The frost is on the Pumpkin and the hay is in the barn.

 

Friday was the FIRST time that temperatures dropped to freezing.

It really has felt like a CA autumn so far.  Warm days cool nights but not cold.  I am so grateful for the volunteer pumpkin plant that flourished in the pasture where we put up our garden fence in preparation for next spring.

I was thinking about our pumpkins. The previous owners threw pumpkins to their bull which left these seeds behind... When we were putting up the garden fence we saw the sprawling volunteer vines full of flowers but no fruit. 

 I jokingly said to the plant, "Hey pumpkins, Missouri's growing season is over. It's September.  If you want to do something you better start pumping out pumpkins now! Pump pumpkins pump!" 

Every day as we worked to pound T posts and put up fence I would call out gleefully to the vines, "Pump pumpkins pump!" 

The next week Reg and I were astounded to see 4 pumpkins growing on that vine! They were a good size too.  "Good job pumpkins!" I crowed in wonder.  

Now here it is, well into November and we just harvested 10 pumpkins and there were still dozens of giant flowers.

So lets think about our "late bloomer" friends, who always seem to be "blooming" but never producing fruit.  The season is ending.  Jesus is coming and He's coming soon! 

Instead of criticizing, shaking our heads about being too late, mocking, or pitying them, we warn and cheer them on.  

Just keep encouraging them.  They will soon turn their fun and good ideas for change in themselves into action.  And they will be ready to be taken in when the frost hits and the growing season truly ends.

Have a beautiful week! Keep working on all your good kind ideas.  Ask God for help.  He's waiting for you to ask.

PS. I think it's hilarious that when Spring arrived two weeks ago our baby sheep were born. LOL Just for the joke.  The other kids have not been born yet.  Perhaps they are waiting for Autumn to come for Thanksgiving. Tee Hee.

Sheep, Emma, had babies!

 

Emma had twins Saturday night!! The other sheep stood guard while she labored. We just let her do her natural thing and lo, two healthy adorable babies!

They are so tiny and  perfect. We are holding them as much as possible so they will be more tame than their mothers.

Spring is here with her two daughters for a month. It's so awesome.

Ben and Courtnie came by Friday and spent the night. It's always so special to have family here.

So my heart is full for my little lambs and my other lambs🥰

You know, loving others is how you show Jesus you love him. In the Bible he asked Peter three times, "Do you love me?" When Peter said,"yes" Christ said Three times .."Feed my lambs", "Feed my sheep", "Feed my sheep".

What Jesus meant was that if Peter loved Him then should teach the children (lambs) and adults (sheep) about Jesus. So if you want to be fed. Come visit us and hold a lamb and let's talk about Jesus.

Reg is left behind!

 

This week we had the pleasure of making a delicious lunch for a group of 150 missionaries.

The event was supposed to start at 10am and was right next door to the Kansas City temple so we reserved a spot for 11:30. 

We went in to the recommend desk and I went through but Reg was stopped. His recommend had expired in September! Wah! So I went on without him and he went back to help with more serving and clean up.  

On the way home we made appointments with our leaders and the next day we went back to the temple together. Then the next day Ephraim had time to go with us so we went again. THREE days in a row! That's a record🥰

You may wonder why we care about temples so much. They are not open on Sunday, only during the week. Temples are a place where we can help our ancestors to make the covenants they need to move forward in the spirit world and be sealed to each other.

 Eternal marriage vs "death do us part". It's a beautiful gift and it's not forced upon them. They can choose to accept or reject the work.  It's our way of showing our love and respect to those who came before 

It's also a way of healing broken family relationships. There are so many people I know who have done work for deceased parents and grandparent who they have hated all their lives due to abuse and offences. They find peace and forgiveness and relief! 

The work for our dead heals forward and backwards.

Also this week we drove 12 hours to drop off Autumn's boys. We drove six hours and met her half way to save her two 12 hour drives! It was so fun and literally in the middle of nowhere!

Spring is coming in Wednesday with her two daughters and will stay for a month!! I am so grateful my children want to be near us. We are blessed in our old age. Thank you Jesus.

Ponderings on Parenting

 Last week we had the joy of babysitting our grandsons, Emmet (age 9) and Taran (age 4).  They go home on Wednesday this week.  What a delight and adventure it has been to be a 24/7 parent again and to be honest, it's been exhausting too.  

Just the weight of "alertness" keeping them safe, keeping them at peace, keeping them learning, keeping them focused.  It's not a part-time job, it is a FULL-time job.  

