what this summer has taught me...

i have been reflecting lately on just what all i have learned this past summer and how much has changed and what things still have not changed! first of all, and i think the biggest is my willingness to work in the heat! i used to run, well maybe not run, as i am not into running, but walk very fast to avoid it. i hated it. anything that was uncomfortable, i simply did not do. however, i discovered how good i can feel and the accomplishment i can feel after spending a day outside dripping with sweat (yes i enjoy sweating now) getting things done. i enjoy even more the reward of stepping back and SEEING all the work i've done. God has blessed us this whole summer with giving us a good rain atleast once a week so i have not needed to water the garden hardly at all as of yet. chris was able to get a really nice new weedwacker half way through this summer and so he is getting better about staying on top of that. and our wonderful discovery of straw. yes straw is a gardeners best friend! we were weeding forever every other week until we finally put down the straw and it has helped immensly. i will def purchase a ton of that wonderful gold at the BEGINNING of spring next year. our other wonderful discovery, for about a week, is mulch. however we have found even if you put the black landscape stuff or biodegradable paper down first the weeds continue to grow up through that and the mulch, but it sure does look good for about a week!
i also have finally learned, that my husband will usually do all he can to help me and keep me from throwing yard tools around the yard (happy wife, happy life)! i went out today to tackle the way overgrown bushes with the hedge trimmer, he came out and saw me struggling and laughed and took over. i DID keep helping, but it was sure nice for him to do that before i lost my temper fighting with the stupid things! he even called the kids out and had them rake and throw the trimmings in the trash.
another thing i learned, everyone thinks if you have extra vegetables, you should put up a stand and sell them. however, first of all, i don't have the time to mess with a stand, second of all, that would require keeping cash on hand, which i don't often do, and third, it makes me happy to be able to give my family and friends fresh veggies that i grew myself (with God's help ofcourse) and i feel like God blesses us when we share with others. if chris ever looses his job, then i may stick HIM out front with a stand, but in the meantime, i will continue to GIVE the extras away.
i also have learned many do's and don'ts about gardening again, which i will write down later, but i also learned how you can freeze everything when in the thick of harvesting so you can go back later when you have more time and can or make jam or salsa etc....
also, that my daughter, God love her, was NOT made to work in the heat as it aggrevates her eczema so bad and she ends up covered in a horrible itchy painful rash. we have decided in the heat of summer she needs to stick to indoor chores.
and last but not least, we learned how fast the summer can go even when you don't have specific plans, life seems to take care of giving you plenty to do.

Frank Toth Sr.

July 14, 2010 will be the one year anniversary of my father in law's passing. i said it then and i will say it again, i have never met a man as great and wonderful as this man. if this world had more Frank Toth's in it, it would be a better place. i added atleast one of them (haha) and hope he does the name justice. i woke up yesterday morning with this anniversary on my mind. i grabbed a pen and paper and the following is what came out. This is in memory of that dear man, who ALWAYS treated me as one of his own daughters from day one.



Frank Toth

A teacher, a husband, a brother
A father, a friend, a good son to his mother
A leader, a Christian, a sailor among men
Everyone of these hats, he wore all of them
Honest, loyal, intelligent and funny
Things that were more important to him then money
Loving, caring and sometimes strict
Don’t talk in church or the finger would pinch
Morals, values and lessons he would teach
People from every generation he could reach
In his wife he found his greatest love
Only God himself could rate above
His children, he loved to have around
A better father, nowhere on Earth could be found
The garden, the church, the school or the fair
If you look in these places, he was sure to be there
Down in the basement just a painting away
Or at the supper table, discussing his day
Coffee in an orange mug & cigarette in hand
These became loving trademarks for this wonderful man
How rare it is to meet a man like this
Which is why, this man is so sorely missed
For even though, we will see him again
Things just aren’t the same without this truly great man
However Frank Toth, you still carry on
In your grandkids, your wife, you daughters and sons
You see, while here on Earth, you made a huge mark
You left footprints in everyone of our hearts
And as the dawn breaks of each day anew
We remember again, how much we still love you

geocaching

so, long ago, in a familyfun magazine, i read about geocaching, sounded fun, but i did not pursue it. Then a teacher at the kids school, became very into it and posted about it on her fb ALOT! so i decided to check it out again. While it isn't the passion for us, that it is for the teacher (yet anyway,) it is very fun and cheap, plus it gets the whole family moving. not to mention you learn so much about places you never even realized, that are around where you live,

and alot of times there are other educational aspects. for instance in the spirit quest series, they are all in cemetaries and it gives you a little history on some of the tombstones and the people that occupy them. they also request, wherever you go, you take trashbags and help clean up wherever you are. so... now, do i have your interest peaked at all? i would say our top 10 reasons for loving geocaching and wanting to share it with others are the following:

10. you get plenty of excersise, but it's so fun you either don't realize it or don't care.

9. once you purchase your gps, (who doesn't have one of those now a days anyway) the only expense you HAVE to put out is your gas. AND if you do caches close to home, you could even ride your bikes or walk, so technically.....lol

8. the adventure.....if you love the challenge of an "i spy" book or trying to solve a puzzle, you will probably love geocaching

7.discovering places you never knew they were there.

6 realizing there are "secret" caches all around where you pass on a daily basis.

5. some of the stories you come away with of what happened while you were out geocaching

4. finding places that would be "perfect" to hide a geocache

3. planning the trips, seeing where all the caches out there are and which to start with, it's like walking into a store of all your favorite candy! where to begin!?

2. the challenges, trying to "solve the puzzle" to get the correct coordinates sometimes, and then when you find the cache.....

1. the time spent with family and often friends. you can spend a whole day and it seem like an hour has passed. no matter the heat or the cold, you don't mind.....

How WE Geocache

1. go to http://www.geocaching.com/

2. go to the "hide and seek" section and type in your zip code

3. you can either download the caches you want to go to onto a gps (if it has that ability) or print the pages out for each cache. i like to do both, that way one person can be using the gps but the rest can see the papers.

4. set your course. plan the order you want to hit them. i strongly recommend this so you aren't back tracking alot.

5. i like to have a list of all the caches i plan to try to find and then i can write the date found and any funny little thing to remember (ie. this is where i fell in the mud) for later

6. some caches have little toys in them, you are allowed to take one but you are supposed to replace it with something of equal or greater value. we bought some little toys from the dollar store and keep those with us.

7. make sure to sign the logs that are in every geocache.

8. when you get home go back to the geocach website and log your visit as found, or not found and any little story you want on there. many times what people log have helped us find the right spot from clues given in the logs.

...and that is about it, it's very fun, exciting and educational. i hope you decide to atleast try it once, i have a feeling you will get hooked. there is much more "varities" of it out there, such as travel bugs etc... but this is the basics.