Praises and Prayers from the Pilgrim’s Progress

Oh what a thrilling couple of weeks!

The play my family is currently a part of has launched into its dress rehearsals, and we are busy finishing up costumes and laughing hard and enjoying 2 whole weeks with some of the most amazing, God-glorifying people around.

We do have a few prayer requests (and praises!) as we go into performance week if you wouldn’t mind lifting us up?

- Praise! All costumes are nearly finished! Sets are almost done!

- Praise for the hard work of our director! She has been incredible these last weeks, and amidst joy, minor complications, the heat, and 35 cast members, has shone the Light of Christ every day. Please lift her up as we enter performance week!

- Prayer for the audience to be receptive and awakened to the sweet gospel of Christ that is so clearly presented in the production. Also, please pray for the audience’s endurance in the heat of July.

 

Thank you, friends!

May you have a wonderfully blessed week!

jk

New Neighbors :)

I am so thrilled to tell you that construction has begun next door! The lot sold a month ago, and our family was a bit bummed to be losing the open grass next door, but on meeting the new owners, we realized how totally amazing it is going to be having them for neighbors, as they are super sweet people.

As the machines rolled in, Mom ran up to get R out of bed. Here’s a picture of him last night, but I thought it pretty much depicted his face on seeing the diggers this morning. :)

He is so thrilled that a “Snort” (from Dr. Seuss’ Are You My Mother? book) has begun to dig out the hole for the foundation.

Who needs TV when there’s diggers and Bobcats to be seen out your sliding glass door??

Stay cool today, friends!

jk

Painting the Laundry Room

When we moved into our house nearly a year and a half ago, every single wall was either a neutral beige color or a simple brown. This was a bit of a change. The house we moved from in the city was many times more colorful than the beige: we had purple, blue, orange, green, and pink on the main level, and blue and brown in the basement. My mom and dad worked really hard when we moved in to get some color back into our home. So far, we’ve done two bedrooms, the kitchen, and the staircase walls all in some beautiful colors. I came home from play practice to find a beautiful surprise and a very happy mom.

An orange laundry room! How amazing is this??

My dad rocks- he put up shelves and painted while we were all running around that morning.

Now, the laundry room is not only much much sweeter, but thoroughly functional as well!

 

 

We hung a 2” wooden dowel along the hooks on the shelves, making more space for us to hang dry our clothes. It looks so charming!

 

 

We are all just a tad bit in love with the laundry room right now :)

and how could you not be? :)

 

-jk

At The Lake

Oh dear friends!

What a great weekend we (my sisters, brother, mom, dogs, cousins, aunt, more dogs, grandparents, and a few more dogs) are having! We are so blessed to have grandparents that are so willing to take our whole crew in for 5 days. The blog will be a bit quite 'til I get back to home base on Monday. There are some great stories and pictures coming soon :)

Praying your weekends are blessed with laughter, family, and lots of s'mores around the campfire!

May you be blessed!
jk

Presenting…

This year, my sisters and I have the privilege of being a part of another Grace Farm Theater production!We are beyond thrilled to be a part of another great play with 30  God-honoring and joyful people.

Last year’s production of “The Hiding Place” was phenomenally awesome. We had a lot of fun (as you can probably tell by the picture :) ) and the Lord was glorified through it all, and we were so grateful for how He orchestrated the whole thing.

This year we look forward to seeing God at work again through our production of “The Pilgrim’s Progress.” This play is a bit more difficult, and has lots of scene changes and costumes. We are all looking forward to the challenge of playing people like Charity, Joy, Anger, and Intolerance.

The performances are in mid-July, and we as a cast are so anxious to see how it will all turn out.

We would appreciate your prayers for us this summer as well: prayers for God to be glorified, patience, joy in all weather :) and friendships to grow.

Thank you so much, dear friends! I can’t wait to share the stories of how God worked through the play with you all!

May you be blessed this beautiful day!

jk

Homestead News

Hey y’all!

Life has picked up as summer starts to roll into our life full force, and I am so excited to see what adventures God is going to take us on this summer!

Our first weekend in June was spent moving lots of plants, adding some details onto the chicken run, playing in the garden, and lots of bike rides on the cool afternoons.

Dad and Ruthie have been hard at work these past few days putting the pretty new roof onto the chicken run. We had a long week of hard rain that nearly turned our chickens into ducks, and they decided that it would be a good investment to put a roof onto the run. It’s hard to see on the pictures, but the roof is slanted so that the water runs off and not into the run. And do you see the new vent on the back door of the coop? Yep! Those gals needed a bit more air on the warm nights (and cool ones) so after some Pinterest inspiration, my dad put in a vent on the back door! I thought it was perfectly genius of them.

 

Those sweet faces we love so much are still keeping us hopping- especially that little white one :) You can read more about our latest escaped with Piper the puppy here. She recently discovered that we do live on a pond, and decided to try it out. My oh my was she a mess! It was very funny to watch her get hosed off afterwards though- her face just glared at us, and I could see that she was rethinking the pond jump.

