Daddy's home!! We sent our beloved Daddy to California two weeks ago...and he came back as Santa. We call him Porky, which is supposed to be short for Porcupine...but for some reason, Mike doesn't appreciate that nickname!

Actually, the story behind the goatee is this: My hubby, who doesn't have a rebellious bone in his entire body...is participating in a rebel cause. Someone at work made a comment about the goatee of one of the teachers, so all the guys are now sporting goatees. When Mike goes to work tomorrow, he will get his picture taken, then shave the goatee. (Yes, it's all in fun.) Mike arrived home Saturday morning...to an empty house! The rest of us were off yardsaling. I've only gone yardsaling once or twice in my life years ago, so this was a new thing for me/us. We got a long list from our local website www.somd.com, then took off. We went to two church sales and two home sales.The church sales were laughable as far as prices. At the first church I bought filters, fabric, and a cute little stoneware vase for 50 cents. Maggie bought a new purse and wallet for $1, and Allen bought a pocketknife for 50 cents. Those are our kind of prices! At the second church, we helped them out buying a lot more. The round wood you see is 1-1/4" thick and makes a great trivet.

We didn't buy anything at the two home yardsales because of the steep prices. But we sure enjoyed driving into the countryside. When we arrived at this out-of-the-way home, the horses and goats came up to us.

The folks at this log home held their yardsale throughout their home. What a wonderful treat to see the inside with all their antiques, etc. They are moving, so most of the beautiful furnishings were for sale.
After the yardsales, we went to the St. Mary's County Fairgrounds for the annual booksale. Wow! Each building held a different category of books: childrens, fiction, nonfiction, etc. It was wonderful! We came home with a stack of books and magazines that cost us $11. Not bad at all! We also got to see some old friends, so it was a nice time.

This week Allen finally decided to sell his K'nex on eBay...until he brought them upstairs and started playing with them again! So much for that! He made this hummer that has a motor and works great.

While I was gone all day for Maggie's appts, I left my children this cupcake tray full of 12 different pastas, beans and grains so they could glue them like mosaics. Here are the beautiful results:

Yes, more cactus and horses...a common theme around here!

Isn't this nice? My children loved doing it and asked to do it again. I like cheap art projects.

This week I listened to an inspiring sermon on the radio that had to do with praying. The preacher told us we needed to add more adoration to our prayers. I was very convicted. The rest of the week I've been carrying the James 5:16b in my heart ~ "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." I googled this verse and found this good sermon.

Enjoy your Sunday rest. Many blessings ~ Kathie