THE WALDBESER FAMILY: Boatmaking & attempting to catch up.

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One afternoon, Tommy was looking through our old Child craft books and saw the boat making page. He was so excited! I believe they ended up making about ten boats; each so unique in its own way. Rosy came up with the idea of adding sails to some of them...They decided to open a "boat workshop."

We all go "sailing" sometimes too. All the boats have been tested and proven, floatable. :)

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Now, on to summer accomplishments! I believe I have quite a few weeks to catch up on. :)

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Week 6: Gardening!

This year we grew sunflowers (unfortunately, the bees decided not to pollinate them this year. :D)

Some herbs - oregano, lavender & rosemary.

Pears - our pear tree is producing abundantly!

Some various other flowers ~

And peppers!

We planted tomatoes and cucumbers as well. And actually, we did get about 30 nickel sized tomatoes. However, when we got home at the end of June, they looked rather sun-burned.

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Week 7: Volunteering at the Hospital!

From the time I was about 3 years old, I have always wanted to be a nurse. Between the ages of 4 and 10 I visited the emergency room many times for um...various reasons...(SMILE)... I loved the fact that people working at the hospital are trained to care, love and provide the healing that God has given humans knowledge of.

I have no idea what God has in store for me after high school, but I am seriously praying about nursing school. I can not say how many times I have heard my mom say, "If only I was a nurse, I would know if I should take so-and-so to the doctor!"

If only I could just skip the schooling part. :)

Anyway, my dear mother heard of a program at our local hospital and so we checked into it. I applied, and even though it was originally not likely I would get in - God opened the doors. So, one day a week this summer, I have worked at the hospital as a youth volunteer! It has been such a good experience! Despite the fact I fainted on the first day. :)

(-me in my uniform-)

The whole fainting thing definitely taught me alot about humility. Another experience to add to my "most embarrassing moments" list. :) But God remains on His throne, and I remain unable to do anything without Him.

At the hospital, my jobs include looking up patients on the computer system for visitors, making deliveries for doctors, escorting lost patients to their doctor's offices (or radiology center, lab, surgical services...etc.), answering phone calls, delivering cards or flowers to patients and getting to know some nurses and secretaries!

I have loved it. However, there have been times when it pulled at my heart & almost brought me to tears - when I stood next to a sobbing lady in the elevator. When I pushed a young women, who was 10 weeks pregnant and experiencing intense pain, across the hospital to the ER. Or looking up a patient for some visitors, only to see that he was in the ICU - and then having to tell them. Times like that were not "fun." At all.

If any of you are a tiny bit interested in doing something like this - I would highly recommend looking to see if your local hospital has a program like this; regardless of if you are planning on medical school or not. It is a wonderful experience to bless others during stressful times in their lives. Oh, how I hope to do more in this area.

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Week 8: Card making!

Quite a while ago some precious friends gave us the supplies & manual for "quilling!" It is a special type of card making...One morning this summer, we sat down & quilled for about an hour & made 3 cards - it was so easy!

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Week 9: The Hope Chest Project!

The idea of having a hope chest has always seemed so neat to me! However, whenever I saw one that I loved, the price was way out of our range.

A few weeks ago, my sweet mother called me from Goodwill & said she had found a hope chest! It was only $17, however, it was not in great shape. Mom had stripped and varnished a bedroom suite when she was my age & said that the chest could easily be refinished.

God is so good! It did take me about 2 weeks, but what a blessing!

The finished project:

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Week 10: Soap Making!

Okay, I know that they look like granola bars, but it is actually lavender soap. :) We had lots of lavender in our garden, & I wanted to find something to do with it, so we tried soap. It has oatmeal in it & other things that are suppose to be good for your skin. Who knows!? :)