graduation pictures from last night

Posted on June 19, 2015 by Shanda

baccalaureate service

Posted on June 16, 2015 by Shanda

I am this sentimental about all seven of my babies, mark my words, but as this is the Week of Jacob, he is constantly on my mind.

I spent hours and hours at the end of our first hand-me-down couch with my first born baby. I remember those hours like they were yesterday. Most of the time he had my undivided attention, but sometimes I would watch TV as I held him. Other times I would read a book. There was very often a cat snuggled with us. We were cuddled under a quilt made by my husband’s grandmother and I would put a glass of water up on the top of the couch. All day long, whenever it was time to eat, we were there, no hurries, no worries. In the evenings my husband sat with us, too.

He was born the very last day of 1996 and we had one solitary year together before his beautiful baby brother joined us. Everything our baby did was amazing to us, my husband and I were both so proud. As he said recently, every parent thinks their child is someone extra special and it is the same for us. What a cherished gift children are and worthy to be given everything they need to grow and learn.

My friends and I used to remind each other now and then about how quickly our children would grow and leave us. Those crazy days when we had a bunch of little ones, healthy, busy, impossible to predict, we were exhausted trying to keep up. “Soon they will be gone” was our mantra to get us through those days but we said it with a laugh because it still seemed so far off.

We had plenty of time.

Last night at 5:30, the family–all 10 of us–were dressed up and in the vehicle, driving to the little league field to drop off Caleb for a game, and then heading for the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in town for the Senior Baccalaureate Service of Evening Prayer.

I sat on the end so I could lean over into the aisle…all the better to see our boy. Although their handsome Dad did his best to keep them in their seats, by the last hymn my two youngest were hanging off my back. Sarah’s soft hands holding my arm, Seth twirling my pony tail.

Our Jacob was one of the students selected to read Scripture.

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:9-11

The service had a special meaning for me personally because I have chosen the word “light” as my word of the year and it was the theme of the service. In fact, as we opened with Versicles, the whole room was saying these words together:

Jesus Christ is the light of the world,
The light no darkness can overcome.
Stay with us, Lord, for it is evening,
And the day is almost over.
For with you is the fountain of life,
And in your light we see light.

It touched me to the depths of my soul. Thank you, Jesus.

Do you remember that part in the movie “Anne of Avonlea” when Diana is about to get married and Mrs Barry is carrying on because she’s “losing her firstborn forever”. Aunt Josephine, in her typical bluntly comforting way quickly says, “Don’t get all sentimental, you still have Minnie May”…..that’s what I think of when I see this picture of me and my Minnie-Sarah.

After the service we all went downstairs for refreshments. Seth, the one who is just victoriously finishing up Kindergarten, had two buttered rolls, bypassed the pasta and salad, and then ate four cupcakes. The people of the church were all so kind and thoughtful, and happy to serve the community and class of 2015 in this way.

“You’ve been a blessing from the start,
I love you, my son, with all my heart.”

So thankful for these wonderful, priceless moments!

thankful

Posted on June 2, 2015 by Shanda

“….but encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today….” Hebrews 3:13

Over the last two days we have had four inches of rain. This is good news considering the lawn was already turning brown and it’s only June 2. It’s been so nice not to have to carry water to my flowers.

I’m sharing miscellaneous photos today, like the one of Grace’s rabbit, who was allowed to explore the outdoors for the first time a few weeks ago, with Grace nearby, keeping a sharp look out.

I’ve been turning over lots of logs as we walk in the woods…we find lots of friendly little woodland creatures, mostly the large beetle many legged kinds, but sometimes we get to say hi to a lizard or two, they have the loveliest earthy homes. So cozy. And then I gently turn the logs back over for them.

All the women in my family love wild lady slippers.

water balloon fight on a very hot day

Rich was on a business trip last week and I was at one of many little league games. I watched the games and kept a casual eye on Seth and Sarah but at one point I couldn’t locate Seth. I walked all over the place trying to find him. I finally asked Dave, who was in the dugout at the time, if he had seen him…..and yes, it turned out he was up in the score box hanging out with the scorekeeper. He’s wearing the bright green neon shirt in the picture.

