#145 - Friends, Flowers, & Spiders

We have a close friend staying with us for few days and we are having a wonderful time!!! I just got finished saying that we've not taken one single picture of her here! Tomorrow we'll change that :)

My sister had some extra flowers that she brought over tonight and helped me set out. There was a few that we didn't get planted, so I was going to pick them up in case the storms that are getting ready to roll through here damaged them. She handed me her mini flashlight so I could see to get them. I had about 3 in my hand when I reached down to pick up the fourth one and saw this:

This is honestly the biggest spider I have ever seen on any properties that we've ever lived on! Just to see the comparison of the size my sister set her phone near it so we could see the difference in a picture.
I am happy to report that this huge arachnid is no longer living in our front yard!

Looking forward to the next few days with our sweet friend that is also our precious sister!

John 3:17
"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

#131 - Swimmy Swimmer

After yesterday's swim team practice Anna wasn't sure she liked it all that well. But today was a different story! Since this is her first year and all of the swim strokes are new to her, they had a coach work with her one on one for a little while today. She felt much better and enjoyed it! Here she is in the last lane with one of her coaches instructing her. :)

In other pool news.....

We got the deck complete! Or I should say that Brian did most of the work and I just assisted. :) There was one board at the very end that was warped and it ended up breaking (after not being submissive:). We'll get a new one and it'll be done....for now! The girls and I started cleaning out the pool and then Brian finished it and started filling it up!!! So we should have a full pool by this weekend - when temps will be in the 60's! Yay! :0/

Tomorrow we were invited to be part of a Living History event at the Battle of Richmond Civil War site. The girls will take part in the one room schoolhouse. I'll have plenty of pictures to share tomorrow night! Have a great Thursday!

1 Thessalonians 3:12-13
"And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."

#96 - Sunshiny Day!

We've gotten a lot accomplished today. The weather was gorgeous and warm and we spent most of the day working outside.

We have 5 hens and 3 roosters left. That is way too many roosters for the hens. Our poor hens are just getting hurt. So today I posted on facebook that I had two roosters to give away for free and it took less than 2 hours for someone to say they wanted them! Ha! I wondered if I qualified to be a full-on redneck after soliciting roosters on facebook!

I also found my first 4-leaf clover of the year today! But I don't believe in luck - just blessings from God!!! It's still neat to find them though. A couple of years ago on Mother's Day I found two in one day. The girls came outside after they got their school work finished and decided to read on the swing for a while.

Brian and I transplanted some bushes and I cleaned out my herb garden. I was so happy to see that my chives, lemon balm, & oregano came back strong. My basil, cilantro, & parsley didn't fair too well.

Psalm 128:2
"You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours."