Dear Cathy

Who are you calling strange?  OH well, if the flip flop fits... lol.

I finally have Sam pictures to share with you...I said "Hey Molly, run out and get some pictures of Sam with his glasses for Miss Cathy" and this is what she came back with...

Yes... and that would be why we call him Silly Sam...

More later,

Love,

Dana

Dear Dana....

Hello stranger!

The last few days have been spent playing catch up here. With the bug that was flowing through the house we decided to take the week off school. Now that everyone is feeling back to normal, having that extra time was nice to take care of the loose ends that didn't get done earlier in the week. We were able to complete some much needed cleaning projects, but also play extra games, and rest too. Paige completed knitting a sweet blankie bunny for baby, we have both finished our quilts, and are now each working on a blankie bunny. I'll have photos of the bunnies up soon, and hope to have the quilt pictures up tomorrow. I made the weeks worth of wheat bread today, as well as granola. Both of the dogs got brushed out (it's sticker season here....yuck), and Bri, Leia, and Nathan cleaned sticks out of the yard. I weeded the flower bed, and helped Duane rip some boards that he plans on using to make our upstairs bathroom cabinets (yay!). Paige and I tied up more of our growing tomato plants, then ran to the farm to get milk. Ahhhhh......a LOL! While I was helping Duane Nathan was standing at our campfire chairs, playing and watching. The next thing I know, he's not moving. He had fallen asleep standing at the chair, with his head in his hands on the seat. I thought about getting the camera, but as he was standing there his legs would start to relax and he would then jerk to lock them straight again. LOL! I couldn't bear to leave him in that position any longer and carried him to the house. And, speaking of Nathan.....he's slept through the last two nights. YIPPEE! Actually, none of the kids have had nightmares, and everyone has slept really well. Praise the Lord!

Oh...I have to tell you about the big excitement for the day! Paige was out hanging clothes on the line when she heard some rustling in the chicken yard, then the dogs started barking. She went over and found a fawn trapped inside the fence! She tried to herd it towards the gate, but it was scared, confused, and kept going the wrong way and crashing into the fence. Poor little thing. I heard the commotion and peeked out the window to see her pulling the fence back to give it more open space to escape, but it again ran into the fence. I grabbed the camera and headed out the door to help, and then I see her walking towards the opening, carrying the fawn! It was making this sad bleating noise, but was surprisingly calm as she carried it out into the clearing near the woods where she put it down and it was finally able to run into the woods.

Once she turned around I saw that there was a rip down the whole front of her skirt. Apparently the fawns hoof somehow caught on it as she was putting it down. Her comment, "Well, good thing I was wearing a barn skirt!" LOLOL! As you can see in the photo, she had been out hanging clothes bare-footed. You can also see that the inside of the chicken area is VERY overgrown. She came out of there with thorn scrapes on her legs and feet, and was covered in welts from walking through the stinging nettle. I've been wondering, would *I* have done that, or would I have went into the house to get shoes first, knowing all of the thorns and nettle was there? OR, would I have went to get Duane, since he was home. Well, not her. She didn't even think twice. I love that girl....and she sure loves the country life!

I had more to say, as well as responding to some of your post and answering your questions, but I better run for now. Duane started a campfire outside so we're going to have dinner over the fire! Brats, beans, and sauerkraut. Yum!

Talk to you soon-
Cathy

Dear Cathy

The photos of the photos in the girls room :)

She's so talented!!

Dear Cathy,

You are so sweet!

We are all fine.  No one else came down with HFM.
No, never found the contact and my eye was sore until Saturday, I didn't wear contacts again until Sunday.  Did I tell you my eye doc office ordered me some new lenses to try that have 'handling tint' so you can see them!  Won't that be much better and easier than clear lenses!

I have barn pics to share.  I'll do that after breakfast.  It's almost done.  Mr. Lonnie is coming this afternoon, weather permitting, to finish up the roof and hang the doors!

Sewing... not so much...

Allergies, mine are better.  Molly and Nehemiah were fine until they handled the kittens yesterday :(

Molly's birthday was good, I suppose.  She's so easy to please...  We had some of her photos printed and bought frames for them.  I'll take some pictures for you.  She now has a 16x20 over each bed and a collage of nine frames with flower pics on the other wall.  And one 11x14 photo beside MV's bed.  She has one other gift that should come in the mail this week.

Nehemiah is sleeping well.  Now if only I could... last night I was awake until after 12:30... couldn't sleep because he was snoring...  I finally woke him up and told him he was snoring and he said "I haven't even been asleep yet"!  LOL

Molly just went to get Nehemiah dressed and she pulled out a red diaper for him.  She didn't say anything about the diaper but he said "Oh red diaper"... :)  He's something else....

Normal stuff is good... I like normal... I'm so glad you Mom is willing and able to spend time like that with the girls!

I love your pics!  Tell Paige she did a great job.  You are a lovely pregnant Mama!!  I'm glad for the good report!

LOL on the tub hair! 

So you skipped the rx completely?  Good call... seems like she didn't need it after all?

Molly told me about the cobbler!  Sugar overload?...

Oh, speaking of... Carolita has a Blueberry Bread recipe that is supposed to be fabulous.  I haven't made it yet.  I'll put it in our cookbook!

