May Review ✽ Hello June

I realize these posts are super outdated, but honestly, I write the month review posts for myself anyway (they're fun, haha!) and they were already almost done, so you can skip them if they feel too old, haha... plus, I had to post them so I didn't not post this month's, too, because I can't put them out of order ;).

Happenings:

-Bethi turned 12! She's grown up so much lately, and it's been fun to "get to know" her as one of the "older" sisters now. She and I are a lot alike, except in the ways we definitely aren't, and so we have good fellowship with a little unique spice to it... haha :).

 -Mother's Day came and went. The little ones made Mama some crepe paper flowers and scrapbook paper ferns, and they turned out so cute, haha. I am so thankful for my Mama and all that she does for us, day in and day out. She's one of my best friends, and I love spending time with her and how we can talk about anything together!

-Daddy moved a boulder. Like, it really qualified as a boulder. I turned it over once, and then I left it for him, haha! He was on a mission, and  he got it where it needed to go! There was joking that it would be easier to dig a downhill trench then roll it by hand, though, haha!

-Gramma brought us strawberries and now we have so. much. jam. On homemade toast... YUM!

-I was laying Josiah in bed and gave him the teddy he has slept with for almost a year now.
"Did you ever name your bear?" I asked.
"No."
"What are you going to call him?"
"I don't know."
"Graham?'
"No."
"Honey?"
"No."
"Cream?"
"No."
"Franklin?"
"No."
"Peter?"
"No... I will name it popcorn."
Popcorn it is, and popcorn it shall remain.
Then cue the sass as he examines his bear: "Who put this scarf back on? I had it off. For a reason!!!!"
Well sorry, buddy...

-I won 7 pieces of clothing in a giveaway??!??! That was fun :)! And I almost scrolled past the announcement, ha! And one was a solid grey Maxi skirt... I love it!

-This snail WOULD NOT STOP COMING TO OUR PORCH to visit no matter how often I place him back in the flower bed. I didn't want to un-home him, but I also really didn't want to crush him, and that was in danger of happening a few times. I carried a box out that I couldn't see over, and I was horrified when I walked back and saw him scooting around the rug. If I had felt a crunch, I would have called my day over right there and then.
Tori named him Smooth Move.

-We officially unpacked the last box since moving... yeah, again. We found another one. Haha.

-Daddy went on a business trip and there was so much cleaning, hole filling, painting and home repairing going on here. And we went to the duck pond to see little ducks. Mama kept adding to her list every time she finished something, haha! We set up a new printer, made some framed hymns with it, cleaned the car and car seats, and did a LOT of yard work... in between it raining ALL WEEK, of course. How come whenever you gear up to actually accomplish something outside, it rains?
Noah helped me weed the side bed :)...

-Noah learned to close his eyes while we pray, and Josiah picked out his own dinner fork, haha! (That's a serving fork, if you can't tell!)

-Peter imagined a monster, and Tori brought said monster into a "reality"... too cute!

-I read, which was a big improvement on last month... ha :). I also revealed some canvases I've had ready to go in Under the Tapestry for a while!

-We made chocolate cookies, which is not really worthy of being announced, but making chocolate chips is one of my favorite things to do, so it gets mentioned anyway, haha.

-Also, Josiah was obsessed with a lizard that wouldn't stay off the back porch, whom I started calling  Bill (a very literary lizard).

-My Great-Grandpa passed away. We have only seen him a couple times in the past ten years, but I remember how much we all enjoyed getting to know he and Great-Grandma right before Abbi was born. Grandpa definitely got down on little people's levels and enjoyed spending time with them!

Laughing at:

Sibling: "Do we have forks clean?"
Me: "No. You could use a nasty fork.
....WhooOOPS. I mean disposable."
My true feelings come out, haha... I hate disposable silverware, it's not even close to shaped right. I'm a silverware snob, lol.

Peter: "Bri, whenever your bed needs made, don't do it."
"Why?"
*Ignores me* "And stay out of your room, because I'm going to...
"...I'm going to....
"I'm going to do something. Something that is a surprise."
Hm, wonder what the surprise is? Haha! Love him <3.

Josiah is playing at the park, Tori and I are standing talking to the side, when we look over and see Joey hanging on some climbing bars with his leg all twisted and doubled up and it kind of looks caught, but he's not worried or moving or anything and I thought maybe he had it under control.
Josiah: *looks back and sees us looking*
Very calmly and matter-of-factly: "I kind of need some help."

-Andrew and Peter laughing at "The Wizard of Oz". Never, and I mean never, have I seen those two very different people laugh soooooo hard together at a whole movie. "It. was. humorous."

Reading:

-"The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady". This is a re-read. I just love the pictures, and the little nature poems, and the descriptions of the flowers and birds and their doings. My Grandma had this, and I was going to peruse it while I was at the house alone when Andrew and I went to visit them last month, but it wasn't on their shelves any longer... I found out a couple weeks ago it was because she gave them to us, hahaha!

-Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Pioneer Girl". Mama read this recently and couldn't keep all that she was learning to herself. She kept reading parts to me every time I'd walk in, and she told me that I just needed to read it. I won't spoil the Little House Books, haha! There are some major plot twists from fiction to factual, although it's very interesting!

-"Jonathan Edwards and Justification." A little theology-overview by a few people. Some of us were sick one Sunday and we didn't go to church, and I read some of this, listened to some hymns, read some scripture, and listened to one of the Wednesday night sermons... it's on Romans, which, as you all know, is "my" book, so that's fun :). Also, the sermon was very in depth, which just makes it better!!!!

Fails:

Weeding the garden without wigging out. Seriously, our worms are so big. I actually literally thought I found a snake one time. I yelled.


*Mama calls, the phone stops ringing, I call back*
Mama: "Having issues with the new phone?"
Me: "I didn't know how to answer it. So I had to call you back instead."
I've got that down now, by the way. Thankfully.

Mama and Andrew and I: *clean the car*
There is no way this is a fail, right? Well...
Vinegar cleaner and South Carolina heat: "It's clean, but you really didn't care if it smelled good, did you?"
All of us thee next day: *gags*

*wears a new skirt for the first time*
Peter and I: *drop Frostie on it*
And yes, I actually totally expected that. I'm so clumsy...

Me: *talking on the phone while dusting*
"Iiiiim dusting a shelf I've already done..."
It doesn't help that if Noah thinks of books he empties the bookshelves, so I was having to have him removed every 30 seconds, haha.

Quotes I liked:

Oops. I read... but I was too lazy to write anything down, haha!
*insert some inspirational quote here and pretend it came from me*

 Then tell me which one you chose, please. Haha!

Grateful for:

 -Sweet Bethi!
-That God perfectly picked my Mama for me :).
-Josiah and popcorn ;). (Seriously, y'all, editing this now I have to say this is still one of my favorite things he's done lately, haha!)
-Baby ducks <3.
-The neat fresh look of dirt cleared of weeds and ready for plants!
-A clean car (that no longer smells like hot vinegar, thankfully!)
-A new printer!!! That has been such a help for my shop, too- printing templates, shipping labels, and things like that :).
-That the Lord gave his children so much creativity! Think how boring our life would be if he hadn't included that gift.

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:18