Lunatics at Large

I just started Middlemarch by George Eliot and this was a most excellent quote:

"Sane people did what their neighbors did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them."

Best be careful of veering from normal lest you be labeled a lunatic. 😅

I love when the sky has those sharp, bright clouds contrasting the deep blue.

Phillip worked on a finished driveway over the last few weeks. He had a load of gravel brought over and Harrison enjoyed running up it. 

By the way, if you want to have some motivation to start exercising, read Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. I shared a synopsis with Harrison, and he decided to do some cardio in the mornings before we started school (exercise just makes your brain work better, make better connections, remember longer).  So he runs in the mornings, and I feel it's definitely improved school time. 

That's the irrepressible Rochester sitting on the sidewalk. Crazy cat.

Phillip's been busy at work and busy after work, so he got on the driveway for half-hours at a time, in the morning, lunch break, whenever he could.....

..... because he wanted to finish in time for Mimi's siblings to come visit! 

Earl and Pat, Anita, Francie, and Roger were here last weekend, and it was just such a blessing to visit with them. We also met Seth's fiancee and saw Sara and her husband. They are full of fun!

Lanaya and Amos stopped at a bakery on their way to Augusta's wedding. Augusta is a friend of Liz's from Texas and it's so sweet that Liz could be there for it (I believe Liz made her cake and also her after-ceremony shawl).

And I love it so much that Jonathan is there with Lanaya and Amos. I love my kids spending time together! 

We saw Phoebe for lunch in Kingdom City (we had to pass some of her important papers off to her because she was starting a job).

Harrison preached again at the Farber Presbyterian Church.

Scott had some friends over to his farm to shoot skeet or skeet shoot or however you say it.

I haven't shot a gun since I was 16. And I'm not sure I'll do much more after giving it a try again. Maybe if I got over to a gun range to practice. I just can't justify the cost of bullets!

Anyway, Phillip hit a target or two. And it was fun to visit. Good times all around.

My good friend Shirley had her baby! Harrison and I were finally able to go visit. I'm so thankful for a healthy delivery and healthy baby. She is the most precious little thing....

Shirley lives not too far from Phoebe, so we of course set up to have dinner with Phoebe. We chose an Indian restaurant to try out and it was delicious. We got mild spice-wise, and it did not bother our stomaches that night. I would try a little bit spicier next time though. We just weren't sure what we were going to get.

Jonathan found maple leaves in his neighborhood.

This was fun.... 

Harrison and I went to the library in Center (which we go to maybe once a year), and as we were asking the librarian questions, I noticed my Charlotte Mason bio on the desk! They had just gotten it in. How fortuitous that I showed up at that moment! 

School has been fun times for me this year (Harrison might not share that sentiment; although he's doing so much better with math than he did last year). I tell ya, homeschooling just one child is a lot of fun. Less juggling of the brain.

 

Exciting Things Happening While We Hold Down the Fort

Firstly, my dad is living his best life at this very moment. 

He was invited to go as a helper to hunt gators at the Sabine Refuge (they've got to keep the population down). He and two other guys are camping out this week. I think they've gotten 37 alligators so far. He called today to tell me about it; he's going to get a gator or two to take home with him. So when I visit in October, I get alligator! (He forgot a cap, so he tied a shirt on his head ~ he will definitely burn without something on his head.) In the bottom picture, he's next to an alligator that's 9'9"!

Speaking of dads, Phillip's dad had a heart attack a few weeks ago. The doctor went in and put stents and he was out in a few days. Paul is back at it almost like nothing happened. 

Amos graduating from the residency program. 

He is now youth minister at the Kuna location of Eagle Christian Church. We're excited for you, Amos!

We have four little kittens under the house, and they will not come out for us. So sad.

This momma cat isn't as good as our original momma cat. Abigail would bring her kittens to us to get them used to us. And this momma, Hattie, doesn't do that. At least they still keep the mice at bay.

This was a wash stand that Paul remembers in his home from youth. He and Elayne had it in their home, and they gave it to us when they moved. That particular green didn't work in the room we have it in, so I stripped it down to the wood and repainted. There was a yellow color beneath Mimi's green and a blue in some parts of it beneath the yellow. It says Waters Furniture on the back of it, a famous store in town (sadly gone now). But some of the Waters family built this house that we currently live in, so kind of neat that a Waters' piece is back in a Waters' home.

Working on it on the back porch.

The finished product!

We tried to match the paint to the chair bottoms of the dining room set from Paul and Elayne. The seat bottom cloth is a dark green with a lighter pattern embroidered on it. So it can look like a very light green when light shines on it. But the piece of cloth I took to the paint store matched up perfectly with Mountain Moss (which I love! This color makes me happy). I wanted to get the dresser/stand done before school started because it holds some of our school supplies. 

Jonathan had friends over for his 21st birthday. They played Mafia.

Charcuterie for snacks and peach pie for his candles.

The very next day after Jon's party, we moved Phoebe down to her apartment in Linn, MO.

We girls had serious doubts about the boys fitting all of her stuff in the truck, but they really pulled it off.

The boys putting her stuff in her room.

I love this couch. It's so comfortable! 

But it was a beast to get out of the house. It may have involved taking the door off its hinges and a few chinks in the wall.

We had dinner at a pizza place and said goodbye to our girl. She and Ainsley are rooming together while Ainsley is going to State Tech. It is hard to let your kid go, but it's so nice that she's only an hour and a half away. I think we've seen her about every week since she moved.

The boys took off for a trip to Dayton, OH to visit the National Air Force Museum. They stopped in Vandalia, IL and Vandalia, OH to get pictures.

(Boys climbing trees in Jamestown, MO one preaching weekend.)

(Boys climbing trees in Jamestown, MO one preaching weekend.)

This is the CH-3E.

My dad's dad flew on this helicopter as a mechanic and then flight engineer in the Air Force. 

He was in Saigon, Korea, and was based in Thailand during Vietnam where they would do different missions including rescue missions.

Grandpa's helicopter.

The boys also saw the type of plane Grandpa died on, a C-133. 

Harrison in front of an F-15. 

They had a really good time.

Phoebe and I went to Hermann to see a group do Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. There were only 6 actors with lots of costume changes, which made it different and interesting. 

The boys built a box to hold Harrison's air-soft gun supplies.

And they made fruit gummies.

And Jon bugged his brother.

And Phoebe came over to say goodbye to Jonathan before he took off for residency in Boise.

We are so thankful he made it safely after 20 hours of driving.

And he is having dinner this very night with Lanaya and Amos in their new apartment!

For our anniversary, Phillip and I stayed in Hermann. We toured the oldest (?) house in Hermann and I snatched a picture of this blessing that hung in the kitchen. 

The English words of the Blessing.

After the Day's Toil and Burden 

and the World's Hardships

Man needs, for Rest and Repose,

a Place on Earth

Where, far from the Tumult of the World,

He can say: I am at Home.