The drills haven’t been the only machines hard at work these past few days. Our sewing center was recently rediscovered as all three of us gals plunged headfirst into some exciting spring projects. Lillie  (who just recently started a new blog! did you know? she’s going to let you know about some great books she’s been reading: the Hobbit, some Historical Fiction, and some great funny reads too! Check it out over here!) made a purse out of fat quarters and it turned out so cute that the Ruthie decided to make one too while Lillie makes another one for Mom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While my sisters are cranking out some darling purses, I’ve started another quilt! I am very excited, as this is the first quilt in which I’ve used triangles to make wonky stars. (isn’t wonky a fun word? :) )

I found precut squares by Moda fabrics at my local (Christian!) quilt store, and am so excited by the sheep, chickens, and flowers that I could hardly stand it. I am using the pattern called Starry Eyed off of the Moda Fabrics blog, Moda Bake Shop.

 

Hooray for spring!

More news to come later this week as our neighborhood starts to fill up!

Blessings!

jk

endless entertainment

scene: a calm, windless, cool sunset in our city. 4 houses overlook a small pond. the farthest house on the right is our house. two doors down are our two older neighbors enjoying a peaceful moment on their back porch, sipping beer and chatting lightly as the sun sets.

enter 18 year old with old dog and young puppy.

the young puppy takes off towards the empty lot, and I, the 18 year old, watch calmly and chat with Ruthie as we wait for the puppy to finish her business and saunter back. The puppy, named Piper, goes to the furthest point away from us, which is normal. Suddenly, she stops, stoops, and picks up a black something.

I take off towards the puppy.

Piper, being oh so sweet, thinks “Wow! What fun!” and proceeds to launch herself into a full run while I am calling “PIPER! DROP IT!” because I have no clue what she is holding.

I come within reaching distance of the pup after a few laps around the yard, when something disgusting reaches my nose and I glimpse a tail- yes, a nasty black tail- draping out of Piper’s mouth.

Dead mole.

Dis-gust-ting.

Meanwhile, Ruthie has gone in, put treats in her pocket, and is also chasing the dog around the yard, calling “PIPER!!!” the entire time, much like I am.

We are quite the spectacle.

Our neighbors sit serenely, no expression, no movement whatsoever, except to turn their heads and sip their beer as they watch us careen around the yard like the hooligans we are.

Mom’s laugh echoes from the kitchen window.

We plan a strategy of attack as we sprint around and around the house, the yard, the lot next door, and the weeds. The tail is slowly beginning to disappear, and we are now fearing that Piper may actually eat the entire mole while running- no easy task, mind you- and that it will come back to haunt us later, if you know what I mean.

Finally, the tail disappears and Piper screeches to a halt. I am still running straight for her as she pauses, cocks her head ever so slightly, and proceeds to run straight back to where she found the dead mole.

and guess what.

she finds another one.

This time however, her slight pause to consider her next move had allowed Lillie to come out of the house to help us, and we soon have her cornered. Corralled. The mouse drops, and she again takes off.

Love that dog.

And our neighbors quietly sit, only turning their faces to watch us as we chase the dog some more.

Piper, all of a sudden, changes direction and heads straight toward Ruthie who is running towards the back door. Me and Lillie yell and holler while running for Ruthie to run to the back door so we can get her in the house.

She opens it, and in flies Piper.

We all stop, hands on knees, and catch our breath as Piper watches us from her glass enclosure. We all turn, look up and notice that our neighbors are watching us. They quietly lift one hand, almost in unison, and we wave emphatically back.

my house has been invaded by bandits

and desperados.

and cowboys.

and dogs-turned-cattle and horses.

There have been shoot outs in the living room,

masked bandits reclining on chairs,

target practice set up on the bathroom door,

and even the dog has decided to take up ranching.

What sparked this invasion, you may ask?

The re-discovery of the ever powerful nerf guns,

the gift of two black cowboy hats from my dad,

plus the reading of several fictional cowboy stories.

.

dodging flying bullets and galloping horses out on the range today with my family of Wild West Hooligans.

enjoy your memorial day, dear friends!

jk

to be a writer

When I set out to write my thank you notes for the open house and beyond, I soon realized that I hardly ever write anymore.

You know- like with a notebook and pen kind of thing.

One of the beautiful gifts I was thrilled to receive for graduation was a lovely notebook. I love notebooks that are just…. notebooks. A pretty cover with simply lines on the inside. And gel pens. I love gel pens.

As I opened it up, all I could think was how so many people from my dear family had said to me over the years that I should never stop writing.

I used to harumph around that I really didn’t have a writing style that I enjoyed, but rather that I wrote like and about anything that struck my fancy. Which is why, if you read this blog, you will find everything from recipes to deep thoughts to poetry to essay-like writings.