Much to my dismay, Mr.R, our neighbor whom Jacob works for, gave the boys a HUGE old TV to play with. They took it apart this weekend and it was nice, after all, to see them busily doing a project. There are now baggies of copper wire and what-not in my cupboard, and they very neatly put the pieces they didn’t want into the garbage.

With Rich in my line of vision, and the three youngest in the pond, it was hard to concentrate on my book.

Then the rest of the children marched by, on their way to what they call “the murder scene” far away in the woods…..Jacob, Emily, Grace, Zac, Ethan, and Dave.

The new chickies are growing nicely. They are now in the coop with the seven hens, which makes for a slight difficulty as I am very protective of the chicks and keep them shut in the coop tightly (all sorts of creatures love tender chick meat). I go down in the morning to let the older chickens out to roam around. Therefore, the hens can’t get back in as usual and have no where to lay their eggs and I don’t know what they are doing with them.

Snickers smiling on the front steps.

The late-bloom lilacs are blooming. They smell divine. I have a bouquet of them in the kitchen.

Emily gave Sarah presents for her birthday.

Time for Birthday Cake! Will Parker the dog get some? He looks so sad.

Five candles

We gave Sarah a scooter for her birthday and she loves it.

She loves the little knee and elbow pads, and the little gloves. We bought her a helmet, too, but when we went to put it on her we realized it had a crack in it already so we have to take it back.

She took her scooter to David’s late game on Saturday night. It was great fun watching her go all over the place on it. The wheels light up as they turn, so it was especially exciting for her as it got darker outside.

“Let us fix our eyes

on Jesus,

the author and perfecter of our faith.”

Hebrews 12:2

There is so much to be thankful for, especially the holy Spirit of God within our hearts, turning our dissatisfaction to contentment, our bitterness into love, our “poor me” attitudes into confidence and joy. He gets all the glory forever and ever. He makes all the difference..anything and everything that is beautiful is because of HIM alone.

You are loved.

laughing all through mother’s day

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Shanda

Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,
Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,
But only one mother the wide world over.
~George Cooper

“I wish you were here so you could make pancakes for us,” I teased my Mom yesterday morning when I called her.

“Guess what I’m doing right now?” she replied, “Making pancakes for Isaac! Did you know he came out?” We laughed, and I knew she was having a great mother’s day already because she got to cook breakfast for one of her boys (she has three of them, and two girls–one of whom is me). We had a nice little chat talking of the children and the gardens and then hung up so she could go eat some pancakes with Isaac. I don’t get to see my Mom as much as I would like, but I think of her constantly, especially while I am busy in the kitchen, or in the garden planting peas and flowers.

We went to church yesterday morning and had a great service listening to Wally give a missions presentation and then Gary preach the Word. After church I said, “Since it’s Mother’s Day, all I want is one nice picture with you children.” Rich happily agreed to take the photo in front of a very cool black car that he and the boys loved……. and you would think I would have learned by now that what I end up is not quite what I was hoping for or picturing in my mind.

This was pretty good, however we are all missing our feet…..but it was hot and we left to get some lunch. Everyone was hungry and everyone had an opinion about where we should go. The Chinese Buffet? Crackerbarrel? Again I brought up Mother’s Day so I could stay out of it. I would sit and just wait to see where Rich (who was silent through the discussions by the children) would take me, the mother of his precious, well-taken care of children.

I held my breath as we pulled gently into…..MCDONALDS.

“Rich you’re just trying to make me scream but I’m not going to.”

“What?? They have a really great burger here that I loved. I wanted you to try it.” (laughing)

“Right, because I eat carbs!” (NOT screaming)

Lots of laughter ensued as he had the audacity to park the car. Roll with it, I decided, roll with it with humor. Then I realized, wait… no drive thru?

“We get to go in?” Now I became slightly sarcastic. “It’s Mother’s Day so we get to go IN to eat, children!”

