Sunday, September 30, 2012
Last Day of September?
The kids have been asking how long til their birthdays a lot lately. Some days it seemed like September was extra long, but then a week would just fly by. This past week went like that. Scott was back to work after his Scotland trip and we kept chugging along with homeschooling. The kids are making great progress and enjoy the incentive of finishing quickly so that they have more play time.
Monday also marked the start of something I've put off for awhile. Quiet practice for church. Some of you are probably thinking, "Don't they get that all the time being at church?" They should, but some of them are not quite there yet. We've spent too much time going down the stairs to get further instruction about how we need to be quiet and sit still. So, I bit the bullet, so to speak, and went for it. We put in a cd of the Bible and sit for 30 minutes to an hour. Most of you know that our kids can sit for hours if someone is reading to them, but it's different when we're at church. I want them to pay attention and not need the distraction of pictures. A "fidget" for their hands is okay, but I've only been giving them a pencil and notebook and it seems to be going WAY better! Kiersten saw really well all by herself and did great when we practiced at church Saturday. Praying we can do even better today.
Wednesday we headed to town earlier than usual to meet friends, but that didn't end up working out. Instead we played at one of our favorite parks, had lunch, saw Daddy and the he took them home:). I was able to stay in town and finish some of the Birthday shopping. It's a lot easier when I don't have to keep an eye on the train of children behind me and try to "unsuccessfully" hide the gifts that I'm buying for them.
We did some "spontaneous" family pictures when I got home. It was the first time we used the timer setting and I think it went really well. The kids had a lot of fun, especially when they got up in the trees. They kept asking me to take more pictures:).
Scott had a meeting, which ended up keeping him out until close to 11! I think he almost turned into a pumpkin...
Yesterday was filled with activity. Scott and the other men were up fixing another section of the church roof and I took the two little girls with me to get my haircut. Thankfully they were both really good! We went back home and used our extra time to get the house cleaned up.
Last night I had a ticket for a special mom/baby night out. A friend hosted an event in Glidden, which is really close to our place. It started at 7, so the kids were mostly ready for bed before I left. Adelaide did great. We were out visiting with the ladies until 10! Way past our bedtime, but a rare opportunity to meet other ladies from the surrounding communities. I knew at least 5 of the ladies there, but it was nice to meet quite a few more and found that several of us have more in common than a baby on our hip:).
I don't usually write posts on Sunday morning, but thought that I should write while the inspiration was fresh.
Have a great day in the Lord's House!
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Fall Family Pictures
We set up the camera on a trash can today and here are some of the pictures we got:
Here are some of the ones that Scott, Elyssia and I took after that:
The weather has been gorgeous lately, so we're welcoming Fall with open arms!
Monday, September 24, 2012
Water Balloon Fight!
We're enjoying some wonderful Fall weather here. A bit of an Indian Summer actually:). This whole week is supposed to be really nice. This afternoon we filled some water balloons and this is what I captured of the action:
Great fun was had by almost everyone:) There's a certain little person that doesn't really like to get wet, but "he" managed to have quite a bit of fun anyway;). They got me a little wet too, but it's such a gorgeous day that it dried really fast.
Happy Monday!
Daddy's Return!
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Passing it on...
This story was e-mailed to me recently and I really thought that it was too good to keep to myself. It really makes me think twice about the way in which I give and receive gifts...
I wanted a Car, NOT a Bible!!
A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many
months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealers showroom,
and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all
he wanted.
As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car.. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said," With all your money you give me a Bible?" and stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible. Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen Him since that graduation day. But before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things. When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. His father had carefully underlined a verse, Matt 7:11 , "And if ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father which is in Heaven, give to those who ask Him?" As he read those words, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealers name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired.. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words... PAID IN FULL. How many times do we miss God's blessings because they are not packaged as we expected? If this touched your heart, please pass it on!!
I wanted a Car, NOT a Bible!!
A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many
months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealers showroom,
and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all
he wanted.
As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car.. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said," With all your money you give me a Bible?" and stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible. Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen Him since that graduation day. But before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things. When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. His father had carefully underlined a verse, Matt 7:11 , "And if ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father which is in Heaven, give to those who ask Him?" As he read those words, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealers name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired.. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words... PAID IN FULL. How many times do we miss God's blessings because they are not packaged as we expected? If this touched your heart, please pass it on!!
Still alive...
Yes, I'm still alive:). Our mornings have been starting earlier and earlier this week, but we're getting through with the Lord's help. This morning most of us were awake at 5:30. I guess the kids must've thought I needed extra time to get ready for church;).
I think Thursday was our longest night. Kiersten had a bad reaction to the vaccination shot she had. She had a fever, aches and vomiting. Thankfully she was back to her normal self on Friday.
Our school schedule has kept us fairly busy, which definitely helps to make the time go faster. We've been decluttering and reorganizing the rooms and making lots of meals for the freezer. It helps me to feel more prepared as we head into the colder weather and also allows more time for school activities and assigments.
Yesterday was really nice. The weather was great and the kids had a great time washing the van. Half of the van anyway:). We got distracted when Scott skyped us and never got around to finishing the other half. Good thing the clean half was facing the street when we parked at church today:))).
Thankfully it hasn't gotten down to freezing yet. I've been praying that it will hold off until Scott gets back. It's mostly the stuff in his greenhouse that I'm concerned about. The potatoes will be fine and we're pretty much done with the corn.
