Finding The Sparkle

I don't know about anyone else, but sometimes it is hard to find the good. The last year has been a tough one for me (and my family). As I am looking ahead to another round of shots for my back this coming week it makes me slightly grumpy. (You'd be grumpy too if you had to get shots.)

I have had a tough week, not that it was bad, it was just tough. I have nothing to complain about!!! I have definitely experienced the "Even in the valley, God is good!" in my life. He continues to provide for our needs, He continues to provide the finances for my shots, He continues to guide my hurting heart with gentle hands. Sometimes, I just need to remind myself that He does.

On Thursday, while my kids were happily playing outside, I had the thought that at this moment life is good. And it was. Am I still hurting? Yes. Am I still dreading 40 shots in my back? Yes. I just need to realize that there are still beautiful moments in life. I never want to get to the point where I miss those sparkly gems.

I am well aware that I will have to tell myself the same thing again tomorrow. I will have to choose to find the sparkle but you know what... sometimes it will find me. (Even if it has to smack me upside the head first! Ha!)

Just some Sparkly moments from the last few days. :)

 Joanna playing 'house' and having a whole conversation with herself.

 Josiah is enjoying a toy that was lovingly bought by his Aunt Becky. It makes noise. Nuff said.

 I got to enjoy some reading time outside in the cool breeze.

 Inspecting their fossils.

 Prayer time before bed. These two are goofy and have to copy each other on everything they do.

Who is that handsome man who is laying tile on my back porch?! That would be MY man! :) So excited about my new sparkly tile!

Look for your SPARKLE, my friends!

~Joy

Warning! Men Cooking!

I just LOVE this time of year for so many reasons! One of them being fresh strawberries. We just love strawberries in our house. 

We were down to only one jar of homemade strawberry preserves. My hubby enjoys his homemade preserves so he was tricked into willing to help me out over the weekend to make a new batch of preserves.

 I cleaned the strawberries really well and then we set to work getting them sliced. I then got to enjoy watching as Hubby got to do all the mashing, stirring, and lifting of pots.

 It was so much easier having someone help that it didn't take nearly 

as long as when I do it by myself. Plus since he did all the hard work I wasn't completely exhausted.

 While the filled jars were processing, Snow White came to visit. :)

I love hearing all the "pops" when the jars are done!

I look forward to our family enjoying these preserves in the coming months! I think I will mostly enjoy knowing that Michael and I were able to spend time and work in my kitchen together (without wanting to strangle each other) to create something yummy.

By the way, He only burned his tongue once! hahaha! He keeps me laughing!

:) :) :)

Create Your Own Sunshine

1 Red Umbrella

by Michelle Moore

1 red umbrella, 1 yellow hat,

1 shiny rain coat, look at that!

2 yellow rain boots, 1 big smile,

I think I will go and walk for a while.

 1 wet puddle just down the lane,

1 big SPLASH-

I love the rain!

~

  

Sparkle On, My Friends!

Oh Me, Oh MY!

That is what my Monday looked like ^. You used to not be able to see those pipes. It was leaking all night long and washed away a lot of dirt. If I had to look on the bright side, at least my lemon and peach trees got a good watering since they were downhill of the leak.

Jo really enjoys playing with play dough and her Sofia. She is so excited to peel the dough off of her dress and see all the shapes. I love letting her play with it while Josiah is busy with school.

Tuesday night we had a family activity since we were not going to be seeing Michael the rest of the week. Josiah emptied his piggy bank of all his quarters (Thanks, Nana!) so he and Joanna could play in the arcade. They had so much fun!!! Lots of giggles, squeals, and smiles.

Its obviously been a long time since Michael has been in an arcade. He sat down to start counting the tickets they won. I let him get to ten or so before I told him that the counter has a nifty little machine that does that for you. haha!

They enjoyed picking out a bunch of junk they they have seriously played with every day since. Ha!

The kids got to bowl and eat pizza... eventually. They made us wait forever! Ugh!

Thursday morning began our radio station's Restorathon! Michael left at an ungodly hour in the morning, but he was so sweet to leave me a note and one of my favorite breakfast items that we hardly ever have. Toaster Strudels!!!!

