Another Update

Hello everyone! I wanted to let you all know how everyone is doing. I came home yesterday. The Bates clan seems to be on the mend. A long way from better but on the mend. Jess took Daniel to the doctor this morning. He has a lot of congestion and a double ear infection. Also please pray for our friends, the Horns. As of right now, 3 out of 5 of them have the flu and one has strep throat with the flu. I know many blogs I read have had this bug going through them. It is horrible.

Today we are working on school and other normal things. The girls and Hubby kept things running smoothly here while I was away. I did come back up Sunday morning and went to church. You all remember, Sunday was the girls big day of playing music. They did a great job. I hope to get a copy of the CD this weekend. If I can figure out how to put it on, I’ll try to share some of it with you all.

Well, that’s about it. Lunch break is over and time for us to start back on school. Thanks again for your prayers. God bless.

January 8, 2013 3

Update on Sam

I just wanted to give you all an update on little Sam. He is doing some better. He still has a long way to go but is much improved from the other day. He managed to come through it without a hospital stay which is a good thing. We so appreciate your prayers and ask that you would please continue to pray for him. I just got a call from Jess and she is on her way to the doctor with Katie. She is congested and running a fever. Please include Katie and Jess in your prayers. David is gone to Vegas so Jess is holding down the fort alone. I think the keeper of the fort could really use some prayers..

Yesterday, we went bowling with the Horns. We had a great time. I think I have mentioned this before, our bowling alley does a thing called homeschool bowling. The first Friday in every month, homeschoolers can bowl for $l.50 a game and the shoe rental is free. We are hoping to do it again next month.

Today is fairly nice here in Floyd. When we first got up, the temperature was 19 with a wind chill of 9 degrees. It has warmed up to about 25 degrees now and we have sunshine. Not too bad for January.

Well, I hope you all have a great day. We are planning on doing a little housecleaning and working some on the chicken nests and lot area. Kinda a slow day. Tomorrow the girls will be doing all the music for church. Our piano player is gone on a little vacation so the girls are doing the music. Grace is doing the congregational for Sunday School. She is playing “What a friend we have in Jesus”. She is also playing the doxology and a congregational for worship service-“Rock of Ages”. Julie is playing “Sweet Hour of Prayer” for her congregational and “Softly and Tenderly” for the invitational. Julie is also doing a special, “The Old Rugged Cross”. She will be singing and playing it. BIG DAY! Pray for them, that all will go well.

I guess that’s about all. Enjoy your day and God bless.

UPDATE ON KATIE: I wanted to let you all know, Katie has the flu. Jess is supposed to try to keep Katie and Sam apart so Sam doesn’t get it too. I am going down to help. It would be so hard for Jess to manage all this alone. I am thanking you all in advance for your prayers. God bless.

January 5, 2013 5

Chicken Day

Friday was chicken butchering day for us and the Horns. We had a really good day, learned a lot and had lots of good fellowship. All together we butchered 10 roosters. We were kinda amazed at how big they looked before we butchered them versus how small they looked when finished. Huge difference. We are kinda talking about going with the bigger meat birds next year. We’re not sure yet though.

Our pastor made us these killing cones. They are really neat. I would recommend anyone butchering their own chickens to have one. They make it a lot easier. Saturday, the girls and I went down to Jessica’s. We watched the kids while Dave and Jess had a date afternoon to celebrate their anniversary. They have been married 12 years. They went to the movies and David brought us back sushi to try. We had never eaten it before. It was actually pretty good. Grace really liked it.

Sunday, I went to church alone as Julie, Grace and Hubby were not feeling very well. Julie and Grace seem to have a cold-congestion with lots of coughing. Hubby is having tummy troubles. Hopefully all will be well soon. Today is a beautiful day here in Floyd. Sunshine with temperatures in the mid 30’s. It could be a little warmer for my taste but the sun is beautiful. I have a pork tenderloin cooking away on top of the wood stove. It smells yummy. I think I will have potatoes, green beans and cornbread with it.

Well, we are starting school so I better get off. I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

November 13, 2012 3

Natural Bridge

We had such fun day yesterday. We went with the Horn’s to Natural Bridge. I have lots of pictures to show you all. We’ll start today with the bridge itself. Isn’t it beautiful?

This picture shows how big the bridge actually is.

I love this picture of Grace. I wanted one of Julie too but she was ahead of us with the Horns.

I wanted to tell you all the amazing blessing we had on Friday. We went with Hubby to check on a job and were coming home from C-burg. We had some rain and then the sun came out. When this happens, we are always on the lookout for rainbows. Well, we found not one but two. The girls and I had never seen a double rainbow. These both were complete arches reaching from one end of the sky to the other. They were so huge. Sometimes it seemed as if we were driving right into them. We got to see them for at least 15 min. It was so amazing. We were so excited. I wish I had my camera with us to take pictures but it probably would not have done any good. Vicki was at home with her camera but she couldn’t get a picture of it. She said it was too big to get it all. Isn’t God good to show us something like that.

I’ll show you all more pictures of our trip next time I post. I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

September 26, 2011 8

A Glimpse of Fall

Just a little glimpse that fall is on the way. Dried corn stalks are definitely a sign. Yesterday, the girls and I went to play with the boys while Jess went to have another ultra sound. This time Katie was in the birth position instead of breech. Praise the Lord! I want to thank you all for praying for her and ask that you continue to pray. She has about 9 weeks to go.

Today, we will finish up the pears. I think I will make juice from what is left. I may end up canning some more. I’ll wait and see. Tomorrow we plan on spending the day with the Horns. We are going to Paint Bank. I will hopefully get lots of pictures to show you. We are so looking forward to this. It has been several years since we have been there and the Horns have never been. I hope they enjoy it as much as we do. Our hens have picked up some on their laying. Yesterday, we got 5 eggs. We haven’t gave them any scraps (except just a few little treats).

