitting in a tree alone, surrounded by hungry bears just about made me nuts.. But he is safe and made an awesome shot.  He called his momma from the stand.  I was the first one to know, even thought the rest of his hunting party was less than five miles away.  Maybe there is a little bit of apron string laying around here after all. :)

Great Job Drew!! Six days of sitting has finally paid off. 
We're all proud!

The Drunk...

I found it....

Why do I drink, I do not know

I guess I'm just a poor lost soul.

I had everything money could buy,

But acted like a fool when they passed the Rye.

I drink so fast to ease the pain

of life, love and all lost fame.

The first drink always burns so bad,

The morning after I feel so sad.

I swore to quit, like times before,

by noon I shake and walk the floor.

I drank so much I ruined my life,

I lost my job, my pride, my wife.

I beg you people throughout this land

leave it alone while you still can.

As for me my life is lost,

for a drink I must have at any cost....

~Frank Norris Clark

Nooo Bears

are out tonight......the boys keep putting them in my free~zer.......  This guy is huge.  Way to go David!  Now you bigger boys stay out of the stands and let Andrew get his so we can be done.  There is another bear up there that is bigger than this one.  David told everyone " Don't tell mom that or she won't let us sit up here alone any more."  Smart boy......

Devotion..

I'm not sure you can see this.... but apparently even when I break the child labor laws as a harsh task master the girls still love me.  We have canned and brought in things from the garden all day. Just before bed I had them shake the dill seed from the heads.  When I went to check their work, well all I can say is they passed with flyin' colors. :)  I'll do the rest later.

Proverbs 31 ~Giveaway!

Who can find a virtuous woman? 

for her price is far above rubies.....

She seeketh wool, and flax, 

and worketh willingly with her hands......

She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: 

her candle goeth not out by night......

She layeth her hands to the spindle, 

and her hands hold the distaff......

She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, 

she reacheth forth her hands to the needy......

She is not afraid of the snow for her household: 

for all her household are clothed with scarlet..........

She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; 

her clothing is silk and purple............

She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; 

and delivereth girdles unto the merchant..........

 

My little gals have been trying out their new homemaking skills.  Between the two of them they have prepared  us for winter by knitting a scarf  for each of us.
I think they were a little disappointed that there were only ten of us to clothe.

They use the "homespun" style of yarn and it produces a soft and warm scarf, that their brothers will be thankful to have at chore time during the winter.

Since they have ran out of bodies to care for here at home they have decided, in the spirit of Proverbs 31 to make some for the homeless shelter in IF and to make a few to sell.  To give them a jump start I am buying one and having a give away here on my blog.  All you need to do to enter is leave a comment or send me an email letting me know you want to enter.  If you win I will let you pick the color.......if you don't win you can always buy one from the girls for $10.  They will let you pick your color too... :) Drawing ends Oct 1st.


***I have to add this disclaimer.  While "she perceives that her merchandise is good"  we also need to remember that my girls are young......8 and 10. Therefore you will probably "perceive flaws", all of which adds to the unique charm of a handmade scarf.

http://beautifuldamsel.blogspot.com/

Critter Getters

I know....getter is not a word.   Actually, I just looked it up and it is.  Getter ~ one who gets.  Who knew?
Anyhow, it is that time of year.....the time of year when the Neanderthal instinct surfaces in my men.
The time of year as my girls and I gather around the warmth of the stove to preserve this years harvest, the men folk head for the woods to fill our larder with meat.  This weekend they brought home the wild bacon.  Unfortunately I am not talented enough to cook him in  anyway that makes him palatable.   I can't remember if it was last year or the year before but after one such failed meal ~ Shane declared bears officially "dog food".   I must admit I was relieved (one can only take so much rejection).... and with two very large guardian dogs and now Codys' hound,
dog food  is always in high demand. 

So welcome Autumn, I look forward to your slower pace... Hunt on boys, the girls and I will keep the home fires burning.

BTW~  Congratulations Zac! That was an awesome shot.  Mom's proud of you.

A Time to Die..

To everything there is a season

and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born and a time to die.

..............

A time to weep and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn, and a time to dance.

................

I have seen the travail, 

which God hath given to the sons of men 

to be exercised in it.

My mom has passed.  It still doesn't seem real.  I have struggled with her for so long, and it was so time consuming that I can't quite remember how I filled these big gaps of time in my day before she got sick.  Then again I look at my weed patch of a garden and my war battered children and I remember a time that was better. A time when the children and I sat and read for hours on end, or talked around the fire, a time when we laughed just because it felt good to do so.... ah, I will find that again.  I will treasure it more.

"Exercised" is a good word to describe the last year of our lives.  We've been stretched and pulled until some days I thought we would break.  But the Lord was ever faithful and we have emerged all the better for it. He is so good, so very good to me.

I should write more, but I am just too tired to relive it.  I will just say that because of her alcoholism she drank until she shrunk her brain, and could no longer walk or talk, she drank until she killed her bone marrow and could no longer produce white blood cells, she drank until she killed her liver and kidneys and ammonia built up in her system... and then when we thought we had all of that manageable she had a stroke and died.  

Any teen that thinks drinking is cool should have to spend a day caring for one such as my mother. They should change diapers or try to feed her and watch her choke as her brain struggles to remember how to preform the simple task of swallowing.   They should be forced to see where drinking REALLY leaves you.  I have a poem some where that my dad wrote about being a drunk.. He too died from booze.  Five years ago, almost to the day.

I'll find it and post it, just not today. Today, I and my children are going to get reacquainted...

I hope the sun shines.