Potluck :/

You may not think it, but there are adventures everywhere. Even in homechurch! ;) Of course, they tend to be very minor, but they are there! :P For instance, potluck meals...who thought up that concept? For organized city people, potluck meals are awesome! And it certainly solves the problem of feeding 100+ people each Sunday! But one must have a streak of adventure to like it! I imagine the only hobbits who would dare to do a potluck would have been the Brandybucks, or some one of the other more perky families! ;) By now you may wonder how there can be anything remotely interesting in a discussion on potluck meals. Well, I'll tell you, that when one is hungry by the time church is over, their minds run much on the subject of which I speak.
There are three typical scenerios that occur:

1.) Everyone brings the same exact thing- I'm not kidding. This happens regularly. Today we had pasta galore. Last week it was rice. The week before, salad.

2.) The second scenerio occurs when all the families have gardens. During the spring and summer, be prepared to stuff your stomachs with salad during the weeks when lettuce and spinach thrive, and then squash and zucchini around this time. We had like 3 different squash casseroles a few Sundays ago! People tend to feed you what their family is sick of, and has eaten to the point of disgust. ;)

3.) The boys go outside and play volleyball, are called in for lunch but have to "finish this game", then come in and are shocked that the only thing left for consumption are a few chunks of cantelope, and a half-empty crockpot of rice. I try to remedy this by calling them multiple times but...guys....the blood's on your hands after that! :)

Then you always have what I call "dessert panic". This is when all the families are trying to "eat more healthily" (which really means they haven't been to the store, and they didn't wake up till 9, and had to throw something together super quick ;) and not a single family has brought dessert. This happened today. I was calmly eating my lunch on the porch with some others, and Gracie opened the door and bawled out, "Waychie! Are you dunna make bwownies? Mama told me to ask you!" I dutifully got up, and in the midst of the boys still going through the line, successfully quadrupled the brownie recipe. As soon as they were finished, we cut them, and 4 minutes later the only brownie left was a nondescript corner-piece. It is hilarious, trying to figure out the food. Another amusing occurance is when the only families to make it to church are the ones that have food allergies. They tend to bring things like potatos or rice, or things like that. And once in awhile you bite into a chewy brownie only to find it is gluten free and carob! :/
Well, anyway, that is just a ramble upon potlucks. Hope it amused you! :) -Rachel
p.s. anyone who has gone to a homechurch, am I right? :)

I Titled This "Untitled" :P

Hey People! ;) How is everything going? I hope you guys are having a great week! Church today was super small. (We missed you Wilson group! :) But it was good, and the last family is just leaving. Our goat, "Houdini" (who we miss-named "Daisy Sofia" ;) got out and it took about 15 of us to corral her back. She had run way back into the field across the street, and we were hoping against hope that she wouldn't get into the woods over there! Thank goodness, she didn't! (But she did narrowly escape getting hit by a car twice!) I got to hold the most fat and delicious baby today! He has cheeks that are absolutely huge, and a dimpled chin, and Sarah can't fit her fingers all the way around his leg! So I sat on the porch and rocked Little John (as I like to call him) and generally had a sweet time! The others played volleyball. I was going to, and began to, but it was bright and confusing and boring out there, so I chose a baby instead. :) He really is the fattest thing! Mr. T. calls him a "Tater bug", and I call him a "Baby Snapping-turtle". :) So tomorrow is Memorial Day! Please remember to pray for our troops, and the families of those who died in protecting our country!
The Wilsons are having their annual picnic! Yay! I am making a mixed-berry pie for the young ladies' pie-making contest. I wish I knew who the judges are..... :) Tomorrow marks two things: first, the anniversary of my snake bite, (Remember that Oliver? :) and the second, THE FIRST OFFICIAL DAY OF BAREFOOT SEASON!!!!!! (according to Dad's rules. We've done some black-market barefooting already! :) I am using way too many exclamation marks and smiley faces, but I am in a happy mood!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) (Okay. That is irritating me.) Sarah is probably going to make a chocolate pie for the contest. We are all looking forward to having a "Garrison Team" made of Walkers and us, to play volleyball! "Move over lil' people! The storm's comin'!"
I am also excited about the music and singing we can do! The Wilson's uncle, (and I hear their new helper: Collin) can play banjo, and we have a veritable orchestra of guitars and some pretty fine singers! Well, have a great day! -Rachel