You have to understand as a family of nine, we rarely eat inside of any fast food place. And if we do, it’s usually Wendy’s……not mcdonald’s. Also understand that we have a Mcdonalds in our hometown so I am there several times a week to get something for one or two of the children as we rush off to go to sports events and such. It’s “old hat” that place, basically one step up from going back home to eat leftovers from the fridge.

Yesterday we had an extra kid with us, so we were a family of 10. The sun was shining, the sun was hot, and we all were fooling around as we trooped inside……. MCDONALDS….was this a dream? 🙂

Turns out McDonalds is pretty awesome for a Mother’s Day luncheon because…..no one is there!

We spent 72 dollars on food! Rich almost died and I laugh when I remember what his face looked like as he studied the receipt to make sure it was right.

I sat across from Sarah and Rich, Grace was down sitting in a booth with David and Caleb. Jacob and Ethan were sitting with Zac.

Meanwhile, Mr. Highly Independent sat away from us, over at his own table. He sat there the whole time, working away at eating his lunch and paying no attention to us. Rich and I kept saying to each other, “Look at Seth. He’s so so cute.”

Poor Rich was the last to get settled and eat, but had to get up yet again to get himself some ketchup for his fries. Jacob, who was already eating away at his nuggets and is 18 years old, asked his Dad to get him some ketchup to which Rich replied impatiently, “GET IT YOURSELF!” He was feeling a bit frazzled.

The soda and food started kicking in. I ate my burger while carefully peeling off the bun as I went along. Soon I was left with a box of bun bits. “Does anyone want the rest of my burger?” I asked, just to be funny. Rich carefully selected a piece and threw it behind him to hit one of the boys. He did this several times.

Grace took this selfie of us. I was busy straining and trying to open Sarah’s toy.

“Okay, times up, let’s go!” Rich announced after most of us were done eating. “The bus is here!” Jacob replied, which caused all the school kids to get up, throw away their garbage and hustle out to the car (bus).

On the way home Rich said something that accidentally hurt Ethan’s feelings and Jacob said, “Don’t worry, E, I know what you can do to get back at him……”

“Ask him to get you ketchup!” I interrupted, and we all laughed again.

(Incidentally, I cannot handle caffeine lately. I drank a very small bottle of coke a week or so ago at about 7:30 pm and I didn’t sleep that night until 2. Then, yesterday I drank half of my small diet coke and got all nervous and jittery from it. So now I’ve decided I won’t drink it anymore and I will only drink half-caf coffee.)

Well, we got home and I asked Rich if he could take one more picture of me and the kids and this time to please not cut the feet off.

So I get this:

Seriously! I got my phone back and there were about 35 pictures of just our legs and then this one:

We went in the house…home, finally home…it was like 2 at this point. Rich and I crashed into bed not meaning to actually take a nap, but we did and it was glorious.

When we got up we had to take the boys to the mall.

IN ORDER TO CHOOSE TUXES FOR THE PROM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jacob is going with Emily, who is a Jr. (it’s the JR prom, our school doesn’t have a SR prom)

Ethan is going single. Oh they are going to be so handsome in their tuxes. Stay tuned!

Leaving you with this picture that Sarah drew me.

“It’s you and me, Mom!”

Happy Mother’s Day!

baseball, chicks, Tarzan, garden, toads

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Shanda

Guess what I am listening to right now? You’ll never guess so I will tell you.

a hundred, give or take, TOADS.

You see, every spring, toads hop to our property to mate in our two ponds. Part of this mating ritual is the continuous singing and calling sounds that they make to gather each other from hither and yon area lands. The sound is a long sustained high note that falls a half step. Sounds kind of scary, sort of sci-fi. In fact, it makes me tense. I’m trying to enjoy it, though, because it is another sign that spring has in fact arrived.

I’m sitting on my bed with Billy cat grooming himself next to me. My windows are open and gusts of wind blow through, making the wind chimes rattle on the porch. I hung clothes outside on the line for the first time this year.