Church went quite well today. The kids were mostly good and Garrison did his "ushering" without any trouble. It was nice to have a bit of fellowship with friends and also The Crossmans(He came to preach while Scott was away). It's a bit colder today, but still nice and sunny.
You've probably noticed a lack of pictures lately. The camera flash wasn't working, so my pictures haven't been very good. I charged the batteries and I think it might be working again. I'll try to get some new ones up in the next couple days.
I think Thursday was our longest night. Kiersten had a bad reaction to the vaccination shot she had. She had a fever, aches and vomiting. Thankfully she was back to her normal self on Friday.
Our school schedule has kept us fairly busy, which definitely helps to make the time go faster. We've been decluttering and reorganizing the rooms and making lots of meals for the freezer. It helps me to feel more prepared as we head into the colder weather and also allows more time for school activities and assigments.
Yesterday was really nice. The weather was great and the kids had a great time washing the van. Half of the van anyway:). We got distracted when Scott skyped us and never got around to finishing the other half. Good thing the clean half was facing the street when we parked at church today:))).
Thankfully it hasn't gotten down to freezing yet. I've been praying that it will hold off until Scott gets back. It's mostly the stuff in his greenhouse that I'm concerned about. The potatoes will be fine and we're pretty much done with the corn.
Church went quite well today. The kids were mostly good and Garrison did his "ushering" without any trouble. It was nice to have a bit of fellowship with friends and also The Crossmans(He came to preach while Scott was away). It's a bit colder today, but still nice and sunny.
You've probably noticed a lack of pictures lately. The camera flash wasn't working, so my pictures haven't been very good. I charged the batteries and I think it might be working again. I'll try to get some new ones up in the next couple days.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Safe in Scotland
This afternoon we enjoyed the wonderful technology that Skype offers. Scott arrived in Scotland safely and chatted with us before heading to bed. The kids were so excited that I basically gave up actually trying to talk to him and just let them take over. Adelaide spotted him, held out her hand and gave him big smiles. She got really upset when I tried to put her down. This is the first time that Scott has gone anywhere overnight since she was born. Overall the kids are doing really well. There's so much that they want to tell him in the evening though, so I can see it being a challenge to really have any kind of conversation with him when they're in the room.
It was different saying goodbye to Scott yesterday. We haven't been away from each other for this length of time in several years. I didn't think I would cry, but sure enough, the wet stuff starting leaking out of my eyes. I was very excited for him to have this opportunity, but it was like a sadness struck me all of a sudden and I couldn't hold it back. It didn't help that Elyssia was crying. Garrison did his best to be supportive. He stood there with a worried look on his face and seemed to be wondering how he could help. Poor guy. Guess he's gonna have to get used to it with all the females in this house and the possibility of more in his future when he's married:). He's been very helpful and taking his role of "man of the house" quite seriously.
Yesterday we worked on some puzzles that I found secondhand. Then we tried to go for a walk. We made it to the edge of the property, but it was quite windy and we didn't try to go any farther. The wind was still blowing strong today, so we mostly stayed inside. I worked away on making a bunch of meals for the freezer. Trying to stock up for the unexpected busy times or potlucks at church. We've got some really full freezers now. I can hardly wait to get our dehydrator so that I can start drying some of our extra fruit supply.
We also had a nice surprise tonight. Garrison was emptying the compost bucket and saw Pepper. Pepper is the farm cat that ran away after two days here. We thought he was long gone, but now we know different. I haven't seen much mouse activity and I haven't had any in our traps the last week or so, so maybe he's doing some work around here.
A bit of Humor: Last night Elyssia laughed because a little girl said she didn't know the meaning of the word "swindler". Elyssia commented, "It's someone that swims in the water!" I had to laugh when she said that. Funny how our ears hear things sometimes.
It was different saying goodbye to Scott yesterday. We haven't been away from each other for this length of time in several years. I didn't think I would cry, but sure enough, the wet stuff starting leaking out of my eyes. I was very excited for him to have this opportunity, but it was like a sadness struck me all of a sudden and I couldn't hold it back. It didn't help that Elyssia was crying. Garrison did his best to be supportive. He stood there with a worried look on his face and seemed to be wondering how he could help. Poor guy. Guess he's gonna have to get used to it with all the females in this house and the possibility of more in his future when he's married:). He's been very helpful and taking his role of "man of the house" quite seriously.
Yesterday we worked on some puzzles that I found secondhand. Then we tried to go for a walk. We made it to the edge of the property, but it was quite windy and we didn't try to go any farther. The wind was still blowing strong today, so we mostly stayed inside. I worked away on making a bunch of meals for the freezer. Trying to stock up for the unexpected busy times or potlucks at church. We've got some really full freezers now. I can hardly wait to get our dehydrator so that I can start drying some of our extra fruit supply.
We also had a nice surprise tonight. Garrison was emptying the compost bucket and saw Pepper. Pepper is the farm cat that ran away after two days here. We thought he was long gone, but now we know different. I haven't seen much mouse activity and I haven't had any in our traps the last week or so, so maybe he's doing some work around here.
A bit of Humor: Last night Elyssia laughed because a little girl said she didn't know the meaning of the word "swindler". Elyssia commented, "It's someone that swims in the water!" I had to laugh when she said that. Funny how our ears hear things sometimes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)