My Week

Wow, so much has happened this past week. Last Sunday was, of course, Mother's Day. I didn't write anything about my day since I wrote the tribute to Grandma and wanted the focus on that, so...we'll start with Mother's Day!

This Mama on Mother's Day

We actually got out of the house much earlier than usual, which was great, since Luke was singing that morning, and we wanted to take him up front to show him where he'd be, get him used to it. He was ready and raring to go, until the time actually came. Even then, Luke rushed up, hopped on the really tall stool like a pro, looked up, and.....froze. Kinda giggled, looked down, then sang. This Mama's heart was so happy! After first service was done, I reminded him to look only at me and not at everyone else then he wouldn't get scared. He informed me, "I have to look at the kids, Mama, that's who I'm singing to." Okay.

Luke on stage for his first performance

Then came second service and the second time around. Things were going well; Pastor Marty was up front giving announcements. The plan was that there would be a short video after announcements followed by Luke singing. Well, part way through announcements Luke (quite loudly) announced, "I HAVE TO GO POTTY!!!" Can't it wait? "No, I have to go NOW!" Tony rushed him out with Susanna trailing and muttering, "me, too!" Then Marty finished announcements and deviated from the scheduled. "Next we have a young man who will minister to us with a solo. Luke Carter!" NO!!! Show the video! I rushed out to the men's room, threw open the door (praying that there would be no one else in there other than my family -- thankfully, given there were about 400 people in the church at that moment, there was no one else except them) and yelled "He's on! Let's GO!!"

Here was the problem. Luke was wearing suspenders. That buttoned to his pants. And looped through his shirt. And his independence was in full swing. So he entered the stall and locked the door. By himself. I rushed back to the sanctuary...the video was playing, right? NO! It was over! Marty hid a chuckle as I motioned for another moment. Rushed back to the bathroom "Let's move it!!!" And Luke grabbed my hand as we both ran for the front of the church. The Praise Team was getting ready to start, so they made room for my little guy who climbed up on the stool. I helpfully pushed the stool closer to the mike...and knocked it over! Thankfully, I also had a hold on Luke so he didn't go down with the stool. But we got everything straightened out and Luke sang. The second half of the song. But....he got a huge round of applause and stars in his eyes...and kept telling me all the way home how much he loves me. Ahhhh....

The reason I can celebrate Mother's Day

Luke and Susanna sang off and on all week "I love Mama, I love Mama, yes I do, yes, I do, Mamas are for hugging, Mamas are for kissing, I love you, yes I do." And still today they told me, "Happy Mother's Day!" Hey, if they want to celebrate it more than one day, who am I to tell them differently?

My favorite people

Monday and Tuesday, Susanna and I went in to the Market to do more stocking on the shelves, getting ready to open. Diana was helping, too. She is an AWESOME employee, and we are so blessed to have her! Wednesday was Luke's day with me, and we headed over to Detroit Lakes to one of the nurseries where we get many of the flowers and baskets we don't grow ourselves. We had a blast, and he was a great helper, hauling trays of flowers to our cart before getting worn out after an hour or so. We stopped at Perkins for lunch, and he chatted nonstop (literally!) all the way home except for the five minutes he fell asleep.


I had another Watkins party Wednesday night...it went pretty well. Got some more parties booked for later this summer and two who want to book in the fall, so that continues to be a successful endeavor, praise God. I really am amazed at how much He is blessing this Watkins business - I know I can't do it on my own.


Thursday morning, wow, what did we do Thursday? I don't even remember! But Luke had his last music class in the afternoon...he has a "recital" this week which should prove interesting! Watching him during music class, it struck me again how much of a "Wiggly Willy" AND "Social Sam" he is -- he cannot sit still for anything...but absorbs so much as he's moving around...and that kid HAS to be making friends with someone, anyone, connecting person to person. I realized even more watching him that there is no way he would survive in a traditional school room setting. We'd be getting calls and letters all the time about him not paying attention, wandering around, being a distraction. But again, I'm amazed at how much he learns and picks up as he's wiggling and as he's connecting with anyone near by.


After music class, we went back to the market to finish up a few last things before I trained in all our new employees. I'm really pleased with our gang this year, and I look forward to working with them!


Oh yes! Thursday morning, we uploaded the new and improved website for Carter's Red Wagon! Please check it out at http://www.redwagonfarm.net/ -- and let us know what you think! And if you've shopped there or had our produce, we'd really appreciate it if you could go to http://www.localharvest.org/ and look us up (do a search by zip code -- 56470 -- we'll be the first to come up) and click on the ranking up to...and give us a rank!


Friday morning, the kids and I picked up Katie on our way in to the market for our grand opening. Katie is going to be their main babysitter this summer when I'm working at the market. The kids adored her so much that they never did take a nap Friday. Or Saturday. I'm not sure who was more worn out by the end of each day...her, them, or me. All I know is that I was afraid to even blink on the way home for fear my eyelids wouldn't go back up. And the kids asked on the way home, "Mama, can we just eat supper then go to bed without playing?" Yep. Fine with me!


Saturday, we also had a "Sample our Stuff" day where I sample several of the different items we sell. My thought is this. We have some really great things for sale, quick and easy to make, healthy to eat. But if people are like me, I'm often hesitant to buy something new, especially if it's pricy, without trying it first. What if I don't like it? Hence...Sample our Stuff! I made raspberry pancakes (just add water!), lemon pepper noodles with a chunky Italian tomato sauce, cheddar potato cream of wild rice soup (just add water!), a cinnamon swirl coffee cake, and also sampled two salsas -- Green Mountain Gringo Mild salsa (no fat or cholesterol, all natural, very low cal), and asparagus salsa (again, no fat or cholesterol, all natural, very low cal). Sales were low both days, but we also have MAJOR road construction in front of our place...and our asparagus isn't ready yet! Hopefully by Tuesday....


Today, when the alarm went off for us to get up for first service...well, actually after I hit the snooze the second time....we decided to go to Sunday school and second service. Wow, it felt great staying in bed until 8:00!

I will make a comment on another fabulous Watkins product I discovered....The original Watkins product, Red Liniment, is GREAT to use for getting rid of muscle aches and pains. Add one or two capfuls to your bath water before soaking, and it literally soaks out those pains enough for you (well, okay, me) to hobble to bed and fall asleep when one can barely walk or function! All I remember about Friday night (besides my bath and bed) is writing some silly comment on Karen's blog about Karen Day which probably made no sense to anyone at all besides me....sorry, Kar!

So there you have it. My week in a nutshell. I'm tired. How about you?