$4.07/Gallon

  $4.07/gallon and climbing.  Diesel.  For anyone in this area, this is reason enough to stay home.  To get cozy in the rocker and enjoy the view from the front porch.  Unfortunately, if you're from this area, your livelihood is probably dependent  upon diesel.  You have a diesel pick-up, skid steer, tractor or Peter Built.  You don't have the ability to sit in your rocker long.  Groceries and the mortgage are dependent on that beautiful liquid gold.  That gold that now costs more per gallon than the milk on your table. 
  I had a day to myself today.  It was wonderful.  I have an accountant in Weiser and today was tax day.  It went well, thanks for asking.  Actually, while driving to my appointment I found myself behind an empty beet truck.  I didn't mind it, I had a sitter.  While I sat behind that truck , I'd get  brief whiffs of diesel exhaust.  Ya, it can be over-powering and the EPA says it's bad for the environment, but it reminds me of family time.  There is something in the over-powering scent of diesel that reminds me of togetherness.  It's trips to the lake, camping, auguring fence post holes with my husband, and riding the fork lift with my dad as a kid.  That totally obnoxious, over-powering smell is a little kid excitedly grabbing flashlights, and sleeping bags.  It's a little boy riding tractor with his papa.  It's a little girl holding fence posts to build a corral for her pony.  It's a scent that represents a good hard days work, accomplishment and family togetherness.  That diesel engine is the sound that daddy's home, it's supper time and every one's together.  No, I don't recommend Yankee bottle this scent up for their latest candle, the EPA may die of heart failure.  I do cherish memories that are tied to it though. 
  I am sure the prices will go down again, they usually do.  It does make things tight until then.  I serve a God that always provides however.  A gallon of diesel may cost more than two dozen eggs.  But God has seen fit to give us chickens, so we're covered.  We'll see how this summer goes.  I know we'll be fine.  God never ceases to amaze me with His provisions.

Sunset on Third Lane

Cinnamon Roll Simmering Potpourri

Need a quick pick-me-up or have company coming last minute?  Here is a great recipe for a fresh and wonderful Porpourri.

4 cups apple cider (juice)
1 orange, cut into 1/2 inch slices
3 whole cinnamon sticks
1 T. whole cloves
1 t. ground allspice
1 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. ground nutmet

Combine all ingredients in a soup pot and bring to a boil on the stove top.  Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered, adding cider as needed to keep the pot from going dry.

My Dinosaur

Dinosaurs.  He loves dinosaurs.  He plays with them, studies them and dreams about them.  For halloween a couple years ago he asked to be a dinosaur.  We found a cute little costume, not expensive but sturdy.  A brown dinosaur costume that would cover him head to toe.  It even had a hood to pull over his head, a hood that transformed him into the tough dinosaur he wanted to be. 
  It's been two years since we purchased that dinosaur costume and its still magical.  The ankles are highwaters and the sleeves are short but that doesn't stop him.  That costume transforms him from Hap Bayes to the "T-Rex" that conquers.  In fact he's sleeping in it tonight. 
  It's a wonder to me that he can sleep in that thing at all, but he manages.  He has actually managed twice a week for the past two years he's owned that suit.  Twice a week that little boy slips that costume on (hood, large (slightly limp) tail ) and slides between the sheets of his bed.  I am not sure how that tail manages him any comfort, but its still very important.  Dinosaurs have tails, and when he goes to bed, he's a dinosaur!
  I watch my little man sleep.  So peaceful, tranquil, such a gift from God. I see a large fluffy tail uncomfortably poking up from his armpit.  He's happy and I am happy.   I know they'll come a day when that costume becomes embarrassing.  He may someday throw it away, but I'll watch and plan on pulling that thing back out of the trash.  There's memories in that little dinosaur costume.  I will bag it up and hold it close to my heart.
  For now, I will sign off and join my family in dream land.  I am not sure if I'll dream of dinosaurs (they sound a little stressful to me), but I look forward to waking up.  There's a brown dinosaur that will come bounding into our room and onto our bed come morning.  I need to get rested for it.

