He's Alive! (and so is this blog).

It's not very often that I get a chance to sit down and blog a spell, but every now and then I come out of the woods and re-enter civilization long enough to pick up the laptop and connect to the wide world of the web. Out in the backwoods of Mississippi, we neither have cell phone nor internet service, believe it or not. It's been an adjustment, but I kind of like it! 

My husband was sent to the big city of Jackson this week for training, and Jo-Jo and I tagged along. John did  not give me much choice. He said, "You need a break and you are going with me." He even sweet-talked my Mom into keeping the other three kiddos while we are gone. Poor Gran! She will be needing a vacation now!  I must admit it is rather nice to sit back and relax, let someone else wash my dirty towels and prepare my meals. Having uninterrupted screen time is icing on the cake.

We had a very nice Easter Sunday. We visited my "home" church (although it is not where we attend, it will always be "home" to me) with my parents and brothers' family. Afterwards, we drove about 20 minutes south and joined my Mom's bustling family (she has 6 siblings) for Easter dinner. My cousin Beverly's home was bursting with aunts, uncles and cousins. The food was abundant and delicious and of course we all ate too much. Even though all of that is wonderful, it's not what "makes" Easter so special. Being a born-again child of God, the Easter holiday stirs me like no other. I love Christmas, but Easter comes in a pretty close second. As a blood-bought, born-again child of God, I can't get over the significance of His resurrection.  He is alive! He is ruling and reigning from His heavenly throne. Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, and whatever it brings with it.  I can face death, whether my own, or of a loved one because He has taken away the sting. He conquered death and all its darkness and pain and grief.  He is my glorious overcomer, and now I have nothing to fear!

So that is why we get all dressed up for Easter Sunday. It's certainly an occasion worth donning our best, to show that this Resurrection Sunday is special and significant to us. And we do clean up pretty good, if I do say so myself!

                      
                                                                      Our Family, Easter 2014

 

The Cooper Grandkids! All ten of them!

 

 

My Parents and I

 

Josie Amelia's First Easter

 

 

My Four Sweeties, My Whole World

 

 

Elijah shucked off his Sunday duds and climbed a fence post the first chance he got!

 

A Fall Update

Here we are, in October, and isn't it the most wonderful time of year? I'm most definitely an Autumn lover, and we've been blessed this year with several weeks of wonderful, cool weather. What a blessing after a long, hot, muggy Mississippi summer.

Our little family seems to have been through so many changes in the last year, and the last month found us once again, moving. But not very far this time! We bought a little house about 10 miles down the road from the house we were renting, and have been moved in four about 6 weeks now. We are in love with our new homestead, and it really feels like home. A place where we could put down roots and raise our little brood, if the Lord so wills.

Our little house in the woods is just that--way back in the woods of Mississippi, away from traffic and, well, pretty much any other civilization. It is quiet and peaceful, and teeming with wildlife. We're so far off the beaten path that there is no internet access or cell phone service available. And after talking to our cell phone company, we learned there are not any plans of extending service to our little neck of the woods. Not enough people out there, they say.

So, we have learned to live without texting and Instagram and have gotten reacquainted with the ole practical and dependable landline phone service. Oh, Pinterest, how I long for thee! Seriously, though, it has been a blessing to not have these things pulling at me and constantly competing for my time. My house actually stays pretty tidy now!

Due to the move, we are only in our fourth week of schooling. It is going great so far! Emma has already blown through her entire book of Handwriting Without Tears and is making progress in her 100 Lessons. She is wired completely different than my older two children, who whizzed through two lessons a day. She is just as smart (maybe even smarter), but has a much shorter attention span, so we have to approach our learning a bit differently. I still have not ordered her any Math yet, mainly because I can't decide what to use. Any suggestions?

                                                  (Emma on her 5th birthday, August 14)

Grace and Elijah are both using Sonlight's Core C and absolutely love it! I could devote an entire post to this subject alone. But for now I will say it is working great for us so far. Grace is taking violin and had her first recital last month. She loves the violin. We are so proud of her!

Elijah is growing into such a big, responsible young man. He helps his Dad take care of the quail and chickens that we raise, and is really excited about getting hogs and goats. He loves to read and occupies his time with gathering crickets, frogs, and lizards for his Critter Collection (I draw the line at snakes. NO snakes.)

Josie is crawling around and "floating", getting into everything! I expect she will be walking within the next month. My baby is growing way too fast! Her personality is a lot more mellow than my other girls, and she is a steady-she-goes little girl, pretty much only fussy when something is really wrong, or Mama has delayed feeding time a little bit too long! Her smiles and giggles are the highlight of our days!





John loves it in the country, and it is the fulfillment of a long-time dream of his to have a place in the country where our roosters can crow and we can raise honeybees without disturbing and/or freaking out our neighbors. We love to sit out on our front porch and watch a mother deer and her twin fawns walk across the pasture in front of the house. You want to see a man's eyes light up, that will just about do it! 

I apologize for the long post, but it has been a long time in coming! I do miss blogging, and reading my favorite blogs. I feel like I am away from dear friends, as some of the blogs have become just that to me. Please, leave me a comment and let me know how your fall is going.

Amy, the Reluctant Canner

Last week, my Dad called to tell me that the corn he had planted for us at his house was ready to harvest. I have to tell ya, I haven't done much gardening in my life. My parents grow beautiful, lush produce, but I usually don't come in contact with it until it's sitting on the table. It's OK--go ahead and laugh!

Let's just say, this is an area I need to grow in, and this summer is providing plenty of opportunity for learning. A girl's gotta start somewhere, right? So...I'm a bit proud of the 9 quarts of green beans, 300 ears of corn, and 4 quarts of cut-off corn stocked up in my freezer and pantry. OK, OK,...John canned the beans, and Mom bagged 90% of the corn. But I DID cut-off and bag most of the second batch of corn. AND shucked the 300 ears (with the help of Dad and a friend). AND snapped the beans.

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(Above--my cutie-pie shucking, bean-snapping helpers)

I think my main obstacle in this area is that I am not able to let go of my other household duties. I think the laundry must be done, the house must be clean, and the kitchen spotless before I begin such a task. And with 4 kiddos (including a 5 month old), this is pretty much impossible. The produce would probably sit and spoil before all the above actually happens! Breathe in, breathe out. Where is Mr. Miyagi when you need him?

So, dear canning, gardening ladies (Laurie @ South GA Mama and Rebecca @ Renaissance), please keep posting about your abundant gardens and your industrious canning. I desperately need the motivation and inspiration your work provides! You're my Super Gardening Supreme Canning Mama Heros!