Civic duty....

We are loving the cubscout program that Ronnie is in! Especially the wonderful leadership in Pack 215! Everything he is learning (and having fun doing) is very patriotic and civic minded. Ron & Ronnie were able to participate in a flag retirement ceremony at the boy scout cabin recently. There were 3 branches of the military there, as well as veterans from a nursing home who came to pay tribute to our flag. That was so touching to see the emotion on those veterans faces. Another thing that we love, is that Ron and Ronnie get to do most of these meetings and activities together...wonderful father and son memories. Who better to mentor Ronnie than his dad?

There were cubscouts and boyscouts from every rank...

Ronnie helping with the flag....he has learned proper flag ediquette as well respect for our country and flag.

And he gets to do these things with his friends...this is his friend, James.
One of the best parts of the day was sharing it with his grandfather! My dad was in the Marine Corp when he was younger, and came out to participate with Ronnie.

One of the many fun learning activities we are doing with the cubscouts. ~Sue~

Strawberry Jam! First canning of the season!

Making memories, having fun, preserving the harvest for wintertime...some of the things I love about summer! We had the opportunity to pick strawberries with friends recently, and had so much fun!
Our "Peony" in a strawberry patch!

Sisters...doing everything together. It was so beautiful...cool & comfortable with a pond in the background...

Anna and Hannah...

Ronnie and his friend, Aaron...

(sorry about the steam) mashing the cooked strawberries, which yielded....

20 1/2 pint jars of jam! Since Meghan made dinner (simple salad and black bean pie, recipe courtesy of Dayna http://pleasantboundaries.blogspot.com/ )...I am going to rest for a little bit, shower...then it is off to my nephew's highschool commencements. Have a blessed weekend, everyone! ~Sue~

21 Years

Looks like we made it,

Look how far we've come, my baby

We mighta took the long way

We knew, we'd get there someday

They said, "I'll bet, they'll never make it"
But just look at us holdin' on
We're still together-still going strong

You're still the one!
You're still the one I run to

The one that I belong to for life
You're still the one I want for life


The only one I dream of
The only one I kiss goodnight
Ain't nothin' better


We beat the odds together
I'm glad we didn't listen

Look at what we'd be missin'
They said, "I'll bet they'll never make it"
But just look at us holdin' on

We're still together, still goin' strong
I'm so glad we made it
Look how far, we've come my baby
-Shania Twain, "You're Still the One"-
~~~
21 YEARS SINCE THEY SAID "I DO"

The Lord has brought them through the good times, the bad, the desert years, and the years of plenty. He has led them through the seasons of pain and blessed them with many seasons of joy. Only by Jesus' wounds has the Lord grown, changed, blessed and showered His mercy upon Ron and Sue during their 21 years of marriage.

~~~

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful parents who will (hopefully) forgive me for hacking into Mum's Blogger account to write this. Love, Meghan

What is wrong with today's "youth groups"?!

I heard a story recently about a large "mega church" having a "hazing" to initiate incoming freshman to the senior high youth group. These young people (in order to "join" the youth group) had to pass a series of tests, including drinking a "mystery drink" (which turned out to be ketchup mixed with Sprite) and being forced to sing into a microphone in front of a ton of their peers. All of this and more with the blessing of the youth leaders! What is wrong with some churches today?! This particular young lady, is shy and left in tears...with a few of her peers jeering at her as she left. What damage has been done to this young ladies spirit?!

Here is a link for a sermon by a pastor named Dr. Voddie Baucham.

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=5209234630

Please, if you have young adults in your home....or any children, please listen to this sermon...or (if you are like me and technically challanged), print off or read the pdf file. It is the 'centrality of the home' where our young people should be discipled! It is not the churches JOB to disciple our children...many times by youth pastors who have never parented themselves!

We had a rather bad experience at a church that we used to attend in the youth program. Both of my older girls were not included, whispered about and were hurt and made to feel uncomfortable in a place where the leaders should have made sure that every single young person there was accepted and included. Church is supposed to be a safe place, a place of acceptance. The scars are still there.

The church that we attend now has a great youth program....but, it is referred to as a 'youth/parent' group, where twice a month, a parent and their youth attend a youth function where we worship together, listen to the teaching together, discuss together and fellowship together....WITH our child. One night a month is Mom's night and one night is Dad's night. This was such a refreshing change for us! And, our church recognizes that the primary influence in our children's lives is us...the parents. We, as a church, support each other and accept each other. I know, no church is perfect, but for us...this is a good fit, and is God's will for our family.

I have been so very blessed by the teachings of Dr. Voddie Bachaum! I wish I could give a copy of 'Family Driven Faith' to every family! My oldest daughters and I will have the pleasure and priviledge of going to a homeschool conference in 2 weeks where he is the keynote speaker. We're very much looking forward to sitting under his teaching. You know how some pastors just seem to "click"...and you feel very comfortable with them and their preaching style as well as the Lord simply speaking more powerfully into your life thru one person than another? Well, for me, it has been this man. I encourage you, if you can, please go to his website...http://www.voddiebaucham.org/vbm/Blog/Blog.html Read the resources available, go to the link above and listen to his sermons, download and read the pdf files....you will be blessed.

I'll leave you with the words to a Casting Crowns song "If we are the body"....this song came out when we were experiencing troubles at our former church and youth group...it illustrates, I think, how we, as the church, should be reaching out to each other...not hurting each other. ~Sue~

It's crowded in worship today
As she slips in Trying to fade into the faces
The girls' teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know Farther than they know

CHORUS
But if we are the Body Why aren't His arms reaching Why aren't His hands healing Why aren't His words teaching And if we are the Body Why aren't His feet going Why is His love not showing them there is a way There is a way

A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coatAnd quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances tells him that his chances Are better out on the road CHORUS

But if we are the Body Why aren't His arms reaching Why aren't His hands healing Why aren't His words teaching And if we are the Body Why aren't His feet going Why is His love not showing them there is a way

Jesus paid much too high a price For us to pick and choose who should come And we are the Body of Christ Chorus (2x) If we are the body Why aren't His arms reaching Why aren't His hands healing Why aren't His words teaching And if we are the body Why aren't His feet going Why is His love not showing them there is a way Jesus is the way

What to eat...what not to eat...

