What's a guy to do?

What's a guy to do when he unexpectedly has a week that he isn't working at an outside job? Well, if that guy happens to be my husband, the pictures explain it all:).




Enclose the climbing wall tree house so that we can sleep up there during the summer time!





Have a family tea party!



Take pictures of Elyssia looking all grown up. Sniff sniff;).



Build a goat feeder...



Build a sewing center for your wife's early Birthday present. Finishing touches to be added later.

Some bonus pics:



Guess who loves books???



Cheeky little monkey!


Bonus features of the week:

Watching Addie dance to bluegrass:))).

Baking and making batches of jam and apple butter. I don't think there's a better smell than fresh bread baking and apple butter simmering on the stove.

The kids climbing the walls of snow and exploring the animal tracks that they can see along the way.

History lessons with Daddy.

Scott teaching the boys wrestling techniques. I watched them in action tonight. They have a lot of fun and it's amazing how well Caleb does for his size. He doesn't give up easily and is often able to wiggle right out from under Garrison and jump on top of him. Will have to get a video sometime. The end up laying next to each other on the floor laughing and saying, "again, again"!

Looking forward to Bannock tomorrow morning and the first weekend of family visiting for Caleb's 5th Birthday. Praying for good weather and a great weekend!

Blessings and Prayers

The past month or so has been full of this post's title.

We've had the blessings of making new friends, enjoying a family trip to Saskatoon, seeing a friend improve after a spinal cord surgery, then praying as a couple friends lost their dear ones.

Rejoiced with warm weather and prayed for God to help us get through the blizzarding weather.

Blessings of talking to family and friends and prayers for those who can't be with theirs for one reason or another.

Blessings of good health and prayers that we'd get over sickness.

We've been blessed to live here in Saskatchewan for 4 years now. God has gone above and beyond in meeting our needs and seeing us through some of the more challenging times.

The Blessings of Children and the prayers that go up every day for the Lord's help to be patient and raise them for his honor and glory.

The Blessing of Homeschooling and prayers for a family in the U.S. that are being told that they'll have to go back to Germany, where it's illegal, and they will most likely have their kids taken away by the government. Praying extra hard for this family and hoping that there are other ways that we can help them.

The Blessing of a wonderful husband and best friend and prayers for those who've lost theirs or are separated as they go off to protect their country.

The Blessing of freedom to worship the Lord and prayer that the Lord would help me not to take it for granted and to take advantage of it as much as possible while we have it.

The Blessing of our acreage and house. It truly is a shelter in the time of storm that the Lord has blessed us with.

The Blessing of family devotions where we're free to read God's word and pray with our children. To hear the children asking questions about what's being read and giving input on what it might mean.

The Blessing of a Merry Heart, especially when your 3 year old whispers to you that she'd really like to have a baby zebra, right before she goes to sleep:).

The Blessing of plenty to eat and prayers for those that don't have enough.

The Blessing of work and prayers through the times that there isn't any work. Enjoying each extra day that the Lord gives us with Scott at home:).

I'll admit that I've been a bit down at times lately. It's truly been a long winter, but God has been good. He keeps reminding me of all the blessings that I have and of how short life really is. I just want to spend as much time with the kids as possible. Treasuring each day, just in case... When I start to feel like complaining there are so many families and the hardships that they face that come to mind and I just have to thank the Lord and start praying for others. I'll admit that it takes me longer to get through sometimes, but I'm thankful that God is patient with me. He is the example that I need in order to be a better wife, mother and friend.

We have so much to look forward to, but we should also be enjoying each moment of the day that we're in. There are challenging times as parents, but I'm learning to still do my best to enjoy each day, rather than wishing that we were past this "stage" already. Life is but a vapor...

Happy Monday!

Learning to rest...

It seems that I struggle in this area of "resting". There's usually a long "to do" list in the back of my mind and no true rest planned until it's completed. The thing is that the to do list is never truly completed when you have children. There's always at least one of them following behind and undoing it all:). So, the Lord comes along and helps me out. Puts me flat on my back would be more like it. No one likes to be sick and I'm no exception. I do realize rather quickly that the Lord has a purpose in all of it and this time I didn't fight the rest so much. I welcomed it and actually got a little too used to it;). I'm now in the transition stage of trying to get motivated again!

Thankfully we have extra time with Scott over the next couple weeks, while work is slow. These are the "lull before the storm". The next busy season of our lives. The last month or so of snow, before things start to thaw out a bit and Spring shows itself once again. Quiet(or not so quiet) days to read the last of the pile of books, do those last craft or renovation projects.

Next month brings a new year for a certain little man of ours. Caleb will be turning 5 and with that brings the closing of another chapter in his life. Four was a very good year for Caleb. There were lots of firsts and victories and we look forward to seeing what the Lord has for him in his 5th year. I have the feeling that everything is going to be full speed ahead once he gets outside. It will be his last full year before we have to register him for 1st grade. An exciting milestone in this house. We'll see if he keeps that excitement once there's no choice about whether he can do schoolwork that day or just run off to play. It's usually really fun for at least the first couple months, but then the workload seems to get to them and the longing to just play comes upon them. Perhaps it has something to do with the teacher too;).

The one thing that we LOVE about starting school earlier than others is the reward of finishing earlier too! We have about a month or so left until we finish up with most subjects. Elyssia took her 3rd English test and only has 2 left. Garrison has less than 30 math lessons left and about the same of this reading workbook. Overall it's been a good year. There are many things that we hope to improve in as the years go by, but we thank the Lord for all the blessings of the first couple years.

There is an absence in the family once again as Preston has made his way back to Madagascar. I know that he doesn't live right here with us and we don't see him every month, but there's something about knowing a person is so far away that you can't just drive those couple hours to visit them, even if you really wanted to. That's how we feel when Preston is gone. He's a great Brother(in-law), Uncle and we're blessed to call him friend. Praying for him as he's away and looking forward to seeing him return to this side of the world after his "time is up:)".

I really should get back in the routine of taking pictures of the kids. They really seem to have grown while we were away. Garrison seems to walk a bit taller with each passing day. I'm amazed by how much his features and figure are changing and he's quickly losing those "little boy" features. Thankfully Caleb, Kiersten and Adelaide have lots of them left to enjoy and there are a multitude of things about Garrison's growing up time that we really enjoy.

Off to enjoy the family devotions before we put the kids to bed!