move over ebay

I just came across this online auction site.

shopgoodwill.com

It's addicting, non-profit, and like the bargain basement of the internet!!!

Enter at your own risk!

Monday Multitudes, #374-390

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy." Phillipians 1:3-4 NIV

Lord, thank you for all that you have given me, especially;

catchers uniforms that are much too large yet proudly wornpee wee baseball games
stain removal and wonderful friends who really shine when I need them at the last minute (thank you Kristi, I spent an hour getting the dresses white again today:))

living in the midwest where if Nora wants to see a cow we only need to drive a few miles to see one

sisters and craft fairs that only reinforce what I have known all along...you are sheer genious with the ribbon and curls

weeks that allow the project man to start and finish something, this week a tree

a wedding, or as my little ones call it...Tracy's party, with a beautiful bride and a most thoughtful and mature groom and lots of purple
flower girls and a ring bearer that are too adorable for words
blowing bubbles outside the church with grandma

dancing with grandpa
babies who fall asleep in daddy's arms at the very hot un-airconditioned dance
wonderful surprises

Uncle Kelly and Aunt Laura and their dance moves
beautiful Katie
Auntie Kim's updo

cousin Taylor and Maleah posing for me daddies
love and how it never fails... thanks be to God

surprise

Naked

BEFORE

Got yer attention didn't I? Last week we lost a huge part of the old Boxelder tree that grows behind the shed in our backyard. This week project man decided to take the rest of her down. Every year she has lost branches in the wind and storms and well, her trunk was half rotten so it was her time.

Ryan climbed up about midmorning on Tuesday, before the rain came. He got a big chunk of her down and by the time I even knew what he was doing there was a backyard full of branches, again. Good thing we created lots of free help. By the end of the morning we had quite a nice pile of wood stacked up neatly behind the little shed. I was proud of it. It looked so neat and uniform. Memories of my childhood and hauling wood for our woodburning stove with daddy flooded my brain. I remember the sound of the chainsaw, the sawdust in his mustache and beard, the sleds that we each pulled to and from the tree to the back of the little white Datsun, pushing the sweet smelling logs through the home made tin chute dad put in the basement...good memories. It was nice to visit them again. I was surprised my stressed out brain could find them amongst all the muck in there these days.

It was about lunch time when I suggested we move the camper and the boat. I was nervous because he kept hollering from the shed roof, "you think that one'll clear it?" as he pointed to spots on the tree's long limbs where he was going to use the chainsaw he borrowed from my brother in law to sever her. We took a lunch break and then moved the recreational vehicles in the rain. It was fun. (note the sarcasm.) It was wet, we were soaked we took the rest of the night off. The next morning project man was at it again. He climbed right up in that Boxelder tree and with nothing to clear he straddled branches, he stood on branches and he climbed up more branches. Until he couldn't climb anymore. Then he called his brother in law and asked to borrow the boom truck. His brother in law said yes. Enter boom truck. By this time we had even more neatly stacked piles of wood.It was beautiful. Uncle Steve just happened to stop by around this time as well. Good thing, because I am not a very good boom truck operator. Especially when the love of my live, aka project man, is 40 feet up in the air with a chain saw. YIKES. The tree was rather awkward looking at this point. Project man and Uncle Steve kept working until they couldn't reach the trunk with the boom because the shed was in the way and they had to use a chain to sort of 'catch' the trunk while it was cut. I would be a very happy woman if I didn't have to watch that ever again. It was nervewracking. Soon enough, there was just a trunk left. Check out that sky and those clouds. They were simply amazing. It was so clear and clean up there. Our backyard felt completely vulnerable and naked. And because I know you really can't live without it. Here are some videos of some of the action.

The next day we took down the trunk, with the help of the boom truck.

Look at the size of that trunk.

AFTER

The End
Optional titles for this post include: Tip Top Tippy Tippy Top, Project Man Does Boxelder Tree, Timber, Full Sun, Chainsaw Fun, Don't Try This at Home, Boom Truck Heaven, My Arms are Still Vibrating, How to Keep the Neighbors Awake, Large Diameter, A Tale of a Tree, Bye Bye Boxelder

Monday Multitudes, #350-373

Your goodness and unfailing kindness shall be with me all of my life, and afterwards I will live with You forever in Your home. Psalm 23:6 TLB

I see His unfailing kindness everyday. I pray that you do, too.

Evidence lies in the blessings I have been given;

car repairs in time for a trip to visit family

nieces who grow up too fast and graduate

an extended rainy weekend in a hotel with a pool

kids who love to swim

fajitas and guacamole and pico de gallo

treats from Fleet Farm

ballgames, ballgames, ballgames

local gas stations so I can get to ballgames

cows and turtles on the side of the road that make happy toddlers and big kids

my voice so I can cheer at games

winds that twist and break and scream but don't hurt anyone

healing (for little Jack, for Larry, for Gordy, for Tracy and stitches received during her wedding week, for the Kinzley family, for Landon and his big toe, for those who are hurting and in pain and for those that do not know that they need healing)

neighbors with chain saws and skid steers and lots of energy to help, never mind they are twice my age...

rain and for rain to please stop so it doesn't flood

blow up pools and campfires at the same time :)

vbs programs and the teachers and volunteers that lead them

municipal band concerts even inside they sound amazing

root beer floats

coupons and grandmas who watch kids so that I can use them

early to bed nights that give mom a chance to relax

sisters who can create pretty much anything from purple satin and any other fabric

slippers and sweatshirts in June and raincoats

a calendar that is full this week, again

Lord, thank you for my life and everything that fills it.

Peeps

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Yesterday and Today

Yesterday I took a couple of photos of the progress in the garden and of the strawberries that some pesky rabbit or birds are feasting on.

This morning I woke up and found this.

It seems there is a wood duck, or was a wood duck laying eggs in the old tree. Half of the tree is down.

Guess that teaches me to complain about the pesky rodents eating my garden.
I lost my 'maters for sure and some squash, too. I may be able to salvage some of the others depending upon how long it takes me to get that trunk out of the way :)

Some friends weren't so lucky. Their camper rolled three times in their driveway and ended up inches from the front porch. No one was hurt and that was the worst of the damage locally, I believe.