A Productive Weekend

This weekend was very productive. Shawn mowed our yard and finished trimming the bushes around the fence, only taking out one other flower that he mistakingly thought was a weed until he saw an identical one on the other side...this blooms in the spring and was done for the year, but didn't need to be yanked out by the roots. Oh, well. I'm just glad that he's willing to work on the yard since I don't enjoy it. We have more trimming to do on the sides of our house and around the walkway leading up to the porch, but one day at a time. Shawn also pressure-washed the fence (it looks great!) and the brick out front. Now there's just the deck. Again, there's always another day. He bought the paint for the fence out front, but they've been calling for rain every single day (and yesterday we got hammered) so he'll wait until a time that they're calling for at least 24-48 hours of sunshine to paint so it's not a waste of time.

Meanwhile, I cooked and cooked and cooked, preparing meals for the freezer. I only made one lasagna rather than two, and we ended up having the chicken-fried pork chops for dinner tonight (which were delicious, if I do say so myself). Other than that, everything is in the freezer. Our neighbors stopped by while I was getting my hair done on Saturday and gave Shawn four quarts of strawberries. We had strawberry shortcake for dinner Saturday night, and it was delicious. Mom came over and joined us. I'm going to look for a recipe for something to use the rest up because we have a ton and they definitely need to be eaten within the next day or two. Maybe I can freeze them, too. I've been cleaning up as I go while cooking, but this week I intend to clean the house again in preparation for baby. I noticed a few nooks and crannies that could use scrubbing.

Mom finished sewing the baby bumper (thanks!), and Shawn brought up the car seat for me to clean since it's been in the garage. I also want to get the pack 'n play ready since there are good chances that Joshua won't quite be used to his room yet when the baby arrives. He's been napping in there when he's already completely asleep, but we tried laying him down in there for his nap while he was awake and shut the door. Pretty soon, he walked into our room and shouted "Hi!" He can open doors now and knows how to unlock them. He also opened my tylenol bottle the other day, which I immediately took from him (I never minded before when he played with things like this because he just liked the noise of shaking it, but now that he can open them, they're going up high.) He's a sponge these days and only has to watch once or twice before he starts trying out his new "skills."

Today we went to church as a family and Bob Hazelett from Touch of Fire Ministries spoke. (He's one of our favorites.) He had a great message about us not worrying about recession but realizing that the Kingdom of God is advancing. He spoke from Matthew talking about how the ravens and the lillies don't have to worry about food or clothing (and who can even add an hour to his life by worrying?) He also commented about how lillies grow in the winter, underground, where it's dark and things are usually dying; and we're to consider how they grow. Then he talked about Joseph and how he was like a lilly - he was so blessed that wherever he went, God's blessings followed. Even when he was in jail or in a 'depressing' time, Joseph was blessed. When the land was in "recession" in his day, he became wealthy because he had prepared and had storehouses. So, we are to have storehouses now that God will continually bless. It was an interesting sermon for sure. (You can check it out online through the link to the Lord's House of Prayer on the left of my blog.) They had a time in the beginning right after worship where they talked about praying for anyone who needed "deliverance" - I looked at Shawn and said "I'd like to be delivered! Lord, bring on the baby!" But, obviously Sunday wasn't his ordained time to come.

Shawn & Joshua had more bonding time today - which is super to watch on Father's Day especially. We are so blessed to have Shawn as the Dada. I love how they play together and Shawn includes Joshua in what he's doing (although some things like pressure washing and painting aren't meant for the Bean quite yet). We had a nice productive weekend, with lots more to do this week.