Sunday fun and week’s plans

I enjoy Sundays so much.  I enjoy church, I am just a “church girl” and have been one since I was little.  Being a pastor’s child I was in church every Sunday and now having been a pianist and worship leader I am still faithfully attending every Sunday that we are home.  It is a joy to serve the Lord even if the church is imperfect at times.  

Imperfect–  like when the two guitarists do not show up for the sound check yesterday morning, oh well.  Imperfect–   like the uneasy feeling I had about the service because I have been implementing the reading of a psalm before the praise time to keep the focus on the Lord and it threw the other worship leader off.  Imperfect — like NO voices coming through the speakers in the back of the church.   Imperfect– like having to lean while playing the hymns to tell your 23 yr old and her friend to start worshipping!!  :)   Man, sometimes Sunday services can be so rough…….  but I want to be there.

After church we grabbed a soda in E.B. and then headed to Scand, our local nursing home.  Four of our daughters and myself led the worship for the after lunch church service.  We also sang two special musics and it was such a blessing to serve with my girls.  It is also a taste of the past as my sisters and I spent many Sundays singing at the old folks home although my sisters did not behave as well as my daughters did!!  :)  I always struggled to keep my sisters from laughing when we would sing in public.  What is an older sister to do when the younger ones won’t listen?  

Rick’s Aunt Ruth was able to come to the service as well as his Aunt Margie, and a few other folks we knew.  Aunt Ruth was in her glory telling everyone that her nieces were singing that morning.  We walked her back to her room after the service and got to see some new things that had been moved into her room.

 

It was mid afternoon by the time we got home and we were hungry.  Fed everyone and then I took a quick nap as I always try to do on Sunday afternoon.  Later Jeni came by after work and we all sat around talking in the office area.  Mandy came in and we kept talking.  Kristi had warned us that it was almost time to go, when all of the sudden I realized it was 5:57 and church starts at 6:00.  We flew into the car and made it to church by a little after 6.  It is a good thing that we only live 2 miles from church.  After church the girls had friends over and they played games and then Jeni and Jason came over and we watched some of a movie together.  One of the girls, Becca, is new this summer and has joined the worship team.  She is so sweet and Kristi and her have hit it off.   Lot’s of fun.

So…..  This week:

Monday:  It is too cold to start our breakfast at the beach Mondays, so we will stay home and get things done.

I have already started the laundry with cleaning Rick’s race car suit that he has to wear for fire protection.  I had to rinse it first to get the clay rinsed out before we attempt to clean it. I will do sheets and towels from the weekend.

Put supper in the crock-pot so I do not have to worry about what time we eat as it could be later today.

Bake bread

I already spent time talking to Mandy on the phone as she starts her new job today.  I could hear that she was nervous in her voice but I reassured her that she will do fine and that she DOES have something to wear because she always looks good and professional in what she has been wearing to work for 2 years.  She even looks beautiful and professional at the same time, not always easy to pull off!

We have a few school subjects to tackle and get dated so that we can be done by the end of the week.

I will focus on getting some scrap book pages done and sent to my folks for their book that I add to after each family get-together.

I am going to clean my music area and prepare to sell books on ebay.

I am going to finish mowing around the back yard and fire pit area.

Help Annie find downed trees to move to the horse arena for practicing jumping.

Pay a few bills and make a few phone calls.

Possibly go with Rick to launch a pontoon boat for one of our caretaking clients. and also look for a dead tree that needs to come down on another piece of property.

Kristi and Becca are getting together later  and Becca will be staying for dinner I believe.  I wonder who else will show up to eat at our table!  Always the #1 question on weekends and all summer long.  

Full day, lots of fun!

This week:

Finish cleaning the cottage

Clean my windows

Do a few jobs at a care-taking house.

Organize music for worship team practice.

Get hay into the barn

See that Annie does her riding

clean my house by Thursday

Organize cookout and get together on beach property for the 4th of July with about 25 friends.  Can’t decide whether to haul grill down to beach or borrow a charcoal grill.  It will be potluck but I will be doing most of the organizing.  We will also have a bonfire on the beach which should be allowed because the water is 3 feet away.  My last fiasco needs to be redeemed with a safe time!  The fireworks are shot off a fishing boat about 100 yards out on the water so this is prime viewing down on the water.

