My New Etsy Shop!

Posted by Gabrielle

My newest endeavor (and one of the reasons this blog has been rather silent lately) has been an Etsy shop to sell vintage finds and handmade crafts as a side hobby and source of extra income. I've spent the past few days getting the shop "up and running" and a few of my several bags and boxes of sale items listed, and now I'd love to see what all our readers think about it! Do let me know!

(click on picture to visit shop)

P.S. I do have a banner up at the top of the shop homepage, but it's only showing up sometimes for me, so don't worry if you don't see it... :)

Why I Have Been Absent From the World of Blogging

Posted by Gabrielle

Real life has been catching up to me! Surprise! Real life isn't all about blogging, though blogging should be a part of real life. ;) In other words, real life has been dictating that I take a break off blogging to get some other endeavors "off the ground" as it were. Between school (yes, I am working a full school schedule this summer), learning to drive our great blue behemoth (though even driving lessons have been suspended for lack of time these past couple weeks), sewing, helping out with the upkeep of the still empty house next door, writing for Daddy's insurance website, and beginning my etsy shop, I've been too busy to blog!

I will try, in these next two weeks or so, to write a little more about what we've been busy with lately, with pictures. In the meantime, do check out Jasmine Baucham's latest post on the Newly Joyfully at Home! I found it very thought-provoking and convicting...What do you think?

Wordless Wednesday: How We Sleep

Posted by Gabrielle

Shucking Corn

Posted by Gabrielle

I can't believe that these are month-old pictures that I forgot on one of my three camera cards. I've never done that before! Further reflection revealed that there is a first time for everything, even forgetting pictures. ;)

Thank you, Wards, for the delicious bucket of corn!!!

"Frick" and "Frack" shucking corn

Surprisingly, little brothers did not want to squish worms, so they were brought to me to be disposed of. :)

Christianna and her 'picture-perfect' corn

Benaiah was not so sure about this

Happy 3rd Birthday, Benaiah!!!

Posted by Gabrielle

It's birthday season again in the Hellwig Household, beginning with Benaiah!!!

I can't believe our baby is three!!!
This year, as he declared himself, he smiled for his pictures instead of crying.

In fact, he even cackled for pictures!

Blowing out his candles.

We love you, Benaiah, and pray you'll grow up to be a mighty man for the Lord!

Our Little Octopus

Posted by Gabrielle

The other day, Benaiah was playing with his blanket on his head, and suddenly announced:

"Mommy, I'm an octopus!"
Three-year-old's have the funniest ideas! :)

Our little octopus hugging Mommy

"The Voice of the Lord Breaks the Cedars"

Posted by Gabrielle

Last night, shortly after 9:00, when most of us were in bed, and the sky had been darkening with a storm for some time with faint rumblings of thunder in the distance, that a terrific crash of thunder woke most of us from dozing, but we didn't experience a power outage and it wasn't until this morning that we discovered what had happened.

Lightning had struck a tree in the backyard of Meme and Pepe's house next door, about 15 yards from that house and 30 from ours. We are very thankful there is no one living there right now.
It's not exactly a cedar. It's a sweet-gum tree, but, you get the picture. :) It was quite an experience.

Examining the striped tree. We're finding bark from the tree scattered over our yard, some from amazing distances.

Some closeup shots

Cute little brothers finding pieces of the bark almost as big as themselves. :)

"...The God of glory thunders, The Lord is over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful, The voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; Yes, the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; ...And strips the forests bare; And in His temple everything says, "Glory!" " Psalm 29: 3-5 + 8a-9

We Have a New Background!

Posted by Gabrielle

With the coming of summer, we thought it was time we change our blog background which we have had up since October.
We have also made a few small changes, such as adding the date to each post.

So, if you follow our blog with Google reader and usually don't see our background, please do check it out and let us know how you like our new 'look and feel'. We'd love to hear from you!

Gabrielle
for the Hellwigs

Blueberries

Posted by Gabrielle

A sweet neighbor of ours has been inviting us over to pick blueberries while the bushes are producing, so we have been enjoying some delicious little treats lately.

Dead On the Day of Great Enterprises

Posted by Gabrielle


Thursday was one of those days you don't forget for a long time; the day our Dodge van decided it was time for a break while it was on duty.

It was shopping day and we were five miles or so out from home (too far to walk back but just close enough to make it really frustrating) when the van died, due to a failed fuel pump. After having called AAA, we spent about two hours sitting on the side of the road, waiting for the tow truck.

Lo and behold, who came by but a man from our church who gave Daddy a ride back home to get the other van! While they were gone, the tow truck came and the little boys enjoyed watching the man getting a 15-passenger van up onto a truck almost as big as itself.

So, about two hours late, we were back on the road, headed for grocery shopping, thankfully with the remainder of the day incident free.

Yesterday, to make a long story short, our sewer pump failed as we were preparing to have guests for dinner, and we are currently awaiting a new one.

As these "trials" come upon us, we remember just how much we have to be thankful for!

• Cool weather. These past few days have been unusually cool for the beginning of July in North Carolina, so waiting around outside for a while on Thursday morning was far from unpleasant weather-wise.

• Laughter. Some people (we'll mention no names ;) had some time on their hands while waiting for the tow truck. Ever heard the acronym Found On the Road Dead for Ford? Unfortunately, since it was our Dodge van that died, not our Ford van, we had to think of something else. Enter Dead On the Day of Great Enterprises for Dodge! ;)

• For fellow brethren in Christ who will see a brother in need and stop to help.

• Friends at church who have experience with plumbing and will come out at a call.

• Flowers, God's marvelous works of nature!