Catching Up

The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. 

Lamentations 3:22

Well, I find myself feeling very far behind in the blogging realm! In the interest of catching up a bit, I thought I'd first do a mostly-photos post from family life, then do a bit of writing in a separate entry. I used the above scripture because I'll be listing out some old mercies today - mercies that happened a while back, but are still precious reminders of His kindness. But that made me think: you know, His mercies are never old. In fact they are new every morning! They never fail, as it says in the above translation of that verse (NASB).

First: Mom makes her yard gorgeous. She puts a lot of labor and creativity into her flowers and plants. It's all so interesting and refreshing! This little guy is so sweet. But have you seen Gnomeo and Juliet? Do you think that when I turned around to walk away, he rolled his eyes and the lady squatting low on the ground with the camera?

Happy Pansies in a pot by mom and dad's driveway, on a perfect blue day

Mmm-hm! Who is that fine young man there in the big truck? Yeah, he was laughing at me for my, ahem, less than ladylike squatting on the ground photography session. This was as we left for a nice lunch date.

Beautiful view up close and far away! More of mom's pretty plantings.

PaPa (we pronounce that PawPaw) takes CJ for a ride, because she has major stranger anxiety here at 9.5 months and it was how we escaped for that lunchdate. She loves to be outside in the stroller or wagon! And what a sweet PaPa to wheel her around, the little princess in her chariot.

Mama fixes my bedskirt. Yep, we crammed it in our suitcase and flew Back Home with it. CA had ripped a gash in it trying to boost herself up onto my bed. Mom made it look great!

MK setting up her science experiment. She and EG had to do one for school. Good thing it was assigned, because left to myself, I'm not sure we would ever do experiments and such. I just get overwhelmed by such things so easily!! MK's topic: Which Vinegar Makes the Bounciest Egg? So we chose several kinds and soaked the eggs for 3 days.

Clearly, this egg did not bounce. We learned the hard way that we should drop from 5 inches, not from 10 inches! Fun splash photo, though. Just wish I'd used the flash!

Okay, I just liked this one! This egg was soaked in a darker vinegar, obviously. Maybe malt vinegar?

I really did have to pray through my project-anxiety, though, learning to trust God to work it all out for the best...ie, finding the time to help them do this properly, do it well. We all took part in both girls' projects and gained knowledge through it all! Dropped from 5 inches, all the eggs bounced. It was the rice vinegar and apple cider vinegar ones that bounced highest. MK came away with a new question though: Which bounces higher: brown or white eggs?

They had to keep a journal of all they did in connection with the research and experiment. Thankfully, the website we were given to use gave very clear step by step instructions on doing science projects and on the specific experiements.

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Some of those old mercies from Jesus that really never do get old...

901 missing sippy cups: found

902 missing nature journal: found

903 science experiments: done

904 baby/preschooler sleeping through the experiments! really, that was such a blessing!

905 joy: faraway friend coming in for a whirlwind visit

906 refreshed incredibly: time to reclaim and thoroughly clean my own bedroom and bathroom, getting it ready for company...I mean, I did it all, by myself, in one sitting - phenomenal! Rewarding! (my bedroom inevitably becomes the catchall for so.much.stuff! and then dealing with it is a low priority each day, compared to things like dishes and homeschooling!)

907 walking through Whole Foods Market...just a blessing and treat to see all the colorful, beautiful fruits and vegetables

908 talking till 2am with my faraway friend - in person!

909 a haircut! oh dear, I don't even know how long it had been...

910 a less expensive than expected haircut!

911 Providence: the lovely way that even miscommunications and plans-fallen-through result in blessings - house cleaner than it had been in a while!