Searching for Answers

 The sun is out.  It feels so good. Thank you God for this gift.  It is shining through the window; right onto my face.  Wonderful.  Sometimes I enjoy closing my eyes, just feeling the sun.  The sun brings promise.  It brings life.
  My tomato and pepper starts extend their leaves to the window; reaching for the sun.  They know what they need. Everything needs the sun.  There is nothing that can survive without it.  Have you ever stopped to contemplate it?  Really think about it.  The earth is perfect distance from the sun.  Any closer and the earth would burn, any farther and the earth would freeze.  It's perfect.  It seems strange that anyone would think it  an accident. 
  How could something so life-giving be placed in the sky by accident?  It's one of those things that has to happen correctly the first time.  Life is dependent on it.  Move the sun any distance, and you sabotage life.
  I look at things around me and notice the details of a grand design.  Have you ever laid down in the grass and studied it?  Look at the intricacies of everything beneath it.  It's complex.  There are many happy bugs that call it home.
  Have you ever grown a garden from seeds?  Have you watched how that little seed when given water, good soil and sunshine grows into something amazing.  One small seed creates a beautiful tomato plant, another a 100lb pumpkin and yet another an amazing flower.  They all harbor their own DNA of sorts.  They're all programmed differently.  To grow something beautiful with unique possibilities.  Is this all an accident?  Really?
  The Bombardier Beetle harbors two chemicals in its body.  When scared, it mixes those two chemicals in correct proportion and shoots fire (to detour enemies).  This beetle defies evolution.  Any incorrect chemical combinations and this beetle would self-destruct, leaving a dead beetle.  Dead beetles don't evolve.  This beetle had to get it right the first time.....it had to have been created correctly.  Created.  There was no evolving this guy.
  I do a lot of thinking. There is just no way all these amazing creations and processes happened by chance.  I took statistics in college.   Multiply the chances of the sun landing perfect distance from the earth by the chances that seeds evolved their ability to grow amazing works of art.  Multiply that by the chances that those same seeds grow life sustaining food for man.  Man, whose system is so complex scientists have yet to understand how everything works.  Multiply that by the chances that Bombardier beetles evolved despite self destruction.  Statistically it's nearly impossible.
  If the earth were a painting, could you expect it to be painted by anything less than an artist?  We all know that paintbrushes don't paint without a hand guiding them.  How could we expect the intricacies of life, the amazing intricacies, to be any different.  Really.  My statistical mind grasps the idea of creation so much easier than that of evolution.  Evolution just doesn't make sense.  Evolution also tells me I was created without a purpose.  I just happened, and grandma was a monkey.  I choose not to believe that however. 
  I was created on purpose, with a purpose.  I am loved.  I serve a God that not only created me, he created my world.  He painted a backdrop of beauty for me to enjoy.  He created YOU.  YOU carry the fingerprints of God.  YOU were created with a purpose, and YOU were created on purpose.  YOU are loved.  There is nothing accidental about your life.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;  Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
         Psalm 139: 13-16 NIV     The Bible

Our Yard on Third Lane

God and Lasagna

  I was craving lasagna and green salad.  I was also tired....tired of the sweet little flu bug and fevers.  Eight days with the flu is a long time.   I am ready to be well.  I hate being a complainer,  complainers frustrate me.  But tonight, I am weary and I am lacking.  So I guess I am (in a small way) complaining.  Ugh, I said it.
  Being sick though has enabled me to catch up on a few things, namely sleep.  Reading.  It has brought us down another road, one I rather enjoy: the slow lane.  Life has slowed down.  We've cancelled all appointments (except Tim, whom has worked all week and built fence with the flu).  I have married a seriously awesome man and I love him.
  My wonderful sister and her husband delivered groceries to our house Monday.   We are being cared for.  I am thanking God for people who care.  In the future I plan to bring more meals to people in need.... I can now empathize with them.  Meals can be such a blessing!
  Today Annie and I made an ibuprofen run to the M&W grocery store in Nyssa.  We decided to check the mail also.  It's been 4 days since we'd checked it, so I knew it'd be full.  I knew the M&W ad would be out today and secretly prayed lasagna would be on sale.  Please God, let lasagna be on sale. 
God cares about the little things.  He made that very clear when I opened our mailbox.  Yes, the M&W flyer was there, and gracing the front page was a sale..........on Stauffer's Lasagna.     God....only you.  I love you.

Thrifty Tip

"Thrifty" is always nice...espcially when money is tight.  Below are two recipes for making homemade Laundry Soap and Dishwasher Soap.  All you need is borax, baking soda, and washing soda.
 For the dishwasher: Mix borax and washing soda half and half. That's it. Just keep it in a bucket under the sink with a little scoop and fill only one side of the soap compartment. For the laundry: Mix washing soda and baking soda half and half. Again fill a bucket near your washer and use about the same amount as you normally would. Cold water is fine. Both of these recipes are mild but effective. You can find borax and washing soda in the laundry aisle of your grocery store. If you're looking for bulk quantities (which are more cost effective), try a warehouse store to stock up.

My Kids

  Its amazing to watch my children grow.  I wonder who they will become and what God has in store for their lives.  Personalities are very evident.  I see their strengths and their weaknesses.  I sometimes try and guess who and what they will become. 

  Mattie, always busy in a flurry of activity is my compassionate one.  She is my child of mercy.  I love watching her make friends.  She understands people.  Friendship and loving people come very easy to her.  She will be a loving and compassionate beacon in her world.  I am excited to see where God takes her. 

  Hap is my thinker.  He likes to stand back and watch.  He thinks about things...always thinking and evaluating.  My little man is full of thought out ideas.  Very intelligent and quick on his feet.  He's also my cuddle bug.  I wonder how God's going to use his gifts.  My little boy.

  "Little Sure Shot" Annie is my pistol.  This girl has yet to find a hurdle she can't conquer.  "I do it my BIG self" was the first phrase in her vocabulary.  She is such a joy.  I am thankful for Dr. Dobson's, The Strong Willed Child.  Standing alone and doing it without fear will be a huge asset to her when she gets older.  She will be a leader.  With God, that girl will swim oceans.

  I thank God for my children.  There was a time in my life when I didn't think I'd have any.  Tim and I wanted children, but God said, "wait".  Waiting is hard, especially when you want a baby.  It's made even more difficult when you lose a baby.  You contemplate the fairness of it all.  It's easy to fall into self-pity.  I've always struggled with the "wait" thing...I am a little like my youngest daughter I guess.   Waiting is difficult , but I'm learning beauty comes from waiting.  Some of the most beautiful things in my life happened because of the "waiting".  Waiting makes things so much more special.  It allows you to see God's handywork.  It may seem frusterating at the time, but it's "God in action".  He has a plan  (a better plan than you do).  A plan he's unfolding.  If God allowed Tim and I children when we dictated, the "Bayes Family" would be so much different than we are today.   I thank God for the waiting.

 I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.

             Psalm 40:1