It's Been a Busy Week So Far!

What a beautiful week it's been, I wish the warm weather would hold on for another month at least. I've been babysitting my nephew and we've been outdoors as much as possible. The children love running around with the chickens, pretending to drive the lawn mower and throwing the ball to each other.

I've actually been able to accomplish the outdoor work that I set out to do this week. For four days I've dug up canna lilies, now that sounds a little extreme, but its been about an hour each day. That's all me and this little one inside of me can handle. I'm giving away many bulbs this year. They multiplied so much and I just dont have the space or energy to lug them all into the basement.

I've tried to make use of my laundry line each day to wash linens. The windy, warm days give them such a great, fresh smell. I'm finding it much easier though to throw everything in the dryer than to truck baskets of wet laundry upstairs and outdoors.
I haven't cooked supper at all this week and am feeling rather spoiled. So far, four nights of eating at my families' homes. The menus? Mon-Chili, Tues-Kielke, Shmaunt Fat and Ham, Wed-Ribs, potatoes, carrots and Tonight-Lasagna and pizza bread. I can honestly say I wouldn't cook that great of food for just Hanna and I each night. When Wayne's gone I can hardly make myself stay at home for supper. I know I have Hanna for company but it's often a battle just to get her to eat her food. For me, a big part of eating a meal is sharing the company of others. After babysitting two year olds all day I just want some supper with adult conversation. So away we go. Even though it's been great eating out, I would way rather have my hubby at home to cook supper for!

Wayne took his first truck trip to Virginia this week, the longest trip for him so far. He's been telling me how beautiful the fall colors are. Here we have yellows and oranges but he's seen many trees of brilliant red. He's on his way back now and should be home mid-Saturday. We sure miss him.

What else have we been up to? Sewing room is cleaned and ready for some crafty hands. I made apple sauce for the winter. Grapes are picked but I need to get them into the freezer tomorrow. Trying to get Hanna's room cleaned out and ready for painting. The lists of things to do seem to never end.

Well it seems I'm rambling on about my everyday things. My post is nothing to thought provoking, I guess because I haven't had to much time to think.

I did however come across a quote this week that really resounded with me and thought I might share it:

When thou lookest back,

and tracest the subject of his love

from the beginning,

in the springs and autumns of his grace,

will not the question again arise,

"Why have I found grace in thine eyes?"

-Robert Hawker

Good Night, Christina

Time to Embrace Autumn

Hanna and I headed out into the misty morning on Saturday. Even though we live on the edge of town, there was peace and silence( and the crowing of many roosters). I just love this time of year, the changes, colors and stillness. Autumn entices me to be still and really see God's handiwork around me. The mist hanging in the air was like His breath on the world. I saw old autumn in the misty morn. Stand shadowless like silence, listening to silence
- Thomas Hood

Hanna gives the flock a wake up call!

Delicious Autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive Autumns -George Eliot

I'm always amazed at how Hanna interacts with the chickens. She's eager to head out in the moning and open the door, chasing them out onto the yard. She tries so hard to catch them to bestow a hen with her kisses. This morning, while Wayne and i did yardwork, she sat in the garden. Surrounded by chickens and zucchini in hand, she was content to sit and make sure they all got a bite of her offerings. The chickens have definitely been extra work this summer but so worth the effort. We do have too many roosters and I'm planning to butcher a few. I hardly have the heart for it and definitely don't want Hanna watching. However, soon the hens should be laying eggs, and I can just see her heading out with a basket in hand to the henhouse.

A time to pluck up that which is planted. Eccl. 3:2

I'm so glad to have the gardens tilled up, makes me feel like a huge load of work has just been done. What a beautiful day it was for yardwork. Now this week I tackle the flowerbeds, dig up all the canna lily bulbs, tidy the garden shed and do some pruning. Then I will sigh and say 'I'll be back in the spring'

-Christina

A Full Friday

Well it seems I just can't sleep at night anymore! Wayne goes away and then the first night I'm up every one to two hours.(sometimes even looking out the windows for whatever sounds I thought I heard) Usually by the last night I'm so tired from a lack of sleep that I sleep good. However I think I'm napping too much too cause I was awake constantly last night. Tossing and turning, my stomach just wasn't comfortable. At six I ate half a banana, cause I usually fall asleep if I eat(thats the Friesen in me). Nope, that didn't do the trick so I decided to get up and start my day. Of course of all mornings Hanna decided to get up really early too and I was trying to be so quiet. We cuddled, watched TV for a while, had breakfast and then got started. Its amazing what gets done when you start the day sooner. By nine my bathroom was clean, bed made and started on bread dough. I never do this, all summer its been about ten when I finally decide to get out of my pjs. Hanna actually played quite a bit and by mid morning we were sipping on a raspberry smoothie.

