This past week...

This little chicken has taken a liking to coming inside and napping on my chair. She has seen me go through the gammut of emotions this past week. A lot has happened lately, I have had a lot of drama in my life over the past few weeks that has left me feeling at times very bitter, confused, and full of sorrow, but I am not going to let it bring me down any more... what I have learned is that we cannot control the way other people treat us, we can only control how we will in return treat them and how we will react to the way that we have been treated. "Love one another" it is my favorite hymm, it is also a commandment that the Lord gave us. It is not always easy to love one another, especially when others are not having an attitude of love towards us. However, we can force ourselve to stand up taller than the other person, have forgiveness in our hearts, even when they refuse to offer any apologies, and move on. We cannot let negative people in our lives drain us from living the way God wants us to. The world is full of devious people, petty arguements, and vicious words, we must act with love towards one another, and when that love is not returned, we must stand tall, brush it off, and hold no grudges. So, I am setting myself free from this drama. I did my best with this situation, it did not end as I had hoped, but I am moving on. Life is about better things...

Like racing toy cars on a warm summer morning.

Growing gardens... here is a peek at part of mine, I also have some pumpkins growing under an orange tree and a tiny little crop of corn...
Life is about having a good laugh when you find your toddler in the chicken coop hiding when he is supposed to be napping

and when his hiding spot is found, he seeks refuge in the corn

So as you can see, with the bad comes the good, and I have had a lot of good in this week too! I received a wonderful package in the mail from my friend Kim at htpp://campwhimsy.typepad.com

On a day when I really needed cheering up, this wonderful package arrived full of delightful goodies, journals, recipe cards, a darling kitchen linen, trains for the boys, whoopie pies, preserves. Kim, thank you! thank you! thank you! Everyone you must visit her blog, she is so creative!!!! And she has a little shop called Maxwell General. Her shop and her blog are truly two of the most adorable places on earth!!!!

On that same day, my friend Stephanie kidnapped me. She brought lasagna to my hubby and the kids, whisked me away to the thrift store, where they were having a half off sale, and we found many many goodies, including a walker for Jasper for fifty cents!!! And then she took me out to eat to my most favorite place in the world... my taco shop!! And if that wasn't nice enough, she is a photographer. A really good one too! So the next day, she did a photo shoot of my boys. I can hardly wait to share some of the pictures with you all! Thank you Stephanie for cheering me up! This past week I have also become closer to some of you who read my blog. I can't tell you how much your words of encouragement and motivation mean to me. Friendships are something I have treasured since I was a little girl. It warms my soul and brings a smile to my face, when I experience such kind acts of friendship from all of you. Have a wonderful week. We are planning to paint, sew, build things, explore, get into mischief, bake, and try to keep cool in this icky heat! I will keep you updated of our adventures!