Our Recital

Well, yesterday we had our very first official choir recital! :) It went very well actually. I wasn't nervous before until Sarah began questioning me as to whether I was nervous after all, but by the time we left the house, I was not nervous. Pretty much every song went off with hardly a glitch, and we even managed to do alot of "seat-shifting" in the midst of it between Sarah and I. (Our choir is only 12 members, so some of us switch from being second sopranos to altos or tenors or wherever we are needed. We are *flexible* :) It was a real answer to prayer for me, because I had been praying pretty hard that we would "sing like we had never sung before- in the best way". I added that little part in after remembering that God sometimes gives you exactly what you pray for, and I didn't want to sing worse than we'd ever done before! :)
Anyway, it all went by super fast, and sounded....very good. Even The King's Daughter was pleased with it! :) After singing, we had a potluck dinner with everyone there. I would guess that with all of our families and the other guests, there were probably.....75 people? We got invited to sing at someone else's church. Oodalolly. I am not too happy about that, because our fine "piano player player piano...player" is the pastor's wife at the church we had our recital at, and couldn't come to the other church unless it was a Sunday night or a Wednesday. We simply can't do without her. :(
We washed up dishes, reset tables, and then went and played some "Victory Games" of volleyball at our Choir Director's house. Yay! Well, I had better get going! I am excited about church today! We are having everyone that usually comes, plus the county building inspector and his three sons. (probably) It was so cute, because they called earlier this week to ask what we wear at our church! :) I never think twice about it. It is sort of a "whatever tidy and neat clothes you can muster" sort of thing around here! :)

A-Slightly-More-Than-6-Month-Anniversary-Question-And-Answer-Post :)

Hey Guys! How is everyone this Tuesday? :) We are doing well, but have been keeping late nights for one reason or another, and so are only half alive in the mornings. ;) The weather here has been great! Only around 75 degrees! Yay! This last Sunday and the week before were such drastic differences. It was 100 degrees the last week, (with no A/C) and then 75 degrees this week! :) Needless to say, every was much happier this time! :) Anyway, I have been thinking that I want to do another question and answer post on here, because...they are fun! So here's the deal: I would like to see us get 50-100 questions to answer! You can continue to ask us questions until Friday, and then Saturday we can answer them all! (We'll continue to post in the meantime, so you'll just have to scroll down :) We have 33 followers, and so that is less than three questions a person if you all do it! :) Do as many as you want, and direct them toward me, Sarah, or both of us- whichever you want! Look forward to reading and answering all your questions! :) -Rachel
P.S. I began a writing blog as a sort of off-shoot of this blog, so that those of you who like reading about my writing and things, can read it there, and I won't take up so many of the posts Sarah could be doing on here! ;) You can get to it by clicking this:

Squeaky Clean On The Wrong Day

So...We are doing Saturday chores today, (Friday) so that tomorrow we can leave on time for the ball!!!!! We are super excited! Poor Abby wasn't feeling well yesterday or this morning. You could also pray for our van- there is some noise that could be something trivial, or something really bad, and so Dad is taking it in today. If it is the bad thing, then we can't fit all the people we were going to bring, (from several other families) and that would complicate matters alot. Anyway....so just to give you all an idea of what preparing for church in this household of 21 is like, here is what we do:

Dust all furniture, bookcases, bar, etc.
Organize all bookshelves
Clean all bathrooms
Clean out fridge
Sweep and organize pantry
Sweep, organize, and mop laundry room
Mop kitchen and hardwood floor (where needed on the latter)
Wipe all walls and baseboards for dirt
Clean all glass doors and where needed on front windows
Wash kitchen garbage cans
Set up lost and found
Bring down hymnals
Set up serving utensils
Wipe all counters super well
Declutter all downstairs
Clean and vacuum all bedrooms
Vacuum all carpeted areas downstairs
Set up plates, cups, and utensils
Make multiple gallons of iced tea
And anything else that needs doing! :)

The power went out mysteriously while I was writing this, but thank goodness that most of this was already saved! I have begun a new story. Shh...*ducks while Sarah throws something at my head* I promise I'll finish Riverly Manor, and then I shall publicly swear that I shall never write another mystery!!!!!!! :[ But even Sir Walter Scott worked on two books at a time! He set them up on stands, and paced around. Then, when he had an idea for one, he'd race over, pen it down, and set to pacing again. I'm not that bad! But I will not let you, (Sarah) read this till it is finished. Then I will deliver it to your lap in all the golden glory of a peace offering, and let you read it. Hmph! :) I can't help myself in a writing fit! All right. I had better get going! I can't wait to see all of you guys at the ball! (Meredith, Elliott, Oliver, Abigail, Shaina, Hannah, Leanna, Melissa, Micah, Beth-Nell...."allva" you guys! :) -Rachel

As My Wrists Slide Off The Desk and My Hair Sticks To My Neck...

It is hot. I thought May Day (at least according to all the poets) was supposed to usher in the coming of Spring? Around here, it ushered it out. Today is a full-fledged summer day. I am typing slowly because my wrists are sliding off the desk, and my fingers are sticking to the keyboard from the heat. Our A/C downstairs is broken, so it was an adventure hosting 85 people with only fans on. My face is beet red. And according to my built-in barometer, the the temperature is awful (mid 90's) and humid to beat the band. In case you are wondering about my barometer, it is more correctly termed "my hair". :)Right now my little curls around my face are standing in "spurks" out the sides of my head, and super crazy. You can always tell the weather by my hair, which is irritating because it has all the inconvinience of curls but is only wavy-ish. I felt this morning like there was fire through my veins it was so hot!!! I know I'm complaining. Sorry! But crumbs! The younger ones are playing in the sprinkler. I am half-tempted to join them! :) But seriously- not even the boys at church wanted to play volleyball because it was hot as blazes!
So, moving on to subjects that are less sticky and pink and sunny..... I am reading "Wives and Daughters" by Elizabeth Gaskell and am loving it. A very sweet and simple story with a heroine that bears imitating! Molly Gibson is so humble and sweet and feminine! I love her! On another subject, we are all excited about the ball, and praying that it doesn't rain! Well, I am on duty to watch the kids so I'd better say adieu, and Abigail, has our mutual friend interrupted your cool slumber yet? ;) -Rachel

A Busy Weekend

Right now I'm sitting at the computer, after feeding the kids(goat ones;) and am really tired!! We've had a busy 2 days: Saturday, we were stacking bricks and wood for alot of the day and then went to Uncle David's percussion ensemble which we didn't get home til 11:30 from. Then we hosted church yesterday, played speed volleyball, and then started getting everything prepared for the party we hosted for all the students that performed in the recital. Everyone came around 5:30 and we had a great time! We taught them speed volleyball, we had a huge bonfire and sang some. Then around 9:30 most people left and the T.'s stayed to clean up and play more volleyball and Ninja. Suffice it to say, we have been on our feet and have been staying up late for 3 days. (I also worked Thursday and Friday in our business)
Enough of the logistics.......
Have any of you guys(and gals) ever done Einstein's Riddle? It is great fun!! You can look it up online and try to figure it out!;) Matthew and I got it done in probably 8-10 minutes, Rachel and Mom each took about 15 or 20.
So I know this short, but I had one last question. Do you want Rachel and I to do a post about our bedroom furniture make-over? Please leave a comment and the majority rules!:)
-Sarah

Several Things. Just Come Read Them.

Hey guys! I had such fun doing the last post! Who would have thought that I'd be correct on most of the ones! (At least, the people that answered!) We may have to change our background for Mr. Alexander who feels he cannot be caught reading a blog decked out in flowers! ;)
Thanks for telling me if I was right or not! I really just guessed random things about each person, though for a couple like Anna's, it was an educated guess. (She takes such great pictures)
Okay. So. Does anyone, at some point, want to read the plot of my mystery novel I had been writing? I am under a solemn oath to finish it for Sarah, Daniel, and Alaina, but haven't picked it back up.
Yesterday after church, the new time got the better of us, and three families stayed till 7:00!! Gasp! We had alot of fun though! We did some Civil War dances, and the Virginia Reel. (All without music mind you!) I am afraid it was more like gallumphing than dancing!
Okay. So here is the verse the Lord showed me last night to take to heart for the week:

Psalm 27:13-14 " I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord!"

I just loved the victorious sound of those words, and the promise that goes with them. Isn't that what we all want? For Jesus to strengthen our hearts? That is what I want. And that is what my Lord has promised me! -Rachel

Sundays At a Home-Church

Hello Everyone! Hope you guys are all having a good day! Here is a list of things we'll be doing: (not that you really want to hear them :)
Clean the house for hosting church
Shampoo the carpets for church
Clean the house for church
Make some food for church
Make iced tea for church
Clean the house for church
Clean the house for church....

You get the idea! But it is a lot of fun hosting church!! At our home church there are about 100 people. I could get Sarah's list and tell you how many kids we have of each age, because there are a lot of kids. But I won't bore you with that! Anyway, the church is probably 3/4 of the way made up of children and young adults. We only have about 10 or 11 families that come. (and that includes a few elderly couples) So make that about 8 true "families" and that is an average of something like 10 kids a family.
Anyhoo! So people start coming to our house around 10:00. Usually we are still setting up chairs in the living room, making iced tea, etc. We all stand around and talk about various and sundry things like the weather, the week's news, and what we will do after church, and then one of the elders (My Dad, Mr. Scott Wilson, or Mr. Don) corrals everyone into the living room. So we seat ourselves on whatever we can find (Sometimes we end up on the floor because there are seldom enough chairs for everyone) and then have worship time. Usually Daniel, Katie Wilson, and Alaina and Justin W. play their guitars as accompaniment. I love the singing time! Though generally, (Ask Aaron K. or Hannah Wilson) I sneak out of the living room to remove my yowling cat from the laundry room and lock her in bedroom. It is my weekly sport :) After that, one of the elders, and one or two selected men share whatever they have brought, and then we have prayer request and prayer time, and usually close with a song and announcements about how the yard is muddy from all the rain so don't go playing football! :) At this point we all are starving, as it is often after 1:00 before we are through, so we older girls and the Moms set out the food, and we go through the line: Moms first, then older daughters, then children, then men, then boys. The boys always complain that there is not a scrap of food left for them, especially not dessert. It is true- they are generally left with strange rice dishes or collards, or something of that sort. So whenever I make a dessert, I try to split it up and hide away some for the boys. I do feel badly for them!
After lunch we move into Bible Boot Camp time, which is like Bible Drill. That takes nearly an hour when all is said and done. After that, everyone breaks outside and plays until they must be torn away to leave. In the summer we have a mighty crowded volleyball court! About 20 kids on each side! Yeah. We trip each other up most of the time! :)A lot of times Morgan and I go walking arm-in-arm around the field or yard just discussing things. I love our little strolls and tete-tetes m'love! *smiles at Mistress Morgan* Anyhow usually the last people don't leave till around 4:30 or 5:00, and then we finish whatever clean-up is left, and then Mama and Dad go out for their date/meeting night. So there you have it; our Sunday around here. Hope I didn't put anyone to sleep with my recitation! I love hosting church because we are always the first ones there, and the last ones there! (Otherwise, we are always late) See some of you tomorrow! :) -Rachel