Snippets of Home Life...

I have sat down to write this blog post no less than three times, and each time I wasn't sure what exactly to write about.  So I'll solve the difficulty by telling a little bit about what each of us been doing lately.
     Evan and Daddy have been staying quite busy with selling/ installing Exede, and fixing computers, especially since they go every Saturday to a flea market to set up a tent for people to demo the Internet service.  They usually take Bo, William and Justice to wave signs and attract people to the tent.  The boys love the outing with Daddy, and always are ready to go bright and early in the morning.  Of course, it's even better on really hot days when they sometimes get ice-cream.

     Farrah has been doing almost all the cooking, and has been enjoying experimenting with lots of new recipes, and perfecting old ones.  She has greatly improved her bread making skills and the most recent delight in that line has been subs, which we children ate a couple days ago while Daddy and Mama were out on a date together.  :)

     Farrah, Savana and Evan also played in a recital at church.  I don't have a good picture of Evan, but he was standing just a little to the right of Farrah.

       Savana has been practicing her photography skills, sewing, and playing the piano. She also started her own Etsy shop- visit it here at SFPretty Modest

     Bo has taken over all the mowing and weed-eating around the place lately, and (usually) loves it.  He's all into mowers (especially powerful zero-turn riders).  Just today he worked a deal with our neighbor- he (Bo) will mow around his trees, where the bush-hog won't go, and Mr. J. will mow our pastures.  I was cheering on the sidelines when I heard this arrangement- the back pasture especially has been getting very weedy.  :)

LilyAnn has been doing some cooking, and makes dinner one night a week, as well as lots of lunches.

      William has taken over milking the goats, as LilyAnn was getting a little burned out after doing it for a couple years, and he needed something to do in the morning.  He turned 9 in July.

 
      William, Justice, Emaline, and especially Russell, have been playing a lot with a huge train set Mama got at a charity sale held by a family from our church.  This has given them much delight (well, and some arguments), and we are hoping to use it as a tool to help develop creativity.  Some of the older ones enjoy the train set nearly as much as the "little guys".

     And as for me...  Well, I've been doing a little writing, a little French, a little carpentry (Bo taught me how to use the circular saw last week), a little sewing (I'm almost done with my first Regency gown), and, as always, lots of reading.  Currently I'm working on Flora, or Self-deception, by A.L.O.E, The Scottish Chiefs, by Miss Jane Porter, Philosopher Jack, by R.M. Ballantyne, King Arthur and His Knights, by Sir James Knowles, and I'm DPL (dedicated proof-listener) for The Voyages of Doctor Doolittle, which is being recorded for Librivox.  I'm planning on posting book reviews on one or more of these books when I finish.

Picking blackberries this spring.

     Last month, I turned 20.  In the past, after I had a birthday someone always asked me if I felt older, and I always said "No, not really".  This time, nobody asked, and I do feel a bit older.  I know that in the USA one is officially an adult at 18, but I feel more like an adult now that I'm not some-teen anymore.  This impression was confirmed by a very sweet birthday note I received from a wonderful friend whose birthday is just the day before mine.  She pointed out that in the Bible, the people who were numbered in the various censuses were "from twenty years old and up", so it seems that this was the age at which a person was considered an adult.  I am realizing more and more my responsibility to make sure that all I do is bringing glory to God, and is a blessing to those around me.  I am noticing more how my siblings look up to me- seeing the mistakes I've made repeated by them, and hearing (from my sisters especially) the way things I've said and done have impacted their lives.  This is highlighting to me the importance of "practicing what I preach", because when I don't, they are very quick to point out my hypocrisy to me, or copy it (especially certain younger siblings).  I have been feeling that the Lord has really been growing me, letting me know when I get out of line, and bringing blessings into my life.  Glory to God!

Well, I think that concludes this post, which I began writing several weeks ago, and has been languishing in Blogger since then.  :(  I'm not sure why I always seem to have so much trouble writing family life type posts, but I'm trying to keep my blogging fairly well rounded.  Probably my next post will be yet another book review, since I'm trying to build up an archive of reviews, to be eventually incorporated into a recommended book list.  We'll see if that happens.  :)
So, adieu, until we meet again!