We have babies!

Blackie had two babies tonight! We thought she seemed different this afternoon. Scott went to close her in tonight and there were two cute little babies. Scott will see if they're boys or girls or one of both. I thought that if it was one of both we could name them Callie and Jack, since we called their father, Calico Jack:). I think Scott and the kids will override me on this one, but we'll see.

Addie wants to call one of them "sleepyhead" because he's slower to get on his feet:).

We should have two more goat posts this week, since Cinnamon and Clover are also due to have their kids any day now.

Kiersten's growing up...

How does this happen so quickly? One day they're babies, the next they're toddler and the next thing you know, you're starting to envision what they will look like as an adult.

Daddy's Shirt

Samuel is following the tradition of wearing Daddy's "Scott" shirt. It is showing some wear, but he's doing his best to show it off:).

Jesus in my heart???

Addie, our 3 year old brings this question up almost every day. We'll be taking a walk, eating, coloring, laying down for a nap, etc. She will just start talking about Jesus and asking questions. She tells me, "Jesus died on the cross". She talks about sin and wanting Jesus in her heart. Tonight she told me that she wanted Jesus in her heart and then she wouldn't be lonely:). I'm not sure if a child with 5 siblings even knows what lonely feels like, but she's definitely showing signs of understanding more about Jesus and what He did on the cross. We also talked about Heaven and going to be with Jesus. We finished going through Revelation in Family devotions this month and started back in Genesis. It's wonderful to see the younger ones answering the questions this time around. They won't remember us acting it out the first time, so much of it will be new to them, but there will still be much of it that we've read through in their Bibles and school lessons. Praying that in God's time, Addie(and Samuel) will ask Jesus into their hearts as their personal Lord and Saviour. That's the greatest joy we can have here on earth. Knowing that we get to spend eternity with these amazing blessings.

All Before 9am...

This guy ate breakfast.

Spilled a sibling's mug of milk on his head and the floor.

Was put into the bath...

Pulled up the spout thing that switches the water from bath to shower mode, thus raining down water on his head:).

Cried alligator tears...

Was removed from the shower...

Given a new outfit...

Manages to look quite angelic:).

LOVE this little bundle of mischief!

What Are We Doing With The Time We're Given?

I recently read a devotion on the usage of time. It was eye opening and very convicting. Many people ask me how I have time to homeschool and get anything else accomplished. I'll be honest and tell you that there are still several hours or minutes in the day that are being wasted around here on less productive activities and those are the things that need to go.

There are 24 hours or 1,440 minutes or 86, 400 seconds in each day. Any way that you think about it, that's really quite a lot. How many of us have used the expression, "I'm just killing time, waiting for things to start".

Consider that (for those who've accepted the Lord as Saviour) God has us here on earth with specific plans and assignments that He wants us to accomplish.

Consider that, as His children, we're to do all to the glory of God.

Psalm 139 talks about how God formed us and knows our thoughts. How He has plans for us and gives us time to accomplish them. How many of us are accomplishing what He put us here on earth to do?

Psalm 90 speaks of time as the Lord sees it. Vs. 4 says, "For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. Vs.6 "In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up, in the evening it is cut down and withereth."

Job 7:6 says, "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle"

Psalm 78:39 says, "like a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again"

James 4:14 says, "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow, For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."

All of the verses above can be a depressing thought to those without Christ. None of us want our life to be in vain.

The GOOD NEWS is that God sent His only Son, Jesus, to give us hope and a purpose for living!

His life, death, burial and resurrection was to provide hope to the world and everlasting life to ALL who repent of their sins and call upon the name of the Lord to save them! Once we're saved, we no longer have to go through this life, wasting minutes, days, weeks and years "just getting through another day and week." We can spend those days talking to our amazing Lord and Saviour, praying for the lost, hurting, hopeless, wanderers, and telling any who will listen, what He's done for us and what He can do for them.

The time of His return could be ANY DAY!

We're all guilty, Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

There will come a time when He will have to judge the sins of the world. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ:" Those whose sins are covered by the blood that Jesus shed on the cross have NO reason to fear that day. We look forward to His return with great Joy and Anticipation.

We look forward to seeing Him face to face and thanking Him for His wonderful gift(Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." of salvation.

As we get closer to celebrating Resurrection Sunday, may we never forget the ONE who gave His life to pay the penalty for My sins and YOURS. He says in Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God". Romans 5:8 says, "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 8:1 says, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus"(those who have gotten saved)

God, alone, gives us a reason to live and to love and serve those around us. To forgive those who've wronged us. To help those that no one else seems to care about. We love Him, because He first loved us and we love others because God is within us and GOD IS LOVE.

If any reading this have questions, please don't hesitate to send me a message. God wants everyone to know how much HE loves them and that He sent His only Son, Jesus in their place.

2 Corinthians 6:2 says, "behold, now is the accepted time,behold, now is the day of salvation."

There's no better time than today.

It's beginning to feel like...

Spring! Most of the snow is melting and Scott and the kids saw geese on their walk tonight! Hurray! The kids have spent a lot more time playing outside this week and Samuel escapes through any door his siblings leave open:). I've come from the back of the house, seen the open door, and heard excited giggles from the "not so little" guy! He even stops to put on a pair of his siblings boots and we're constantly laughing at the direction they're pointing. He even had one on sideways yesterday! He looks at us and starts laughing, knowing somehow that we take joy in his toddler ways.

We just about lost another dog yesterday. Jade decided to take up car chasing. She missed getting hit by an inch! She is now secured to the porch by a chain during the day and let off to guard the property at night. Perhaps she will learn at some point what it is we want her to stop doing, but for now we're not taking a chance that we'll say goodbye to another dog.

Last Saturday I took this young lady out for some one on one time:

We had lunch together, enjoyed talking about rainbow loom designs and attended the 90th birthday of a friend of our at Caleb Village.

Earlier this week I had a date with this young man:

He's been a first rate helper lately and it was nice to spend some one on one time with him. We fixed hot cocoa, started reading a book of his choosing together after the others went to bed, chatted about things that he enjoys and watched a short show together. He's becoming quite a young gentleman:).

Tonight it was Caleb's turn!

We went to the Eatonia library and picked out books for each of us to enjoy. He was a great helper and carried the bags out to the vehicle. One of the ladies at the library commented about how it was nice to see kids that love to read. Caleb's been working hard to earn extra spending money and wanted to buy a treat. We stopped by the country store and he was quite happy with his Kinder surprise egg. I think that's the most inexpensive date I've gone on:). It was fun catching up on what he's interested in. He's been falling asleep earlier these days after running around and working outside so much. I'm thinking we'll have a quieter day tomorrow as we read some of the library books together.

We also celebrated Johnny Appleseed day with applesauce, apple muffins and apple slab pie. We're so thankful for the variety of apples that we get to enjoy year round!

Tonight I was blessed to snuggle with Samuel and sing him to sleep.

Looking forward to my time with Kiersten on Saturday and then with Addie next week. Life has a way of getting busier with each passing day, so it's a blessing to slow down and treasure the time. We're so thankful that the Lord shared these amazing little ones with us.

A Freebie

Because I'm still thankful in March:).

I'm thankful for a new friend at church today.

The opportunity to feed and fellowship with people after church.

A restful afternoon.

The gorgeous sunshine!

Getting to sing the with family and also a special with Elyssia at Caleb Village. The people there are always such a blessing and encouragement to us! Our kids LOVE going there:).

An amazing family!

Another day with the Lord and His amazing love!