So this summer I’ve resolved to do three things:

1. Pray more. :)

2. Read more. especially some nonfiction that is piling up around me.

3. Write more. be it in paper, or on the keyboard.

So there you go. I’ve started carrying around paper and pens again, and now have three essentials for whenever I travel (even to work ;) ): my Bible, notebook, and a good book.

I am excited to see where this will all lead, and I can’t wait to see how the Lord uses me this summer through writing, talking, being, and prayer.

 

so I hope to see you around here more often, friends, as writing begins again. :)

may you be blessed!

jk

Chicken Yard Updates

Goodbye Ricky Lou, hello chickies!

The last few weeks have been transitioning ones for our little flock as the rooster moved out and the three smaller birds moved in. Ruthie (whose wonderful writings about all things chicken can be read over here) has been working very hard along with my mom and Lillie (the official Chicken Aunt) to make sure the younger gals fit in with the older ones.

And, praise God from whom all blessings flow, a week ago, all 5 of our birds walked together into the coop at night! No pecking, bullying, or meanness here! :) We are so excited to be officially past the chick stage and into the pullet/laying hen stage over here.

I’ll let you read her blog to catch all the details on our first eggs, as she writes about the happenings in the chicken yard much better than I could.

Go ahead and check out her blog “The Chicken Coop” at www.ruthieschickens.blogspot.com .

Blessings and enjoy!

jk

Faith

Faith loves horses. LOVES horses. So for her 6th grade graduation, she wanted her pictures taken out at the barn where she takes riding lessons. I was thrilled that they asked me to take them!

So me, Faith, and her amazingly cool mom Julianna took a drive out to the country for the evening. And, let me tell you, it was so worth it! The drive was gorgeous, but seeing the barns and horses was even better.

The two horses I was honored to have met were Champ (pictured first) and Classy.

The barn was beautiful, and the white picket fences nearly made me jump for joy. Perfect for photos! It was an overcast day that made for some great lighting, and Faith’s beaming, stunning smile and perfect touch with the horses made my job so so easy.

Thank you, Faith and Julianna for a beautifully fun evening!

 

May you be blessed today, dear friends!

jk

Open House

Yippee!

I’m done with high school!

And for those of us who live in the Midwest, that means it is time for a graduation open house. :) Lots of friends, family, and food. A big tent with lots of tables. Pictures of me looking great, pictures of me looking… not so great for everyone to look at and smile and say “Yep. Time sure does fly!”

So, with many thank you’s to all sides of my family and friends, here’s what happened at my open house:

Have you ever heard of MaryJane’s Farm? It’s a darling country vintage funky magazine that me, my mom, and my grandma (Mamo :) ) all LOVE to read. It’s got everything from how to make your own dandelion preserves to how to decorate for a beautiful wedding, or in our case, an open house.

After reading one of her magazines, we had the idea to use old ironing boards for display tables, with hankerchiefs hanging from them. I wasn’t really sure what this would look like or come out to be, but oh! it came out so darling!

our garage was transformed into a charming farmhouse in a matter of hours, many many thanks to my mom and Mamo. Our food was nachos and bars, so we set up some of each of these in the garage for those who just wanted to eat and run. However, as we were to find out later, most people were going to be there for the long haul, which made for a full and wonderfully friend-filled party.

 

So darling! I was so excited to see it all come together so nicely! Our dear friends who live so close to us now lent us their pop trough (picture below :) ) for storing and keeping all the pop cool and the beautiful tent we used to help people find some shade in our otherwise shadeless lot of land :)

At 1, the nacho cheese was ready, the bars were set out, and family was starting to arrive! It was so cool to see people from Iowa, the cities, the far north of our state, and all over our area arrive!

:) Lots of pictures this post… I’ll bet you’re not surprised though :)

As the party progressed, I found myself being the center of life on our driveway. For little introverted me, I really liked having lots of people to talk to all day. What fun! I talked and gestured and talked and talked some more until I was hoarse, but it was well worth it to be able to see and chat with so many people who love me for just being me.

Honestly, I was totally overwhelmed by how many people love me and my family.

God has been so good to us!

But as it goes with our family, a party’s not a party unless something memorable occurs. This time around, the whoops! was actually really funny.

the pop trough was sitting on two sawhorses.

:)

the first sawhorse had too much weight on one end from all the ice and pop.

:)

whoops! There goes the pop trough!

We got all the ice swept out of the garage and the trough set back onto sawhorses, and the party continued. :) There’s always things happening over at our house :)

What a blessing this party was for my whole family! It was so much fun to have everyone over to our house, and I want to thank everyone who came for their prayers and well-wishes for me as I continue into my college career. I love love love you all, and what a great time it was to see you all! So many people came that I couldn’t count or tell you each person individually, except to say that literally everyone we know was there. The day was perfect, the weather stunning, and God was totally in every moment of the day. I am so thankful that all went well and that everyone was able to make it. You are all wonderful, and I loved seeing each of you so much!

Be blessed today, friends!

In Christ,

jk