This weekend was nuts. This was our agenda for Saturday:

1. Take Ethan to SAT’s half an hour away.
2. Target for much needed supplies
3. Doctor’s appointment for Seth, where we learned he had double ear infections and bronchitis.
4. Little League Opening Day for David and Caleb
5. Baseball game for Ethan
6. Pick up prescription at Pharmacy
7. Grace to be at the H.S. at 4
8. Mom and Dad coming from out of town.
9. Go to H.S. for Grace’s play: Tarzan.

And this was just Saturday. Rich and I had to work separately, so he took Ethan to the SAT’s while I did numbers 2, 3, 4, and 7 by myself. No one went to E’s game. Rich was also preparing to preach on Sunday. I went to half of the opening day, and when Rich arrived I left in order to be home to greet Mom and Dad.

David in the parade. (the only player looking at me is my Dave).

And Caleb. It was fun, the weather was great, and thankfully Jacob was home to watch Sarah. I only had to keep track of Seth…who is a special challenge these days because he can hardly hear, what with the ear infections. They aren’t slowing him down any though.

Dad and Mom with my two youngest. I love it. Mom brought me a bunch of perennials from her garden for which I was extremely thankful. Dad played some whiffle ball with the kids outside.

Mom and I

Jacob with his Grandma, who was laughing over the height difference. 🙂

Mom and Dad at the High School.

Sweet Emily and Jacob.

The drama kids performed Tarzan this year. Grace was a gorilla, a spider, and a plant. She also performed sign language for one of the songs. Here is a video of it, but it is important to note that she is not doing the SINGING, only the SIGNING.

I wish it were taped better but this at least gives an idea of the beauty of the song and signing.

They did so well, it was wonderful, I was so proud of them all.

Mom hugging Grace after the show.

Dad and Mom with Grace the Gorilla.

Yesterday was the final performance of Tarzan and I attended it with my brother Isaac and his wife Cassandra.

Meanwhile, I have baby chicks. The post office called on Friday morning at 5:15 am and I went down to get them.

There are 30. And they are so very cute right now. We like to go in the garage and just sit in front of the cage and watch them.

Do you see in the very back of the cage, there is a dangling piece of cardboard paper…little chicks take turns trying to get it off. It’s so cute.

This is what I have:

FIVE each of Barred Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island Red, Brown Leghorn, and Easter Egger. Then, I have NINE Cuckoo Maran, and I am most excited about these because they lay a darker shade of brown than any I’ve owned previously.

Discovered in the woods as I picked up trash this morning.

wildflowers

As I was walking by the edge of the pond I scared a toad (not this one) into the water where a fish promptly grabbed it by the legs and went down deep with it. I gasped as I watched it happen… the poor toad was held by both his back legs, which were half inside the fish’s mouth. It’s little front arms were straight out to the sides with stiff fingers, it was the picture of terror as it was carried away. I watched for a while and it appeared once again with two fish in hot pursuit. I don’t know the ending to the story. I sat by the edge of the pond for a while and also saw a turtle. But the horrors continued when I put my hand in the grass to stand back up. I narrowly missed putting it down on two disemboweled toads! It’s truly a life and death world out there……..

Last but not least, Mom, as I promised I did plant all the plants on Sunday.

This is a little garden Rich made for me a few weeks ago. It was empty and I ordered the animals and flag from amazon. I bought 2 perennials but all the rest were from Mom.

The armadillo makes me laugh.

Happy Monday!

{this moment}

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Shanda

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. family of wrestlers

recovering!

Posted on April 21, 2015 by Shanda

Good morning! I was awakened this morning by Jacob knocking at my door at 6:21 in the morning because I had promised to write him a check for seventy dollars for the prom. As soon as I stood up, the all too familiar chills and flu headache appeared. I wrote the check and tortured myself by stumbling back to bed even though I knew I couldn’t sleep anymore…I had to wake up Seth and Caleb.

So here it is several hours later. The smell of roasting chicken is in the air, as I am getting a head start on dinner later which will be Chicken Divan. Little Sarah is pattering about upstairs getting dressed.

I was sick an entire week and indeed, I am not yet quite well.