I'd just like to take a moment to say that I remember during College when he surprised me with a special Toaster Strudel breakfast during the Soul-winning Marathon. A month later, we were engaged! I found out that the night before that special breakfast he asked my Dad's permission to marry me! Toaster Strudels! They bring back memories and taste yummy!

The kids enjoyed their breakfast while watching the web cam feed of their daddy acting like a nut on the air.

And I am just going to throw this out there. I have the BEST FRIENDS EVER!!!! A flat of strawberries and two vidalia onions made its way to my door step.

I don't want to sound brag-a-docious but those berries are probably the best I've ever had. Me and the kids ate several with supper last night, and I made a strawberry milkshake for Jo for dessert.

They are all washed now and I've got a bowl of them soaking in sugar water. Yum! Strawberry Shortcake here we come. I have some in the frig for snacks and then I put a little bit in the freezer.

After I was done and they were all put away Jo came in the kitchen and was so heartbroken that the strawberries were all gone. There were tears! I had to show her that I put them in the frig before she would believe me. Oh my!

I know I have some wonderful people praying me through this week with Michael being gone so much. Thank you!! My back is out of whack but I am not in intense pain. So thankful!

See Ya Later, Alligator.
:)

My Week Was Filled Up With...

Messes

 Training,

 Painting,

 Reading,

 Snuggling,

 Protecting,

 Laughter,

 Cleaning,

 Sass,

and Happy Tummies.

Psalm 71:8 

"Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day."

I'm Back!

Oh, Bloggy World! I have missed you so so much! So much has happened over the last year and I have missed sharing with you all the ups and downs. It will probably take me a bit to really get back into the swing of things but I look forward to it!

One of the main reasons I've been so quiet with the blog is my computer situation. Back in the day when my hubby and I were traveling all summer long I needed a laptop that had a good battery life. So my only option was to get one with a huge battery pack. It worked. It was heavy. It was awkward to move about with. But it worked.

Fast forward to present day.

I am not allowed to lift or carry anything. Including a heavy awkward laptop. With my back injury, I can not sit for long, so sitting at my desk after doing school with Josiah just didn't work for me. I said goodbye to blogging and instead posted a little bit more on Facebook. And by a little bit more, I mean I posted more pictures. ha!

My wonderful hubby and I sat down and made a list of how we wanted to spend our tax return (Can I get a HALLELUJAH?!). Top of the list was a new laptop for me!!!! So here I sit in my comfortable bed against the pillow chair we stole from my moms house last year, typing away on my new shiny laptop. I have named her Sparkle. (Not to be confused with our dog, Sparkles. Why? Because I am THAT creative. bahaha!)

So who knows how often I will blog but the good news is I have what I need so I can! I look forward to sharing 2015 with you all.

Isn't she just... SPARKLY? :)

Until Next Time!
~Joy

p.s. Feel free to comment and let me know if there are things or topics you would like to read about here on me ole blog. Otherwise, you will be left to read stuff that I come up with and we've already had a taste of my current creative juices. ;)

The Journey Starts

We started school Monday in the Case house. (I love how so many of you have contacted me asking how its going!) Josiah is beginning First Grade and Joanna is doing a bit of Pre-school. We started our day by heading to the P to pick out a special doughnut for our breakfast.

I'd like to just insert here that my son also decided to sleep in for the first time in months. What's up with that?

 We headed to our favorite park to enjoy our breakfast and a little bit of family play time.

 This is just too cute for words!

 He is growing up so stinking fast!

 The principle. haha :)

 Josiah's math has a section named Thinking Cap. So what's a teacher to do except have him make his own hat to wear during that section. He loves it! :)

 I threw together a special lunch for the kids. Josiah was not too sure about it at first, but he soon dug in and had fun with his "octopus and seaweed".

Don't worry about all the junk food; my kids eat lots of veggies and fruits normally. :)

That is the end of our first day. Josiah has really enjoyed getting back into the swing of things with school. He practically kicked Michael out of the house on Tuesday so he could have school. Ha! I enjoy his enthusiasm for learning.