Welcoming myself back to blog world!!

WOW!!  It has been such a long time since I have posted a blog here!!  A lot has changed/happened over the past almost three years!  Suffice it to say there isn't enough time or pages to cover it all, so I guess a nutshell report will have to do!
Here we are in 2015 and it's Christmas time again.  We will soon be celebrating our Saviors birth and then on to a brand new year!  Time surely does fly when you're having fun!!  Here are a few pictures from the past two years.  We still have more pictures to upload so stay tuned!  Come back by and visit any time and please leave a comment!! 

 As you can clearly see Tricia and Katie have grown!!  So have the rest of us...lol!!  We also have added a cat named Little Lady and two dogs, a red doxy named Rambo and a black/lab mixed named Dakota.  Life is definitely not boring!!

Buddy, Baxter, and Rambo all hanging out in bed with dad!

 Little Lady loves the dresser drawers but hates the dogs...lol.  Dakota below loves Buddy and is a pint size of him.  Buddy is now eight yrs. old and is still doing fairly well!  Last fall we had a tumor removed from his back leg and there is another one on his stomach.  Other than that he is doing good! 

I'm not so sure that Buddy is thrilled with his new companion! LOL!!

Rambo is mommy's baby.  He's quite spoiled!

One of the most recent pictures we had taken.  We were at the lodge for supper and to celebrate Tom's birthday.

Trigger is Tom's new horse and is the oldest horse we own.  He loves to run and is on the go the minute you step into the saddle!!

A few new pictures of the girls and our family.  Enjoy!!

Summer is finally here!!  YEAH!!!  We are enjoying every moment of warmth and sunshine.  The garden is growing.  I have already canned 14 qts. of beans and picked several squash.  The potatoes are not really big but boy are they good!!  We are anxiously waiting for the tomatoes and cucumbers to ripen.  I am so hungry for cumber salad.  All in good time.

Swimming has been on the girls mind lately.  I guess when you're hot that's the best thing to do...lol.  So everyday it's "Mom can we swim today?"  Most of the time it's ok.  We also utilize the library a lot.  We just finished the summer reading program.  They finished out the program with the Madcap Puppets.  Very funny and refreshing. 

Hay season is here again.  I say that because we have just gone from 2-3 weeks of rain to very hot, dry weather.  We weren't sure about getting the hay in but God has given us a beautiful week to get it done.  So, every night the hubby is on the tractor.  I think he has done about 150 round bales this week. 

My husband recently blessed our home with yet another dog.  He came home a couple weeks ago with a Miniature Dachshund.  His name is Rambo and he is so cute.  We are having a blast with him.  Buddy and Baxter have finally given their approval for Rambo to be here...lol.  It was touch & go at first.  Baxter seemed to be very jealous but now he's pretty cool with another dog.  Buddy is so laid back he's like "whatever." 

Well, I'll try to blog some more later.  My youngest is asking to play Nick Jr. so I must keep her happy.  Enjoy the rest of your summer.  School will be here before we know it.  God is good!!!  He is good all the time!!!!  Trust Him today!!

The dreaded day has come!!

Ok.  Maybe this is crazy but I hate to see my birthday come each year.  After all I'm not a young chick anymore.  This year I turned...well, you don't want to know how old...lol.  The day arrived on Sunday and now that it's over I have had time to look back at the last year and reminisce. 

We made a lot of changes in our lives this past year.  We built a small place on my hubby's parents property and moved into it in April.  We spent the summer taking care of the garden, our dogs and cats, the horses and getting in the hay.  I did some canning, froze corn, make grape jelly and apple sauce.  We had a very busy summer.  Fall came and I started working at the school where the girls go on M,W,&F.  I'm a volunteer in the second grade class.  So I have had a very busy year.  Thanksgiving came and went and now we are just around the corner from Christmas.  Do I feel older??  Not really but the gray hairs say I am...lol.

This morning the girls and I were talking on the way to school about where we go when we die.  Katie wanted to know if animals turned to dust when they die.  This opened up a big opportunity for me to lecture my two adorable children while we drove to school...lol.  We talked about where we go when we die and what God has planned for those who love Him or don't love Him.  The girls enjoyed our talk and so did I.

As I was thinking about life after death I realize that I am getting closer to that day.  Everyday we all get closer to our time to die.  Some times we think we will live forever and so we don't think about what happens after we die.  I was able to talk to the girls about making sure that their sins are forgiven and that Jesus lives in their hearts.  We don't know when Christ will return, but be assured He will!!  As I get older I want to live my life as close to Him as I can.  More importantly I want to take my family with me!!

