Front of house

My husband and oldest son, Mitchell, were at Salkehatchie last week.  I know I have told y'all about it before, but in case you don't remember, it's a summer service for teens and adults through the SC Methodist churches.  Each person pays $215 to work on a house for a week.  $200 of that goes directly towards supplies to fix the home up.

Cross with signatures of everyone who worked there

Our church had been wanting to start a camp in our community, but was afraid there wouldn't be enough support.  But we stepped out in faith and God provided in every way!

Ronnie and Mitchell

This is the first time my boys have attended camp and they were lucky enough to be able to attend the first one in our hometown!  They loved it!  Even though the camp is in our town, everyone on the crew stays at the host church to build a team atmosphere.

Ronnie on the backhoe

The first night Mitchell was so worn out he fell asleep as soon as he got back to the church and only got up for a few minutes to eat, lol!

Hunter playing

The family whose home they worked on were so sweet, they even let Hunter come over and see his daddy and brother work, and play with all their grandson's toys.  He loved that.

Ronnie and the guys on the roof

Our Salkehatchie workers replaced the shingles on the home since it had been leaking in a lot of places.  That was the main project my husband worked on.

A.J. and Mitchell painting

Mitchell and A.J. nailed, painted, and worked on the roof when needed.  Everyone was so proud of how hard they worked since it was their first Salkehacthie camp.  This is the first one they could attend since you have to be 14 to go.  Mitchell says he can't wait to go to another one next year.

Working on the back deck

We know the Lord was with us every step of the way!  We got tons of donations of food, water, drinks, and lots of other things.  Another camp even donated all of their leftover lumber.  That allowed us to make a small deck for the homeowners on the back of their home.

The ramp inside the home

The family was so happy to have their home fixed up!  Our crew widened the doors, fixed leaks, and even finished in a back porch like area into a room. They also made a small ramp, so the man in the wheelchair, can get to that new room.

Barb and the ladies in the kitchen

Barb worked every day in the kitchen making breakfast and washing dishes with some other ladies.  I wasn't able to work much at all since I had Hunter with me, but I did take pictures and serve drinks at our closing party.  A local Christian band played at the party and we had a BBQ pig and homemade ice cream.  I ate way too much, but it was soooo good! 

The "new" house from the front

The homeowners had said all week they didn't really feel at home in church, but everyone kept asking them to come at least for our Salkehatchie Sunday.  We were all surprised and happy to see them there!  They said they really liked our pastor, who had helped work on their home.  I am so thankful they came and I hope they will be back again!

A.J. listening to the band

Doing Salkahatchie really touched everyone's hearts and brought them closer to the Lord!  I know next year will be even better!

This was in our bulletin at church this morning.  It really related to what my hubby and son were doing last week.  Promise I'll post about that in a couple days! 

Pulling his load of trucks and tractors

This week I have been living pretty much like a single mother.  I really didn't think it would be as hard as it has been!  I find it hard just getting Hunter in and out of his car seat in our little car that is so low to the ground.  Ronnie and my oldest son Mitchell have been gone since last Saturday, but will be home in a few more days. I'll post more on where they've been in another post.

Trying to look innocent

Since they aren't at home, I've had to keep up with Hunter all by myself and boy is that a chore.  He never slows down for more than a few seconds at time!    I'm used to having Mitchell around to chase him for me and to play with him some. 

Broken eggs

He gets into so much.  He found a nest of chicken eggs, who knows where, and broke the eggs in the driveway.  But he can be so sweet too!  He brings me flowers (weeds) that he picks outside and says "I pick for you mama" and my heart melts!  I guess that makes up for me being so tired this week!

I told y'all about Hunter pulling up our whole garden back about a month ago.  Well, me and Barb re-planted it at the end of May.  It's way behind where it should be, but looking pretty good.  It's sad cause I would have been getting veggies out of it by now.


One of the things I want to remember for next year is to buy the right weed cover fabric!  This year I didn't want to wait to find the right fabric, so we used the cloth-like fabric.  We should have used a different type.  The kind we normally use is more plastic-feeling.  It's not really plastic, but has a different feel to it than the other kind.


The kind we used this year tears way to easily.  It just made a big old mess out in the garden.  I really regret not waiting and getting the right kind.  The other kind works so much better and requires hardly any weeding.  With all the holes in there now, I will have to weed all the time.  Very depressing!

I really enjoyed reading Save The Date by Jenny B. Jones.  It's about a southern girl named Lucy who runs a non-profit home for girls.  Unfortunately Lucy doesn't have the money to keep her home open for much longer.  I loved Lucy, she was independent, funny, and a total klutz which made her easy to relate to.

Lucy is propositioned by Alex Sinclair, a former football star who is running for Congress.  Both Lucy and Alex need something from each other.  Alex needs votes to win and Lucy needs money for her home.  Alex tells Lucy he will fund her girls home if she will pose as his fiancée until after the election.

Save The Date follows Lucy and Alex through their fake engagement.  They have to learn how to get along well enough to fool others.  While "dating" they help each other through crises of family and faith and learn a lot about each other and what love really is.


I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys romance, especially those who enjoy modern Christian romance.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I'm ashamed of not blogging in so long!

I can't believe I haven't blogged in forever!  I have lots of excuses, but no real reason.  About a month or so ago my husband's laptop died.  One day it just went off and wouldn't come back on.  They think it's the motherboard, but who knows?  It makes me mad because it was only 3 months out of warranty.  Oh well!

Then, a few weeks after that, my laptop died.  I started smelling something burning, and it was my laptop!  We looked and the motherboard was singed black.  I got really lucky, though.  It came back on for about 15 minutes, which was long enough for me to be able to download all my pictures I had saved on it.  I am very thankful for that!  So, please remember to back-up your pictures and important files.  I used to be good about it, then I had gotten slack again in the last year or so.  I would have been very sad if I wasn't able to get my pictures off my old laptop.

New Laptop

We didn't have the money to get a new laptop for either of us, but luckily our telephone co-op let us get a laptop and spread our payments out over 1 year.  My husband was sweet enough to let me get the laptop, even though his had been broken longer.  I chose one that wasn't too expensive, but still had enough power to multi-task.  I got another Gateway since I liked my last one so good.  I'm still trying to find all my old sites I used to visit and programs I need to download to be up-to-date.  The new one is Windows 7, so I'm getting used to that too.  I've missed y'all!

Magic's Grave

Lastly my son's cat, Magic, who he'd had for over 10 years, up and died.  I think I was more upset for Mitchell, than he was about his cat dying.  I felt bad for him.  So, we buried Magic in a spot Mitchell picked out for her.  Even though it was raining he marked off her grave during the funeral with pieces of wood.