However, God is to be praised and glorified because He delights in caring for His precious children and I felt his love so much over the last week. Rich had a business trip from Tuesday to Thursday and I was so sick I had to send out a distress call over Facebook. My friends came through for me in such generous ways! By eight that morning four of the children were taken away……Caleb and Seth to my friend Diana’s house, and Grace and Sarah to my friend Heather’s. And each of these ladies had four children of their own at home, too, not to mention one year old baby boys. Heather took the girls to the Science center and gave me a candle, card, and jelly beans (which I gave to Jacob to take with him to his track meet). Diana had the boys spend the night and when she brought them back she also gave us dinner. Which reminds me, I really need her bread recipe.

My friend Barb came over with essential oils and took the boys to their orthodontist appointment. She bought me a box of tissues.

I carry the baggie of oils around with me, they are so very therapeutic! My sense of smell is returning!

Last Monday for whatever reason I very dumbly decided to go for a walk with the children. My only excuse is that I had taken three ibuprofen and felt that I was getting better (oh how I laugh now) …. anyway, the reason I went was because Grace came to me and said, “Mom, I thought I heard ducks but it was really frogs. They’re back.” Namely, Spring Fever.

The happy frogs were down by the rushing stream in a quieter tributary, laying eggs. I’m not sure what type of frog they were, they were NOT the bullfrogs. Once we were that far, we decided to keep on going and walk up the dam trail.

David was jumping on the trampoline being unsociable and Ethan was at practice, so it was Jacob, Emily, Grace, Caleb, Seth, and Sarah.

Jacob shot a tree with an air-soft gun (I know, this was bad of him) and we all ran over to taste the sap. He looked around for a Maple tree but could not find one.

It was a little cold for Sarah so Jacob and Emily left with her and Seth. They also had bare feet and the grass was hurting them. Grace, Caleb, and I continued to the old beaver pond in the woods to search out some more frog activity.

We saw a new bird species as we entered the woods by a tiny stream. We didn’t notice it at all until we were almost upon it, it was so well camouflaged. The pictures I took are truly pitiable. If you lean in very close to the computer screen you can see it…a small bird about the size of a bantam hen, with an upturned tail, black eyes, and long beak.

You may have to take my word for it. It flew away reluctantly in three brief flights; the third one being the last attempt we made to “get a little closer”. I looked it up later on and decided it was perhaps a Water Rail.

We sat down by the beaver pond to watch the frogs. Grace was right next to me. She had bare feet and said, “What in the world is under my toes.” It turned out to be a tiny tree frog. Then, she climbed a tree and just as she settled in the branches she saw a red spider. Nature loves Grace.

Dear Caleb. He proudly wears his waterproof boots.

Eastern Skunk Cabbage blooms. It really does smell like skunk…the kids call it stink weed.

bright green moss on a boulder in the woods.

Skunk cabbage growing through a leaf.

Walking with boys ALWAYS involves a few battles with sticks.

Heading home. Caleb was our silent third party while Grace and I chatted and laughed all the while…….

When I got home I decided to open the last bottle of blackberry/sage Kombucha. It opened like a shot and Kombucha pulp sprayed all over the ceiling. I had to walk around on the island with clorox wipes to clean it off. If the cork wasn’t held on to the bottle by metal hardware I would be typing this blog post with only one eye.

I never even drank it. I could not taste it and couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t spoiled. I’m sure it wasn’t, but after cleaning up all the pulp I lost my appetite for it. It sure got fizzy, right?

After Monday I didn’t pick up my camera again for four days (this is impressive for me). I did have my phone so I took a few pictures with it:

I was in the cupboard trying to find something to snack on when Grace saw the word flu. We had to laugh at the irony.

Jacob and David, I’m so proud of these sons of mine.

Caleb after a few days of neglecting to gather the eggs.

The glorious sky on Friday which prompted me to touch the camera again. The day was dark and gloomy until the very end when the sun came out briefly. I love the dark sky and the sunshine trees.

Snickers asleep on the porch.

Seth playing football by himself.

On Sunday I thought I saw the football down by the pond but then realized it was a Muskrat of all things. It sat at the edge for a while, I think it was eating, sometimes the force of it’s digging made its long tail come out of the water.

walking away

Lastly, I took this picture of Rich reading to our youngest two last night before bed.