I need to have a plan for today... if I don't I just flounder from one thing to the other.  Monday is our 'day off' from school. 

Talk to you soon!
Love,
Dana

Dear Dana....

You have all been on my mind. I am.....

Wondering how Sam is feeling. Hopefully back to normal by now.
Wondering if anyone else came down with the bug, and praying not.
Wondering how your eye is, and if you were able to find your contact.
Wondering how the barn progress is coming.
Wondering how the sewing projects are coming.
Wondering how your allergies are.
Wondering how Molly's birthday went.
Wondering how Nehemiah has been sleeping.

For the most part, we've pretty much been up to 'the normals' here. Cleaning, laundry, farm stuff, schoolwork, etc. My mom made it over to work on that crocheting with Bri for awhile on Tuesday. They had a good time, and she's talking about coming back over again today.

Paige took my 25 week belly pics on Wednesday. I have to say, I've not been good about photos this time, but she's keeping me on my toes. Duane and I went in for my check up yesterday. I think a lot of it is extra fluid, I'm not real thrilled with the weight I'm gaining. I guess the most important thing is that my BP was normal, there was no protein in my sample, and baby measured and sounded great =)

I spent this morning out weeding and hoeing the garden, and I have the blisters to prove it! If I showed Duane, he would tease me about having 'girly hands'. LOL!

Let's see, what else? I cleaned all the hair out of the tub drain this morning.......if you wanted to know that. It's kind of a gross job, but somebody has to do it, right? And, I figured that since hubby doesn't really contribute to that wadded mess, that it's not really fair for him to keep doing it.

Did I tell you that I had Leia in for a strep test yesterday? The doctor thought for sure that it would be positive. In fact, he was SO sure that he wasn't even going to DO the test at first. Imagine his shock when the quick culture came back negative! He wanted me to start treating her anyway, though I told him that I would instead wait to find out what the 72 hour test said before giving her antibiotics. I spoke with Duane last night, and he agreed with that plan as well. She still has the icky, patchy, sore throat today, but after two days of fevers her temperature is finally normal today so I'm encouraged by that. I've been giving her Vitamin C, and I'm getting ready to start a big put of 'Virus Killing Soup' as another boost for her (and everyone elses) immune system now. Today is also bread baking day. Three loaves of wheat, and two of white for Nathan.

Oh, speaking of baking. Did I tell you about our blueberry cobbler? Let's just say that I WON'T be sharing that recipe! LOL! It was TERRIBLY over sweetened. I would say that we could *easily* cut out 2/3 of the sugar in the recipe, though it was so gross that I'm seriously not even sure that I want to try it again! Just the *thought* of it LOL!

Well, I best get hopping! Praying for your family this morning, and sending hugs for all!
Love, Cathy

Dear Dana....

I mentioned yesterday that my mom made a surprise visit. I didn't know it until I got outside, but my step-dad was with her. They had just come from the huge blueberry patch that they have been visiting all season, with some of their bounty to share. Actually, lots of their bounty to share. Two and a half gallons of freshly picked wild blueberries!

We cleaned blueberries for two and a half hours last night. Of course, we made sure to snack on plenty too. We needed to keep up our energy so we could continue cleaning you know -wink-
I froze 2 gallons last night, and put the rest in the refrigerator with plans of blueberry cobbler, muffins, and pancakes. YUM!

My mom and Ed are talking about bringing the girls out later this week to do some picking of their own. Maybe I can talk them into bringing me too. I'll take all the blueberries we can get! Especially since our strawberry patch was a dud this year, and my mom's raspberries didn't fare any better. I'd love to stock the freezer with berries for the winter, to use in baking and cooking, and I'd *really* love to start making our kefir fruit smoothies for breakfasts again!

Sorry to be so short, but I have to run! While they were here, my mom also surprised us by letting us know that she planned on coming over today to have lunch with us, and work on crocheting a baby hat with Bri. I can't crochet past a chain, and even that is ugly when I'm done! LOL! Bri looks forward to these times with grandma. Actually, all the kids do. Even though they live just 15 minutes away, we really don't get to spend much time with them at all. Anyway, we're trying to get as much school work and clean-up done as possible before she arrives.

Praying you have a blessed day today!
Sending hugs,
Cathy

Dear Dana....

Guess what? I received a package this afternoon. A very lovely package full of surprises that made me ooooohh, and ahhhhh, and smile! A package that also made the girls ahhhhhhh, the biggest girl to become very excited, and sent Nathan running for a naked baby doll! LOL! Thank you so much!

The diapers are absolutely precious! So small and sweet! I can't wait to be able to use them on a *real* baby!

I wanted to use my new 'blessing' mug right away, but it's another warm day here so I decided to wait until tomorrow morning. With second thought, one doesn't HAVE to use a mug for just warm drinks, right? I think I'll use it NOW, and sip some water or iced tea =)

Thank you again for the books too! I'll read 'What He Must Be' right away, and see if Duane or Paige would like to as well, then get it back to you. As for 'Preparing....', I peeked though the beginning, and the love letter in the back, and am anxious to get started going through it together!

Ooooh, the girls just yelled that grandma is here. Gotta run.......