I received an email today from an internet friend’s husband (Bobbie) asking me to call her.  Oh my…my heart was racing and some of the worse thoughts ran through my mind and heart.  Bobbie just recently had knee surgery and of course, I started feeling a bit nervous that something might be amiss.

Would you believe that in her trial, she wanted to talk to me to make sure that I was okay!!!  WOW!  She is such the encourager and her blog title fits her perfectly–Encouragement Along the Way.

She is doing amazingly well and recovering so nice and as she would probably say in our internet world — “Virtually pain free!”

If you’ve had internet contact with Bobbie, I encourage you to visit and leave her words of encouragement in return for special way of encouraging others…and if you haven’t met her, take to visit and wish her a speedy recovery.

This past weekend marked 1 year ago when I first discovered our baby’s heartbeat could no longer be heard on the doppler. I remember the day as if it were yesterday. The mere thought of a year passing by and unanswered questions has had me in deep thought and spiritual yearning.

My husband blessed me with a distraction on this very weekend to a Bed & Breakfast along the beach — just the two of us. This was my birthday present/upcoming anniversary celebration. It was the first time in 17 years of marriage that we have gone somewhere with NO children. A nice quiet and relaxing weekend despite those moments of missing our children. What a wonderful distraction.

The Bed & Breakfast was a quaint older home with a serene ambience to set the tone for the entire weekend. The gardens were inviting with spring blooms of all colors blooming around each nook and cranny.

Our room at the top overlooked the manicured gardens and offered lovely tones of birds chirping, frogs croaking, and wildlife sounds among the babbling creek that ran behind the home.

There were no televisions in any part of the home and left special moments of conversations and meeting new people. Our private bath had unique rosettes on the toilet paper with antique claw foot bathtubs and spa robes.

We enjoyed walks down the main street, a visit to the beach, and quiet dinners for two. We walked into antique shops and cute little tea room and it was so nice to not have to continually remind children not to touch. It was odd to have just the two of us, but we are looking forward to planning more times together.

I’ve finally got my sewing organized and I’m ready to part with my extra brand NEW quilt and matching diaper cover!

This is a 100% cotton rag quilt (33″x33″) made in my favorite colors of chocolate brown and pinks from Moda. The back side of the quilt is in a top quality thick flannel with extra layers of flannel and cotton print fabric to give it a really nice “rag” look and sewn with decorative stitching. The more it is washed, the fluffier it will become! (Washed 1 time to begin the darling ragging process.)

The diaper cover is a size small (range from 9lbs - 15lbs.) Nice and trim fitting. There is a hidden waterproof layer and the interior is a beautiful coordinating suedecloth. I used to own a successful online cloth diaper store, and I’d happy to answer any questions for those considering cloth diapers–they are NOT what they used to be I sold the store almost 2 years ago, but still enjoy making these cuties!

I am asking $49 for the set + shipping and prefer RME payment / Paypal or money order. RME is still offering the $25 Bonus for signing up!

Here are some references from customers that have bought my creations in the past:

I have been really feeling blessed in my silence and finally managing to get some well needed books cleared and get a little more organized.

I have a dear bloggy friend, MamaSmurf, that I would like to ask everyone to pray with me. She abruptly stopped blogging which isn’t her usual course of blogging. She is such a beautiful inspiration to me during her trial with cancer and openly gives so much glory to the Lord despite her trial. I’m really worried about and have had her on my heart day and night — even had a hard time sleeping but have been storming the heavens on her behalf.

Please join me in prayer for her health or that of her family. I miss her and want her to feel His presence in whatever is keeping her away from the computer.

*****Returning back to my silence****

The Plan of the Master Weaver

My life is but a weaving between the Lord and me,
I may not choose the colors,
He knows what they should be
for He can view the pattern upon the upper side,
while I can see it only on this, the under side…
Sometimes He weaveth sorrow, which seemeth strange to me,
but I will trust His judgement, and work on faithfully,
‘tis He who fills the shuttle, and He knows what is best,
so I shall weave in earnest, leaving to Him the rest…
Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly
shall God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why –
the dark threads are as needed in the Weaver’s skillful hand
as the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.

~Author Unknown~

I am taking a wonderful blog break to spend our last few weeks of this school year with less obligation to spend time on the computer.  (And for my family who will wonder….NO, I am not pregnant and sick needing the break.  Someone would be certain to ask and to avoid the wonder, I state this fact.)   I want to spend more time on some specific things in my life without obligations that I put upon myself with the internet.  My focus will be on heart and home (we have a lot of upcoming projects) and a prayerful renewal of a plan from the Master Weaver.

I want to read, respond and visit every friend that leaves me a comment and I struggle because my time is not well spent and I lose precious hours trying and feel defeated.    I am going to turn off comments during this time.  I do welcome anyone to contact me through the contact form on my blog and I will try my best as I can to respond accordingly.

My blogging this past year has been part of the Master Weaver’s Plan.  I’ve shared openly, times of joy, wounds of sorrow, and moments of healing.  The supportive comments and encouragement from friends are woven in fine threads and I look forward to returning to these treasures of friendship and love.

Thank you for understanding and allowing me this season of silence.

Art Appreciation
by Hands of a Child

VISIT HERE! this week and grab your FREE copy!