I also want to edge the long side of our rock wall with a brick divider.  Then I can put some focus into getting that wall gardened and looking nice.  It is pretty in spots but needs to be weeded and controlled.  I have perennials that need to be divided which will make that area really look pretty. 

Laundry……. always the challenge of my life!

Get the guest room ready for Matthew to sleep in for the weekend.

Bless my children, bless my husband, bless all of our friends who will be stopping in and visiting.  

Enjoy the nice weather, it has been cooler around the mid 70s which is so nice and comfortable for getting the outside work done.

Love God and serve Him with a joyful heart.

Joyce

 

What’s Up and lots of celebrating

I am officially celebrating the end of my spring cleaning jobs!!!   I am so relieved to have all the houses done so that now I can get my house spring cleaned!  Although it is a long and tedious two months, it is also filled with unique experiences at each home.  Each house is in a different setting, some on beach and shores of Lake Michigan or Europe Lake.  Some are in the woods where we watch for nests and baby birds.  We found a dead hummingbird at one house and so experienced seeing one of God’s smallest birds up close and we were able to admire His great eye for details in the long beak and iradecant colors.  When the children are done doing their work at each house they would play and have fun while waiting patiently, and sometimes impatiently, for me to get done.   It was a good work experience for each of the girls and even our older girls joined in at times.

The down side to the spring work is that school is just getting wrapped up now.  We have a few math lessons and some English to finish this week.  I do not like the stress of being behind, but  sometimes we just have to go with what life brings, and that is one of the benefits of homeschooling.

 

I did manage to get our garden planted about ten days ago.  Almost everything is up except the carrots which is just fine with me as something eats them every year if they come up to early in June.  I just bought Diatomaceous earth which we have been told does wonders in the garden to fight pests AND can be used as a wormer for the horse.  I was on a health site ordering it and they even recomended it for human cleansing……..  so far no one has volunteered to be the guinea pig in that experiment!  

We have also started the summer cycle of visitors which we enjoy so much.  Folks just stop in and visit……..like last night.  We had just started a fire in our fire pit.  Melody had just said to me that I should bring the hose over before we start the fire.  Storms had just come through and the ground was still wet so I thought……  anyway, the fire got out of control around the edge of the pit and so I hollered to the girls to get the hose.  The hose was already in use filling the horse tank and so it had to hauled around the house and brought through some woods to the new pit area.  In the middle of yelling to hurry with the hose, friends from Illinois show up and leisurely start conversing with me and want to play catch up on the last year of our lives.   Yikes,  I quickly tell them that the smoke they see beyond the woods in a fire that I need to take care of.  They come and take a look as I nervously watch the girls spraying the two circles of smoldering burnt ground.  They soon left  and so the girls and I stood and assessed the damage.  Two 20 inch circles burnt, not to bad.  The girls asked how I was going to tell their Dad.  I assured them that I would be the one to do the accounting of the event!  Annie’s comment, ” We stink under pressure!”  

After Rick had his coffee this morning, (he was racing till late last night) I told him what had happened.  Needless to say, I will have the hose close before anymore of my bonfires.

Personal note:  I think the girls did well in responding to getting the hose  with me yelling “hurry.”  It might have gone quicker if Melody’s yelling “HOSE” had not been interpreted as HORSE!  That sent everyone running the in the opposite direction from where they needed to be heading!

The night ended with a wonderful time of cooking over the fire and a friend of Kristi’s showing up to eat with us and have marshmallows over the fire.  We sat and discussed life issues for teenagers, how to take pictures with my cell-phone, and other opinions that they wanted to share as the sun set through the trees.  It was beautiful.

 

Father’s Day Picture with Mandy being naughty with the Root Beer bottle

Racing fun

Lyle and Sammy

Our Weekend

I did accomplish everything I needed to on Saturday, isn’t God good?

