A Few Fun Pics

Up and out of the blue "The Archer" (our eldest son) says "I think I want to do this Sunday's message" at our Community Church, and sure enough he did!! I'm very proud of him :-)

Its rained cats and dogs here for weeks. One day I took the boys out for a walk during a break in the weather. It was misty and fine drops continued to shower us as we made our way to the river through the old, over grown forest road. Super Catman is attempting to impress me with his archer skills.

Art Dog found some reeds by the river and began blowing dandelion heads out of them.




Yesterday I spent the whole day at the lake with a bunch of my friends and misc children. It was great. The sun finally made an appearance. The kids played in the water. Us girls lounged around in the sun. Elasta Woman read us a few chapters of an exciting allegory/novel "Hinds Feet on High Places". It was just the perfect kind of day. The worst drama was hot dog stealing pups and a damsel in distress. Okay, well the boys pushed one of the girls out in a boat and her mom had to swim out to save her. Apparently that was quite entertaining to the children because they (including Art Dog) later pre-planned pushing Art Dog out in the boat without a paddle to see if I would come and save him. He was quite disgusted when I didn't plunge into the icy waters after him and he floated across to the other side. Eventually he found an old board and paddled it back just fine. Any how, as I was saying, I LOVE days like that. After spending the day lounging around, I grilled burgers and took a rugged evening hike with my husband. It was great :-)

In other interesting news, today The Archer FINALLY got his drivers license!! Hooray!! We have experienced an ongoing saga of trying to acquire it for the past several years. I will spare you the gory details. I also walked (yes in the rain again) today about 4-5 miles through the city pushing a stroller since I had an appointment else where and had been dropped off. Oh wow, do I take driving for granted.

A Really Sweet Wedding

The Happy Couple

I know its a bit blurry, but look at how beautiful and long her spiral curls are!

The groom wrote a beautiful song for his bride and sang it as she walked down the aisle.

This is where the wedding was held, right in front of the river. Osprey, Eagles, Swallows and Geese swam and swooped all around. Butterflies danced across the groomed lawns and flowering trees and shrubs bent heavily over with their blooming treasures.

Today we went to a beautiful wedding and I have to admit, I had just a little part in the match making ;-) It all started like this : About 3 years ago or so, I was sitting in an Emergency Room chatting with a co-worker. He told me he was thinking about learning to fly. I told him he should go over to the next city to an airport my husband was working at. My husband had just had up to our house one of his friends, a flight instructor, who worked there as well. The flight instructor was as genuine as they come and had been believing God for a wife for many years. The co-worker had 2 college age daughters and 2 sons all of whom they'd been home schooling. Well, he liked the idea of meeting this wonderful man and wanted to learn to fly besides. I guess the flight instructor became a really good friend of the family and eventually fell in love with and married one of the daughters. Awww sweet...... Anyway, here's a few fun pics :-)
I pretty much behaved myself except for accidentally breaking the punch ladle. I had gone back for more and the girl serving punch just stood there so I decided to help myself. Big mistake! As I smushed down some sherbet the ladle went "SNAP!" Very embarrassing! I am just wondering if normal people do as many embarrassing things as I do?!?! Well, at least I can blog about it - lol.

I also stretched myself and made potato salad for the event (for 200 some people). And I've never made potato salad that turned out before. I obsessed about it just a little too much and probably drove my family batty. We peeled 25 lbs of potatoes the night before and boiled 2 dozen eggs. When it was time to put it all together Moonbeam was hanging on my dress and the minutes before we had to leave disappeared like ice on a hot day. Under pressure, trying to push around pounds of potatoes with a spoon and get just the right taste made me feel like I was sinking in a giant bowl of it myself. Well the end result was that I didn't have to take any left overs home and nobody threw up so I guess its all good......

Pita and Hummus Can Be Our Friend

Moonbeam helps herself to slices of watermelon and eats 4 all!

The other day we found our eldest two singing worship songs and playing guitar together. Life is good!


"Who can find a virtuous man for his worth is far above rubies..............

"That dress looks good on you baby" said my husband as we were getting ready for church - smack, hug, snuggle. The week started out well. That is until we were rushing out the door. A last minute bathroom trip turned into disaster when the corner of my new favorite dress landed in the toilet. We were already late leaving......had I not received such a nice reception for wearing it, I'd have changed. I hoped the dress corner would dry and headed out to the car ignoring the voice of reason screaming at me. I should have known the beginning of such a week would bring surprises.
"I liked your dried up bread balls" Super Catman complimented me in his own unique way. He was referring to the chicken and dumplings I'd made "a few days earlier. Those turned out pretty good. He wasn't anywhere near as receptive when I sprung pitas with hummus on them last night.
Super Catman, himself, began crying violently when he was told he had to try it. Then he loudly gagged. The reaction from the rest of the kids was pretty much the same, except with their own form of protests. In short, they acted like I was serving them dog crap, fresh scooped of the lawn on a platter. At least they all were willing to eat the pitas......
Am I alone?! Is there anybody out there who likes pitas and hummus?!
I'm excited for Cowgirl. She recently got a job at our local hospital. I helped her yesterday changing her CNA over. It will be a good fresh start for her.

