The Simple Woman

http://thesimplewoman.blogspot.com/
FOR TODAY October 27 2008
Outside My Window... The sun is shining and some pretty birds are helping themselves to the puddle in our driveway.
I am thinking... about my MIL in surgery today and praying for her comfort and the doctors success.
I am thankful for...the short duration of the cold/flu that the family just went through.
From the school room... This week I will try to have the boys make their own prayer books with their favorite prayers in them so they have something to "do" while waiting for me to get ready for prayer time on Sundays. Hmmm...there's reading, writing, catechism, and art:)
From the kitchen... I think I'll make grilled cheese for lunch. Of course someone will want me NOT to grill theirs. Oh well, less work for me.
I am wearing... A wonderful dress that my most talented sis in law made for me! She took apart my old maternity dress that I had worn to tatters, found some heavy-weight denim for half price and made me a brand new one using the old one as a pattern. Seeing that decent maternity clothes are hard to come by, I am a very grateful friend and I owe her LOTS of fresh biscuts and cookies! Isn't she sweet:)
I am creating... A harvesty table runner, a Zorro costume complete with a hat sewn on my treadle machine:), and a baby pack that I'm copying from one that I like on the web.
I am going... to try to find some cowboy boots for Charlie at the thrift store.
I am reading... Mariel of Redwall to the boys at night.
I am hoping... that my week is somewhat productive since I had an ill family last week and not much got done.
I am hearing... battle noises that seem to constantly issue forth from my 4yo son, and Peter telling me he's hungry, the usual stuff:)
Around the house... Amber is getting into anything she can and keeping us all busy chasing her!
One of my favorite things... is getting up EARLY and starting the day with a hot cup of tea and bicotti. I got up early today. I guess one out of three isn't too bad:)
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: catch up on my laundry, prepare for all saints day, and be ready with the haloween costumes. Oh, and HAIRCUTTS!!!!!
Here is picture thought I am sharing...I just finished painting Holly's room with puffy clouds and an adorable vine of roses around the ceiling. I just love how it turned out!



Have a blessed day!

I haven't kept up on this like I wanted to, but I did record how long the little guys and gals took to "hatch" from their crysalis, they all avaraged 1 week. Here's one that has just emerged looking a little yellow:)
We had three hatch on the thirteenth. We always let them go the day after they hatched.
This is our last friend to emerge. He developed some really bright spots pretty quickly. I pondered keeping him untill he turned red, but I thought he'd like it better if I let him go FREE. This was a fun project to do (I think I enjoyed it more than the kids:). The perplexing thing was that I ended up with more bugs than I had crysalis for:0. I guess they really do have good camoflage!

The stump is GONE!

Allen worked untill his chain saw bit the dust! Then he resorted to his beefy drill and sawsall. The boys helped to hammer the wedge into the crack that dad made while he cut the remaining parts of the stump that were hanging on and a prybar did the rest. The funny thing is, that about three people stopped by to tell us that we could have a stump grinder come and take care of it fast. I asked Allen if any of them offered to pay for it:)

Ladybug spots

This little bug looks like it's getting it's spots! I guess it only takes a day for the spots to come.

Ladybugs and Lepanto!

What is this? It's a ladybug believe it or not!

Our Crepe Myrtle is Crawling with these little creatures.

They are feasting on the aphid infestation that we've been battling this summer. The poor tree almost lost its leaves in July before we sprayed it with dawn and water to kill them (much more environmentally friendly than pesticides, and it worked!) Anyway, we saw all of these little creatures on the leaves and I thought that it would be neat to watch them become what they were meant to be:) Sooooooooo...

We captured some of the little guys and put them in a makeshift ladybug house (jar:) to watch the wonders of nature up close.



Let's see how long it takes this one to get it's spots:)

Lepanto

And for the feast of the most Holy Rosary, the older babes made their very own rosaries!

Don't they look beautiful!

The smell of RAIN

I so love the way the rain smells. It has been such a DRY summer that you can almost hear the trees sighing with relief in this blessed shower. I hope that it returns often this winter (although, maybe not too often:) Peter is all dressed up in his black rubber boots ready to go 'puddle jumping' in the rain. He is always wanting to be in water, a regular river rat. I've got all the windows open to let that clean, fresh air through the house.
It looks like our stump will have to wait a while before Allen can finish cutting it out. The boys are so anxious to get their fort started that it's a shame that the stump of our old Pecan tree is being so stubborn, but, alas,it must be gone before Dad can grade the yard so that the fort will be level. Here's a picture of the stump after the boys dug all of the dirt from around it and dad has cut a few roots away. Amber likes to "help" when everyone's working on it:)