We made it to the graduation party and then went on from there to the races in Sturgeon Bay.  We also picked up a friend at the party to go with us.

I was thinking that since we had had so much rain the last week that the races would not be as dusty as usual, but I was WRONG!  It was the dustiest race I have ever attended!  But that didn’t stop the fun.  The weather was balmy with the most beautiful clouds going by, which later looked very threatening and dark tho’ they did not prove bring a storm.

There were 14 of us there to cheer on Rick.  He made it to the feature race and in the feature race he got spun out, but pressed on to  do well.  His cheering section lived up to their reputation yelling loudly at the mention of his name and giving him directions as he went into each turn.  Rick did not win the race, but as I told Lyle “Rick has the most loyal fans.”  When he was spun out by a car they all started claiming injustice against their Dad and that that driver needs to watch out!  Tough talk, the guy who spun Rick out apologized to Rick after the race as he and Rick are friends and he is a nice guy, not a dirty driver like some others.  Little Sammy stood in the first row of our group and he would turn and look at the older ones cheering and then cheer accordingly.  After the race would be over he would turn to his little cars and act out the racing saying things like; “Uncle Rick is such a nice driver, look how he lets the other guys go by” and, “Oh no, Uncle Rick is in a crash, hurry get the big trucks to help him!”  We all laughed at his antics.   

It was a late night and we all came home feeling like we had breathed way to much track dust down our throats.

Father’s Day was spent with a special breakfast for Rick, then off to church.  After church we had our annual Sunday School picnic where Rick and a couple of the other guys grilled the meat and we potlucked together.  The fellowship was sweet and the game time was fun.  Storms came through and the adults all huddle under the shelter while the teens continued to play their games out in the rain, thankfully no one was struck by lightening!  Crazy teens.

Jeni had to work and so we waited for her to get done and then we headed to our local pizza place for supper and presents.  Rick is always complaining about socks so the children all bought him over a dozen pairs of the kind he likes, new ear phones for his i-pod for when he walks and also a nice gift certificate for the racing store where he buys supplies.  Best of all were the notes hand written from his children, blessing him, loving and encouraging him.  He is so loved and enjoyed by his children. I am thankful that our children understand that respect and love are not based upon perfection, for then neither Rick nor I would qualify, but that love is a choice, and they choose to act upon it.  We are blessed parents and we do not take this for granted.

Came home to guests, Mandy and friends, then Kristi’s friends showed up, and later Jeni and friends showed up.  Our house is never dull and we enjoy that all of these great people feel welcomed and loved in our home.  

Full day, full of fun, that’s how we like it around here!

Rejoicing

Joyce

My Father and Mother

Happy Father’s Day and Happy Anniversary

This past weekend was the celebration of my parent’s wedding anniversary, and Father’s Day.  Both of these celebrations are of great importance to my life.  

I am thankful first for parents who have stayed true to their vows through all the situations God has allowed in their lives.  They are truly a witness to my sisters and I of what marriage is all about.

I am also so thankful for my father and the incredible roll he has played in my life.  I know that his boldness, love for life, family time, love of music (he had a worship team in a little county church before worship teams were even dreamed of!), thirst for God’s Word etc..  the list goes on, but these things are all evident in my life because of Him.  Thank you Dad.

 

What’s happening?

Although I am feeling sore this morning I am grateful for the work accomplished that caused it.

Yesterday I was able to get more cleaning done in the cottage and also evaluated the linen inventory only to find out I do NOT have 2 sets of matching twin sheets and not nearly enough towels.  I ended up making a list and am hoping I can get what I need very cheaply, we’ll see!  I have already been scouting the used stores as we need another comfy chair or loveseat for the living area.  UGH, decisions, decisions.  

I planted flowers along the walk by the cottage.  It looked great and then when Melly went to get the hose for me to water all the transplants we found that there is a crack in the pipe coming from the well.  We ended up caring bowls of water and watering the old fashioned way,   Later, I told Rick about the crack and gave him lots of ideas on how he could fix it, but none of them were the correct way to fix it so now there is one more thing added to his to-do list for next week.

