On This and That and a Prayer Request

I just could not get my coffee right this morning. I am not normally a morning person, but in my recent campaign to better myself I've resolved to (try to) go to bed earlier. This allows me to get up earlier (6-7 am), giving myself oh-so-necessary quiet time to say my personal prayers, read, and write. (Most of the time I'm thankful that my boys have inherited both their father's and my late-to-rise tendencies.) Coffee is a necessary drop kick to my brain in order to make all this work. When it tastes like water I've got a serious problem. I made it the same way I do every morning. I checked the basket and even added more grounds. It's a mystery. It did lead to a terrifying thought that maybe all my taste buds went dead overnight.

A couple days ago I ran some errands with Ian. He was such a good baby and took two naps while we were gone. My parents offered to watch the other three boys, giving me a wonderful afternoon to recharge. I spent two hours in a local thrift store and found some supplies for more craft projects: more fabric, an old wood box, green pint Ball jars. Hopefully some of this ends up in my Etsy shop. If I keep falling in love with the stuff it'll never reopen! I'll post as I finish projects. Since the weather has not been conducive to planting or outdoor activities I hope to knock out as many of my indoor projects as I can.

There is a plan...

I found Mojo a new kennel blanket while thrifting. He kept getting caught in the holes of his old afghan. 

I found a new diaper bag/church tote on clearance for $13! Our old diaper bag had served it's purpose. It's zipper was broke and there we're small holes in it. Plus, it was time to downsize a little since Ian is no longer a tiny baby needing an arsenal of baby things and back-up this and that.

Vintage books! The three on the bottom are by William Faulkner.

And a "haunting" discovery, tucked in the pages of Faulkner....

We're getting so close to wrapping up our school year. Both boys only have phonics and religion left (which we pretty much do all year round anyway), and Aidan has a couple lessons of handwriting and science textbook to read. I can't believe we'll have a 3rd grader and a 1st grader next fall! Liam will join his brothers with "official" school work in the fall of 2016.

Finally, I would like to ask for prayers for our grandparents. My Grandpa Clem, who will turn 92 this year, recently had surgery to remove spots of colon cancer. He had complications resulting from the surgery and is currently back in the hospital. He's beaten this before, but surgery is harder the older you get and he could use all the help he can get.

Grandpa and Grandma (Bernice Julia, my namesake and godmother), early 1970's. This picture makes me happy, and I have it framed on my "gallery" wall.

I'd also like to ask for prayers for Eli's Grandma Vivian, who will also turn 92 this year. She took a nasty fall and broke her arm and hip, and is in need of surgery. Her heart went into a-fib before they could do surgery, so they had to delay it until this afternoon.

Grandma Vivian with Ian last spring (2014)

They are our last living grandparents, and we'd really appreciate prayers offered for them.

Update: Grandma's surgery went well and she is now recovering.

Grandpa is also back home and doing well. Thank you all for your prayers!