it is really hard to blog when you have no internet connectivity!

and our server has been out for two days. We have the satellite tower on our roof, so when there is any kind of problem, we know it first. Seems like they have ahd a lot of problems lately...I am getting to know these guys far too well!!!! After two phone calls and a lengthy service call yesterday, we still have no service. Malachi loaned me his high speed wireless card or I'd still be incommunicado. Thankfully our service, such as it is, is free, because we have the tower on our roof. I'd be genuinely ticked if I were paying for this!
Sopheak and Malachi arrived after 3AM Sunday. YES the Mamma stayed up and waited, while making a roast for Sunday dinner, baking and icing a cake. When you are sleepy at 2 AM and don't measure the cocoa powder carefully enough into the butter and shortening for frosting, WOWZA!! Can you make an awesome fudge brownie tasting frosting!! It was the hit of the after- dinner- sweet -eaters-club, and there were not even crumbs left last night!
We had a really fun day yesterday! Esther (from two trips to Cambodia herself) and my three latest Khmer children of course knew 'Phaeak from Cambodia, so they had a fun reunion, everyone else loved getting to meet her for the first time. My mom loved getting to meet her next daughter-in-law to be!! Hannah and Gideon were still kind of shaking their heads that their little brother is really old enough to be at this stage of life! They just never thought he'd be a grown -up I guess!!!! That said, everyone had to tell Sopheak lots of "Malachi stories" of course! Malachi and Sopheak went shopping for some things later in the afternoon, and brought back new paddles for the row boat...........not unusual except that, in true Khmer style, they went shopping on the motorcycle!! He knew she could hang onto him and shopping bags and two boat paddles successfully!!! Not too much jet lagging was going on around here!
Before the fateful (and very successful) Lakers basketball game came on, we watched "Marley and Me" together and we all loved it, laughed and cried and talked about how real that whole movie was. I have had friends who didn't want their children to watch it because the dog dies at the end of the movie, but I thought it was a really great "third person" way to introduce life and death concepts to younger children who may not have experienced their mom having a miscarriage, or the death of a pet. It gets my stamp of approval. There is always language in movies , which really peeves me, but my non- nasty-language using children and some of my friends peeve me too, as I KNOW I do them, so I am applying James 2:10 to this facet of life..."who ever keeps the whole law but stumbles in one point is guilty of all" Don't use bad language? I bet you , like me, have some life-habit or another which qualifies for need of repentance and ongoing grace.... short temper, or a greedy streak,other ongoing bad habit, whatever......... I loved the movie !!!

My trip with Hannah for gingham to match Baby Daniel's nursery comforter set was not very successful, but we did buy paint and the painting of the nursery did begin. We opted to use the green from the accessories to paint the trim, rather than a wall, and go with white for the walls. Hannah is going to paint a mural of a money in a banana tree in one corner of the room. Should be VERY CUTE!! The window in that room is a huge half circle above a wide rectangular window, so my plan is to alternate yellow, blue, and green ginghams (WHEN I CAN FIND SAID GINGHAMS!!!) in the half circle, as well as when I make the panels for the lower window. Our nursery is actually more of a sitting room upstairs, it has no closet, and is open to the stairwell, but it served well as Naomi's nursery. It has a very high cathedral ceiling, so that huge window fits well. Anywhere else it would be overpowering. With its east facing direction, good curtains are essential in those windows for summer sleep beyond 4:30 AM ( and I DO want Daniel to sleep beyond 4:30!!!!!!!!)
Why do you suppose that neither Walmart nor Hobby Lobby have a good selction of gingham? Isn't that a pretty standard classic fabric? I see the handwriting on the walls at our older Walmart as its sewing department shrinks and shrinks though....
it won't be long until the higher priced Hobby Lobby is my only option for fabric in town. Our newer Walmart was designed without a fabric department at all...sigh...
The tomato harvest was set back a few more tomatoes yesterday too as our younger boys along with grand son Blake, neighbor boy Brice and frequent visitor and best friend to all the boys, Peter played in the back yard and someone fell into the tomato fencing and knocked unripe but good sized fruits off the vines. A VERY apologetic Peter came in with the evidence to confess. Boys!!!!!
Charlie loves the military strategy board game RISK, as do several of our older children. Hisbeing gone for two years actually fighting in the real war, left no time to teach the younger, but ready, boys his favorite game. Well Blake too is in love with the game, or the idea of the game. We decided to get a new set for Charlie for Father's Day and give it to him early so he could teach two generations of boys at the same time. WHAT A HIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jael is quite good at it as well, so she and Charlie got the boys going and while this cake baking, late night wait-upping Mamma went to sleep, those boys stayed up past 1:30 playing RISK! Obviously this is a great game, and the boys maintained detente' in the throes of battle because not one sound woke me up! They were a it slow getting up this morning, but all the chores are done now, so its all good.
What a blessed Mamma I am!! Thank You so much Heavenly Father that I get to be "somewhere near the earthly center" of this wonderful group of people who are my family, who make Smith Soup such an awesome ongoing work in process!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love my life !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that said, I need to weed the gardens, spread some well needed manure, and come in to do some sewing.
Know that you are having a BLESSED DAY!!