I also hauled manure compost (the horse is now starting to earn it’s keep!), rotatilled it in the beds and then planted onions, broccoli, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and watermelon.  I will water them this morning as the projected rain did not fall last night.  I will plant seeds this afternoon.  

I also finished my front beds and put down cocoa shell mulch.  

Spent some time talking with Jeni after supper which was nice.  It was late when I started cleaning up the kitchen.  The girls and a friend came in from the trampoline and Annie and Jeni each took a carton of ice-cream out of the freezer and grabbed spoons to eat a-la-carton!   I know, not the most polite thing, but we are all family and it made for less dishes.  I watched some of America’s Funniest Home Videos and then went to bed.  Kristi drove the friend home later, what a blessing to have a mature driver.

So, the plans for today:

I am going to make waffles for breakfast and get everyone fed and kitchen cleaned up by 8:30.

Get Kristi off to work with lunch in hand.

Drop Annie off at her job of doing the lawncare for the church.

Melly and I will go and get the keys for a house we need to open up.  The lady is a talker and so I am hoping I can get in and out of there QUICKLY!  We will go to the house and hopefully get at least two hours of the job done.

Pick up Annie from job, feed everyone lunch.  Make chicken salad for Sunday school picnic tomorrow. 

Plant seeds in the garden, water.

Get everyone cleaned up to head to a graduation party.

Head on down to the races in Sturgeon Bay, take in some of the music going on for the Steel Bridge music festival downtown.

Get home late……..  Hopefully without breathing so much track dirt that I am unable to lead worship in the morning!

 

It is going to be a fun day!

Living it for Him

Joyce

 

My sister Laurel and I

Someone had a birthday this week!

One of the problems of growing up is that one tends to get misplaced from one’s family!   I never in my wildest dreams thought I would live so far from my parents and siblings, yet that is what has happened.  I am thankful for a husband who makes sure we save enough money each year to take the trek to Tenn. and see family.  It was a double blessing that we also got to see my sister Laurel and her family this year!

Here we are sitting by the fire.  I love this picture because is shows the similarities in our faces, those wonderful genetics that claim our relationship to one another.  

Laurel had a birthday this past week, and although we tried to connect before, and the day of, it wasn’t until Friday that we could talk.  I needed to tell her how much I love and enjoy her.  She is precious to me and blesses my life.  

Laurel has two sons and since March they have been texting with two of our daughters.  This means I now know more than ever what is going on in the M household!  It is a riot to hear what they are chatting about on almost a daily basis.  What a blessing technology SOMETIMES brings to our lives!

Busy Busy Days

We are in the crunch time of our year.  Our care-taking business requires that we open up and spring clean many of the homes that we manage.  It is a huge job as usually there are other work jobs on each site, fixing, doors, decks, windows, etc..  I am  so blessed to have a husband that can handle all of these needs and it pleases the owners as well making for less people going in and out of these nice home.  

The down side to this time of the year is that we have to stretch school out into June because we go to part time school/part time working.  The up-side is that the children are learning home management/yard care/laundry as a business and are getting big bucks for it as well!  This business is going to settle down in about 5 days and then we can get our home in order and school finished.  

Our cottage is just about finished, and in the nick of time as we have our first renter in 10 days.  Rick has to install an air-conditioner in the next few days.  It may be cold here now, but our summers have been getting hotter and hotter.  People come to Door County to get away from the heat so we need to make sure they can cool down in the cottage especially at night.

Our garden is only a quarter of the way done because the cultivator we borrow from a friend blew up!  The good news is that when our community mechanic looked at it he said that it was old and due to die any day from the look of the engine.  We will go 50/50 with our friends to purchase a new one, due in on Friday, so I can get the beds tilled and planted.  It has been so cold and damp that I do not think I will be to far behind.  

I want to have a good gardening/canning season as the food prices continue to rise here in Door County.  They always do in the summer as the tourists season starts, but add the extra costs on top and it is getting a little scary.  I am highly motivated to fill the pantry with every canning jar I own……  we’ll see.