Wayne was home for lunch and I was feeling quite proud to be serving up a healthy homemade lunch, as he's been doing restaurant food all week . I had baked flaxseed bread, leftover kommst borsht, cheese and melons. The recipes for the soup and bread come from the 'mennonitegirlscancook blog' and turned out great!

After lunch Hanna and I had a semi-ride to Winnipeg with Wayne. She was so wound up that I thought I'd lose my mind by the time we got there and that we would never do this again. After a bathroom break, she settled and slept in the bunk for almost two hours. I really fought the urge for my usual nap, but I resisted the temptation by sneaking some of Wayne's coffee. I couldn't believe how comfortable he was driving that big rig in the city, definitely not a job for me! It was a well spent afternoon, relaxing even though I wasn't sleeping.

We were home at six and ready for supper. I did a quick purge of the fridge freezer and voila! a supper of perogies with onions, varsht and more soup. We've bathed, played with Hanna, and it's now nine thirty. It's been a full day! Surprisingly, I'm still feeling alert and my heart feels like its been time well spent.

And I hope God grants me a night of deep sleep and comfort...and I wish the same to all you busy moms and wives out there.

sweet dreams, Christina

A Family Fall Sunday

This past sunday we headed out to the Meander Pumpkin Patch, along with Devin, Sonya(Wayne's sister) and their boys. From church we enoyed a packed lunch and a nap on the way. We hadn't been to the pumpkin patch before so weren't really sure what to expect. Well, it was a fantastic place to spend a family day together. The kids had so much fun. True to its name, there were alot of pumkins, all sorts of shapes, sizes and colors.

We 'meandered' to and from the different activities: corn maze, petting farm, zip lining, hay ride, barrel train, bale maze and much more. The kids seemed to love the bales the most, and I even got myself up there reliving my bale-jumping days.

We also enjoyed checking out the country store, where they sold cookbooks, decor, preserves, and other goodies. There was a little market building where all the different types of pumpkins, squash and gourds were set up for sale. The weather was a little chilly so I couldn't resist the hot apple cider!

It was just a pleasure to see the kids enjoying the outdoors, their cheeks red and hair all wind swept. We spent a few hours there and headed out for a scrumptious supper at Montana's. Our tired kids did pretty good there cause it's the only place you're free to draw on the table! The fun didn't stop there. It was already 8pm so we stopped at McDonald's playland to let the kids climb for a while. By 9pm it was sleep time, Hanna slept all the way home and straight through to Monday morning. And I was exhausted after all that fun!

-Christina

A Time to Blog

This last year I discovered the world of blogging and it seems each day I have to find time to check my favorites. My favorites list hold everything from craft, sewing, cooking, parenting to journaling-about-everyday life blogs. I'm an old fashioned kind of girl and not very savy on computers so till now I've done on and off again journalling on paper. However it's so easy to get hooked on the social network of the web and I find myself wanting to give blogging a try. Summer allowed no time for me to actually figure out the technical end of it. Now that I've wrapped my mind around the basics, I'm ready for a season of sharing my simple everyday life happenings and thoughts.

First, a little about myself. I'm a young woman in my twenties, wife to Wayne, my love and lifetime partner, and mother to Hanna, my vibrant two year old. Lord willing, we will be welcoming a baby into our world in January.

God has given me the honorable role of being a servant, wife, mother, daughter and a homemaker. I fall short so often but it is my desire to serve the Lord in my purpose for life.

My interests are in reading, cooking and baking, sewing, scrapbooking, gardening, collecting vintage treasures, raising chickens and so many more passions that you will learn about me along the way. My goal in homemaking is to live simply, a life that is unhurried, homemade, frugal, organized(still a long ways from that), and peaceful at the end of the day. It's so hard to not get caught up in the busyness of todays world and all that it's offering. I am finding that contentment lies in the simple things of life and by waiting upon God's provisions as He wills it.

The verse beneath my blog title has been close to my heart since I was a young girl. I often lose sight of what good purpose the Lord could possibly have in the happenings of life but this verse always reassures me that to everything there is a purpose even if I don't understand it just now. Through blogging I hope to affirm that my life, which so often is challenging with raising a toddler and getting through my daily duties, has a place of purpose in this life.

Here's to a new season: wishing you a harvest of happiness!

love Christina

(ps. I do not take credit for the photos. They were taken in Fall of '09, courtesy of Keepin it Kountry Photography)