My Ebenezer

Lots has happened in the last week that has kept me busy and low on time to blog. Story of my life, I know! I figured I'd unload the camera and let my pictures tell you what's been happening over here. As a Thank-You to Matt and Jen for watching Noah for us while we went to Austin, we sent them on a 2 day, 1 night excursion to St. Augustine, FL. They were gone Monday morning through Tuesday evening, and had a great time. Time away with just your spouse is SO refreshing! We watched Brianne who, in comparison to Noah, is Very Mellow. That's all I need to say about that. We took the kids to the beach Monday evening. Getting them both to look at the camera at the same time was asking too much. :) Aren't play-doh stars the greatest? Noah hard at work concocting a motorcycle. A favorite pastime--playing on the bed with Daddy. To avoid scaring you, I purposely took half the picture. Josh is lying on the bed, suspending Noah in the air by his ankles, with nothing but...

Leave it to me. Last night we were looking for something light for supper, so I decided to make BLT's and chicken noodle soup. The canned variety. Trouble is, I've gotten so used to the bigger-already-diluted cans of soup that I forgot-- I forgot --to add a can of water to my condensed soup. I looked in the pan and thought it didn't look like enough soup, so I dumped in another can , again without water. Salty doesn't begin to describe it. I thought something was wrong with the soup. Maybe it had gone bad. Maybe I used to buy the "reduced-sodium" kind and wasn't used to how salty the regular stuff is. Josh said, "You did add the can of water, right?" Ooops . How do you mess up canned soup? I must be out of practice. Or something.

This was the last sight I saw before we left, and I made sure to get his picture! He was so excited when we got back! I loved Austin. I could just stop there and call it a blog, but I won't. Here, in words and pictures, are my impressions of Austin: On our first evening in Austin, we went out to dinner with Josh's Uncle Rick. He also drove us to the airport on Monday morning, which was very kind of him. We stayed at the Stephen F. Austin hotel, just a few blocks from, and within sight of the capitol building. It's a really nice place, and we felt very luxurious staying there. Funny though, they want to charge more money every time you turn around. They had a little refrigerator in the room, fully stocked with any beverage or treat I could want, but at crazy prices. $3.00 for a pack of M&Ms. Bottled water for $4.00 each. A little jar of jellybeans for $7.50. You get the idea. AND! If you took anything out of the fridge, a little sensor they had rigged up in there w...

My new favorite flower, the Bluebonnet. They've stolen my heart and were by far my favorite sight we saw in Austin, TX. Doesn't God have such a creative imagination?! We got home yesterday to an exuberant little Noah, beautiful weather (where have you been the last few days, Mr. Sun?), and a mountain of laundry. :) We had a wonderful time in Austin, and are ready to get back to our normal routine. Josh and I saw a lot of fun things which I'll have to tell you about in a future post, as well as show you all my pictures. Well, maybe not all my pictures...have I explained in the past what bad self-photographers we are? In the absence of funds to hire a photographer to follow us around and take beautiful pictures of us against gorgeous backdrops, we have to fumble around with the camera ourselves, which always results in visually cropped heads, monuments, you name it. It's been funny to go back through the photos I took and see how badly I need a photography class. Or l...

Just wanted to say that Josh and I arrived in Austin, TX safely and are having a wonderful time. Both of our flights went smoothly yesterday (an answered prayer!), and we were able to have dinner last night with Josh's Uncle Rick at a very fun Mexican restaurant in downtown. The traffic here is mainly gridlock, but it could have been the time of day we were trying to explore. We'll see if it's the same today. It rained the entire afternoon/evening yesterday, so we popped in to CVS to buy an umbrella, since I had neglected to pack one. Our hotel is beautiful, and we have enjoyed being together even without Noah (also an answered prayer, since I thought I'd be pining away for him.) He seems to be doing fine at Matt and Jen's and everyone there is still alive, Ha ha! :) We are so blessed to be able to be here, and we're praising the Lord for such an opportunity! Pictures will have to wait at least until later, since I also neglected to pack the picture-upload...

Blueberries For Sal, in my opinion, illustrates why a classic is a classic. This children's book was published in 1948, and I found it in our library last week, in April of 2010. I thought, "Hmmm... a book that is 62 years old still on the shelves? We'll give it a try." Folks, this is one of the best books ever! I didn't have high hopes for it, since the illustrations weren't even in color--oh come ON!--and there appeared to be too many words per page. Ever read to a two-year-old? The word/picture ratio has got to be small, and the picture/word ratio has got to be large. Or else. Or else you'll be reading the book to yourself while your two-year-old has moved on to greener pastures. :) Blueberries For Sal managed to capture Noah's attention, and he's asked for it several times since that first reading. What a great book! Read it! You'll love it! (pssst. Go look for a copy even if you don't have kids. I think you'll smile.)