Adventures of Goatgirl and The Breids Family Party

Moonbeam took this flour bag out of the trash and put it on her head!! She's also been known to browse for snacks in there!! Ugh......

Moonbeam with Goatgirl's goats

Me and "My Friend Fuzzy" with our little girls.

Macey and The ArcherMacey, Her Mom, Me, Beloved Bru'nee, Smackie (a sister in law who just got a toe amputated).

"I'm tired of looking at your darn bushy eyebrows!" Little Timmy said to "The Archer" Its become a classic saying now among our members which we repeat to each other laughing. Little Timmy and his brother are two spirited boys who came to live temporarily with Goat Girl and her family. There is no end to their antics. Just last night we were sitting around the table having Bible Study and about to pray when Lonnie (Timmy's brother) played us a pre-recorded message from a school chum shouting colorful obscenities. One never knows what those boys will come up with next. Goat Girl is just the kind of woman to take on the challenge. Despite the boys shenanigans, they can be lovable and good when they want to be.
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We've been at a lot of festivities lately. The other day, we attended Little Timmy's Birthday party. Today we attended Macey's Graduation party. She's such a neat young woman. We've been friends with her family for 10 years. It was quite an excursion going down to their place. The whole family loaded into the Suburban and made the hour long trip down there. Moonbeam seemed to be suffering from an unusual gas problem which was quite disturbing to the children on either side of her. Several times they told me to change her and several times no dirty deed had been done. Despite the odorous disturbance on the ride down, the kids arrived at the party in good spirits.
Macy is the youngest of 9 children all of whom we get along with pretty well. One of my best friends ever is a middle sister who you have heard about before (My friend Fuzzy). For some time, Fuzzy and her siblings have encouraged our Archer to be special friends with Macey. A couple of years ago she invited him to prom which was fun for them both. We all adore Macey.
It was a crazy day having us all in the same house together. There were wall to wall people everywhere. Kids played, men visited, women chatted. Bru'nee, one of my favorite sisters (I guess they're all my favorite) was acting crazy (as she usually does). She's one of those people who will say anything and we couldn't stop laughing. My favorite memory of Bru'nee is when she was in our youth group 10 years ago. We had this girl there who would show up wearing belly shirts. She had several layers of rolls hanging out. Bru'nee told her loudly "Honey, you just shouldn't be wearing those kind of shirts." Rather loudly and with much more description than I care to elaborate on. I think we all wished the girl wouldn't show off her midriff, but Bru'nee said what nobody dared to in a way no one could ever forget. Bru'nee was still herself today and I loved it. Backwoods, hill billy cousins and friends showed up. City relatives came. True to Breid tradition, there was even some impoverished church people they'd invited along. Some farmer guy from God knows where came in and gave us 3 dozen fresh farm eggs in the middle of it all. One things for certain, when their family gets together, there's a lot of laughing and we always feel accepted.

The Secret Unveiled and Boys Camping Pics

Here are some shots of the boys camping trip. They hiked into the same place as our "Extreme Chicks Hike" except they spent two fun filled days out there together. When at last they drug themselves in, they scarfed down some cereal, layed around like slugs and told their tales of high adventure.

Its been such a busy couple of weeks. On Monday we had our girls accountability group at Mist's new home. She made the most incredible hummus and pita bread stuffed high with veggies. I didn't know if I'd like it or not, but as it turns out I LOVED it!! We also went out on a hike and picked wild morrels which we sauteed with chard to add to the feast. It was just an incredible eating experience. I didn't even think I liked hummus. Eating is always an adventure with her around. Now I have yet another of her delicacies to crave that I'm going to have to figure out how to make!

I've been putting off the exciting news, but she's not keeping keeping it a secret any more, so I guess its ok to reveal in blog land. Despite many struggles to conceive and carry a child, God did a miracle for Mist and her husband. For more than a year, our girls group has been praying along with many others. About 3 1/2 months ago, we started praying and fasting specifically over the situation after feeling that we were supposed to. Today Mist is about 3 1/2 months pregnant! I am so excited for her.

Extreme Chicks Hike (Finally A Reality)!

"Extreme Chicks" Chicks Who Pack Heat (Mist didn't feel like putting hers back on).

Vanishing Trail Mystery! Trees down across the trail on the way back. This tree was lengthwise down the trail, causing it's top to camouflage our way out.

At The Lake

We were later joined by Goatgirl and company

After several months of planning and re-planning it, our Extreme Chicks Hike became a Reality! Complete with a big breakfast at the Lodge cooked by Mist, and stopping by the local Fire Dept's garage sale, our estrogen packed holiday was just beginning. We were about to hike 8 miles together in varied terrains and in even somewhat extreme conditions. Our Chicks ranged in ages from 14-65! It was a day of laughter, bonding and mirth ;-)

The Moon Muffin