Living for Him

Joyce

What is a mom to do?

For a few months I have heard our son discuss his desire for a motorcycle.  I have to say that I did not overreact, which proves that God still does miracles!  I would mention some concerns, but he is 26, there is only so much a mom can say at that point!

So,  two weekends ago we received some phone calls from family members at the race-track saying that Matthew had something on the back of his truck, adding, “wait till Mom sees!”

Sunday morning I peeked our the front window and sure enough, Matthew had bought a motorcycle.  

He had so much fun that weekend, showing the guys, letting others take it for a ride, testing it out and getting the “man approval” from the men in our community.  His sisters all oohed and aahed over it and some took turns sitting on it.  They agree that there is nothing to worry about as Matthew is so level headed in how he lives life, he won’t do anything stupid they said.

 

On Sunday afternoon I asked Matthew if he had talked to his dad, and was Dad worried  about him  getting the bike to which he replied, ” what could Dad say, he drives a race car for fun!”  Well said my son, well said.

What makes our son smile!

Celebrating an anniversary, 27 years of living love!

Our family with Jessie’s family after graduation

Jeni and Jessie

Jeni receiving her diploma

Jeni’s Graduation

    One of the joys of parenting is seeing your children accomplish their goals, ideas, and desires.  On the first weekend of May, our whole family drove out to Minneapolis to witness Jeni receiving her diploma from North Central University.  Although it was an incredibly brief visit we enjoyed ourselves immensely.  We had a hotel near the graduation site and we piled into two rooms.  It was a bummer, but to keep costs down we did a girls room and a guys room the second night when Jeni’s friend Jason was with us.  That meant Rick slept in the guy’s room!  

   The graduation ceremony was held at a large church in the area.  The NCU choir sang and it was beautiful.  The main speaker is a state senator from Michigan as well as an AG pastor.  He gave a great sermon and challenged the graduates and the congregation to walk into this world and make a difference.  He was a powerful speaker.  I was blest by the holy atmosphere in the church as each graduate was given their diploma.  There was beautiful music playing and each graduates families and friends stood as their name was announced.  There was no rowdy cheering as often the case, but a weighty sense of importance to the reason we were there. 

   Jeni looked beautiful.  We were so proud of her as she accepted her diploma.  It has been a long hard 5 years, going to school and working two jobs, all the while getting good grades.  She is a worker!

 We gathered for a few pictures afterward and said goodbye to some of Jeni’s friends whom we had become acquainted with through the years.  We then headed out to dinner with her roommate Jessie, and a few friends.  Back at the motel we swam and played games until bedtime.  

   The ride home was a caravan on three cars, our suburban, Matthew’s car filled with 3 sisters and then Jeni and Jason in Jeni’s car, loaded to the brim with all of her worlds belongings!  Rick is one who likes to get in the car and stop only for emergency breaks, nothing else!  So, imagine his delight when we pulled away from the hotel and Jeni calls to say that she had a gas card she had to use within the area!   We made is 20 minutes, across the river to Hudson for our first stop.  I believe that was the gas station where Mandy used the restroom and her sisters braced themselves against the door locking her in!  I Know, ……….. we have a warped sense of humor.

   Then there was the stop for lunch where we all got split up and it took a little while to locate a food place and then round up the cars.  Have you ever tried to give directions via cell phone when you don’t know the town yourself?   

   There was also the fun of driving in caravan with Jeni and Matthew trying to take the lead over their father!  Every time Matthew would pass us Mandy would make the funniest faces in the window at us.  Rick is always amazed that his offspring are so rowdy when he is such a calm man!!!   Don’t worry, Rick always took the lead back and kept his children in their rightful place, FOLLOWING their father!  We all made is safely back to Sturgeon Bay to attend and lead worship/special music for the funeral of Rick’s Uncle.  Matthew said it was quite the trip for him as he had Mandy in the front and Annie and Kristi in the back, a car full of girls who love him and love to touch all the buttons in his cute little car.  Great memories!

Living for Him

Joyce

 

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