speak to me

We live in a remarkable world Internet. It is broken...and not at all like it was in the beginning...but His fingerprints remain. I took this picture this weekend while we were camping in the Cascade mountains with the family.

In the wind...I can feel His breath...and it is good.

Encourage~
Jodi

I grow weed

FREE WEEDS, originally uploaded by Through Joanne's eye.

Or should I say I grow weeds?? I have given up this season on the lawn. Visions of the children and I laying on our backs on a carpet of lush soft green have withered in the summer heat.

A wise man once said though..

"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them". ~A.A. Milne

PLUS!! Just think of all the wishes we will get to make once they go to seed!

A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows. ~Doug Larson

Encourage~
J

Summer

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time. ~John Lubbock

Then followed that beautiful season... Summer....
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. ~James Dent




Oh internet...enjoy your summer with the simple pleasures of life...

This is a gift from God to you.

Encourage~
J

Photography

Today I will show you a variety of photo's of "yours truly".

"Why"...you ask? Well..."why not"...I reply.

Besides....taking a few minutes to scrub your brain from today's "to-do" list is healthy and I think my doctor recommended a few mindless hours of E-time a week to improve my sanity.

Enjoy!....and encourage one another,
Jodi



This one has a "gritty" effect....it is o.k....but not my favorite.



This one is "groovy"! It reminds me of the pics of my family from the 70's. I like
it.



This one makes the color POP (and also blurs the pic...so don't worry...it isn't you). This isn't a good application for a family pic...BUT it would make my cooking looking SOOOOOO much better. I think I'll keep it.



This one has a color booster and a "Vignette". I love vignette's (and don't deny your passion for them either....I know you have a school photo somewhere in a box in your attic...and it has a vignette). Not sure about the color booster in this one...the vignette though.... is a keeper.



This is how I feel when I drink wine....



In this one...I am starring in my own sitcom (think "The Wonder Years"). I like this one mucho much! I'm pretty sure I will overuse it to the point where it draws boredom.

Peace Out~
J

cupcake

When a girl is given a cupcake and not just any cupcake...but a ginormous cupcake...the girl will usually looks like this.



After the frosting has been licked off completely...this is when the said cupcake is ceremoniously handed over to the "mom" to finish consuming. I'm pretty sure it is some strange rite of passage into motherhood (one must consume half eaten soggy cookies and frostingless cupcakes for x amount of years).

Another one of our favorite things.

Encourage one another,
Jodi

Peep Free

c

Just came home from a weekend away with my "hunk o' burning love" (well not exactly a weekend since we left on Monday and came home on Tuesday). However, we were away from home...for over 24 hours....and no "peeps" were allowed.

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

WHOOO HOOOO!!!!

No one ever told me that having children would give me PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). Just kidding. I love my peeps. They give me joy and on occasion a headache (but mostly joy). Tomorrow my house returns to normal (our kinda normal of course...which is probably abnormal to you).

Until then, I will eat ice cream out of the container while sitting on my white couches. Shhhh...don't tell.

Encourage one another,
Jodi

The boy

So life goes on Internet.

Things are momentarily back to normal (although with us we aren't sure what normal is anymore and strangley..we are o.k. with this).

Mama cat is doing well. I think the only one going about the house in a grouchy stupor is yours truly. Sheesh.

ANYWAY, the BOY (the one and ONLY) has a birthday coming up. I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what to get him this year (besides a spanking or a timeout). He is hitting the double digits...the big 1*0 next week (yee-haw)!

People tell you that life goes quickly and to "treasure every moment" (which by the way means nothing to a young mom who just wants to sleep for eight hours in one night).

It is true though...time slips through our hands and one day...they grow up.

I'm enjoying the ride, the ups, the downs and even the annoying bumps that we hit along the way. God is good...always.

Encourage one another,
Jodi

heartbroken

All I wanted was to show the children the beauty of life, to let them see the miracle.

Mia had two kittens today and both of them were stillborn. I have laid by her side for seven hours now and no more have come so we think she is done.

Instead of teaching my children about life...they are learning about death.

There are two sides to every stone.

I wasn't prepared for this. I've been praying for these kitties for two months now. The kids and I have been praying each night for the safe arrival, anticipating with joy.

How do you explain this to your children? How can I make them feel better when they think that God didn't hear them? At this moment I'm afraid I fall short in my explanation because I'm asking the same question. Why?

Encourage one another...and maybe me too,
Jodi