FRIDAY night at Max Cafe (COFFEE SHOP ON THE CORNER OF 57 AND MAIN ST.) MARC SCIBILIA will playing at 7pm. If you've never heard of him (I hadn't) then do a search for him on myspace. He's really good. Than and I will be going for sure to hear him. He's also playing at the benefit concert Sat. night at Antioch. He'll be playing around 9pm there, but the whole thing starts earlier. I think we might go to St. Louis on Saturday so we won't be around for that show. I'm torn though, he seems to be a really good musician. Hope to see some faces on Friday night! :)

Nathanial won a 5K!!

My husband won allright!! He won the "Fastest Male Walker" award!!! We've had a good laugh over this and I'll post a pic of him with his trophy!! He walked so that he could push the stroller and get in some exercise as a family.... what a good daddy!! We finished in 45min.... he pushed me, that is fast for mommy!!! We did have a good time, and it was for a good cause. Ava ran in the kid's race... she fell once but finished strong! Go Ava!! Aspen slept for most of the walk.

Another week has flown by.... play group was fun. Anyone who hasn't seen the pictures from Aspen and Meredith's little tiff, check out the Sweet Baby Bean blog on my list of blogs. It was so funny. We met a new mommy at the park who joined us... that was fun.

Today after the 5K we went to Mamaw's because Aunt Shelli was home for a visit. Ava was excited to see cousin Emmy (Shelli's dog). You would think she is human, with all the clothes she has and attention she gets!! Anyway, we had a good time eating homemade ice cream, swimming, and I got some new clothes since my sis went through her closet!!!

Well, that's about all I can think of for now. I am hoping and praying for a good week. One where we enjoy each other's company and don't take any of our special moments together for granted.

I'll leave you with a few random pics. The first two are just my two girl's having fun at Grandma's.

Weird enough, there were two horses being walked down our street the other night. Nathanial yelled out to them and they came over and the nice man let Ava take a ride. She was in awe!! It was fun and really random!!

Here's my Ava just minutes before she walked down the asle at Aaron and Stephanie's wedding. It was beautiful, I wish I had more pictures from it!!

Finally Friday!!

It's finally Friday tomorrow!!! I have worked everyday this week, and let me just tell you that my house is a disaster!! I'm so glad I usually only work 3 days! A lot has been going on this week too.... We made an offer on a "fixer-upper" and it was ACCEPTED!! We're a little nervous about all that entails, but excited too. Our washer and dryer both broke!! Luckily my dad is very handy and fixed the dryer and will be attempting to fix the washer tomorrow!! Mom and I were busy playing with the girls and making peach cobbler tonight. Nathanial and Ava are both in Aaron Willis and Stephanie Peek's wedding this weekend so he had to run to Evansville to pick up his tux and have dinner with the wedding party and family. The girls and I decided to stay home mainly because I was too pooped to run around all evening!!! Plus, our sweet Penn likes to be at home in the evenings especially!

I'm so thankful and looking forward to the return of normalcy next week! Being home 4 out of 7 days is such a blessing to me. And knowing that when I work my girls are in good hands also means the world to me. Thank you mom, Miriam, and GG for helping me out!!!

I'm gonna include a few pics, and then I'm off to bed....

Ava went to her friend Brooklyn's birthday party.... it was so cute.... they were bowling!!!! Ava's first time to bowl and she loved it. She had a blast.

Ava and her daddy's snack at 10pm...too late for little girls to have pbj and chips and salsa!!!

Sweet little Penn hanging out at Brown County State Park with her big sis's glasses on!

Yes, my 3 year old daughter went tubing!!! They went really slow though of course, and daddy kept her safe!!

I still have holiday world pics to post... we went last week and had fun there too. One more thing... Andrea Boes just came to mind. I'm not sure when her surgery is right this second, but i know it's in the next few days. Please remember to keep her and her family in your prayers. Thanks!!

Post Left Over Love Feast

The Leftover Love Feast went pretty well. We were able to raise $781 for the land and home for widows in India! Not that we expect that every time, and no one needs to feel obligated to give, but if you want to share what you have with the poor, this is one way to do that! Also, we open to suggestions of other ways to bless the poor!

The selection of food was, I must say, pretty impressive. We had everything from a pan of left over spaghetti to my pan of lengua (cow tongue with jalapenos, onion, chick peas, and tomatoes). We had lots of dishes made with garden fresh vegetables and fresh blackberries, peaches, and homemade ice cream for dessert.

A nice variety of people showed up. There were several very young and several not so young with a good mix in between. I (Nathanial) was a little disappointed with the absence of young families and young adults, but I understand that this is America and people are busy. Hopefully next time we can let people know far enough ahead so they can plan to make it. We had a great time and look forward to doing it again!!

Here are just a few pics:

Ava and GG

CodyAbby and Jenna

Leftover Love Feast

Hello Brandi's Friends,

I have an idea... Don't be scared. It involves food, fun, and fellowship for free (sort of). For a while now I've wanted to get a broad range of people together in one place for several purposes, but I wasn't sure how to make it happen or what expression it would take. Well, now I think I know. This Wednesday night we are hosting our first ever Leftover Love Feast. The idea is for each family or individual to bring a dish that doesn't cost them anything extra. Bring a leftover meal, garden grown vegetables or fruit, something at the back of the fridge/freezer or cabinet you know you will never eat, something you've caught or killed, or resurrected food (if you don't know don't ask). Be creative, but don't spend any extra money. I know we have a cow tongue in our freezer that has been dying for an opportunity like this. Anyways, bring it in a microwave safe container or a baking dish for the oven. Please don't bring anything disposable. I can't promise a five-star feast, but I can promise that no one will go hungry.

There are several reasons that we've wanted to get together under these circumstances. First, we ask but definitely don't require that you make a small donation of the money you'll save on one meal to help buy property and build a house for widows and orphans in India.

Second, we just want to bring people together build community and share life. We live in a fragmented and self-centered culture that tends to leave people isolated and at arms length; we feel that is not the way life should be lived and want to combat that.

Third, we are an extremely wasteful people. This is one way to use all the resources we've been given and be good stewards of Creation.


So in a nutshell: Come Wed. August 6th at about 6:30 to the PowerHouse on Main St. in Washington, IN. Bring a dish of food that would otherwise go to waste. Families and friends are welcome. We'll eat, maybe have some music and play a little cornhole or bocce. You may want to bring a lawn chair.
Also if possible, walk or ride your bike instead of driving.

Please let us know if you can come.

Hope to see you there,

Nathanial Rainey




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