*******

I have two book recommendations for you, if you are interested. The first is titled A Room with View, written in 1908 by Edward Morgan Forster. It’s a free download on the Kindle. After you read it you can watch the lovely movie adaptation.

The second book is one that I am currently reading. It was written by a Romanian Lutheran pastor who was imprisoned for 14 years of his life in different prisons because of his Christian belief. It’s titled In God’s Underground and was written by Richard Wurmbrand and is a one dollar book on Kindle. Here is a quote:

“The prison years did not seem too long for me, for I discovered, alone in my cell, that beyond belief and love there is a delight in God: a deep and extraordinary ecstasy of happiness that is like nothing in this world. And when I came out of jail I was like someone who comes down from a mountaintop where he has seen for miles around the peace and beauty of the countryside, and now returns to the plain.”

That’s not to say that he did not experience satanic temptations, torture, and deathly illness, because he did. But in the midst of it all he experienced over and over again God’s amazing sustenance. What a beautiful testimony this book is and I think EVERY Christian should read it to get yet another idea of how awesome God is, and what is available to us as believers.

Here is just one more quote and then I will close this post for the day.

“Words alone have never been able to say what man feels in the nearness of divinity. Sometimes I was so filled with joy that I felt I would burst if I did not give it expression. I remembered the words of Jesus, ‘Blessed are you when men come to hate you, when they exclude you from their company and reproach you and cast out your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!’ I told myself, ‘I’ve carried out only half this command. I’ve rejoiced, but that is not enough. Jesus clearly says that we must also leap.’

“When next the guard peered through the spy-hole, he saw me springing about my cell.”

Dance for Jesus today, my friends! Rejoice and leap for joy!

easter 2015

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Shanda

Glorious Easter! The day all the world is reminded of the amazing hope we have, because of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ dying on the cross and *not staying dead* but rising again the third day. Up from the grave He arose! And because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, I can also live forever and ever……. and someday soon, because life is short, I will see Him, and know Him, and be home. Oh I can’t wait for that day….that “can’t wait” feeling is HOPE, glorious resurrection hope. Thank you, Jesus.

I woke up this morning at 6 and found Jacob frying himself some eggs, Davy ready to chat with me, and Grace sick to her stomach but saying she was fine and going to school regardless. (She is way too responsible for her own good.) I served cereal, started the dishwasher, started a load of laundry, folded three loads of it at the couch, drank coffee, made myself a couple of eggs and shared them with Seth, gathered up homework and bags for the elementary school boys, and sent five children off to school.

I’m still in my pj’s, feeling rather sleepy, I’m in bed with Miss Sarah. We are under the down comforter and she’s snuggled up close enough so I can play with her hair, she’s sucking her finger and feeling the tag on her new stuffed animal. It’s cozy with my little sunshine girl, listening to the washer and dryer hum.

I found this old snapshot of the kids, taken in our old neighborhood. Caleb was a baby and not in the photo. Grace is wearing her flower girl dress and Jake and E are dressed exactly the same, and standing exactly the same, too. Little Davy has such a sweet smile on his face. Isn’t it funny how a simple picture can make a person happy and sad at the same time? I remember how Grace, at this age, used to hate getting sun in her eyes, and was very sensitive about outdoor photography, you can see it in her face in this picture, too.

They are growing up but Grace wore a white dress again this year.

Thank you to Mike for taking these portraits yesterday morning before church.

Outside, we gathered up the family and I said, “come on let’s act like we love each other!” which prompted Seth to put his arm around me and melt against my leg……sweet, sweet love of a little son.

We went to church….I can’t think of a better day to attend a church service….and then when we came back home we didn’t eat a ham dinner.

We ate pizza!

Here is a photo of all my children yesterday when we got back home. I wouldn’t let them in the house until I took a picture of them all….my own offspring plus Jacob’s girlfriend Emily (red sweater), and Myriah (white jacket), a young family friend who lives in Virginia and came to visit us during her spring break. She will be here all week.

