Be Of Good Cheer, I Have Overcome The World.

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

 John 16:33 NKJV

one more week...

are you ready?

we are...

its coming on fast!

enjoy this last week...

it's been a long couple of weeks...

spent a day or two resting up here...

things are going well...

hope your days are good...

Susie, still praying...

been busy...

we had our first distribution on Saturday...

and we were well stocked and ready to go...

this was mostly done in the last week...

we had been turning the toy drive over to another couple...

so this year we were just shadowing them as they went along...

but they weren't doing anything but spending money that was in reserve from last year...

doing nothing to get funds raised for this year and the tables were far from being full enough to open on Saturday...

so, I had a pep talk with them, that they needed to start working on it...

it doesn't just happen...

guess they didn't like the pep talk, because within an hour, they quit...

we were so relieved!

the majority of what you see here came in in 3-4 days of putting the word out on social media...

and what happened in the following days was the most amazing support from our communnity!

the school is behind us...

the fire department is behind us...

the manager of our new Family Dollar is behind us...

the people who donate toys and money are behind us...

(because it wasn't coming in while the other people were running it)

and our elves are behind us every step of the way...

this is all who were there on Saturday...

us, our elves and our fire and ems people...

(we use their building every year)

we had our second distribution last night and almost all of the ones left came in...

meeting one more Friday...

we have quite a bit left over and just over a $1,000 in the bank...

(the bank account was down to $4.59 when we took it over)

its been the most amazing whirlwind time, but we met the needs of these families and so far, 51 children in our school district will have something under the tree come Christmas morning...

we are so blessed and completely overwhelmed...

its been a good year!

working on the toy drive...

will post soon

it's in and running...

the furnace guys came today...

and the new furnace is in and running!

working good...

no more staying up all night to run the other one...

( threw the reset button every time it came on)

so we had to manually run it...

major pain in the butt!

glad that is over and we can sleep at night now...

I have just been so tired...

so hopefully, I can get rested up by the weekend and we can get to work in here...

and out there...

have good days!

I have not fallen off the face of the earth...

really...

been busy...

been lazy...

Ditsy's butt is almost all healed up and she is doing good...

fall is here!

went Christmas shopping Saturday for the high school kids gift bags...

Paris run to the Dollar Tree!

between cooking, cleaning and laundry...

haven't gotten too much done...

the furnace guys did show up last week and the plan is to put the new one in this week...

late in the week after the rains are done...

we have a chance of snow on Thursday...

not happy about that...

Halloween is packed up...

(Craig and I took the outside stuff down on the 30th before the rains came)

other than all that, my life has been pretty boring...

not had the greatest days, but not the worst, either...

tired of the political ads running on everything...

BUT HERE!

you won't find them here!

hope your falls are going good and you are getting things done...

:)

hoping...

to get outside and get some yard work done tomorrow!

harvest is over!

got my old man back on the weekends!

we had rain today and it was cold...

so hoping it won't be so nasty tomorrow...

I need some dirt and leaf therapy!

a little good news today...

Ditzy had to have emergency surgery yesterday...

she had a prolapsed anus...

her butt hole was turning inside out...

but the surgery went well and she got to come home later...

she is now running amuck...

not sure if this will fix it or not or what will happen later on...

but for right now, she is good...

hoping for a good day...

what a week!

DH is getting close to being back to normal hours...

we had to clean out a storage unit yesterday...

Craig worked so hard...

we have been sorting and pitching and letting go...

you should see the pile for the garbage man!

have been to the doc twice...

finally lanced the boil...

but this guy left me with an inch slash in it...

looks bad...

might end up in the walk in...

(not my usual doctor)

we had some fierce winds yesterday afternoon...

saw reports of trees down, power outages and one of those awnings over a set of gas pumps went down...

but we are ok...

just have a yard full of green leaves now...

Craig had named this little one Dixie...

but I renamed her last week...

its now Ditzy...

she is such a ditz!

so much fun!

and she holds her own with the big ones...

we got more cold weather here now...

pretty darn chilly...

but we are stuck inside sorting tubs anyway...

hope it warms up for next weekend!

have a good day!

well...I have no excuse really...

got walnuts on the ground...

leaves are blushing, slightly...

decor in the house is done...

and- you won't believe this...

but this Craig's old white van...

when the transmission started going...

we decided a newer ride would be better than fixing this one...

so we gave it away...

to a friend of ours...

we all call him Drippy...

and he does custom painting...

he fixed up the old van and painted it like he did an old bike of his...

and now its the "Drippy Mobile"...

one of a kind...

I have been a bit under the weather...

a boil, allergies gone wild and a pinched nerve...

all in one week...

went back to the doctor yesterday and got more antibiotics...

and go back tomorrow for the lancing...

already did one round of it...

we have already been working on the toy drive...

flyers are made and donation box and canister out at the Family Dollar store...

they have already collected 2 big totes worth from there...

I think this is going to be a good year...

:)

and the new baby is doing good...

on hard food and water and litter box trained...

she is just so tiny...

going to be a very petite cat...

Craig named her Dixie...

we shall see if that sticks or not...

she gets along fine with all the rest of them...

yesterday, she discovered my bed....

she naps there now...

:)

with all the rest of them...

we have cooled off here...

in the 40s to low 50s for highs...

it could be a bit warmer...

:)

got lots of yard work to do...

DH is finally winding down on the harvest hours...

most are done now...

so...

what have you been up to?

still above ground...

got the Halloween stuff put up on Sunday...

all four of us were here to do it...

we had some very nice cooler weather...

but now we are back to the ac being on and wearing tank tops and flip flops...

our oldest was here for two weeks...

we have been doing yard work and such...

the time flew...

got a new baby in, too...

and she is doing great...

pics later...

have a great week!

the first day of fall...

we are finally passed the hot days!

the last two days have been in the low 70s...

been doing yard work...

DH is doing the harvest hours...

Doug has been here much of the last 2 weeks...

got a baby in last night...

completely covered with fleas and she has lost a lot of blood...

working on her...

the leaves have been coming down for the last few weeks here...

and the farmers are in the field full throttle...

pumpkin patches are open...

and there is a pumpkin pie on the counter...

so guess its time that these get unpacked...

this week's project...

happy fall!

Home Coming 2018

a small town on the prairie rallies behind the school...

every chance it gets...

and they throw everything they have into the celebration...

my boys have both rode the fire trucks around town...

in their jerseys...

and each class does a float on hay wagons loaned by area farmers...

and little kids line the streets for the candy they throw...

and the attendants for the home coming court are there, too...

and we share in their excitement...

as they travel these old brick streets...

and mom's and grandma's rush to get the perfect photos...

and they changed things up this year...

they moved the parade time to Wed night at 6pm...

from Friday afternoons at 3...

which it had always been...

so more parents and grandparents who work could attend...

when the parade was over...

they did a powder puff...

each class putting a team on the field...

and then the traditional bon fire at the lake park...

(right next to the gym and school)

traditions are important to this little town...

its taken years to get the parade time changed...

and rearranging home coming activities...

you just mention doing something different than granddad did and they start kicking and screaming...

:)

but sometimes...

change is good...

and its not disrespectful to those who have gone before...

because time marches on...

and things do change...

its just slower to do so in a small prairie town...

:)

have a blessed wonderful weekend...

slow down, take you time and just enjoy it...

this life is parading by so fast!