Even since the Lord placed the desire in my heart to live simply, eat and live in as healthy a manner as we can...I've struggled with the fact that, let's face it...eating and living organically can be rather expensive. After much prayer, here is what our family does:

If we can afford to buy organic that week...then we do. We've found what works for us, is to research and read labels of ingredients in anything that we can't make ourselves, and we make our own laundry soap and cleaning products. More than anything....we pray, do the best we can following the Lord's leading for our family and trust Him for the our health.

That said, here is a link to a WONDERFUL resource from Kitchen Stewardship.

http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2010/06/03/the-list-what-to-eat-what-to-avoid-how-to-compromise-2/#more-6457

She has answered the questions about what to avoid, how to compromise if you have to, and the optimum things to eat/buy/make if you can. What a great resource! I have printed out a copy for myself to refer to in the future and just wanted to share this great resource with all of you. Sometimes, it is very hard to know what is best...especially if money is not exactly unlimited.

So check out Kitchen Stewardship! Thanks, Katie, for great information and resources! ~Sue~

Great giveaway! Raising Homemakers!

There is a wonderful giveaway over at Raising Homemakers for a 10 dvd set of 'Homestead Blessing' dvd's! Check them out...and check out this wonderful new website! ~Sue~
http://raisinghomemakers.com/

Simple summer pleasures...

Thru out the summer, I want to journal some simple summer pleasures we are enjoying. As this is our family (and my personal) photo journal, I like documenting the old-fashioned fun times we have as well as the milestones and memories in our family. I remember being a little girl and running thru my Gram's clothesline on a hot day...lying under the shade of the sheets, playing hide and seek and marveling at how the wind would make those sweet smelling sheets swell and billow like sails on a ship...yesterday, I had the chance to experience this same wonderful memory with my own children and little nephew.
Anna and Ty ran thru the sheets, chasing each other and hiding from each other, squealing with joy the whole time...it was so precious to watch!

The other evening, Sara & Ronnie ran and hollered and played in a drenching, warm rain storm...having a blast and making fun memories...

When everyone tired out, Sara used some of the sheets and made a shelter where these 3 lay down, watched the clouds and Sara told stories to the little ones.

~Just one of my simple summer pleasures I enjoy...my clothesline, watching my children making memories...sitting in the shade of a maple tree, with a cold drink, maybe some knitting or crochet, enjoying the peace and watching my children play . What a nice way to take a break from the work and heat of the day! I'll be posting more of our summer pleasures soon. What are some of your summer pleasures? Have a blessed day! ~Sue~

Our Garden! One small change for June....

~One small change....really does make a world of difference! While trying to be a good steward of what the Lord has blessed me with, I've realized that teaching my children to be good stewards is one of the things of utmost importance to me. To worship and love God...to be in awe of and take good care of His creation...for us, lots of discussions of nature and creation have been going on around here as well as being good stewards. We all have worked so hard (and made wonderful memories) with our garden this year!With 2 raised beds, using a combination of square foot gardening and lasagna gardening...our soil this year is so rich from compost! Ron & Ronnie have been working hard to get our beds ready and prepare the soil. We've started a large compost bin as well.
Anna was so happy planting and working along side me...she was so careful with the plants and planting the seeds....she can't wait till the seeds that she and I planted start to sprout!

I left just a little bit of room for some celery in this bed. We had so much celery last year that we could pick it as needed straight thru until it snowed!

Ronnie! He dug, he planted, he lugged a heavy watering can....I"m so proud of how hard he has been working! He has now taken over all garbage at our house! (Ron is very pleased!) Ronnie has also been eating us out of house and home! LOL He and Anna are my primary composters!

We planted around a dozen zucchini plants around our little front 'stoop'. I'm trying something new this year...since they seem to do better by climbing and take so much space...we decided to train them up the railings...we also have many perennial herbs that will be in this spot as well for 'ground' cover, along with flowers for splashes of color. Hopefully, the deer will leave the herbs and zucchini alone!

Our "green acres" pose!

We are also adding a lot of herbs to our herb garden....we will have chamomile, spearmint, peppermint, orange mint and apple mint to dry for teas. Lemon balm and lavender for sachets. Basil, chives, garlic chives, thyme, sage, parsley and cilantro. Yum!
My little herb garden..I will be transplanting a lot of these in the next few days and spreading them around.

And...just because I love them...my beloved red geraniums!

~So....for 2010 our garden will have lots of herbs to dry, tomatoes, green beans, peppers, hot peppers, butternut squash, cabbage, celery, cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, cantelope, jalepino peppers...and I'm hoping to get a couple berry bushes to put in with a gift certificate I have to a local nursery. The girls and I plan on having the dehydrator going, lots of canning and some freezing...can you tell I'm hoping for a lot of zucchini? LOL

We will also be going strawberry picking soon and plan on making lots of jam for the stocking the pantry. What is one small change that you can make? ~Sue~

P.S. I have to tell you all ...ever since my husband put in our outdoor clothesline...we have to laugh because my laundry is up to date! I am LOOKING for things to make a full load, and am LOVING hanging and taking down my laundry outside with my precious children helping me! I enjoy it so much! Ron is putting up a line just for Anna at her level because she loves it as much as I do!