simply grateful

Obviously, I have been a little behind in blogging. But, I just had to share about getting to see some family from Texas recently. Well, actually, I guess they are kind of from all over right now. See, they have an RV and have been traveling around the US and homeschooling for over a year. I have been watching their travels and waiting for them to start to head east. We were so excited when my Aunt Linda and cousins, Cory and Will, could come for a quick visit. We were sad to miss Uncle Craig, but he had the oh-so-fun job of sitting around and waiting for a plumber to come. lol. We missed you, Uncle Craig! We took them to Glencairn Gardens. This is a park very close to our house and we love going there. We all were very excited about the beautiful spring weather! The boys were so patient with the little munchkins. The kids had a great time...and so did David and I. It is wonderful the bond you feel with family even when you do not get to see them often. They had barely pulle...

Thankful Thursday- Birthday Day Well Thursday was full of good times so we did not have an opportunity to do a blog. But, don't fear, we have plenty of photo's to make up for being a day late. (Hey, we are givers, what can we say!) OK, so maybe I'm just so proud of the kids I like to put cool pics up. Whatever the motivation, here is my Thankful Thursday. 1. Time with family. Heather made me a fruit pizza and scones for breakfast. After a quick trip to the Dr. for Karissa's 15 month well check (she is doing good, 70% for height, 25% for weight) we headed to Chester State Park. It is a great park, right on a lake, with a couple of playground areas for the kids to play on. We were the only family there for the majority of the time which was nice. The kids enjoyed the geese and we enjoyed the kids. Thanks to Heather for such a wonderful day. 2. My "work"- Is it really work when you enjoy it so much? Northside gives us our birthday off. Which makes ...

Rusks and 5 Roses... Rusks. Do you know what they are? No, not the things that elephants have, those are tusks. Although, while living in Africa, I often ate rusks while watching elephants. Rusks and 5 Roses (African Tea) was our staple breakfast while on Safari. A rusk is a rectangular, hard, dry biscuit or a twice- baked bread. Historically, rusks evolved during South Africa’s early pioneering days as a way to preserve bread in the dry climate. It was also extensively used during times of war or when traveling long distances. For me, 5 Roses tea was an everyday occurrence. You can imagine my delight when I returned to America to find “The South African Food Shop” just miles from my parent’s house. An internet based company, with a storefront in Matthews NC, has become my supplier of Ouma Rusks and 5 Roses. This morning as I had a rusk with my tea, Makayla came and wanted to try one. I tried to persuade her that she would not like them to no avail. She knew how much I cherished them a...

Honestly, it has been a bit of a difficult few weeks in the Petro household. Nothing major, just several situations that have weighed heavy on our hearts. We keep having to remind ourselves that while we see in inches our God sees in miles. It just would be nice to have a little of His perspective at times! Never the less, we ALWAYS have reasons to be thankful. So, without further delay, Thankful Thursday (By David) 1. I'm thankful for the Tar Heels- What? Yep, you read it right. This has been a horrific season for my beloved Heels. (I might add that even at the beginning of the year I said I just hoped they could stay in the top 25... which they did not). Now they are playing in the NIT... not exactly what Heels fans are used to. But their demise this year just serves to remind me how quickly things can change. That we should never rest on our past accomplishments, but always strive to be better... especially in our spiritual lives. 2. I am thankful for days off- I lo...

We started the garden today. Well, we at least planted seeds and marked out the boundaries for the garden. We are nearly doubling the size of the garden from last year, even though we gave about 2/3rds of what we grew away. We hope to keep ourselves, friends and family supplied like last year. By expanding it we also hope to give plenty to the local homeless shelters, food closets, and the Children's Attention Home. The kids had a great time planting the seeds, but I think they expected them to grow right away. We planted squash, spinach, bell peppers, green beans, and two types of tomatoes. Hope it turns out well!

This week has been so much better than last week! I have much to blog about, but it is late. And, I'm tired. The children are sleeping, so I'm thinking we will be crashing soon too. But, more will be coming about our adventure today and tot school. But for now, I'm most thankful for: 1. a better week with everybody well! 2. a sweet husband who sees quickly to the heart of a matter and has amazing ideas! 3. signs of spring! I love seeing buds on the tree. 4. kind strangers who offer to pray for people you care about 5. a fun new haircut I hope that you have had a great week. I will write more as soon as I can. Thanks for stopping by.