Some of the highlights have been, HOMESCHOOLING....I had the privilege of seeing the excitement in Emmet's face when he conquered long division which at first, he said he didn't need to know, then tolerated my efforts, then started to get it and by day 4 was saying, "I can't wait to show mom I know how to do this!!"  He's really quite bright.  I never did master long division in 4th grade, It just didn't make sense to me. He picked it up in 4 days.

Little Taran used the abacus to learn + means "add to" and - means "take away" from.  BIG concepts for a four-year-old. Plus his phonics skills are fantastic. I love to listen to him read his Bob Books.

We kept busy ALL day doing "farm chores", sit down learning, play learning, art, costume building, book reading, free play, and CLEAN UP, CLEAN UP, CLEAN UP.  lol.  So many opportunities for things to be out of place.

Then there's the COOKING.  They are really good at trying one bite, but figuring out what they loved to eat was tricky and of course then trying to match that with what WE love to eat. HAHAH!  |I went to a relief society conference on Saturday and learned how to make healthy cheese crackers (sharp cheese, butter, salt, and flour-NO preservatives, no dyes) and healthy peanut butter cups!! Whoo HOO!!  Also at that conference we did Zumba for 30 min and Yoga for 30 min.  I was inspired.  ZUMBA is SO FUN.

MUSIC!  What fun songs and rhythms we learned on piano, drum, Music Ace Deluxe (a great computer game), singing and kazooooo!

We exercised a lot by playing outside, riding bikes, or running around in the great room upstairs...When I say WE were running, I mean, I sat on the couch and directed them as they chased each other in circles around an obstacle course I created and THEY jumped on the mini trampoline and dove over and under boxes from Amazon.  It's what Reg and I call "Horizontal Parenting"...you still appear to be involved, but you are not moving and they are getting all their energy out.  Try it, you'll like it.

Then there was the SPIRITUAL nurturing.  So many great conversations about Jesus.  "What if the bad guys throw a nuclear bomb at Jesus? Would he survive?", "Why do we have to pray? Can't we just know God is there and if He can read my mind, why do I need to pray?"  "What does faith LOOK like?"  "Why do you still love Farley even when he chases the sheep and you yell at him?"

I want to testify that the time and effort you spend with children (your own or otherwise) to help them become closer to Christ and develop their own super powers of physical, intellectual, and emotional skills, will be BLESSED.  You will be blessed with good ideas, energy, and rest.  Involve the Lord in all things from food to reading, fort building to math....HE is great at all of it and will inspire you. 

The world will be a better place because you made the effort to help another human being become inspired, enlightened, capable and feel loved.  

The least respected/honored and lowest paid jobs in our wicked society are that of PARENTING/NURTURING, teaching, and custodial.  

I believe THESE are, of course, the most important jobs to God. They help humans to be better people (when done intentionally). Unfortunately, because of society's disregard, some of the people doing these jobs see themselves in a "shabby" way and they slack.  Don't slack.  Honor your work.  You are helping the Savior do HIS WORK when you nurture, teach, and keep things clean, safe, and orderly.  

Staying home to care for your children is not something to do because you can't do anything else.  It is something to do because you can do everything with Jesus.

Karaoke and the magic of music

 

Sorry this is late. As we push to finish all the big projects before our mission work kicks in were blessed with many visitors and fun this week. Starting with Reg and I dressing up and going to the Renaissance Faire!

It was a really good one with permanent buildings and lots of great vendors 

We saw great shows and shared a smoked turkey leg and shouted Huzzah!!!

Reg finished Farley's insulated and cozy dog house. Ephraim went into it to convince Farley that was a place he really wanted to be, even in a storm.

How often do you sacrifice or go the extra mile to help others see where they will be safest or most taken care of? Well it worked. During a storm we looked out and Farley was cozy in his house!

One of my best friends in highschool who I have not seen in thirty years came to visit me while he was out here on a business trip.

We played piano and sang and laughed and cried. It was a wonderful wonderful visit! I'm so grateful he sacrificed his time to come!

Then Autumn's family plus her inlaws came for several days. It's been a big time party!! Too much fun food and lots of good work too. Then my friends came over for a karaoke night. As we chatted before we started I realized that every one of my friends was having a lot of stress and grief at home. Singing to and with their friends was a very good way to relieve that stress and self regulate. We had so much joy!

Then my kids joined in and my friends loved it.

Ephraim came home from being at the Ren Faire with his girlfriend and started charming the socks off my friends. The power of good music and singing, not just listening is so good for you. Not everyone sings great and no one cares!  All welcome, all levels, just sing and your heart will be lifted as well as those who listen.