{little boy adventures.}

My days have been busy, and time is flying by. Just like everyone else, I've been busy with gardening/canning/freezing. Our garden is pretty much done now, for which I am thankful. I was also thankful for the garden, too, but its good that gardening is a seasonal activity in my opinion. I go so overboard in the spring when I go to buy seeds and sometimes I plant things that I later wonder why on earth I would have planted that. Fall squash, for example. It seemed like a fabulous idea at the time! So I bought not one, but two kinds of fall squash. I don't even LIKE fall squash! Oh well, waste not, want not, right? It will get eaten. But it might just be the baby of the family who consumes it in squished up form. He seems to love squash. He's probably the reason I planted it. See! I knew there was a reason.

Our weekends have been packed with activities, too. There has been no resting around here! This past weekend, we did finally have a whole Saturday to just be at home and catch-up and work outside. This was the first in many Saturdays. We spent the day together just doing our chores and enjoying each other's company... And in the evening, we went to Bob Evan's for supper and then went golfing with Matt. It was so, so, so fun! I wish I had taken the camera, but I wasn't sure I could manage an ecstatic Miles, a curious Layne, a golf cart, AND a camera. It was one of those evenings that will be forever remembered and cherished. I'm pretty sure we have a golfer on our hands- Miles had the time of his life. At every little stop, he was out with a club whacking the ball! After the first few holes, he started telling me "Jest stand back, 'kay? Lemme hill {hit} it. Stay back." And after a few unsuccessful whacks, he would finally make contact and off the ball would go! It was a beautiful early fall evening with such a simple activity- and so far, one of my most treasured memories with our precious little boys. Except for when Layne fell off of the golf cart. The moving golf cart. That was more traumatic than treasured.

We went to Holmes County with my Dad & Mom a few weekends back... I actually TOOK the camera on that excursion but did not take a single picture. If I was a die-hard blogger, I would have taken a hundred shots and had at LEAST a thousand word essay to attach with glamorous photos. But I have neither. It was a really fun weekend, though, all 24 hours that we were there! Miles loved the "clop-clops" and being in "Counties". He had a great time swimming at the hotel and pretty much tuckered himself out. Layne was a sport although he's kinda at that age where he doesn't really seem to understand what all the commotion is about... He'd prefer his naps and definitely his meals on time. He didn't fuss one time though, and had as much fun as he possibly could! Such a trooper! Love them boys!

Miles has recently discovered pockets in his shorts and is quite taken with them. Before I get him dressed in the morning, he has to inspect the shorts to make sure they have pockets. If there are no pockets, the shorts are not going on him. No siree! Saturday, he found a frog... and with his recent obsession with pockets... you can only imagine...

{getting mr. frog into the pocket proved to be a difficult task. a task that required lots and lots of effort.}

Here's Miles wanting me to take a picture of  Mr. Frog...

{100% boy.}

Layne has been teething like crazy lately. It's been hard on the poor lil guy... and hard on his Momma, too. He has been cranky and sensitive... but that's to be expected out of a little guy whose getting somewhere around TWELVE teeth!!! He only has 2 currently, but his little mouth is full of bumps and gum blisters all over. I feel terrible for him! He still has plenty of time to get into just about everything, time to practice taking steps by holding onto things, and certainly time to charm the camera.



{i cannot turn my back to him for a second without turning back around and finding something similar to this...}





{sweet boy!}



{miles is quite taken with bike riding right now... we have no toddler seats for our bikes, so this is the most conventional way we have come up with. toddler bike seats are definitely on the Christmas list already.}

And just this morning, a cool, rainy, early fall morning... As I was folding laundry on our bed...

{what better place to read amelia bedelia?}

I leave you with this thought that I read this recently:

One thing scientists have discovered is that often praised children become more intelligent than often blamed ones. There's a creative element in praise. 

Lets praise our children for good behavior, for listening, for good manners, for smiling, just for being them! Our children should NOT hear us degrading them in any WAY to any ONE! Let's influence the future in a positive way and direct willing hearts to Jesus!