So, think about eternity.  Time is short.  Where will you go??  Please make the right decision so that you don't have to worry!!  God is standing on the threshold of Heaven looking over the portals observing our world and soon He is going to look at His Son and say "Go get my Bride!!  It's time!!"  I want to be ready for that day!!! 

Thank You Lord...

Well today I just want to stop and take a moment to thank the Lord for supplying a need that I didn't have to spend money on.  Tricia needed some things and I found them at a thrift store for free.  How's that for supplying a need??  She loved them and I was really happy!!

Christmas is "just around the corner" and I have been reflecting on the reason for this season.  We get so wrapped up in trying to find that perfect gift for our loved one that we forget that it's a season of rejoicing.  We get frustrated when we can't find exactly what we want or have the money to buy it with.  We worry and fret over how much we want to buy until we make Christmas a drudgery. 

This year I'm not going to do that with God's help.  I'm just going to take it day by day and enjoy the true meaning of this season.  I'm going to try to show as much love as I can to every one I meet and for sure say "Merry Christmas" and not "Happy Holiday." 

So while you're out in the hustle and bustle of the season, stop and take time to reflect on the One who came to earth as a tiny babe in the manger to suffer and die for us.  Maybe the busyness of the season can be replaced with reflection upon Him!!  After all, He is the reason for the season!!!

One hectic day!!

What a crazy and aggravating day this has been.  Some mornings are so smooth/easy and then there are mornings like this one...lol.  Our dog Baxter is a little over 1 and still very much a puppy in his actions.  He is pit-mixed and very lively.  Tom clocked him running at 22 mph's one day.  He is a sweet natured dog and the girls just dote on him but this morning he really got my dander up.  Katie was asleep in my bed and I went in to wake her up.  Baxter followed me to my room and immediately jumped on the bed.  I'm not sure what made him do it, but he started dribbling pee all over my bed spread.  I didn't realize what he had done til I started smelling the stench.  GGgggrrrrr!!!!  The only thing I can figure, he had to "go" really bad.  So, I had to strip the bed before heading out the door for work.

Got to work and at lunch time one of the boys from Tricia's class came running to my room yelling, "Mrs. Wheatcraft, Tricia is puking all over the floor!"  I ran to her room and sure enough she had made a beautiful mess for me to clean up. UGH!!!!  So, I proceeded to clean up the mess thinking all the time about poor Mrs. Dinkle at Hobe Sound who had such a time with her in the lunch room.  I got everything cleaned up and the lady in charge said Tricia needed to go home because she could have the stomach virus that's going around.  I told them she didn't have the virus but I took her to grandma's anyway.  She is fine and does not have a stomach virus. She ate her lunch at grandmas just fine and ate supper here.  She hasn't puked anymore.   She just gagged...over her own lunch if you can believe it...lol. 

I guess through all this the Lord is trying to teach me patience...lol.  He uses our day-to-day circumstances to accomplish this.  Trials worketh patience the Bible says.  I definitely had mine today...lol.

My husband has a new horse.  Her name is Tropical Dancer and she is a retired racehorse.  She was "winded" or whatever it's called when she would try to race so she had to stop.  Tom brought her home with no idea the extent of her energy.  We kept her in the barn in a fairly nice stall and worked on the pasture fence so that we could turn her lose in it.  She was used to board fence and our fence was barbwire.  Tom put up bright orange ribbon all the way around the fence so that Tropical could see it and not run into the wire. 

When the time came we let her out and put her in the field.  Tom walked her around a few times and let her see the ribbon and the new fence.  She seemed to be ok so he let her go on her own.  She suddenly took off at a dead run and ran down the back part of the fence going all the way to the ground.  When she finally got up she slowly turned and started to stagger back away from the fence.  Tom called to her and she slowly moved towards him.  She didn't falter in her step but knew that Tom would help her if she came to him.  She was hurt on her face; cut pretty bad, so we had to have her stitched up and of course she had to go back in her stall.  We were so thankful that there was no more damage because she could have lost her eyesight or broken some bones.

All this made us reflect upon our lives and the love of our Savior.  How many times have we "took" off at a dead run into something completely new to us without regard to how much we may be hurt or hurt others.  We thought it was "ok" to forge ahead when in reality God really wanted us to wait a bit and be patient.  It's in these moments that we "get up" and listen for His voice so we can "stagger" back to Him.  He heals our wounds and showers us with His love so that we can start out again.  Sometimes those wounds leave scars for us to look back on why it happened and how we can change the outcome.

I'm so thankful for my loving, heavenly Father who picks me up when I fall...and I fall a lot!!  He never has failed me!!!