I spent five dollars on the actual baskets from our local thrift store, and I put jelly bean filled eggs in each one, with a gift. I accidentally bought two bags of very SOUR jelly beans but the children still liked them. Seth had matchbox cars, David and Caleb had sticky bugs that they could shoot with their finger at the windows, Sarah had a stuffed animal, and the older teens each received a pair of new socks. Simple, but enough to keep them all excited about the day.

We had my sister’s dog-baby all weekend, too. His name is Lloyd and he is a labradoodle. Isn’t he adorable? Rich called him Rug and told me that Rug looked just like me what with the brown curls. He was a lot of fun to have in the house with us, such a cute puppy. David was the one in charge of him, while Uncle Jason and Aunt Amanda were away for Easter. He is back home now and Seth asked me if we could please get a rug.

Emily had Easter dinner at her grandparent’s house and took Caleb with her (heart melts). The rest of us made homemade pizza……

It was non-stop activity in the kitchen for a long time as I made a ton of pizza dough and the kids each made a pizza of their own. Jacob was a slow perfectionist over his pizza, causing great amusement, but his hard work paid off because YUM YUM it was good. Myriah made a pizza for the first time and did so good, it was amusing to see her press the dough around on the oily pan trying not to touch it with her long fingernails. Grace made a pizza with salami as a topping and she used cookie cutters to make the salami pretty. Seth made a crazy-shaped stuffed crust pizza that was thin on one side and thick on the other. Ethan and David each chopped up their own fresh garlic and made clam pizzas. It was awesome.

We cleaned up the kitchen and then watched a movie. Some of the kids fell asleep and the rest of us went outside after the movie was done, to get some fresh air. By the way, it snowed yesterday. But spring is coming and there are signs of it everywhere, it’s just very late this year.

One last picture of Lloyd!

I hope you all had a nice Easter, and have a Happy Monday!

We are loved.

happy birthday, Rich

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Shanda

I love blogging on Mondays. I usually take a blogging break Saturday and Sunday and then by Monday I have lots to write about. But yesterday was empty, I had nothing to say, I spent the entire day catching up with laundry from the weekend and matching socks. My mind was as empty as a bucket.

I’m laughing a little because it’s 7 in the morning and here I am typing. I woke up last night at 3:30 full of all the words I missed yesterday….words running through my head, coming out my ears! Keeping me awake. I wrote two “Happy Birthday, Rich” blog posts in my head and considered getting up to type. Then I remembered, “Sarah is sick.”

“I bet God woke me up so I could go check on her.”

Up the stairs I went to my four year old’s bedroom. The light was on in the bathroom so there was plenty to see by. I tiptoed to the edge of her bed and leaned in to look at her face. Her eyes were open and she spoke.

“Hi Mom.” (so polite! my heart melts)
“How are you feeling?” I stroked her hair back to feel for a fever, she was nice and cool.
“Good.” (in that tiny voice)
“How is your tummy?”
“Bad. Can I wake up now?”
“No, it’s 3:30 in the morning.” (not that she can comprehend the hour) “Do you want to go down and sleep on the couch?”
“Yes! And can I have a drink, please?”

She had a drink and I tucked her in on the couch. Her big brother Jacob was asleep on the other end, we have a big family sectional with room for everyone, he was sound asleep, arms and legs everywhere, whistling and snoring like it was his purpose in life. I stood and looked at them for a moment, half expecting Sarah to complain that she couldn’t sleep with so much noise. But she didn’t say a word. She was happy.

It’s this hottie’s birthday today. He is 41 years old. He is currently sound asleep in our comfortable bed and I’m hoping that he sleeps and sleeps and feels 21 when he gets up, because that would make him happier than anything. Exercising is a passion of his, consequently he is always and forever feeling some sort of body ache. Currently it is the hips. Truly, “no pain no gain”, but he decided that at the age of 41 it’s age making him ache, not a sign of pushing the limits, a sign of manly manliness.

Bodily speaking, I think he’s coming into his own and getting better and better looking as each year goes by.

Looks are important but of course they aren’t everything.