What does the word “art,” mean to you? Art can be many different things to many different people. It might be a favorite painting, sculpture, or drawing. It might be a favorite building, photograph, or craft. It could be a favorite dance move, play, or favorite song. Discovering art with the Art Appreciation Project Pack will give your student an introduction and understanding to the world of art. This 51-page Project Pack includes a 16-page Research Guide about the different types of art, elements of art, famous artists, principles of design, styles of art, and appreciating art. After reading the guide, your student will use the information found to complete 15 hands-on activities to make a lapbook on Art Appreciation.

A $13.99 Value FREE!

Despite my learning mistakes in yesterday’s Passover Seder, we did enjoy the blessings of the beautiful readings. We still have more learn as we count the Omer and obviously we will learn from our mistakes…hehe!

I’m still a little confused on the Passover Seder plate…confused with the bitter herbs and the salt water, etc. I guess I will have to read more to really understand all the details, but at least we did observe the Passover and continued in the entire service despite my pitiful attitude.

This was our Seder Plate … parsley, lettuce, egg, kharoset, grated horseradish, lamb shank bone, and a hard-boiled egg.

We also set the table with a setting for Elijah and the children enjoy hunting for the afikoman. I have to share a cute little “out of the mouths of babes” situation…. During the readings, our daughters participated in some of the readings. Our 9 year old daughter was reading the word afikoman and she read it as “africa man”. We all started laughing out loud and of course, my oldest daughter said that we could never accept an invitation to have Passover with another family now because they would use that word and we all bust at the seems in laughter.

Yes! Succulent Plants can grow from a leaf cutting!

Easter Sunday we had flowers placed in the church we attend in memory of Nathaniel. At the end of the Easter service we were allowed to pick one of the plants to take home to plant. I chose a succulent plant because I knew that I could grow more from them.

This past week, I took a leaf cutting and planted it and now I wait. I think these will be really nice to add to our memory garden.

If you want to read more on rooting succelent plants from a leaf, CLICK HERE to visit a site with more information.

Our sprouts continue to grow and the sunflowers are pushing the plastic top off now and ready to move into larger containers!!

I’m so glad that we are starting all of these indoors. Last night we had another freeze and everything would have destroyed our garden. We have a tray of flowers growing slower than our vegetables, but all are growing strong. We plan on planting another tray of 50 next week to hopefully really keep up a good start.

My husband rototilled the grounds yesterday (well….tried but it is so hard and rocky so it will be a while before it is prepped for the raised beds.) All the raised beds are DONE! They are so nice and I cannot wait to see them in place with all the soil and plants.

Our Tomato sprouts made their grand appearance on Day #5.  Group B sprouted first and has taken the lead over Group A.

{Click to enlarge}

My day has been less than pleasant. In fact it’s been a rather emotional mess all day long. Grief still hits me like a crashing wave. Ugh!

Then I committed a major faux pau for our Passover Dinner….I mentioned that I served lamb for our Passover …only to get 3/4 of the way through the Seder to find a small sentence that says, “lamb is never served for Passover.” Of course, I will look back and laugh on this one day, but admist the miserable state of emotions I was already feeling this had me in sobs. I worked hard all day long for this

Just thought I’d share.

This week our curriculum adds in the study and practice of Passover. It’s been a very busy week and so I’m not as prepared as I had hoped, but I am plugging forward and going to try to make it as special as possible.

We bought a Passover Family Pack through CBD and it contained the Seder Plate, Cup, Music, The Messianic Passover Haggadah, and a preparation guide.

My family had bought me a beautiful Passover/Communion Plate set for my birthday this week, but the company had a Hebrew printing error and the Seder Plate will not be available until next year.

This is an entire learning process, but the blessings of a father sharing in the meaning behind the tradition are amazing. ~Shalom

The weather has been perfect for our planted seeds!  In fact, this evening when I was closing the blinds and checking the moisture levels of our covered planters, I discovered a few surprises!

These were JUST planted on April 12th!  (2 days ago)

Oh my! I was so amused watching the girls plant our garden seeds this weekend. We had a lot of seeds that needed to get started and so we worked hard to get the first set of seeds planted. We plan on doing this project about every two weeks for the next month or so to keep a good rotation of fresh seedling plants added the garden beds.

As I watched the girls, it was apparent that our 3 yo LOVES dirt everywhere and all over herself, while our oldest tried her best to keep from getting dirty. Unfortunately she ended up wearing about 1/2 packet of Red Leaf Lettuce seeds that spilled on her when she opened up the seed packet. She carefully walked outside and shook herself off in the chicken yard. Our 9 yo was hasty and just wanted to see how many she could do fast. It was cute to watch and I’m sure that our time spent outdoors together working our garden will bring many special and fond memories to treasure deeply.

Woo Hoo!  My husband despite a really busy weekend with a father-daughter horse event (ranch sorting) finished one of the raised garden beds.  It wasn’t “really” a father-daughter specific event…just daddy and daughter adore horses in all their spare time and enjoy doing things together.

I am so excited to see this completed.  This planter is a stacked raised bed and it will be home to our 50 strawberry plants arrving this week.

The square in the middle is exactly centered even though the picture makes it look off.   I think he did such a wonderful job and I can’t wait for him to finish the next 2.