This lone tree sits in the field behind our house. If you look closely, you can see the leaves are starting to change. It has been so dry here, I’m not sure if we will have very much color. I hope so, though. I so enjoy the colors of fall.

I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

September 2, 2011 5

Trout Fest

Remember a similar picture from last year. Same little girl perched on the drainpipe. Obviously she really likes the spot.

Now its brothers turn to sit for a while. We really had a nice day with about 90 people showing up all total. After we came home from the fishing we worked in the upper garden. Hubby tilled, and the girls and I set out the plants. They looked great. But then they wilted badly. We watered them when we planted them, again the next morning and again yesterday evening before we went to church. Last night the Lord watered them for us so we are hoping they look better now. I haven’t went up to the garden yet to check on them. If they do not perk up, I am afraid they will not survive. We’ll just have to wait and see.

We plan on going over to the Horns today for lunch and some play time then on to piano practice. I don’t think I told you all but we have ducklings now-12 of them. They are very shy and it is hard to get a picture of them. Mama duck keeps them hid most of the time. I’ll keep trying though.

Time for us to get busy. I have a load of clothes to hang out on the line and several more to get done. Enjoy your day and God bless.

May 23, 2011 5

Turtles

Here are a few of the turtle pictures we took while at Pandapas Pond the other day.

They were pretty skittish so we had to sneak upon them to get the pictures.

Grace did a great job!

A beaver lodge on the pond. Several geese were resting on top of it.

We have several things planned to work on today. Rain is in the forecast though so we may not get any of it done. We’ll just have to wait and see. I am going to use the remainder of the pork tenderloin this evening to make bbq sandwiches for supper. I have enough rolls left from last night to use for buns. I think I will do homesfries and coleslaw with it. I like to cook enough meat to make several meals from it. This makes it a little easier I think. We have dentist appointments tomorrow in Roanoke, then we are going to Sam’s Club to pick up a few things. After that, we are going to pick out Grace’s frames for her new glasses. The Horns are supposed to come by tomorrow evening to visit. YEAH! It has been a while since we have got to visit.

I better get busy. Hubby and I are working on a big outside project. I’ll try to show pictures next time I make a post. Anyway, he is wanting to get started so that hopefully we can get some of it done before it starts raining. Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 23, 2011 5

Daniel and Sam

Daniel is doing some serious thinking about something, probably something he can get into.

Baby Sam is definitely growing. I have other pictures but for some reason I could not get them to load correctly. Hopefully, I will be able to post them tomorrow. Today is sunny here but kinda chilly. Temperature is 30 degrees. It was 18 degrees this morning when Hubby went to work. I am going to hang clothes outside in just a few minutes. I’ll need a coat and gloves though. I can’t stand for my fingers to get cold. I know I’m becoming wimpy in my old age.

We are planning to go to our friends, the Horns, after lunch. It has been too long since we got to spend time together. Supper tonight is cooked beef chunks with potatoes, pinto beans and corn bread. I already have the beef in the crockpot. Before we leave to go to the Horns, I will add the potatoes. I also have the pintos cooking in another crockpot. Hopefully all will be done when we get home except baking the corn bread.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 4, 2011 2

My Christmas Tablecloth

I love to use this quilt every year as my tablecloth at Christmas. I did not make the quilt and to be honest I have had it so long I don’t really remember who did. I love it though. It looks so pretty on our table. I took the picture of it on the floor because I wanted you all to really see it good. I think if quilts could talk, this one would say cheerful, happy things.

Monday, I did some grocery shopping for our Christmas meal. We visited some with the Horns which is alway fun. Yesterday, I worked some more on my sewing machine. I am still not successful in getting it to work properly. I hope to work on it more today. I have many sewing projects I want to start on. I might have to get Hubby to look at it and see what he can do.

We are getting a drizzle of rain here this morning. Temperatures are warm-33 degrees. Hopefully it will just be rain and no ice. There is a chance of snow for tomorrow and predictions for a winter storm coming in on Friday night. If this happens, our Christmas meal plans will have to change. Chuck and his family are supposed to come tomorrow and Jess and her family are coming on Sunday. It is so hard to plan things in the winter. You never know what the weather will bring.

We are doing “half school” today and tomorrow. Then on Friday, we will start our Christmas break. Enjoy your day and God bless.

December 22, 2010 5

Sunday

Yesterday was such a fun day for us. We decided to take the girls to the movies as part of their Christmas gift. As we very seldom go to the movies, this was a big treat. We found (thanks to our friends, the Horns) a movie theater that is affordable and family friendly. We watched The Chronicles of Narnia-Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It was a very good movie and we all had a great time. Grace has read the book and Julie is in process now of reading it.

Also, as my aprons are now being sold in a local store, I thought it would be nice to try out some different patterns. I had been told it would be nice if I could do matching aprons. One for Mom (or MawMaw)and one for a little girl. I found a pattern I like pretty well. Here is a picture of it.

Not exactly what I was looking for but a good place to start.

This is the material I picked out. The floral will be the main material and the striped will be the contrasting material. What do you all think? I am having difficulties with my sewing maching, so pray I can get it up and running soon. (Could be the operator, who knows!) Anyway, I am excited to start a new project and upping my abilities. I have not made many things from a real pattern. Usually, its something I just figure out on my own or I alter the pattern so that it fits my abilities. Sally, our pastor’s wife, has agreed to help me if I get in over my head. I don’t think I will though. It looks pretty easy on paper. I will show you the finished results when done.

I think I’ll go check out my machine. Take care and God bless.

December 19, 2010 4