{a local event}

 A local event. A complete phenomenon for someone feeling mildly displaced in life. Maybe feeling a "part" of the community is not a big deal to you. Maybe you don't care if you don't know your neighbors. Maybe you don't care if you don't know anyone besides those you go to church with and socialize with on a regular basis. I do, however, care. I like to go into town and see a random person that I would not otherwise know except for some connection by way of a business transaction or the such like. It helps one to feel a part of the community. And I like community. I like familiar. Since our move in the Fall of 2009, it's been an adjustment. A big one. It seemed like in Washington, we knew lots of community people. Matt had lots of customers, one of whom was the Mayor of our town, and all of her neighbors on that same street. I worked for a family in Washington for a couple of months and that ONE connection has brought me so much joy... That first fabulous family introduced me to another fabulous family who I proceeded to work for for a couple of years... In which time I also kept working for Fabulous Family #1 {medical transcribing} all the while strengthening my bonds with Fabulous Family #2 and transporting their kids to and from school and activities therefore getting to know people at their school and places of activity, which in turn {yes, I'm going somewhere with this rambling sentence} led me to know lots of people in the community! And on and on it goes. I loved that. And to think- I STILL work for Fabulous Family #1. What a blessing a little connection can be.

A few weeks back, my Mom's business {Forest Hill Gardens} which I am actively a part of, was invited to be a part of a local event. {http://www.gatheringatgarst.com/} We spent much time thinking and planning our booth... dreaming and scheming how to be an attractive vendor... We loaded the truck and the trailer, not once, but twice, and hauled our wares to Greenville. We spent many hours setting up the display in the sweltering heat and I even made the comment to my Mom... "I would have been so happy to have just stayed home today."... We were completely unsure of what to expect as this was the first year for this event... and was all our hard work and sweat going to be labor in vain?!
Saturday morning rolled around... and what turned out to be a VERY fun day was off to a great start with the sale of a stone table and chair set she has had for quite some time. Matt was able to sell {2} of his fabulous reclaimed lumber picnic tables for a nice price, and also 2 other pieces he had built out of reclaimed lumber. {I am still bemoaning the source of the reclaimed lumber- an old pool deck here on our property. Yes, we could have had a pool, but rather we are the source of reclaimed lumber picnic tables.} The community came and went all day and acquaintances and small connections were made. Neighbors of ours were met and the feeling of "local" was strengthened. Neighbors I already knew came by and wondered if we had any extra tomatoes in our garden... I love that. As a matter of fact, next year, I might just garden for the entire neighborhood so that I can get better acquainted with them. People in this area are very nostalgic, I decided. When trying to "place" one, they ask where you live. When I tell them we "bought the old White Springs Garden Center place and are restoring it" they light up like the fourth of July. People remember a beautiful property that was let go for many years and many people are excited to see it being revived... which in turn, excites me that someone is actually noticing the heaps and loads of efforts we dump into our property to try to fix what others neglected.
It may seem like such a trivial thing to you, this community thing. But really, at the end of the day, it isn't such a small thing to be "community". I really think that God intended for us to love our neighbors when He gave us that command. How can we do that if we are not reaching out even if it IS by way of business transaction? It's really just as simple as the Bible says.

So. Here are some pictures of our local event. The one that has me totally inspired about living in Darke County, Ohio.

{from the front. *note* my fabulous hubby's hand-built table. pretty stylish for a picnic table, eh?}





{the side view.}



{another piece of my husbands crafty craftmanship. i can, however, take credit for the planting.}

{my moms handiwork. amazing if i must say so myself. she's amazing.}

{another of matt's tables with forest hill gardens loot. the combination makes for scrumptious appeal. don't you think?}

{regardless of my cheap camera... this is such a gorgeous photo. it helps that i love this succulent planting anyways.}



{campo de' fiori pottery. its italian. and it is absolutely the best thing. ever. a must collect collection.}

{an attractive little display, in my opinion.}

{the stone table and chairs that sold first thing.}

In other news:

{layne asher. this sweet, squishy little boy is getting into just about everything.}

{they are enamored with each other. and with boy things. its so amazing to me. and so heart-warming. really. nothing has probably ever touched me more than my 2 littles loving each others presence.}

{and there is no one as famous as daddy. not to be taken lightly- they do have the best daddy. ever.}



My days have been filled with gardening and canning. I have so far canned one batch of those dreadful 14-day pickles that Matt loves. I got about 30 qt. of green beans. And since I have slews {is that a word?} of bell peppers, I'm soon going to start chopping them and freezing them. I still have alot of "gardening" ahead of me: apples, pears, peaches, tomatoes...

I leave you with this thought in regards to my rant on community: see if you can find someone who is NOT in your church, NOT in your workplace, and NOT on your normal beaten path to bless this week. And I bet you'll be blessed.