Shakespeare and Sweet Corn

I dread boredom. 

I don't like to be overwhelmed with activity either, but I definitely want something to accomplish. And with only one kid left at home, I've got to find good things to do. 

And, boy, have we had some good things to do!

Amazing sky

I haven't had something that tastes this good in a long time:

Cheese Grits with Blackened Salmon ~ all from bits and bobs found in my refrigerator!

My dad and some men from his church (shout out to Forest Park Church of Christ in Crowley, LA!) went to NYR in Colorado to help rebuild the old shower building. 

The Tempest in Forest Park, St. Louis

Phoebe and I just made it to the last showing of The Tempest put on for Shakespeare in the Park this summer. It was pretty good! No gay marriages this year, so that's always a plus. They had some Sea Shanties thrown in and a number of other musical snippets, which made it fun. I did have to hush the group of college girls next to us who were talking loudly as if no one around was trying to hear a play. I think I'm entering fuddy-duddy stage and I don't really care. 

This is one of seven weddings Lanaya Elizabeth and Amos are going to/participating in this year. 

Seven! 

I'm not sure I've been to seven weddings in my entire life.....

I finished another embroidery project that Elizabeth had given me for Christmas.

We had the best group of men and ladies doing a deep clean of the church kitchen last week! I'm not sure there's anything I like better than setting things to rights. Give me a room to clean up (and let it stay clean for at least a little while!), and I am so happy when it's done.

We've had a momma raccoon and her cubs living under our house for a while now. She's staring at me from the corn, waiting until I leave so she can steal our cat food. Grrrrrr!

So Harrison has been keeping an eye out with his gun.

We got to watch a plane spray a field next to us. I can't believe how low they go! Harrison got some pretty good shots and video.

I'm teaching the 3-5th graders Sunday School this year. 

These boys were pretty proud of the long paper chain they made for VBS. 

(Service project: --> help make VBS decor. And they were there for it!)

By the way, I have four bulletin boards, a chalk board and a white board in my classroom. I can use the chalk and white board, but what should I do with the bulletin boards? Right now I just have them covered with burlap, but I should put up some kind of homey bulletin board decor. 

Cody came for the 4th of July weekend and he brought us our first batch of sweet corn picked in Nebraska. Very good stuff! Phillip read the Declaration per usual while we ate lunch.

Russell Reading brought our second batch of sweet corn, which was so good (you do know that sweet corn is a full meal around here, right?). 

And I found not one, but two, sweet corn trucks in town! I often miss them. I first bought 5 dozen from Joy Davis whom I spotted while heading home from church.....

......which made 11 quarts of frozen sweet corn. 

And then I went to town several times a day until I found another truck, this time from Frankford. And I bought another 5 dozen and got 11 quart bags. So now we should be pretty set for sweet corn for the fall and winter.

Harrison is gone to another preacher boy camp this week, VBS is next week, Phillip's sister visits, I finish prepping school for Harrison, and then we go to Louisiana to see my parents!

Very good things indeed.

 

Farming and Weddings and Warm Weather (except today which was jacket-worthy)

What a wonderful thing it is to have lots of good things to do. 

Our views are stunning. I'm so grateful for them!

Phoebe's friend got married! To Jonathan's friend! They were two kids who met at youth group, and so Jon and Phoebe both got to be in their wedding. What a fun time! 

Kenna's rehearsal bouquet was crocheted by her mother-in-law's sister (I think ~ there's lots of crocheting in that family, so it could have been someone else). And the bridesmaids also had crocheted bouquets. Kenna was just handed her bouquet in this picture, and she was so happy!

Some of the groomsmen waiting for the wedding to start.

This is the first wedding in the church since the remodel of the auditorium.

Three of our kids. Do they look related or what? 

I love it when the kids come visit us in bed before we turn out the lights. 

Harrison has quite the preaching schedule this year. He is preaching at the nursing home right here.

And he won first place in high school division at the Kiamichi Mountain Christian Mission. That was a wonderful surprise to hear about! 

He also participated in the Callao preaching contest before that and has been preaching at the Presbyterian churches in Farber and Curryville every so often. He really does a great job writing his sermons. His recent ones are from Romans and I Thessalonians, and he said the Romans one was very hard to write! He's like, "I'm not even sure I understand it." 😄 His I Thessalonians one is more direct and clear for sure. 

He is 16 now. He just opened a checking account today to get ready for applying for jobs. And he will hopefully get his license next week.

So, as an aside, it's crazy how the driver's testing works in this small town area. He can go to any number of towns to take it (our town doesn't offer it). But they all meet at different times and often only twice a month. Several possibilities around us were going to be closed (because of Juneteenth) on the one day he could take it. Phoebe took hers at New London, and that's the one we went with, but it only tests on 2nd and 4th Wednesdays. So here's hoping for a license next week!

I love it when you can 'row' the crops. That green popping up against the dark earth, especially after it rains. I've not gotten a picture that captures it, but I do love it.

We're down to three trees, and who knows how long those will last.

There's always some huge surprise in our shed around planting and harvesting time. 

Lanaya Elizabeth and Amos took a kayaking excursion. He got a picture of her knitting. That crazy girl will knit anywhere!

And he brought his current favorite book: The Brothers Karamazov (which he has convinced me to read).

Liz made him a tiramisu cake with a penguin on top for Amos' birthday.

Andrea (a friend from church) and I meet up every so often, usually at some new place that we want to try out. We visited a new Tea Place in town. I had a hot cocoa and mint tea with maple syrup (think herbal cocoa plant, not the processed chocolate), and I recommend it! She wanted a picture of us.

See? Stunning

 

The Kids in Boise

Jonathan sent us some pictures of a flock of turkeys hanging out in his neighborhood. They rested a while and took off again. 

We have three new little kittens in the shed. They now get out of the straw bed and play in and around all the stuff we have out there. They let me pet them and pick them up!

These are twin cuties I get to hold about once a week. They were all dressed up for Easter, and the family sent me a picture.

And the big thing this month was the kids all being together in Boise, ID. Phoebe and Harrison flew out there last weekend. This was the first time flying by themselves, and they had layovers both to and from (at Denver airport, no less! So glad they had no mishaps while there).

They went to the Lego store after church on Sunday.

Ate at In-N-Out Burger for lunch.

Jon's host family cooked supper for them one night (they are a most generous host family ~ he's enjoying his stay with them).

The next morning they grabbed McDonald's breakfast...... 

and drove a couple hours..... (mountains in the background!)

to hike at Ponderosa State Park. 

Can you even with those trees? I want to smell them! I love pine.

Jon had packed a picnic lunch. But he forgot a knife. So they used his switchblade to apply the condiments.

And they only used a few pieces of lettuce on their sandwiches. Phoebe didn't want the lettuce to go to waste. So she took some big bites. 

It does look like a nice, fresh head of lettuce. Very crunchable.

The next day they stopped to see Lanaya at her coffee shop before heading to the airport for home. 

The flight to St. Louis was an hour delayed because their plane needed to be de-iced in Denver. So we didn't get home until almost 1 in the morning. The next day was a little bit woozy for all of us, but we survived. 

Phillip and I were so glad they could all be together over there. Oh, and Jon sent me another picture of a girl from my Seattle youth group who now lives in Boise! Jubilee. He's constantly finding people from my PNW days. So fun.

Harrison had his wisdom teeth extracted this morning. The recommended place was an hour away, but it all went well. We're back home now. The numbness finally wore off, and he can eat and drink a little. He couldn't drink for several hours because he was so numb that water would just fall out of his mouth. 😂 He was quite the conversationalist the first half hour of the drive home.