What I have Accomplished in the past Week

It's Summer! We are having a great time with swimming lessons and bike riding but every homeschool mom knows that Summer is the time to really clean your house,de-clutter...... and of course, plan next year's subjects. So that is what I am doing. There is still much to do but here is a list of what I have done in the last week or so.

Cleaned out my bathroom cupboards
Deep cleaned the bathroom (Adriel's says "I didn't know the floor could get that shiny.")
De-cluttered my bedroom
Cleaned off book shelves
Purged old binders and collected still useable school supplies
Ordered next year's school books (and got some great deals on used books)
Sent messages to sellers letting them know the books I purchased  arrived
Negotiated a smashing deal on strawberries for jam ( I am my father's daughter after all)
Cleaned out the hair supply drawer
Cleared my desk
Set up my sewing stuff on my desk
Made a little pouch for my Nike Plus
Read two of the kids literature books for next year (Mostly while on a treadmill)
Finally found Jeans that fit David (It was more like David is finally up to a waist size that exists)
Dealt with Mim having a tummy bug (why do they always throw up in my bed??)
Turned my torn slacks into shorts
Started training the dog

I still have a huge list of things to do but it is nice to see a list of what is done, rather than what remains. The last weekend in July I have arraigned for my sister and my parents to take the kids for 4-5 days. My goal is to get all of my first semester and pre-school-year stuff done while the kids are having fun with cousins and grandparents. Before then, I need to have the house all de-cluttered, the school supplies organized and all of the lit books read.

~Christina

Giant Radishes

Our radishes keep getting bigger and bigger. We can't pick them fast enough, and every time we go out to the garden they're even larger. Many are now baseball sized. They still taste great!

Kings

What if you took King Saul and David and put them into modern time with modern world events and modern ways of thinking about things... that's the premise of NBC's "Kings." Very intriguing, quite dramatic, and we found ourselves really enjoying The characters in this show. This is one of the best shows I have seen, I would gladly give up LOST to keep up with Kings instead.

Unfortunately NBC pulled the show from the spring lineup after five episodes because it wasn't drawing the hoped for audience. But ITS BACK! Starting on Saturday evening at 8pm the sixth episode will air and each Saturday after that the series will continue through the season conclusion.

You can catch up on the first five episodes at NBC or Hulu.

We want to see this show back for a second season so check it out, and if you love it be sure to let NBC know!

Show trailer:



Our two favorite characters are David and Michelle (replacing Johnathon of the biblical story):

The Garden

Our garden project is coming right along. We're already getting to pick a few things that we started during the winter - a few lettuce leaves here and there, some onions, and we plucked our first fat radish out of the ground yesterday. Here's a look at the finished garden beds, mostly empty and ready for the starts:





Radishes:


Our corn row against the back fence, with the first plants coming up and many more starts coming soon to fill up this row:



Many starts and seedlings ready to be added to the garden:

Full Sail

Last year we launched our newly restored sailboat, the "Christina Marie", on it's maiden voyage in Lake Merwin, WA. We kicked off this year's sailing season again at Lake Merwin, it might just become a yearly kickoff tradition!

Our dear friends the Nielsen's joined in the sailing fun on Saturday. Here's some shots that the ladies took from the shore as Jeremy and I took the kids for a spin around the lake.





We couldn't have asked for better weather! What a great way to kick off the sailing season! The Nielsen's hosted us at their place for the evening and we returned to the lake the next day for another few hours of sailing fun before heading back to normal life.

One great bonus was that Jeremy was called into work for an early morning tugboat job and I was able to tag along. Getting up at 3 a.m. wasn't so bad, seeing the Willamette in it's predawn tranquility from our four story vantage point in the tower tug was amazing. And feeling thousands of horsepower in the engine room below us respond to Jeremy's touch was exhillirating. Here's a few shots of the sister tug leading the way back to the Shaver dock after we pulled a ship from it's slip.

My friend Rachel

My friend Rachel died suddenly and tragically this weekend, a blood clot took her life quickly and without warning.

Rachel and I first met when I was ten and attended boarding school together, living together in the same dorm for five years. Though we were a grade apart we were nearly always in the same classroom together. There were only about eight of us at that boarding school and Rachel was truly like a sister to me. After leaving the school and moving on our different ways we remained pen pals through high school and we've more recently kept in touch through our blogs with occasional comments back and forth. Because of our shared experiences growing up together Rachel's notes have always been meaningful.

I loved reading Rachel's blog posts, they were encouraging to me because she so clearly loved God, her husband and her children. I will miss her updates. And I feel so deeply for the loss Scott and the children are feeling now, I can't even imagine what that would be like. I am having a hard time understanding why things like this happen in our world, but I do know that Rachel touched many lives, including mine.

I pulled out the "Indonesia" pictures a few days ago. There was Rachel participating in my silly school presentations about rocket launches and nuclear power plants. Rachel was always there, interested in my crazy inventions. She was the first "customer" of the dorm phone system I wired together. Rachel validated my quirky interests and looking back I see how valuable her input was in my life.

Just a week before her death Rachel along with her husband Scott were rejoicing in the birth of their 3rd child, Caynah Grace ("Powerful Grace"). In describing the name she said "I know Who has a Powerful Grace and I wanted my daughter to be 'labeled' with our Lord." How profound that is now.

Rachel leaves behind two other children, Aleah and Bruce.

Scott, I have never met you but I know you are a great man and I'm praying for you, I'm so sorry for your loss. May God bring a powerful grace to you. Your farewell to Rachel is beautiful. Joshua, Caleb, Mr. and Mrs. Allen, you are all in my heart and prayers as well.

Goodbye Rachel. May you bring special blessing to God!

- Adriel