Here are just a few of his accomplishments: farmer from birth, mechanic, race car driver (1 season), semi-pro football player (1 season), married at the age of 21, insurance adjuster, preacher, teacher, deacon (6 years), singer of solos (now and then), softball player, wrestling coach, speaker, VP of claim at an insurance company (currently), and he has been working for the same company 17 years. In my opinion his biggest accomplishment was fathering seven children, and being lovingly involved in their growing.

He is a hard worker, excellent lover, good provider for his family, kind, generous, honest, adventurous, church-going, faithful, courageous, godly, strong, disciplined, mature, wise, sensible, gentle, and brave.

It sounds as if he has no faults, but rest assured, he has plenty, just like everyone else on this created earth. Someday I’ll do a blog post all about his bad points. JUST KIDDING. When you love someone you only want to publicize his good side, but rest assured he and I both have plenty of very irritating qualities. However, I can brag that this man of mine has never hurt anyone, never broke any laws besides the speed limit, and doesn’t do drugs or womanize. I mean, he actually is practically perfect.

Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote her book Farmer Boy, all about her husband, which I think is the dearest and sweetest thing. Imagine the conversations through the years as he told her his memories and she stored them away to become a book for children.

I have often thought, that if I ever wrote a book, I would like to do the same thing; write my husband’s stories. He has plenty. He isn’t a big talker (we have, on average, really boring conversations…we tend to communicate in other ways…..) but when he starts talking about his upbringing, random injuries, and other adventures, he comes alive and his listeners, mainly our children, hang on every word. Mind you, he keeps the stories short with very little description and no romance, but there’s a lot to be said for good ol’ prose.

As I sit here tip tapping on the laptop, my heart is filled with gratitude for another year of life for my husband. I trust him with everything and cannot imagine life without him at my side.

happy birthday emily

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Shanda

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

Dear Emily,

You have been Jacob’s girlfriend for almost a year and I just wanted to take the opportunity to write you a little note, thanking you for who you are and what you have added to Jacob’s life, with your love. I am thankful for you and that God has brought you into Jacob’s life and consequently our family’s life.

The kids adore you. Well, maybe not Ethan, but you know Ethan is harmless and he does certainly LIKE you, even though you take up too much of Jacob’s time and the two of you talk on the phone at night too much, causing Ethan to sleep on the couch at times. He also would appreciate a little less personal displays of attention when he is in the room, right? But yes, despite all that, I know that deep down inside Ethan is also glad that you are Jacob’s girlfriend. After all, you do a great job of turning the PS3 on and off for him.

Of all the children, Sarah especially loves her Emily. She woke up this morning remembering that it is your birthday, and she searched the house looking for things to give you. One of the things she picked out was a ring out of my jewelry box. I told her to color you a picture instead and she said accusingly, “MOM! That’s not a birthday present!” I’m not sure, I might have to take her out shopping, unless you really DO want one of her stuffed animals? She wants to give you Pepper (her black cat with the buggy eyes). She wants to know when you’re going to get here and if we are making your cake. She says she wishes you could spend the night.

I went through some of my photos from the last few months and picked out some of my favorites.

You are such a special young lady, Emily, and don’t ever forget that!

Parker the dog also wanted me to be sure to tell you that he adores you. He’s hoping you bring him one of those dog cookies soon. (woof)

Dad will be home from his business trip around 7:30 so he won’t miss your party, either.

First Christmas together.

family nap time

Parker the dog.

Jacob playing with Emily’s hair and reading her Edgar Allen Poe. She’s wearing his pajamas and hiding from the camera. They have also read Macbeth, the Bible, and I’m not sure what else. I love that they read together.

When she asked him to the prom, on Jacob’s birthday, December 31. She’s having a great time trying on Prom dresses whenever she can.

One day this winter they decided to paint. And they each painted the other’s EYE. Emily painted Jacob’s and Jacob painted Emily’s. It was the most amusing thing to observe them….they would keep looking into each other’s eyes but only as an art subject. LOL This painting is currently hanging in Jacob and Ethan’s room and it’s labeled “Jacob’s Eye. Emily’s Eye.” It cracks me up.