Really it just illustrates my point; that I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to identifying plants! My mother-in-law Mom Rowley, left the following comment on my blog last night: Joanna: I think your "lilacs" are actually wisteria! From looking at the height, size of flowers, and they taper down and not up I think you have a loveley wisteria vine...." After googling "lilac" and then "wisteria", I totally stand corrected! She's right! Actually, the fact that I have wisteria makes more sense, because last night we found the source of my "lilacs" was a vine coming up through the fence. I had thought it was a lilac tree, but in reality it's a wisteria vine using a plain old tree for a trellis. So. I have a little work to do! Wouldn't it be so romantic to put up a trellis (which Mom suggested) and have beautiful wisteria growing over it? I'd feel all Anne of Green Gables or something. :) I might even...

"Then Job answered the LORD and said, "I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' "Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know." 'Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.' "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes." Job 42:1-6 We are officially done with our Bible Study in Job on Wednesday nights, and I have been learning a great many things. I can't say I have learned them because I think I am just at the tip of the great iceberg of Trial Lessons 101. I do not believe, at 29 years of age, that I can write what there is to write about right responses to trials in a great pompous volume to hand out and instruct others. No. Sadly I, unli...

Earlier in the week I found azaleas in our back yard at Cellar, and yesterday; lilacs! They smelled so fragrant I wished I could put my nose right in them and just breathe it right in. I was a little jealous of the fat bumblebee who appeared to be doing just that, and had to be satisfied instead with the photos I took. A lady from church gave me two strawberry plants (clearly she has not heard of my inadvertent Plant Killings , or she may have just bought me some strawberries instead!) and I planted them over at Cellar last night. I went to check on them this morning, and they looked fine! I hope I can overcome my past and go on to be an expert gardener. Right. Or maybe I'll just settle for being Someone Who Doesn't Kill Plants. One can always hope!

One thing is for sure about Noah, and that is that he likes to help out. And talk, but that's another post! Anyway, whatever I'm doing Noah wants to help. Most of the time at his age, I'd prefer not to have help simply because it slows me down and usually causes more work for me, not less. Sometimes though, the look in his Precious Moments eyes just wilts my gotta-get-it-done spirit, and I let him help. So what if it takes 25 minutes to make lunch with his help? He helped, and to him that means everything. The other day I taught him how to fold washcloths and towels. He caught on pretty quick and the expression on his face when I told him, "Good job" was worth all the mis-folds in the world. :)

Well, as it usually happens after I've been away from the blog for too long, I have way too much to say and not enough time to say it. So. I guess I just jump in anyway! In no particular order: The photo of the azaleas was taken in our back yard at Cellar. At least I think they're azaleas. Tell you what, if they're not, just humor me for a minute. Anyway. We've been taking advantage of the beautiful weather to go rake leaves and get the yard in order over there. As I was raking the other day, I happened to look up and see the azalea bush in full bloom! I didn't even know we had an azalea bush--have I mentioned I'm no gardener? I'm excited to see what other flowers may be hiding out ready to surprise me. I **think** I have an overgrown rose bush back there, but I can't be sure. Mom Rowley, where are you? I know I need to play with Noah more. The other day he ran outside yelling, "Squorr, Squorr!" (Translated, that's "Squirrel, Squir...

A horse at McDonald's!! Driving by the McDonald's on the way into the parking lot, Noah pipes up from the backseat, "There's a horse!" Josh said, "Noah, I don't think so. You probably saw a toy horse." Sure enough, when we pulled into the parking lot, there WAS a horse. Who'd have thunk? Apparently its rider had just "driven" this horse through the drive-thru. Now that's something I would like to have seen!

He wanted to walk around the perimeter of this fountain. Miss Jean decided he needed a walking partner. :) I think one of the hardest jobs (if not the hardest) on the planet is being a good parent. Especially a Christian parent who desires that your child learn above all to love and obey the Lord. (More on that topic in another post!) But throw yourselves into the public arena, and the Hardness Factor escalates incalulably. Everyone's watching. Everyone's pretending not to. You are on display with a disobedient child, and what do you do? This question has caused me to contemplate staying home forever, or at least until Noah can obey fairly predictably. Kidding, but still. The world's discipline ways (or lack thereof) are not mine and privacy in public is limited or non-existent. It's at moments like these when I just pray that Noah will obey. He doesn't always. Today we went to the zoo for the morning with Jen and Brianne, and two ladies from church; Jean and Laur...

I'm a flower's worst nightmare. Regretfully, I think I have successfully killed every poor plant that has crossed my doorstep! Try as I might, I just cannot manage to water them properly or remember to care for them the way they need. Do they need sun? Shade? Water? But not too much? I think this is one underlying reason that I forewent (forgoed?) having a garden this year--I'm not quite ready to commit to the time and research it would take to avoid killing everything I planted. Take the above Marigold for example. Right on the pot it says Sun. Sol. I took that to mean it needs to be in a sunny spot, and I obliged. Still, after a week it's looking less-than-impressed with me. (and yes, I watered it!) It must have heard about my Lack Of Gardening Skills and given up. You see, my track record just isn't that good.