Yesterday I returned to the blogworld, after a brief absence. (I share a little bit of my mini-blog vacation here).  The past two weeks have been full, bursting full, with curricula arriving at the door, an abundance of garden produce, and outdoor water fun– and my head is swimming with all of it~ in a good sort of way.

And camera difficulties mean — no pictures. It seems we have lost whatever was on the memory card. But that is ok. All is not lost. Writing can evoke memories.

And now that I am back, it is time to resume my weekly thank you list:

358. Debate Camp- for my girl; who has been looking forward to this for 2 years… and will be taking a Debate class with other homeschooled students this fall

359. Rock the Lakes event: Michael W. Smith concert outdoors and many other musicians; Franklin Graham speaking… enjoyable weekend of worship outdoors with other friends and thousands of other people; my daughter and two of her friends who went through training to be counselors, and she had the opportunity to counsel someone who walked up during the invitation…. This event has been in the planning for months, and we attended all three of the outdoor sessions. Truly amazing to participate. My daughter said tonight she was missing the event, and wished for it to be every weekend! 🙂 I said, I wouldn’t mind an outdoor event like that once per month, with music and a speaker. Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?

360. boys attending two birthday parties of their friends
361. curriculum planning
362. back to school shopping
363. reading books
364. taking a brief break from the blog
365. canning spaghetti sauce (from 20 pounds of tomatoes) first time to can in my life! Well, to be honest, I fell asleep before it was all said and done, apparently it wasn’t finished until 3am. And another big batch awaits….
366.  homemade salsa from garden tomatoes ~ made by my daughter
367. moussaka made with eggplant from the garden
368. learning how to roll sushi with a bamboo roller
369. zucchini chocolate cake, with zucchini from the garden
370. homemade egg rolls and spring rolls at a friend’s house
371. zucchini bread- 8 loaves. Eating 4 loaves in just a matter of days. A few are left in the freezer.
372. Making 3 loaves of gluten-free zucchini bread, with 2 in the freezer currently.
373. Blessing someone else who was hosting a group of international students and visitors at her house, by bringing the food: ingredients for black bean tortillas, watermelon, cantaloupe, a vegetable tray, homemade salsa, and zucchini chocolate cake.
374. curricula for the year ahead arriving at the front door
375. kids excited about the plans for the year ahead
376. reading a book about logic and logical reasoning and common forms of illogical reasoning~ fascinating! Wish I had read it years ago….
377. skinning my knee by tripping on the stairs and getting a carpet burn… because it reminded me of when I was a girl growing up~ and how often I had skinned knees! (But boy… it stings….)

378. A trip to Noah’s Ark, the “world’s largest outdoor water park”. The kids had a blast, riding most of the water rides. My daughter and I splurged on a funnel cake. It was a beautiful day, but toward the end it did get a little chilly. At the end we had a delicious meal at the “Sprecher” Restaurant. Sprecher is a local brewery that is known for their tasty root beer. Their food was fresh, homemade, delicious and the service was outstanding. It was a wonderful end to the day (well, before the two hour ride back home, that is). 🙂 Suffice it to say we all were exhausted (but happy) when we arrived home at 11pm. Because the WI State Fair didn’t turn out as well as hoped (see #379 below), this was a delightful consolation prize. 🙂

379. A trip to the Wisconsin State Fair. We ended up getting rained on, and left after two hours. But the kids did get to ride the Sky Ride and another ride, I can’t remember the name of it, like a Sky Glider kind of thing. We ate cotton candy. We saw a few winning state fair exhibits. My son drank two cups of flavored milk that cost 25 cents apiece. (It is the dairy state, after all). We ate some more. Got wet, and then finally left!

(You know, I’m aware this week’s list has a high number of food-related thank-you’s… And if it’s your first time here, you may erroneously think I’m a bit obsessed with food and that I must really love to cook. The truth is… not really. I do enjoy eating good food. But not really cooking it! I sometimes find eating one of those things I “must”do… I’d often rather just keep on working or doing whatever it is I’m doing…instead of stop and cook, if that makes any sense. I don’t live to eat, but must eat to live. And although this is true, I still attempt to do my best at feeding this family. Food is one of those things I must think much about, with a food-allergic child in the house. 😉 )

380. Thinking about this blog, and a new title, direction, and registering a new domain perhaps. Coming up with a name that a few, so far, say they like. 🙂 (thanks, y’all!)

381. “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3
What an astounding promise! There is so much I don’t know, but I belong to an omniscient God, who knows all of the answers to my questions, both big and small. I don’t know what each new day dawning holds forth. I don’t know what the week, month or year ahead has in store. But He does. He knows the future, and He is holding me. And He says, to call and ask Him… and He’ll answer, and show me great and wonderful things I’ve never known before! For real? I’m going to try it out.


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