Flowers and Fish for a Mother's Day 2015

While some mothers were showered with goodies or prepared a very special breakfast or lunch, others may not have experienced the same kind of blessing.  Some mothers lost little ones way too early or some women lost their mothers way too early.  Some may not be able to be a mother at all. 

As I sat today wondering what I would have done for my mother at the ages of my children, I felt like I would have done more things to show her I loved her on this special day than what I was receiving.  It always ends up being another laundry, dishes, clean up the house kind of day.  I had to wonder where I went wrong in training my children to be more honoring.  As I was folding laundry load #2 with 2 more loads to complete, Diella came and asked me when I would be done.  I told her how much I had to get done in the day and she simply said, "Well, let me know when you get a break".  Then she came over and helped me finish folding laundry.  I asked her why she wondered when I was taking a break.  Her response was so she could massage my feet.  I sat on the couch with my feet soaked in nice hot water and tears flowed down my face.  She came right over and sat on the end of the couch holding me.  When I seemed to be done tearing all over the place, she went to my feet and scrubbed them and then dried and massaged them.  As I was sitting there with my eyes closed I felt a set of little lips come over and kiss me on the cheek.  Only Benaiah does that.  My thoughts of "where did I go wrong" soon were over taken with the abundant blessing of my daughter serving me in this way and my son kissing me on the cheek because he really does love me.  Maybe I haven't gone so wrong.  But where were my gifts and extra special treats?  

I was able to catch a little nap right after my foot massage, which was much needed.  Back to the laundry I went.  I still needed to take a shower and go to the grocery store and it was almost supper time.  My dad called to see if we wanted to go fishing.  Yep, the rest of my family did, but I had jobs to get done.  After planning on me going to town by myself while the rest went fishing, we realized that my vehicle was going to the lake, and I was going to be stuck.  So, I canceled all grocery plans and went to the lake to meet up with my parents for some fishing.  

Taking all the children on the boat to do fishing isn't the most relaxing thing for a mom to do.  There are 5 children and fishing poles with hooks.  That says enough right there.  :)  After a slight shower of rain, the evening turned out to be just lovely on the water.  Fish were biting, and I can't even remember how many different kinds of fish were caught, but it was more than we've ever gotten before.  Walleye, Perch, Blue Gill, Sun Fish, and Bass (a couple different kinds I think) were all part of the evening's catch and taken home to be cleaned up for a meal (my dad does all that part).  

Alegra took her camera on the boat to take pics, so when we got home I asked her to load them all on the computer, so I could blog about our evening.  As I went through her pictures of the day, I realized that I may not have been given material gifts, but her pictures captured more precious gifts than I could imagine getting all in one day.

Gifts of flowers, of children playing on the farm that we've been blessed to raise them on, of health, of parents/grandparents who spend time with us, of special memories in nature, of enjoying simple things like seeing so many different kinds of fish in one night, and of beauty surrounding me in ways that most don't see as long as I look a little deeper and aren't so selfish in thinking I deserve what the rest of the world gets on days like these.  I would really rather have.....    

 a bouquet of dandelions...

 sweet smiles on my littlest one's face...

 a blue, cheesey smile.....

 photos of dandelions that are crystal clear, taken by my child....

 a happy girl who delights all of our hearts daily....

 a mischievious boy who always keeps us on our toes....

 creativity that doesn't come from sitting at a desk in school all day long....

 my girly not wearing shoes where it isn't safe to not have them on..... (okay, the gift is, she didn't get hurt)....

 places for them to play that challenge their imaginations.....

 my children loving the outdoors in every season....

Onto the fishing adventure.  We sure had a good time catching fish.  Well, I never get a license, so I just watch, bait hooks, take pictures, and help people go potty on the bucket.  :)  Enjoy the photos, mostly taken by Alegra, except a couple that I took.  Everybody caught something that was brought into the boat, except Alegra.  She caught a huge bass, but it fell off the hook before they got it in the boat.  Very sad.  Enjoy the happy smiles on everyone else though.  :)

 Benaiah's first Walleye

 Saphira's first catch.

 Josiah's perch

 Diella's perch

 He caught a lot but saved the best for last.

 Saphira didn't catch much, but she sure adds cuteness to the boat.

 My dad caught a lot too, and enjoyed the fun of getting his picture taken with each one.  I think Alegra got tired of taking his picture until he added his humor to it.  

 Diella's nice catch

 Happy

 All these fish are getting old...

 Time to liven things up a bit! And he wonders why Benaiah "Daniel" is so silly.  Hmmmm....

 My mom caught some nice ones too.

 Happy Mother's Day to you!

The final catch of the night was this 21 inch Walleye caught by Jonathon.  He had a good time reeling that one in, and we all stayed out of the way when Grandpa flung it into the boat.  Poor Saphira was usually standing right there with them and would get lake water all over her head every time a fish came swinging in.  She didn't seem to care though.  If it wouldn't have been so late, everyone may have wanted to keep fishing for more biggies, but the sun was going down and my dad still had to go home and clean fish.  It was a successful night of fishing though.  No bugs, still waters, warm enough to not have to wear jackets, biting fish, happy children, happy adults who caught nice fish, and it all made this mother's day a delightful one.  Despite the questions and tears I had in the earlier parts of the day, sometimes you just have to look at what is truly around you and see the beauty in it all.  It may not be perfect, but what in this life is.

So, if your day wasn't all roses and homemade breakfast in bed, think about what it was, even the tiniest of details.  Find the joy and beauty in the small things and be thankful for what you've been given in the moments of here and now with each person surrounding you.  It might be a different perspective, and one that you need to make your day a delight.

May you have a blessed Mother's Day filled with laughter, smiles, and beautiful surrounding.  

Salomon Farm Park- Walk Thru Summer 2015

What a beautiful day today to take a walk and explore a new place!  With some shopping to do, we headed to Ft. Wayne and decided to make our first stop at Salomon Farm just off of Dupont, north of Ft. Wayne.  The trail was asphalt, so it was perfect for strollers or biking, but also made a very nice and smoothe walking trail for us.  It was 1.8 miles in length and was heavily traveled, so we weren't worried about it being unsafe.  It was one big loop that went around the farm and the YMCA.  It also connects with the Pufferbelly trail that is also a walking/biking trail that goes on into Ft. Wayne more and connects with some other trails.  This is definitely an area we want to explore more and maybe with our bikes next time.

If you are there during business hours, there are real nice indoor bathrooms that are available and you can meander around the farm to look at their gardens and animals.  It was rather an enjoyable walk just checking out their little homestead and seeing what they have growing.  It's also very pretty this time of year with many spring flowers in bloom.

Here's a little glimpse of our walk today.  The sunshine felt so amazing and the views were enjoyable too.

 The sign said, "don't pick the flowers", but we were sure they didn't mean the dandelions that were vastly covering the green lawn. :)

 A little football fun while they waited for all of us to finish our sandwiches we packed.  Never leave home with out.  

 There were some big frogs around this pond.  Alegra wanted a picture of them but of course the little siblings ruined those photo opportunities.

To the left is the Pufferbelly Trail and on the right is the Salomon Farm Trail Loop.  

Get outside and enjoy the lovely weather finally making its way to our part of the country!

Bathroom Remodel- It is finished....well, almost.

We finally completed the bathroom remodel project!  Well, almost.  We still need doors :), something for the toilet paper, a few more things on the walls, and eventually a light over the tub.  

Jonathon has worked so hard on this project.  He's given us many, many memories and great stories that we are still telling people.  All of my amazing ideas for this bathroom that I really didn't think he could do, he totally conquered and mastered it.  From the stone floor, to the cute little shelf, to the tiled shower, he did it all and well!   Enjoy the before and after pictures.  We sure are enjoying the real thing finally done!  

 After

 Before- these two bathroom became one big one.

 The gutted out bathrooms before plumbing and pipes were moved.

 It's coming along with drywall on the ceiling, a beam put in place for looks, and all plumbing and pipes in the right places and working properly.

 Installed corner, jet tub and building the surround for it.

 Time to put up the walls.  Reclaimed barn siding.

 My cute little shelf I requested for my jars of goodies and the towel.  He did an awesome job building just what I was hoping for.

 After some rearranging, I moved the cupboard from our dining room up to the bathroom.  No money spent and it fits just perfectly!

 The view of the vanity, toilet, shower, and tub to the right.

 Jonathon wanted a copper sink, so he got it.

 I wanted a dry sink, so I found one at the auction barn for $45.00.  It was my extremely happy moment with this project since all the ones I had seen were $400 or more.  What a blessing!

 I said, "Can we put stones on the floor and have them come out of the shower a little to look like it flows out into the bathroom?"  He said, "Who do you think I am?"  So, he did it.  :)

 Isn't this shelf lovely?  :)

 My happy place of relaxation.  Now to just get some doors to lock everyone out. :)

So, there it is.  It's what we've worked all winter on and wondered when it would ever get finished.  All the supplies are finally purchased to make the doors, so I see that getting accomplished in the near future.  I love how it all turned out and am so blessed that we were able to find auction items, clearanced items, and repurpose things we already had around (the shower curtain rod was old copper piping that we tore out and replaced.  Jonathon bent it to fit as a rod, and it works wonderfully).  The inside projects are coming to an end, which I believe my husband is grateful for.  Now for the outside.  That may have to wait a couple years.  We need another vacation.  :)

Lonidaw Nature Preserve- Walk Thru Summer- 2015

We started our summer walking program with my mom and her sister, Aunt Betty Jo, joining us.  What a great day to get out, get sunshine, air, and some movement in and start our Walk Thru Summer program.  Since we wanted to attend a bird program at the Kendallville Public Library, it was on the way to stop at this nature preserve before heading to the library.  Lonidaw Nature Preserve is a great place to hike with some hills and some flat ground.  You can check out the link to see what the characteristics of this preserve are.  We've hiked here before, so I knew it would be a nice little trek to squeeze in to get some movement in our day.  

I apologize that most of the pictures are of Saphira.  Wait, why am I apologizing?  She's perfect picture material.  :)  My camera ran out of batteries with the first picture Josiah tried to take, so we are using all of Alegra's photos and she does enjoy taking pictures of her littlest sister.  

A short hike with a little bit of hilly terrain makes this trail perfect for pumping the heart while enjoying nature and all the flowers that this woods holds.    

 At the top of one of the hills and this mama was tired.  :)

It took us close to an hour to complete the trail.  It may not have been a long hike, but it was a good one to start our program on.  Besides, any bit of walking and movement is good for the body and God's creation is good for the soul.  Get out and walk in the woods!  We are hoping that we will have other families join us throughout the summer.  Let us know if you want to join our hikes one of these days!